Tea Dó Contemporary Tea House coming to Rockville (Photos)

Tea Dó, a "contemporary tea house", is taking over the Yocake space at 838-C Rockville Pike. Like its predecessor, Tea Dó will serve boba tea, a.k.a. bubble tea.

But they will also have many Japanese menu items, including edamame, gyoza (Japanese dumplings), seaweed and kani salads, onigiri, a wide variety of teas and mixed drinks, desserts, and Lacas brand coffee.

Floyd's 99 Barbershop coming to Rockville

Floyd's 99 Barbershop is the latest business to sign on at the JBG Companies' Galvan development near Twinbrook Metro in Rockville. The retail portion of the project has been on a tear leasing up recently, with Pie 360, Taipei Tokyo and Dunkin' Donuts coming aboard in the last couple of weeks.

Offering a modern twist on the small-town barbershops of simpler times, Floyd's 99 is a national chain that also has a location in JBG's Downtown Crown development in Gaithersburg.

Other retailers who have leased space at Galvan include Smashburger, Capriotti's, and anchors Safeway and Ethan Allen. The 356 apartment residential portion of the project is expected to open late this year.

“We welcome these new arrivals to Galvan as well as to the greater Rockville Community as a whole,” said Anthony Greenberg, a principal at The JBG Companies, in a statement. “We believe these merchants and the apartments above them will be successful and attractive, and offer excellent options to nearby workers and others in this busy corridor.”

Rendering courtesy JBG

Helen Heneghan Way is "choice" in Rockville street name change

View down the future
Helen Heneghan Way

Former Rockville City Clerk Helen Heneghan's big contributions to the city will be memorialized in a big way. In a 4-1 vote by the Planning Commission last night, commissioners chose to rename Renaissance Street to Helen Heneghan Way, barring final objection by Montgomery County officials.

No current street in the county is named Helen or Heneghan, according to city staff who researched the many names submitted. The name change was initiated by Choice Hotels, which is headquartered across E. Middle Lane from Renaissance Street, and who have a new Cambria Suites hotel along it.

Commissioners whittled down the dozens of choices to 5 finalists, through straw votes. The 5 candidates were Randy Caruso Lane, Helen Heneghan Way, variations on Cairo or Cinema, and Crutchfield.

Randy Caruso Lane had a lot of emotional support from many in the community, garnering the most votes from the public. Caruso is fondly remembered by many residents, including two who spoke at last night's meeting. "Randy touched a lot of lives in the city," one said. Caruso "was a special needs person," he continued, "and this was during a time when people were not very kind to special needs persons." Yet he affected a generation of residents with his positive interactions at community and sports events, supporters testified. Caruso was known to many as the "Mayor of Rockcrest."

Commissioner David Hill said he thought the heartfelt support of residents who submitted Caruso's name, and who don't ordinarily engage in government meetings, deserved extra consideration from the commission.

Heneghan had numerous supporters who had worked with her during her time as City Clerk, or were familiar with her many contributions to the community.

Former mayor Steven Van Grack testified in support of Heneghan last night, saying naming the street after her would be "a certain way of letting people know about" her contributions to the city. Heneghan passed away on July 13.

Van Grack recalled a time when he remarked that "Bill Hanna may have been the finest mayor in the history of Rockville." Rockville racked up 2 of its 4 All-American City awards during Hanna's time in office. Van Grack said Hanna responded, "there wasn’t much done during that tenure without Helen Heneghan." Heneghan's contributions to the city weren't merely in the civic and government realm, Van Grack added. "She raised 5 boys in Rockvllle, who have all excelled in many ways," he noted.

Several commissioners also voiced support for Heneghan. "She did yeoman duty for the city of Rockville," Commissioner Anne Goodman said. Commissioner John Tyner credited Heneghan for the flag in Veterans Park, and in particular, raising the funds for it. "She, frankly, kept St. Mary’s [Church] running," Tyner recalled, adding jokingly that she also "kept Steve Van Grack out of trouble." Commissioner Jack Leiderman said his former neighbor was greatly missed since her passing.

"I'm speechless," Chair Don Hadley said. "It's really a very tough decision." In a second set of straw votes, both Heneghan and Caruso received unanimous support from commissioners.

Ultimately, the commission voted 4-1, with Hill dissenting, for Helen Heneghan Way. Commissioners were eager to ensure Caruso would not be forgotten, suggesting the potential for renaming Hillcrest Park after him. There would also be additional street names in Town Center Phase II to be decided, as well.

Heneghan's name surfaced late in the search process. After resident Patricia Woodward asked the Mayor and Council Monday night to consider Heneghan for the street name, she was encouraged to approach the Planning Commission by Mayor Bridget Donnell Newton. Woodward testified at last night's meeting.

