cupcakes

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Hospital CEO Retiring Next Year — “Virginia Hospital Center President and CEO Jim Cole is stepping down after more than three decades with the organization. Cole, chief for 25 of his 35 years with the Arlington hospital, announced his retirement internally Monday. It’s set to take effect Sept. 1, 2020.” [Washington Business Journal]

County Crew Rescues Phone from Storm Drain — “So they got specialized shovels. And then the guy GOT INTO THE DRAIN and dig through the leaves, following the pinging and vibrating and found the phone! The phone was at 1% power when it came out. Still can’t believe it. Above and beyond. Kudos to Arlington County.” [Facebook/Arlington DES]

Bijan Ghaisar 911 Call Released — “Police in Arlington County, Virginia, have released part of a 911 call that set in motion a chase that ended when U.S. Park Police shot and killed Bijan Ghaisar in 2017… a caller tells Arlington County police that she is an Uber passenger whose ride-share was just involved in a crash, and the other driver, Ghaisar, has left the scene.” [WTOP, Fox 5]

It’s Giving Tuesday — Among the local nonprofits to consider donating to today, on Giving Tuesday, are: Doorways for Women and Families, Melwood, Arlington Thrive, Arlington Street People’s Assistance Network, Animal Welfare League of Arlington, Arlington Food Assistance Center, Offender Aid and Restoration, the Arlington-Alexandria Gay & Lesbian Alliance, and Culpepper Garden. [Twitter/@ARLnowDOTcom]

Del. Alfonso Lopez Named Co-Whip — “Majority Leader-elect Charniele Herring has appointed key leadership positions within the House Democratic Caucus. The whips and policy chairs will help guide the new Democratic majority through the 2020 legislative session.” [Press Release]

Ballston BID Holding ‘Cupcake Wars’ Event — “Join BallstonConnect Club and Cookology for a fun and interactive day of cupcake baking and decorating. Based on the popular Food Network show of the same name, guests will compete to create the most unique cupcake and take home the title of Cupcake Champion!” [Ballston BID]

Clarendon’s “Bakeshop” Expands to Falls Church

By Airey

Clarendon-based bakery Bakeshop is expanding.

This week Bakeshop opened a new location in the City of Falls Church. The new shop had its soft opening yesterday (Monday) after weeks of teasing pictures of new equipment and barista training with Vigilante coffee on social media.

Founder Justin Stegall told ARLnow he “loves Arlington” but “was traveling around and kind of fell love in with Falls Church also.”

“The neighborhood vibe is a little less urban, a little more old-fashioned,” he said of Falls Church.

It was a neighborhood he thought could use a cupcake shop, and as of this week it has one. Bakeshop is now open at 100 E. Fairfax Street and plans to be open seven days a week from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Stegall added that he will tailor the Falls Church menu to suit his new customers, likely adding more breakfast options and some exclusive cookies.

For now the new bakery shares a menu with the Clarendon location, which features a rotating cast of cupcakes with favorites like salty caramel and red velvet, as well as cakes, pies, and some light breakfast fare like croissants and scones.

The flagship Clarendon store on 1025 N. Fillmore Street has gained fame over the years for personal stories posted on Facebook post in 2016, and being featured on the Cooking Channel in 2012.

Stegall said he’s “very happy to have become a piece of the Arlington fabric.”

Nearly ten years after some critics (including our commentators) predicted the 2010 cupcake fad would fade, Stegall and his staff are still in business.

“It’s crazy for me to think about,” he said. “Ten years is a pretty big chunk of life. I never even had a ten-year-out plan.”

When asked if he has plans to continue expansion, Stegall laughed.

“The vision right now is to stay with the two until the next vision comes,” he said.

Photo via Facebook

Cupcake Shop, Mediterranean Restaurant Coming to Pentagon Row

By ARLnow.com
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A pair of new restaurants are coming to the Pentagon Row shopping center in Pentagon City.

Smallcakes, a cupcake and ice cream chain, is set to open in a vacant storefront adjacent to the former Ristorante Murali.

Smallcakes has more than 200 locations in the U.S. and abroad. It touts its freshly-made treats, including a daily offering of 18 cupcake flavors — with “seasonal and special flavors such as Maple Bacon, Fat Elvis, Cannoli, Strawberries N’ Crème, Tiramisu, French Toast, and Pumpkin” — and 15 ice cream flavors, which are “a nod to Smallcakes’ famous cupcake recipes.”

