Here in Arlington, real estate is a spectator sport. Let’s take a look at some of the most and least expensive condos sold last month (September 2023).
NiHao Crystal City rendering (courtesy of Nahra Design)
The future location of NiHao, in May 2023 (staff photo by Matt Blitz)
(Updated at 11:30 a.m.)Famed chef Peter Chang is set to open his second Arlington restaurant in Crystal City this winter.
NiHao “will serve modern Chinese eatery with small ‘tapas’ size dishes with an emphasis on quality and convenience,” spokesperson Molly Hippolitus tells ARLnow. “It is now realistically looking like January 2024 for the opening.”
It was reported earlier this year that the restaurant was coming to a Crystal Drive space next to the Alamo Drafthouse. From our prior coverage:
The initial plan was for NiHao to be a bit different from the chef’s other local Arlington location, in the Lee-Harrison Shopping Center. It would focus on a modern approach to Szechuan cuisine while providing an “introduction” to authentic Chinese food, Chang told DCist in February, much like the Baltimore location with the same name.
A rendering provided to ARLnow shows outdoor counter seating and a retractable window next to the restaurant’s entrance, in addition to the indoor seating area. The total number of seats is anticipated to be in the 40-50 range, Hippolitus said.
“The eponymous restaurant from the prolific Chinese chef will open at 6715 Lowell Avenue… on Oct. 12,” our sister site FFXnow reported last week. “Located under Tachibana in the former House of Fortune space, Peter Chang will serve a variety of Chinese dishes, including Peking roast duck, dim sum, wagyu beef lo mein, Amish honey ribs and more.”
The McLean restaurant is the chef’s 11th, according to Hippolitus.
The weather forecast predicts mostly sunny conditions throughout the day, with an expected high temperature of around 74°F. A calm wind will pick up from the south at around 5 mph in the afternoon. By Thursday night, the sky is expected to be partly cloudy with a low temperature of approximately 53°F and a light north wind. See more from Weather.gov.
💡 Quote of the Day
“People will forget what you said, forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” – Maya Angelou
🌅 Tonight’s sunset
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The day after we last reported on the restaurant’s progress in late August, Padaek started fulfilling to-go orders, according to a restaurant spokeswoman. The restaurant added its dine-in service on Sept. 12, she told ARLnow today.
The restaurant, located at 2931 S. Glebe Road, also recently opened its bar and plans to announce its grand opening “soon,” she added.
This is the second outpost of the Lao and Thai restaurant, originally founded in Falls Church by award-winning D.C. chef Seng Luangrath.
It was initially expected to open in June but Luangrath told ARLnow it had to wait a little longer while the last permits from Arlington County came in.
The family-owned eatery serves dishes from both Thai and Lao cuisine, from Pad Thai to an herbal curry stew with wood ear mushrooms.
Padaek is named for the fermented fish sauce that provides a distinctive salty base to many Lao dishes. The salty flavors balance out several stand-by Thai recipes, sweetened by a base of coconut milk.
Padaek is open from noon to 9 p.m., Monday through Saturday, and noon to 8 p.m. on Sunday. The restaurant will close daily from 3-4 p.m. to switch from lunch to dinner service.
Expect increasing clouds throughout the day, reaching a high temperature near 70°F, with a gentle northwest wind blowing at 3 to 6 mph. At night, the sky will be partly cloudy, and it will be calm with a low temperature around 49°F. See more from Weather.gov.
💡 Quote of the Day
“Give me a firm place to stand, and I will move the earth.” – Archimedes
🌅 Tonight’s sunset
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Beyond serving as the final resting place for more than 400,000 military service members, the cemetery is also an accredited arboretum, home to over 500 species of trees, including maple, oak and sweetgum.
“On this tour, you’ll learn about the cemetery’s Memorial Arboretum, a Level III accredited arboretum,” the cemetery said in a press release.
“You will also gain insights into ANC’s urban forestry program, extensive tree collection and state champion trees,” the release continued. “The program will also cover various horticultural techniques used to create both formal and informal landscapes and gardens.”
While peak foliage at the cemetery typically occurs in late October or early November, the exact timing depends on various factors such as temperature and other weather conditions.
ANC’s first guided two-hour tour this fall is this Friday, followed by tours on Oct. 20 and 27 and Nov. 3. The October tours are scheduled for 9-11 a.m. and the November tour will depart at 1 p.m.
Attendees are asked to meet at the information desk inside the cemetery welcome center. The cemetery advises attendees to wear sturdy shoes and bring a water bottle.
