Tuesday, October 10, 2017

Gyroland to open in Rockville (Photos)

Maria's Bakery Cafe closed last month at 1701-B3 Rockville Pike. Replacing it soon will be Gyroland, a fast casual restaurant promising authentic Greek cuisine. Along with the namesake gyros will be other dishes, including salads and kebabs. Gyroland will be located at the Shops at Congressional Village.

Monday, October 9, 2017

Akira Ramen & Izakaya soft opening in Rockville (Photos)

Akira Ramen & Izakaya is holding a soft opening this week in Rockville. The new restaurant is located at 1800 Rockville Pike in the new Galvan apartments. Hours during the soft opening, which runs through this Friday, October 13, 2017, will be 5:00-10:00 PM.

Akira combines ramen dishes with casual Japanese gastropub fare. The soft opening menu (click photo below to enlarge for detail) includes 16 appetizers ranging from fried chicken to fried squid legs, 6 ramen bowls, and Green Tea cheesecake with green tea ice cream for dessert. Be one of the first to check it out in Rockville!


Friday, October 6, 2017

Halloween stores face off across Rockville Pike (Photos)

Spirit Halloween in Rockville
Ghouls have overtaken the former REI outdoor store at 1701 Rockville Pike. America's most popular Halloween store, Spirit Halloween, has moved in for the frightful season. Just across the street at 1616 Rockville Pike, in the former Annapolis Lighting showroom, Xtreme Halloween returns to scare up business. Both offer costumes, props and accessories. A tour of the animated props at Spirit Halloween is a Halloween season event in itself. But remember, when you see someone down in a sewer in Montgomery County, it's just as likely to be a crooked County Councilmember as a demonic clown. Well, technically, both are clowns.






Thursday, October 5, 2017

Planners ponder widening Veirs Mill Rd. right-of-way, increasing congestion, and lowering speed limits; mum on property seizures

Ready or not, here they come. Montgomery County planning officials say no decisions or firm proposals have been formulated yet in the development of a Veirs Mill Corridor master plan. But analysis of the most-emphasized talking points at last night's community meeting give us an early hint of what they have in mind. Pedestrian and bicycle improvements were stressed the most, but achieving those may be a source of stress for home and business owners - and commuters - along the busy state highway.
Planners showed an existing Veirs Mill right-of-way that is constrained to as narrow as 100' along stretches near Wheaton. They said a new 120' width would be needed to accommodate all of the pedestrian and cycling amenities they hope to add to the road. That would require taking of property in at least some places. For that reason, planners said they are looking at ways to shrink lanes and the center median instead. Asked if business owners in the commercial areas along Veirs Mill would be threatened by any specific project, planners said it was too early to answer. But, they added, that they would try to use the same alternative methods of creating more space within the existing curbs as they will in residential areas.
Haven't seen many front lawns
this long along Veirs Mill
One problem last night was the graphics which show homes tremendously set back from the road, as you might see in a rural area with front yard septic tanks. In reality, the proposed widening idea would have bicycles whizzing past living room windows in spots where homes are already perilously close to traffic. There would also be a massive loss of mature trees that currently process the exhaust emitted along the road. Utility poles would be another significant challenge. A future 120' right-of-way was first proposed by the latest Kensington-Wheaton master plan.
Among the projects planners want to shoehorn in on Veirs Mill are Bus Rapid Transit lanes, separated bike lanes, and shared-use paths. They also want to install sidewalks where there are none, shown in the red lines in the photo at the top of this article. And like BRT proponents in County government, they're also entertaining the possibility of seizing one traffic lane in each direction for use as BRT lanes.
Losing 33% of vehicle capacity along often-slow-moving Veirs Mill was strongly opposed by attendees at last night's meeting.  "Taking out a lane on Veirs Mill, you're just causing a problem," one resident said. Likewise, homeowners right on the road were displeased to hear about big plans for their already-short front lawns. "That's my house!" declared one 60-year resident of Veirs Mill Road upon seeing her home in a photo planners probably now regret including in the Powerpoint. "How do you get that? That's my property! You're taking my property and reducing the value of my house by a pile!"

While new sidewalks, paths and bike lanes are being sold as needed safety features, the plan remains one actually driven by development interests more than safety interests. As urban planner Jessica McVary acknowledged at the outset of the meeting, this is the first master plan to be a roadway corridor plan. To be realistic, the main reason this plan exists now and the process is underway, is to benefit property owners such as Halpine View.

The fact is that the more paths and bike lanes there are, the larger scale the redevelopment of shopping centers and garden apartments along the corridor can be. That's because the latest way County officials have cooked the books for developers is to count all forms of transportation as capacity, instead of just vehicular capacity. So bike and transit facilities, even if they are lightly used, count fully the same as road capacity. This would allow developers projects of greater density than would be possible if roadways actually received the failing grade they otherwise would.

