Second State, the Pennsylvania-themed restaurant at 1831 M St. NW, has closed permanently, according to its owner.

Second State, the Pennsylvania-themed restaurant, has closed. (Photo: Screenshot)

An anonymous reader told PoPville on Thursday that the restaurant and bar appeared to be “closed until further notice.” The restaurant, owned by Reese Gardner’s Wooden Nickel Bar Co., only opened in October in the former Mighty Pint space, which Gardner also owned. A message on Second State’s website says, “We regret to inform you we will be closed until further notice due to continued maintenance issues.”

But, the windows are papered over and sources say Second State vacated its space after service on Wednesday after allegedly getting behind on its rent.

Gardner, who is on vacation, told DC on Heels in an email Saturday that Second State “closed because of continued plumbing issues and leaks from the salon above us disrupting business. The landlord, who also happens to own the salon, has neglected to fulfill his obligations to properly maintain the space to where it’s safe and suitable to serve food.”

He said the restaurant closed “after another plumbing backup causing us to close for business. As you can probably guess, this is now in the hands of our attorneys. We won’t be going back into the space, and this doesn’t effect the other venues.”

Wooden Nickel also owns Copperwood Tavern in the Village of Shirlington, Orange Anchor in Washington Harbor and Irish Whiskey Public House in Dupont.

Lupo Verde to open second location in Palisades

The office building at 1848 MacArthur Blvd. will become Lupo Verde’s second location. (Photo: MRIS)

Med Lahlou and Antonio Matarazzo of the Lalou Group will open a second location of their Italian restaurant, Lupo Verde, at 4818 MacArthur Blvd. NW in the Palisades neighborhood this November.

Lahlou, a resident of the Palisades for the last decade, purchased the 3,200-square-foot, restored, brick three-story building The restaurant will open with dinner service and brunch will be added at a later date.

Executive chef Domenico Apollaro will oversee the menu, which will be similar to its sister restaurant on 14th Street NW. Like its sister, the new restaurant will serve rustic, Italian small plates, house-made charcuteries, cheeses, breads and antipasti. The menu will also include wood-fired pizzas, eight house-made pastas and eight entrée selections including whole roasted fish and a premiere selection of meats during dinner. Apollaro will be joined in the kitchen by two new sous chefs from Italy, who will be a part of the opening team.

The new location will also feature a first floor retail shop where customers can purchase house-made items and imported Italian olive oil. Fresh and dried house-made pastas will be available for purchase by the kilo, along with house-made jams, signature pasta sauces and other imported Italian products.

Francesco Amodeo of Don Ciccio & Figli will assist with the beverage program, which will include craft cocktails incorporating house-made vermouth and liquors made by aging fruit in oak barrels. Lupo Verde will also offer a boutique wine list with 100 wines will be available by the bottle; 70 percent of which incorporate Italian grapes.

Lisa Halloran of Sculptures of Space, who designed the 14th Street location, will design the space. In addition to the retail shop, there will be a private chef’s table for up to eight diners on the first floor The second floor seats 45, which includes a larger bar and a high top communal table with additional tables for dining. On the third floor, there will be an an intimate bar and 50 additional seats.

Dolcezza to open Mom & Pop in Mosaic District

Dolcezza Gelato & Coffee will open its latest concept, Mom & Pop, at 2909 District Ave. in Fairfax’s Mosaic District on July 1.

Dolcezza is converting its former coffee shop in the Mosaic District into the Mom and Pop sandwich shop. (Photo: Eater)

Dolcezza will partner D.C. artisans such as Nate Anda of Red Apron Butchery, to offer pre-packaged sandwiches and snacks. A freezer with pints of Dolcezza’s seasonal gelato and push pops will also be available along with several varieties of Stumptown coffee and morning pastries from Paisley Fig by Room 11.

Sandwiches available on Mom & Pop’s opening menu will include grilled cheese with Red Apron’s spicy smoked pimento cheese; sliced ham with salted butter and aged cheddar cheese; smoked chicken salad with cranberries, celery, smoked mayo, sour cream, onions and parsley; and shaved roast beef with Calabrian aioli, arugula and pickled fennel. A variety of seasonal quiches will also be available such as asparagus and Swiss; bacon and cheddar; and kale, feta and spinach. All sandwiches and quiches will come with a choice of chips or mixed greens.

