George Washington’s history with cherries will be honored this month, as 18 Alexandria restaurants will compete in this year’s GW Cherry Challenge.

The challenge, which is sponsored by George Washington’s Mount Vernon estate, pits the restaurants against each other to create the best “cherry-oriented appetizer, entrée, beverage, or dessert,” according to the city.

The challenge ends at the city’s annual George Washington Birthday Parade in Old Town on President’s Day, Feb. 19.

“This unique event helps generate buzz for Alexandria restaurants, encourages chefs to get creative, and boosts customer traffic,” said Kristen Eastlick, GW Birthday Celebration committee member and chair of the event. “The #GWCherryChallenge lets us offer a tasteful event that keeps George Washington’s memory alive in his hometown. We’re thrilled that historic Mount Vernon has graciously sponsored this whimsical event.”

When George Washington turned six, he was caught red-handed chopping down his father’s cherry tree. Legend says that his father angrily asked him what happened, and the future president said: “I cannot tell a lie…I did cut it with my hatchet.”

Here’s how it works:

Diners—whether dine-in or take-out—will receive QR codes to vote electronically for their favorite cherry entries based on three criteria: taste, presentation, and creativity. Diners will rate each item from one to three cherries for a maximum score of 9 on each ballot. Point totals for each dish are divided by the number of ballots to get the average score. The highest average in each category wins.

Participating restaurants:

• Bastille Brasserie & Bar
• BRABO Brasserie
• The Crazy Mason Milkshake Bar and Ice Cream Shop
• Dishes of India
• Don Taco
• Evening Star Café
• Jula’s on the Potomac
• Kiwi Pie Shop
• Lost Boy Cider
• Mae’s Market and Café
• Murphy’s Irish Pub
• River Bend Bistro
• Taqueria el Poblano
• The Italian Place
• The Light Horse Restaurant
• The Tasting Room
• Trattoria da Franco
• Whiskey & Oyster

Guests are also encouraged to share photos and descriptions of the cherry items on Instagram or X with the hashtag “#GWCherryChallenge” or by posting them to the George Washington Birthday Celebration’s Facebook page.

A new firm specializing in representing and exhibiting Cuban artists opened in Old Town this weekend.

NCO Creative is an art consulting firm that opened this Saturday at 119 South Fairfax Street — a block south of City Hall.

A release said the firm specializes in contemporary and Cuban art. According to the release:

They provide services such as art acquisitions, artist representation, exhibition coordination, and cultural experience curation. Founder Natalie O’Connor has exclusive access to established and emerging artists from around the world through her work with the World Bank Art Program, private galleries, and international friends.

The company’s Facebook page noted that the venue can also be used to stage parties

Who doesn’t want a little bit of Willy Wonka in Alexandria?

This spring, Madame Coco’s Emporium And Everything Chocolate will open at 103 S. St. Asaph Street in the Old Town space that was the previous home to the Mint Condition consignment shop (now at 122 S. Royal Street). The creative force behind the project says that once it opens it will be a salon-styled chocolate shop for hanging out and getting Tarot card readings.

Meshelle Armstrong of the Eat Good Food Group is still designing the concept, which was first reported by Alexandria Living Magazine. She’s renting the space from building owner Megan Podolsky and partnering with Daniel and Stacey Wharam, the owners of Zuki Moon in Del Ray, Grape + Bean Rosemont and Fontaine Caffe & Creperie.

Armstrong also created the concept for Zuki Moon, which opened last October. Like the Zuki character, Madame Coco will have an entirely fictional backstory to set the tone for the hangout. She says she wants to open the shop sometime in March, and is still looking for partners.

“I’m sourcing chocolate from all over the world,” Armstrong told ALXnow. “I believe I can this can turn this into something really special. I really would like to find a small group of people who would be interested in partnering.”

Armstrong said that the Madame Coco character is one of her alter egos and that the shop will carry ice cream, an assortment of chocolates, candles, as well as serve non-alcoholic drinks.

