Monday, Prince of Petworth said he had heard a rumor that Luke’s Lobster Shack, which has four New York locations, is coming to 622 E Street, Northwest, in DC’s Penn Quarter. A representative for the company tells us that owner Luke Holden, a graduate of Georgetown University, has been in DC scouting spaces and likes lots of neighborhoods, but the rep wouldn’t expand further.
This week brought news of a number of restaurants on the horizon:
• Nycci Nellis told us on Twitter that Nathan and Lindsey Auchter are taking over the former Kemble Park Tavern space in DC’s Palisades for a place called Salt & Pepper. The Web site is here.
• From the Feast come details on a comfort-food spot in Columbia Heights, in a space that was most recently home to Social (1400 Meridian Pl., NW). A lawyer, Jeremy Mintz, and former Black Squirrel manager Alejandro Umrez will feature a comfort-food menu with such items as sliders and “traditional diner fare.” The atmosphere: “1970s Hollywood, in the style of Steve McQueen and Paul Newman.” Bring on the casseroles?
• Pitango Gelato, which has three Washington locations (Penn Quarter, Logan Circle, Reston Town Center) and one Baltimore storefront, has just signed a lease for a shop on Capitol Hill.
• Also coming to Capitol Hill: Senart’s Oyster & Chop House, slated to open next week, according to Urban Daddy. The menu includes six to eight kinds of oysters, prime rib, lobster-roll sliders, and Cayman snapper-and-turtle soup.
Tom Sietsema of the Washington Post has an update on a favorite pastry chef who had all but disappeared. Heather Roth (you might remember her as Heather Chittum from a brief run on Top Chef: Just Desserts and cooking at Hook most recently) has turned up at L’Academie de Cuisine—her alma mater—as admissions director. She also started a custom-made-pastries business called Love and Butter Bakeshop.
The Washington City Paper has finally filled its food-columnist vacancy, previously occupied by Tim Carman, now at the Washington Post. Chris Shott, who used to work at the City Paper and was most recently at the New York Observer, took the reins this week. His first order of business: breakfast tacos at Taqueria Nacional near Union Station. ¡Olé!
Businessman Donald Trump took a break from his possible presidential run to purchase Kluge Estate Winery and Vineyard at a foreclosure auction yesterday, reports the Washington Post. Annie Gowen writes that he paid $6.2 million for the 776-acre property, and it has a $28 million mortgage on it. Trump said he will probably ask former owner Patricia Kluge and her husband, William Moses, to keep the place running. Virginia state secretary of agriculture Todd Haymore is quoted as saying that he believes Trump can “take Virginia wines to greater heights.”
Subscribe to Washingtonian
Follow Washingtonian on Twitter
Follow the Best Bites Bloggers on Twitter at twitter.com/bestbitesblog
More>> Best Bites Blog | Food & Dining | Restaurant Finder
