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Food News

Food NewsFood locker company thriving, Camella's Kitchen Mango Pepper Sauce, New restaurants, Preview tasting for Catch 22 Seafood Market & Restaurant, Food hall coming to Woodmore,

Food locker company, Lavii, Inc. is thriving, Review: Camella’s Kitchen Mango Pepper Sauce, Preview tasting for Catch 22 Seafood Market & Restaurant, Food hall coming to Woodmore, New restaurants continue opening in Prince George’s County, Election Night Bites in PGCo

You can start with subject of food and it will lead to politics, real estate, culture, racism and some more. When it comes to…

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Back to Blogging on Prince George's County

Back to Blogging on Prince George’s County

So what’s new PGCo? We’re somewhere inside a pandemic; worldwide protests against systemic racism and police brutality continue; the new norm is wearing a mask and gloves as you come and go; Zoom meetings are making us crazy; food delivery services are making a killing and I, for one, am just a bit sick of it all. But what’s a girl to do?

Taxes and Politics

Well the County Council went…

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PGCo, did you know...

PGCo, did you know…

Did you know that PGCo is getting it’s first luxury bed and breakfast? Have you been keeping up with the drama with the schools and the appointment of a interim CEO? Residents can request that state roads be cleaned. Residents and passing motorist can also choose to not willfully trash their own neighborhoods too. So many people attended the Prince George’s County housing fair. Did you? I…

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PGCo Please Please VOTE

PGCo Please Please VOTE

PGC Blog doesn’t endorse any candidates but I can and will say here, briefly, who PGC Blog supports. Note that if I haven’t researched enough or don’t have enough of a feel for the candidate, I keep PGC Blog’s nickel out of that quarter. I don’t have time to go through all positions either so research those running for sheriff and register of wills and such on the quick. 

COUNTY EXECUTIVE:

Paul…

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Weekend, Mostly Saturday Though, Happenings

Weekend, Mostly Saturday Though, Happenings

So much is going on, but I don’t want to do a weekend happenings post. It just drains your soul trying to gather all that info. Below is a cut and dry version. Oh my poor lil soul.

FRIDAY JUNE 15 AND SATURDAY JUNE 16, 2018

Friday, June 15th and Saturday, June 16th at The Plateau at National Harbor in Oxon Hill. The Beer, Bourbon & BBQ Festival.  Two days of beer sippin’, bourbon tastin’, music…

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Prince George's County Early Voting Centers

Prince George’s County Early Voting Centers

Early voting in Maryland for the 2018 Primary Election begins Thursday, June 14th and ends Thursday, June 21st. Voting centers are open between 10am and 8pm. See the list below. There’s a LOT on the line. Please take 20 minutes out of your day and vote.  

Prince George’s County Maryland Early Voting Centers Upper Marlboro Community Center

5400 Marlboro Race Track Road

Upper Marlboro, MD 20772

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I’ve been dining all over the place. While scrolling through my pics, I felt a lil-lil bit of shame at the amount of calories I’ve consumed, but then I felt hungry again and the hunger washed away my shame. Thank you hunger. As you know, my goal is always to dine local but y’all, that can be a task. Prince George’s County is on the come up with dining but it has not quite come totally all the way up yet. 

I dined at the Kitchencray Cafe menu debut at their Lanham (4601 Presidents Drive) location. On tap for the evening were crab cakes, chicken pasta, oxtail stew, shrimp and grits, fried lobster with macaroni and cheese, a short rib hash and curry shrimp. There was such attention to layered flavors. The meats had flavors as if they’d been seasoned/brined/marinated but not overly. I’m not sure where this young chef of Jamaican decent sourced his lobster but it sure did taste like the lobster I have in the Caribbean; it was firm and sweet. The sauces were rich and complimented the food instead of masking it. Service was excellent too, like what you’d get at an upscale eatery, which is exactly what Kitchencray Cafe is. DC’s Citypaper featured him in an article on how he’s bringing “cajun” (smh) food to this “desert” in July. 

Incredible story. He and his family were homeless at one time. JR went on to attend Monroe College on a full scholarship,compete on the show “Hell’s Kitchen” and own his company.  



Hardy’s BBQ will open a restaurant location on June 30th at 13600 Old Annapolis Road in Bowie, MD. I’ve never had their food so I’m just here with the opening info folks. Looks like they’ve been in the catering and food truck business. Another soon coming restaurant is Ruby’s Southern Kitchen. The official location hasn’t been announced but it will be in Bowie somewhere along Old Annapolis Road. We could christen Old Annapolis Road as the soul food & que corridor. 