The Pentagon Row Smallcakes location is simply listed as “coming soon” on the company’s website.

Also coming to the shopping center is Aabee Restaurant, a “Persian and Mediterranean fusion” restaurant formerly located in Fairfax. Permanent signs are up for Aabee, which is opening in the former NKD Pizza storefront across the parking lot from Harris Teeter.

Aabee’s former location is listed as closed on Yelp. Neither its former website nor Facebook page have been updated to reflect the apparent closure and new location, though a new website was recently launched. A phone number listed for the business has been disconnected.

In its previous location, Aabee offered soups, salads, sandwiches, pastas, kabobs and Iranian stew dishes. It also had Saturday night belly dancing shows, according to the restaurant website.

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Metroway bus in Crystal City (Photo courtesy Donna Gouse)

Crumbs Could Reopen — The shuttered Crumbs Bakeshop in Clarendon could reopen, after the bankrupt cupcake company was purchased by a new owner. Fischer Enterprises has yet to reveal which of Crumbs’ 48 stores will reopen. [Washington Business Journal]

Arlington’s Naturalist Blogs on the Side — Frustrated with “days filled with meetings and paperwork” after he started working as the natural resources manager for Arlington’s Dept. of Parks and Recreation, Alonso Abugattas founded an educational blog and Facebook group called Capital Naturalist. The blog has a loyal following among readers and respect from fellow naturalists. [Washington Post]

Transportation Among Reasons Politico Stayed — The president of Monday Properties, the major Rosslyn property owner, says political publication Politico decided to renew its office lease in Rosslyn largely because of “superior transit options and greater concentration of housing and retail.” [Washington City Paper]

Changes Coming to ARLnow — ARLnow.com is expected to roll out a website redesign this afternoon. The site may experience brief downtime during the transition. Readers should also expect various menu and visual changes immediately after the transition.

Photo courtesy Donna Gouse

Cupcakes to Return to FatShorty’s

By ARLnow.com

Fat Shorty'sRed Velvet cupcakes are coming to Clarendon sausage-and-beer eatery FatShorty’s (3035 Clarendon Blvd).

Cupcakes disappeared from the restaurant when it was converted from Rabbit Salad and Grill to FatShorty’s earlier this year. Aaron Gordon, who owns FatShorty’s and the Red Velvet chain, says cupcakes are returning due to customer demand.

“We found that so many people came back to FatShorty’s asking for Red Velvet that we had to bring it back,” he said.

The cupcakes are slated to be offered starting on Wednesday, Sept. 4. Red Velvet cupcakes will be sold “alongside Fatshorty’s in the same way we did with Rabbit,” Gordon said.

FatShorty’s and Red Velvet will maintain the same hours. Brian Scott, the restaurant’s Director of Operations, says eight cupcake varieties will be offered.

“We will feature our 8 most popular flavors… Red Velvet, Vanilla Bean, Devil’s Food, Peanut Butter Cup, Cookie’s and Cream, Carrot Cake, Black Velvet (Gluten free and Vegan) and our weekly feature cupcake,” he said.

‘CupcakeCampDC’ Coming to Rosslyn

By ARLnow.com

Are you a cupcake fanatic? When you go to sleep at night, do you count cupcakes instead of sheep? Do you watch television shows about cupcakes? To you, is a cupcake and coffee a perfectly acceptable breakfast?

If you said yes to any of those questions, you’re probably going to like an event that’s coming to Rosslyn next month.

The third annual “CupcakeCampDC” will be held from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 8, at the Continental Pool Lounge (1911 N. Fort Myer Drive). The event is described as “an ad-hoc gathering born from the desire for people to share and eat cupcakes in an open environment.” Bringing your own fresh-baked cupcakes to the event is optional but encouraged; eating a bunch of cupcakes is expected.

The event will benefit the DC Candlelighters Childhood Cancer Foundation. Tickets are available for a suggested donation of either $5 or $10, depending on whether you want “VIP” access. Organizers say last year’s event, held at Local 16 in D.C., sold out.

