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One of my best friends growing up had the nickname “Bawk Bawk Man.” When you asked him why, he’d answer very matter-of-fact: “Because I look like a chicken.” And yeah, he did kinda look like a chicken. Somewhere, somehow, that devolved into “Mr. Chicken” among a few people.

Long story short, we all grew up, and he doesn’t look so much like a chicken anymore. But I’ll now be constantly reminded of him through the latest culinary offerings from Georgia Avenue’s very own Mr. Chicken. (No – he is in no way related to the business.)

I heard they were open and went by today for a sample. I was on the late side for lunch, and I think things had been sitting around for a while, but everyone was friendly and a few of the tables were full. Everything was good, but it was no El Pollo Rico. Any of this look familiar? It’s *exactly* what my plate at El Pollo Rico looks like.

I’m a fan of the tortillas in these kind of joints, as they’re great carriers for the chicken, both sauces, and a bit of cole slaw if I’m in the mood. (And if I’m feeling really festive, I’ll splurge for an Inca Cola.) But when I see this setup, all I can think of Wheaton’s Holy Shrine of Chicken. But that, Mr. Chicken is not.

Don’t get me wrong – it’s plenty tasty, but there’s one reason I will visit this joint: convenience in the midst of a chicken hankerin’. I can walk here in under 5 minutes, but if I’m in the car, I’ll head to El Pollo Rico in Wheaton. (BTW, “Chicken Hankerin’” would make a great band name.) I don’t frequent chicken joints – I’ve been to the Crisp & Juicy on East-West Highway near Giant exactly once – but for the many who do, I think these guys will build a solid business. And maybe feed more into Velatis next door for an after-dinner snack.

Thank you, Easter Bunny.

I just got confirmation from the powers that be that Fire Station 1 will officially be open for business tonight for dinner. They had to wait for their final permits to come through, and that’s all now been taken care of. I’ll be there to check it out – photos to come!

UPDATE: As Promised, More Photos
Just went by Fire Station 1 to confirm, and the kitchen is humming, trucks are being unloaded, and the place looks great.

I know it’s not the plural of moose, but just work with me on this one. And I’m not referring to the Great White Water Buffalo of old. More on that in a moment.

Sietsema Does “First Bite” at Pacci’s
The Washington Post’s Tom Sietsema put up a fair review of Pacci’s today. Highlights include salads (minus the chewy octopus) and the pizza (which he says could benefit from a little salt). All in all I would say a two-star review on his scale. I might give it 2-1/2 stars on that scale, but it gets bumped up a little considering the other pizza options we have around here. I suppose it’s all about context.

So Close: Fire Station #1
The Gazette has a good writeup of the almost-open Fire Station #1. Soft opening is this week sometime (which would imply around-the-clock work considering how things looked last week), and the Grand Opening will be June 6. Another good scoop writeup from our friends over at Silver Spring, Singular.

In Other News…
We bitch and moan about beer and wine sales here, but I’m glad I don’t live in Kensington. I never knew they were such teetotalers.

The Moose is Loose
Jerry McCoy’s new blog highlights the discovery of a time capsule at the now-defunct Silver Spring Moose Lodge. Unveiling will take place on Saturday, June 26 as part of the 13th Annual Montgomery County Heritage Festival. Any guesses as to what’s inside? My money’s on an actual moose.

Finally got the chance to get out for a relaxing dinner at 8407 kitchen bar. One word: Awesome. Possibly the best restaurant right now in Silver Spring. The wife and I started with a Pimms cocktail (her) and a ginger lime martini (me, pictured) at the downstairs bar before heading up to the dining room. Both are great warm-weather drinks.

The evening sun blares through windows, but that sort of helps obscure the view of the metro demolition outside. That view will certainly get better over time. Started with the fried oysters and fries (I will now be frying whatever I can in duck fat, by the way), followed by the honey-lavender roasted chicken (me) and gnocchi (her).

The gnocchi was the same pillowy goodness we had back at the old Nicaro, and other than the small bit of butcher’s twine I found in the chicken, it was the winning dish as far as I’m concerned. Just spectacular flavor. I mean, plate-licking good. And got a recommendation from Nancy on a fantastic bottle of wine. Throw in a cheese course to finish up, and it was a really, really great meal.

