Obama Shops Locally Saturday With Daughters

President Obama stopped by One More Page Books in Arlington to shop for books with his two daughters.

Shop Locally in Falls Church on Small Business Saturday

Start your holiday shopping at locally owned stores Saturday.

On Nov. 24, celebrate Small Business Saturday — a day for everyone to support the small businesses on which their community thrives. American Express founded the day in 2010 to help small businesses get exposure during the holiday season, when they might be otherwise overlooked. With retailers buzzing around the holidays, it is important to support local small businesses that rely on their neighbors in order to continue prospering and building the local economy in Falls Church. Last year, 100 million people nationwide participated in Small Business Saturday by shopping at locally owned stores to help boost the economy and their communities. Click here to find small businesses in Falls Church. You can also "like" Small Business Saturday on …

•  1 Comment
• Photos (1)

Falls Church Man Launches Cooking Rub, Pie Mix Company

Bob Stifel works from his kitchen doing something he has always loved.

Bob Stifel loves getting in the kitchen and preparing a good meal for people and he’s done that for more than half of his 55 years of life. The Falls Church resident also knows there are people out there who want to be able to prepare a meal for their family and friends but may be confounded by some recipes. It’s that group of people that led Stifel to start Bob’s Best Quality. Only four months old, the company sells two types of dry rubs to cook with and an apple pie mix that includes everything but the crust and apples. “I’m reinventing myself after 27 years in IT,” Stifel said Monday inside The Local Market. “I recently decided life was short and you need to follow your dream.” A 1978 graduate of the Culinary Institute of America in New…

•  3 Comments
• Photos (1)

Andre L. Taylor

9:43 am on Tuesday, November 20, 2012

Thanks, Bob! I don't know how those pics got connected to Stifel and Capra, but I have gone in and fixed it in our directory listing. The link above goes to the directory listing on Patch. It was really great meeting you Monday and thanks for taking time out to chat with me. :)   more ›

Falls Church Bakery Cooking Up Holiday Treats

Holiday orders for tasty treats are keeping Natalia’s Elegant Creations busy.

Natalia Lupichuk loves the holidays because she gets to decorate her Falls Church bakery, Natalia’s Elegant Creations. The holiday season also means more business from people looking for cookies, pies and anything other sweet treat for Thanksgiving and Christmas. To make sure she meets special orders, Lupichuk cuts off orders the Friday before Thanksgiving and Christmas. “There tends to be more of an increase this time of year,” Lupichuk said. “For the holidays, it’s very specific.” Serving Falls Church for the last five years, the bakery is the go-to spot for holiday cookies and cakes, and it’s one of the few spots that bake up the French holiday treat, Buche de Noel. Lupichuk said she offers a 10 percent discount to customers who place …

• Photos (1)

Restaurant Brings New York, Chicago to Falls Church

The battle of the best hot dog has come under one roof in ‘The Little City.’

Which city has the best hot dogs? New York or Chicago? The battle for bragging rights is being waged under the roof of The Windy Apple, a new Falls Church eatery that opened its doors Oct. 5. Owner Dino Marks, a Chicago native, won't say which city has the better hot dog. His wife, Ruby Thompson, didn’t mince any words about which hot dog she thought was better.  “I like New York hot dogs,” Thompson said. “I can’t eat any other hot dog but a New York hot dog.” New to the restaurant business, Marks, a former general contractor, and Thompson, have found it fun to serve some of the most popular foods from their respective cities to residents in “The Little City.” Customers can get a taste of “The Windy City” or “The Big Apple” or create their…

•  2 Comments
• Photos (1)

Future of Anthony's in Falls Church Looking Grim

With the possible arrival of Harris Teeter, 40-year-old restaurant could be odd man out when lease expires in March.

(Correction: City of Falls Church only owns the land the old post office sits on, not the lot Anthony's sits on. City Manager Wyatt Shields said the landlord who owns the building the restaurants sits at, plans to sell his property to the developer buying the land from the city." When Anthony Akis opened his restaurant in May of 1972, he just wanted to have a place families could come and have a meal. Now, 40 years later, some of those same families still mosey into Anthony’s for a meal, and those little kids that came in with mom and dad are now coming in with children of their own. But since the City of Falls Church’s Economic Development Authority has agreed to sell the land the old post office sits on and the owner of the building …

•  14 Comments
• Photos (1)

Cooks at Pizzeria Orso in Falls Church Used to High Stress

Stress is nothing new to three cooks at Pizzeria Orso who have some interesting backgrounds.

There are thousands of restaurants in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area with some unique and highly trained cooking staffs. In one Falls Church restaurant, they too have a unique cooking staff but with talents uncommon to the kitchen. On the cooking line at Pizzeria Orso, they have a Washington, D.C. firefighter, a Muay Thai fighter and a security supervisor at a D.C. nightclub. Not your typical kitchen staff, but chef Will Artley likes it that way. “They’re hungry,” Artley said about his protégé’s. “They haven’t cooked a lot and I can teach them how to cook the way I want to. They want to learn.” Outside of feeding the masses, Artley said he likes to pass on his cooking abilities to others. With a staff used to dealing with high …

• Photos (1)

Falls Church Florist Supplier to the Stars

Galleria Florist has supplied flowers for several events for Hollywood stars and politicians.

Carol Beales never guessed she’d be designing floral arrangements for celebrities and politicians when she opened Galleria Florist LTD more than 10 years ago. The floral arrangements for President Barack Obama’s Peace Ball and the flowers for the nuptials for film stars Will Smith and Jada Pinkett-Smith all came from the Falls Church florist’s shop. Beales said although her high-powered clients have not set foot in her shop, she smiles knowing her floral arrangements are a part of their big events. “I’ve done work for the first President Bush and the second one, too,” Beales said. “I never expected to do flowers for any of the big people I have done them for. You never know who is going to call.” Piecing together mystical, colorful floral …

• Photos (1)

Trio Saved Falls Church Institution They Call Home

Bentley’s got a second chance from former employees who now operate the diner.

Along with your food at Bentley’s you’ll get something to wash it down and often a quick catch up chat with Dave Crance. Crance, one of three men who own and operate the Falls Church institution, said he knows just about everyone who walks through the doors. He has seen young customers return with kids of their own and watched couple grow old together over the years. With each person, a story, a memory, a kind word. “Most people would hate to have to get up to work on a Sunday morning,” Crance said Wednesday. “I look forward to it.” With a competing restaurant pulling business from Bentley’s, the owners gave Crance a call in 1999 to see if he wanted to run the diner. Crance, who managed Bentley’s from 1995 to 1997, called on two partners…

•  1 Comment
• Photos (1)