Still, it pained him to think that the long-simmering hostilities he had hoped to give a proper forum would be aimed at him. In fact, Shallal's early designs of the space had discrete areas–discussion rooms–to bring groups of people together to talk, debate, and argue. Rather, a vibrant and inclusive meeting place that might bridge the old U Street with the new U Street. What it needed was a place that grappled with the changes in the area–and the fears they engendered among blacks and whites alike.
What the neighborhood needed was not another hip gathering spot with neon-colored, double-digit-priced drinks.
WHERE DID THE TERM BUSBOY COME FROM WINDOWS
The fact that Busboys and Poets was inciting this kind of talk even before it had removed the brown paper from its windows proved that his instincts in opening the place had been sound. Shallal, it was said, was trying to "drive out poor black people." There were rumors that Shallal was intent on shutting down the Reeves Recovery Center, a facility catty-corner from the new place where meetings are held for drug and alcohol addicts.īut where others might have plugged their ears and plowed ahead, or become defensive, Shallal was philosophical. The restaurant/lounge/coffeehouse/bookstore/performance space at the base of the Langston Lofts at 14th and V streets, Northwest, was being derided as yet another interloper in a once-black neighborhood that had crossed the line of revitalization into gentrification. It was not the anticipation of foodies awaiting the arrival of a big-name chef.
Speculation swirled around Andy Shallal's latest and most ambitious restaurant long before it opened in September.
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