Celebrating Fall in Penn Quarter

The cherry blossoms are nice and all, but fall in DC is second to none.  Here in Penn Quarter, there are lots of way to celebrate and enjoy the season.  If we missed anything, let us know in the comments!

• Enjoy Gina Chersevani's (PS7's wunderbartender) fall-themed cuptails.  As the name implies, they are cupcakes with a shot of liquor in them.  October's cuptail is the Headless Horseman, a pumpkin-walnut cake with Blanton's bourbon and spiced cream-cheese frosting.  (Now you see why this is first on our list!)  Each month will bring a new cuptail concoction, and there are some others that will rotate through Fall and Winter.  Check out the Washingtonian's roundup of them all.  (If boozy-cupcakes aren't your thing, Red Velvet will be serving nonalcoholic fall treats, too.  Today's delicacy: caramel apple, "the perfect fall feature.") 
• Celebrate Dia de los Muertos at Oyamel.  According to Oyamel, there will be "creative takes on traditional dishes, featuring special dishes and drinks to die for." 
• Attend Fright at the Museum at the National Museum of Crime and Punishment from October 21st to the 31st - if you're brave enough!  (And if you (or your kids) are not, they are running an event just for kids on October 30th).  
• Carve a bread jack-o-lantern at Paul.  For $15 on Oct 22 or Oct 29, you get a drink and snack, a loaf of bread, and a stencil to carve that bread into your very own jack-o-lantern decoration.  NOTE:  This is only available at Paul's yet-to-be-opened Georgetown location, but since Paul was kind enough to grace Penn Quarter with its presence first, we figured we'd give them a shout-out here.  Check out their new digs at 1078 Wisconsin Ave.  

          OCTOBER 21 UPDATE:  Construction at the new Georgetown Paul is a bit behind, so the Oct 22nd 

          event has been moved to the 29th.  There are now two sessions on the 29th: 10a-12p and 1p-3p.

Neighborhood Meetings

Looking to get more involved in Penn Quarter?  Well, mark your calendars...

The following neighborhood organizations are holding meetings and are always looking for more community input:

• Downtown Neighborhood Association Meeting

          Tuesday October 11 at 6:30 PM

          Calvary Baptist Church: 755 8th Street

• Penn Quarter Neighborhood Association Breakfast Meeting

          Thursday, October 20 at 8:30 AM

          Hard Rock Cafe: 999 E Street

Anthropologie Opens - NOW! - and Announces Hours

At 10AM, Penn Quarter got a bit more chic - Anthropologie, the retail store owned by neighbor Urban Outfitters, officially opened.

With their opening comes their official hours, also:

Protest May Make Commute Difficult

Your commute in or out of Penn Quarter may be difficult this evening - the Stop the Machine group, in solidarity with the separate Occupy DC group, is all over downtown - some at the White House, some at the Chamber of Commerce, chanting "Where are the jobs?," according to NewsChannel 8's Bruce DePuyt.  Occupy DC intends to march to the Newseum, right in the heart of Penn Quarter.

Protesters flood the streets

Check out the live traffic cameras on H near the White House and at 14th and E - and be careful getting home tonight.

Renew your tags!

One of the biggest advantages of Penn Quarter is that you can walk almost anywhere.  Any errand can be completed on foot.

Yet many of us still own cars to leave the city on the weekends or to visit others on the outskirts of town.  For those people: be sure you renew your registration!

FoxNews.com reports that Metropolitan Police are making a practice of throwing people in jail for expired tags.  The police, apparently, are frustrated with the number of expired tags out there.

And this isn't your usual "oh we know you did something, but this is all we have you on" type of thing.  One mother was arrested and detained because of an expired tag and nothing else.

According to D.C. Code, it is illegal to drive a vehicle without proper registration, punishable by a fine of up to $1,000 and/or imprisonment of up to 30 days. 

"Of all places, D.C. could be using its time more prudently," one local resident who has been arrested for an expired tag told FoxNews.

Well, at least we live close to the courthouse and central cell block.

Sightings: Jennifer Aniston

Monday night, Jennifer Aniston and Justin Theroux were spotted at Fiola, according to People Magazine.

