Fogo de Chão releases details on Pike & Rose location ahead of June 24 opening

Fogo de Chão has provided some more specific details about their new Pike & Rose location, the Brazilian steakhouse chain's 41st U.S. location, opening on June 24, 2019. With seating for 300 inside, there will also be open-air patio dining. Indoors, you'll also find an open churrasco grill, and a white Carrera Market Table with seasonal offerings.

Carrera Market Table

The first thing diners will notice when entering the large dining room is a bas relief interpretation of Antonio Carigni's statue, O’Laçador, which personifies the culture of the Brazilian gaucho. That signifies the intent of the chain to represent that tradition in its restaurants. “With our authentic Southern Brazilian culture and cuisine, guests can expect to receive the same experience here in [Pike & Rose] that they would at any of our locations in Brazil,” Fogo de Chão CEO Barry McGowan said in a statement Monday.

24 oz. dry-aged New York Strip

With the Brazilian steakhouse experience having been available in the District and in Montgomery County's biggest arch-rival Tysons for some time, those who have heard about - but not tried - the restaurant often have the misconception that every meal at Fogo de Chão will start at over $50. In reality, there are a variety of dining options and price points.

32 oz. dry-aged Tomahawk Ribeye

There is, of course, that pricey "full churrasco experience" prix fixe menu includes all premium and classic cuts of meat, plus the fresh and seasonal Market Table & Feijoada Bar, and authentic Brazilian side dishes. You could also select a 32 oz. long bone Tomahawk Ribeye or a 24 oz. New York Strip for the whole table.  Each one is dry-aged for a minimum of 42 days.

Weekend Brazilian Brunch

For a relatively-affordable $30, you can choose one selection of fire-roasted meat, along with the Market Table & Feijoada Bar and Brazilian sides. Still too steep? For budget diners, try a Weekday Lunch starting at $15 (includes the seasonal Market Table & Feijoada Bar, plus family-style service of Brazilian side dishes. Guests may choose to add a single selection of fire-roasted meat, or have the Full Churrasco Experience), or the Weekend Brazilian Brunch. The most-affordable option will be Bar Fogo, with dedicated bar staff serving you smaller plates at the bar or on the patio, such as Braised Beef Rib Sliders, Churrasco meat boards, or the house-ground Picanha Burger.

Picanha Burger

Happy Hour customers will enjoy $4 Brazilian bites and beers, $6 South American wines and $8 Brazilian-inspired craft cocktails in the bar (and on the patio) Monday- Friday 4:30-6:30 PM.

Brazilian Seafood Menu

Rounding out the menu options are "Brazilian Cuts," a continuous service of the most popular fire-roasted cuts of Brazil and the Market Table & Feijoada Bar; and a seafood menu of shrimp, fish and even a Seafood Tower. For families, children 6 and under dine free, while children ages 7-12 will dine for half-price. Full pricing information and online reservations are available at the Pike & Rose location's website.

Photos courtesy Fogo de Chao

Cabin John Village construction update (Photos)

Here's a look at the ongoing construction and renovation at the Cabin John Shopping Center (a.k.a. Cabin John Village) at 11325 Seven Locks Road. The upgraded building facade will include a balcony on the corner diagonally across from California Tortilla. You can see the balcony is now in place in these photos below. Despite appearances, all businesses remain open during construction.

Rockville Planning Commission to review consolidation of 3 N. Stonestreet Ave. lots

Self-storage building

planned for combined site

Poverni Sheikh Group has applied to the City of Rockville to consolidate three plats on N. Stonestreet Avenue into one final plat for redevelopment purposes. The applicant proposes to construct a self-storage facility, with 2800 SF of ground-floor retail, on the combined lot at 204 N. Stonestreet Avenue. 204 N. Stonestreet is bordered to the west by the CSX railroad and Metro trackage.

City staff are recommending approval of the final plat, with conditions. The Planning Commission will take up the application at its Wednesday, June 12, 2019 meeting at 7:00 PM at Rockville City Hall.

