New details on The Grove restaurant, opening soon at Cabin John Village in Potomac

I have some more information on The Grove, the new restaurant concept from the Common Plate Hospitality Group opening soon at 7747 Tuckerman Lane, at Cabin John Village in Potomac. The Grove's cuisine will be Belgian-inspired. The team opening the restaurant includes the partners behind the popular Mason Social in Alexandria, Chad Sparrow and Larry Walston, Jr. 

Common Plate and Guapo's veteran Jorge Figueredo will be The Grove's general manager. The Grove's operating hours will be 11:00 AM to 12:00 AM Sunday - Thursday, and 11:00 AM to 2:00 AM on Fridays and Saturdays. Lahinch Tavern and Grill was the previous tenant in the 4473-square-foot space.

Giant limiting self-checkout to 20 items or less, due to "a significant increase in crime"

The other shoe has dropped in Giant's changes to its self-checkout system, and it's landed directly on the shopper's head. Self-checkout will now be limited to 20 items or less, due to "a significant increase in crime and theft that we and many other retailers are experiencing across our market area," Giant President Ira Kress said in a message to customers. He said the new limit, along with the weighing scale recently added to the self-checkout units, will "mitigate the impact of theft to our business."

Under the new system, parents shopping for large families, or anyone who prefers to get their shopping out of the way once a week, will essentially be forced to go through the traditional checkout lines. However, Giant has tended to shut those down as the evening goes on, angering customers who were averse to self-checkout machines. Kress did not specify if Giant will now keep cashiers at the old checkout lines until closing at stores. But he did acknowledge what will be a major impact on many Giant customers.

"We know that these changes may cause some inconvenience or be disruptive to the experience you are used to," Kress said, "and I assure you we are making these changes out of necessity to prioritize the safety of our associates and customers." A shoplifter was recently caught on video assaulting a security guard at the Bethesda Row Giant store. Corporate policy appeared to limit the guard's ability to escalate his response; even after being struck in the face, he could only plaintively continue to ask the shoplifter to show him a receipt. 

Once again, we see how the failure of our elected officials to respond to increasing crime - one of the most basic responsibilities of their offices - creates negative impacts for the law-abiding residents of our community. It's interesting that business leaders will admit crime is increasing, and is a major problem, before our elected officials will.

Spicy McNuggets, Spicy McCrispy return; Strawberry Shortcake McFlurry debuts at McDonald's in Rockville

McDonald's has new, limited-time only menu items in Montgomery County, whether you are seeking something hot or cold. The fast food chain's popular Spicy Chicken McNuggets return for a third time. Also back for an encore are the Spicy McCrispy and Spicy Deluxe McCrispy chicken sandwiches. And for the first time, McDonald's is offering a Strawberry Shortcake McFlurry. It combines vanilla soft-serve ice cream with "strawberry flavored clusters," and shortbread cookies. 

Maryland taxpayers to sink $166M into Baltimore Harborplace scheme

It's deja vu all over again in Baltimore's Inner Harbor. A great gem - a doorstep to the city, if you will! - has somehow fallen into disrepair. But it's not up to the property owner, nor the elected officials who've run the city it's the doorstep to the whole time, to sacrifice for a solution. No, it's you, the hardworking taxpayer of Maryland who must step in, and share your hard-earned dollars with very wealthy developers. Stop me if you've heard this before. 

Are we talking about Union Station in Washington, D.C.? No, it's the Harborplace development in Baltimore. But both now share a special pedigree. These properties have failed...twice. And each time, the taxpayer has involuntarily-volunteered to pick up the tab for "renewal" and "rejuvenation." 

You can't entirely blame the political machines of Charm City and the District of Columbia. They know both cities are more transient than most in America. And both are rapidly gentrifying African-American residents out of their homes and neighborhoods, to make room for more luxury condos for rich, white people. Why, you probably haven't lived here long enough to realize this isn't the first time the city's gemstone was tarnished.

Except, some of us have. I remember when Union Station and the Inner Harbor were said to be in desperate need of revitalization. Some years, and many more taxpayer dollars later, we were told the effort was successful. Shops! Restaurants! Gleaming and new!

