By now, you may have heard about the new New York-style deli, Bubby’s, which opened last week on 4866 Cordell Ave. in Bethesda, in the former Rustique space. It’s just around the corner from the Uptown Deli, another New York-style eatery that opened in November, where I’ve eaten several times now. I checked out the chicken soup and chopped liver at Bubby’s, and early impressions are that we now have two mediocre delis. C’mon folks, let’s get a real bubby in there—even a budding bubby would do.
Warren Brown’s baking empire in on the rise, just like the batter of his Vanilla Fuzzy Wuzzy cake in the oven. Brown, who ditched a law career to open CakeLove bakery in 2002 and now has seven retail locations in the Washington, D.C. area, is moving his Silver Spring shop to a larger space right around the corner at 8512 Fenton St. The new location should be up and baking in March. I can’t say I’ve been in love with CakeLove’s cakes and cupcakes over the years, but I look forward to checking out the new store.
Bethesda’s popular Café Deluxe is opening a new location in Gaithersburg. The local mini-chain, which also has restaurants in Cleveland Park and McLean, will be serving up the same gruyere mac and cheese and chicken pot pie in its fourth location, in the Rio Entertainment Center (9811 Washingtonian Blvd.) in the Washingtonian Center. Look for an early fall 2011 opening.
Also opening in the Washingtonian Center is Nando’s Peri Peri, the flame-grilled chicken chain that originated in South Africa. This will be its fifth U.S. location (there are 900 others in 30 countries). The nearly 4,000-square foot restaurant will be located at 224 Boardwalk Place, on the waterfront of the Washingtonian Lake. Look for a summer 2011 opening.
And finally, Señor Pepper, the Mexican eatery at 5507 Connecticut Ave. NW, that closed its doors a couple of months ago, is being transformed into Blue 44, an American restaurant, slated to open in mid-March.
