"Clarendon’s newly refreshed coworking cafe has taken into consideration every little detail members crave while they drink and chat with clients over their coveted laptops. CoworkCafe founder Ramzy Azar rebranded the space this week. In addition to a new name, Three Whistles (2719 Wilson Boulevard, Arlington, Virginia) has a new look and a new menu. Azar expects to roll out a menu full of Mediterranean small plates in the next few weeks. He says sharable dishes help create the feeling of a gathering place. Look for labneh, hummus, and black olive dips, stuffed piquillo peppers, cheese, charcuterie, and toasts topped with avocado or smoked salmon. The style of food is familiar to the owner. His family runs Azar’s in Virginia Beach, a Mediterranean chain that’s been around for 30 years. For now, there are pastries, empanadas, and packaged sandwiches. Beer and wine flow throughout the day, and the space hosts live music at night. Azar took over the space last August, flipping the former Boccato Gelato into CoworkCafe. Gelato supplied by Dolci Gelati is still sold at the new iteration. The revamp takes into consideration customers’ requests for more of a cozy, lived-in design with more attention paid to the food. No detail was too small to consider, which is why Azar removed all stemmed wine glasses from the cafe. “Having long-stem glasses near a laptop, they can easily be knocked over,” he says. “Everything is intentional here.” A new Arts Nexus series at the cafe hopes to connect local creatives with jobs. Along with visual and performing artists, Azar also puts chefs in that category. The kitchen at Three Whistles was designed with a rotating pop-up series in mind. One portion of the space is reserved for members. It’s outfitted with Wi-Fi, phone booths, conference rooms, and printers. The rest of the cafe is available to the public all the time. Events are also open to everyone. Look for open mic nights twice a month to highlight musicians and other live performances. Azar hopes the evolving Clarendon neighborhood will help draw new members and regulars to the cafe. The area is set to welcome new condo buildings and new mixed office-retail building called the Loft across from Whole Foods. “The community is expanding, and I believe diversity will expand — not to mention how Amazon coming to Crystal City will impact the way people work,” Azar says, referring to Arlington’s influx of mobile freelance contractors." - Tierney Plumb
