You've heard it from everybody already: ShopHouse Southeast Asian Kitchen, a Chipotle spinoff, opened its first location today in Dupont Circle. Despite the burst of news surrounding the launch, it seems Chipotle founder Steve Ells' plan to minimize hype is working: There were, depending on whom you trust on Twitter, only one or two people waiting in line shortly before the doors opened at 11 a.m. No Shack Shake, this!

   

   

(Photo: Instagram/Mattemmi)

ShopHouse is on Twitter, too, but has tweeted only once.

 

   

(Photo: Twitpic/ShopHouseTweets)

Their site, meanwhile, is located not at Shophouse.com, which is owned by a puzzles-and-games company in Thailand, but rather Shophousekitchen.com, a skeletal file directory that clearly wasn't meant to be seen by the public. A Forbes profile first revealed the URL, then Eater poked around the site but focused on the pretty pictures and menu. I was drawn instead to videos of dancers in animal costumes, Ells speaking over a rooster's crowing, and this D.C. montage; and to travel photos of hand-fed roosters, Ells wearing an apron, and a sign reading "Super Pussy."

Continue reading

So now you know where my interests lie.