Gypsy Sally’s to Open Sept. 12 on Water Street
• September 23, 2013

Gypsy Sally’s, the live music venue and multi-use event space at 3401 Water Street, NW, above Malmaison Restaurant, will open Thursday, Sept. 12.

“Featuring local, regional and national Americana acts on its stage, Gypsy Sally’s hopes to complement the venerable Blues Alley as well as evoke memories of Georgetown’s entertainment heyday when locals and tourists had their choice of multiple venues,” the company said. Located nearly at the banks of the Potomac River, Gypsy Sally’s wants patrons to feel the vibe of the departed Bayou, the Cellar Door, Desperado’s and Crazy Horse Saloon.

Venue owners David and Karen Ensor, husband and wife, bring a diverse and extensive history of experience, knowledge and passion for the live music industry to their project, the group said.
“As a veteran musician and restaurant worker, this has been a dream a long time coming,” David Ensor said. “We are very excited to create an active relationship with the community to grow and create a space that Georgetown can make its own.”

Here’s more directly from the enthusiastic Gypsy Sally’s folks:

Gypsy Sally’s is comprised of three separate spaces, the largest space devoted to the Music Room. Gypsy Sally’s also has a Vinyl Lounge where patrons will enjoy music from classic vinyl records and an Art Gallery, both of which are perfect for events and rentals. The 1902 building was formerly an ice factory and is generously proportioned with tall ceilings perfect for live music.

The room is designed with tiered seating platforms to improve sight lines and has had acoustic treatments to ensure great sound. Consulting on the audio equipment are Greg Lukens of Washington Pro Sound and Tim Kidwell of the Birchmere.

An Americana theme pervades the space, with authentic barn wood, American flag murals and even an antique VW bus. “Our hippy bus is sure to leave a few patrons scratching their heads and asking why? Our response is simply, why not?” quips David Ensor.

Directing the Gypsy Sally’s kitchen is Donald Spencer, an experienced chef coming from Range, Bryan Voltaggio’s Friendship Heights eatery, and before that, 2941 and Panache.

Gypsy Sally’s will delight the locavore, as its cuisine goals are driven by the local farmers’ markets and food purveyors, with an emphasis on all aspects of the F.L.O.S.S. philosophy: Fresh, Local, Organic, Seasonal and Sustainable. “We are very fortunate to have Donald as our chef since he appreciates our locavore philosophy and our passion for music,” Karen Ensor said. The menu will change seasonally with a focus on sustainable, organic and locally acquired meats and produce wherever possible.

Gypsy Sally’s opening night on Sept. 12 will feature performance by singer-songwriter Jim Lauderdale, who is also the host of the Americana Honors and Awards Show and nominated, along with Buddy Miller, for Album of the Year. Concert music lovers can look forward to concerts by the Grandmothers of Invention, the Gibson Brothers, Kelly Willis and Bruce Robison and other nationally acclaimed acts.

Frye Celebrates 150th With Store Near C&O Canal
• September 12, 2013

Frye, the oldest continuously operating footwear company in the United States, opened its third U.S. location in D.C., in a building listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The Georgetown store, at 1066 Wisconsin Ave., NW, occupies the former space of Papa-Razzi Restaurant. Frye’s 2,700-square-foot store is located in the historic Vigilant Firehouse, the oldest extant firehouse in D.C., which first housed Engine 5, now located on Dent Place.

The Georgetown store join Frye’s Boston and New York City stores. The Frye Company — known for boots, shoes, handbags and accessories — also plans to open a store in Chicago this fall. Founded in Massachusetts in 1863, Frye has fans that have ranged from Sarah Jessica Parker to General George Patton to John Lennon. A pair of Frye boots is even on exhibit on the Smithsonian.

Gypsy Sally’s Ready to Play on Water Street
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Gypsy Sally’s, the live music venue and multi-use event at 3401 Water St., NW, above Malmaison Restaurant, will open Thursday, Sept. 12.

Located nearly at the banks of the Potomac River, Gypsy Sally’s wants patrons to feel the vibe of the departed Bayou, the Cellar Door, Desperado’s and Crazy Horse Saloon.

