Monthly Archives: February 2011

Food and Drink, The Daily Feed
By

Friday Happy Hour: Jack Rose Cocktail

It’s time for Friday Happy Hour, highlighting a drink we’ve recently enjoyed, every Friday at 4pm! Please share your favorites as well.

My friend Kirk (pictured above) has been reading Hemingway, The Sun Also Rises specifically, which got him thinking about the Jack Rose cocktail. In the 1926 novel, the narrator sips one in a Parisian boîte and the drink has benefitted from that bit of product placement ever since. When I asked him what I should drink for the column this week (after a spate of fairly unremarkable imbibition) he had a clear answer: a Jack Rose at The Gibson.
Continue reading →

Food and Drink, The Daily Feed
By

Food Tweet of the Week: Baked & Wired

Photo courtesy of
‘Baked & Wired, Georgetown’
courtesy of ‘allisonkirchner’
Nice profile from Georgetown’s Baked & Wired:

Born on 4:20, we celebrate the art of getting baked daily. From handcrafted baked goods to our amazing coffee bar…you’re never too old or young to get baked!

Baked & Wired has been serving popular handcrafted coffee drinks in Georgetown since 2001, and it’s been on Twitter (@bakedandwiredDC) for two years. The coffee shop has more than 2,000 followers, and tweets about everything from a new expresso machine at the store, to employee birthdays, to a new coffee flavor.  About a week ago there even seemed to be a fun Sega Genesis conversation going on.

Baked & Wired wins this week because of its hilarious Valentine’s Tweets…loved when the store asked “me” if it could “be the fruity pebbles” to my bam-bam. The winner:

Continue reading →

Capital Chefs, Food and Drink, The Features
By

Capital Chefs: Adam Sobel of Bourbon Steak (Part 2)

Photo courtesy of
‘Venison, Bourbon Steak’
courtesy of ‘bonappetitfoodie’

It’s 70 degrees out today. But it’s still February, and that tricky March will probably make its entrance with a roar that will force all of us to bundle up once again. And chances are when it gets cold again, you’ll want to snuggle up with a nice big bowl of hot chili.

Here’s a recipe for venison chili (read: you can substitute plenty of other proteins) from Chef Adam Sobel. When I tried the chili, I believe my exact words to Adam were: “I could eat this for breakfast, lunch and dinner.” Do yourself a favor–don’t put cheese or sour cream on it; just enjoy it the way it is. Or you can do as they do at Bourbon Steak, put it on a half-smoke or on a monster of a burger.  Continue reading →

The Daily Feed
By

Hot Ticket: Los Lobos / Taj Mahal @ 9:30 Club, 2/21/11

If you are looking for a double billing with two legendary acts, it is hard to pass up on this one. Taj Mahal is one of the most inventive players in the blues field. No surprise that one of his most famous albums (issued over 25 years late) came out of the short lived band “The Rising Sons” which featured another hard to categorize guitarist, Ry Cooder. Although they did not work together much, they both share an explorer’s heart in searching out musical forms from all over the world and finding new ways to express the personal interpretation of their discoveries. I remember how welcome it was to see what Taj Mahal came up with when I saw him on the old late night television shows “In Concert” and “Don Kirshner’s Rock Concert”. He is three years shy of a half century of performing and it will be exciting to see what he comes up with at the 9:30 Club.

Joining him is Los Lobos, far removed from the “just another band from East LA” label they placed on themselves with an album now over 30 years old. I find it hard to believe they have been around that long, especially when their latest album, “Tin Can Trust” sounded so fresh and strong. It got a positive review from me, and most other reviewers give it raves as well. Like Taj Mahal, I know the band pretty well but have somehow missed them over their long career. Thankfully, I get to accomplish two goals in one night.