Expect scattered showers primarily before 1pm, followed by cloudy skies clearing gradually during the day, with a high temperature near 66°F. Strong northwest winds of 15-17 mph are anticipated, along with gusts up to 25 mph. There is a 50% chance of precipitation. For Saturday night, the sky will be clear with a low temperature of around 47°F accompanied by northwest winds of 11-14 mph and gusts up to 22 mph. See more from Weather.gov.
💡 Quote of the Day
“Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world.” – Albert Einstein
🌅 Tonight’s sunset
We hope you have a great weekend, Arlington! Feel free to discuss the most-read stories of the week, the upcoming weekend events or anything else of local interest in the comments. 👋
Super Garden Market in Virginia Square held its grand opening in October 2023, replacing Coffee Beanery (staff photo by James Jarvis)
A customer orders a coffee at Super Garden Market in Virginia Square (staff photo by James Jarvis)
Inside Super Garden Market in Virginia Square (staff photo by James Jarvis)
Super Garden Market’s front counter (staff photo by James Jarvis)
A new deli and coffee shop has opened in Virginia Square and it is hoping that Arlington mid-century nostalgia will bring in customers.
Super Garden Market has opened at 3444 Fairfax Drive, in the former Coffee Beanery location that closed earlier this year.
The new name references the original Super Garden Market and Deli — which operated in the same location for 47 years, before closing over three decades ago. Although the new coffee shop shares the same name as its predecessor, Asefaw Redai Sultan, the shop’s owner, clarified there’s “no relation” between the two.
“We are renewing the name,” Sultan said. “Everyone remembers the older name… we hope they’ll come back.”
Unlike the original grocery store and deli, Super Garden Market sells breakfast sandwiches, salads, smoothies, pastries and coffee.
Eventually, Sultan plans to expand the menu to include lunch items and is waiting for the state to greenlight a liquor license to sell beer and wine.
Sultan, a resident of Arlington for two decades, acquired Coffee Beanery from a friend he said was eager to leave the coffee industry. He filed for a new business license with the state this past June, according to the State Corporation Commission website.
Sultan says he began refurbishing the space in July. Super Garden Market held its grand opening this past Sunday.
D.C.-based Falafel Inc. opened a new brick and mortar at the newly renovated Crystal City Water Park (staff photo by James Jarvis)
A $4 falafel sandwich and $4 za’atar fries from Falafel Inc. in Crystal City (staff photo by James Jarvis)
Crush Pizza and Wine opened its first location in the newly renovated Crystal City Water Park last week (staff photo by James Jarvis)
A slice of mushroom lemon cream pizza from Crush Pizza + Wine in Crystal City (staff photo by James Jarvis)
Stracciatella and espresso gelato served at Dolci Gelati in Crystal City (staff photo by James Jarvis))
A slice of pepperoni pizza from Crush Pizza + Wine in Crystal City (staff photo by James Jarvis)
People line up outside Cracked Eggery in Crystal City for lunch (staff photo by James Jarvis)
A take on huevos rancheros called “Rancheros Cucamonga” from Cracked Eggery in Crystal City (staff photo by James Jarvis)
Water Bar in Crystal City (staff photo by James Jarvis)
Water Bar in Crystal City held a soft opening the first week of October (staff photo by James Jarvis)
Broiled oysters with chorizo from Water Bar in Crystal City (staff photo by James Jarvis)
The “Middle Ground” and “Summer’s Child” cocktails from Water Bar (staff photos by James Jarvis)
The view from Water Bar in Crystal City (staff photo by James Jarvis)
The “Green Goddess Mussels” from Water Bar in Crystal City (staff photo by James Jarvis)
A patron sips on a cocktail at Water Bar in Crystal City while looking out over the park (staff photo by James Jarvis)
The “Oyster Mushroom” sandwich from Water Bar in Crystal City (staff photo by James Jarvis)
Tiki Thai in Crystal City takes dozens of orders during the afternoon lunch rush just days after opening (staff photo by James Jarvis)
Gai fried rice with crispy chicken (right) and drunken khao soi with grilled chicken from Tiki Thai in Crystal City (staff photo by James Jarvis)
Water Bar in Crystal City (staff photo by James Jarvis)
An oat milk vanilla latte and apple cinnamon muffin from Brij in Crystal City (staff photo by James Jarvis)
A yellow dosa with mango chutney and onion chutney from DC Dosa in Crystal City (staff photo by James Jarvis)
Starting today, all 11 food vendors and restaurants within Crystal City Water Park are officially open for business, following a soft opening two weeks ago.
