Solar Crepes Cart Launches in Ballston
There’s a new food cart on the scene in Arlington. Solar Crepes serves savory and sweet crepes, as well as coffee, cold drinks and snacks, all from a small, brightly-colored cart across Fairfax Drive from the Ballston Metro Station.
Owners Danna Andrews and Camille Dierksheide are trained chefs who share an interest in the environment, local food and good nutrition. That interest is apparent with the cart’s focus on sustainable, and locally-grown organic food. Many of the ingredients come from Lancaster Farm Fresh, a cooperative of growers in Pennsylvania.
Danna and Camille started to turn the vision of the cart into reality last September. They already owned their own catering and personal chef businesses and thus had a head-start on the culinary component of the cart. Danna’s French grandmother-in-law even helped out, supplying a family recipe for the cart’s popular chicken crepe.
When deciding where to operate the cart, the Alexandria residents say Arlington was a natural choice. Launching a food cart in Arlington, they said, was much easier than the District, where authorities had stopped giving out permits and returning phone calls. Alexandria, meanwhile, does not currently allow food carts.
“Arlington was honestly the easiest place to open up a business, they’re so business friendly,” Camille said. “Everybody was so helpful, they just made it really easy.”
Danna and Camille launched cart on Tuesday and were pleasantly surprised by the warm reception from curious local workers and residents.
The menu is constantly changing, with an emphasis on daily specials and seasonal items. On Wednesday, the savory specials were a tomato, basil, eggplant and mozzarella crepe and a bacon, spinach and cheese crepe. Fresh peaches were being sold from a box for 75 cents, while Toy Cow Creamery smoothies and Saratoga Springs water were on sale from an ice bucket built into the front of the cart.
Solar Crepes is just serving lunch now, Monday through Thursday, but Camille says they plan to start serving breakfast soon. Also in the works, when they can gather the funds: two 90-watt solar panels to power the cart and provide a more tangible explanation for its name.
See a review of the food at Solar Crepes here. More photos after the jump.
To Do This Weekend
Rosslyn’s “I Love the 90s” outdoor film festival has been been plagued by rainy weather this summer. But not tonight. Expect perfect clear skies and comfortable temperatures for tonight’s screening of 1994′s “Dumb and Dumber” in Rosslyn Gateway Park (1300 Lee Highway). The movie starts around 8:00.
On Saturday, more perfect weather is expected for the Friends of the David M. Brown Planetarium fundraiser. From 4:00 to 9:30 p.m., the Friends and the Northern Virginia Astronomy Club will be holding a marathon session of planetarium shows, to be followed by a chance to look at real stars through NOVAC’s telescopes. The event is being held at the planetarium, near Washington-Lee High School (1426 North Quincy Street).
If viewing far out objects is your thing, you may also be interested in trying to spot some of the attendees at the Hidden Councils Annual Costume Ball. Held at 7:00 Saturday night at the Hilton Garden Inn in Courthouse, the ball is “the social event of the year” for The Firefly House, a “nature-based church formed in Virginia in 2009.” We’re told to expect “political intrigue, barbed innuendos, backstabbing and betrayal,” as well as “murder, weapons, [and] spells.” Oh my, indeed.
Continuing the “far out” theme, Saturday night will also feature a musical tribute to Jerry Garcia. With the 15th anniversary of Jerry’s death coming up (yes, you’re that old), The U-Liners will performing covers of Grateful Dead and Jerry Garcia Band songs at Iota Club & Cafe. The concert starts at 9:00. Tickets are $15.
Moran Secures $1.25 Million for Crystal City Transit Way
Rep. Jim Moran (D-Va.) has secured $1.25 million in funding for a planned transit way that will connect Crystal City and Potomac Yard. The funding comes from the Transportation appropriations bill that passed the House on Thursday.
The five-mile-long Crystal City/Potomac Yard transit way is expected to run from Pentagon City to Alexandria’s Braddock Road Station, with most of the stops concentrated in Crystal City and Potomac Yard.
The project will create a dedicated bus route with stops throughout Crystal City. Eventually, a street car line may be installed in the transit way.
Falls Church School Locked Down After Man With Gun Spotted
Thomas Jefferson Elementary School in Falls Church was locked down around 9:30 this morning after a jogger told police she saw a man with an assault weapon in the area.
The man was wearing camouflage, a utility belt and a helmet, the woman said. Falls Church police officers searched the school and the neighborhood but did not find anyone matching the description. The scene has since been cleared, according to city spokesperson Hyun June.
About 124 summer school students, teachers and staff, along with a daycare program, were inside the school at the time.
Update at 12:15 p.m. — Police believe the man, who still hasn’t been located, was carrying an airsoft gun or a paintball gun. He’s described as a white male in his twenties.
Volunteer Opp: Back to School Donations
Believe it or not, it’s almost back-to-school time. With August just around the corner, the Arlington-Alexandria Coalition for the Homeless is seeking volunteers to help the children of homeless families get some new gear.
Specifically, AACH wants individuals or groups to commit to buying a complete outfit — pants, shirt, underwear, socks, shoes — for an individual student. The organization is also accepting donations of gift cards.
The deadline for donations is August 23. To donate, contact Katie Tressel (ktressel@aachhomeless.org).
Complaint of the Day: Satellite Truck Edition
If you spend enough time listening to Arlington’s police frequencies, you’ll notice that people love calling in to complain about things. Since complaining is so popular, we’re launching a periodic feature called the “complaint of the day,” to highlight the most humorous, outrageous or otherwise unseemly complaints received by police.
When it comes to citizen gripes in Arlington, noise complaints and “aggressive driver” complaints are common, but far and away the most frequent complaint is the parking complaint.
Vigilant civilians will call the police when a car is illegally parked in zone parking on any given weekday afternoon. They will also occasionally call to report expired meters.
This morning, someone called to report that a satellite truck — assumedly a news van — had been parked for more than four hours at North George Mason Drive and North Park Drive. We’d love to know the thought process involved with such a call — what was so bad about the truck being parked there that would justify asking police to possibly interrupt a broadcast being watched by thousands of people? (See comments.)
Morning Notes
Woman Locked Inside Virginia Square-GMU Station — A 25-year-old woman said she felt “completely terrified” when she found herself alone locked inside the Virginia Square-GMU Metro station Tuesday night. Metro says the station manager, who is supposed to walk the length of the platform before locking up at night, will receive some “retraining,” Fox5 reports.
Planetarium Group Doesn’t Expect to Meet Fundraising Goals — The board president of the Friends of the Arlington’s David M. Brown Planetarium says the fundraising goals set by the school board are “unrealistic” and she doesn’t expect to be able to meet them. Alice Monet says she hopes that showing a large base of support will convince the board to keep the aging planetarium open. More from the Washington Post.
Favola to Research the Scourge of Private Liquor Sales – Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell is hoping to sell off the state’s liquor business, a move that could bring in as much as $500 million for transportation projects. But Arlington County Board Member Barbara Favola would like to see some hard facts before private companies can sell hard liquor. She wants to compare alcohol abuse rates in states with private liquor sales and states with state-run liquor sales. More from the Arlington Connection.
Flickr pool photo by Philliefan99.
