Tom Sietsema shocked everyone Friday when he shared the news that chef Johnny Spero was calling it quits at Suna. The 27-year-old toque was vague about what prompted the shutter of the new Capitol Hill restaurant, which debuted in November. Acqua Al 2 co-owner Ari Gejdenson was Spero’s partner in the project. [WaPo]
Unfortunate timing: At a Google Hangout Monday, Michelle Obama described how she kept her kids at a healthy weight (by surrounding them with good-for-you foods and exercising with them). And on that same day, she was spotted upstairs at greasy slice spot We, the Pizza. [Politico]
Eater DC broke the not-great news this week that chef Diana Davila-Boldin will be leaving Jackie’s to return to her hometown of Chicago. The chef, whose family hails from Mexico, developed the menu at taco-and-elote restaurant El Chucho in Columbia Heights. Davila-Boldin will be around until mid-April. Meanwhile, know a chef looking of work? Owner Jackie Greenbaum is in the market for a replacement. [Eater DC]
Carol Ross Joynt has all the deets on Obama’s aisle-crossing senators’ dinner at the Parlor Ballroom inside the Jefferson Hotel on Wednesday night. [Washingtonian]
Daikaya is not the first restaurant to list “a six-pack for the kitchen” among its menu items, but still: cute. If you love your ramen, you can reward chef Fukushima and staff for their hard work for the low price of $10. [Young & Hungry]
El Floridano owner Steven Boillon has opened his brick-and-mortar Mothership despite two broken toes, reports Tim Carman. [WaPo]
Pizzeria Paradiso reopened its birreria this week—it’s now first come, first served, says DC Beer. [DC Beer]
Got baked goods tasty enough to sell? A new bill from DC City Council member Mary Cheh could make that easier, DCist reports. If passed, it will offer a regulatory exception for bakers and caters who earn less than $25,000 a year from their treats. [DCist]
Melake Gebre would like to breathe new life into the shuttered space at 2200 Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue, Southeast, that formerly housed Uniontown Bar & Grill. Gebre’s concept, Cherry Hill Bar & Grill, would serve American food, reports the City Paper’s Housing Complex blog. Uniontown closed last year when its former owner was arrested on cocaine-trafficking charges. Gebre is hoping for a summer opening. [Housing Complex]
A Tex-Mex spot from M Crowd Restaurant Group—which owns properties in Houston and Tulsa, per Chevy Chase Patch—is headed to Chevy Chase. Mi Cocina replaces M Café at “5471-5481 Wisconsin Ave.,” according to the site. [Patch]
Pub chain BlackFinn is bringing its Ameripub concept to Dunn Loring in April. There will be 70 beers on tap and a wider menu than that at traditional BlackFinns, according to an Eater DC report. [Eater DC]
Frozen Tropics reports the opening of H Street Coffeehouse and Cafe, the new concept replacing Sova at 1359 H Street, Northeast. H Street is brought to you by the owners of Biergarten Haus next door. [Frozen Tropics]