Venue owners David and Karen Ensor, husband and wife, bring a diverse and extensive history of experience, knowledge and passion for the live music industry to their project, the group said.

“As a veteran musician and restaurant worker, this has been a dream a long time coming,” David Ensor said. “We are very excited to create an active relationship with the community to grow and create a space that Georgetown can make its own.”

Cannon’s Fish Market Temporarily Closed
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Cannon Fish Market — “purveyors of quality seafood since 1937” — closed Aug. 12. A window notice by the business at 1065 31st St., NW, read in part that Cannon’s “is closing for the next few months . . . for medical reasons.” Calls to the business have not yet been returned.

FAD Georgetown: Oct. 10, 11, 12
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Save the dates, Georgetown BID writes: Fashion, art and design will come together this fall as Georgetown launches D.C.’s newest annual style and culture event, FAD Georgetown, from Thursday, Oct. 10, through Saturday, Oct.12. Hosted by the Georgetown Business Improvement District, this neighborhood-wide celebration will showcase the neighborhood’s fashion, art and design merchants and creative community during three activity-filled days of fashion events, shopping, street style, gallery walks, design seminars, red carpets and more. More details to follow.

Italian Restaurant, Rialto, Coming to M Street
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Another famous space — once the home of the legendary Guards restaurant which closed last summer — at 2915 M St., NW, is getting a new occupant: Rialto, an Italian eatery, owned by those who own Thunder Burger across the street, as first reported by Washingtonian. The chef will be Thunder Burger’s Ryan Fichter. A mid-September opening is planned.

ShopHouse’s Fresh Fast Food Intrepreneur
• August 27, 2013

The Georgetowner sat down with Chipotle’s concept development director Tim Wildin during the first few minutes of its Aug. 19 grand opening of ShopHouse Southeast Asian Kitchen at 2508 M St., NW. ShopHouse is Chipotle’s East Asian concept, developed by Wilden and Chipotle founder and CEO Steve Ells.

How did you get started in the restaurant business?

As a busboy, when I was 16. So, I’ve worked in a restaurant all my life. A waiter in high school, and in college I was bartending. I went to NYU. So, I definitely relied on those tips to get through college. I started working on the corporate side doing a lot of PR and marketing. A position opened up with Chipotle. So, I jumped ship and started working there in 2009. It was so cool. I went from doing something that was boutique and luxury to doing something much more mass, but with integrity and a great mission to take great family-raised food and give it to a lot of people — that really excited me. My background isn’t culinary. I’ve never been a chef, just a really enthusiastic home cook.

ShopHouse is Chipotle’s East Asian concept. How was the idea developed?

Steve Ells had the idea to take Chipotle’s model and drop other cuisines into it. He talked for a long time about Chipotle’s success and how it wasn’t about burritos and tacos, but much more. It’s about taking great, fresh ingredients and cooking them right in front of people — in very little time. For me, it was my background. My mom is Thai. I’m originally from there and would spend every summer back there. It’s the food I love eating, and Steve loves the food. We cooked a couple times together, and I took him to Bangkok to show him the food culture. We spent two weeks eating and gaining weight and by the end had the basic idea of ShopHouse nailed down. We worked on it for about a year and opened in Dupont Circle a year and a half ago. Chipotle is a big company, but this idea wasn’t born out of a boardroom or a survey of what’s the next big flavor trend. It was born out of a love of the food and looking to another culture to be inspired by their “fast food.”. The on-the-go options (in America) are generally pretty bad for you. We wanted to do something really different.

Food sourcing is something you’re doing different. What’s your idea behind it?

Luckily, we have the expertise of Chipotle in terms of working along our supply chain to see what’s out there. We work with a keen eye towards sustainability. We use meats raised without antibiotics and without additive hormones. The ethos of sourcing for ShopHouse is exactly the same as Chipotle. We have such high standards and strict protocol to what we buy that it makes it tough for farmers to only sell part of the animal. When we set this up we decided not to use the same cuts as Chipotle to try and make that market for farmers. Something really great is that our tofu is organic, unlike most soybeans in America. Ours is the highest quality tofu you can get, from Hodo Soy in Oakland, Calif. The quest for that tofu was really interesting. For four months, I was eating more tofu than you should ever consume in your life. All of our fresh produce, cabbage, green beans, broccoli, eggplant, are bought locally. Obviously, that’s not possible all year, but we buy it locally when we can. We’re also looking to switch out vegetables seasonally.

