Forest Hills Connection | News and Life in Our DC Neighborhood

Covering Forest Hills, Van Ness, North Cleveland Park and Wakefield

Business in Brief: The I’m Eddie Cano people plan a pizzeria, and for indie movie theaters, it’s “No Time to Die”

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The I’m Eddie Cano family continues to grow, slowly: In January, Massimo and Carolyn Papetti revealed plans for a Roman-style pizzeria in Glover Park. And at this point, it might be a spring opening for that new restaurant, and for Italian Bar. The Papettis’ original opening timeline for the coffee and gelato bar two doors down from I’m Eddie Cano (5014 Connecticut Avenue) would have seen it opening in fall 2021. As of I’m Eddie Cano’s March 9th newsletter, they were hoping to complete construction on Italian Bar by the end of March and open in early April.

The Viet Chopsticks family shrinks: Viet Chopsticks (4304 Connecticut) had two sister restaurants when it opened in 2020. Now there is one. The Viet Chopsticks at Lansdowne Town Center in Leesburg closed in January at the end of its ten-year lease.

Flagship planting a lot of flags: The Van Ness Flagship Car Wash (4432 Connecticut) has at least 20 sister locations at this point, including massive indoor car wash in Ashburn that bills itself as one of North America’s largest. The Washington Business Journal interviewed a Flagship owner who joined Donnie Hinton’s business 22 years ago.

Amazon, sans physical bookstores, is still a threat to the indies: “Though it’s now shuttering its physical book outlets, the company persists as a dominant presence online, choking competition and engaging in unfair practices,” writes Politics and Prose co-owner Bradley Graham in The Washington Post.

For indie movie theaters, it’s “No Time to Die”: The Avalon Theatre’s programming and operations director spoke to Business Insider about what he calls “smarthouse” films, and their role in keeping the place up and running in the pandemic.

Cookies, beer and photos for a cause

Cherry Blossoms Fest on a plate: Uptown Market (4465 Connecticut) is one of the Cherry Blossom Festival’s “Cherry Picks” restaurants. Its featured dish: black cherry gazpacho.

Main Streets in brief

Helping local seniors by helping local restaurants: Tenleytown Main Street received a grant from ANC 3D to provide as many as 95 lunches per week, through March 25th, to seniors in need. The restaurants preparing those meal: Tartufo Italian Restaurant and Le Kavacha Bistro, which TMS notes in a recent email update were among the independent, minority-owned restaurants financially impacted by the pandemic. Tenleytown Main Street welcomes donations for projects like its Meals for Seniors at tenleytownmainstreet.org.

Making construction disruption fun: Cleveland Park businesses have 20 months of construction noise and torn-up streets and sidewalks to look forward to as the Cleveland Park Streetscape and Drainage Improvement Project gets under way. Trying to make the best of the situation, Cleveland Park Main Street is organizing “ConstructionFest,” a “wacky and fun celebration” of local businesses from May 21st through June 18th. Look for weird window displays, construction-themed activities, construction-themed cocktails, construction arts and crafts, and a scavenger hunt.

Buzzing with activity: Almost every weekend through May 7th, there’s a Van Ness Main Street-sponsored event. Volunteer to plant bee and butterfly-friendly flowers along Connecticut Avenue. Shop the Carpe Librum used books pop-up on April 9th. And check out the pop-up makers market on May 7th.

Forest Hills Connection is a program of Van Ness Main Street.

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