Chef Michael Kiss, who has been profiled in local blogs and on local TV, left the store for a position at a Whole Foods in Rockville, Md.
The Clarendon store is now searching for Kiss’ replacement.
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Clarendon
(Updated at 9:50 a.m.) Some parking restrictions near Clarendon have gotten more restrictive.
The zone parking restriction on this residential stretch of North Highland Street, two blocks from Wilson Boulevard, used to end at 5:00 p.m. on weekdays. Now it ends at 1:00 a.m. seven days a week.
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Kathi Moore, who co-owns the bar with her ex-husband, Jay Moore, says their lease is up at then end of the year and she does not expect the landlord to renew it. The landlord, an ownership group led by Clarendon-based Buck and Associates, is under contract with a developer that plans to redevelop the land occupied by Jay’s and two small, adjacent commercial buildings.
That is not to say that Jay’s will close at the end of the year — they may be kept on a month-to-month lease until the developer is ready to proceed with its project. But one thing is for sure: Jay’s days are numbered.
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The Clarendon restaurant opened last month to mixed reviews and underwhelming crowds. Now, we hear, a management change has already taken place.
General Manager Seamus Phillips, who has been credited with the restaurant’s name and initial concept, is out. On his Facebook page on Tuesday, Phillips told friends that he was fired.
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Pete’s co-owner Tom Marr tells us the restaurant has gotten all the necessary county occupancy and state alcohol permits, and is on track to open Sunday at 11:00 a.m. It could open today, he said, but management is focusing on training staff.
Pete’s serves New Haven-style pizza, which is explained at length on the company’s web site. Their “specialty apizzas” include: “Boola Boola” with house-made meatballs, roasted peppers, caramelized onions and cherry peppers; “Merritt Parkway” with Prosciutto di Parma, Kalamata olives, caramelized onions, basil and extra virgin olive oil; “New Haven” with white clams, garlic, extra virgin olive oil, Pecorino Romano and oregano; and “Nighthawk” with basil pesto, grilled chicken, wild mushrooms, caramelized onions and fresh mozzarella.
Owner Ted Xenohristos says construction is underway on the 4,000 square foot restaurant, which will be Cava’s third location in the D.C. area. Last July, Xenohristos told the Washington Business Journal that he was excited about the prospect of opening a restaurant in Clarendon.
“It’s like a little city over there,” he said.
Clarendon’s Liberty Tavern was nominated for Best Upscale Casual Restaurant and Lyon Park’s EatBar was nominated for Best Neighborhood Gathering Space.
In a fractional victory, Tiffany MacIsaac of Neighborhood Restaurant Group — which operates EatBar, Tallula and Rustico in Arlington, along with restaurants in the District and Alexandria — was nominated for Best Pastry Chef.
The parcel is the block between Highland Street, Garfield Street, Washington Boulevard and 11th Street. It’s currently home to the T.A. Sullivan & Son cemetery monument business, Eleventh Street Lounge, Potomac Crossfit and a car dealership. All will be torn down to make way for a new ten-story office building with ground level retail space, according to a business owner, who did not want to be identified.
Penzance, a District-based developer, has land purchase contracts in place and hopes to start construction in either 2012 or 2013, according to the business owner.
The Young Dems will be holding their 10th annual charity date auction Wednesday from 7:00 to 10:00 p.m. at Clarendon Grill (1101 N. Highland Street). More than 100 people have RSVPed for the event, which will feature “over twenty of Arlington’s sexiest bachelors and bachelorettes,” as well as celebrity auctionees Rep. Jim Moran, Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, former Rep. Tom Perriello and former DNC Chair Terry McAuliffe.
AYD has released YouTube videos featuring two of its non-celebrity auctionees. Kat, above, is a personal trainer who says she can squat 175 pounds, enough to (probably) lift her date. Be forewarned, gents: you don’t want to pay for her meal with a Groupon. Chris, seen here, will take a lucky lady on a Potomac River sailboat ride with wine and cheese. He expects to fetch at least $10 to $15 at auction.
“I’m a Caps Fan” is Remy’s humorous take on Capitals fandom. Much of the video appears to have been filmed in the comedian’s Clarendon apartment which, coincidentally, is not too far from the Caps practice facility in Ballston.
The video was “produced exclusively for Comcast SportsNet.”
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Update at 1:55 p.m. — Dominion spokeswoman Le-Ha Anderson says: “Approximately 5,000 customers lost power this afternoon for about 30 minutes. We are still investigating the root cause of the outage, but in the meantime, were able to reroute the flow of electricity to get customers restored quickly and safely.”
A major power outage has been reported along the Rosslyn-Ballston corridor.
DC United goalie Bill Hamid is expected to stop by and greet fans at the event, which is being organized by the Arlington Athletic and Social League. There will be gift bags for the first 50 fans who arrive, plus raffles for DC United opening day tickets (the game will be held on March 19 at RFK Stadium) and other memorabilia.
In addition to the soccer festivities inside, organizers plan to set up pick-up games of cornhole outside on the patio.