“She’s loves fantasy, she loves whimsy, she loves chocolate and she loves socializing,” Armstrong said. “That’s basically who she is, and the shop is going to be like an old fashioned Parisian-styled salon where you can sit and eat chocolate and drink coffee and come up with ideas.”

Del Ray/Arlandria bar Hops N Shine (3410 Mount Vernon Avenue) is celebrating its five-year anniversary tomorrow (Saturday) with live music, craft activities, and a local beer tasting.

The bar’s anniversary party is scheduled to run from 1-8 p.m. on Saturday, with arts and crafts for kids from 1-6 p.m. and live music from 2-6 p.m.

The event listing said it would include sample beers from Lost Rhino, Dynasty, City State, Cigar City, and Oskar Blues as well as a selection of new sandwiches.

The bar launched in 2019 and became a staple of the Arlandria/Del Ray area with events like packed trivia nights.

It’s occasionally been a victim of its own success in the past: facing scrutiny from the Planning Commission and backlash from neighbors over noise violations.

Photo via Hops N Shine/Facebook

If you need a break from those harsh winter conditions, Del Ray’s seasonal popup bar will resemble a ski lodge in Aspen, Colorado, when it opens early next month.

“Aspen On The Avenue” is the latest effort from Homegrown Restaurant Group owners Bill Blackburn and “Mango” Mike Anderson. The bar and restaurant is being outfitted with skis on the walls, fake fireplaces and more.

“We’re going to create our version of an Après-ski cocktail lounge, and make you feel like you just finished a day on the slopes and you’re going to relax with a craft cocktail,” Blackburn told us. “It’s going to have a very warm feel. Think rough timber, fur, brick, fireplaces, skis and snowboards, hot toddy’s, sharable appetizers and our twists on classics.”

Blackburn said that the bar will open early next month, and will then close at the end of the season and reopen as a new concept in the spring.

“It’s going to be a cold winter,” Blackburn said. “We’ve got a couple more snows in us and it’s going to be a great place to warm up.”

Update at 3:35 p.m. — The Interstellar Influencer commemorates the Chesapeake Bay impact crater, not the Chicxulub crater 35 million years earlier that caused the extinction of the dinosaurs

Earlier: The asteroid collision 35 million years ago will be the latest public art at Alexandria’s Waterfront Park.

“Interstellar Influencer (Make an Impact)” will be formally unveiled in March and will be on display at the foot of King Street until November. It’s the sixth temporary installation at the site, and is being created by artist Jason Klimoski and architect Lesley Chang of New York City-based STUDIOKCA.

“At the foot of King Street on the shore of the Potomac River, an interstellar collision that took place not too far away and not too, too long ago between an asteroid and our planet is about to re-appear,” the city’s Office of the Arts announced. “Interstellar Influencer uses metal, water, and light to create a 1:1000 scale representation of the asteroid and the 85-kilometer-wide, 1.5-kilometer-deep crater it left behind that helped to shape the entire Chesapeake Bay watershed and the flow of water through its rivers and tributaries in the process.”

The installation will kick off Alexandria’s 275th birthday celebration programming, it was announced at Visit Alexandria’s annual meeting on Monday.

Chang said she wants the installation to “raise awareness of the fragility of our shared existence on this planet and the extraordinary (and sometime extraterrestrial) foundation of our modern cities and waterways.”

Klimoski said that we all live within the history that has shaped the planet.

“Sometimes you have to look at it from the point of view of an asteroid hurtling through space 35,000,000 years ago to appreciate just how incredible it is we’re here at all,” he said.

Alexandria’s 275th birthday, also known as ALX275, will mostly be recognized from April through mid-September.

According to Visit Alexandria:

The opening of waterfront public art installation Interstellar Influencer (Make an Impact)kicks off the 275^th anniversary programming in the spring. Then, look forward to special editions of the 2-day Portside in Old Town Summer Festival in June, which features the ALX Jazz Fest, and the Alexandria City Birthday Celebration with fireworks over the Potomac on July 13.

