Neighborhood Eats: Rogue States Returning, TenPenh Closing

• June 17th 2011

by Rebecca Cooper

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In a ten-day span during which restaurant groupies rushed to Nationals Stadium of all places for a taste of four new restaurants from Shake Shack proprietor Danny Meyer and even more restaurant news — albeit some unconfirmed — came out about Logan Circle, Neighborhood Eats thought it better not to narrow down its weekly coverage to just one area.

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Opening: Rogue States, the burger joint on Connecticut Avenue that was so much maligned by its neighboring office building that it was forced to close, will be back in action next week. Under the new name of Black & Orange, the restaurant is set to reopen June 27 at the same location with a renovated vent system that will prevent burger smell from infiltrating the office building. Black & Orange owner Raynold Mendizabal tells WUSA9 that a second location of the burger restaurant will open soon at 1931 14th Street NW.

Rabbit — a gourmet salad and sandwich shop planning to make “slow food fast” — is hoping to open in Clarendon by the end of the month. This latest venture from the TangySweet family will have “chef-driven and chef-composed” food, serve beer and wine, and, of course, the sister restaurants’ tart yogurt. Rabbit will be just the latest restaurant to open in the quickly building out Clarendon Center, joining Pete’s Apizza, BGR The Burger Joint, and Burapa Thai.

Opened: Virtue Feed & Grain, the new 350-seat restaurant and lounge at 106 South Union Street in Old Town, Alexandria that’s the brainchild of the Restaurant Eve/Eamonn’s owners, opened on June 10. Virtue serves a moderately priced menu of their take on pub fare: “morsels and tidbits” (mac n’ cheese, oysters, etc.), “the weird stuff” (kidneys in red wine, oxtail salad, and the like), and main dishes. The two-level space with a patio has taken over a converted feed house — so it’s not just a clever name.

Closing: TenPenh, an old downtown DC standby, recently announced via its Facebook page that it will close its doors July 1. The restaurant wasn’t able to negotiate a new lease for the Pennsylvania Avenue NW space, according to reports, and is considering a relocation, although nothing is official yet.

A few other odds and ends:

• Fat Tire fans, rejoice! This week brought carbonated beverage news of two kinds. Revered Colorado brewer New Belgium announced that it will begin distributing its beers (22-ouncers of Fat Tire, Ranger IPA and Hoptober Ale, to start) to the DC area in August. The brewer has signed contracts with 17 distributors throughout the region. As for a slightly bigger bubble, Top Chef alum Mike Isabella let slip this week that his first solo venture, Graffiato, will have prosecco on tap, a first in the DC region. He told The Feast that he’s “taking a risk” with the move. Graffiato is hoping to open by the end of June.

• Events: Like most weeks in DC, this one is chock full of foodie events, so Neighborhood Eats is going to start highlighting a couple of these at opposite ends of the spectrum. This week’s high-roller event is the International Wine and Food Festival dinner on Friday night. It will run you $120, but it does include a multi-course menu designed by four of DC’s most respected chefs. If you are looking for an on-the-cheap event this week, check out Taste of Dupont where visitors can move from eatery to eatery in Dupont Circle, building a progressive dinner. A $5 ticket gets you samples at each restaurant. The event runs from 6 to 10 p.m.

Rebecca Cooper is a freelance journalist and avid eater that has contributed to TBD, DCist, and Washingtonian.

This article originally published at https://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/neighborhood_eats_rogue_states_returning_tenpenh_closing/3673.