WaPo highlights new hoagie at Taylor

The Washington Post published an article today on the new Pattison Ave hoagie at Taylor Gourmet Deli. The new sandwich serves thinly sliced roast pork, shards of aged provolone and broccoli rabe on the signature Sarcone roll. Owner David Patten explains that his inspiration arose from the roast pork hoagies at two shops in the City of Brotherly Love: DiNic's at the Reading Terminal Market or John's Roast Pork in South Philadelphia.

Have you tried it? How does it stack up?

Image Credit: WaPo

Pic of the day

Segway rider orders a hoagie from Taylor Gourmet at 485 K Street NW.


Image Credit: alykat

Phillies Fever at Taylor

Casey from Taylor Gourmet offers the following promotion:

Help us cheer on the Philadelphia Phillies to their second consecutive World Series! All customers toting any Phillies gear will receive a free 22oz Boylan’s fountain soda with purchase. Offer good until we carry the World Series Trophy down Broad Street next week!!

Taylor Gourmet Opening - link bonanza

On Friday Kim previewed the grand opening of Taylor Gourmet. The links below highlight what others are saying.

• Capital Spice: Be sure to try the arancini – you’ll thank us. Just don’t ask for mayo on your sandwich. They don’t have any, and they don’t make any apologies for what they see as an issue of authenticity.
  
• Penn Quarter Living: The interior has an industrial feel to it featuring an ordering area, a pickup area around the corner and ample seating including a communal table.
  
• ReadySetDC: The bread is not drenched in oil to overwhelm the flavors and ingredients. The Rocky risotto balls and spicy peppers on the side completes the meal as well. By far, the best damn sandwiches in the city!
  
• Young & Hungry (WCP): If the original Taylor on H Street NE moved the traditionally cramped, craggy, and oily Philly hoagie shop into the modern era, complete with sleek industrial interiors designed as much for form as function, then the latest shop at CityVista raises the aesthetic bar even higher.
  
• Prince of Petworth: I am happy to report that the sandwiches were as delicious as they are at their original H Street, NE location. I always get one of the prosciutto sandwiches.
  
• Gradually Greener: One of the main reasons I don’t eat subs all that much is that I hate the big, pillowy, flavorless flour bombs that seem to be the standard bread for such sandwiches. Taylor’s bread had a fantastic crust: thin, almost oily-crisp, with a sprinkling of flavorful sesame seeds on top. The bread underneath the crust was soft and light, with just the right amount of chew.
  
• Express Night Out (WaPo): A phenomenal roll is a vehicle to eat killer meats and cheese.
  
• We Love DC: If you’re from Philly, I can imagine this is like heaven for you.

Tons of photos from the pre-opening party are available to view in a Flickr set from Docmonstereyes and a Yelp business entry has been created.

Also noteworthy was some of the discussion in the Prince of Petworth comments section. Between the pre-opening party and the grand opening Taylor has already addressed my feedback on the awkward placement of the menu signage by angling it downward. Co-owner David Mazza also chimed in to address the questions around how they were able to expand so quickly by explaining that Edens & Avant offered them a large TI allowance. Thanks E&A!!!

Taylor Gourmet II Opens Today!

by KimFromTheK

Today is the official grand opening of the new Taylor Gourmet, located next to the entrance of The K at City Vista, at 485 K Street NW. This second location will have similar hours to the H Street NE location, opening daily at 11am and closing at 10pm for now, with late night hours extending to 3am on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights once the place gets up and running.


I was lucky enough to attend the pre-opening party on Tuesday night, and enjoyed my Spruce Street hoagie and an order of mozzarella sticks I shared with bloggers FourthandEye and PQResident. The space, while small, is decorated similar to the H Street NE location, with a bit more of a funky flair. The garage door is a bit wider and will open to outdoor seating in front of the restaurant (on K Street) once the weather gets warm again. And like the other location, delivery will be available, but the delivery area has not yet been determined.

