RSS FeedForming In Penn Quarter: A New Playwriting Group For Women
A Penn Quarter Living reader (and resident) contacted us about forming a playwriting group for women as follows:
The purpose of the group is twofold: one, to give playwrights an opportunity to hear their works in progress read aloud by other members of the group; and two, to discuss possibilities for submitting plays to the 2015 Women’s Voices Theatre Festival, a festival of the area’s theaters to showcase world-premier plays written by women.
Although the group would provide a means for exchanging information re. contests and venues, etc., it would have little structure. It would not be a workshop or critique group, but the participants would offer one another support and encouragement. Occasionally, established dramatists (male and female) would be invited to speak about their experiences.
How often the group would meet is still undetermined. The first meeting is tentatively scheduled for Wednesday, March 26.
For further information, please contact esjor1(at)aol.com. (Limited participation.)
Fado Irish Pub Hosts St. Baldrick’s Fundraiser On Sunday, March 9 (808 7th St NW)
We heard from Fado Irish Pub (808 7th Street NW), a long standing Penn Quarter/Chinatown business, about their upcoming St. Baldrick’s fundraiser for pediatric cancer research. It takes place this Sunday afternoon and is a great cause. You can contribute via their web page or join in the fun this weekend at the pub…on to the details from the e-mail:
I am writing to let you know about our upcoming St. Baldrick’s fundraising event at the pub. Every year thousands of men and women join with St. Baldrick’s and shed their locks to raise funds for pediatric cancer research. This is the 12th year hosting an event at the pub. We will have raffles, silent auctions and 30 brave folks will be going bald for the cause. Most of the prizes have been donated by local PQ business, and it’s always a fun family day.
Our event this year is Sunday, March 9th at 2PM.
Early that day we will be having a post St. Pat’s 8k brunch – all runners with bibs, will receive 10% off their tab, valid until 2PM.
ShopHouse Kitchen Announces Presence In Chinatown (710 7th St NW)
We knew that the Asian flavored, Chipotle manufacturing line inspired (and owned) ShopHouse Kitchen signed a deal to move in to 710 7th Street NW but scant movement was seen until yesterday when we noticed that their sign went up in the window bay. No specific opening date is mentioned on the sign but that they’re hiring and that is always a good sign in the typical restaurant opening timeline we’ve grown to know and love.
Will they compete effectively with the similarly conceived Merzi already open in the 400 block of 7th Street NW? We’re big fans of Merzi and tried the ShopHouse in Dupont so we have a few opinions already but we’ll wait to see the execution of ShopHouse’s Chinatown outlet. If you want an advance compare, the typical ShopHouse menu can be found at this link.
Art on Foot: Heineken Mural Project
Have you ever noticed this colorful mural near 4th and I Streets NW? In looking into it, the mural is part of the Heineken Mural Project (there are 4 in downtown in DC). This mural was painted by the Argentinian graffiti artist Ever.
Finding What’s Open And Closed During Snow Emergencies
We hope everyone is enjoying the snow today. We want to let everyone know that the most efficient way for us to let you know what’s happening in downtown DC and Penn Quarter during snow emergencies is to favorite all the tweets sent by those businesses and the city government who want to keep their customers/citizens apprised of their status. (You may need to log in to Twitter to see this page.) This way readers can refer to one handy page to see the operating status of all the businesses who’ve elected to tweet it out.
Since businesses are also responding in real time to the weather, they sometimes change their operational plans during the day. We favorite those tweets too. Stay safe and warm today!
Find our Twitter favorites page here: https://twitter.com/pqliving/favorites
Downtown DC/Penn Quarter Link Roundup: Heard In The ‘Hood
Happy Friday all! Here’s what we’re reading recently about neighborhood news in DC. Have something to add? Leave it in the comments!
Follow PQ Living via Facebook here and Twitter here. Our Flickr tag is pqliving.
Have any tips? Send them in confidentiality to: pqliving [at] gmail.com
Events/News
Downtown - The community is requested to provide comments on the options for redesigning Franklin Park. [National Park Service - Franklin Park Project homepage] & [Comment page]
Chinatown/Penn Quarter – An interesting story on the Tandem Legal Group, a law firm that took over the space LivingSocial occupied early on at 829 7th St NW. [WaPo]
Downtown/Penn Quarter – The Streets of Washington profiled both the histories of both the Pension Building (now the National Building Museum) and the old Ambassador Hotel (now gone, formerly at 14th and K St NW). [SoW - Pension Building] & [SoW - Ambassador Hotel]
Development
Mount Vernon Triangle - The Mount Vernon Triangle Community Improvement District (MVTCID) unveiled their new website. [MVTCID website]
Restaurants/Food
Penn Quarter - The Red Apron Butcher opened this week at 709 D St NW. Yum, yum! [Penn Quarter Living]
Penn Quarter – Bodogs at 614 E St NW has a new website, tables for outside dining, and now offers beer on their menu. Just in time for the warm up we hope to get in March. [Bodogs website]
Downtown - Richard Sandoval (Zengo) will open a Thai restaurant called Mango Tree in CityCenter. [Washington Business Journal]
(We’ll have a dedicated CityCenter update coming soon as there’s lots going on there to mention.)
Crib of the Week (CotW)
We don’t have a Crib of the Week but we did see an interesting update on the condos sold at CityCenter. Recorded prices for sold units have ranged from $417K to $1.7M so far. [Washington Business Journal]
Foodie Radar: JBF Nominees
Liquid Olives at Jaleo
Last week, the James Beard Foundation announced the semifinalists for this year’s awards. Congratulations to our neighborhood nominees:
- Columbia Room at The Passenger – Outstanding Bar Program
- Rogue 24 – Outstanding Bar Program
- Jaleo – Outstanding Restaurant
- Ashok Bajaj, Knightsbridge Restaurant Group (Rasika, 701, and others) – Outstanding Restaurateur
- Haidar Karoum, Proof – Best Chef: Mid Atlantic
- Vikram Sunderam, Rasika – Best Chef: Mid Atlantic
The 2014 James Beard Awards will be presented in NYC on May 2 and 5. Good luck everyone!