Guests can also select from a variety of antipasti items such as marinated olives; sundried tomatoes; marinated artichokes; smoked almonds; chickpea chorizo, cooked chickpeas tossed with a sherry and chorizo vinaigrette garnished with cilantro, diced Spanish chorizo and pickled red onions. Prices range from $2-$20. The restaurant will also offer two red wines, two white wines, three beers and one Prosecco, all of which will be available on tap for $8-$15.

Ower Robb Duncan designed the 900-square-foot, glass-enclosed storefront, which is situated outside the Angelika Theatre. Using a minimalist approach with materials such as cedar wood, concrete, steel and glass, the attention stays focused on the four surounding glass walls with the outside spilling into the space.

Mom & Pop will be open 7 a.m.-11 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 7 a.m.-midnight Friday, 8 a.m.-midnight Saturday and 8 a.m.-10 p.m. Sunday.

Sushiko serving whale crabs

Sushiko , 5455 Wisconsin Avenue, Chevy Chase, is serving “whale” crabs, the elite, colossal sized soft shell crabs, which have a limited season harvested from Maryland’s waters.

Sushiko is serving fried softshell whale crabs.. (Photo: Sushiko)

Priced at $17, the crabs are served “kara-age” style. The soft shell crab is lightly dusted with potato starch then flash fried to achieve a light crisp exterior so they meat stays juicy and shells are crispy and light. Sushiko serves them with a house-made ponzu sauce designed to bring out the “sweetness” of the crabmeat.

Central offering post-theater dinner special

Central, 1001 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, is now offering its $35 pre-theater prix-fixe dinner as a post-theater dinner from 9 p.m.-midnight Monday through Saturday as well.

Central is offering a post-theater prix-fixe menu. (Photo: Cocobella Ballerina)

The pre-/post-theater menu changes seasonally with options scaled for timely going to and coming from the theater or other event. The restaurant is near the National, Warner and Ford Theaters as well as Landmark’s E Street Cinema.

The current pre-/post-theater menu includes the choice of buratta and yellow tomato gazpacho, goat cheese Caesar salad or frisee salad with bacon and a poached egg of an appetizer;
Salmon with zucchini and fennel with citrus-ginger dressing, Michel’s fried chicken with mashed potatoes or vegetarian pearl pasta risotto for an entrée; and a pistachio raspberry tart, Michel’s chocolate bar or house-made ice cream and sorbet for dessert.

Central is also featuring a collection of half bottles of wine representing top producers. The two-glass pours include whites such as Pinot Grigio, Jermann, Friuli-Venezia Guilia, Italy, 2013 for $40; Viognier, Pride Mountain, Sonoma County, CA, 2013 for $50; Chardonnay, Patz & Hall, “Dutton Ranch”, Russian River Valley, CA, 2013 for $60; and reds such as Pinot Noir, Soter, “Mineral Springs Ranch”, Yamhill-Carlton, Oregon, 2011 for $70; Cabernet Sauvignon, Shafer, “One Point Five Sld”, Napa Valley, CA, 2012 for $80; and Cabernet Franc, Palazzo, Napa Valley, CA 2010 for $85.

DC Harvest offers meals to go

http://www.dc-harvest.com/ DC Harvest, 517 H St. NE, is now offering menu items to go. Most dishes from the menu can be ordered by calling the restaurant at 202-629-3296 and stopping in to pick up.

Also this summer, the restaurant will offer weekend market fish specials on Friday and Saturday evenings.

Jameela Hassan in as pastry chef at Macon Bistro & Larder

Jamela Hasson is the new pastry chef at Macon Bistro & Larder. (Photo: Macon Bistro & Larder)

Jameela Hassan has been appointed pastry chef at Macon Bistro & Larder, for the French/southern-inspired neighborhood restaurant at 5520 Connecticut Ave. NW, Chevy Chase.

Hassan brings 12 years of experience. At Macon Bistro, she is reunited with executive chef Daniel Singhofen. Hassan worked as the pastry chef at his three-star restaurant Eola. She is a fourth-generation Washingtonian who fell in love with cooking while watching Lidia Bastianich, Rick Bayless and Julia Child on public television. After spending two years at Allegany College of Maryland, she returned to the District for a pastry job at Peter Smith’s PS 7 Restaurant.

She’s also served stints at Againn and The Hamilton. She most recently served as part of the opening team at Fabio Trabocchi’s Fiola Mare. Hassan joined Macon Bistro & Larder in April 2015 as the larder manager and was promoted to the position of pastry chef this month.

