Wednesday, July 2, 2008

two, two, TWO ANC meetings in ONE day (plus restaurant news)!

i spent this evening at both the anc 2c and 2f meetings. felt like a little anc tourism was warranted tonight, and it was a good chance to see the differences between a commission that has a reputation of being run poorly versus one that was run well.

the 2c meeting was nothing special. the meeting started on time at 6:30 at the kennedy recreation center, and there was barely anything on the agenda. a couple of people asked for letters from the commission seeking approval for things like a memorial tree planting and a restaurant expansion (cocosala is seeking to expand into an adjacent space). the meeting was over in 25 minutes.

it was a 5 minute bike ride over to the washington plaza hotel for the 2f meeting. this one had a real agenda, with presentations from neighborhood police, representatives from the mayor's office, and local business owners looking for the commission's blessing for liquor licenses, etc.

here's a little news on restaurants in the logan area:

- at 1712 14th street (this building), a new restaurant called café salsa (which has another location in old town alexandria) will be opening in mid-august, they hope. they were looking for a temporary (stipulated) liquor license in order to open. the full placarding process, leading to a permanent license, would follow.

- merkado will be closing on the 24th of august, but will be reopening on september 8th as "commissary", which will be a more casual restaurant featuring simple fare like salads, sandwiches, and pizza. the owner also mentioned something about a wide variety of coffee and wifi. sounds to me like a lounge-y type place in the mold of busboys and poets. could be a winner.

all-in-all, it was an interesting evening. can i attend 3 anc meetings in one day? i'll have to try next month...

4 comments:

Mari said...

Sounds like 2C is improving, then again it is close to a holiday.

Shaw Rez said...

Whoa -- interesting report! The new Merkado sounds more like a Tryst than Busboys to me... and sounds awesome!

I never adored Merkado, but it was always a nice option when Logan Tavern was too crowded. And they had the same great bloody marys as Logan Tavern... why am I so obsessed with boody marys?

si said...

hey can you email me if you get this really soon? niello8(at)yahoo.com

Tom A. said...

I'm shocked that Merkado is closing. It's my fav restaurant in the neighborhood, but for some reason it was always the ugly step child to the "mother" Logan Tavern. Same owners though.