Taj Mahal
Los Lobos
9:30 Club
Monday, Feb 21st
$40

Capital Chefs, Food and Drink, The Features
By

Capital Chefs: Adam Sobel of Bourbon Steak (Part 1)

Photo courtesy of
‘Adam Sobel of Bourbon Steak’
courtesy of ‘bonappetitfoodie’

Chef Adam Sobel describes his journey to the restaurant industry as one that came about naturally. He was drawn to cooking “like a moth to a light,” he says. “I was 4 or 5 years old and I would be messing around in the kitchen, making nasty concoctions as a joke,” he said. While I’m imagining a miniature Sobel standing over a mixing bowl combining ingredients from his parent’s pantry, he adds that he did indeed grow up to train at the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, NY. Sobel says he was 18-years-old when he really got passionate and serious about cooking.

Prior to moving to DC to replace David Varley as executive chef at Bourbon Steak, Sobel worked in Las Vegas as executive chef at Rick Moonen’s RM Seafood at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino. “DC is like a different planet. It’s very unique–the feel, the people, the way things operate” he says. Frankly, I’m surprised Sobel isn’t more shell-shocked by the move (then again, maybe a cross-country move after living and working in Vegas is a breeze). Before accepting the role fo executive chef at Bourbon Steak, Sobel had several conversations with Varley, “I asked him, ‘Can I make an impact?’ I don’t want to just carry a torch that was already lit.”

Continue reading →

The Daily Feed
By

Hot Ticket: Broken Records @ Black Cat, 2/20/11

Broken Records - Let Me Come Home

Who is Arcade Fire? Beats me. What is Scotland’s answer to Arcade Fire? According to NME, that would be Broken Records, a six-piece indie folk group that’s playing Sunday night at the Black Cat Backstage.

…Okay, so NME may be guilty of exaggeration. It takes more than just pianos, horns, and strings to be Arcade Fire. Plus, there’s a world of difference between the tiny Backstage, and the Merriweather Post Pavilion filled by Arcade Fire last August. But an intimate venue like this will be perfect for the melancholy tunes spun by Broken Records. I enjoyed their debut album “Until the Earth Begins to Part”, which was filled with sad-sap songs about failing relationships. The strings and horns (plus lead singer Jamie Sutherland’s accent) add a distinctly Scottish flavor to their tunes. This will be their first date on their first US tour, in support of their new album “Let Me Come Home”.

This band should be a good pairing with DC locals US Royalty. If you haven’t caught these guys yet, now is the perfect time – their self-released debut album came out just last month, and they’ve garnered attention from the likes of NPR and Washington Post. Their recent show at Rock and Roll Hotel ended up selling out, so I imagine many of their fans will come out for this one as well.

Broken Records
with US Royalty
Black Cat Backstage
Sunday, Feb. 20th
9pm
$10

Five Favorites
By

Five Favorites: Popping Up About Town

Photo courtesy of
‘Treasury’
courtesy of ‘InspirationDC’

While retail storefronts across the country are struggling to find full-time tenants, there is no decline in designers, curators, and vendors who want to sell their wares to the public. Many of them are opting to try pop-up stores either to promote an online business, test out the retail market, or gather together a collection of independent sellers.

Some might say the pop-up store concept is played-out at this point – having saturated other cities around the world in recent years to the point of boring shoppers – but much like the pop-up dining trend, pop-up retail is hitting DC hard right now and is supported, in part, by the city’s Temporary Urbanism Initiative. I prefer not to complain and instead get excited about the tremendous energy and entrepreneurship on display – as well as the terrific items for sale.

5. The Mt. Pleasant Temporium
The Mt. Pleasant Temporium opens on Friday and runs through March 18. Earlier this week, Rebecca wrote a preview of the Temporuim’s variety of crafty vendors and entertainment which you should check out for more details.

4. garmentDISTRICT
Housed at 1005 7th Street, NW until March 20th, garmentDISTRICT has converted a large unused space into a showcase for local art and fashion. Nineteen different local designers will be selling clothes and accessories, including Rachel Pfeffer’s whimsical jewelry, as well as twenty visual artists. The space will also host a variety of musical performances, beginning with an opening night party on Friday.
Continue reading →

capitals hockey, The Daily Feed
By

Caps Fall to Sharks 3-2

Photo courtesy of
‘Missed hit’
courtesy of ‘BrianMKA’

After a wild 7-6 victory in Anaheim and the reappearance of Alexander Semin to the goal category on Wednesday, it looked as if the spark had returned to the Washington Capitals. The Caps moved on in their West Coast tour with a stop last night in San Jose to face the struggling Sharks.