Why D.C.? Why Georgetown?

I live in New York. Nate [Appleman, Chipotle’s culinary director,] who started this with me lives in New York. But the start-up costs for a restaurant there are so high. I can come to D.C. easily and often. Also, D.C. is a great market because it has a great food culture. We’re having a lot of great restaurants opening up here — to be a part of an emerging dinning scene is really cool. D.C. is a great market for Chipotle. It’s a very dense market. The demographics are right. People are busy. So, they need something on the go, but they want something great. It was a good proving ground for our first couple of stores. Dupont is doing really well. We’re seeing regular customers over and over again, which is what success looks like to me. It’s just spreading — by word of mouth.Georgetown is a great neighborhood. Other than Chipotle, I don’t know of another quick service meal where you can go in and pay $6 or $7 for really great food that’s really cooked. We were supposed to open months ago, but there were a number of construction delays.

What food trend do you see in the future?

In creating this, people often tell me that we had a really innovative concept. This style of food is actually really traditional. We were inspired by something that already exists, but in a different part of the world. But as a trend, people are more adventurous and that could be translated into all kinds of things. My focus is ShopHouse. So, I will be building ShopHouse, but Americans are eating spicier foods. They’re eating more vegetables and less meat. Most of all, I hope people are starting to care more about where their food comes from, and that’s driving their dining options.

Chipotle has nearly 1,500 locations. Where does ShopHouse go from here?

ShopHouse is one-by-one. People are speculating that it’s going to roll out everywhere, but you can’t do that. You have to build it slowly to develop a great set of employees. The focus right now is in D.C. We opened in Hollywood about seven weeks ago, and we will be opening one in Santa Monica. We chose L.A. because we were opportunistic with real estate and we thought people in California would really appreciate this kind of food.

If you could open any restaurant anywhere in the world, what would it be and where?

It sounds crazy, but ShopHouse is really my deal. I feel like it’s my baby. To be able to do this is more inspiring to me as an “intrepreneur,” from inside Chipotle, than opening fine dining. I come from years of fine dining — this is where it’s at for me. I get to work with great people and everything is honest about it. Most fast food restaurants don’t have knifes and cutting boards or raw vegetables. To be able to do this and offer it accessibly is really cool. I want to create little spots in city neighborhoods and have them be a relevant part of the community.

Sweetgreen Shut by D.C. Health Dept.
• August 22, 2013

The popular Sweetgreen, founded by Georgetown University students and patronized by their fellow Hoyas, got closed for a day by the D.C. Department of Health Aug. 20. It is the company’s original store at 3333 M St., NW. As first reported by Georgetown Patch, the closing led the company to tweet lamely that it was closed for “renovations.”

For 1st Birthday, Luke’s Lobster Offers Live Lobsters
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On its one-year anniversary, Aug. 23, Luke’s Lobster Georgetown will roll out live lobster and lobster meat by the pound, along with Maine goods and apparel. Luke’s Lobster, a Maine lobster roll company — with other D.C. spots as well as in New York and Philadelphia — will offer a pre-order program for live lobster pickups every Tuesday and Friday and will have a limited number of lobsters available for same-day sale as well. It will also stock frozen lobster tails at the eatery at 1211 Potomac St., NW.

Mad Fox Brewing Heads to Glover Park
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Mad Fox Taproom announced Aug. 12 that it expects to open in Glover Park by first quarter 2014. It will be Mad Fox Brewing Company’s first expansion from Falls Church, Va., to the District. Mad Fox Brewing Company just celebrated the third anniversary of its Falls Church location in July and now has another reason to celebrate. It will take over the property at 2218 Wisconsin Ave., NW, where Mayfield & Pine once was, in September.