Alexandria’s award-winning Port City Brewing Company will produce an original hoppy Pale Ale called ALX275, brewed with 275 lbs. of hops, that will be served on draft at the Portside Festival, at Port City’s Tasting Room and Old Town Pub Crawl and at more special events from April through September. Also in September, the 275^th anniversary festivities include events for the 10^th anniversary of the Contrabands and Freedmen Cemetery Memorial and the 50th anniversary of the Torpedo Factory Art Center.

New exhibits include Alexandria Archaeology’s “The Buried Ships of Robinson Landing” with scale models of the three excavated ships at a temporary new waterfront gallery space. The Alexandria Black History Museum’s Moss Kendrix exhibit will honor the nationally significant visionary who revolutionized how African Americans were depicted in the media in the mid-20th century. The special collection of artifacts will demonstrate how the D.C.-based advertising and public relations pioneer transformed the advertising industry, paving the way for the diversity of actors and models who today are featured throughout marketing creative. Meanwhile, Historic Alexandria’s oral history exhibition, “Mapping Alexandria: Stories of a Changing City,” is coming to The Lyceum in June. Interactive features of the exhibition include a story kiosk where the public can record and upload their own oral histories, an interactive map and more.

Turkish Coffee Lady at 1001 King Street is celebrating 15 years in business and two years in Old Town with an event offering free Turkish coffee this weekend.

On Saturday, Jan. 20, Turkish Coffee Lady (1001 King Street) will distribute Turkish coffee cups from 9 a.m.-8 p.m.

According to the release:

Turkish Coffee Lady, the beloved cultural and culinary hub, is excited to announce the joyous celebration of 15 years of gastro cultural diplomacy and its 2nd anniversary in Old Town, Alexandria. This momentous occasion coincides with the highly anticipated Alexandria Restaurant Week, providing a perfect opportunity for the community to join in the festivities.

The coffee shop also now offers breakfast and lunch items focusing on Turkish cuisine, along with a bazaar-style sale of hand-painted pottery, coffee and tea sets, and jewelry collections.

“We are delighted to celebrate this significant milestone where our guests can indulge in complimentary cups of Turkish coffee, expertly crafted to tantalize the taste buds and transport them to the vibrant streets of Istanbul,” founder Gizem Salcigil White said in a release. “We extend our gratitude to the community that has supported us throughout this remarkable journey.”

Photo via Turkish Coffee Lady/Instagram

A Del Ray restaurant is planning on expanding its footprint with a 750-square foot patio addition.

Noe Landini, owner of Junction Bakery & Bistro (1508 Mount Vernon Avenue), wants to build on the northern end of the restaurant on a repurposed area of the parking lot used for outdoor seating the last several years.

Landini is asking the Planning Commission on March 5 to approve his request to increase the restaurant’s floor area ratio.

“Unlike other locations, the sun impacts that particular side of the building, which is the north side, all day,” Landini wrote in his application. “It is extremely uncomfortable and excruciatingly hot for local customers and neighbors in some parts of the spring, summer and fall. A canopy with fans would provide comfort to our guests.”

Landini wrote that the addition will also provide lighting to guests at night.

“(W)e will actually be able to see in the evening, which will enhance our guests’ dinner experience and safety,” Landini wrote.

via City of Alexandria

A new yoga franchise just had a ribbon cutting in Alexandria’s Carlyle neighborhood.

Mayor Justin Wilson and City Council Member John Taylor Chapman attended the event for YogaSix at 2465 Mandeville Lane over the weekend. The franchise offers six types of yoga classes, and a location is being developed for Potomac Yard.

YogaSix is part of Xponential Fitness and was founded in 2017.

“We believe that everyone deserves the mind-body experience of yoga,” YogaSix said on its website. “By connecting you to a  practice that is energizing, empowering, and fun. We deliver life-enhancing benefits through our six core classes: Y6 101, Y6 Restore, Y6 Slow Flow, Y6 Hot, Y6 Power, and Y6 Sculpt & Flow.”