Both Alex Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom knocked in tallies last night; Ovechkin ended with a goal and an assist for another solid game. “Ovi looks like the old Ovi now,” said coach Bruce Boudreau. “I hadn’t been able to say that but in recent games he has been, so let’s hope he continues. The energy he’s playing with, he’s coming back hard and he’s not staying upright and his shifts were short. And all those things encompass a good leader. That’s what he was doing.”

After the game tied up at one apiece after the first period – both goals coming in the last three minutes – it was a slow, tight defensive grind by both teams going into the third. The Caps had jump, something lacking in recent weeks, but the Shark’s blue line did not allow a lot of scoring chances. “We are holding a lot of teams to two goals,” Sharks coach Todd McLellan said. “That is allowing us to have a chance to win games.” Continue reading →

Sports Fix, The Daily Feed
By

Washington Wizards Mid-Season Report Card

Photo courtesy of
‘All Alone’
courtesy of ‘MudflapDC’

Last night the Wizards closed out the first half of the 2010-2011 NBA season in a way that characterizes their season so far.

A loss.

It was a loss on the road, bringing the Wizards to a road record of 1-26. Thank goodness for the post-LeBron Cavaliers for getting that monkey off our backs. Wednesday’s loss to the Magic was worse than a devastating, last-minute defeat like their loss against The Heat.

It was apathetic.

Apathetic in terms of the attendance I’ve seen at home games,where the lower level is a sea of empty seats. Apathetic where you wouldn’t think twice about leaving in the last quarter if the Wiz were down. Apathetic where we look talk about the Redskins, Capitals, and even the Nationals.

The Wizards may not be last place in the NBA, but they are last place in DC sports.

Continue reading →

Food and Drink, The Daily Feed
By

This Week in Food

Photo courtesy of
‘Pork Loin with Kumquat Marmalade @ Ardeo’
courtesy of ‘jimcollins’

Talk about an empire. DCMud.com reports that restaurateur Ashok Bajaj, the man behind Bombay Club, 701, Rasika, and Ardeo + Bardeo could soon sign a lease for the retail space at 22 West in West End. Bajaj somewhat hinted at a new project in a chat last month with my fave food critic, Tom Sietsema.

My favorite news of the week comes via The Washington Post: Whole Foods Market and a D.C. real estate firm want to build a new store in Navy Yard, “but the developer says that luring the grocer would require $8 million in tax breaks.”  WaPo reports that William C. Smith and Co. is proposing a 39,000-square-foot Whole Foods in the 800 block of New Jersey Ave. SE as part of a building that would also include 375 apartments.

In other Navy Yard news, JDLand writes that a beer garden might soon be on its way to Southeast. The ANC6D (Advisory Neighborhood Commission) voted 6-0 “to support the Bullpen’s plans to open an additional 632-seat beer garden at Half and M, across from the Navy Yard Metro station’s west entrance just north of Nationals Park.”

Continue reading →

Entertainment, Penn Quarter, The Features, We Love Arts
By

We Love Arts: Oedipus el Rey

Oedipus El Rey at Woolly Mammoth

Jocasta and Oedipus (Romi Diaz and Andres Munar)
by Stan Barouh for Woolly Mammoth, used with permission

Oedipus. We all know the myth. Ill-fated to kill his father and marry his mother. The solver of the riddle of the Sphinx. Pride before fall. Blinded at the end.

Now take that myth, rattle it in Zeus’s dice cup, and roll it out into a barrio in LA. Throw in gang culture, incarceration, full nudity and onstage bloody eye gouging – not to mention desecration of the Bible and forced heroin use – and you have yourself quite the reinterpretation of the Greek myth.

