Trash Cat clothing shop opening this Saturday at the Pleasant Plains Workshop on Georgia

There's a cool-sounding pop-up shop is coming to the Pleasant Plains Workshop this Saturday: Trash Cat, a clothing sale and swap. Their grand opening is this Saturday from 4 to 8 pm, and after that they'll be open Thursdays and Fridays from 2-7pm, Saturdays 1-6pm and Sundays noon to 5pm. Trash Cat will be open until February 25th.


Basically, the shop is a collective organized by four ladies to sell and swap interesting clothes -- some vintage, some new. You can read more on their Facebook page and the the PPW's website.

I've written about the Pleasant Plains Workshop before, it's a cool art venue/gallery/space for events located at 2608 Georgia Avenue NW. In the past, they've had performances and artists have sold their wares. It's a neat venue and worth a visit.

UPDATE: The organizers note that it's a small space, so Saturday might be packed, and they suggested Sunday as another option. There's a Washingtonian piece on it, and here's some more photos they passed along:

People's Noodle Bar now open Monday-Saturday; Senor Chicken is closed

Ramen fans, you are in luck. People's Noodle Bar, the pop-up ramen shop that took over Senor Chicken on Saturday evenings, is now open Monday-Saturday from 5 to 9:30 pm. And along with this, Senor Chicken is now closed indefinitely, so it's ramen only.

Chef Peter He tells DCist that they're going to convert Senor Chicken to People's Noodle Bar, and this is a step along the way.

I interviewed Peter a few months ago and also visited the place -- pretty darn tasty. It's not the ramen you may think of from the packets, it's good noodles, pork, veggies or duck skin, and fresh herbs. The pork is Berkshire pork and other ingredients are from local farmers.

I'm happy for them, and also glad to see another good food spot open -- plus Senor Chicken never seemed to have many customers.

You can follow People's on Twitter. They're located on the Park Road side of DCUSA, just west of 14th Street.

Photo by Justin Grimes

Don't Block the Box comedy show at Wonderland this Friday

Sounds like a fun time at ol' Wonderland this Friday:

Hell yeah! Don't Block the Box is back for our record breaking ninth show at the Wonderland Ballroom! And here's the schedule of events: first you'll drink, then you'll laugh, then you'll drink some more, then you'll dance until the night is over and everyone had a fucking awesome time!

Your headliners:
Doug Powell (Fresh off the release of his new one-hour special "I Am You An Hour From Now" and seen at the DC Improv and the Riot Act Comedy Club)

Tim Miller (Improv feature act, opener for Daniel Tosh, Pablo Francisco, and Bob Marley, from the popular Three Guys On podcast & Sirius/XM radio)

Featuring:
Johno Cain (Riot Act Comedy Club, Virginia Beach Funny Bone)

Moreese Licorish (Broadway Comedy Club, DC Improv)

Hosted by:
Reggie Melbrough (KZ's Comedy Contest winner & headliner, feature at BloomBars, Speakeasy DC)

Show @ 7:30
21 and over
Where: The second floor of Wonderland Ballroom
Price: $3, cash only (coins acceptable!)
Closest Metro station: Only a few blocks from Columbia Heights Station
Parking: Everywhere!
Fun: times a trillion
Bar: Oh, there's a bar

Spotted: DC voting rights posters around the area

I spotted this poster the other day on Georgia Avenue. While I'm not a fan of wheatpastes (see the ANSWER Coalition crap) at least it's now legal for this to be up for 180 days.

And DC voting rights an effort that I think we should all support, since as hopefully you know DC doesn't have a vote in Congress, despite a population bigger than Wyoming and Alaska. To me that's completely unfair, as we're taxpayers and are frequently subjected to the whims of Congress, which can decide to block anything the city tries to do, even if the city council approves it or a referendum passes -- like happened with Initiative 59 a few years ago, which approved medical marijuana and with abortion funding.

To see what you can do, check out DCVote.org.

Intern and volunteer opportunities at the Latin American Youth Center's Art + Media House

Here's some great opportunities with a cool local organization. LAYC does a lot of good things, and the Art + Media House has tons of programs for kids (they designed the mural outside Wonderland) and for adults (I'm taking a class there now, in fact.)

Take a look, and pass it on.

Closed Adams Morgan outdoor marketplace reopens at 14th and Otis

Something I missed: we have a new outdoor market. 


The Unity Marketplace recently closed shop at its old location on Columbia Road in Adams Morgan due to a permit issue. They were open on weekends and they used to sell Latin American crafts and food (the churros and tacos were pretty solid). But now they moved to our area, opening at 14th and Otis in November. They've also expanded when they're open, Tuesdays through Sundays from 7:30am-6:30pm, and they've renamed themselves as the International City Fair.


