Monthly Archives: December 2010

The Daily Feed
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Snowpocalypse 2: A New Saga Begins

Photo courtesy of
‘A few footsteps’
courtesy of ‘Aaron Webb’

Ok, the headline is over the top given that it only very light snow is possible, but the National Weather Service did issue this warning this morning. Brace yourselves: after all, what would this town be without hyperbole?

VERY LIGHT SNOW POSSIBLE THIS MORNING…

A BAND OF VERY LIGHT SNOW WILL MOVE ACROSS THE REGION BETWEEN 9 AM AND NOON. MOST LOCATIONS WILL SEE ONLY A FEW FLAKES… BUT WITH COLD TEMPERATURES TO START OUT THE MORNING… A FEW AREAS THAT RECEIVE A FRACTION OF AN INCH COULD SEE SLICK SPOTS UNTIL TEMPERATURES RISE ABOVE FREEZING.

Food and Drink
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Baking With the St. Regis

Macarons / Photo by Rebecca Gross

Baking is a messy affair in my house. Counters are flour-coated, floors become sticky with sugar, and the dishes, well, there are a lot. And they spread out too, somehow avoiding the sink to take up residence on any available flat surface. By the time I’m through, my apartment is generally a bona fide code red disaster.

Not so at The St. Regis. Last Sunday, I had the pleasure of taking a macaron-making class at Adour, the very beautiful, very glamorous restaurant in the landmark hotel on 16th Street. (Side note: If you’ve never been inside the lobby of The St. Regis, it’s worth visiting. It will make you feel like a more elegant version of yourself, guaranteed.) From start to finish, every moment of the experience was high class and polish. When I first arrived, they took my coat. They held my chair out for me. They gave me (good) coffee, and the bartender charmed me into giving him macarons after class (I was happy to oblige).  In contrast to my own apartment, The St. Regis seemed like some dreamy fairytale land of baking.

But enough starry-eyed musings; let’s get to the macarons. Not to be confused with their orthographic cousin, the macaroon, macarons consist of two light, crackly cookies that sandwich flavored filling. Although they’ve been been around France for at least a few centuries, the macaron has only exploded onto the U.S. culinary scene within the past few years. Now they’re everywhere, including Adour, where they’ve become the restaurant’s colorful confectionary signature.

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capitals hockey, The Daily Feed
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Panthers Maul Capitals 3-0

Photo courtesy of
‘Vokoun Keeps the Puck Out’
courtesy of ‘clydeorama’
The Florida Panthers came to town last night with a losing record but a hot goalie. The latter proved to be the difference. Florida netminder Tomas Vokoun turned away all 36 shots to earn a shutout on the way to a 3-0 victory over the listless Caps last night at Verizon Center. The Caps dropped their fourth straight contest, going 0-8 on the power play. It was the first time the Panthers had won a game in regulation in nearly three weeks.

Washington dominated play in the first period, outshooting Florida 18-6. The Caps had five straight power plays in the first period – including nearly two minutes of 5-on-3 action – but were unable to slip one past Vokoun. As well as Vokoun played, however, the Capitals’ power play lacked energy, with players content to pass the puck around the perimeter and very little presence in front of the net. The best opportunity came when Alex Ovechkin took a shot from 30 feet and beat Vokoun cleanly on the glove side, only to watch the puck bounce harmlessly off the post. Failing to take advantage of opportunities doomed the Caps. “We had, I think, 20 minutes of power play” said Ovechkin. “We didn’t play how we have to play. We played so casual and you can see the results.” Continue reading →

Food and Drink, Penn Quarter, The Features, We Love Drinks, We Love Food
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A New Menu for Zola

Poire cocktail by the Wilder Brothers at Zola. Photo courtesy Stir Food Group.

It’s hard to imagine but it’s been eight years since Zola first opened back in the former culinary wasteland then being redeveloped around the Verizon Center. I remember being so excited about the wittily gorgeous space and enjoying a few cocktails and dinner before it fell off my radar. Last night I was invited to attend a press dinner to sample the new chef’s tasting table and beverage programs. With the other foodies at WLDC being laid low by colds, and intrigued by the release of the cocktail menu from Wilder Bros Craft, I headed over to see what has changed. I’m happy to report that the revamp is very tasty and I’ll definitely return on my own dime.