It’s rare that I see a play whose audacity leaves me speechless. Not every re-imagining of familiar myth is successful, but playwright Luis Alfaro grounds his firmly in machismo and folklore, and it works. Backed by the stark prison of a set by Misha Kachman, all clanging iron and cutting wire, and a haunting musical mix by composer Ryan Rumery weaving the power of industrial with wistful ballads, Oedipus el Rey dares you to be shocked. The worldly audience at Woolly Mammoth, long used to boundary breaking, laughed a bit nervously at press night as the opening scenes unfolded with the Coro (the traditional Chorus) speaking rhythmically in Chicano accents and asking repeatedly “quien es este hombre?” while Oedipus (Andres Munar) holds plank for what seems like forever. Imagine the reaction when he and Jocasta (an absolutely riveting Romi Diaz) strip down to their tattoos and make out. And as for that eye gouging… when the eyes hit the floor, my jaw did too.

Those last two are probably the elements you will hear about the most, because they are shocking, even in our blase times. The ancients described these moments in words, but they were never shown onstage. But don’t let that deviation from the classical norm overshadow what is essentially a deeply poetic, moving play. It contrasts the fear of the futility of escaping your fate with the desire to be more than what you are seen to be, by your peers, by your parents, by yourself. The universal human desire to soar above the dirty hard world we live in, to be “un rey.”

Continue reading →

The Daily Feed
By

Hot Ticket: Kid Congo Powers and The Pink Monkey Birds @ Comet Ping-Pong, 2/18/11

The Gun Club
The Cramps
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds

What do these legendary bands of the underground have in common? At one time or another Kid Congo Powers has been their guitar player! Never staying still for long, Kid Congo Powers has loaned his trademark guitar skills to all three of the bands through some of their best sounding periods. He co-founded The Gun Club but didn’t join them on a recording until the mid-80’s. Mainly because he was too busy helping Lux Interior and The Cramps corner the market on fried-brain, psychedelic, surf punk on their second and best album. Congo also collaborated with Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds on a few choice recordings in the early 90’s. Through all of this, there was no mistaking Kid Congo’s distinctive style.

This mad chicano’s instantly recognizable open-tuned, twang guitar sound will be front an center when Kid Congo and the Pink Monkey Birds hit the back room at Comet on Friday night. The new band’s sound is very much in the vein of The Gun Club and The Cramps, with the damaged fuzz of 60’s sleaze rock gone punk. I’ve been hearing great things about this underground rock veteran’s recent shows; like his personality behind the microphone is as larger-than-life as his legendary guitar playing. This one’s going to be a helluva good time!

Kid Congo Powers and The Pink Monkey Birds
@ Comet Ping Pong
2/19/11 – 10pm
$12

We Love Weekends
By

We Love Weekends, February 19-20

Photo courtesy of
‘Lincoln Logs’
courtesy of ‘His Noodly Appendage’

Dave: Have you seen the weather report? Give me a patio on Friday afternoon and watch out. Whether or not it’sactually spring, I’m going to pretend it is. I have to take it pretty easy, though: to truly ring in the President’s Day weekend, I’m going to don a giant President’s costume as I cover the Nationals Racing Presidents auditions this weekend (look for that full story on Monday). From there, it’ll be a little more normal – perhaps a little extended brunching on Sunday with the benefit of the Monday holiday.

Patrick Palafox: I’m going to go to the DC Improv this Sunday to take my first class of their Five Minutes to Funny Course, which is where Brad and Ralph met before having their Awesome Thursdays at R.F.D. Open Mic. Looking forward to learning more about the art of making people laugh. My best joke so far is I put my hand on somebody’s arm pit and give them a tickle. It works every time, but will also lead to jail. I need to tickle people without actually touching them. Continue reading →

Music, The Daily Feed
By

Hot Ticket: Avett Brothers @ DAR, 2/18/11

Photo courtesy of the Avett Brothers

Straight from last Sunday’s Grammy awards broadcast, where they performed with Mumford & Sons and Bob Dylan, the Avett Brothers are bringing their show to DAR Constitution Hall on Friday night.

