Smith Commons H Street Festival Menu

Smith Commons hopes to  open at 1245 H Street later this year.  In the meantime, they will join a number of other Coming Soon businesses on H Street for the Festival this Saturday.  Here is what they plan to offer: 

menu

• Draught Beer or Smith Sangria + 1/4 Pound Angus Beef Burger + 3 Grilled Tiger Prawns + Tequeno ($10)
• Smith Sangria or Draught Beer ($4)
• 1/4 Pound Angus Beef Burger + Tequeno ($3)
• 3 Grilled Tiger Prawns + Tequeno ($3)

dishes

1/4 Pound Angus Beef Burger
Grilled Portabella Mushrooms, Scallions, Miso Mayonnaise

Grilled Tiger Prawns
Watermelon Virgin Dressing

Tequenos of Queso Blanco
Avocado Dip

draught beer and beverages

Ommegang Witte ABV: 5.1%
Style: Belgian White (Witbier) // Cooperstown, New York USA

Ommegang Abbey Ale ABV: 8.5%
Style: Abbey Dubbel // Cooperstown, New York USA

Flying Dog Raging Bitch ABV: 8.3%
Style: India Pale Ale (IPA) // Frederick, Maryland USA

Flying Dog Dogtoberfest ABV: 5.8%
Style: Oktoberfest/Märzen // Frederick, Maryland USA

Smith Sangria
White Wine, Cointreau
, Fresh Blueberries
, Fresh Strawberries, 
Fresh Oranges, 
Fresh Green Apples
, Simple Syrup

Link roundup

The Hill is Home reports on DC Greenworks and their plans to install green roofs along the H Street Corridor.  DC Greenworks is located at 1341 H St NE, which is also home to the Star and the Shamrock.

The Hill is Home also checked out the H Street Farmers' Market for its latest "market meal." THIH left impressed. No surprise here -- the H Street Market may be smaller than Eastern Market, but the quality of the produce being offered is high with fresh, organic, locally-farmed and raised fruits, vegetables, meats, eggs, and poulty. Eastern Market's Farmers' market offers too much that is not locally-farmed and could otherwise be purchased at the grocery store. H Street's Market is from FreshFarm, which requires that everything be local and is producer-only. Stop by the market, Saturdays from 9 until noon.

The website for the 2010 H Street Festival is up and running with the schedule of events and registration forms.  The Festival is this Saturday, September 18 from noon til 7 p.m. and will cover the 800, 900, 1000, 1100, 1200, and 1300 block of H Street. 

Today is DC's primary election day.  If you did not early vote, this is your last chance to cast a ballot in the primaries.  Check out DCBOEE.org if you have questions about your registration status or polling location.

H St construction update: barriers being moved to south center lane tomorrow

Here's the latest from DDOT (slightly edited).  If all goes according to plan, you will see three paved lanes running out to 13th St prior to the Festival next Saturday, September 18. 

H Street Construction Contractor To Move Jersey Barriers Saturday, September 11,
In Preparation For The H Street Festival

The District Department of Transportation has authorized the H Street construction contractor, Capitol Paving of DC (CPDC), to move the H Street jersey barriers on Saturday, September 11, in preparation for the H Street Festival on Saturday, September 18.

The northernmost bank of jersey barriers from 3rd Street to 13th Street will be shifted south next to the southernmost bank of jersey barriers. During the September 11 work, the northernmost jersey barriers will be replaced with orange traffic barrels for the next few days, while CPDC completes backfilling and clean-up work to make the south center lane usable as a traffic lane.

Then the barrels will be removed, and a lane switch will be put in place with new directional signs. In the new traffic pattern to take effect on or before September 18, the north curb lane will be restored as a parking lane except during morning and afternoon rush hours. There will be three full-time traffic lanes – two for westbound traffic, one for eastbound traffic – and all three will be to the north of the jersey barriers.  The south curb lane – currently serving as the eastbound traffic lane – will be blocked to traffic to accommodate renovation of the roadway and installation of streetcar tracks.

For the H Street Festival on Saturday, September 18, DDOT and its construction managers, MACTEC Engineering & Consulting, and CPDC worked closely with the Festival sponsor, H Street Main Street, to assure that construction activity, barriers, equipment, and signage will not hamper Festival activities.

Festival tents, displays, and entertainment activities will take place on H Street from 8th Street to 14th Street, which will be closed to traffic during the Festival. In the 1300 block, the Festival will have full use of all H Street lanes. In the 800 through 1200 blocks, the Festival will have the use of all lanes except the south curb lane.

The work is part of the District Department of Transportation’s H Street Reconstruction Project. More information about the project is available on the DDOT website, http://ddot.dc.gov/DC/DDOT/ under the Ward 6 portion of the “Projects and Planning” section.

Tommy Wells volunteer opportunity tonight with Argonaut gathering

Ward Six Councilmember Tommy Wells is seeking volunteers tonight to flier the neighborhood with door hangers as part of his get out the vote effort in advance of DC's September 14 primary. Interest parties should meet at Wells' campaign headquarters (621 Pennsylvania Ave SE), tonight at 6:00 p.m. If you are grateful for Tommy's leadership on H Street or his office's assistance in your community, this is a great opportunity to show your support. Volunteers will work their way north towards H Street, distributing door hangers about Tommy's vision for the city and our neighborhood, leaving fliers urging people to remember to vote. Volunteers will reunite at H Street's favorite neighborhood gathering spot, the Argonaut to join Tommy for drinks to celebrate the hard work that has made his campaign successful.

