Relax, Maketto Did Not Lose All of Its Pastry Recipes

Hope for croissants

Maketto pastry chef Rebekka Baltzell is asking for help finding a stolen backpack that contained five notebooks filled with hand-written recipes for sweets, but all is not lost. Washingtonian reports that the recipes Baltzell uses everyday are printed out in a binder at the Asian cafe on H Street NE (always back up your data). Condolences to the chef, whose car window was smashed after she left the bag on a seat. Per the local magazine, she is offering $100 and free pastries for a year to anyone who finds the black-and-white, floral print Jansport. [Popville; Washingtonian]

Curious Korean chicken

Several restaurants bearing the name of South Korean brand Choong Man have sprouted in the area, selling a speciality known as tikkudak, fried chicken that’s finished over charcoal for an extra smokey crunch. But the Washington Post’s resident barbecue bloodhound, Tim Carman, reports that all the shatteringly crisp chicken is not equal. Apparently Choong Man does not yet have a franchising deal in the U.S. and therefore cannot enforce oversight of its product. As a result, some of the local restaurants are shamefully serving tikkudak with nary a kiss of smoke. [WaPo]

A first for Loudoun County

Silver Diner, the anti-greasy spoon that has now planted locations all over the D.C. metro area and as far out as Philadelphia and Richmond, plans to put its first restaurant in Loudoun County next year. Washington Business Journal reports the chain, which prides itself on locally sourced ingredients, has signed a lease in Ashburn with plans to open at the Commonwealth Center development in the fall of 2020. [WBJ]

Tech Boom

Google took a look at Amazon’s Virginia expansion and said, hold our kombucha. WBJ reports that Google plans to double its workforce in Reston and hopes to move from Reston Town Center to 1900 Reston Metro Plaza. The move could free up space for new businesses at the Town Center while also increasing demand for restaurants that suit the needs of people who work for giant tech companies. [WBJ]