Fire at Eden Center; Sietsema Talks Soft Openings

THE CRITICS— Tom Sietsema weighed in on the idea of soft openings in his chat today. "The way I look at it, if the door is open, the lights are on and the restaurant is charging full fare, it's open, plain and simple." [WaPo]

ADVENTURES IN DRINKING— How does champagne with that pedicure sound? Washington Business Journal reports Virginia is considering legislation that would allow hair and nail salons to serve alcohol. [WBJ]

FALLS CHURCH— Vietnamese shopping center Eden Center suffered a pretty big fire this afternoon. Details are still coming out, but there appear to be a few non-life-threatening injuries. Initial reports say the fire began in the closet of a jewelry store; there are no initial reports of any of the restaurants in the center being damaged. [ARLNOW]