Metro Diversity has more, including this on the what they'll have:

Food stands feature typical foods from El Salvador, Mexico, Peru, Argentina and the Caribbean. Artisans offer outerwear garments, specialty items and typical crafts. Once established, ICF will expand to include a greater variety of offerings. The objective is to provide healthy, economical food choices with fresh ingredients for a variety of tastes and an attractive, open air street fair for visitors and residents in the heart of the District. 

I haven't had a chance to stop by yet, but it sounds pretty cool. Anyone been?

Room 11 has a new blog on their expansion progress

You may recall that we recently heard that Room 11, the great little bar at 11th and Lamont, is expanding into the space next door. They also just stared using their blog to detail the progress on the expansion: right now they're tearing down walls and things in the spot, which used to be Jeans N Things (here's the location on Google Streetview).

They hope to be finished in early Summer, and it looks like they have their work cut out for them, the place is pretty messed up. I'm really looking forward to it, Room 11 is a great spot if you haven't been. I try to go about once a week. Here's their website.

Target now has a "Bullseye Bodega"

The other day I was at the Target in DCUSA and noticed something odd: in the area on the first floor that used to have bulk items, there were signs for the "Bullseye Bodega." Kind of a weird name, and there didn't seem to be anything out of the ordinary there: things like random decorative vases, paper towels, storage boxes. I guess it's like a bodega in that there are random items you may need, but I don't really see what this accomplishes.

Doing a little research, there was something similar in NYC Target stores, a sort of pop-up for a few weeks where you could "Shop the Bodegas for chic deals in home, fashion, accessories and beauty from our acclaimed roster of design partners."  Unless you consider Target brand paper towels to be "chic" then I don't really get it. They do have some coupons, at least. Strange.

Checking out Smucker Farms, the new Amish store on 14th

The other day I stopped by Smucker Farms of Lancaster County, the new Amish store at 2118 14th Street NW (near W). It's basically a small grocery store with traditional and artisanal items -- think a small version of Whole Foods if everything was from Amish and Mennonite farmers (and some local farmers in the DC area).

The store is actually fairly minimalist, with shelves along the side walls and some displays in the center, plus some other items in the back. There are dry food items (soups, jelly, pasta, root beer, and so on) plus a bit of organic produce, and a lot of farm-raised beef, poultry, pork, eggs and dairy (see that here and here).

They also have dry goods like soap, candles and wooden toys (and kubb sets) in the back area.

When I was there, the cashier was a cousin of founder Eric Smucker, who she said is from Lancaster, the Amish heartland, and has been in DC for nine years.

The place has a lot of nice items, and I'd go back, but it's not your average grocery store: I'm sure there are good things there, but a lot of them I've never tried. You have to have either heard of the relatively popular stuff, like the highly-rated, lard-made Good's Potato Chips, or you have to pick stuff that sounds good or interesting. Definitely not your usual food shopping experience. The prices were a bit higher, but not outrageous, and you certainly get what you pay for. I got a really tasty jug of root beer for about $3 and stroopwaffles, a delicious Dutch treat of waffle cookies with caramel between them, for about the same price.

You should stop by and check it out yourself. It's always nice to have a store with quality items and farm-raised food, especially now that the Columbia Heights Community Marketplace is done for the season. They're open 8am-10pm on weekdays and 9-9 on Saturday and Sunday.

Funny video: "Shit DC People Say"

This video is making the rounds, "Shit DC People Say" by the folks at Social Studies DC. It's not specific to Columbia Heights, but some of the things are certainly familiar (and there is a brief mention: "Shaw is the new Columbia Heights.")

 

Of course, you could make the case that this is more "Shit 20- and 30-something white professional people say in DC" but why take out the fun?

More on Taylor Gourmet's breakfast (and late night and delivery) hoagies

After yesterday's post about breakfast hoagies, the folks at Taylor Gourmet sent me some more info on the sandwiches: take a look.

Survey on the 52-53-54 buses: what can they do better?

Do you ride the 14th Street buses? Do you have any suggestions or complaints about the service? Odds are the answer is yes. I ride that bus occasionally and it seems pretty slow.

Luckily, WMATA has a survey on the bus: where you take it, how the service is, what suggestions you have, and so on. Too crowded? Too slow? Bunched buses? Take a look and fill it out!!!

http://www.metrobus-studies.com/52-53-54/52-53-54.htm