Hogan capitulates on Beltway express lanes, I-270 express lanes will go to bid

Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan folded up like a card table on the issue of widening the Capital Beltway with tolled Express Lanes yesterday, delaying that proposal, while he and the Maryland Board of Public Works voted to allow a similar plan for a portion of I-270 to move forward to a bidding process. A well-orchestrated anti-highway campaign, backed by big cash funneled from developers who need congestion to justify their urban projects and shadowy dark-money groups from outside Montgomery County, somehow buffaloed Hogan into agreeing to delay the Beltway lanes.

The lanes would be paid for by private contractors, who would recoup their expenses via the tolls on the new lanes. Taxpayers would pay virtually nothing. That arrangement allows the state to bypass the inept Montgomery County Council, which has only worsened congestion since the MoCo political cartel seized control of the Council in 2002.

Why Hogan would capitulate to the noisy 1%, who have received outsize coverage from the cartel-controlled local press, is mind-boggling. It's not the first time. When Hogan had the advantage to choose early voting sites favorable to his party in 2016, he buckled and agreed to a Democratic-favorable site plan. What's the point of being governor if you don't exercise the power you hold?

Treasurer Nancy Kopp sounded confused and unfit to serve on the board, claiming to be unfamiliar with the details of a plan Hogan announced two years ago. She sounded an awful lot like our Council, which spent the last four years outlawing Styrofoam, Raid and teenage tanning beds, when they weren't debating whether or not to ban circus animals. Good God. Once again, Beltway commuters have been hung out to dry by our elected officials at both the county and state levels.

Hogan deserves tremendous credit for coming up with a brilliant end-run around our corrupt, criminal and utterly-incompetent County Council that has failed to reduce traffic congestion AT ALL over decades. His plan could theoretically one day deliver the express lanes on the Beltway via yesterday's vote. The problem is, by capitulating to the delay on the Beltway part, Hogan will be long out of office by the time that phase would begin. Instead of locking it in now, Hogan has left it up to the political winds of 2022 and beyond. We know from painful experience, and the child-like ballot choices of low-information voters, how that's likely to end.

Montgomery County is currently at rock bottom in the region in economic development by every relevant measure, from job creation to new business starts to business growth. Meanwhile, Virginia has successfully built the same type of Express Lanes from D.C. to the Fredericksburg area, and is winning all of the jobs and corporate headquarters. Montgomery County, by contrast, hasn't attracted a single major corporate headquarters in over twenty years.

We cannot reclaim our old status as an economic player in the region until we build the long-delayed new Potomac River crossing to Dulles, the M-83 Highway upcounty, and Express Lanes on the Beltway and I-270. Our County Council is one of the few in America actively trying to prevent infrastructure from being built. It's insane.

Transit is not a viable alternative for the vast majority of those using both interstates. The people who propose it with a straight face know that better than anyone - which is why they have to resort to brute force. No one wants to spend two-to-three hours commuting each way daily via transit. The Council's goal is to maintain and worsen congestion to justify their $10 billion Bus Rapid Transit boondoggle, and deliver massive profits to their developer sugar daddies.

The Council must be replaced. We need elected officials who respond to the majority of their constituents who commute by car - not to tie-dye advocates of 1960s bus plans, greedy developers and the Rockefeller Foundation. What irony that Hogan, et al, delayed Maryland Beltway relief at the same time Virginia is starting on the final leg of their Express Lanes to Fredericksburg. Montgomery County is now the bedroom community for the booming job centers in Northern Virginia and the District.

The silent majority must rise up and oust these criminals in 2022.

Federal Realty's Rockville headquarters up for lease

Federal Realty Investment Trust's Rockville headquarters at 1626 E. Jefferson Street is now on the market for future lease. The real estate firm, which includes Rockville Town Square, Montrose Crossing, Congressional Plaza and Pike & Rose among its nationwide portfolio, will be moving to a new office building at Pike & Rose when it is completed.

