Little Bits = Tasty Holiday Treats

Since it's that time of year for  baking holiday treats, I wanted to put in a plug for the Little Bits Shop on Triangle Lane.  Even if you're not a serious baker, this place is pretty impressive.  On my last visit, I was amazed by the huge spectrum of food colorings they have (any color you want!), the variety of cookie cutters, and lots of cute holiday treat accessories like cupcake wrappers and decorative candy toppers.

I'm having a cookie-making party this weekend, so I'm going to stop by there either today or tomorrow to pick up some supplies.

Check out the Little Bits website for their address and hours.  My only wish is that they would have extended hours around the holiday season, since it's a little tough for me to make it there after work before they close.

Washington City Paper article on Wheaton Redevelopment

I was surprised to see an article on Washington City Paper's website today about the Wheaton Redevelopment project being headed up by B.F. Saul.  I wouldn't say there was any earth-shattering revelations in it, but I was disappointed to read that there really aren't any provisions to support existing small businesses in our neighborhood once the redevelopment is under way.  While I understand that a private developer isn't obligated to provide assistance to existing small businesses affected by their project, I am disappointed that the county has not assumed more of a leadership role in this.

So, what's up, Montgomery County?  Where's your leadership in this project?  A major part of the feedback during the community meeting the other week was directly related to maintaining the small business community that makes Wheaton unique.  How are any of those concerns going to be addressed if B.F. Saul doesn't plan on doing anything about it?  The county needs to step up now and make sure a framework is in place for maintaining the uniqueness of our neighborhood amidst the redevelopment process.  Don't get me wrong, the development is Silver Spring is a success in many ways.  But other than the restoration of the AFI, the rest of the redeveloped area of Silver Spring along Ellsworth (edited 12-14-10) is a pretty generic place that could have been plopped down in just about any town in America.  I think Wheaton will be worse in the long run if we lose the unique businesses that define our community.

Oh, and I was offended about article writer's  jab about restaurants here needing to hire English speaking waiters to attempt to lure 'gringos' into their businesses.  I have eaten at many ethnic restaurants in Wheaton and have never had the slightest problem communicating with the waiters in English.  Also, while I know that Wheaton has its share of crime, I've never heard about the prostitution rings that the writer claims some restaurants are using to boost their income. Geez.

I will also put a plug in for Sergio's, which was featured pretty prominently in the article.  They're serving my favorite hispanic food in Wheaton right now, and I have been surprised at how empty it always seems to be.  Check it out sometime!

Safeway's New Year Resolution - Demolition!

The Gazette has reported that demolition of the existing Safeway building will start in January or February.  Hurray!  The same article also reports the anticipated opening of the new Safeway happening in mid-2012.  For a project of this size, a year and a half for demo and construction seems pretty quick, but if they can stick to that schedule, I'll be thrilled.

B.F. Saul posts summary of community feedback

B.F. Saul's website has posted a summary (PDF) of the feedback they heard from the community meeting held on November 17th.

It generally seems like a fairly detailed list, but I noticed they did gloss over a few points that people were trying to make.  Just from the groups I was in, I noticed that their summary doesn't list some of the requests to improve accessibility of sidewalks (i.e. avoid having light poles, parking meters, etc. become obstacles in the sidewalk).  They also don't really address the concerns that Chip Py (passionately!) spoke about regarding the rights of people in the town square to assemble, protest, take pictures, etc., without interference from security guards (i.e. the kind of issues that have been popping up in Silver Spring).

I was hoping that they would just scan in the sheets of paper used to write down everyone's suggestions rather than type up a summary.  Since they have decided to go with a summary, they should have a process in place for people to comment on B.F. Saul's version of the community feedback.  If you do feel that they have omitted or misrepresented something you heard at the meeting, I would recommend using their 'Contact Us' link on the website to voice your concerns.

An Easy, Tasty Dinner from H-Mart

I was out and about in MoCo today taking care of some holiday shopping and when I headed home in the late afternoon, I started to brainstorm some easy dinner options.  After eating waaaay too much Thanksgiving food this weekend, I was in the mood for something different.  I decided to shop for dinner at H-Mart.  When I had a cookout at my house this summer, my boss, who is Korean, brought over some bulgogi from H-Mart that we threw on the grill.  It was awesome!  So, I decided to pick up some bulgogi today to make for dinner.

For those of you not familiar with bulgogi, it's very thinly sliced beef that is marinated in garlic, onion, scallions, sesame oil, and sesame seeds.  To find it in H-Mart, head to the left once you enter the store (towards the freezer section), and you'll see a refrigerated wall case with a 'Korean BBQ' sign hanging from the ceiling.  There are lots of plastic containers with all sorts of prepared foods.  I found the bulgogi in an open freezer case across the aisle from the wall case.  It was labelled 'Marinated Thin Slices of Beef Rib Eye' and was selling for $3.99/lb, which is pretty damn cheap considering that Woomi Garden charges over $20 for it.

