Last we caught up with Tim Spinner, the former Distrito Chef de Cuisine who faithfully served as Jose Garces’ right-hand man for nearly seven years, he was in the initial stages of transforming the shuttered Allison Two space, which closed last March, in Fort Washington into Cantina Feliz. Spinner originally planned to have the Mexican restaurant and bar up and running by November or December. The project is still on track and making progress, but the opening has been pushed back to January. “We just got approval from the township to transfer the liquor license over from another township,” Spinner told Grub Street. “Transferring a liquor license from one business to another takes a lot of time, but when you’re trying to bring it over form another municipality, it takes even longer.”
He blames some of the other setbacks on bringing the 150-plus years old building up to 21st century standards, and needless to say, up to code too. But with progress being made — the menus should be finalized in the next two weeks — and the liquor situation under control, Spinner said he expects to be fully operational by the beginning of next year.
Earlier: Spinner Spins His Own Mexican Restaurant Out of Distrito
