News and notes from Reston (tm).

Thursday, October 14, 2010

Watch Out RTC, Lake Anne Getting Fancy Cupcakery of its Own

pacmancupcakes11.jpgAs we all know, no self-respecting urban area is worthy of its "street cred," as the kids today don't say, without two essential things: a) a cupcakery and b) flash mobs. Well, now Lake Anne Plaza will be two for two:

Love cupcakes? We do. That’s why we’re thrilled to have the Queen of Cupcakes moving into the neighborhood. Nefertiti, aka the Cupcake Ladi, will soon be selling her amazing, decadent, and delectable creations from her shop on the Quayside. She plans to open in December. Maybe if we ask nice, she’ll open sooner…
So now the fancy Fake Downtown won't be the only place with a cupcakery. Suck on that, Unos-eaters! The Cupcake Ladi will be moving into the old Rita's Express Alterations shop, and she already has an existing Internet business -- which isn't a bad approach for a new business opening at the Plaza during the quiet winter months.

But the cupcakery isn't the only new business opening at the Plaza. A Thai restaurant is coming to the spot once occupied by Roti Grill before it moved to the pharmacy:
Singh Thai’s owners Young Lee and Chef Chai are working hard to be open by the end of October. They’re by the dock with a fantastic outdoor porch that looks out over the lake. Stop by and say hi while their finishing up construction.
And the Roti Grill, not wanting to be left out of all the culinary whimsy, is offering two fancy new dishes: something called "Kathy's Peanut Butter Pancake Sandwich" and "Sweet n Spicey Pinky Poppers."

And that's not all! A third new business has moved to the Plaza after its owner created a product to help dogs and other pets recuperate from surgery and other trauma:
Dogleggs Therapeutic Rehabilitative Products expects to have about $500,000 in sales this year, and the company expects that number to triple next year, Schon Gross said. Now expanded to an office in Reston's Lake Anne Plaza, the business designs and sells a line of dozens of pet-therapeutic products. Seventeen thousand units have been sold worldwide. Gross also has expanded into products for cats, horses, goats and even ferrets.

"Dogleggs products are revolutionary in the field of veterinary rehabilitative medicine," said veterinary orthopedic surgeon Peter Lotsikas, of the Veterinary Orthopedic Sports Medicine Group in Annapolis Junction, Md. "In addition, Schon is a fantastic seamstress," he added.

He said he prescribes a Dogleggs shoulder stabilization system for every dog that undergoes rotator cuff surgery at his facility.

"It's basically a shoulder harness encompassing the legs that keeps the post-surgical patient from being able to inadvertently pull at the affected area by limiting the extension of the shoulders," he said. "Nothing like it existed before Schon developed it."
(insert lazy joke about the Plaza "going to the dogs and/or ferrets" here.)

33 comments:

  1. All good news for Lake Anne!

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  2. That plaza is a dead zone. This business will also fail. You dont get enough critical mass visiting that place to sustain those stores. The crowd that shows up for the farmers market hauls arse out of there as soon as it's over. Then you just have the unlucky few who bought condos in those buildings and the illegal aliens that stand around, waiting for who knows what. I wonder if this business will take credit cards or will it be a cash only store like those other "fine" establishments in that dump...errr village.

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  3. Wow Anon- that's a "mess-o-hostility" and a lot of inaccuracy. There are several shops that have been there for years and years. I get that it may not be your thing but wow, Buddy, maybe you should skip the afternoon Starbucks.

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  4. I have to agree Anon 8:01 that seems pretty agressive, maybe you should switch to decaf.

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  5. Cool! I love cupcakes and Thai Food and dogs for that matter.

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  6. I'd like to point out that Anon 8:01's comment is also kind of racist, I mean really how can he/she know if someone is an illegal alien?

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  7. I say build a short express monorail between RTC and Lake Anne, to increase foot traffic. Then it could be extended to the new Reston Parkway Metro when it arrives in 2039.

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  8. Here is the funny/weird part of hater Anon 8:01's posts- look at the laundry list of complaints that they have obviously put up over various posts on this filthy web blog-supposedly nobody takes credit, complaints about the post office, complaints about the loiterers, is there on Saturdays for the Farmers Market, complaints about the mom and pop businesses because they know your name and the hater wants the anonymonity of franchises, and the hater wants more than anything else for the businesses at Lake Anne to fail. That is some very specific, if moronic, complaints that only could be compiled if they spend a lot of time at Lake Anne. Who keeps going to a place that they don't like? A crazy hater who needs to get a life.

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  9. I love Thai food and I love sweets so I will be there. And I love that Anon 8:01 will not be present when I show up.

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  10. I pray that Anon8:01 is nowhere I ever am! Jasmine Cafe has been on Lake Anne since 1989 or so. Cafe Montmartre has been there since the mid-90's. The pharmacy and barber shop have been there since the '70's. The Gallery has been there since the 70-80's(forever?)

