Café 1894, the homey and comfortable Kensington restaurant that closed this summer, is hoping to reopen next month as The Two Pears Café. Former owner Duane Rollins sold the space to Marisol Vasquez and Karen Brotherton-Julien, two friends and local residents who also have a joint business called Cutie Patootie Birthdays & Such, a party event company that caters to little girls. The two women both have daughters who are all-star cheerleaders.
Vasquez, whose father was a chef at the venerable old Trader Vic’s restaurant in downtown Washington, said she will be dong the cooking during the day, and Brotherton-Julien, who is also the biotechnology coordinator of the Georgetown University Biomedical Graduate Research Organization, will join her in the evenings.
Vasquez said small changes will be made to the interior, including some new artwork, and it doesn’t sound like the food will be a huge departure from Rollins’ menu, which featured American standards. Vasquez said The Two Pears will offer salads (Caesar, spinach, chef’s), homemade chicken noodle soup, paninis and cold sandwiches, plus entrees such as baked chicken, salmon and vegetarian lasagna. “A little bit of something for everyone,” she said.
