People’s Book: The Mom & Pop Taking on Amazon in Takoma Park, MD

Red Hound: Best Pizza in DC?

Charbel Abrache didn't set out to be a pizza maker. From pharmacy school in Venezuela to the high-pressure pastry lines of Blue Hill at Stone Barns and Seylou Bakery, his journey from medicine to the kitchen has been a series of calculated risks and constant learning. Now, at Red Hound Pizza in Takoma Park, he’s applying that same obsessive attention to detail to a "grandma style" pie that's become a local obsession. In this episode, Charbel discusses the steep learning curve of baking with heritage grains, the "happy accident" that turned his wife’s pregnancy cravings into a signature soft-serve program, and the chaotic reality of opening a shop where the blueprints didn't quite match the machinery. It’s a look at how one family built a business around their community—and their dog—while proving that the best results often come from being flexible when things don't go according to plan. 🔔 Tap follow in your podcast app for more stories about the people and businesses that make Takoma Park one of the most unique communities in the DC area. 📍 Visit Red Hound Pizza: https://www.redhoundpizza.com/ 📸 Red Hound on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/redhoundpizza/

People’s Book: The Mom & Pop Taking on Amazon in Takoma Park, MD

Amazon can deliver a book to your door in a day. What it can't do is hand you a free coffee when you just got laid off. That's the edge Matt and Megan Bormet are betting on with People's Book in Takoma Park, Maryland—and two years in, they've both quit their day jobs to run it full time. In this episode, they break down how a community-first bookstore is not only surviving in the Amazon era but thriving in it. We get into the Harvard Business Review research that gave them confidence to take the leap, why they describe People's Book as "an event space disguised as a bookstore," the surprising profitability of zines, why they love TKPK and the #1 thing that worries Matt about the town’s future. * 🔔 Tap Follow in your podcast app for more stories about the people and businesses that make Takoma Park one of the most unique communities in the DC area. * 📍 Visit People's Book: https://peoplesbooktakoma.com/ [https://peoplesbooktakoma.com/] *  ☁️ People's Book on Blueskey: https://bsky.app/profile/peoplesbooktakoma.com