Sunday Morning Bakehouse to open in Rockville next summer

Chef Caroline Yi's baked goods have been such a hit at Pike & Rose's weekend farmers market that landlord Federal Realty is bringing her officially on-board with a bricks-and-mortar location. Sunday Morning Bakehouse, a bakery and cafe, will open at the development in Summer 2019.

Yi is a Montgomery County native who went to Rockville's Wooten High School, and is a graduate of the University of Maryland at College Park. She has been baking almost as long, starting with Christmas cookies at the age of seven.

With seating for up to 35 people, Yi is looking forward to making the transition from take-out farm market sales to sit-down dining next summer. “It’s a different experience when we can plate the meal, rather than a grab and go at the farmer’s market," she said. "We are excited to create a beautiful space where our guests can sit down and enjoy their food with a leisurely cup of coffee.”

What might you expect to enjoy in that space? Yi's French butter croissants that are three days in the making, homemade jam-filled brioche donuts with seasonal flavors, her favorite grilled cheese or tuna salad sandwiches, baked eggs or French-style omelettes, and my personal favorite, twice-baked Elvis croissants filled with roasted peanut butter, fresh bananas and bacon.

Opening up shop just down the Pike from her Rockville stomping grounds is just the icing on the cake for Yi. “I knew if and when I opened my first business it had to be in my hometown," she said. "After visiting Pike & Rose for the first time, I fell in love with it and knew it was the only place I could picture my bakery and café,”

Federal Realty's VP of Leasing, Stuart Biel, said the feeling is mutual. “Having grown up just down the road from Pike & Rose, Caroline is a neighbor," Biel said Tuesday. He predicted Sunday Morning Bakehouse will be "a wonderful addition to the neighborhood, bringing the perfect blend of innovation and comfort with pastries that have delighted patrons at the farm market since it first appeared.”

Photos courtesy Sunday Morning Bakehouse

City Perch adds ground floor patio dining at Pike & Rose

I first noticed tables set up on the sidewalk outside the entrance to the iPic Theaters when I visited Pike & Rose on August 18. It turns out that City Perch Kitchen + Bar, located upstairs in the theater, has now added outdoor dining. The new ground floor patio seating on Grand Park Avenue is available on a first-come, first-served basis.

Also available are new al fresco menu items, as well as an al fresco bar list. The new items take advantage of ingredients from the Up Top Acres rooftop farm, that is literally above the restaurant at the Federal Realty development.

Featured items include a Shrimp Cocktail with green goddess dressing and lemongrass cocktail sauce; Crab Cakes with Old Bay remoulade, frisée and citrus salad, yuzu vinaigrette; a Summer Heirloom Tomato Salad with roasted peaches, burrata, smoked sea salt, passionfruit vinaigrette, aged balsamic, toasted pistachio and basil; a 1924 Caesar Salad with romaine hearts, garlic croutons, Parmigiano-Reggiano and chives; Steak Frites made with a dry-aged striploin, "shoooo-string" fries and béarnaise sauce; and personal 10-inch Margherita, Smoky BBQ and Meatza pizzas.

The new outdoor patio can also be reserved for private events. To make reservations or schedule a private event, visit the City Perch website.

OurBus to launch Rockville-NYC bus servicde

OurBus, a crowdsourced tech company operating intercity and commuter bus routes, plans to soon offer service between Rockville and New York City. The company plans to perform a pilot test of the route over Labor Day weekend.

A test of the OurBus website finds an available trip to New York City on Labor Day for $25.00. The departure stop is really on the far edge of what is considered "Rockville," in the Norbeck Road area at the Georgia Avenue Park & Ride at Georgia Avenue and the InterCounty Connector.

OurBus notes that buses will not always be branded "OurBus" (Worldwide Tours & Travel is listed as the charter company for next Monday's trip). The service offers passengers free WiFi, reclining seats, charging ports, free water, "sanitized" on-board restrooms, and no rescheduling fees. Tickets must be purchased online.

Frosh loses police endorsement to Republican Wolf in AG race

Republican attorney general
candidate Craig Wolf

Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh has lost the endorsement of the Maryland State Fraternal Order of Police he had in 2014. Maryland's police instead chose to endorse Republican Craig Wolf of Howard County in the attorney general race, Wolf announced Thursday.

MD Attorney General Brian Frosh (D)

Craig has been a federal prosecutor with the U.S. Department of Justice, and Assistant State's Attorney in Allegheny County. He has also been President & CEO of the Wine & Spirits Wholesalers of America for more than a decade. Craig enlisted in the U.S. Army at age 40 after the 9/11 attacks, and counts the Meritorious Service Medal and Bronze Star Medal among his commendations, after serving in Operation Enduring Freedom.

It's unusual for a sitting Attorney General to lose the support of law enforcement officials. Wolf suggests the reason may be that Frosh is "more focused on partisan politics in Washington than he is on the public safety issues in our state." Frosh has attempted to take a leading role in the "resistance" to President Trump since 2016, joining or filing multiple legal actions against Trump and his administration.

Rockville construction update: Funeral home turning into retail center (Photos)

Construction workers continue their effort to put the fun back in funeral home. A remodeling of the former funeral parlor at 1170 Rockville PIke aims to bring new life to the old building, by turning it into a retail center with some office space. Bassett remains open during the construction.

Rockville construction update: Aldi (Photos)

Construction of Rockville's newest grocery store continues at the Congressional North shopping center on Rockville Pike. Aldi has promised to open by the end of 2018. Do you think they can do it?

Robin Ficker releases first ad in County Executive campaign

Attorney Robin Ficker has released his first campaign ad in the Montgomery County Executive race, entitled, "This is Our Election." A former state delegate, the Republican has the best chance to win of any GOP candidate for executive in decades. Ficker is the only executive candidate who did not vote for the highly-unpopular Westbard sector plan.

Ficker touts his role in getting term limits on the ballot, which MoCo voters - including a majority of Democrats - overwhelmingly approved in 2016. He also reminds voters that his property tax cap ballot victory years ago was defied by the Council in 2016, when they used the unanimous-vote loophole in the law to pass a record property tax increase that made property taxes a second mortgage for many County residents.

Mostly, Ficker presents himself as a reasonable advocate for good government, tax relief and change, in the mold of the very-successful Gov. Larry Hogan. He also zeroes in on another very weak spot in his opponents' long records - failure to fix I-270, which he correctly notes would help spur economic development in the currently moribund Montgomery County.