New to the menu are white peach and blackberry cobbler with whiskey and cinnamon ice cream. She also recently introduced a smoked pecan pie, chocolate-cream pie, vinegar pie, as well as a cheese pie and cinnamon sugar donuts with chocolate sauce. Desserts range from $7-$9.

2014 was a year of openings and closings in the DMV food scene. Old favorites closed, new endeavors didn’t pan out and new restaurants replaced them. And even though 2012 and 2013 saw a flurry of new restaurants, there was no slowdown in 2014.

The openings

Lupo Verde, a rustic Italian restaurant, opened at 1401 T St. NW in February after several delays. Owned by restauranteur Med Lalou and managing partner Antonio Matarazzo, it features small plates, house-made charcuteries, breads, pasta and antipasti along with 50 cheeses and house-made pizzas and cured meats.

Chef Richard Sandoval’s Toro Toro opens at Franklin Square in April. (Photo: Mark Heckathorn/DC on Heels)

Chef Richard Sandoval opened another restaurant in the city in April. Toro Toro, a Pan Latin steakhouse, opened at 1300 I St. NW. Meat is the centerpiece of the menu.

In June, José Andrés opened his America Eats Tavern at the Ritz-Carlton Tysons Corner, 1700 Tysons Blvd., McLean. The space formerly housed Michel Richard’s Michel and Maestro from Fabio Trabbochi. America Eats, originally a pop up in Penn Quarter in conjunction with a National Archives exhibit, features American cuisine such as chicken pot pie, she-crab soup, and hush puppies and Virginia hams. It also has an all-American décor with “We the People…” painted on the wall above the open kitchen and flags everywhere.

Boss Shepherd’s opened in July at 1299 Pennsylvania Ave NW next to the Warner Theater with a Southern menu. Also, Chaplin’s Restaurant & Bar, an Asian-inspired restaurant from brothers Ari and Micah Wilder, opened at 1501 9th St. NW in Shaw, and GRK Fresh Greek restaurant opened at 1140 19th St. NW in Dupont. The second location for the chain serves fresh, casual Greek food like gyros, tzatziki sauces, seasoned fries and Agean salad all made in house. It also sells fresh and frozen imported Greek yogurt.

Brookland Pint from the owner of Meridian Pint, opened in August at 716 Monroe St. NE across from Catholic University in the new Monroe Street Market. The bar has 24 beers on tap and the menu features locally grown and harvested foods, many of which are gluten-free or vegan.

Chuy’s Tex-Mex opened in Fairfax in September and at the new Springfield Town Center (above) in October. (Photo: Mark Heckathorn/DC on Heels)

Chuy’s the quirky Tex-Mex restaurant from Austin, Texas, opened its first DMV location at 11219 Lee Highway, Fairfax in September followed by a second location at the new Springfield Town Center in October. The restaurant features all fresh-made dishes with fresh food delivered six days a week. The freezer is smaller than an average home refrigerator. The biggest opening was also in September with DBGB Kitchen and Bar, chef Daniel Boulud’s casual French American restaurant, opening mid-September at 931 H St. NW in CityCenterDC. There was a red carpet, live band, VIPs, celebrities and a Washington Monument carved out of ice. But so far, it hasn’t lived up to the fanfare or steep prices.

October saw DC Harvest open at 517 H St. NE. Chef Arthur Ringle serves a hyper-local seasonal modern American menu with most of the ingredients coming from within the Chesapeake Bay Watershed. Second State, the Pennsylvania themed restaurant, also opened in September at 1831 M. St. NW in the former Mighty Pint space. It caused an uproar when it initially tried to add a $1 upcharge for artisanal ice.

City Perch by James Beard winner and former Wolfgang Puck pastry chef Sherry Yard and former Occidental Grill chef de cuisine Matt Baker opened in late-November at the iPic Theater in the new Pike & Rose Development in North Bethesda. This was probably the most disappointing new restaurant. The highlight of the menu for the Washington Post’s Tom Siestema was the $10 bread board. He only gave the pricey restaurant one star. We wouldn’t be surprised to see it on 2015’s review in the closed column.

In early December, chef Seng Luangrath opened Thip Khao in Columbia Heights. The first Laotian restaurant in the city, opened at 3462 14th St. NW in the former Thaitanic II space

The closings

Palena in Cleveland Park closed in April. (Photo: DC Outlook)

Last year also saw several closings. The most mourned closing was Cleveland Park’s Palena, which closed in April after 13 years. It was evicted for unpaid rent. But fans of chef Frank Ruta won’t have to wait much longer. He’s been hired to take over The Grill Room and Rye Bar at the Capella hotel in Georgetown.