The interior space is still the same spy motif as before, a bit refreshed but left mostly untouched – and funnily enough that look seems modern again, probably because of the Mad Men influenced retro revival. Food-wise, chef Bryan Moscatello’s offerings are now split between a modern American bistro menu for the bar and front seating area, and a chef’s tasting room menu for the back. The latter features a choice between either three courses ($55) or five courses ($69), and it was this menu that I sampled last night, paired with wines chosen by the delightful wine and spirits director Malia Milstead. There’s even a new dessert menu created by pastry chef Reggie Abalos.

But of course, since it’s me, we’ll start off with drinks. Ari and Micah Wilder of Wilder Bros Craft have designed a very lovely craft cocktail menu featuring historical flair by using old fashioned techniques such as gomme syrup. You’ll often see gomme syrup mentioned in old cocktail books – Micah kindly explained the process.

It starts with sap. Continue reading →

News, The Daily Feed
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Leave now, or forever hold your tweets

Photo courtesy of
‘White House Christmas tree’
courtesy of ‘afagen’

Today is the National Christmas Tree lighting that takes place on the Ellipse.  It starts about 5pm, and there will be altered traffic patterns around the area, and the whole thing turns downtown DC traffic to so much crap.  So, if you’re reading this at the office, start to wrap things up and get the hell out of there, lest you be stuck in it.  Or, if you can’t do that, it may be time to shelter-in-place at your favorite watering hole with a tasty winter drink.  Avoid the fustercluck downtown.

The Daily Feed
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Council passes anti-SLAPP bill

Photo courtesy of
‘Law Books’
courtesy of ‘Mr. T in DC’

As a DC resident who writes things on the Internet (and been threatened with frivolous lawsuits about it from time to time), I am gratified to note that in the DC Council’s legislative session on Tuesday, the Council passed the Anti-SLAPP Act of 2010.

SLAPP stands for Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation, which just means a lawsuit designed less to actually be won on its merits, and more to intimidate the defendant into backing down just to avoid the costly process. Maryland has had one, but DC did not. Now that the bill has passed the council, it’s on to the Mayor’s office. And then of course to Congress. But Anti-SLAPP laws are becoming an increasingly common remedy now that the Internet allows anyone to publish to the whole world, so while it’s not a done deal, there won’t likely be any holdups, and before long, it’ll be a lot easier to stand up to lawsuit-wielding bullies in DC.

We Love Weekends
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We Love Weekends, December 11-12

Photo courtesy of
‘Indian Scarves’
courtesy of ‘Rukasu1’

Max: The weather is set to warm up a bit this weekend but I will still be hibernating as much as possible.  I’ll be getting drunkfestive at a holiday party Friday night – hope nobody gets locked in the bathroom again this year!  I’ll be going to the Albus Cavus Gala at The Fridge Saturday night to support an amazing group of local artists and possibly buy some great artwork in their silent auction.  Funds raised will be used to pay for scholarships, supplies, instructors and space rental. Tickets are still available!  On Sunday I’ll be going to see the much anticipated Black Swan which I hear is excellent.  Even if it isn’t, Natalie Portman is super hot and I want to marry her.

John: By the time you read this I will be somewhere in the mountains near Crozet, Virginia on a deer hunt with Locavore Hunter Jack Landers (whose class I attended earlier this year) on a private guided hunt. Most of my weekend will be spent down in Charlottesville, but some of it will be back here. I’ll be longing for some brats and beer at Lyon Hall and doing a bit of Wassailing around in Alexandria on Saturday evening. Continue reading →

The Daily Feed
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NPG Commissioner Resigns In Protest

Photo courtesy of
‘Transformer Gallery Protest 9807’
courtesy of ‘yospyn’

This morning, National Portrait Gallery commissioner James T. Bartlett resigned in protest of the museum’s decision to remove a video from its now controversial “Hide/Seek” exhibit.

The four-minute video, “A Fire in My Belly” by David Wajnarowicz, was initially removed after conservative groups protested a brief clip that showed ants crawling over an image of Jesus. The move immediately sparked condemnations of censorship, and launched a variety of organizational and individual actions. Transformer Gallery installed the video in their storefront, and organized a silent march to the NPG last Thursday. This weekend, two activists were detained after playing the video on an iPad at the entrance of the exhibit. According to DCist, the two men, Mike Blasenstein and Michael Dax Iacovone, are currently seeking out permits to install the video in a pop-up space outside the NPG.

The National Portrait Gallery had no other statement at this time.

