An opening and closing

Although not in SoCo, you probably already heard that the General Store and Post Office closed its doors this week.

Management said, "the landlord has not paid his back taxes and the county is taking back the building." However, a commenter on SS Singular alerted us to the landlord's version of the story.

The Washington Post spoke to the landlord, Spiro Gioldasis, who is also the GM at Mrs. K's Tollhouse and runs Pacci's Pizzeria in our neighborhood. Spiro admits he is behind on his taxes, but only because Gillian Clark and Robin Smith, the proprietors of the General Store were woefully behind on their rent.

Clark claims Spiro is a bully and uses the courts to get his way. It looks like here he is getting his way. A judge this week found Clark and Smith are on the hook for $160k. They'll have to sell a lot of meals to pull that money together.

Clark and Smith are not immune to disputes and bad press that's for sure. And while never dealing with Spiro in a formal manner, he does seem a decent guy who's simply trying to collect the rent he is owed.

For the opening, we're getting a new addition to Fenton Village. A place called the Fenton Cafe is on the way. It will be located at 8311 Fenton on the east side of the street between Thayer and Easley (right next to Alliance Comics).

Looks like it will be quite a modest place (maybe competition for Fresh Start). Peering through the window, it appears as though they'll have just a few small tables and a counter to order coffee, espresso, sandwiches and maybe other small items. I wouldn't be surprised to see them opening very soon.

I wish them the best and am glad to see a new cafe in the 'hood as opposed to another braiding shop.

Societal Fezzing

Doesn't make sense, I know. I was just trying to capture the essence of the 2 restaurants coming to the 'hood.

But don't get too excited; it doesn't appear either will be opening tonight or tomorrow. By the looks of it, I'm guessing Fez Bistro should get their act in gear sooner than Society.

I walked by both today to get a look-see of what was going on. First, the doors were propped open at Society (taking over the old Nicaro and Newcaro spot) and several work men were inside, as you might expect, working! My excellent investigative effort shows a restaurant going through some serious renovations. There were workers both on the bar and restaurant side.

But from the looks of the menu at Island Flavors, the existing restaurant of the entrepreneur opening Society, I have to say I am not terribly excited about it. To someone like me who is not that familiar with Caribbean food, it looks quite similar to the Negril menu. I assume this place will be a couple steps up from Negril, I mean it is a nice space. I guess we'll just have to wait and see if they serve more than curries, roti, plantains, etc.

Across Thayer at Fez (taking over most of what was Langano - although Langano Express is housed right next door - side note, there will be some interesting aromas here), I saw no work going on; but from glancing inside it looked quite closer to being ready for prime time. The place needs much less work than Society and some furniture is already in place. I could see it potentially being open in the next couple weeks.

I guess in the end, I'm a little more excited for Fez. Perusing the menu from their NoVa outpost, they do offer some interesting sounding Moroccan dishes -- various types of cous cous, shawarma, kabobs, seafood, and veggie dishes.

And I still need to get over to Skew Works too (the new Asian fusion fast casual restaurant at the bottom of the Crescent building). And do me a favor, check out their web site - not really sure what to make of it. Anyway, they opened I believe the 1st week of March, but I haven't tried it yet. I want to do a comparison/contrast between Skewers and Thai Market. I'm betting TM is more down-market than Skewers, but at the end of the day, it's essentially pan-Asian fare.

So far on Yelp, SW has a 3, 4 and 5-star rating. Pretty mixed bag so far. But as always, I will be the ultimate judge!

Dining Under the Table

I know many of you have heard about our local underground dining scene via Thayer Ave.com. And I was going to stay out of the fray since I have a hand in the venture (actually two hands), but now I'll come clean.

Our supper club, called Dining Under the Table, is run by a small group of cooking (and eating) enthusiasts. The meals are held about once a month or so in downtown Silver Spring, with a focus on local fare and a heavy Mediterranean influence. And all the meat, whether beef, fish, fowl, pork, etc., that is served during the meal are sustainable and have been raised in a humane fashion.

I figured I'd come forward with this right now since we just launched the web site and have actually started taking reservations. We had our first hit last week.

While we can seat six comfortably, and I guess up to eight, our first reservation was only for two people. So we're looking to see if others are interested. The meal will be Sunday evening March 27. The menu has yet to be set so I can't mention anything about that at the moment.

But you can peruse the web site to check out some of the previous items we have served and the suggested donation for dining with us. But you can expect at least a four-course meal with definitely some home-made items included on the menu.

We'd be happy to answer any questions folks might have. OK, I guess that's it for now. Thanks.

Fat Tuesday

For those interested, just wanted to pass along news that Jackie's is featuring a special Fat Tuesday menu tomorrow with special drinks and dishes. So if you want to take advantage and celebrate before the Lenten season begins, here's your chance.

And wear a Mardi Gras mask and get a free drink. That's not an official Jackie's offer, but if you do it, just go in and demand it. Tell them SoCo says you deserve it.


Starters

Wedge salad with bleu cheese dressing
Louisiana oysters with classic mignonette
Chickpea crusted crab fritters and thousand island remoulade
Frog's legs Rockefeller with bacon & spinach


FAT Entrees

Vegetarian jambalaya with saffron
Fried catfish, lemon aioli and old bay chips
Shrimp and grits with green onions
Chicken ‘n’ crawfish gumbo with okra over rice
Pork and red beans
Creole sausage, marinated peppers and dirty rice
Steak and béarnaise with roasted potatoes and vegetables


Sweets

King cake

Cocktails

Sazerac-rittenhouse rye bottled in bond, mata hari absinthe, peychaud's & angostura bitters, sugar
de la Louisiane-rittenhouse rye bottled in bond, mata hari absinthe, dolin rouge, benedictine, peychaud's & angostura bitters
Vieux Carre-rittenhouse rye bottled in bond, st. remy vsop, dolin rouge, benedictine, peychaud's & angostura bitters
Absinthe Suissesse-mata hari absinthe, orgeat, orange flower water, heavy cream, egg white
Crusta-st. remy vsop, luxardo maraschino, cointreau, fresh squeezed lemon juice, angostura bitters
Hurricane-flor de cana 7 year old, house passion fruit syrup, fresh squeezed lemon juice