J&G Steakhouse in the W Hotel closed in June, less than a year after it remodeled. It was in the hotel five years. J&G was replaced by Pinea from chef Barry Kaslow, formerly the chef at DGS Delicatessen, featuring Mediterranean cuisine.

August, saw the rum bar Hugo and Chadwick’s both close.

Probably the shortest lived restaurant of 2014 was Fredrik de Pue’s Menu MBK in Penn Quarter. It opened early in 2014 then closed in October, less than nine months later. De Pue’s investors forced the closure when they weren’t receiving as much return on investment as they had expected. The building had previously housed de Pue’s short-lived seafood restaurant, Aqua.

CityZen at the Mandrin Oriental hotel shuttered in mid-December when chef Eric Ziebold left to open his own restaurant., Kinship, in Mount Vernon Triangle in September.

Duffy’s on U Street and Murphy’s of D.C. both closed in November followed by The Passenger and Summer’s Restaurant in Arlington at the end of the year. And though technically not 2014, the Jan. 3, 2015 closings of Lima Lounge and Fujimar Restaurant had been announced. The 10-year lease ended and some of the lounges events will move to The Park on 14th and Barcode and Lima may reopen elsewhere.

Coming in 2015

Jose Andres’ China Chicano, a Peruvian restaurant, is scheduled to open in Penn Quarter in January 2015. (Photo: Popville)

Several new eateries are on the horizon. First out of the gate in the new year is José Andrés, who will open his contemporary Peruvian restaurant, China Chilcano, at 418 7th St. NW in Penn Quarter in January and his vegetable-centric Beefsteak at 22nd and I Streets NW on the GW campus in February.

Nick Pimentel of Room 11 and Genevieve Villamorea will open Bad Saint, a Filipino restaurant at 3226 11th St. NW in Columbia Heights in early 2015.

The spring will see former Bibiana chef Nicholas Stefanelli open Masseria, his own Italian restaurant with southern influcences. at 1344 4th St. NE. Also, chef Jonah Kim, formerly of Baltimore’s shuttered Pabu, will also open Yona, a noodle bar and small plates eatery, at 4000 Wilson Blvd. in in Ballston this spring. Also, chef Amy Brandwein, formerly executive chef at Roberto Donna’s Alba Osteria, will open Centralina at 974 Palmer Alley in CityCenterDC. It will be part Italian restaurant and part market.

Mintwood Place will get a larger sister at 801 O St. NW in Shaw when chef Cedric Maupillier and co-owner Saied Azali open Convivial sometime in last spring or early summer. By day, it will be a more casual hangout and by night it will serve a French-American menu with an emphasis on vegetables and small plates.

Chala, which sells its vegetarian tacos at local farmers markets, will open a brick and mortar shop at 3207 Grace St. NW in Georgetown in June.

David Chang’s Momofuku will open in CityCenterDC this summer. Momofuku Milk Bar, headed by pastry chef and fellow northern Virginia native Christina Tosi, will join the restaurant at CityCenterDC. Also, Virginia native Jeremiah Langhorne comes to D.C. from the renowned McCrady’s Restaurant in Charleston, S.C., to open The Dabney at 1222 9th St. NW this summer. It will center around a wood-fire hearth and focus on ingredients from the Chesapeake Bay and its watershed. The Columbia Room, formerly in The Passenger, will reopen in Blagden Alley above The Dabney at the end of 2015

After 10 years at CityZen, chef Eric Ziebold and his wife Celia Laurent Ziebold will open Kinship at 1015 7th St. NW in Mount Vernon Triangle in September.

Lupo Verde finally opened at the end of February at 1401 T St. NW after several delays. It is one of the newest editions to the hot 14th Street corridor.

Lupo Verde opened at 1401 T St. NW in late February. (Photo: Mark Heckathorn/DC on Heels)

Lupo Verde, owned by restaurateur Med Lalou and managing partner Antonio Matarazzo of the Lalou Group, specializes in rustic northern Italian cuisine. The Lalou group also owns Tunnicliff’s Tavern, Ulah Bistro and Station 4.