Entertainment, Music, We Love Music
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We Love Music: The Sword @ 9:30 Club 12/6/10

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I invited Martin Silbiger, the resident heavy metal expert over at Pinna Storm, to cover this show with me. The words are his, the photos are mine. Enjoy!

As a metal connoisseur, I’m always looking out for the perfect show to recommend to my open-minded, indie-rockin’, metal-curious friends. These recommendations can be dangerous, though. A band could be too cheesy, too evil, too grim and frostbitten, too noisy, or too serious. Metal singers make things even tougher; growly vocals are an instant turn-off for most people.

So, when I heard The Sword were coming to the 9:30 Club, I knew this would be the perfect opportunity to enlist new members for our metal army. The Sword play “retro metal” which would fit well on the radio alongside Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath. The vocals are clean; the songs are rooted in sci-fi. But most importantly, this band knows how to write a killer riff that any music-lover can appreciate. Monday night’s show was a constant barrage of excellent guitar licks, played flawlessly and cranked up loud.

Continue reading →

News, The Daily Feed
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An Update on Van Ness Elementary

Photo courtesy of
‘SigEpFeds.org – Ed Potter Reads Dr. Seuss To Children on Read Across America Day’
courtesy of ‘SigEp NV Alpha ’03’

When we asked Interim Chancellor Kaya Henderson last month, shortly after she’d been tapped for that position, about Van Ness Elementary in Near Southeast, she laughed and said, “24 hours into this?” and promised that it had a place on her agenda. Last night there was a community meeting, as promised, and local blogger extraordinaire JDLand has a great summary in place about the meeting, complete with scanned handouts from DCPS.  There’s a chance the closed school could reopen for the 2012-2013 school year, but it’s not yet clear if the numbers are there.

News, The Daily Feed
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New 9th Street Bridge opens on Monday

Photo courtesy of
‘DC 1133 Marker’
courtesy of ‘kimberlyfaye’

Living in Ward 5, you have to make some interesting driving choices right now.  If you want to head to H Street NE, or to Eastern Market and the Hill, you have to brave the ugly construction and logjam mess that is the area around the 9th Street Bridge that crosses over New York Avenue.  The construction has been ongoing for over a year, and has made North/South travel in that area difficult.

Monday, Northbound traffic will open on the 9th Street Bridge (Southbound has been open for a few weeks now) and that means no more illegal left turns onto 9th Street from the Brentwood Parkway.  Instead, you’ll take the new Northbound bridge span toward the Home Depot/Giant shopping center directly instead of having to deal with the New York Ave onramp/offramp morass.

As someone who uses this route every day: Hooray, DDOT!

Arlington, Food and Drink, We Love Food
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First Look: Bayou Bakery

PB300231

Sometimes I think that Courthouse is a dead zone for food. If I want actual chef-driven food I go to Ray’s, or I walk up to Clarendon. No longer! David Guas is here to save Courthouse and his new place Bayou Bakery is my new neighborhood gem for the area.

The New Orleans themed eat place serves up beingets, chicory coffee, and delicious sandwiches on fluffy hoagie rolls made from local ingredients. In the morning, people stop in for coffee and breakfast; Guas recommends the yogurt made from a Pennsylvania dairy topped with homemade granola. The lunch crowd rushes in for sandwiches and savory fare, sitting up front in booths and stand-alone tables. Settle down and sip some cider or hot chocolate in the back section with overstuffed chairs and couches and wireless internet. At night, Bayou turns into a date spot, with a good selection of beers and wines by the glass. Continue reading →

The Daily Feed
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Quarterdeck Isn’t Closing After All

Photo courtesy of
‘Every Food Fits: Don’t Bother Us, We’re Crabby!’
courtesy of ‘staceyviera’

A few weeks ago, it seemed Arlington’s Quarterdeck was done, and those searching for crabs this close to the district would be searching out on there own quest. Last night, a curious comment popped up on the original post where we discussed it here at We Love DC:

QUARTERDECK HAS NEW LEASE

For a while, it looked like we would have to close. This was finally settled today. We have another 15 year lease. It seems that the landlord, who has also been my friend for the last 15 years, and I had trouble reaching an agreement; it took 3 months. In retrospect, it reminds me more of a family disagreement; now, everything’s back to normal.

I want to thank all of you for the kind emails and the memories of the Quarterdeck you shared. Like you, I have always loved the Quarterdeck from my first visit, which was over 3 decades ago. The most moving story was from someone who lamented she would not be able to bring her children to the QD, as her parents had done with her.

