‘curbside cookoff’
courtesy of ‘sciascia’
It’s freaky Friday the thirteenth. Food trucks are known to bring you good luck though…And congratulations to our food truck tracker partners over at thestrEATS who had their launch party last night for their iPhone app!
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By fedward
All photos by the author
Monday I attended a talk by noted (some might say legendary, and they might not be wrong) bartender Dale DeGroff. Arranged by and benefitting the Museum of the American Cocktail (also behind the Hotel Cocktail seminar Jenn attended), the talk had the simple title On the Town with Dale DeGroff and an equally simple, but delightful, construction.
The fact that you probably already know what a Cosmopolitan cocktail is, and most likely even have a mental picture of the sort of person you imagine would drink it, owes its existence to King Cocktail. Widely credited as the bartender who made it popular (if not ubiquitous) from behind the bar at the Rainbow Room in the 1980s, DeGroff has a long history both with his leg up in front of the bar and as the all-seeing, all-hearing master of ceremonies behind it. The “On the Town” seminar is a chance for him to tell a sample of the stories he has collected – or been a part of – since he moved to New York four decades ago.
By fedward
The following is a guest entry by the Social Chair, who is far more qualified than I am to discuss this particular subject matter.
At the end of February, Fedward asked me to marry him and become Social Chair For Life. Within five minutes of my saying yes, we agreed that we wanted “a short, non-religious ceremony with a really great party” and that it would be in DC (after all, we love DC) or metro accessible Maryland or Virginia. Our only other requirement? Great cocktails. Obviously.
Trying to plan a reasonably priced wedding in DC is much like trying to find a reasonably priced apartment: it’s not impossible, but it takes some work. I was chatting with Jenn about the most recent sticker shock I had seen: $25k for 100 people for a cocktail reception (I looked carefully and saw no mention of monkey butlers, which might have made the price palatable). She suggested an occasional post about planning a local wedding, and I knew the perfect way to start the series: by talking about April 29.
I bet you think I’m talking about that fancy shindig across the pond. Yes, I watched; I love me some pomp and circumstance. I cannot wait for my own procession to the ceremony with thousands of people waving at me (that happens for all brides, right?). However, Kate and Wills were merely the opening act for a much bigger event: Filene’s Basement’s Running of the Brides.
‘yeah! we’re crazy!’
courtesy of ‘philliefan99’
The comics who regularly appear at the Eleventh Street Lounge open mic night in Clarendon (from this point known collectively as “the Lizards”) are having another comedy-for-relief event tonight. This time, it’s for tsunami relief in Japan, and the gimmick is that all the 10+ comics will be performing in their underwear.
The show starts at 8:30 and admission is $5. Five bucks for comedy, a good cause, and for the comics’ total willingness to sacrifice their dignity for your entertainment. Cheap at twice the price!
By Tricia Barba
So it’s been quite a lackluster week in food. Ha!
Congratulations
As everyone knows by now (but I will repeat anyway), DC took home two James Beard Foundation Awards this week. You can call them the Academy Awards of food.
The ubiquitous Chef José Andrés won for Outstanding Chef and The Washington Post’s Tim Carman (previously with the City Paper) won for Food-Related Columns and Commentary. Read more from WeLoveDC’s Marissa.
By Don
‘Pound the Hill’
courtesy of ‘Samer Farha’
The twitters tells us that We Love DC alumnus and Pound Coffee co-owner Karl Johnson has gotten himself engaged. Huzzah, we say!
By Don
‘Breaux Vineyard’
courtesy of ‘InspirationDC’
Addison: Friday, I am heading to one of my all time favorite spring events: the Mount Vernon Spring Wine Festival and Sunset Tour. In an effort to channel my inner NASCAR driver, some buddies and I are heading out to WV’s Summit Point Kart for a few laps. Saturday night, a friend’s birthday is the perfect excuse to partake in some Dupont Circle nightlife. And, as usual, Sunday I will be out front of the Capitol playing kickball.
Mosley: I get to see one of my cousins graduate from Catholic on Saturday (Congrats Jillian!), so that day/night isn’t exactly free for me. But if I had that day to myself, you’d find me at Cheverly Day! Cheverly is my hometown, and I look forward to Cheverly Day for the same reason I look forward to the Fourth of July: the awesome fireworks. Sunday I’m taking it easy for most of the day, but in the afternoon I’m going to a DC Social Flickr meetup at Malcolm X Park. Photo nerds will abound, and all are welcome, regardless of your photo experience. If you’ve ever wanted to talk photography with a bunch of camera enthusiasts, this is the event to go to.