Is Choice Hotels satisfied? Choice representatives declared City Center Way and Peerless Way their favorites prior to the commission's deliberations.

The name now will be run by the County to find out if they have any objections to it.

Pie 360, Taipei Tokyo latest restaurant tenants at Galvan in Rockville

Just a week after Dunkin' Donuts announced it was opening a new store in the JBG Companies' Galvan development, two other eateries have signed on. Pie 360 and Taipei Tokyo will join anchor tenant Safeway at the mixed-use residential project, now under construction at 1800 Rockville Pike. The development is within walking distance of the Twinbrook Metro station.

Pie 360 is a new venture by Coal Fire, and is the latest entry in the new customizable pizza trend. Like Blaze Pizza and &pizza, customers will select every component of the pizza Chipotle-style, and it will be cooked in just a few minutes. Their menu also features panini, salads and desserts, which include a popular banana pudding. Pie 360 has an existing location in Baltimore, and others planned for Alexandria and the District.

Taipei Tokyo will occupy a 4,447 SF space; Pie 360's will be only 2,007 SF.

Galvan is expected to deliver in late 2015; Dunkin' Donuts will open in 2016, as I reported last week.

Yesterday, Davis Construction workers at the Galvan site enjoyed a preview of Pie 360's menu, as the Coal Fire company provided lunch for them. The crew sat down to a feast of 480 slices of pizza, 180 sub slices, and six trays of pasta. And, of course, hundreds of cold drinks, as temperatures reached the upper 90s.

Photos courtesy Maier & Warner

Rockville acts to avoid becoming "safe haven" for massage parlors, prostitution

Rockville's Mayor and Council voted unanimously last night to approve an ordinance that would apply Montgomery County laws to massage parlors in the city. An effort spearheaded by Councilmember Beryl Feinberg led to the measure introduced by Rockville Police Chief Terry Treschuk, which would allow the city to cooperate with Montgomery County Police and Department of Permitting Services in the regulation of "bodywork" businesses like massage spas.

Much like the recent county regulations, the aim of the city ordinance is to fight the growth of human trafficking and prostitution in such enterprises. The growing immigrant population has led to an increase in victims of both crimes who, due to language or fear of being deported, may be unable to seek help from police easily.

The change in the county rules led to concerns that illegal spa businesses squeezed elsewhere in Montgomery would seek refuge in Rockville, making it a "safe haven" for prostitution and human trafficking. Feinberg said about 60 such illegal enterprises have been closed by the county since the new rules went into effect, which created the urgency to extend those rules to the city.

The Mayor and Council voted unanimously to waive the review period for the ordinance, to get the rules into place as quickly as possible.

Rockville city staff member to join MoCo Council panel discussion on Rockville Confederate statue

The absence of Councilmember Tom Moore at last night's Mayor and Council meeting resulted in little argument over the next steps the City of Rockville will take regarding the controversial Confederate statue at the Red Brick Courthouse. In fact, the Mayor and Council ended up voting unanimously on the next communication that will be sent to the Montgomery County Executive and Council on the matter. That email will thank County Executive Ike Leggett for his decision on the statue, and quickly removing the graffiti that defaced it last week. It will also name a city staff member to serve on the County Council task force that will discuss the ultimate fate of the statue beginning August 11.

Leggett's decision was to remove the statue from the courthouse grounds. What remains undecided, is where it will be relocated to.

Councilmember Virginia Onley addressed her decision to withdraw her support for Moore's aborted letter to Leggett, and sign on to a new letter with Mayor Bridget Donnell Newton and Councilmember Beryl Feinberg. Onley said two specific points influenced her choice. First, Moore's letter implied the Mayor and Council had voted on issues they had never actually taken a vote on. Secondly, Moore's suggestion of moving the statue to the Beall-Dawson House was actually impossible, Onley noted. The house is owned by the city, but is rented by the Montgomery County Historical Society.

Resident Joe Jordan criticized Moore's media attacks on the mayor in recent days. In remarks made during the Community Forum segment of the meeting, Jordan took Moore to task for his inflammatory language, in which Moore described Newton as "lawless and unprofessional." Such attacks were "just wrong," Jordan said, and asked that the bickering stop.

The staff member who will represent the city in the discussions will be selected by the City Manager.

Mustache Cafe and Hookah Bar opens in Rockville (Photos)

You won't have to wait for Movember to go to the Mustache Cafe in Rockville. The cafe and hookah bar is open now at 1 Dawson Avenue, right off N. Washington Street. Their website at mustache.cafe is only a mustache as of press time.

The main draw here is hookah more than as a cafe, adding another lounge hangout alternative for tobacco aficionados to the existing Sam's Hookah Bar & Cafe and Vape Ink in Rockville.