Little Red Fox, a new grocery store/coffee house/prepared food shop coming to upper Northwest near Politics and Prose, is aiming for an October opening, owner Matt Carr says.
The store is inspired by what the D.C. native found during his time living in Portland, Ore., where "places where the individual character of the owner and staff is evident in every morsel of food, sip of coffee, and piece of furniture," Carr said in an e-mail newsletter blasted out to Little Red Fox supporters.
Carr and chef Anne Alfano, also a D.C. native, are planning a concept that is "sort of a hybrid... part coffee shop, part prepared food store and part market," Carr says. (For an analogue elsewhere in the city, think
Glen's Garden Market or
Each Peach.) "Our goal is for folks commuting after work on Connecticut Avenue who don't have time to cook a meal can just hop in," he says. The store will sell breakfast burritos, pastries and coffee in the morning, sandwiches and salads for lunch, and three to four "restaurant-quality" prepackaged dinners and sides each night. Alfano will cure and smoke meats on site.
Little Red Fox is taking over 5035 Connecticut Ave NW, a 1,300-square-foot space that was formerly a Marvelous Market. However, since MM didn't prepare food on site and Little Red Fox will, the two are in the midst of upgrading the space, adding convection ovens, a gas range and more.
The store also has to receive a liquor license exemption; Carr says he hopes to be able to both sell packaged alcohol as well as serve it on the premises. The matter went before the Alcholic Beverage Regulation Administration (ABRA) Wednesday, and a board decision is expected in a few weeks.
Carr, who attended culinary school and worked in the food industry in Portland, says that "one of the big incentives to move back to D.C. is, I guess, I felt it was a good environment for this type of place."