Rockville construction update: Cooper's Hawk (Photos)

Work continues on the future Cooper's Hawk restaurant and winery at the Research Row shopping center in Rockville. More glass has been installed, and the flooring is now being put down inside. They are hiring for all positions - candidates can apply at a trailer outside the restaurant. Cooper's Hawk has a liquor license hearing scheduled for June 20 at 9:00 AM.

Shark Week bigger than ever after Montgomery County loses Discovery

Shark Week 2019 merchandise

arrives in Montgomery County

Discovery Communications is pulling out all the stops for Shark Week 2019, which is scheduled to begin on July 28. A special line of Shark Week merchandise has just arrived in CVS Pharmacy stores in Montgomery County. The annual shark celebration was once a point of pride for the County, when Discovery's corporate headquarters was located in Silver Spring. This year's event will be the first Shark Week since Discovery fled moribund, anti-business Montgomery County for business-friendly Knoxville, Tennessee, and it's a painful reminder of one of the Montgomery County cartel's most humiliating defeats.

Among the great items you will find at CVS are a realistic Shark Week Deep Sea Diver playset, with everything kids need to recreate their favorite Shark Week scenes. The Shark Week Isle of Jaws Collectible Shark Set includes 10 sharks.  There are big Shark Week stuffed sharks hiding in the coral reefs, er, shelves of the display, including a hammerhead.

Pack official Shark Week beach towels for Ocean City, and try to forget a great white surfaced off the shore of Maryland last week. Or play it safe, and watch Shark Week at home on the couch with official Shark Week throws and blankets, including a Shark Week Leopard Shark blanket with "glow in the dark eyes."

Speaking of glowing in the dark, the old Discovery headquarters has become a massive monument to Montgomery moribundity in downtown Silver Spring. The tower looms high above, with the missing Discovery corporate logo giving a ghoulish, haunted vibe. I've captured here some of the final traces of Discovery still left at the building before they are removed.

The Montgomery County Council and expensive economic development entity should have recognized Discovery needed attention when the famous Chompie Shark Week mascot no longer appeared on the facade of the building during Shark Week. Instead, Tennessee actively courted Discovery, ultimately providing the winning site with low taxes, and a campus with direct interstate and airport access in Knoxville. Horrifyingly, we later learned that over the same weeks that Tennessee was sealing the deal in negotiations with Discovery, the Montgomery County Council was taking up all of its time debating whether or not to ban circus animals.

Heckuva job, Brownie!

Nighttime noise ahead for some in Rockville Town Center

The City of Rockville says sewer lines are failing in the vicinity of 1 Dawson Avenue, and 14 S. Adams Street in the Rockville Town Center area, according to a filing with Montgomery County. It has requested a nighttime noise waver to replace the sewer lines starting next week.

Nighttime work on the sewer lines is scheduled to begin on or about June 2, 2019, and will take about two weeks to complete. Work hours will be from 9:00 PM to 7:00 AM. Among those in closest proximity to the noise will be residents of Beall's Grant and the Metropolitan.

Beer & Wine Cellar grand opening Friday in Rockville

The newly-expanded Beer & Wine Cellar, at the back of Congressional Plaza at 146 Congressional Lane in Rockville, will celebrate its Grand Opening tomorrow, May 31, 2019 at 5:00 PM. They now offer fresh sandwiches, which you can enjoy with beer or wine on the premises. There will also now be outdoor seating for this summer season.

Darnestown's Windridge Winery tasting room on Planning Board agenda

Windridge Vineyards grapes growing
along Darnestown Road

Windridge Vineyards at 15700 Darnestown Road in Darnestown has proposed adding a winery tasting room to their property. That proposal is now coming before the Montgomery County Planning Board, at their June 6 meeting.