I also picked up a few sides from the refrigerated case to have with it - stir fried black beans and seaweed.

When I got home, I started a pot of rice and chopped up some onion and a beautiful bell pepper that I got at H-Mart to saute with the meat (not necessary for bulgogi, but I wanted some veggies).  I added some sesame oil to a skillet, turned the burner up to high, then threw in the meat and veggies.  I sauteed them until the liquid evaporated and things started to brown.

Once the food in the skillet was done, I served it up with some rice and the sides I picked up (which I just served cold from the containers).  After about 15 minutes worth of work, I had an awesome dinner and enough leftovers for two lunches at work this week (my coworkers will be so jealous!).

Happy Turkey Day, Wheaton!

I hope all of you out there have a wonderful Thanksgiving and safe travels if you're heading out of town.  I'm on up my way up to Pennsylvania to spend the weekend with family.  And for any of you still working on your menus, here is a link to a good 'ol fashioned stuffing recipe from the Joy of Cooking that I really like.

Recap of B.F. Saul Meeting

I just got back from the B.F. Saul meeting for community input on the Wheaton redevelopment project.  Overall, I came away from it with a good impression of both the redevelopment team and the Wheaton residents who participated in the meeting.  There was a great turnout - I would estimate about 125 people (but I reserve the right to be completely wrong on that).  After an initial intro, which included much patting on the back by county people and WMATA reps, the B.F. Saul team took the stage to give a brief presentation about their plans for public input on the process and they gave a recap of what past redevelopment meetings in Wheaton have shown residents are looking for.  I had to laugh at the chart they showed for what community groups they are getting input from.  The list included several local blogs, including Just Up the Pike, Good Eatin in Wheaton, and the Talk of Wheaton, but NO mention of Wheaton Calling.  Where's the love, B.F. Saul???

***Sidenote:  Mr. WC just reminded me that perhaps this omission was due to some not-so-kind words I had about the portfolio of work shown on B.F. Saul's website.  Fair enough!***

Anyways, after the initial intro, the audience broke into smaller groups at 8 different tables, which were centered around different themes for the revelopment:  Desired Land Uses and Small Business Impact, Streets & Sidewalks, Town Square & Open Space, and Overall Vision for Wheaton's New Downtown.  Each table had an architect (from Torti Galls) or developer rep(from B.F. Saul) acting as a facilitator and taking down suggestions from the residents on each topic.  After two 30-minute sessions, the development team pulled together common themes that they had heard and presented them to the group.  I was nicely surprised at how cohesive all of us residents were in what we asked for.  I came into this expecting much more of a strong NIMBY presence, but instead I found that people were passionately dedicated to preserving Wheaton's diversity and creating a lively, diverse town center that welcomes all residents and visitors to Wheaton.  The facilitators were also patient, taking down pretty much every suggestion and comment, even if they got a little wacky (my table jokingly asked for jugglers, to which the facilatator replies, "Okay!  We're putting jugglers on the list!").

The next steps in the process include B.F. Saul working out a deal on the land in question with the county and WMATA.  Once that is resolved, the team will work on putting together a concept plan of the project and will present it for further input from the community in March or April.  If you go to the project map on the team's website, the areas in red are the areas that B.F. Saul is currently working on purchasing from the county and WMATA.


Two members of the architectural team summarizing the input they heard from residents

 Here is an abridged summary of the input they heard from residents at the meeting (apparently scans of all the notes from the meeting will be posted to their website):

Desired Land Uses and Small Business Impact
-Avoid chain restaurants
-Provide retailers that benefit the community, i.e. a hardware store or pet shop
-Keep parking on the perimeter of the project
-Don't lose the unique small town feel of Wheaton
-Bring more office space and office workers to the downtown
-Facilitate loans for small business to improve their storefronts
-Attract more people to existing businesses
-Add a hotel to the downtown
-Leverage the anticipated crowds for Costco into opportunities for downtown Wheaton

Streets & Sidewalks
-Improve sight lines for drivers
-Tame (or even periodically close?) Reedie Drive
-Provide buffers between cars, pedestrians, and bikes
-Provide wider sidewalks with more plantings and trees
-Include flexible seating
-Improve access to the metro station
-Possibly partner with Brookside Gardens for plantings/streetscapes (I like this idea!)
-Design a signature lighting theme that includes banners, hanging flower baskets, etc.
-Improved bike lanes (how about any bike lanes?) and secure bike storage
-Less concrete, more green

Town Square
-Provide space for a farmers market and flea market; space should also work for the Taste of Wheaton and outdoor concerts
-Design a public space that welcomes all people
-Make sustainability a priority, especially stormwater management
-Better signage for metro entrances

Overall Vision
-More public art
-Pedestrian and bike access
-'Safety in Design' - through architectural design, lighting, and accessibility
-Celebrate Wheaton's diversity.  We don't want to be Bethesda, Silver Spring, or Rockville!