CELEBRATE CALIFORNIA WINE MONTH IN ROCKVILLE WITH 50% OFF

September is California Wine Month. You can celebrate it in Rockville at Timpano Italian Chophouse in the Montrose Crossing shopping center (at Rockville Pike and the Montrose Parkway) today through Thursday, with 50%-off all California wine bottles!

ROCKVILLE CONSTRUCTION UPDATE: THE UPTON APARTMENTS, CAMBRIA SUITES HOTEL (PHOTOS)

The Duball project is really making progress since my last update. A hybrid of a luxury apartment building (The Upton) and a hotel (Cambria Suites), the building is much more in line with Rockville Town Square than the hodgepodge of projects planned for Town Center Phase II north of there.

Rockville Town Center

The view along Regal Row

Lots of glass is in place

Catch the T2 to Bethesda,
Potomac and
Friendship Heights here

View toward the Regal Cinemas
from E. Middle Lane

CARBÓN PERUVIAN CHICKEN, HAIR CUTTERY CLOSE AT ROCKVILLE TOWN SQUARE (PHOTOS)

The latest casualties at Rockville Town Square are Carbón Peruvian Chicken & Grill, and the Hair Cuttery. Both have closed, with hairdressers at the Hair Cuttery leaving a calling card for clients to follow them to their new King Farm outpost.

Carbón's website is gone, and a call to the restaurant's phone number resulted in a message reporting it had been disconnected. I've heard a rumor it might reopen elsewhere, but have no solid information on that yet.

These closures follow those recently of Cosi, Pho & Rolls, and Oro Pomodoro at the town center.

Empty menu holder

STOLEN CAR, 3 ASSAULTS + MORE - NIGHTSWATCH: ROCKVILLE CRIME UPDATE

Here's a roundup of crimes reported across Rockville on August 24, according to crime data:

Stolen car. 800 block N. Stonestreet Avenue.

Assault. 200 block Rockville Pike.

Assault. 600 block Northcliffe Drive.

Assault. 1300 block Baltimore Road.

Theft. 1100 block Higgins Place.

Theft. 1700 block Rockville Pike.

Theft. 100 block Adclare Road.

Theft. Unit block of Blue Hosta Way.

STANFORD GRILL TO OPEN IN ROCKVILLE (PHOTO)

Stanford Grill, from the creators of Copper Canyon Grill, will open a Rockville location in 2015 at 2000 Tower Oaks Boulevard. According to a press release, the hickory-grilled steakhouse will also feature live music nightly, a full sushi bar, a fire pit, a display bakery and a sizable outdoor terrace.

A signature cocktail line will round out the cuisine at the 400+ seat restaurant.

The restaurant will be located in the ground floor of a large office building.

Photo courtesy Stanford Grill

WHAT'S HOT RIGHT NOW - CITIES OR SUBURBIA? THE ANSWER MAY SURPRISE YOU

Should Rockville urbanize, or remain a suburban area with a vibrant commercial strip along Rockville Pike? There are dangers in chasing the latest trends, when making major planning and development decisions. While we're told White Flint urbanism-on-steroids is the future, it turns out the rumors of the suburban apocalypse were greatly exaggerated. Just two months after data showed more people again moving to the suburbs than to urban cities, sales of condos are being outpaced by single-family homes.

According to the National Association of Realtors, condo sales were flat last month, unchanged from the previous month. During the same period, single-family home sales rose by 2.7%, USA Today reported Friday. Southern and western states recorded the highest number of home sales, while the northeast had no growth over the previous month.

Apparently many Americans are still fond of trees, lawns and backyard barbecues.

BLAZE PIZZA OPENS AT WESTFIELD MONTGOMERY MALL (VIDEO+PHOTOS)

The new Blaze Pizza at Westfield Montgomery Mall in Bethesda opened yesterday, and now you can watch my video review of the pizza. I also tested out their dessert specialty, the S'mores Pie.

For testing purposes, I usually stick to a cheese pizza to better analyze the sauce and crust. That was the case at Blaze Pizza, where I ordered the Classic Red Sauce and a combination of mozzarella and Gorgonzola cheese. The Gorgonzola did seem to go quite well with the flavor of the red sauce, so I would strongly recommend it. You can select whatever toppings you like, as you will see in the video, which shows you the ordering process. As you'll see in my complete video review, there is a nice char on the bottom of the crust.

The S'mores Pie has a nice twist here, replacing the standard graham crackers with McVitie's Biscuits from England. Prince William would approve. Also, I recommend you ask to have your S'mores Pie put into the open fire oven for a more authentic campfire s'mores experience.

That's not a bite out
of the S'mores Pie; I
dropped it on the floor
(it was in a wrapper,
fortunately), and
a piece of the biscuit
snapped off

The S'mores Pie has Hershey's
Chocolate, my favorite

Blaze Pizza has a convenient location, right inside the entrance of the Old Navy wing, across from Aroma Espresso Bar. Like Aroma, Blaze Pizza will have an outdoor patio. That wasn't open yet Wednesday, but the modestly-sized dining room seemed comfortable. You can also see the pizzas going into the roaring fires of the oven from the dining area. Service was excellent, particularly considering it was a soft opening.