The service was also excellent, checking in just often enough and not being obtrusive. A bit on the pricey side, but we knew that going in. Drinks, appetizers, main course, dessert, and a good bottle of wine came out to about $130. Certainly worth the price of admission. I’m sure we’ll go again for a nice night out, but I could see frequenting the bar(s) for drinks and those duck-fat-cooked fries on a regular basis. Go treat yourself.

News on Pacci’s

After dinner, we walked from 8407 to Jackie’s Sidebar for drinks and stopped to peer in the windows at Pacci’s. Someone from inside noticed us and came out to chat. They have four more inspections – two on Friday and two on Monday. Assuming those go well, they’ll be open for business next Thursday, April 22. Very excited.

The icing on the cake? That drive you see on the right is actually a drive-thru pickup. Not just for pizza, either. Beer and wine will be available in the drive-thru. Yup, you read that right. How cool is that? Plus, on the other side of the building, there’s an 80-seat patio for outdoor dining. It’s even a bit obscured from the traffic on Georgia Avenue, making it a better option than some of the other restaurants with tables hanging out on the sidewalk close to the street.

At any rate, this is proof downtown Silver Spring is quickly becoming a culinary mecca, and I couldn’t be happier. Cheers!

Thanks to the Montgomery Planning Department for a great kickoff to the ReThink Montgomery Speaker Series. Last night’s “Knowledge” session had five local bloggers: David Alpert (Greater Greater Washington), Cindy Cotte Griffiths (Rockville Central), Dan Reed (Just Up the Pike), Barnaby Zall (Friends of White Flint), and yours truly. Add in about 30-40 Montgomery County residents, and it ended up being a great discussion about area blogs, development, and how the planning department can stay more involved in the community. Great to chat with other bloggers who are far more talented and dedicated and less snarky than myself.

Jackie’s Sidebar

After last night’s discussion, I dropped by Jackie’s new Sidebar last night and came away most impressed. DCist has a great writeup. Sure, it’s a great space, good atmosphere, kickin’ tunes and all, but do not forget: It’s all about the cocktail.

Gordon Banks is coming up with some incredible drinks and really keeping the trade of craft bartending alive in Silver Spring. The kind of creativity you usually see from Todd Thrasher at Restaurant Eve or Adam Bernbach at Bar Pilar. This article from the Weekly Standard, published last year, should be required reading for everyone from cocktail snobs to college students looking for 2-for-1 specials. And I think it speaks to the philosophy Gordon is instilling in everyone pouring drinks behind the bar.

Anyhow, drop by for some tasty beverages. And have a great weekend, all.

Photo courtesy of DCist.

Yes, I’ve been remiss in posting, but to be fair I just got back from a much-needed vacation. Had a great time, but frankly nice to be home.

Peruvian (Togolese?) Chicken Opens
As reported by several people (and in the sweet spot of SoCo Eats), The “Peruvian” Chicken place Casa De Pollo has opened in the old Roger Miller location. Nice outside seating, but I took this photo Sunday night as I was walking out with delicious takeout from Thai Derm (Chicken Panang and Tofu Pad Thai, if you must know). I may try it because it’s there and supposedly serves some classic Togolese dishes alongside the not-at-all-related-pollo a la brasa. I still don’t get that. But I also said I would go try Roger Miller sometime, and look how that turned out.

On a Less-Exciting Note
I will be on a blogger panel on Thursday of this week as part of the “ReThink Montgomery” Speaker Series from the Montgomery County Planning Board. I have no idea what I’ve gotten myself into, but something is bound to be entertaining or funny – intentional or otherwise. Come for the show, stay for the veal.

About that “off the grid” thing…
This is how I started and ended just about every day for the last week. So yeah, I missed you all, but not that much.

Tom Sietsema, the esteemed Washington Post food critic (whose job I so envy) reports via Twitter that Frank Morales has left Jackie’s Restaurant already. Tom’s tweet (in 140 characters or less):

Every critic’s nightmare: Chef leaves before review runs. In other words, Frank Morales is gone from Jackie’s (& I have no column for 2/28).

After, what, a couple of months? This can’t be good. Stay tuned for the backstory.

In other news…
This photo from the Paul Sarbanes Transit Center Project was sent in by that hackjob reader Bonifant More Sinister Than Thayer:

While I knew this was happening, seeing a sign like this is 10,000 kinds of awesome. We must get good video of the blasting action to post.

