Catfish Fridays Owner Charged With Operating Without License

The owner of a catering business popular among the District's nightclub crowd was arrested and charged yesterday with operating without a license because, officials say, he broke into his Northeast restaurant, which the city seized in January, so he could prepare food for an inauguration party.

The D.C. Office of Tax and Revenue shut down Catfish Fridays, owned by Christopher Dinwiddie, on Jan. 16 after he failed to pay $175,000 in sales taxes and did not file tax returns, said Natalie Wilson, a spokeswoman for the office. "We padlocked the building," she said, adding that the city also claimed ownership of his van.

But two days later, a reinspection of the Fourth Street NE building showed "disarray," Wilson said. "He had broken in. . . . He also took the van that we had seized."

The tax office obtained an arrest warrant for Dinwiddie but couldn't find him, Wilson said.

Turns out he was keeping a gig: "An Inaugural Celebration," an artsy affair at National Harbor that drew rising hip-hop stars Charles Hamilton and Tabi Bonney.

Event organizer Ian Callender said he had no idea that Dinwiddie was having legal troubles then. "The food was excellent," he said.

Callender said he heard that Dinwiddie had gone out of business in February. Meanwhile, the tax office tracked down Dinwiddie but was unsuccessful in working out a settlement, Wilson said. Failed negotiations led to yesterday's arrest.

Alan Strasser, Dinwiddie's attorney, said his client has "diligently" tried to cooperate with the tax office since last year. "He hopes that he will be able to reach agreement with them on a sensible and objective basis to resolve this long-standing tax dispute," Strasser said in a statement.

The restaurant was known for long lines at its walk-up window, but Callender said he knew Dinwiddie through the nightclub circuit. The catering business prepared chicken, macaroni and cheese, and catfish for happy hours and midnight buffets at some of the city's hottest nightspots.

"That spread alone was enough to get people out of their beds and into the club," Callender said.