RSS FeedPaul Bakery Ready To Go
Paul Bakery (801 Penn Ave NW) in the Market Square building is looking fine and last night they hosted a preview opening party. The interior is nicely laid out, the furniture looks good and most importantly the pastries were delicious! The official opening is May 2 but we hear that if you head down there today or tomorrow between 10 am and 2 pm, you might find them open. A few photos follow…enjoy! Continue Reading >>
Penn Quarter’s Fiola – Open And Delicious
Editor’s Note: We wish to introduce a new guest writer, KT, to Penn Quarter Living.
The buzz of Fabio Trabocchi’s much anticipated new restaurant Fiola, in DC’s Penn Quarter lives up to the hype.
Upon entering the former Le Paradou space at 601 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, you are greeted by sparkling gold tiles accenting the dark wood modern bar. Hanging above, and providing just the perfect ambient lighting, are large, funky glass light fixtures enticing your eyes up to the high ceiling. Waitstaff, adorned with maroon shirts, white collars and black ties busily make their rounds. Continue Reading >>
Valuable Vacancies
Sure it’s a basement location, but one that is attached to the Warner Theatre, catty-corner to Freedom Plaza, and just blocks to the National Mall and the White House. Yet somehow the old Bluepoint (and even older John Harvard’s) space at 1299 Penn Ave NW is still vacant more than one year later. This seems like the type of location that some enterprising soul (with a lot of cash) could turn into something really special, yet empty it remains 14 or so months later.
Even harder to believe is the old Les Halles space right around the corner at 1201 Penn Ave NW, which has now been vacant for two and a half years. How it is possible that a prime, gigantic location with such great outdoor seating is still empty after all this time?
There are no doubt other locations in PQ that seem to defy market expectations, the northeast corner of 7th & H (former CVS space) NW comes to mind. Are we missing any other egregious examples? No matter what, we certainly hope that when tenants finally move in to these locations that it will have been worth the wait.
Going On Six Years/Like To Write?
A milestone passed by that we failed to acknowledge and that is the five year anniversary of Penn Quarter Living. It’s hard to believe, but the first post from gpliving was on February 7, 2006 about a listening session at the MLK Library. Another post that same day was about the opening of the newly constructed Gallery Place Bed, Bath, and Beyond store. pqresident joined the effort and Columbo was not far behind. Time flies when you’re having fun and 2,100 stories later, the writers here continue to enjoy sharing the growth of our neighborhood with the world. We’d like to acknowledge all of the writers who have contributed to PQ Living over the years. Thanks! We couldn’t have done it without you! And, we couldn’t have done it without our readers. Thanks to you too for reading and commenting!
All that said, we do want to announce that we are looking for new contributors, and if you have a zest for the keyboard, the camera, Facebook, or the tweet button as it relates to an aspect of life in downtown DC and/or Penn Quarter, write us and let us know. Maybe stories pop into your head as you walk 7th Street. Maybe you carry a camera with you snapping shots as you stroll F Street. Maybe you enjoy checking out new restaurants, performances, or neighborhood meetings. If so, we want to hear from you.
For an initial e-mail, please indicate how you relate to the neighborhood (resident, worker, or visitor), how you think you can contribute to Penn Quarter Living, and how frequently you think you can contribute. It may take us a number of days to get back to you, but respond we will. Here’s to another year of great living downtown!
You can reach us through our mailbag at: pqliving [at] gmail.com