  I met a friend (said “friend” is also opening up a manor and spa in PGCo so stay tuned) to dine at XC/Ninety Bar & Bistro located inside the DoubleTree Hotel in Largo. Looks like they may have changed the name to the Ninety as opposed to the Roman numerals XC which equal 90. I wasn’t expecting much from the place considering it’s hotel food. The menu had some surprises, one being oxtail. Our server, can’t remember the young lady’s name, recommended the dish. By the way, the service was impeccable. We were warmly greeted and well served. The oxtail stayed true to typical hotel food in that it was incredibly under seasoned but the oxtail was tender and if you’ve ever cooked oxtail, you know that takes some doing. They have an interesting cocktail menu too. There’s a coconut gimlet made with gin, sake, basil and lime. Check them out but don’t go expecting a 5-star, foodie haven, but it is better than some hotel food. Well decorated and furnished space also.

Oxtail & Interior

Coconut Gimlet

Deviled Eggs

Scallops at Burtons Bar & Grill

Burtons Bar & Grill in the Riverdale Park Station was decent. If you’re looking for a spot to eat and the moment is more about the fellowship than the food, go to Burtons. Don’t get me wrong. There was nothing terrible about the place. It’s a cozy, bustling space and there’s parking, but nothing about the food stands out as special. Maybe I’ll go back and explore the menu. Maybe I’ll tip on over to the Whole Foods hot bar and call it a day. Service was excellent: patient, young, friendly staff. The food was just meh. There were some high notes in the key lime pie. Great homemade graham cracker crust, nice consistency to the key lime custard but if honestly, Big Fish in Crofton has the best key lime pie I’ve had outside my own house. Come to think of it, the key lime pie at the Whole Foods is pretty terrific. My evolving point seems to be this: when the grocery store out does your restaurant, it’s time to step it up.

  Another just okay place was The Bird in DC. I should have known because I had a similar experience at their other restaurant The Pig. Both places are The Boring.

My friend was in town from Peru and jonesing for some purely American food and none of us had tried The Bird so we gave it a go. First of all, lemmejus-say that DC has had the soul gentrified out of it. I walked from the Mt. Vernon/Convention Center metro to The Bird at 1337 11th St. NW and just about cried when I got to what used to be the O Street Market. Overly modern condos with light green panels jut above older brick buildings. It’s like someone stuck lego blocks together from two different time periods. Walking the neighborhood you feel that it has no beat, no flow, no soul. Like the buildings, the people (locals & gentrifiers) don’t fit together. But back to The Bird.  We ordered a bunch of stuff. The paté with beets stood out for me. It wasn’t too thick or to mousse-ey. My word. I don’t want paté that’s been whipped to a frothy peak; I like to know this is liver (drools a bit), mineraly, delightful liver. The paired beets were like a palate cleansing sherbet. All was not lost. Of course we ordered wings and let’s just say I could tell by the wings that the neighborhood has lost it’s seasoning.

The Bird Pate and beets

The Bird Korean Style Fried Wings

Little Morsels:

I asked if Silver Diner was coming to Woodmore Town Center and got a polite, “We have no comment at this time” from an account supervisor. What I heard in that response is that maybe we will have a Silver Diner.

The Jamaica Independence Day celebration at Wellspring Manor & Spa is now open to the public. The August 5th affair simply great music, great food, relaxed people and vendors selling stuff you’d actually want to buy. I am not of Jamaican decent and I go every year. Sway with the music and eat good food. Get your tickets at Eventbrite. 

The Beer and Bacon Festival in Laurel, MD has been rescheduled to September 15th. Tickets go on sale June 15th; proceeds benefit Habitat for Humanity. 

Both Romano Winery and Gemeny Winery have events all Summer. Outdoor concerts, happy hours, cigar night, sip wine & plant a garden (that could go right wrong-ha!), food trucks and more.

DM with restaurants you’d like me to try. And yes I know the Bowie location for Milk & Honey is open. I’ll be sliding through soon.

                      Food News: Kitchencray, Burtons and The Bird, Ninety Bar, What I Heard I've been dining all over the place. While scrolling through my pics, I felt a lil-lil bit of shame at the amount of calories I've consumed, but then I felt hungry again and the hunger washed away my shame.