Linguistically speaking, folk rock is a genre that shouldn’t exist. Rock is too powerful, and folk is too sweet, to logically co-exist, right? And yet it does, and it is wonderful, and the result is pretty well captured in that photo at the top of this post: hard-rocking banjo, bluegrass with an edge, energy that rivals the Ramones and melodies and lyrics that wrap themselves around your head and won’t leave until you feel just a bit better about life. Listening to the Avetts, you learn what a kick drum can do to jump-start your heart.

Continue reading →

Food and Drink, The Daily Feed
By

More Chef Awards News: James Beard 2011 Semifinalists

Photo courtesy of
‘Julia’s stove’
courtesy of ‘volcanojw’

By now, you’re all abuzz about the James Beard Foundation’s 2011 Restaurants and Chefs Awards Semifinalists list. The final list of nominees will be announced on March 21, 2011 and the winners will be selected in May. Read on for the breakdown of which DC restaurants and chefs made the cut.
Continue reading →

Food and Drink, The Daily Feed, We Love Drinks
By

Gin and Tonic Throwdown?

Here is another of my gin y tonic..... on Twitpic
“Here is another of my gin y tonic”
via @chefjoseandres

Who doesn’t love a little smack talk?

After Adam Bernbach’s recipe got a little love from the Post (and, for what it’s worth, from Katie Nelson in these pages) Chef José Andrés Took matters into his own hands, or at least his own twitter account, posting “thats a great drink, agree! and i love estadio but aint a gin and tonic! let me post my gin&tonic(love controversy)”.

Now Derek Brown has offered to host such a showdown at the Columbia Room. I said it to him on twitter, and now I’ll say it here: Jenn and I will be happy to assist with any judging. Just make sure that Todd Thrasher is included too, since Adam said his gin and tonic was the inspiration.

Food and Drink, The Daily Feed
By

Food & Wine’s People’s Best New Chefs of 2011

Photo courtesy of
‘The Proper Way to Use a Knife’
courtesy of ‘Sprezzatura Images’

Washingtonians should feel a swell of pride: four DC chefs are represented in Food & Wine’s People’s Best New Chefs list.

Kyle Bailey of Birch & Barley, Daniel Giusti of 1789, David Guas of Bayou Bakery and Nicholas Stefanelli of Bibiana are all nominated in the Mid-Atlantic region. While I would argue that these chefs are hardly “new,” since they’ve all received previous accolades, it’s still great to see them all nominated, repping DC.

The way the contest works is you get to pick the winner by voting online. I’ll be sorely disappointed if we get beaten by someone in Philadelphia or Pittsburgh, so go vote now. Voting runs until March 1, 2011.

Congratulations to the chefs!

Entertainment, Fun & Games, Music, We Love Music
By

The Winning Ticket (Extra): Fences


photo by Lindsey Byrnes

Since so many people tried to win tickets yesterday and since we could only pick one winner, we decided that we should give all of those who didn’t win yesterday, a chance to win tickets to a different free show happening this holiday weekend!

Today, we are giving away a pair of tickets to see Fences perform at the Red Palace on Sunday, February 20th.

Fences has been getting love in the press with his self-titled debut that SPIN magazine recently named one of their 10 Best Albums You Might Have Missed in 2010, calling the album “sorrowful, self-deprecating, and charming pop-folk songs with catchy keyboard melodies and lyrics about squandered love.” NPR digs Fences too; they featured his song “My Girl The Horse” as one of their songs of the day last Fall. I am just discovering Fences myself, but I am getting a real “best kept secret” vibe from the guy. Judging from the tunes on his Myspace page, he probably won’t a be a secret much longer.

For your chance to win simply leave a comment on this post using a valid email address between 9am and 4pm today. One entry per email address, please. If today doesn’t turn out to be your lucky day, but you still want to check out Fences this weekend, tickets are just $10 and can be bought here.

Free Fences track and contest rules after the jump!

Continue reading →