Art openings this Saturday on and near H Street

There are 5 opening receptions for new exhibits on and near H Street this Saturday evening. If you haven't checked out all of the galleries that have opened in recent years, this is a great opportunity to see a few of them at once. Phil Hutinent of Studio H, City Gallery, and East City Art has already summarized them at his blog, with the pertinent information reproduced below:

Evolve Urban Arts Project (1375 Maryland Ave) presents “What We Leave Behind” featuring encaustic collage artist Marty Ittner and painter Michele Cormier. The opening begins at 4 p.m. and closes at 8 p.m.

Over on Florida Ave, see three exhibits door-to-door. First, G Fine Art (1350 Florida Ave) presents Julia Oldham “Strange Readings” an exploration of physics and art. The opening show runs from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.

Conner Contemporary Art (1358 Florida Ave) launches three concurrent shows. The first is John Kirchner “Infinity”, the second is John Stark “Mercurius Duplex” and Third Susam Macwilliam: Video. Doors open at 6 p.m. and close at 8 p.m.

Above Conner, Industry Gallery (1358 Florida Ave) presents two new designs by architect and designer Antonio Pio Saracino entitled “Data/ Nature.” The show run from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.

CITY Gallery (804 H St) opens “Night Goat and Other Flights of Fancy,” new work by Ellen Cornett. The opening reception begins at 6 p.m. and ends at 9 p.m.

Must read: H Street Festival and neighborhood history

365 Things to Do in DC has this important interview with Margaret Holwill about the upcoming H Street Festival on Saturday, September 18. Holwill is a long-time area resident, who does PR for various H Street businesses, and is a leading organizer of the Festival. The interview includes lots of details about this year's festival as well as some great history about the H Street neighborhood. It is a must read piece for anyone attending the festival, but also for anyone with an interest in the neighborhood. Holwill shares great detail about the history of H Street going back to the 1930s. The historical review portion is reproduced below, but check out the full piece for the rest of the interview and exciting information about this year's Festival.

Q: You were eager to mention that in its heyday the H St. corridor was Washington's most important shopping district, please tell us more about that.

A: We’ve all become so accustomed to glitzy shopping centers that’s it’s easy to forget that it wasn’t that long ago that people shopped at local merchants – exactly what they’re saying now that they prefer. Local, authentic, and unique. Yes, H Street has always been amazing. It was second only to downtown as the place to go, yet it retained a decidedly neighborhood character. The 30s, 40s, 50s were something of a golden age for window shopping, having lunch, meeting your friends, looking long and hard before you purchased. Isn’t this social component what people are looking for now? The personal character of H Street with its small retailers has always fit that model and I think that our attention to that model is what’s driving our success. Tough economic environments are nothing new, yet H Street prospered through them just as it’s doing now. The single family homes surrounding it were mostly owner-occupied in its heyday, and that’s the most important thing driving the renaissance now: people truly caring about their own neighborhood. Despite that, there were major anchors. The first Sears department store in the District. Two large luxury car dealerships in a time when private vehicles were moving from dream to reality for ordinary Americans. Things that drew destination shoppers while still serving the local community with personal relationships. H Street has always had astonishing diversity. Old census records show that the people who lived adjacent to it were a serious melting pot that was reflected in the shops and restaurants of H Street. Greeks, Italians, Jews, Muslims, Germans, Jamaicans, and more. When the city’s Central Market at the site of the present National Archives was demolished in 1931, the wholesale market for the entire area moved to Florida Avenue. Many of Washington’s great buildings were built then using the skills of immigrants. The workers and their families lived and shopped on H Street. GIs during WWII poured out of Union Station and enjoyed the stores and restaurants, as did the federal work force that surged during the war effort. Can you imagine how vibrant all of those different people made life on H Street? Post-War recovery brought America a new prosperity and H Street was an important factor in a new optimistic spirit in Washington. This community was a wonderful place for everybody as you can hear in the stories of some of the older people who have added to the H Street Main Street’s ongoing oral history projects. The most difficult period for H Street coincided with the decline of America’s great cities as homeowners moved to suburbs and inner city neighborhoods became rental properties and began to deteriorate. Vacant building bred despair and the breakdown of the social fabric, culminating in rioting in the late 60s and early 70s in urban centers across the US. The four days of riots in Washington following the assassination of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King were the final death knell for what had once been the prosperous H Street Corridor. Few buildings were left unscathed and it would be decades before serious renewal would take hold.

Mister Mike's Music Together classes for parents and kids on H St this fall

Neighborhood resident Michael Showalter is starting a Music Together outpost on H Street with classes on Tuesday or Wednesday mornings this fall.  Classes meet for 45 minutes each week for 10 weeks. During the class period, children and their caregivers play with music and movement exploring a diverse range of sound and rhythm.  There will be three sections of the class: a Tuesday 9:20 a.m., a Tuesday, 10:20 a.m., and a Wednesday 9:20 a.m.  New Families: $200, Siblings: $160 Children 9 months and younger attend free with a registered sibling.  Registration is due by September 14.  Classes begin September 28.  More information available online.

My name is Michael Showalter and I'm setting up a small Music Together center on H street this fall at the Douglas Memorial Church at 800 11th Street, N.E. It's the big red church on the corner of H and 11th NE. www.mistermikesmusic.com

Classes meet for 45 minutes each week for 10 weeks. During the class period, children and their caregivers play with music and movement exploring a diverse range of sound and rhythm. Caregiver participation provides an atmosphere that allows children to freely explore music and dance. Music Together classes allow parents and young children the chance to explore their relationship in a musical way. In addition, the diversity of music provides a strong musical foundation for future formal instruction.

I've been involved in music for as long as I can remember. Once my wife and I had children I became interested in how children develop musically. Music Together classes are especially fun for parents because they provide us with a way to observe musical development in our children as they play.

If you're interested in registering for classes, please visit my website www.mistermikesmusic.com or feel free to call me at 202.251.7205

Thanks,

Mike Showalter