She was there with an executive from Lifetime as well as two others, Jeanne Tripplehorn and Patricia Clarkson.  They were involved in a Lifetime mini-series called Five, and Aniston directed one of the segments.

Both Aniston and Theroux had the tagliatelle with Alba white truffle at Fiola, as well as a salad and a bonboloni pastry made with ricotta cheese for dessert.

They stayed until 11:00 p.m. at the Penn Quarter restaurant.

Caldo announces opening date

We posted yesterday about the new Italian restaurant, Caldo, coming to the retail level of Mass Court at 3rd and H N.W.

At that time there was no opening date, but Caldo has now announced it will be opening in early November, 2011.

Early November means we are less than a month away!  As soon as we have an exact date, we'll let you know.

Retail Space at Mass Court Will Be a New Italian Restaurant

Mass Court, the apartment building at 3rd and Massachusetts, has been courting retail development on their first floor for as long as we can remember.  Now, their prayers have been answered by way of Caldo, a new Italian restaurant. 

The menu is already up on the website, and it reveals that appetizers will be between $9 and $18, soup and salad will be $8-$16, and main courses will be $14-$32.

Chef Alfio Celia hails from Ocean City, MD, and it shows in dishes like his seafood lasagna and crab bruschetta.

No opening date has been announced, but we'll keep a watchful eye on it. 

Corner Bakery to Open Monday

We've been waiting since March for this news, and thanks to a tip from our friends at MV Triangle Blog, we're happy to let you know that Corner Bakery will be opening next Monday, October 10th. You can find your fresh-baked bread, sandwiches and sweets at 6th and H NW.

Taste of DC This Weekend

With the nice weather this weekend also comes the Taste of DC - a festival of food, drinks and concerts on October 8, 9 and 10. The festival spans Pennsylvania from 9th to 14th Sts., so no, you really don't have an excuse not to go.

Restaurants representing Penn Quarter include Luke's Lobster, Co Co Sala, Ping Pong, Cedar, and La Tasca, but there will be over 60 restaurants from all over DC (and beyond) joining. The majority of the event is free to attend, but to actually taste DC, you'll need to buy tickets.

If you buy tickets on or before Friday, you can snag 20 food and drink tickets for $25. At the festival, you'll get 10 tickets for $15.



Headlining the concerts are Big & Rich, Styx, and Rusted Root - and if you buy your tickets through Groupon, you can get the tickets for half-off.

• Big & Rich - $16 (Saturday at 8:15p)
  
• Styx - $16 (Sunday at 8:30p)
  
• Rusted Root - $8 (Monday at 4:10p)

Local bands will be on hand throughout the entire weekend, as well, like Once Okay Twice and White Ford Bronco.

Wanna partake in the chili-eating contest (Sunday at 12:30p)? Sign up here. If you'd rather be an innocent bystander, you can watch the mess go down for $8.

Penn Quarter Bodega Needs Your Input

Penn Quarter Bodega, the neighborhood grocery store that is aiming to "provide a complete range of quality grocery products with convenience and a community focus to Penn Quarter residents and nearby workers in an atmosphere to compliment the neighborhood," is hoping to be in place by "early 2012," according to their Facebook page. As they plan their launch, they are looking for some Penn Quarter Insider insight. Help them out by completing this short survey.

Anthropologie Opens Friday

With their tweet "Gimme a D! Gimme a C! Three cheers for our new #DC store!" we've officially been put on notice: Anthropologie will open this Friday, October 7th at 950 F St NW. Hours aren't yet available, but we will keep you posted.

UPDATE:  Though the hours aren't officially posted online yet, we are hearing that the doors will open at 10am on Friday.  

OCTOBER 7TH UPDATE:  Anthropologie has opened its doors - see our updated post for their hours.

A Profile of One Gallery Place Gang

The Washington Post's Courtland Milloy recently profiled one of the gangs often found around Chinatown, a gay black gang called "Check It:"

"Depending on whom you talk to, they’re just a bunch of mischievous gender benders and drama queens, vulnerable gay youths seeking safety in numbers. Or, they’re one of the largest, more aggressive gangs in the city."

"To hear the leader of Check It tell it, there may be some truth to both."

You can read Milloy's full account here.