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Candidate Hits and Misses: State Senate and House, County Council and Executive

Candidate Hits and Misses: State Senate and House, County Council and Executive

Photo from The Diamondback, Graphic by Evan Berkowitz

There’s a Maryland candidate’s forum happening Wednesday, May 30th for those running for County Executive.  I’ll reserve space here to insert a wrap up; I’m sure it’ll be brief considering the candidates running for PGCo Executive: States Attorney Angela Alsobrooks, former Rep. Donna Edwards, former Lt. Governor (1979-81) and currently elusive

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Women of Prince George's In Business

Women of Prince George’s In Business

Some of the women running for office in Prince George’s County have been bringing light to the absence of women in the local political arena. From 1970 to today, there has never been a woman elected county executive. The Baltimore Sundid an article on the small numbers of women holding office in Maryland. One area where Maryland and Prince George’s County is not lagging is women owned businesses.…

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Medical Marijuana and the Weeds of Cronyism

Medical Marijuana and the Weeds of Cronyism

Good Day to all my PGC Blog People:

I’ve been gone a while but I’m back. I’m not going to try and cover too much in this post. I’ll talk about what it’s like have someone you love get sick in Prince George’s County later. Wooo. Keep praying for ya girl ya hear.

Medical Marijuana

There are currently 210 issued licenses for medical marijuana dispensaries in Maryland by the Maryland Cannabis…

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Executive Race, Equifax Breach, & New Carrollton

Executive Race, Equifax Breach, & New Carrollton

I TOLD Y’ALL LAST YEAR that Rep. Donna Edwards was going to run in the Prince George’s County Executive race. Check the receipts. On the blog’s April 27th episode, political analyst Neal Carter spilled the tea.  What do you all think? Can she win against this crowded field of democrats? There’s State Senator C. Anthony Muse, States Attorney Angela Alsobrooks, Former Obama DOJ appointee Paul…

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Local Development, Brewing Mess, Purple Line Progress, Nation in Distress

Local Development, Brewing Mess, Purple Line Progress, Nation in Distress

So how about the mess going on in this country? Isn’t it just ridiculous in a “but not really” kind of way.  #45 (aka Trump) has affirmed to the people of these United States that after the August 12th racist demonstrations in Charlottesville, VA, that there is enough blame to go around, “What about the alt-left?” DUDE WHAT? One of the racists killed a woman and probably meant to kill even…

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Burroughs Alleges, Baker for Gov, Real Estate is Positive, Jobs Numbers are Up

Burroughs Alleges, Baker for Gov, Real Estate is Positive, Jobs Numbers are Up

County Executive Rushern Baker (credit PGC Blog)

PGCo Executive Rushern Baker wants to be the democratic nominee in Maryland’s 2018 gubernatorial elections. Well so does Alec Ross, state senator Richard Madaleno, Ralph Jaffe, and former NAACP president Benjamin Jealous. Lemme just tell you that Baker has no chance of getting the nomination.  Baker came in 2nd to Richard Madaleno in straw poll…

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Edward Burroughs Not Allowed A Platform

Edward Burroughs Not Allowed A Platform

Edward Burroughs (credit PGC Blog)

School Board member Edward Burroughs (Dist 8) was not allowed to be a platform guest at the Potomac High School graduation held at Show Place Arena on June 1st.  By his own admission, Edward Burroughs was not scheduled to be a platform guest. Mr. Burroughs has uploaded a Youtube video titled, “PGCPS CEO Dr.Maxwell orders police to arrest School Board Member…

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PGCo, did you know...

PGCo, did you know…

Let’s give it up for the Intuitive Group for creating coworking space in Capitol Heights. “Intuitive Group, a local government consulting firm located in Prince George’s County has announced the recent launch of it’s brainchild Clout Workspace.  Clout Workspaceis shared coworking environment located in Capitol Heights, Maryland specifically dedicated to supporting local small businesses,…

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Councilman Mel Franklin Gets DUI

Councilman Mel Franklin Gets DUI

          Councilman Mel Franklin

Councilman Mel Franklin was arrested for driving while under the influence on November 11th, according to media reports. ABC 7 reported, “Jamel [Mel] Ramon Franklin was charged with Driving Under the Influence after he allegedly crashed into a vehicle that was stopped at a traffic light on Wednesday, November 11, according to Maryland State Police. In addition,…

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Building Up and Tearing Down: Development News

Building Up and Tearing Down: Development News

Tear down the  Prince George’s Hospital Center and use the space for luxury high rise condos, retail, and eateries.  That’s what I suggest. How many times will the hospital infect babies in the Neonatal ICU (NICU)before the oversight boards realize that the entire hospital is just one big medical disaster? I’ve told you a little about my horrible experience with that hospital. From billing and…