A Lucky Break: Isabella, Georgetown

The news traveled fast: . His new restaurant Bandolero will open at the of at 3241 M St.

Does this mean Georgetown is making a comeback as a hot culinary destination?

"I never thought Georgetown was necessarily lacking," but the addition of talent like Isabella is great for the neighborhood, said John Asadoorian, the principal broker of Asadoorian Retail Solutions, to Patch in a phone interview.

Asadoorian also serves as the vice president of the Georgetown Business Improvement District's Board. Familiar with the retail landscape in the area, he considers the Top Chef contestant's move to Georgetown almost a no-brainer, rather than a surprise coup for a stagnate restaurant scene.

Georgetown is a "dynamic vibrant economy where there is demand for interesting and creative restaurants."

Basically, Isabella got lucky.

"Mike Isabella happened to cut a deal with Jonathan Umbel who happens to have a great restaurant space already built out," Asadoorian said.

That's almost how Umbel sees it too.

In an interview with The Huffington Post, Umbel described the new partnership as "almost fate. Things happen for a reason," he said. Isabella just happened to pass Umbel on the street in front of Hook in Georgetown after getting a tattoo one day. Things progressed from there. 

It is a good thing for Georgetown to snag a new tenant who is "part of the direction Washington is going," but the issue remains that it was a zero-sum game. Hook left and Bandolero will open.

"It not like he’s taking over where Banana Republic is ... that could never happen," Asadoorian said.

Limitations like the costs to rent space, the odd footprints not always suited for restaurants and, above all, the liquor license moratorium reduce turnover and prevent the high demand from being fulfilled, he explained.

It's liquor license moratoriums, not a missing coolness quotient, that keep other interesting ventures from coming to Georgetown. The moratorium "puts an artificial damper on the market," Assodorian said.

Georgetown could have been home to the dozens of restaurants that have sprung up along 14th Street and H Street.

For Asadoorian, Bandolero is a good addition to the neighborhood, but the presence of a unique and exciting new restaurant does not change the structural problems that keep others out.

"Everyone wants to be here, he just found a spot."