Three decades pass.

And suddenly, it's happened again.

Union Station and Harborplace are derelict! They're outdated and have fallen behind the times! Nobody goes there anymore! Wealthy development firms are standing by to save the day, but...they're going to need your help. So they're going to cut us in on the deal? We'll earn a dividend for the tax dollars we're putting up, just like the other investors?

Oh, no. And your investment is not optional. We just rammed it through in Annapolis. The taxpayers of Maryland - yes, even you in the hinterlands, are going to fork over $166 million. And Baltimore City residents, many of whom are living paycheck to paycheck, get to hand over an additional $1 million.

Why are Union Station and Harborplace "derelict and underperforming?" The tenants! Well, wait a minute. Union Station has Shake Shack, Pret-a-Manger, Au Bon Pain and CAVA, names about as hip as train station commercial retail can get. Tourist-driven Harborplace has tourist traps like UNO Chicago Grill, Johnny Rockets and Hooters - it even has The Cheesecake Factory, for Pete's sake! What else would you want to eat by the water? 

Want local, small businesses instead? Charge a rent they can afford for the empty storefronts. 

Well, it's not the tenants or the times, you see. Why don't people want to go to Harborplace or Union Station?

It's that the D.C. government let crime and the homeless take over Union Station. Columbus Circle at sunrise can resemble a giant bedroom, as the least-fortunate of Washington awake from slumber among scurrying rats and trash. Baltimore City let crime run rampant in the Inner Harbor, with tourists often the target. At some point, elected officials have to be held accountable. This is a novel idea in Washington and Baltimore.

$166 million? You could put 415 homeless people into permanent homes in the D.C. area, and even more in Baltimore, for that amount. It could be a not-insubstantial down payment on building the Red Line, especially the Dollar General version of the Red Line pols are cynically trying to pass off on West Baltimore these days. "By the time the buses start running, those voters will have been gentrified out of there, anyway," elected officials must figure. Imagine the parks you could build. Or schools that actually have air conditioning!!

But a better recipient than the general public has been found - wealthy and well-financed developers. The public involuntarily gives generously. Buildings are demolished. New ones rise in their place. The property is sold. Profits are made. Elected officials fail to execute their basic functions to provide a strong business climate, maintain city infrastructure and ensure public safety. 

And the cycle starts over again. We've seen this here in Montgomery County, where a greedy mall buyer along with County officials allowing crime to get out of control led to the demise of Lakeforest Mall in Gaithersburg. As long as our elected officials get away with directing our money to their developer sugar daddies, we'll see it again.

Inner Harbor crime:

"Inner Harbor Mayhem"

"Death at Baltimore's Inner Harbor"

"Dangerous at night"

"3 people robbed at gunpoint in Inner Harbor"

"New Jersey family attacked at Baltimore's Inner Harbor"

"If this is what a Saturday night at the Harbor is going to be like, we will not be going there"

Assault at Rockville store

Rockville City police were called to a store in the 1700 block of Rockville Pike at 11:39 PM on Saturday, April 22, 2023. At least one person at the store was accused of shoplifting, causing property damage, and committing a 2nd degree assault in the incident.

Sneak peek: Capo Deli opening soon in Potomac (Photos)

Another day means another look at yet one more great dining addition to Cabin John Village in Potomac. Today, we're taking a sneak peek inside Capo Deli, opening soon at 7731 Tuckerman Lane. Founded by former Brickside Food & Drink co-owners Brian Vasile and Andy Seligman, the local Italian deli chain now has three locations in the region: Shaw and Western Market in Washington, D.C., and Tysons. 

Capo came to most people's attention via mass media coverage of its adult Capri Sun "Fauci Pouchy" cocktail early in the pandemic lockdown of 2020. It's still on the cocktail menu. A modest list of classic Italian dishes join an extensive selection of sandwiches - and, yes, cannoli is on the dessert menu.

Assault in West End neighborhood of Rockville

Montgomery County police were called to a residential street in the West End neighborhood of Rockville late last night to investigate an assault reported there. The assault was reported in the 700 block of Wilson Avenue at 11:17 PM Saturday, April 22, 2023.