In addition to the consumption of cupcakes and networking with fellow cupcake fans, CupcakeCampDC will feature free gaming at the Continental’s skeeball, shuffleboard, darts, basketball, pool, Wii, and board game stations. There will also be a cupcake competition.

“Bakers will be split between professionals and amateurs giving everyone a chance with fair play,” organizers said. “Local judges include foodies we love — Nikki Rappaport of Cupcakes for Breakfast, The Cupcake Crusaders, and many more”

Tickets for CupcakeCampDC are available online.

Flickr photo by YidaL

Bakeshop Featured on Cooking Channel

By ARLnow.com

(Updated at 3:30 p.m.) Bakeshop (1025 N. Fillmore Street) was featured on the Cooking Channel “Unique Sweets” this past Sunday.

The Clarendon confection store’s owner, Justin Stegall, and his mother Linda were both featured on the program, as well as Bakeshop’s oatmeal creme pie, 7-Up cupcakes, and red velvet cake. The episode was focused on nostalgic “childhood treats.”

Unique Sweets bills itself as “an insider’s peek into innovative eateries across America that are creating the most unique and exciting desserts today.” The show airs on the Cooking Channel at 10:30 p.m. on Sundays, though repeats are aired multiples times during the week.

Stegall says he got a call from the producers of the show out of the blue, asking if he wanted to be featured. A camera crew spent seven hours in the store a couple of months ago, Stegall said, and the finished, edited segment was about seven minutes.

Stegall says he was surprised by how many people have told him that they saw him on television.

“It’s kind of funny, I didn’t know cooking TV was as big as it was,” he said. “The craziest thing is that my friends… are calling up and telling me they saw me on TV, and I didn’t tell them it was going to be on.”

Screen capture collage courtesy of Lu

Rabbit Salad and Grill Plans Tuesday Opening

By ARLnow.com

With the crucial Certificate of Occupancy finally in hand, Rabbit Salad and Grill (3035 Clarendon Blvd) is preparing to open to the public on Tuesday.

The eatery, one block from the Clarendon Metro station, will feature chef-crafted salads, sandwiches, hot plates and Red Velvet cupcakes. When its liquor license goes through, Rabbit will also serve wine by the glass and $4.50 draft beers.

Owner Aaron Gordon says he’s planning a soft opening on Tuesday, preceded by a Bisnow-sponsored event on Monday. The restaurant’s normal hours will be 11:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m.

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Coming Soon to Clarendon: Rabbit Salad and Grill

By ARLnow.com

Clarendon’s new salad-sandwich-and-cupcake concept, Rabbit Salad and Grill, now has a name and an opening date.

A web site for the new restaurant, located at 3035 Clarendon Boulevard, appeared online yesterday. A representative tells us that they’re hoping to hold a grand opening on July 28.

Rabbit will offer “quality salads, sandwiches and meals in a comfortable dining room,” along with a selection of beer and wine.” In addition, sweets will be offered thanks to an in-store Red Velvet Cupcakery counter (Rabbit and Red Velvet share the same owners).

The restaurant is now hiring cooks, dishwashers and servers.

New Cupcake Truck Launches Today

By ARLnow.com

Arlington has a new mobile baked goods vendor.

The “Sweet Fleet” truck is making its public debut today in Ballston, Rosslyn, Courthouse and Shirlington. The truck features cupcakes, cookies and other treats baked by Jason Reaves, a pastry chef and an upcoming competitor on TV’s Food Network Challenge.

Prices range from $3.00 to $3.50 for individual cupcakes and $2.00 for cookies. The truck will serve “all of Arlington,” managers say. You can follow its location on Facebook and Twitter.

Photo via Facebook

Buzz Bakery in Ballston Opening Next Month

By ARLnow.com

There’s finally an opening date in sight for Buzz Bakery in Ballston.

“Coming soon” signs have been up at the storefront on the 4000 block of Wilson Boulevard for almost a year now. Next-door sister eatery Rustico opened in October while Buzz remained closed. Now, at long last, comes word that Buzz will start serving cupcakes and cappuccinos early next month.

Neighborhood Restaurant Group spokeswoman Jennifer Eberline says the company expects to announce an official May opening date “very, very soon.”

The will be NRG’s second Buzz Bakery. The first, on Slaters Lane in Alexandria, serves breakfast, baked goods, paninis, coffee, tea, wine and beer.

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