Map of proposed vehicle access point (in blue)
for the tasting room on Darnestown Road

The proposal includes a new road access point on Darnestown Road, at the Bellingham Drive intersection. Windridge would also provide a 10' multi-use path along the frontage of their property as part of the project. Planning staff is recommending approval of the tasting room. Windridge hopes to open the tasting room this summer.

Sisters: The Village Cafe targeting June opening at Cabin John Shopping Center

Sisters: The Village Cafe is now only weeks away from opening at the Cabin John Shopping Center at 11325 Seven Locks Road in Potomac. The Thai restaurant's manager says they are aiming for an opening in the second week of June.

You can see the outdoor patio is ready to go. Inside is a dessert bar serving Magnolia bakery items, with a retro movie theater marquee. Sisters is right next to Shake Shack, and is from the owners of the Sisters restaurants in Fairfax County.

Female entrepreneurs spotlighted at Rockville Town Square pop-up shop

Several woman-owned local businesses are participating in a temporary pop-up shop spotlighting female entrepreneurs at Rockville Town Square. Arcay Chocolates, Aroma by Anette, Durango Dog Company, and Saints Valley will be selling their products at a vacant storefront next to Sushi Damo on Maryland Avenue through May 26, 2019. The pop-up is open Thursday-Sunday from 11:00 AM to 7:00 PM.

MoCo Council hikes property taxes, slouches toward bankruptcy in disaster budget

Property tax bills will rise for almost all Montgomery County residents in the coming year, after the Montgomery County Council approved a disastrous $5.8 billion FY-20 budget Thursday. The vote virtually ensures future tax hikes will be necessary, as the Council also went on a spending spree despite starting off with a $208 million shortfall. Increases in spending on Montgomery County Public Schools, already proven to have no impact on student performance despite record-large MCPS budgets this decade, will be a major cause of tax hikes down the road. Once the MCPS budget is raised, state law requires the Council to maintain that level of spending going forward.

The fact that the Council had no qualms about spending even more than MCPS asked for despite that binding maintenance-of-effort state law raises questions of the councilmembers' fitness for office. Councilmembers approved the massive spending on MCPS while knowing that there are only two uncertain sources to pay the additional $16 million, and one of those is a one-time $5 million possible payment from the state for upgrading the County's long-failing 911 system. The other $11 million? LOL - they'll figure it out. And thanks to the law, we now have to give MCPS - the system that has declined in performance even as spending on it has surged - that amount every single year going forward. We already are in the red every single year as far out as the forecasts go as it is. Heckuva job, Brownie!

"The annual [property tax] bill for the average homeowner will increase," the Council's press release on the budget vote acknowledges - while not admitting the real-world dollar value of that increase, which is far more than the "average" cost cited often by the County. That tax hike comes after the Council and County Executive Marc Elrich promised voters they would not raise taxes. 

Bloated and filled with loot for the Montgomery County cartel, the budget maintains the corrupt Council's MO of "managing the decline," and continuing our slow slouch towards Gomorrah. The Council has failed to take a single action on our economic development crisis since taking office last December, forgoing for another year any sensible attempt to increase our revenue from commercial development or attracting major corporate headquarters - something Montgomery County hasn't been able to do for over twenty years. Instead, the County has sunk to rock bottom by every economic development benchmark, even behind tiny counties like Culpeper and Rappahannock. It's humiliating.

Considering the Council has raised property taxes every year except 2014, imagine what will happen when the national economy goes into a recession. We are now in the weakest position ever to confront such an economic challenge. Given the County's massive debt, the much-touted AAA bond rating will be in jeopardy as soon as bad times hit, and we are due for a bust cycle any month now. Remember: we have to maintain this level of MCPS spending and county employee pay hikes every year no matter how bad the revenue picture gets.

With that in mind, it's obvious that while our leaders may be tools, they aren't exactly the sharpest tools in the drawer. But that's the caliber of leadership you end up with when most voters don't bother to research the candidates before voting, and simply go by the party affiliation after the name. We can't go on like this.