Things like this get me excited. I live in the far northern Siberia of Concordia/Woodlawn, and restaurant growth in this steadily improving area is, in my opinion, behind the curve. So, I'm driving down Dekum a few days ago and see a sign which reads as follows: NEIGHBORHOOD FOOD & DRINK @ THE DEKUM - STAY TUNED! People were painting the exterior of this former window store. Concrete dust coated the glass. I made the block and parked to take this photo, feeling a rise of hope inside me.

I hate to get myself all giddy for another drug front or horse-on-rollerskates act, but I will. I've been saying for years that the neighborhoods around here could support far more than the handful of food and drink establishments at their furthest outskirts. The box defined by NE 33rd/Killingsworth/MLK/Dekum — .7mi x 1.4mi — has no food and drink establishments inside it (oh, you know, zoning and all that), and approximately more than one new restaurant's worth of customers inside it. If anyone knows what's going on at 1760 NE Dekum, let's hear it.