A new Asian eatery is opening where another met its fiery demise.
The Lotus Cafe, a pan-Asian restaurant, is putting the not-so-final touches on its storefront at 8077 Georgia Ave, in a part of town known more for its auto repair shops than its eateries. (Anyone wanna name this neighborhood?)
The location previously housed My Le, another Vietnamese restaurant known for its pho noodles. Arson took the restaurant’s interior off the grid in October, though its familiar wood deck with peeling red paint remained unharmed.
It’s unclear whether that arson was ever solved.
Soon after the smoke cleared, rumors began to percolate that the adjacent Jackie’s Restaurant would expand into the space. However, restaurateur Jackie Greenbaum told The Penguin earlier this year that wasn’t going to happen.
Instead, Greenbaum took over a hair salon in the same building to develop a specialty-foods shop, according to the Washington City Paper. A recent peek through the window there revealed avocado-green walls and no furniture.
Getting back to the future Lotus Cafe, it will serve Vietnamese and other Asian dishes, according to a woman overseeing renovations who identified herself as Kimberly. At the time, Kimberly predicted the restaurant would open in a few weeks and was waiting for its liquor license.
By Sunday, a bright orange poster announcing the cafe’s application for a liquor license was gone from a window. New furniture could be seen bubble wrapped and stacked inside a freshly painted dining room.
And the red paint on that wooden deck? Still peeling.
Lead photo courtesy of Flickr user Chip Py the Photo Guy.
August 21, 2008
6 Comments at "New restaurant rises from My Le’s ashes"
Whatever happened to the people who ran My Le?
I hope the new place has vegetarian dishes that are long on veggies and short on noodles. Hope they had that coffee drink, I think it was called French Coffee, that My Le used to serve.
At any rate, good reporting, Jennifer! Nothing like going to the place where news happens.
The area could use a good asian bakery like the ones you see in Chinatown, NYC. Right now, I have to trek all the way to Maria’s Bakery in Rockville to get my asian baked goods.
The neighborhood is called Blair.
Really? I associate that name with the apartment complex near NOAA HQ (The Blairs).
The photos on this page are taken at Gist Ave and Woodbury Dr:
http://activerain.com/blogsview/190760/Silver-Spring-Md-Real
I associate the name with the neighborhood, the park, the road, the mansion, and the man. ‘Course, it’s been a while since I’ve watched the SS video, so I should give it another gander.
Naming the neighborhood - What about SoCo? I have just started a blog (http://socoeats.blogspot.com/) that covers this area for dining and food news - also the sourcing of food. The name refers to south of Colesville Rd. At least in my mind, it covers south from Colesville to the District line. And let’s hope the My-Le folks get their place running again soon - I miss it.
Holler back.