Owners Casey Patten and David Mazza kept green design in mind by creating lighting fixtures from oil drums and drywall buckets. And there's a large communal dining table in the middle of the seating area, composed of scrap metal from the outdoor signage build-out and wooden floor boards from a recent renovation the pair recently completed.

The menu features the same signature selection of hoagies, chicken cutlet sandwiches, salads and fried pasta treats. The Taylor emphasis on quality also continues with turkey roasted in-house, homemade risotto balls and mozzarella sticks, cured meats and aged cheeses imported from Italy, and rolls couriered daily from Philadelphia's Sarcone's Bakery. It's a winning formula that earned the Italian deli a spot on the Young & Hungry Top 50 Best DC Restaurants from the Washington City Paper only months after opening.


The gourmet grocery include items such as San Marzano tomatoes, pastas, and what a fellow City Vista resident claims to be some of "the best tomato sauce you can buy". Catering is available for neighborhood businesses and residents alike. And while Taylor sells Italian and artisan beer and 30 Italian wines under $30, the store will only have an off-premises liquor license, meaning customers can buy bottles of wine but can't buy a pint of beer or glass of wine to enjoy with their sandwich on site.

Taylor, we welcome you, and your tasty food, to the neighborhood!

Sneak peak inside 5th & K Taylor Deli

I have a few details and photos to share with regards to the much anticipated new Taylor Gourmet Deli opening soon at 485 K Street NW.



From owner Casey Patten:

Our new store will be located at 485 K Street NW in the City Vista complex. We have incorporated the same look and feel as the location in H Street NE but with a few new twists. The garage door will be 16 feet wide and will open up to sidewalk patio seating. We have taken 55 gallon oil drums and turned them into accent lighting fixtures, these oil drums are suspended from the ceiling with industrial chains.

The down lighting when you enter the restaurant is nine 5 gallon drywall buckets with lighting fixtures inside to create a clean glowing feel. In addition we have created a 6x6 communal table from scratch using scrap steel left over from the hand fabrication of our counter tops and signage. The table top will be reclaimed floor joists from a recent renovation David and I completed.

Very exciting that Taylor will be arriving soon. I've been making the pilgrimages to H Street NE to order the Callowhill Street - the best meatball sub I've had since I was 12.

Latest signs of progress in the neighborhood

A quick posting on the latest signs of progress in the neighborhood:

• Taylor Deli buildout continues to zoom along
  
• Brown paper has been put up inside the windows of Kushi Izakaya - this usually means buildout is about to begin.
  
• Ideal Realty Group classifies the DuMont as "under agreement". I've learned this only applies to the 370 unit building at 425 Mass Ave.

Photo of brown paper in windows of Kushi courtesy of John Thompson

Edens and Avant press release on Taylor Deli

Yesterday Edens and Avant widely distributed a press release announcing Taylor Gourmet Deli will become a new tenant at City Vista. While the cat had already been out of the bag for over 3 weeks it is still interesting to read quotes directly from the source.

Washington , D.C. July 21, 2009 – D.C.'s most distinctive Italian hoagie is about to get more accessible. Taylor Gourmet Deli, recently named in the Top 50 D.C. Restaurants by Washington City Paper, will open a second location at CityVista in Mount Vernon Triangle in early 2010. The restaurant will join recently announced Kushi, a Japanese-style restaurant opening at CityVista in the fall.

“If you live or work in Mount Vernon Triangle, you expect your retail and restaurants to be creative, where the experience is as well crafted as the product,” commented Steve Boyle, Edens & Avant Managing Director. “Taylor is a great example of our vision for CityVista, which is to deliver something different and innovative that showcases the local restaurant and retail expertise.”

From the hand-selected ingredients to the layout of the interior space, Taylor is not your typical sandwich shop. Rolls couriered daily from Philadelphia's Sarcone's Bakery, meats and cheeses from Italy, and house-roasted turkey are signatures of their hoagies. Paired with the deli is an extensive Italian market featuring imported and domestic cured meats, a variety of cheeses and pasta, as well as other delicacies.