Impacts on automobile commuters already enraged by traffic congestion appear to be low on planners' priorities. McVary said they will actually make "a decision whether more congestion could be handled" by drivers on Veirs Mill, suggesting that making traffic jams even worse would improve safety for cyclists and pedestrians. A County transportation official in attendance promised the plan would also contain recommendations for lower speed limits, and new speed and red light cameras, cash cows for the corrupt County Council.

The only hope drivers and those who could be impacted by property takings have are that a different County Council will have been elected by the time this plan would be implemented, and that the capital budget costs of installing these improvements will be especially high. Most of Veirs Mill is single-family homes, cutting out the possibility of developers picking up the tab as they would in a totally-redeveloping urban area. And the County Council, facing massive debt loads they've created (debt service would be the third-largest government department in the County if it was a department - yikes!), just moved to slightly reduce how much additional debt the County can take on in the future. That will be a major drain on many capital projects.

"We need a constituency" to get these sidewalks and lanes for bikes and buses, Master Planner Supervisor for Area 2 Nancy Sturgeon said, and residents will have to lobby their elected officials to get it done if they want them. "This is going to end up being a large public-sector project," she predicted.

Wednesday, October 4, 2017

Nada tacos, Scout and Molly's boutique coming to Pike & Rose

Federal Realty signs two tenants
to fill these corner retail spaces
 at The Henri
Two new tenants are signing on at Federal Realty's Pike & Rose development. Nada, a "taco and cocktail joint" from the Cincinnati-based Boca Restaurant Group, will open next year in the ground floor of The Henri luxury apartment building. It will occupy the corner space at Grand Park and Rose Avenues. Right next door to Nada in The Henri will be the second newcomer, Scout and Molly's, a boutique offering in-house stylists and promising a "comfortable" shopping environment for women.

In the great state of Ohio, Nada offers starters like Mexican Poutine and Mex'Orean Fried Chicken alongside the inevitable housemade guacamole. But that guacamole "outpaces most," according to the restaurant critic of ColumbusAlive.com. 

Kreeper Salsa with heat from habaneros and pasilla chiles in the Chicken Tortilla Soup offer some unusual flavors. Of course, tacos take center stage, and are clearly positioned as upscale. Options in Columbus include Fried Avocado and Crispy Pork Belly tacos. They also serve larger plates and a small selection of tapas, including some vegetarian options.
Future home of Nada
and Scout and Molly's in
the ground floor of The Henri
Nada's specialty cocktails in Cincinnati currently include their Nadarita, Chile Mango, and a Brazilian Mule. There is also a "large and exotic selection of blanco, reposado and añejo tequila," the restaurant says. This will be Nada's first East Coast location; their non-Buckeye State locations are in Indianapolis and Nashville. Nada's Pike & Rose location will be 6295 SF, about the size of Owen's Ordinary, for comparison. On paper, it sounds like Nada has a strong chance to maintain the record of top-notch dining options at Pike & Rose.

Meanwhile, Scout and Molly's was founded by Lisa Kornstein Kaufman, whose dream was to open "a place where women would feel comfortable shopping, a place where they didn’t have to worry about what they were wearing when they walked in the store, a place where women could count on a friendly face and an honest opinion." That opinion will come from Scout and Molly's stylists, and their apparel from labels like AG Jeans, Spiritual Gangster, Bernardo, Tees by Tina, Good Hyouman, David Lerner, Olive + Oak, and BLANKNYC.

The chain gets its name from the founder's two Labrador Retrievers, and plans to open 35 new locations in the next 12 months. Scout and Molly's currently has that many nationwide.

Tuesday, October 3, 2017

Starbucks opens at The Daley at Shady Grove Metro apartments

If a stop at Starbucks is critical to getting yourself started for the day, imagine having one downstairs. Residents of The Daley at Shady Grove Metro apartments don't have to imagine it anymore. The building's new onsite Starbucks just opened, just in time for a PSL.

Of course, if you live in the Shady Grove area, this may have just become the closest Starbucks to you, as well. The Daley is located at 8010 Gramercy Boulevard in Rockville, off of Crabbs Branch Way.

Photo courtesy of The Daley at Shady Grove Metro

Monday, October 2, 2017

The Inkas closes in Rockville (Photos)

The Inkas has closed in Rockville, Originally known as Sazon Inka, the Peruvian restaurant more recently had a change in ownership and name. But under any name, the space at 6 N. Washington Street has been totally cleared out, and the Inkas sign is gone. You have to hand it to The Inkas' neighbor, the venerable Apollo, which keeps going year after year in one of the toughest industries to compete in.