Neighborhood Eats: Mellow Mushroom Opens, Michel Richard’s Meatballs, Harry's Tap Room Changes

• October 20th 2011

by Rebecca Cooper

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Although many area foodies had their eyes trained on a couple of wild and crazy restaurant-related videos this week (the cat fight at a DC restaurant and Chef José Andrés’ hilarious appearance on Conan) the city’s restaurateurs were busy as well.

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Open: The pizza joint Mellow Mushroom opened Monday in Adams Morgan, bringing its Atlanta-born pizzas, sandwiches, and more to 2436 18th St. NW. The three-level restaurant includes a bar on each level, a kitschy -- and, at times, a little creepy -- carnival theme, and plenty of beers. Pizzas (which start at $9.95) have tongue-in-cheek titles like Mellowterranean, Kosmic Karma, and Philosophers’ pie. But don’t worry, mushroom haters. They don’t all have ‘shrooms on them.

Opening…soon: Farragut and Foggy Bottom’s jealousy over Dupont Circle’s new banh mi spot, ShopHouse, will soon be over. BONMi Vietnamese sandwich shop is set to open this coming Monday at 19th and I Streets NW (map). The shop will offer traditional pork Vietnamese sandwiches (as well as chicken, brisket, or vegetarian options) ranging in price from $6 to $7.50; the sandwiches can also come as a lettuce wrap or a noodle bowl. The globally-minded owners plan to donate 20 percent of the proceeds from bottled water sales to Hands on the World Global.

Michel Richard’s new restaurant devoted entirely to meatballs should be opening in Penn Quarter in the next couple of weeks. The casual spot at 626 E St. NW will be called -- go figure -- Meatballs, and will offer the traditional pasta toppers in beef, chicken, lentil, and crab varieties, among others. The meaty mounds will be available on a sub, on pasta, or on their own, and will come with a choice of toppings. And on Sundays, according to Eater DC, the restaurant will offer a meatball-tastic family meal that can feed 8 to 10 people for just $79.99.

Opening…eventually: Mark Furstenberg, the master bread maker and former owner of Marvelous Market and Breadline, has a new venture set to open this winter: Bread Furst in Dupont Circle. Furstenberg is hoping to take advantage of the relative dearth of bakeries in the city by offering a retail bakery concept that will specialize in breakfast, both on the go and in the shop. (He even hopes to do a drive-up/carry-out service.) Bread Furst will go into space near Bucca di Beppo at 1825 Connecticut Ave NW.

Changing it up: One of Clarendon’s neighborhood mainstays, Harry’s Tap Room, will change over to a new concept called Market Tavern, Bisnow reports. The new restaurant at 2800 Clarendon Boulevard will be divided by its floors, with Tavern at Market Tavern taking up the ground floor (makes sense, since the existing bar already takes up a pretty big chunk of this level) -- and the Chophouse at Market Tavern upstairs. The menu for the ChopHouse will be similar to Harry’s, while the downstairs will be more casual. Harry’s will close for good on Oct. 31; the restaurant is aiming to reopen as Market Tavern on Nov. 21.

And Adams Morgan Eastern European restaurant Slaviya will become yet another New Orleans-themed DC restaurant, called A Taste of New Orleans, according to Prince of Petworth. The neighborhood BID originally predicted the restaurant would open on Wednesday; the owners told PoP they are hoping to open this weekend. A Taste of New Orleans will be located at 2424 18th St. NW just down the block from New Orleans Cafe.

Events: Adventurous cooks and foodies will want to check out Saturday’s Grey DC market in Columbia Heights. Launched this past spring, the pop-up market appears periodically around DC and features homemade products and on-site snacks from amateur and professional artisan cooks, bakers, picklers, brewers, and barbecuers…you name it, it’s there. The entrance fee is just $2.

For beer lovers, Sunday’s Second Annual Home Brew Harvest at American Ice Company (3 p.m. to 6 p.m.) is probably going to be the go-to event of the weekend. For a $10 recommended donation, sample beers produced by home brewers who are competing in a “friendly competition,” and vote for which beer you think deserves the title of Best Home Brew 2011.

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Rebecca Cooper is a freelance journalist and avid eater that has contributed to TBD, DCist, and Washingtonian. If you have any tips about restaurant or bars openings or closings, email Rebecca at coopscoop@gmail.com.

This article originally published at http://dc.urbanturf.production.logicbrush.com/articles/blog/neighborhood_eats_mellow_mushroom_opens_michel_richards_meatballs/4396.