Morning to night, the 1.6-acre outdoor food hall and park in Crystal City will serve everything from indulgent duck-fat fried chicken sandwiches to Indian-style crepes filled with lentils and chutney to gelato.
Tiki Thai, serving dishes inspired by Thai and Polynesian cuisine
Queen Mother’s, a fried chicken spot that previously operated on Columbia Pike
Perched atop a water wall at the back of the park, meanwhile, is the cocktail and oyster bar Water Bar.
Operated by Atlanta-based hospitality group STHRN, the restaurant offers light lunch and dinner options, ranging from salads, seafood sandwiches and oysters to ceviche and specialty cocktails.
For something more casual, STHRN operates a New York-style pizzeria that serves beer, wine and cocktails, called Crush Pizza.
The park’s owner, JBG Smith, aimed to provide a comprehensive dining experience from breakfast through dessert, Amy Rice, the company’s senior vice president of retail leasing, tells ARLnow.
“We were really deliberate in wanting to make sure we could create a bit of an 18-hour offering,” she said.
At the park’s grand opening tonight, attendees can sample from nine newly opened restaurant kiosks, a sit-down seafood restaurant and bar or a new pizza place, all while listening to music. A month-long live concert series kicks off next Friday.
The kiosks are home to several minority- and women-owned businesses that were “having a hard time making the jump from a farmers market or food truck into a traditional brick and mortar,” Rice said.
“Typically, if you were a retail-like, fast-casual restaurant, and you wanted to start a new restaurant in a new building, it would probably be upwards of a million-dollar-plus investment to actually get your business up and running in that location,” Rice said. “We removed both of those barriers by creating these turnkey kiosks for these operators.”
Those looking for recommendations can try Water Bar’s “Middle Ground” cocktail, a Mezcal-based drink with tepache, made from fermented pineapple, and grapefruit, lime and peppercorn. At Crush Pizza, the mushroom lemon cream pizza was memorable.
Live music performances from 5-7:30 p.m. will start at the venue next Friday, Oct. 13, and run through Nov. 3. A performance by Virginia native R&B artist Bryan Lee will kick the inaugural concert.
“This series is just the first of many engaging Water Park events that will celebrate our diverse and growing downtown,” Tracy Sayegh Gabriel, president and executive director of the National Landing Business Improvement District, said in a press release.
Fireworks over the Potomac Thursday night (photo via @StefJohnson21/Twitter)
A lengthy fireworks display took D.C. and Arlington residents by surprise tonight — leaving locals guessing as to who was behind it.
The fireworks went off around 7:30 p.m., launched from a barge on the Potomac River between the Kennedy Center and Roosevelt Island, near Rosslyn. The nearly 15 minute display was on the scale one might expect for the Fourth of July.
The display, however, was not publicized in advance.
Even D.C.’s city council took to social media to express surprise, while digging up an entry in the Federal Register for a Coast Guard safety zone for the fireworks.
Following the fireworks, an ARLnow reader floated a theory of who was behind the display.
“I don’t have inside knowledge to confirm it, but I’d be willing to bet the source of the fireworks was Genetec opening their new ‘DCXC: Genetec Experience Center’ on 1000 Wilson Blvd,” the reader, who asked to remain anonymous, told ARLnow.
Genetec is a Montreal-based security and technology company. The Washington Business Journal reported in August that it had signed a lease for a new “flagship” showroom on the 25th floor of the Rosslyn twin towers building — and planning an October opening.
Someone who attended the event took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to say that the fireworks were, in fact, for Genetec’s grand opening.
“The view from the new office on the rooftop was amazing,” the person wrote.
It was a grand opening event for a company called Genetec. They are a video security software company. The view from the new office on the rooftop was amazing. So was the food and drinks. pic.twitter.com/aLLCXEcYwr
There’s a slight chance of afternoon showers today, with mostly cloudy skies and a high near 77°F. A 20% chance of precipitation, accompanied by a light south wind. For Friday night, expect a chance of showers before 11pm, followed by possible showers and thunderstorms between 11pm-2am, and likely showers with the potential for a thunderstorm after 2am. The temperature will drop to a low of around 60°F with a 60% chance of precipitation, and new rainfall amounts may be less than a tenth of an inch. See more from Weather.gov.
💡 Quote of the Day
“Beauty of style and harmony and grace and good rhythm depends on simplicity.” – Plato
🌅 Tonight’s sunset
Thanks for reading! Feel free to discuss the day’s happenings in the comments.
