“I’ve always wanted to own a restaurant,” says generational Washingtonian and restaurant proprietor, Natasha Dasher. Admitting her fear of failure, Dasher says the story of Uniontown Bar and Grill keeps unfolding with a planned grand opening for the Martin Luther King, Jr. weekend this month.
Drawing its name from the past, before the Civil War, developers created Uniontown, a 100-acre grid of 700 rectangular lots in present-day Anacostia to be sold under restrictive convents prohibiting the sale, rental or lease of property to any Negro, Mulatto, or anyone of African or Irish descent, according to the National Park Service.
For many reasons, Uniontown as a suburb of downtown Washington never succeeded. Dasher, a successful marketing executive, had heard many of the “myths” surrounding Uniontown, and when she saw the photo essay at the United Planning Organization’s Anacostia Community Center on Good Hope Road, she knew it was the perfect name for her restaurant.
Mindful of historic preservation, Dasher has fitted the exterior of the building to resemble Burys General Store which stood at 2200 Nichols Avenue a century ago. To thematically keep the past in mind, Uniontown will have historic photos of the neighborhood displayed on its walls.
With 1,495 square feet, a 28 foot booth, seating for 33, 14 seats at the bar, two high-definition televisions of 55 and 42 inches, and an iPad, known as the “bar pad,” for customers to check their emails and play games, Uniontown is poised to be an intimate setting for a crowd on the north side of twenty-one years old.
Despite the potential lunch business from the DC Lottery, the Department of Housing and Community Development, and two banks, along with other businesses, located within a minute’s walk to Uniontown, Dasher is aware she is blazing a trail others have not ventured.
“Franchises are going to want to attack Anacostia. There is a large workforce here during the day, there is considerable foot traffic, and people cut through Anacostia on their way to and from work,” notes Dasher. “Profit is going to be here.
Dasher, who arrived at the office complex shortly after the truck pulled in, confirmed to the agents that the truck driver, Manuel Jesus Robles, had entered her office, according to the affidavit. Dasher provided the agents with a key to the suite, and when they went inside, they found Robles and three large duffel bags containing about $1.5 million, the affidavit says. Robles told agents that 65 kilograms of cocaine could be found in the fuel tank of the truck, according to the affidavit.
Agents seized the money, as well as the cocaine, which was to be divided between Dasher and alleged co-conspirator Derek Anthony Tinsley, the affidavit says.
This is a sad turn of events for a woman, who had proved to be a mover and shaker in the Washington D.C. area. This meteoric rise was nothing short of incredulous and was nothing more than a facade for an alleged drug trafficking business that may have helped to fund her restaurant venture. All three were charged in U.S. District Court in Maryland and Texas with possession with the intent to distribute at least five kilograms of cocaine. My late maternal grandmother always said, whatever is done in the dark, will come to light.
Tags: Natasha Dasher, Uniontown Bar and Grill
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