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New eatery Homemade Pizza opens its doors at 14th and
Church Streets in Logan Circle. Photo by Mark F. Johnson
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Relief Help fit for a King
Don’t let it be said that Loganites don’t have a heart. While Haitians were being pulled from the rubble in Port-au-Prince over the last few weeks and while food and medical assistance was being delivered to the Caribbean island nation post-earthquake, many of us here in the `hood were pulling dollars out of our pockets to make relief donations. Whole Foods offered to send relief funds as did other businesses in the area, like Starbucks across the street.
Also doing sweet charity was neighboring night spot, Halo, which now goes by the somewhat egotistical name MOVA (the owner’s initials). The bar, which caters to a gay crowd, had a Face book-only invitation to a Haiti relief drive a few Friday nights-ago. Donated liquor flowed and per-person admission helped Haiti. Also spelling relief, a few good-hearted individuals in the area organized their friends to donate money as well as to help to sort out donations of clothing at the Haitian Embassy during Martin Luther King, Jr. weekend.
Speaking of ML King weekend, events at the Circle show just how inclusive the United States can be on a good day. There we were, paying honor to Dr. King who not only dreamed of equality for African-Americans but also gave his life in pursuit thereof, while hundreds of gay men dressed (or undressed) in leather paraded around in the streets as they have every MLK Day weekend for the past several years when the Mid Atlantic Leather contest has been held at Logan Circle’s Washington Plaza Hotel.
The End of Pizza Rut?
Delivery optional might soon become the catch phrase for Logan Circle and other nearby pizza lovers! Since the opening of Homemade Pizza at the corner of 14th and Church Streets, many of us locals and not-so-locals might opt for “take and bake” instead of “store to door” delivery when its time for pizza. Did you happen to catch the free samples a few weeks ago?
The new spot, born in Chicago where pizza is thick, chewy and really, really delicious, has come to DC for the first time. Although there is an Arlington location, this is the first time to my knowledge that there has been a pizza joint in the city that actually preps the pizza of your choice in their kitchen, for you to bake in yours. This sounds like a good formula for typically busy Loganites. However, the $15 to $20 price for the opportunity to have pre-made home baked pizza might be too much cheese for some. We wish Homemade Pizza the best and welcome them to the `hood! Too bad I can’t just get a baked slice to go!
Where Have All the Flowers Gone?
Soil slinger and plant peddler Garden District has announced bankruptcy. The business, which started at 14th and S Streets in 2002 and soon spread like a vine down to 14th and Church is getting close to, well, withering away. Owner Joe Carmack has reportedly attributed part of his business slump to Whole Foods. They cut the bottom out of his Christmas tree business he has allegedly said, by selling the Noel annuals for less. Carmack closed the Church Street location, which opened in 2008 in the fall of last year. Right now, Garden District is consolidated on the open lot at 14th and S Streets, caddy corner from its original location.
Go Mama Go will soon be closing. Owner Jonathan Chudnoff has officially announced his plans to shutter the 14th Street staple sometime this spring. He has been helping the landlord to find a new tenant to replace the store, whose lease isn’t officially up until next year. Word is that other eating establishments are eager to get this space.
I fear that 14th Street is becoming another Connecticut Avenue with a preponderance of higher-end chain retail stores and restaurants that attract a lot of people who travel to the neighborhood in search of a trendy night on the town experience. Not that this is all bad, but it does do damage to the notion of the area as home to locally-based and one of a kind small businesses. On a recent stroll up 14th Street, I noticed a sign in the window of Dogs by Day that implored neighborhood denizens to “Shop Local and Buy Local!"
Advisory Neighborhood Council Election Results
Logan Circle has had a long history of activists and committed ANC elected officials. In its first meeting of the new year, ANC 2F voted to re-elect attorney Charles Reed as Chair. Mike Bernardo is Vice Chair, Brian Vargas is Secretary and Mike Raymond is Treasurer. The start of the new year/decade finds the Logan Circle ANC in a minor tiff with popular, newish eatery Birch and Barley which now occupies the old Hamburger Mary/Dakota Cowgirl premises. The new restaurant, which seems to be plenty busy much of the time, offers valet parking but the ANC was not notified that the restaurant had made an application to put a valet stand on 14th Street before the application was approved, according to a source. It would appear that many, many more valet stands will soon be popping up on 14th Street. Right now Policy has one as well as Massa 14. The ANC might want to get ready to make peace with the valet stand. |
