ANC2B Public Space Protest against Sette Osteria

Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC) 2B/Dupont Circle voted unanimously to protest a new public space application by Sette Osteria (1666 Connecticut Avenue), a pizza restaurant located at the corner of R Street. The vote took place at ANC2B's regular monthly meeting on October 9.

Sette Osteria's sidewalk cafe

Sette Osteria made a request for ANC endorse of their request to increase the size of their sidewalk planters, but then did not show up at the ANC meeting to explain why.

"We have a history of this establishment saying one thing and doing another," said Commissioner Kevin O'Connor (district 02). Sette Osteria is located in district 02.

The ensuing discussion mentioned previous dealings the ANC had had with Sette Osteria. The story is summed up nicely in a February 2009 post from the blog Greater Greater Washington, which reads in part:

In November [2008], Sette Osteria, the pizza restaurant at Connecticut and R in Dupont Circle, proposed putting a retractable awning over their outdoor seating. The awning would enable service in a wider range of weather. The restaurant's manager initially told the community that they planned only to request the awning, not a complete enclosure. However, only a few months after receiving approval for the awning, they have requested permission to install removable panels that would completely enclose the space during the winter.

Members of the ANC at the October 9 meeting said they would try to get Sette Osteria to move their sidewalk cafe back.

The motion passed 7-0. Commissioners Mike Feldstein (district 01) and Kishan Putta (district 04) were out of the room at the time of the vote.