• In the cupcakes-versus-macarons battle, how’s this for Washington diplomacy? Metrocurean reports that a new bakery, called the Sweet Lobby, is coming to 404 Eighth Street, Southeast, and will serve both cupcakes and macarons, the dainty French answer to an Oreo.
• Chef Alex McWilliams, who left the newly fused Ardeo + Bardeo (each was previously its own restaurant but were recently renovated to make one) a couple of months ago, turned up at Wagshal’s in DC’s Spring Valley, reports the Going Out Gurus. In addition to running the family-owned deli, McWilliams will help grow owner Bill Fuchs’s new Spring Valley Catering and Wagshal’s Importers.
• Buddha Bar, a swank Asian-fusion restaurant/lounge near the Washington Convention Center, has a new executive chef, says the Washington Business Journal's Missy Frederick. Simon Volante has worked in DC at the Willard Room and the late Jeffrey’s at the Watergate. Most recently, Volante cooked at the Red Restaurant & Bar in Los Angeles, in the Pacific Palms Hotel & Conference Center. There, the menu was a mash-up of Asian cuisine (duck-confit spring rolls), poolside fare (turkey club), and high-end pub grub (Kobe burger with truffle fries).
• Missy Frederick also tells us that Fuel Pizza, based in Charlotte, North Carolina, has signed two leases in DC: at 600 F Street, Northwest, and 1606 K Street, Northwest. Owned by a New York-based company, Fuel has 11 locations in Charlotte, and the menu—the slices channel the big floppy ones from the Big Apple—shows pizzas piled high with toppings: the Buffalo chicken has celery, carrots, cilantro, mozzarella, and cheddar; and the “extreme fuel” has pepperoni, sausage, meatballs, ham, and ground beef. Fuel is the latest in a string of pizza companies that have signed leases in DC; we heard about Mellow Mushroom and Naked Pizza last week.
• In more pizza news, Pasha Bistro on DC’s 17th Street, Northwest, between P and Q, closed Monday and is reopening March 1, under the same ownership, as Pizza No. 17.
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