(Updated at 12:10 p.m.) The wait to try the winner of last year’s Ballston Restaurant Challenge is over: SER, the traditional Spanish restaurant, is open for business.
Serving dishes from every region of Spain, chef and co-owner Josu Zubikarai doesn’t shy away from the idea that only “foodies” might try certain items from his menu, like the Txipirones — squid in its ink, tentacles and all.
The county looks for teenagers every year to help plan and lead activities for the young children who attend the camps. Volunteers must be 13 years or older by May 1 and at least two years older than the campers they supervise.
Arlington is offering more than 100 different camps this summer for kids from ages 3 to 13, in everything from fly fishing to ultimate Frisbee to “fashion boot camp.”
Marriott International occupies 900,000 square feet of office space in Bethesda, but CEO Arne Sorenson told the Washington Post last month that the hotel chain with more than $12 billion in annual revenue “will be moving.” Sorenson said he still wants the company to stay in the D.C. region, and made more comments sure to make Arlington real estate owners’ ears perk up.
“I think it’s essential we be accessible to Metro and that limits the options,” Sorenson told the Post’s Jonathan O’Connell. “I think as with many other things our younger folks are more inclined to be Metro-accessible and more urban.”
Editor’s Note: Sponsored by Monday Properties and written by ARLnow.com, Startup Monday is a weekly column that profiles Arlington-based startups and their founders. The Ground Floor, Monday’s office space for young companies in Rosslyn, is now open. The Metro-accessible space features a 5,000-square-foot common area that includes a kitchen, lounge area, collaborative meeting spaces, and a stage for formal presentations.
Founded by Michael Slage, an entrepreneur and former NASA employee who also founded Better Health Box and Healthengage, LiftOff Health is in office space above the Crystal City Shops, given to them for a six-month trial period by Vornado, and Slage said it’s the perfect launching pad for an industry that has gone curiously underdeveloped in the D.C. startup scene.
Jillian Anderson was eliminated early on this season, and infamously slipped on a rug and nearly fell when she thought this season’s bachelor, Chris, called her name during the rose ceremony. Instead, he picked her competitor, Julia, and 25-year-old Anderson returned to her home in Arlington. Tonight, she will be at Bracket Room in Clarendon (1210 N. Garfield Street) to watch Chris hand out his final rose.
Bracket Room is owned by a former contestant of The Bachelorette, Chris Bukowski, and has hosted viewing parties for the reality show’s season finales since it opened in 2013. Happy hour begins at 4:00 p.m. and the show starts at 8:00 p.m. Bracket Room’s Facebook page says there will be specials on wine and dessert.
In 2000, 19,740 apartments owned by for-profit property owners in the county were affordable for someone making up to 60 percent of the region’s area median income, according to findings from the county’s three-year Affordable Housing Study. In 2013, there were 3,437 “MARKs,” as they’re called.
(“Affordable” is defined as costing less than 30 percent of a household’s income.)
Arlington Agenda is a listing of interesting events for the week ahead in Arlington County. If you’d like to see your event featured, fill out the event submission form.
Also, be sure to check out our event calendar.
A dog fell into a sinkhole that opened up right under its tiny feet in Rockwell Park on Wednesday, according to a witness.
The park, which sits at the intersection of N. Cleveland, Edgewood and 1st Streets, is popular for dog walking in the Lyon Park neighborhood. Resident Elsie Frasier told ARLnow.com that two days ago she and her husband “heard someone screaming” at the park from their adjacent house. Someone walking their dog said it had fallen into the hole.
The roads are still covered in ice today, but this weekend the temperature should soar into the 40s and 50s, creating a wet but warm atmosphere for checking out open houses in the neighborhood.
See our real estate section for a full listing of open houses. Here are a few highlights:
Today, at 4:30 p.m., at Penrose Square — the corner of Columbia Pike and S. Barton Street — neighbors are being invited to participate in a snowball fight in what could be five or more inches of snow.
Pike resident Chris Slatt put out the call for the fight at just about noon on Twitter as a spur-of-the-moment idea. Over the phone, he told ARLnow.com that it seemed like a good opportunity for the shenanigans, considering schools, the government and many private offices are closed.
(Updated at 10:45 a.m.) The snow has started falling and the schools are closed, which means it’s time for winter frolicking.
For some, that means staying in, drinking hot cocoa and catching up on Netflix. For others around Arlington, that means throwing on some snow pants and boots, grabbing a sled and taking to a nearby hill for sledding.
Part of the ritual preparation for many includes heading to the grocery store to stock up on food and supplies, in particular milk, eggs, bottled water and bread.
“It’s going to be a freaking zoo in here,” an employee of Clarendon’s Trader Joe’s said, declining to give her name because company policy doesn’t allow staff members to speak to the media.
