No sooner does celebrity chef Mike Isabella announce he’s opening round two of his DC restaurant Graffiato here, than a parody Twitter account with his photo starts making the rounds. “We’re trying to get it removed,” his publicist says. “It’s a fairly innocuous situation, and Mike doesn’t want to comment on it.”

Isabella joins Rappahannock owner Travis Croxton in the new venture, set to open in the Popkin Tavern space at 123 W. Broad St. this spring.

Popkin Tavern owner Steve Soble of Chicago says they made the deal Monday, and it was announced Tuesday because “they wanted to hit the ground running. It was an incredible opportunity for us and will be a great thing for this area.”

Soble and his father remain owners of the building, which has apartments upstairs and opened in October 2006. “I take pride in the fact that we built a great space,” Soble says. It will get a decorative redesign and wood-fired oven once Popkin closes on Feb. 15. “We wanted to give our employees two weeks’ notice and to celebrate a great run,” Soble says.

As for the fake Tweets, “this isn’t even fun anymore,” a last blast sighs.