Courtesy of Flickr user Johnny Dollar. Reposted with permission.
On Monday, the Public Broadcasting System announced that “The Antiques Roadshow” will be rolling through Washington, DC, this August. For the uninitiated, the program brings tchotchke collectors out of the woodworks to have their stuff appraised by professional antique dealers. Some of it is crap, some of it is big money, all of it is entertaining.
So what would “Roadshow” pros think of the tiki mugs above? (more…)
Photo: How do you like them snowy apples? From the Dec 5, 2009, farmers market in downtown Silver Spring. Credit: J. Deseo/SSP.
Resolved to eat more fruits and veggies in the new year? Silver Spring’s farmers market can hook you up starting this weekend. Want some cool tchotchkes for your crib? The Fenton Street Market hits you with that in the spring.
On Saturday, FreshFarm holds its first installation of a year-round farmers market in the Downtown Silver Spring shopping center. Expect the locally grown goods to hit Ellsworth Drive at 10:00 a.m., one hour later than usual, a market spokesperson told The Penguin.
FreshFarm considered a year-round market last summer, when it surveyed local shoppers with an informal “pin the dot” poll. Most respondents seemed to dig the idea of 12 months of markets, though a few felt cold weather would make shit out of the experience, according to The Penguin’s unofficial tally of survey results.
Some of that wintry weather already made its presence known to market patrons on Dec 5, 2009, when a relatively small snowpocalypse dropped four inches of slush on apples and greens. The weather that day drew fewer shoppers than usual onto Ellsworth, despite a concurrent crafts fair on that street. (more…)
Two state legislators have pitched a bill that would allow wineries to sell their stuff at farmers markets in Silver Spring and elsewhere, according to the Montgomery County delegation’s website.
Photo: If they can do it in Ann Arbor, Mich, then why can't we do it here? Courtesy of Flickr user Jens.
“We have an emerging wine industry in Maryland with a lot of potential to contribute to our state economy,” Del Brian Feldman, who drafted the bill with fellow District 15 Dem Craig Rice, wrote in an email to The Penguin. ”This bill will help them market their product directly to consumers.”
If the bill becomes law, vintners will be allowed to sell wine by the bottle but not by the glass at farmers markets, and they’ll only be given up to 12 special-event permits each year. “We have 35 wineries in Maryland, and I believe most of them would be eligible to apply for the permits,” Feldman wrote.
Each permit would be valid for three consecutive days, the bill stated. That might mean a single winery can hit the Bethesda farm women’s co-op on a Friday, then downtown Silver Spring’s FreshFarm market on a Saturday, and then wrap up the weekend at either the Takoma Park or Wheaton farmers markets. (more…)
Copyright (c) 2009 by Flickr user Spoffy. Reposted with permission.
While The District’s gay and lesbian community celebrates Tuesday’s baby step towards same-sex marriage, Silver Springers can take comfort in knowing there’s a Drag City in Fenton Village.
But the only T here is steeped in hot water and scented with jasmine. (more…)
Photo: Customers at Mayorga's South Silver Spring coffee house. Courtesy of Flickr user UltimateLibrarian.
The Mayorga Coffee Co. is closing its Georgia Avenue coffee house, according to a press statement on the company’s website.
“Sustainability is such a vital part of everything we do, but the ultimate sustainability is being able to thrive and succeed as a business,” Martin Mayorga, president of the Rockville-based company, announced Wednesday. “Sadly, that is no longer a reality for that location.”
In other words, the store couldn’t turn a profit, said Barry Soorenko, who leases the 6,200 square-foot space along South Silver Spring’s Arts Alley to Mayorga. The coffee company is still obligated to pay $30 per square foot in rent to Soorenko each month, or at least until a new tenant is found, he said.
In the end, it was cheaper for Mayorga to pay rent on a vacant space than it was to keep the coffee house in operation, Soorenko said. (more…)
Searching for sliced prosciutto or gabagool in downtown Silver Spring? Ain’t gonna happen at Jackie’s Restaurant, Fenton Village’s hipster haven. But patrons looking for a stiff drink or rare beer can holler.
Photo: The bar inside Jackie's Restaurant is about to get a little company. Credit: J. Deseo/SSP
Jackie Greenbaum, who runs the eponymous eatery, canceled plans to convert extra space at her Sligo Avenue building into a charcuterie (read: meat market). Instead, she’s tricking it out into a new bar, she told The Penguin at Saturday’s snowy farmers market on Ellsworth Drive.
The bar will occupy what used to be a hair salon plus one other retail space at the corner of Sligo and Georgia Avenue, adjacent to Jackie’s. To satisfy the county’s liquor-control people, the bar technically will be an extension of the restaurant — it’ll connect with the main dining room and its backroom gallery, Greenbaum explained.
But the 1,300 square-foot bar will have a “low-fi” vibe to it. Where Jackie’s is polished and sleek, the bar will be designed for hanging out, shooting pool and possibly playing a little Ms Pac-Man, she said. (more…)
Read The Penguin's coverage of a mass-transit project that might roll through downtown Silver Spring.
What the hell are they building now? Learn more from The Penguin's development coverage.
Boxed wines and rosés are back in vogue. Just ask The Penguin's sommeliers.