Patrick Morrogh, a nine year veteran of the QD and a manager, will take over the day to day operations. I think the younger folks need to implement fresh ideas. At 62, I will still be in charge of something, but I don’t know what.

We will be updating our website: www.qdrest.com .

Thanks to all of you

Lou Gatti

According to ARL Now, this is the text from an e-mail circulated last night on the same listserv in which Gatti initially announced the closing. It seems pretty legit, so go ahead and make those reservations for a few buckets this April.

The Daily Feed
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Rudolph Parade Balloon in Richmond Gets Punctured on Streetlight

YouTube Preview Image

Two Virginia posts in one day? I may get my We Love DC card taken away. However, this is one of those late day videos that gets you through until the whistle finally blows.

Over the weekend in Richmond, some locals just wanted to get together and ring in the season with a festive parade. And then, well, the above happened when the merry paraders tried to maneuver the giant character balloon under a streetlight.

Rudolph <takes off sunglasses dramatically>, I guess you really did go down in history. Yeaaaaaaaaah!

News, The Daily Feed
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Gray introduces Lew, Hall

Photo courtesy of
‘Allen Lew, Vince Gray and Gerri Mason Hall’
courtesy of ‘tbridge’

This afternoon in front of the assembled media, Mayor-Elect Vince Gray introduced his right and his left hands to the audience. Gray introduced his right hand, City Administrator Nominee Allen Lew, and his left hand, Chief of Staff Gerri Mason Hall.  These are the first two of many appointments expected between now and Christmas to fill the various vacancies in the new Gray Administration.

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Entertainment, The Features, We Love Arts
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We Love Arts: Mojo

(l to r) Scot McKenzie as Mickey, Matt Dewberry as Sweets, Dylan Myers as Skinny, and Danny Gavigan (back) as Potts in Mojo at The Studio 2ndStage. Photo credit: Scott Suchman.

Frenetically fueled by pill-popped speed, The Studio 2ndStage’s production of British playwright Jez Butterworth’s Mojo hits the right tempo for a journey to rock-n-rolla gangland. These petty mobsters are simmering with ineptitude and obscenity while wielding cutlass and cake. In a 1950’s Britain fast overrun by squealing girls obsessed with rockstars, they are grasping at a chance to make it big. Unfortunately for them, it’s just not going to work out.

Butterworth’s play won the 1995 Olivier Award, and the frantic rhythm of the language is the real star here. Director Christopher Gallu has his ensemble cast embracing that jittery, junkie cadence with total commitment. While the accents may not always be spot on, the underlying backbone of the language is a joy – interjections and overlapping dialogue combined with playful postering that can turn to danger on a dime.

It feels like the love child of Guy Ritchie and David Mamet.

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The Daily Feed
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Man vs. Washington?

Photo courtesy of
‘Picture on the wall of Adam Richman from Man vs. Food with the owner of Katz’s’
courtesy of ‘TheGirlsNY’
In the epic battle of man versus food, it looks like food has won. Adam Richman, of The Travel Channel’s Man v. Food,is changing up the format of his show to move away from overeating and near-heart attacks to something a little more dignified. Though the description is still vague (leading this girl to believe even the Travel Channel isn’t sure of the format yet), it looks like Richman will be touring cities and sampling their food culture under the new show moniker Man v. Food Nation.

That is where you come in. The Travel Channel is holding an open online audition process for the eaters of the United States that “love where they live, the food, and its culture and are excited to experience a Man v. Food challenge.” Again, no further explanation of what that challenge would be, but if you love your city and its food, all you need to do is upload a video on YouTube explaining why, and you may just get your smiling face on a nice low-numbered cable channel.

So what would put D.C. over the top? Speed hard shell crab eating? A Five Guys hamburger as tall as the Washington Monument? TWO brick sandwiches from Eastern Market?

Talkin' Transit, The Features
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Talkin’ Transit: Ridership Patterns

Photo courtesy of
‘Escalators sure are pretty’
courtesy of ‘Karon’

As some of you read, I’ve returned to riding Metro after a few months driving to work. The cost of parking is still such that taking Metro often makes more sense.

Apparently, though, it makes less and less sense for many people. The Washington Post reported that due to the increase in fares, bus ridership was down 7%, and while Metro ridership remained the same, Metro found that up to 3% of riders had moved their commute from the highest fare times.

In a way, this is exactly what’s needed to manage capacity. Market forces tend to balance out between supply and demand. Of course, it’s naive to think of a mass transit system in those terms.

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