The passion and forethought owners Casey Patten and Dave Mazza have poured into the restaurant are noticeable – from price points to the green-friendly business model. Perusing the Italian Market, shoppers will find wines representing all regions of Italy under $30. Taylor will be powered 100 percent by wind-generated energy,

“We are extremely excited to be opening our second store in CityVista. We love the area, and the surrounding businesses,” commented Patten. “Our CityVista location will have a 16-foot roll-up door, patio seating and a rustic feel geared toward this market.”

Would signature Taylor facade fit in well at City Vista?

Yesterday the big news finally broke that Taylor Gourmet Deli will be coming to City Vista this fall. Today I put it out to all of you - would the signage and signature garage door from their H Street NE location fit in at City Vista?




Also, it's worth noting Eden's and Avant updated their City Vista site map last night:


Notice that while E&A doesn't yet merge Bay 70 into Busboys they have consolidated Bays 120 and 130 together into one ~3550sf space. Also appears that Chevy Chase did not lease all of Bay 20 leaving another small unnumbered vacant bay beside it.

Taylor Gourmet Deli coming to City Vista

The Prince of Petworth blog broke the news today that Taylor Gourmet Deli will be locating to City Vista. I had heard these negotiations were under way back in late February but was asked to keep it on the hush until the deal was executed.

The below modified image represents the City Vista retail updated plat map as I understand it. Kushi is consolidating what was once bays 90,100 and 110 into a revised bay 100 that just shy of 4000 sf. In the worst kept secret in the world, waitresses even openly talk about it when I'm there, Busboys will eventually expand to take much but not all of Bay 70. The remainder of Bay 70 plus all of Bay 80 will be the space Taylor is taking.



This leaves Bays 120 and 130 available for lease and it's likely Eden's and Avant has some active discussions on a restaurant for those spaces. Eventually Bay 50, which currently houses the City Vista Sales Center, will also be filled by a services oriented retail tenant.

To learn more about Taylor Deli visit the reviews on Yelp. I'm looking forward to being able to stroll over to Taylor for a chicken cutlet hoagie and fried risotto balls.

Taylor Gourmet Deli

This afternoon I made a trip east to Taylor Gourmet Deli at 1116 H Street NE. Taylor is a Philadelphia themed deli and italian store that opened earlier this month.


I knew I was in for a long wait the moment I walked through the front door. Over twenty people were lined up along the wall and counters near the open kitchen. The space was deep and narrow with exposed brick, wood that looked like it was salvaged from a ship wreck and stainless steel abound. The owners replaced the aluminum garage door the property previously had with a glass garage door that allowed for considerable natural light.

The sandwich selection includes two dozen variations of hoagies of chicken cutlet sandwiches all named after streets and landmarks in Philly. The menu also offers a sausage sandwich, arugla salads, risotto balls, ravioli and mozzarella sticks. Taylor uses the freshest ingredients with cured meats and cheeses from Italy and hoagie rolls delivered daily from Sarcone's bakery. Among the snacks offered are Herr's chips and tastykakes.

click to enlarge menu

After brief deliberation I decided on the "Art Museum" chicken cutlet sandwich and the toasted "Ridge Ave Raviolis". I slowly slurped down several refills of my delicious Boylan's diet rootbeer while I waited, waited and waited.

By this time I positioned myself at a vantage point along the counter where I could see what order tickets were actively being worked on. Over an hour elapsed before my order was fulfilled. My patience was not rewarded. Despite twice uttering aloud "Art Museum" co-owner David Mazza apparently made my sandwich with prosciutto rather than roasted red peppers which is the "Penn Square". I had to pick off the prosciutto and redress my cutlet with fixings from my fridge.

Today's experience was not good but I see the potential and I will be back. Considering the marinara with my ravioli was fantastic I may try the "Benjamin Franklin" next time. The sausage sandwich also looked enticing. I just don't think my next visit is going to be very soon as the crowds are leading to heavy waits.

For other perspectives check out the preview from Brightest Young Things and reviews on WaPo, Yelp,