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Plant-based Planta to replace Cafe Deluxe in Bethesda

By Jeff Clabaugh
Plant-based restaurant chain Planta offers plant-based salads, pizza, burgers and other dishes. (Courtesy Planta Restaurants)

Toronto-based Planta, a plant-based restaurant chain with restaurants in Toronto and Florida, is opening its first U.S. location outside of Florida in Bethesda, Maryland.

Planta will take the space of the former Cafe Deluxe at Federal Realty’s Bethesda Row, which closed early last year.

When it opens this summer, Planta will have 140 seats inside and a 50-seat outdoor patio. The menu includes dishes such as Ahi Watermelon Nigiri, cauliflower tots, Bang Bang broccoli, plant-based salads and pizzas, and a plant-based burger.

One of Planta’s six other restaurants is also in a Federal Realty property, CocoWalk Shopping Center in Miami.

Planta is also planning a location in New York City soon.

The Bethesda restaurant will be at 4910 Elm St. It did not give an exact summer opening date.

Bethesda Row has more than two dozen restaurants now. D.C.’s Chiko recently opened its third area location at Bethesda Row, in space formerly occupied by Italian restaurant Prima.

Chef Jose Andres is also converting the Bethesda Row location of his tapas chain Jaleo into Spanish Diner, a local outpost of the casual Spanish restaurant Andres opened in Manhattan in 2019.

Massachusetts court hears arguments in lawsuit alleging Meta designed apps to be addictive to kids

By The Associated Press
BOSTON (AP) — Massachusetts' highest court heard oral arguments Friday in the state's lawsuit arguing that Meta designed features on Facebook and Instagram to make them addictive to young users. The lawsuit, filed in 2023 by Attorney General Andrea Campbell, alleges that Meta did this to make a profit and that its actions affected hundreds of thousands of teenagers in Massachusetts who use the social media platforms. “We are making claims based only on the tools that Meta has developed because its own research shows they encourage addiction to the platform in a variety of ways,” said State Solicitor David Kravitz, adding that the state's claim has nothing to do the company's algorithms or failure to moderate content. Meta said Friday that it strongly disagrees with the allegations and is “confident the evidence will show our longstanding commitment to supporting young people.” Its attorney, Mark Mosier, argued in court that the lawsuit “would impose liabilities for performing traditional publishing functions” and that its actions are protected by the First Amendment.
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