There’s been some buzz recently about Mayorga moving somewhere in Silver Spring, once they announced they were closing their Georgia Avenue coffee shop. Word has it, though, that they’re bailing on Silver Spring for the time being and setting up shop in the People’s Republic of Takoma Park. Assuming this is true, this surprises me some and none, all at once.

None, because it’s close, the people of the Republic tend to treat local businesses well, and nothing goes better with the scent of patchouli than coffee. On the other hand, I rarely drink coffee without a big slab freshly seared foie gras. They go so well together. But they frown on that there. And they don’t like me anyway because I think East Silver Spring should not designate itself as an historic district, much like the one those people came in and pushed at an ESSCA meeting some time ago.

Don’t get me wrong: I’m happy for Mayorga. I really am. But for the sake of the people in Takoma Park, I hope that the food is better, they provide more vegetarian and vegan options (because nothing tastes better than fried vegans), and the service is less sucky than what I’ve experienced over the past several months. I will say it could be a great complement to Mark’s Kitchen, one of my (seriously) favorite places in the greater DC area. And I hope they continue to serve the booze. That was a bonus. I might actually trek down there for that.

Otherwise, it’s Highland Origin for me.

Yeesh – has it been that long? Shame on me. No, I haven’t died. I think it was just the tryptophan. At any rate, I’m back, and a lot is going on in the ‘hood these days…

Mayorga Blogger Mayhem
As you have no doubt seen from The Gazette, the plethora of blog posts, and the press release from the horse’s mouth, Mayorga’s fuel-injected enterprise is coming to a close. (Props to SoCo Eats for being the one to sent the InterWeb into a flutter with his mention.) As everyone has mentioned, things have been going downhill there lately. The food had become subpar, they took the French Cuban sandwich off the menu, and servie was spotty at best (bar notwithstanding).

And as a parent, I can say this: Mayorga is NOT the place for parents to sit and chat while their children run wild, yet that’s what it turned into many weekday mornings. At any rate, it will be interesting to see where the daily campers with their computers end up. And if you never went for beer pong (sponsored by Hook & Ladder), you really missed out.

In Less-reported News…
On or about November 23, Montgomery County Police reported an arrest was made for drugs at Red Lobster in DTSS. How this did not make the wider gossip circle for ridicule, I’ll never know, but I’m gonna push it. I, for one, have never eaten at that Red Lobster, but my wife and I continue our threats to go in order a drink, ask for several baskets of Cheddar Bay Biscuits, chow, and leave. Stay tuned to the Twitter stream for up-to-the-minute action.

But I digress. What drugs? Patrons or workers? Dealing or using? The mention in the crime report, of course, contains no details, but the place always seems to have a pretty good crowd. And for the record, searching Google images with the keywords “lobster” and “drugs” brings back some interesting results.

Have a slice. Don’t cost nothin’.
Silver Spring’s new pizza joint, Flippin’ Pizza (8517 Colesville Road, across from Discovery), is having their Grand Opening on Tuesday, December 15. You can score two free slices (cheese or pepperoni) and a drink for free from 4:00 to 7:00pm. Expect a big honking queue for that one as it gets RTed all over the Twitterverse over the next five days.

Celebrity Panhandler
There’s been much hullabaloo on the listserv about some guy (white male) panhandling from door to door in the neighborhood. He’s apparently making up stories about needing to get somewhere or his mother being sick, or some other such nonsense. Everyone and their mother has called the cops on this guy, yet he continues to evade apprehension. Theoretically, walking up to someone’s door and asking for money is not against the law, but I can see the public nuisance issue. Posts about his exploits have become so ubiquitous on the listserv that someone busted out the term “Our Neighborhood Celebrity Panhandler.” (Well done, Jerry!) I can only hope this guy surfs the Web from the library or something from time to time and recognizes his status.

On a serious note, if you run into him or he comes to your door, call the Montgomery County Police Non-Emergency Line at (301) 279-8000.

I walked by the Fractured Prune this afternoon, and the door was actually open. I walked in and asked the status, and they’re waiting on one more inspection. It could happen this afternoon, in which case they’ll open up this afternoon. If not, they should be open tomorrow.

Hooray for donuts!