A description of the six core classes is below.

• Slow Flow: This yoga class flows at a slowed-down pace so there’s time to explore individual postures and transitions in a warm practice room. Newer students find this class builds confidence and familiarity, while more experienced students refine the fundamentals of alignment and dive into a deeper practice. You will gently engage, open, and strengthen the body by tapping into accessible yoga poses, fluid movement, and breath.
• Restore: Whether you’re training for a half-marathon, pushing weights, or stuck behind a desk all day, Y6 Restore yoga classes are for you. These yoga classes emphasize floor postures to stretch, open and release the major muscle groups of the entire body in lightly warm full sensory room. Students who take this yoga class regularly report better recovery, mobility, fewer injuries, improved sleep, as well as reduced aches and pains.
• Hot: This YogaSix signature set sequence, Y6 Hot combines yoga postures synched with your breath, a fun and challenging balancing series, and dynamic core work designed to add energizing fire to your life in a heated practice room. This yoga sequence will leave you feeling perfectly balanced inside and out, from bottom to top.
• Power: Y6 Power classes are strength-building, full-body blasts designed to build focus, endurance, and flexibility in a heated practice room. These Vinyasa yoga classes move at a steady pace to keep your practice fluid, creative and energizing. This workout will take your body and mind through a challenging yoga journey. Y6 Power yoga classes facilitate breakthroughs in your body and mind, so count on leaving with a sense of energy and empowerment.
• Sculpt & Flow: Strengthen Yourself. Y6 Sculpt & Flow classes are the perfect blend of yoga and weight training in a heated practice room. A dynamic warm-up will get your heart-rate up and muscles warm, before you dive into an intense, cross training workout that uses dumbbells, bands and body weight exercises to challenge muscular strength, endurance, and cardiovascular thresholds. Then cool down with some juicy yoga stretches to leave you in a puddle on the mat. Y6 Sculpt & Flow is the best of both worlds —a total body workout plus a killer yoga vibe. Expect a fun playlist and loud, high energy music throughout.
• TRX: Y6 TRX is offered only at select locations incorporating our 6 core classes utilizing a full TRX wall mount system. Strengthen Yourself by experiencing a yoga practice allowing you to engage muscles that weren’t previously activated in a typical yoga practice. This is a great class to do if you’re used to TRX and you want to try out yoga. It’s also a great class if you’ve been doing yoga for a while and want to ramp up what you’ve been able to do on your mat. Y6 TRX is a little bit of everything, increasing range of motion, noticing asymmetries in your body that you can then work on. Let’s Hang Out!

via Facebook

The impact that the proposed Washington Wizards/Capitals arena at Potomac Yard will have on local businesses will be discussed in a virtual town hall meeting this week.

Stephanie Landrum, CEO of the Alexandria Economic Development Partnership (AEDP), will speak about the ramifications in a Zoom meeting at noon on Thursday (Jan. 21).

Reception of the news that the multi-billion dollar arena and entertainment district is coming to Potomac Yard has been tepid at best. While an AEDP report states that the development will result in 30,000 new jobs, the city is contending with a number of challenges before the deal can be sealed.

Last week, a group of residents from the Coalition to Stop the Arena at Potomac Yard rallied in protest outside the Potomac Yard Metro station — next door to the proposed development. Concerns ranged from the project’s transportation and financial impacts to parking and quality of life.

“An entertainment district is projected to generate roughly 2.5 times the economic output of what would otherwise be built based on current development plans,” according to an AEDP impact analysis.

Metro General Manager Randy Clarke also said that the newly opened Potomac Yard Metro station can’t handle arena-size crowds and will need an upgrade. In an effort to encourage alternative transportation to events at the proposed district, Mayor Justin Wilson says there will be minimal parking at the completed site, prompting some concern that neighboring communities will be affected by spillover parking.

Landrum recently said that the fate of the Target store at 3101 Richmond Highway in Potomac Yard is undetermined,  but that it is one of the most frequent questions she gets regarding the development.