D.C. restaurateur Andre McCain recently signed a lease for the former Aroma space at Westfield Montgomery mall, where he’s supposed to open an all-day breakfast concept called Butter Me Up. But McCain is already far behind schedule on his other local venture, HalfSmoke at Rockville Town Square. He leased that space in the summer of 2020 and announced plans to open that fall, but it’s been 18 months and renovations have yet to begin. When we spoke with McCain last week, he attributed the delays to a combination of permitting and supply chain issues, staffing problems and Covid-related slowdowns. Despite all that, McCain tells us he hopes to get both restaurants open by early spring. We’ll keep you posted.
