Ask Tom: General Store Update

"Any news on Gillian Clark's new venture?" a chatter asked me during a recent online discussion. "It looks like work has totally stopped on the project" -- the General Store and Post Office Tavern in Silver Spring's Forest Glen neighborhood -- which Clark, the chef and co-owner of the popular Colorado Kitchen in Brightwood Park, was hoping to open over the summer. Named for what the structure used to be, the new restaurant is slated to feature family-style Sunday suppers and a pub serving beer and pizza.

I could hear Clark sigh when I called her for an update. "We had the usual construction delays," she said, adding that everyone involved was also "overly ambitious," given the challenge of transforming a building built in the 1890s into a Montgomery County-approved place to eat. "Right now, we're at the mercy of contractors." There are hints that the restaurant might open before the end of the year. New floors are in place, Clark said, and "we're totally wired" with electricity. But given the setbacks, she said, "I'm not giving a [start-up] date anymore."

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