Pepco Problems Spoil Inaugural Brunch at Ivy City’s Gravitas

Going dark

Guests at Gravitas were eating with the lights out on Saturday afternoon, and it wasn’t for one of those dining-in-the-dark experiments. The tasting menu-centric restaurant in Ivy City had its first a la carte brunch spoiled by a power outage, DCist reports. Chef Matt Baker told the local outlet that he lost up to $1,400 by providing free dishes and drinks to people who went without electric-powered waffles and lattes. Baker called out power company Pepco on Twitter:

DCist reports that Dock FC, Ari’s Diner, and La Puerta Verde all closed during the outage, sending customers toward Ivy City Smokehouse, which is on a different power grid. [DCist]

Eagle grounded

Northeast gay bar DC Eagle announced on Facebook yesterday that the city’s Alcoholic Beverage Regulation Administration will suspend its liquor license for a week as recourse for an incident last September in which a bouncer threw Ward 7 Councilmember (and former mayor) Vincent Gray to the ground. ABRA fined the bar $2,000 and ordered it not to serve alcohol from March 23 to March 29. Gray, who was 75 at the time, tried to enter the bar by showing a council ID that doesn’t list a birthdate when a squabble with a member of the security staff turned physical. DC Eagle noted that the bouncer that assaulted Gray no longer works there.

Goodbye, crab fries

Cheers @ The Big Chair will serve its last order of crab fries on Friday. Washington City Paper reports that the restaurant, one of the few full-service options in Anacostia, will close on Friday. A farewell party running from 8 p.m. to midnight will cap its nearly 4-year run. Owner Dionne Reeder tells WCP that her lease was up, and her landlord refused to offer an extension. [WCP]

Flat tire

Bar Roubaix, the cycling themed gastropub in Columbia Heights, announced yesterday it has closed after a little more than a year. It opened in December 2017 next to Lou’s City Bar. Popville reports that a Ledo Pizza might be headed to the space at 1400 Irving Street NW. [Popville]

Identity crisis

A new pizza shop called Grand Opening Eatery is now (true to its name) open at 924 U Street NW, Popville reports. The menu boast both Chicago and New York style pies as well as Eli’s Original Plain Cheesecake, a staple in the Chi. [Popville]