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Mayor
Muriel Bowser announced plans to further reopen the District’s economy at a press conference this morning after business owners, faith leaders, and even a couple of councilmembers called for action earlier this month. Starting May 21, capacity limits at D.C. restaurants will be lifted. Nightclubs and taverns will be able to increase their indoor capacities from 25 to 50 percent on the same date. Come June 11, when Bowser is projecting a full reopening of the city, capacity restrictions at all D.C. businesses will be eliminated.
Kenyan McDuffie is a man calling for a plan. He wrote Mayor
Muriel Bowser a letter on May 2 requesting a step-by-step reopening strategy. His goal is to help business owners and faith leaders prepare and make important decisions. “It’s incredibly hard for businesses to sustain themselves when they’re forced to respond to ad hoc reopening announcements,” McDuffie says. “A roadmap will help them.”
On several occasions, the mayor’s office didn’t give businesses much notice before new restrictions were imposed or lifted. “Communication is essential to any effective relationship,” McDuffie continues. “The city and the executive can’t ask businesses to continue doing what they’re doing. Some of them are barely surviving. The government can’t ask them to do that without some form of a plan to reopen that is clear and helps them hire.”
Pillowy, golden-brown, and soaked with olive oil, focaccia offers a shiny, substantial meal all by itself. The dimpled Italian flatbread, rich enough to be eaten plain but often found in a pizza-adjacent form with tomatoes and cheese or whatever produce is in season, has been proliferating at a number of D.C. restaurants, markets, and bakeries since before the pandemic began. Exceptional squares have appeared at rustic Italian all-day cafe Piccolina and beloved Mediterranean lunch counter Green Almond Pantry (currently on hiatus pending a move). High-end full-service kitchens like Tail Up Goat,Lutèce, and Modena have workshopped their own versions. Focaccia works well as a takeout item, and it’s also gained popularity with home bakers during lockdown, second only to sourdough. Here’s everything you need to know about finding focaccia around the District.