The X2

V Street, the vegan street food concept from Philadelphia, is tuning it pitch just a bit. The owners have secured a spot in the Apollo Apartment building at 6th and H NE; the same building as Whole Foods and Wydown Coffee. They are currently building out, but it looks like the concept may be changing even before they open. The Washington Post is reporting that V Street is switching from a casual street food concept to a more traditional upscale restaurant -- complete with a name change to Fancy Radish . The name is a play on a dish served at Vedge, one of their high end restaurants in Phila. I was really loving the idea of the causal street food vibe they presented with V Street , but I can appreciate a little diversity in the scene. There are definitely places to get both the counter-service-casual and table-service-sit-down all vegan experience. On the casual side you have places like NuVegan (aka Woodlands), Sticky Fingers, Khepra's, Shouk, Hip City Veg, Fruitive, an...

Happy New Year! Here's to a healthy, fun, and productive 2018. About this blog: By keeping up with and documenting changes along the X2 bus line --the good, the bad, and the... questionable-- it helps me figure out where the city and our neighborhood are heading. It's more than a hobby and I'm the kind of person that loves to observe change over time, especially in the built environment.  With all the bleak and disheartening news emanating from a certain NW address, it helps to focus on the local things, even stuff like restaurant openings & closings, long term transit/infrastructure projects, and far-from-reality proposals for apartment buildings with ground floor retail. All that goes to say that not every post is groundbreaking news, but it is our news. I'll keep trying to make the posts interesting and relevant. As always, for more timely news, more photos, and #hottakes, Twitter is the place I share most often . Here are some openings and coming-s...

High end sneaker and streetwear retailer  A Ma Maniére looks to open on H Street NE. Signage was just installed above the entrance to 1214 H Street NE. A Ma Maniére is one of a bevy of high end fashion retailers from James Whitner. I love his story of opening specialty stores in mid-sized cities like Orlando, Charleston, and Tallahassee as opposed to going straight to New York and LA, whose markets are already full of high end stores. Here is a cool write up on the whole story in Complex. A Ma Maniére is definitely top of the line carrying the like of Off-White, Alexander Wang, and Maison Margiela. 1214 H has been in a long state of reconstruction after being purchased for nearly $1,000,000 in June 2015. This property had been a vacant property for some time even beofre that. It's  listed as having nearly 2,000 square feet  of rentable space, but it's not clear if the store will encompass one or two floors. Probably both. The store is clearly not clos...

DC's eight CAVA restaurant will be opening soon at 523 H Street NE. This will be the second Northeast location for the Greek and Mediterranean fast casual eatery, with the other being just blocks away inside Union Station. No word on exact opening date, but the interior is looking close to finished (perhaps ready for fixtures & equipment) and the exterior is getting a lot of the current attention with final paint jobs, repairs, and whatnot. CAVA employs a build-you-own, quick serve format. In my experience they move the lunch line faster than any other competitors (Chopt's may be as fast, but few others). CAVA is also vegan friendly! The new H Street store appears to be quite small, so I will be curious to see how they handle dining in. Still, grateful to have another quality fast casual option in the neighborhood. 

Conrad from the southwest corner of 10th and I (Eye) Sts NW. City Center is mostly known for its retail components; a collection of stores selling everything from $2 cups of coffee to $140,000 electric cars. Apartments, condos, and thousands of square feet of office space fill out the rest of the spaces. One thing missing though is a hotel. Not that the area is lacking; the Grand Hyatt, Marriott Renaissance, and Marriott Metro Center are less than a block's walk. But soon the development will have its own. The Conrad will be a 360 room hotel run by Hilton and located at the corner of New York Ave and 10th St NW.. The name is inspired by Conrad Hilton, founder of the franchise. Conrad is one of the top Hilton Brands, behind only Waldorf Astoria. And it will join several other Hilton brands already in DC including Canopy, Garden Inn, DoubleTree, Hampton Inn, and Homewood Suites. The new hotel will be the 38th Conrad worldwide. Bryan Voltaggio (Range, Lunch Box, Volt) ...

One of my favorite, most beloved traditions from 15 years living in Mount Pleasant was the Bancroft Elementary PTO Holiday Tree Sale . I didn't even really do the tree thing before moving to DC, but the school sale was obviously for a great cause and if I *did* buy a tree in December, it was only from Bancroft. This was one of many small, regular traditions I loathed to leave behind when moving across town. The past (nearly) two years in Carver have seemingly flown by and I have a whole new set of neighborhood gems, quirks, and traditions to learn and am happy to add this one to the list: The Miner Elementary Holiday Greenery & Bake Sale is this weekend. From the organizers: ​"Buy your holiday trees, wreaths, and garland while supporting the Miner Parent Teacher Organization at the same time! Our second annual Holiday Greenery and Bake Sale is here!  Friday, December 1 from 5-8pm Saturday, December 2nd from 9am-2pm Pre-orders are closed now but we have...

ABRA placards ( PDF ) are up for Allure Lounge at 711 H Street NE. Most recently home to a tax preparation company, 711 H is a storefront in a high foot traffic area near 8th and H; an intersection with several cross town bus routes and a DC Streetcar station. 711 H is between Shoe City and Po Boy Jim. Allure is seeking a class C tavern license, including entertainment endorsement, for a venue with 200 seats and total occupancy load of 400. Proposed hours --including operation, entertainment, and alcohol sales-- are Sunday - Thursday 11AM to 2 AM and until 3 AM on Friday and Saturday.