Refurbished firehouse brings the heat

Every kid dreams of being a fireman, but few realize that actually doing so takes extensive training, supreme dedication, and the requirement that you wear a shirt under your suspenders, despite what those awesome calendars would have you believe. At least now you can chow like one, at Fire Station 1.

Opening this weekend, 1's housed in Silver Spring's steepled old volunteer fire department building and helmed by one of its former fighters; the yellow brick wall'd space's got two floors of wide open booth and table seating (each bordered on one side by their own red wood bar), massive windows on its entrance-side garage door, and a table-laden front patio that looks across the street to the currently in-use fire station, meaning you can salute the real heroes as you chow down on your own. Food's appropriately hearty, starting off with apps like Cajun aioli calamari and Steamed Beer Shrimp cooked with onions/old bay, wraps like a pico de gallo Fried Mahi Mahi, and oldy-but-goody sandwiches like the avocado/provolone/grilled portabella "Powerhouse", a chipotle mayo'd Cuban, and "Ben's Lobster BLT", stuffed with bacon, tarragon sauce, and "decadent lobster", presumably caught in traps filled with mink coats and rose petal baths. Protein-heavy mains include a make-your-own seafood option (choose fish, cooking method, and sauces like mango-lime salsa and chimichurri), a lump crab meat-topped Chicken Chesapeake, and red-meatyness like an Angus meatloaf with "Diane style sauce", and a bone-in lamb shank with a mint rosemary demi glace that'll have you craving Moore, despite the fact that it's been around like, 65 years.

For extinguishing the fire of sobriety, they've got 20 or so wines, brews from 20 bottles and 12 taps (including three from Silver Spring's own Hook and Ladder), and a cocktail menu with mudslides, margaritas, and the vodka/cranberry/pineapple juice "Bikini Martini", although getting caught sipping one might give your girlfriend even more cause four alarm.