The small 100-seat restaurant is spread over two floor. Designed by Lisa Halloran of Sculptures of Space, the first floor includes a 15-seat bar topped with Carrera marble and covered in hand-painted Italian tiles. There’s also a 25-seat lounge and the cheese shop, which showcases a selection of imported and house-made cheese and salami. The second floor includes high ceilings, floor-to ceiling windows, a 10-seat marble bar and 50 seats including a semi-private alcove and a large round table in the buildings cupola that seats groups up to eight. There’s also a gated patio that seats 40 for outdoor dining during the spring and summer. Both floors have rustic exposed brick, crown and base molding, and distressed wood floors and tables.

Inside Lupo Verde (clockwise from top left) the second floor dining room, the cuppola table, the downstairs bar and dining area and the cheese room. (Photos: Mark Heckathorn/DC on Heels)

The space is tight with tables close to each other. The high ceilings and large windows help to open the space up, but with mostly hard surfaces and only curtains to buffer the sound, the noise level is high and you cannot have a private conversation. You’ll hear your neighbors, and they will hear you. We were seated in the back corner of the second floor, which was fine until a large party was seated in the cupola. With 10-12 diners squeezed into the space, we were jostled by waiters, servers and guests coming and going.

Chef de cuisine Domenico Apollaro moved from Italy to take the position at Lupo Verde. A graduate of culinary school in Italy, Apollaro was the executive chef at Eat’s Easy Restaurante in Milan prior to moving to Washington. He also worked as executive chef at Osteria Vista in Lachen, Zurich and served as the chef of the restaurant at Altri Tempi in Marina di Massa and Lucca, Italy. He previously owned three restaurants in Villapiana, Italy.

Apollaro’s menu features small plates, house-made charcuteries, breads and antipasti along with 50 cheeses, five of which are house made while the others come from local farmers or are imported from Italy. Wood-fired pizza and house-made pastas are served along with whole roasted fish and a selections of meats.

Customers can purchase 70 percent of the menu “to go” including the cheeses sold by the ounce, two house-made prosciuttos and other house-cured meats. The fresh and dried house-made pastas will be available for purchase by the kilo, along with house-made sauces and rustic house-made breads.

Lupo Verde’s charcuterie board (clockwise from top left), fried artichoke, Lupacchiotto pizza and warm chocolate cake. (Photos: Mark Heckathorn/DC on Heels)

Our waiter recommended we start with a charcuterie board. We selected the prosciutto San Daniele, which had been aged 18 months; the nocetto di capra, a soft goat cheese; and the casatica di bufala, a soft cow’s milk cheese. The meat and cheeses were served on a board covered with butcher paper with the choices labeled, grilled bread, a strawberry, dried apricots, walnuts and two dressings to drizzle on top. Diners can choose any three items for $13 or five items for $18.

For our antipasti, we chose the fried artichokes with salt and pepper, and a dipping sauce. This was the best dish of the night, with the artichokes fall-apart tender and the dipping sauce tasty. Antipasti range from $6-$12. Then we chose the Lupacchiotto pizza with scamorza, mozzarella and taleggio cheeses, porchetta roast port, arugula and hazelnuts. The pizzas are small (four slices) and cost $12.

House-made pastas include pappardelle with a lamb ragu (left) and lasagna. (Photos: Mark Heckathorn/DC on Heels)

For our pasta courses, my dining companion chose the lasagna, which was excellent, made with meatballs, sausage, béchamel sauce, mozzarella and tomato sauce. It was sweet and spicy, rich and creamy. I’d definitely order it again and recommend it to others. I attempted to order the pasticcio with macaroni and a Neapolitan meat ragu in a puff pastry, only to be told it was no longer on the menu. So I ordered the pappardelle with a lamb ragu. It probably wouldn’t be on my order again. The pastas range from $14-$18 and are available gluten free.

We were getting full, so we skipped the second course, which includes salt baked branzino, crispy prawns, baked chicken, lamb stew and a grilled sirloin. They range from $19-$29. Three choices of sides, which cost $5, come separately and include crispy vegetables with capers and mint; crispy zucchini with scrambled eggs and smoked paprika, and pan seared potatoes and dried red peppers.

For dessert, I chose the warm chocolate cake with strawberry-fiordilatte (a type of mozzarella cheese) gelato with raspberry caviar. The gelato was tasty, but the cake a bit dry. Desserts range from $8-$10, with house-made granita priced at $4 and house-made gelati priced at $5.

Lupo Verde is definitely worth a visit, especially for the charcuterie. I just wish the tables weren’t so close together, the servings not so small and a lot of the menu in Italian, so we had to ask our server about many of the items. It is open Sunday-Thursday from 5 p.m.-2 a.m. and Friday-Saturday from 5 p.m.-3 a.m.