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  11. I agree with Anon 8:01's post. I'm not sure what the romanticism with Lake Anne is all about. It just looks run down to me. I don't want any of the stores to go out of business, but he makes a good point. The foot traffic is just not there to support these stores. It seems like a convenient place if you live in one of those buildings, but if you drive there from other parts of reston, it's not very inviting.

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  12. Maybe not inviting to you 9:53 but I live near by and I LOVE it! I have a friend that lives in the high rise and it's an amazing place. I know she wouldn't live anywhere else.

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  13. Here's a good bit of news- I went to Roti Grill and tried "Kathy's Peanut butter Pancake Sandwich" Wow! A-MAZ-ING. Artery clogging, butt widening but flipping delicious. I had mine stuffed with a monkey! Ha ha! Banana. So good! Maybe the 8:01 hater should try one, it might improve their mood.

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  14. He's right, you can't see any of the stores from the road, so how do they expect to draw in people to this place? The parking lot is very small and ill designed. Therefore, if you live close enough to walk there, you might enjoy it. The rest of us will drive to the Reston Town Center and enjoy that place instead.

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  15. ..Hello Kids, I have to jump in & sai hello! .. I am "The CupCake Ladi" ..We have an established organic CupCake business! I am known for gifting out CupCakes for the last 5 years, before it became fashionable! I can't wait all meet all of you.. Checkout my web ..As always I will be giving out organic CupCakes that dai we open .. having many specials the month that I arrive~~ You may even catch me there @ the store tinkering awai .. if you see me sai hello .. I always have organic CupCakes for all my friends!! ..

    Warm regards,
    Nefertiti "The CupCake Ladi"
    www.TheCupCakeLadi.com

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  16. I dont mind Lake Anne, it's old and drab, but who cares? I dislike the community center location. Who came up with the idea to have the RCC behind the shopping center? When I moved here 8 years ago, I enrolled my kid in swim classes via the RCC web site. When I went to find the place, my GPS kept telling me that I had arrived, but all I saw was a Safeway and some other stores. I drove around the parking lot until I asked some one and they told me that it was behind the chicken wings place! Then I noticed that the parking spaces nearest to the RCC have a 30 minute time limit on them! What a great design. You build a community center and hide it behind a shopping center, and then you don't provide any parking for it. Way to go Mr.Simon!

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  17. Hi CupCake Ladi- Welcome! Don't let the crabby people get you down, you are going to do an awesome job and you will be a great fit, maybe even the beginning of some more eclectic new shops for Lake Anne. Where could a small independent go these days? Certainly not RTC with is rent plus a % of profits! Plus the whole "Mom & Pop" is great, I mean if there are no Mom & Pops you could be ANYWHERE! I want to be able to try things you can't get anywhere else. So welcome!

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  18. Anon 11:41

    Bob Simon had nothing to do with Hunter's Woods as it is now. The Hunters Woods created in his time was a lovely village center that was eclipsed by retail at Town Center. There used to be a True Value Hardware store and the library was there. It was wonderful to shop there.

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  19. Well honestly do not know the area ,,,,,so all I can say the only reason I will be over there is to go to get My CupCakes from the Ladi!! After hearing about the restaurant I think I will plan to grab a bite !For those who know me I'am Ant Linda and I will travel that distance for the cupcakes. Why you ask ??? Because they are worth traveling for !! I'am so excited that ther will be a place to go !!! Thanks Ladi and best of LUCK!!!xoxoxox

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  20. Anon 11:49, Hunters Woods was eclipsed by vandalism. First they removed the fountain instead of repairing. They removed the covered plaza around the fountain.

    Then the great businesses moved out: Bao Zaire's (sp?) Thai joint, Fritzbee's, the library, Hollywood Video.

    We used to shop at the HW Safeway, but my wife gave up on them after being panhandled right in the aisles.

    I wish I could say there are visible FCPD patrols in HW. I can't. Just visible thugs with gang tats.

    The only things HW has left for us are the sushi joint, RCC, and the reliable pharmacy in the Safeway.

    So for an evening out we go to Lake Anne or Town center, or even El Maniteal in Tall Oaks. Yes, Lake Anne is more than a little worn around the edges. But that isn't shabby, it's patina.

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  21. @ 8.01 hater... you seem to have taken the introduction of the Cupcake Ladi very personally... what's up with that? and how can you be so sure that this business will fail.. unless you have tried and tested ur own business there and obviously failed miserably and maybe u r trying to warn the Cupcake Ladi from ur experience, also, do you know everyone in that area personally so you can tell the difference between the illegal alieans if any present there? you just sound very miserable in general... and u want to make everyone like that... that ain't cool at all.... yeah definitely you shudn't eat all that sweet cuz it might explode ur head... but i will surely enjoy the delicious cupcakes soon at Lake Ann.

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  22. What's racist about commenting on an illegal alien?

