A new chicken-focused restaurant plans to open just a short walk away from the Dunn Loring-Merrifield Metro station.
Building permits indicate that GAMA Chicken & BBQ is coming to 2727 Merrilee Drive, Suite G.
The eatery is looking to serve wine, beer and mixed beverages, according to the liquor license application in the window of the spot.
The restaurant will join a plethora of restaurants and retailers, like Lost Dog Cafe and Blackfinn Ameripub, on the ground floor of apartment buildings right by the Metro station.
MPAartfest is returning to McLean in October with a long list of artists set to perform.
Hosted by the McLean Project for the Arts, the free festival is a one-day juried fine art show and sale that features the work of visual artists, along with mini art galleries, live music, food from local restaurants and activities. MPAartfest returns Sunday, Oct. 6.
Here’s the hour-by-hour breakdown on who’s playing:
- 10 a.m. — Djangolaya will kick off MPAartfest with gypsy jazz
- 11 a.m. — Takoma Park-based fiddler, banjoist, singer and scholar Jake Blount will perform with composer Clara Delfina
- noon — Great Guitars featuring three guitarists will take the stage
- 1 p.m. — Bumper Jacksons will bring jazz rhythms and country swing harmonies
- 2 p.m. — DC-based outfit Black Masala will perform Balkan, gypsy, klezmer sounds
- 3 p.m. — Artist Caz Gardiner will bring a 60’s-infused soul-pop sound
- 4 p.m. — Blues Alley Youth Jazz Orchestra, a 15-piece youth swing big band, will close out the festival
The lineup was curated by radio host Ken Avis, according to a press release from the art organization.
While the festival is free, donations and funds raised during the event support MPA exhibitions and programs.
MPAartfest will take place from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. in McLean Central Park (1468 Dolley Madison Blvd).
Photo courtesy McLean Project for the Arts
Blend 111, a new restaurant and wine bar, wants to offer acoustic music to its diners in the Town of Vienna.
The town’s Planning Commission ok’d the restaurant’s application for a live music permit during its meeting last night (Wednesday).
The restaurant is set to open today (Thursday) at 111 Church Street NW, Suite 101.
The locally-owned restaurant will feature food and wine from Spain, France and Venezuela, a “micro-cafe” and cold-pressed juices.
“Our intent is to offer acoustic, that small type of performances,” Michael Biddick from Blend 111 told the commission. “We’re not a lounge. We’re not a bar. We’re not a disco. We are not a dance party scene in the middle of Church Street.”
Biddick said that while the restaurant wants flexible to try out live music during different types of the day, Blend 111 will most likely experiment with having two musicians per month.
Blend 111, which applied to have live music between 10 a.m.-11 p.m. Tuesday-Sunday, plans to have one or two musicians play acoustic instruments inside the restaurant, according to the application.
While Bey Lounge was recently stripped of its live entertainment permit, the Town of Vienna isn’t losing its musical performances at local eateries.
The upcoming Bear Branch Tavern (133 E. Maple Avenue) also wants to entertain patrons with live music.
Blend 111’s application is set to go before the Board of Zoning Appeals on Sept. 18.
Photo via Twitter
Work planned for four Metro stations next summer will impact riders in Vienna, Merrifield and Falls Church.
The Vienna, Dunn Loring, West Falls Church and East Falls Church Metro stations on the Orange Line are slated to be affected next summer, along with four Green Line stations in Maryland. The work is a part of a multi-year project to reconstruct 20 station platforms.
Currently, Metro shut down Yellow and Blue lines south of Ronald Reagan National Airport this summer.
While that reconstruction plan was announced more than a year ago, more details on the Orange Line shutdown are set to get announced in September or October, WTOP reported.
“It is unclear how much of the work will be done with total shutdowns, and how much could involve single-tracking,” WTOP reported.
Until the plans are announced, let Tysons Reporter know in the comments if the Metro work next summer will impact you.
Caboose Brewing Company is releasing new brews to celebrate Virginia Craft Beer Month this August.
The brewery unveiled its new Blackberry Gose this week and plans to release its 300th brew, a Key Lime Gose, next week, according to a press release.
“The Blackberry Gose is a juicy wheat ale with a mild and approachable sourness,” according to the brewery. “It’s jam-packed with blackberries for a fruity and refreshing counterbalance to the ever-present sea salt additions.”
The brewery described its Key Lime Gose as a “tart and fruity wheat ale with key lime and salt character.”
The new Gose ales will have happy hour pricing on Labor Day weekend at Caboose Commons in Merrifield (2918 Eskridge Road) and Caboose Tavern in Vienna (520 Mill Street NE).
The happy hours will be:
- Saturday (Aug. 31) — 7 a.m.-1 a.m. at Caboose Commons, 11 a.m.-midnight at Caboose Tavern
- Sunday (Sept. 1) — 7 a.m.-11 p.m. at Caboose Commons, 11 a.m.-10 p.m. at Caboose Tavern
- Monday (Sept. 2) — 7 a.m.-11 p.m. at Caboose Commons, 12 p.m.-11 p.m. at Caboose Tavern
The brewing company will also have its Fog IPA available in 16-ounce cans on Thursday (Aug. 15) to coincide with a canning event from 8 a.m.-2 p.m. and happy hour on the Fog IPA from 8 a.m.-11 p.m. at Caboose Commons.
