B Too, Chef Bart Vandaele’s Belgian Brunch Spot, Is Finished on 14th Street

B Too, a popular brunch spot where Top Chef alum Bart Vandaele served Belgian mussels and doughnut-waffle “doffles,” has permanently closed after eight years on the 14th Street NW strip.

The restaurant confirmed the news on Facebook yesterday. A post attributed to Vandaele says “Covid-19 has left us no choice.” It also says that Belga Café and rooftop gin joint the Betsy will remain open on Capitol Hill. The post came weeks after a report from Popville and a tweet from Washington City Paper’s Laura Hayes pointed out the restaurant’s website had gone down and signage had been removed. Vandaele did not respond to Eater’s previous requests for comment.

The 14th Street NW corridor recently lost coffee shop Peregrine Espresso, which blamed rising rents in the neighborhood as cause for the closure. Popville reported that wood-fired pizza place Ghibellina and adjacent jazz club Sotto had been cleared out on the strip.

In other news...

• Nationally renowned D.C. bagel shop Call Your Mother rolls into Maryland today with the debut of its pink bagel trolley in Bethesda (8804 Old Georgetown Road). Order its destination wood-fired bagels by the bulk, schmears, or sandwiches like the whitefish salad-filled Boca Club ahead of time (or at the retrofitted trolley-turned-food truck), from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. to start. The full Call Your Mother menu, plus TBA stops around the DMV, are coming soon.

Call Your Mother/official photo

• A new frozen drink garden will rise in Shaw on Monday, July 20, WCP reports. Dubbed Electric Cool-Aid, the mural-lined outdoor bar will star six slushy drink machines swirling Irish coffee, spiked Red Bull, and frosé options (512 Rhode Island Avenue NW). Food partners making an appearance a few nights a week include Astro Doughnuts & Fried Chicken and hot dog-and-burger brand Swizzler.
• The owner of long-running local food truck Red Hook Lobster Pound is selling its two vehicles, Washingtonian reports. Once a lunchtime favorite amongst downtown’s 9-to-5 set, the super-seasonal operation that focused on Connecticut and Maine-style rolls took a huge hit due to the citywide shutdown: “Without the spring income and festival income, we just didn’t have enough cash in the bank to survive,” owner Doug Povich tells the magazine. His pair of Freightliner trucks are for sale on CraigsList.
• Falls Church’s Vietnamese destination Eden Center is the latest local shopping center to hop on the socially-distant, drive-in movie trend.

• Today is Bastille Day, and various French eateries in D.C. are celebrating the national holiday. Et Voila!’s three-course menu, for dine-in or takeout, includes beef Bourguignon for $58.95 (and $28 more with wine pairings). Shaw’s Convivial is making Bastille Day picnic boxes filled out by items like quiche, tuna sandwiches, carrot salad, and French sweets ($65 for two and $32.50 for one). Francophiles can also head to Le Diplomate for carryout or dine-in Parisian specials, for-sale flowers, and a live sketch artist.

Le Diplomate/official photo