Vendors, visitors flood Fenton Village craft mart

By Jennifer Deseo | Dec 30, 2009
Photo: A jewelry vendor at the Fenton Street Market. Credit: J. Deseo/SSP.

Photo: A jewelry vendor at the Fenton Street Market. Credit: J. Deseo/SSP.

Editor’s note: Fenton Village scored a sweet deal in September when the Fenton Street Market opened. Part craft mart, part yard sale, it was popular enough to spawn weekly sales starting spring 2010.

Saturday morning was all about baubles, bicycles and hand-knit scarves at the inaugural Fenton Street Market.

About 40 vendors set up shop in a paved parking lot on Fenton and Silver Spring Avenue. Many sold beaded jewelry, scarves and wool yarn, while others peddled paintings and photographs. A few offered used tchotchkes, Hawaiian shirts and VHS tapes. (It’s what people used to watch before they streamed shows off Hulu.)

Meanwhile, a steady stream of people snaked around vendors’ tables and inspected da goods. Dozens more in their cars circled the block and spilled onto East Silver Spring’s residential streets in search of coveted parking. (more…)

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Fenton Village restaurateur says no to charcuterie, yes to bar

By Jennifer Deseo | Dec 8, 2009

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 Jackies Restaurant is about to get a little company. Credit: J. Deseo/SSP

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…)

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Downtown pizzerias show varying signs of progress

By Jennifer Deseo | Nov 17, 2009
Photo: Flippin' close to the finish. Credit: J. Deseo/SSP.

Photos: Flippin' close to the finish. Credit: J. Deseo/SSP.

UPDATE — On one end of downtown Silver Spring, a franchise pizzeria is poised to fling open its doors and sling a few pies into its ovens. At the other end, a locally owned parlor sprouts slowly from scratch. It’s the tale of two pizzerias on different tracks of development.

On Colesville Road near Ramsey Avenue, Flippin’ Pizza promises to deliver “a slice of New York” to Discovery HQ employees and other area office workers. A quick visual inspection Friday revealed workers adding final touches to the small restaurant’s lighting. An exposed-brick wall framed posters of the Brooklyn Bridge (holler!) and the New York skyline. Two wide wooden paddles hung on a wall behind the counter, next to flat, stacked pizza ovens.

A brief glimpse on Monday morning showed an orange ladder leaning against Flippin’ Pizza’s dining room wall.

Electrical workers inside the restaurant said on Oct 28 that the place would open for business the following week. Almost three weeks later, the place still isn’t open. However, Penguin ninja and Twitter buddy @joshourisman reported seeing employee training inside the place last week. (more…)

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Ethiopian restaurant to replace Mexican cafe on Georgia Ave

By Jennifer Deseo | Oct 6, 2009

Say adios to one Mexican dive, and hello to another Ethiopian restaurant.

Photo: Coming soon. Credit: J. Deseo/SSP.

Photo: Coming soon. Credit: J. Deseo/SSP.

Tijuana’s Mexican Cafe, a dark hole with cheesy atmosphere and cheap food to match its namesake, closed shop on Georgia Avenue at Mayor’s Promenade. It’s not known when it served its last nacho, but a real-estate listing this spring put some part of the building for sale at $250,000.

In Tijuana’s place will be Abyssinia, an Ethiopian restaurant. A “coming soon” banner hung above the doorway in the shade of Tijuana’s weathered green awning, where speakers mounted on the building’s exterior still blared weather and traffic reports from a local radio station.

No opening date has been announced, but a loud orange poster in the restaurant’s front window announced an Oct 15 hearing with the county’s liquor control board. (more…)

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Candy store coming to Georgia Ave storefront

By Jennifer Deseo | Sep 1, 2009
Photo: Who wants candy? Credit: J. Deseo/SSP.

Photo: Who wants candy? Credit: J. Deseo/SSP.

A newly renovated storefront along Georgia Avenue has scored a sweet new tenant: Virginia-based Velatis Caramels.

The 143-year-old company signed a lease for 8408 Georgia Ave last week, Spiro Gioldasis, whose family owns the property, told The Penguin. (That’s right, this is the place that had trees growing out of it until recently.) By Saturday afternoon, Penguin reader Perry Tsay noticed the “coming soon” banner on the building, facing a busy bus stop near eastbound Wayne Avenue. (more…)

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South Silver Spring scores new wine retailer

By Jennifer Deseo | Jul 14, 2009
Photo: Chill, Penguin! Theyre not open yet! Credit: R. Pace/SSP.

Photo: Chill, Penguin! They're not open yet! Credit: R. Pace/SSP.

Workers on Saturday hammered together the final interior touches on the Veridian Market and Wine shop (left), the first retailer to roll at The Veridian apartment building on East-West Highway, South Silver Spring. The shop will offer convenience items like beer and wine, as well as dry-cleaning services, (more…)

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