Many neighborhoods in the District tend to go through a rather predictable routine. They start as fringe areas, slowly attract residents and business owners looking for good deals on housing and commercial properties, see an influx of newcomers as word spreads, and soon become the city’s next hot destination. And throughout the process the usual conflicts tend to emerge — between old and new residents, between local and national businesses. Yesterday the rather tranquil Barracks…
As I rode home last night, I took a quick detour past Eastern Market. Some 22 hours after the fire that ravaged the market’s South Hall had been reported, firefighters remained, hosing down the building and testing the its structural integrity. A crowd had gathered outside, most blankly staring at what would be an empty shell for the months to come. This morning, fencing had been erected around the building, decorated with U.S. and D.C….
It’ll be a party this evening on Barracks Row, the stretch of Eighth Street SE that’ll be celebrating its Great American Main Street Award — a great honor for its revitalizing streetscaping project. The festivities kick off at the Old Siam Restaurant (406 Eighth St. SE) at 6 p.m. with appetizers and drinks. While its name may have “Old” in it, Old Siam is the newest restaurant on the strip. In the process to revitalize…
Since DCist’s resident gastronaut Kanishka Gangopadhyay is off to St. Louis this week for work-related business, he delegated the weekly task of food commentary and critique to someone with an un-trained, un-sophisticated palette. After all, he wouldn’t want someone one-upping him, would he? Much like last week, Capitol Hill seems to have cornered the market for food-related news. Barracks Row Dine Around: Barracks Row, the newly-renovated and ever-so-hip stretch of Eighth Street SE, is celebrating…
Has any stretch of real estate in D.C. turned itself around as quickly as Barracks Row? In just over six years the stretch of Eighth Street SE south of Eastern Market and north of M Street SE. has seen rapid development changing the area from one infested with drug traffic and petty crime to a vibrant thoroughfare. Sure, the space still has some bleak spots, including a Popeye’s with astonishingly bad service (even for a…
Barracks Row already has already added a fine dining restaurant, a martini bar, and an Irish pub new to its list of offerings on Eighth Street SE. And now comes Graig Glufling, former chef at Matchbox, bringing classic American comfort food to The Ugly Mug, his new bar on the Row. When DCist says new, we do mean new. The Ugly Mug opened on Dec. 30. Tom Sietsema remarked in his weekly chat that when…
The third annual Barracks Row festival will be held this Saturday from 11-5, on, you guessed it, Barracks Row. The festival will feature musical performances; a dog show; and over 70 vendors selling art work, gift items, and food. If you haven’t been to Barracks Row and are curious, this is the perfect opportunity to see what some have (perhaps a little prematurely) called “the next Georgetown.” The Barracks Row strip (the 500-700 blocks of…
There’s lots going on this weekend. What are you up to? FRIDAY: — “Team America: World Police” opens tonight at theaters everywhere. Reviews from the NYT, Post, Rotten Tomatoes — Trachtenburg Family Slideshow Players at Iota in Arlington, $12 — Grand opening of Eclipse, an “electro, industrial, darkwave, alternative” dance night slated for the second Friday of the month at Between Friends (11th and U St). Resident DJs include Dirty B, MindCage, MissGuided, and Ras…
Kayti Didriksen’s notorious painting of President Bush, “Man of Leisure: King George” (which was originally part of the City Museum’s “Funky Furniture” exhibition until deemed unsuitable for public display) can now be seen at Modern ARF in Clarendon. — This evening, head to the next installment of Artful Evenings at the Phillips Collection. Elizabeth Hutton Turner, the curator of the newly opened exhibit “Calder Miró,” will lead a discussion of the visual dialogue between the…