Photos courtesy Caboose Brewing Company
Mosaic District-based Custom Ink is now linked to a Beyonce-backed company.
The custom apparel company recently acquired Sidestep, a concert merchandise app, the Washington Business Journal reported.
“Sidestep’s services have been made available at concerts in North America, Europe and Australia. Some of its notable users include Beyonce, Guns N’ Roses, Panic! At the Disco, Fall Out Boy and Adele,” the article said.
Beyonce doesn’t just use the app — she invested $150,000 in Sidestep in 2016, Newsweek reported.
This isn’t the first acquisition for Custom Ink. In 2016, the company procured Represent, a Los Angeles-based social commerce startup.
“[Sidestep’s] service will be paired with Represent’s digital marketing platform to allow artists and entertainers to design, market, print and distribute custom merchandise to fans while streamlining the sales process,” the Washington Business Journal reported.
Based out of its Mosaic District office at 2910 District Avenue, Custom Ink also opened two new stores — one in Bethesda, Md. and another in Charlotte, N.C. — this summer.
Photo via Custom Ink/Facebook
(Updated at 12:40 p.m.) Construction crews hit a gas line, causing a gas leak in McLean this morning (Wednesday).
Units from Fairfax County Fire and Rescue and the Arlington County Fire Department responded to the outside gas leak in the Franklin Park neighborhood at North Nottingham Street and Virginia Avenue around 10 a.m., according to a Fairfax County fire department tweet.
“Workers struck a 2-inch gas line,” the tweet said, adding that the leak did not affect nearby homes.
“Situation currently under control. Crews awaiting gas company,” the tweet said.
About 30 minutes later, Fairfax County Fire and Rescue tweeted that the leak had been stopped.
UPDATE: Leak has beeb stopped. Most units are returning to service. #FCFRD #FairfaxCounty https://t.co/1gXgArq3Cr
— Fairfax County Fire/Rescue (@ffxfirerescue) August 14, 2019
Map via Google Maps
U.S. Park Police are investigating a crash that killed a 29-year-old Sterling man on the George Washington Memorial Parkway in McLean.
U.S. Park Police responded to the crash on northbound GW Parkway near Turkey Run shortly before 6 a.m. on Sunday (Aug. 11) and found a vehicle against a tree in the center median, Sgt. Eduardo Delgado, a U.S. Park Police spokesperson, said.
Fairfax County Fire and Rescue units extricated the vehicle’s only occupant, Santino Deleone, who was pronounced dead on scene, Delgado said.
The U.S. Park Police Criminal Investigation Division and Traffic Safety Unit is currently investigating the crash, Delgado said.
Anyone with information can contact (202) 610-8737, [email protected] or (202) 610-7500.
One dead after GW Parkway crash, northbound lanes closed https://t.co/5nli2zwdQF pic.twitter.com/GLipPPbTHh
— FOX 5 DC (@fox5dc) August 11, 2019
Big Chimneys Park in the City of Falls Church will soon welcome new improvements.
Currently, the aging downtown park has a grill, a grass-covered area, picnic tables and a playground at 210 Gibson Street.
The park is named after two big chimneys, which are believed to have been apart of the first permanent structure built on the land in the city, according to the Falls Church Historical Commission.
The 1.7-acre park is slated to undergo an update, which includes:
- replacing aging play equipment
- adding ADA access from Gundry Drive
- updating landscaping and signage
- creating a new trail
- improving stormwater management
City Manager Wyatt Shields told the City Council at Monday’s meeting that the project will “really enhance that park and make it more welcoming.”
The construction contract is being finalized with the contractors before work starts in October, Shields said.
Shields said that the council may need to revisit the $1.3 million funding for the park’s improvements in the future.
“We are struggling actually to keep that project within the budget,” Shields said. “I’m hoping it won’t be a problem.”
The project is slated to finish next spring.
Image 1 via Google Maps, image 2 via City of Falls Church
Jonathan Fahey, a former federal prosecutor, has thrown his hat into the race for the commonwealth’s attorney position in Fairfax.
Fahey worked on drug, gang and white-collar crime cases as an assistant U.S. attorney in the Eastern District of Virginia, but resigned last month, the Washington Post reported.
He is listed as an Independent candidate for the spot, according to Fairfax County candidate information.
Fahey served as general counsel for the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy last year, according to his LinkedIn. He also was an adjunct professor at American University’s law school and the George Washington University.
Fahey lives in the Falls Church area of Fairfax County near Belvedere Park, according to the Fairfax Bar Association.
Fahey will face off against former U.S. Department of Justice prosecutor Steve Descano, a progressive candidate who ousted Raymond Morrogh in a close race for the Democratic nomination.
The general election is Nov. 5.
Photo via Jonathan Fahey/LinkedIn