    Illegal is illegal, but since we are fortunate enough not to have to (always) carry papers in this lefty nontown, it is somewhat hard to discern who is or isn't here or there legally.

    After all, the Lake Anne plaza (and the lake too for that matter) is private property and any of us could be there illegally if the owner of that property were to lawfully ban us from being there.

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  23. The only things I have to add are:

    anon 8:01 go stuff your stupid fat face with all you can eat bread sticks and never-ending bowls of all you-can-eat pasta at Macaroni Grill.

    To anon 9:53 ditto

    To anon 11:31 have you ever timed how long it takes to park your car in one of the parking garages at the Clown Center and then walked to the soulless corporate eatery of your choice?

    The parking at Lake Anne is (sadly) never full and the time it would take you to park out by the "grosery" and walk to G-Sushi for some awesome affordable take-out sushi (or Jasmine or any establishment in LASC) would be 1/3 to 1/4 as long as it would be at RTC.

    Although it is getting cooler now and thus not as pleasant to hang out on the plaza, it is still a nice place to go for an evening. Try it sometime instead of RTC.

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  24. Reston is a failed experiment.
    The whole “village concept” obviously doesn’t work. The only vestige of Bob Simon’s “genius” idea is the Lake Anne plaza, old and dilapidated as it is. Because we all know that Hunter’s Woods has already failed and is just another strip shopping center now in the bad part of Reston.
    The majority of the young people in Reston head out to the RTC. That’s the place to be seen. Therefore, in another 10 years or so, Lake Anne will be another deserted shopping center.

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  25. Anon 1:00pm

    What's that you say? Sorry I could not understand you, what with all that never-ending-bowl-of-pasta shoved in your stupid fat face.

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  26. I would love for Lake Anne to thrive, but having been there the day of the multicultural fair, and experiencing the many whiffs of methane gas from the lake/sewage, I'd be hard pressed to get excited about eating outdoors on a patio there! And I LOVE Thai food . . .

    Also, the day of the MC fair, there was a Hudgins table where her flunky sat all day -- and she herself only took credit for all the new citizens and then left. Didn't sit at her table for ONE minute.

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  27. Anon: 5:51

    That was just your upper lip you were smelling. Or maybe your tummy got upset from eating multicultural food. Better to stick to the all-you-can-stuff-in-your-stupid-fat-face pasta and salad bar at Macaroni Grill.

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  28. HCKD -- Nah ... the smell was the lake and it was bad -- it wasn't constant, but when it wafted over, it was noticeable. It's the kind of thing that deters people from hanging around because they know the place is run down.

    By the way, I never eat at the macaroni grill or at all you can eat places...thus, my face is NOT fat.

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  29. HCKD
    Your obsession with the Macaroni Grill borders on crazy. The truth hurts, but there is no need for personal insults. You can hang out at Lake Anne, no one is going to tear it down any time soon (it will crumble on its own). The reservoir, will continue to stink. Hey, isn't that the same water that they use to cool those homes around the reservoir?

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  30. A correction to all these posts claiming that Lake Anne itself stinks. The lake doesn't smell any better or worse than Lake Audobon or Lake Newport. The smell at Lake Anne Plaza that wafts over the bricks in the area between the parking lot and the lake periodically comes from the sanitary sewer (vs. the storm sewer) which has vented man hole covers. The sanitary sewer is what carries the waste water from the drains, and more importantly in Lake Anne's case, the toilets, in the households down to Blue Plains or where ever. My question is, why are those man hole covers vented? The sanitary sewers in my neighborhood have solid man hole covers, thus the stink is 100% contained.
    Would it make a difference to the Lake Anne Plaza haters if you didn't occassionally get a whif of jif or would you simply key in on some other thing to hate? Why does it have to be a choice between RTC or Lake Anne Plaza? I go to both at various times, though I am no fan of the Macaroni Grill. One time was enough for me.

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  31. The stink is only important if you're trying to open a restaurant featuring outdoor seating...

    Let's see...if the stink wasn't there, would it change my visiting Lake Anne habits? Probably not. I live on the South Side of the tracks, so if I'm going over there, it needs to be compelling. Like a festival. And, when when I was there for the festival, I was jazzed about the new Thai restaurant opening. Which would be a compelling reason to return to Lake Anne often.

    But then I kept smelling the sewer smell. It's just not a great marketing ploy for a place that could be great and is trying to dig itself out of a hole.

    So I guess I'm agreeing with 9:48 -- how about we stick some kind of epoxy in the vented manhole covers. It can be step one on Lake Anne's return to respectability.

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  32. Anon: October 19, 2010 9:48 PM Oh my god! So much miss-information!!
    The smell is just from the storm drain system that runs under the Plaza and carries water between Lake Newport and Lake Anne. I'm 99.99% sure that there is no place in the U.S. that has raw toilet sewage flowing in the open...what, what do you imagine is down there? A flowing trough of SH*$T? Holy crap people grow a brain cell!

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  33. is the cupcake place open yet?

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