From botanas to botox

The Ballston building that used to house canceled chef Mike Isabella’s Pepita is changing from a cantina that used to deliver toxins to customers’ livers into an anti-aging and wellness center that injects toxins directly into peoples’ faces. ARLnow reports that D.C.-based Javan Wellness, which offers services including botox, dermal fillers, IV hydration, and hormone replacement therapy, is targeting an October opening in the space at 4000 Wilson Boulevard in Arlington.

Pepita was part of a complex of three Mike Isabella Concepts restaurants in Arlington that closed earlier than expected in December following a bankruptcy filing amid a scandal stemming from allegations of sexual harassment that a former MIC manager brought against Isabella and his deputies. The Mexican restaurant opened in 2015.

Many of Isabella’s former properties are still stagnant, and the company’s assets have all been auctioned off in pieces. New York-based Urbanspace has taken over the Isabella Eatery in Tysons Galleria, bringing in an impressive collection of D.C. area chefs but running into its own lawsuit drama. The Hilton Brothers are putting a French bistro into the former Requin Brasserie, the first Isabella restaurant to close, in Virginia’s Mosaic District development. [ARLnow]

In other news

• Black Whiskey owner Darren Norris is replacing Bourbon in Adams Morgan with a three-level Japanese complex [WCP]
• Tequila y Mezcal, the Columbia Heights cantina from the Taco Habanero crew, has started opening for lunch from Tuesday through Friday. [Instagram]
• Leesburg is getting a bakery called Cake or Death [The Burn]
• There’s a Dominican “Taste of DR” Festival tonight in Columbia Heights Plaza [New Columbia Heights]