‘TaKorean Sampler’
courtesy of ‘yostinator’
You’ve made it to Thursday. Which means you should probably treat yourself to lunch from a truck.
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By Tricia Barba
You have to admire people who take a risk. Opening up a brand new restaurant in a brand new hotel in a growing neighborhood is exactly that. However, if successful, you’ll not only reap the rewards, you also might be part of the force that helped reinvent a neighborhood. In this case, it looks like Chef Todd and Ellen Gray, along with their Watershed in NoMa are doing just that.
NoMa, of course, stands for “North of Massachusetts Avenue,” north of Capitol Hill and Union Station. It has one successful BID too; you can check it out on Twitter at @NoMaBID. The Grays are currently calling NoMa and the Hilton Garden Inn home as they work to get their second restaurant up and running. If you don’t know the restaurant is there, you’ll definitely miss it, but it doesn’t seem like that’s hindered anything thus far and there’s still a Grand Opening to come.
In what I found perhaps most interesting, Ellen tells me that Watershed is the only independent restaurant with Hilton. What I found funniest is that Chef Todd is working on controlling his language (typical chef cooking) in the kitchen, as it’s an open kitchen and no one wants to scare away the customers. But now, on to the food.
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By Tom Bridge
‘ballpark crescent’
courtesy of ‘philliefan99’
Welcome to the sweet spot of the baseball season in Washington, when the weather is perfect, the team is playing good cohesive ball, and there are enough deals and giveaways to make a night at the ballpark sound absolutely redeeming. The Nats come home this Friday night for a short but sweet five-game homestand. There’s a lot to look forward to, for the dyed-in-the-wool fanatic, and the casual fan. Read on.
By Tom Bridge
To quote my boy Andy Samberg, “Google Maps is the best, true that, double true!“
Finally, you can use Google Maps, on your mobile devices or your computers, to navigate the wilds of WMATA transportation. WMATA flipped the switch this afternoon shortly after they announced a media availability with Google after their board of directors tomorrow. I talked about why google maps matters, especially in the context of tourism, last month, and I’m very glad to see WMATA finally get their act together in bringing their data to Google Maps.
If you used to make the excuse “Well, I don’t how to get there on public transportation,” now you have one less excuse to take transit less and drive more.
By Don
‘Sign – Science Fiction’
courtesy of ‘Wootang01’
If you’re a science fiction nerd aficionado like me and a fan of getting autographs & rubbing elbows with the pixel-stained wretches then your nerdvana is almost upon you – a crazy large list of SF authors are going to be in town for a conference and they’re going to have an open-to-the-public event at the Washington Hilton up above Dupont on Friday May 20th.
The biggest challenge is going to be getting all the signatures you want in 90 minutes if you’re widely read. The current list – in full below the break or at the SFWA website – was so long that I pasted it into my editor and looked at the line count rather than count them by hand. Forty-two authors total (which is awesome and it’ll break my heart if they add or delete any) and I only recognize a quarter of the names.
Of those I can only pick out a few whose books or work I remember I have read and liked – Paolo Bacigalupi who wrote The Windup Girl, Chris Claremont of X-Men fame, Joe Haldeman who wrote The Forever War and my favorite, coincidentally a former local, John Scalzi and his fantastic Old Man’s War and the follow-up books in that universe.
Personally I’m not much for autographs – most ink rubs off my kindle and their signatures are the least interesting things these folks write in my opinion. But I’ll admit that in my greener youth I did have some very nice conversations with authors when I waited in their signature lines. Vernor Vinge was a particularly nice fellow, and while I’m sure it irked the people behind me I found the conversation we had to be delightful.
Friday, May 20, 2011 from 5:30 p.m. until 7:00p.m
The Washington Hilton,
1919 Connecticut NW
full announcement below the jump
By Don
We just didn’t expect Mike Rowe to show up there. But he did just a short while ago and will be one of the folks testifying at the hearing on Manufacturing Our Way to a Stronger Economy. You can watch the live stream here, but don’t dawdle – he’s one of only 3 folks speaking and they started at 2p.
By Dave Levy
‘It’s been awhile’
courtesy of ‘afagen’
Disclosure: In the following rant, I speak for myself. I have no clue what the rest of the WLDC team has to say on this matter and if they agree with me.
In case you missed it yesterday (it was nearly impossible), the Wizards unveiled new jerseys for the 2011-2012 season, and as we’ve known since, like, September, the color scheme reverted to the thematic-DC red, white and blue.
You may recall that there used to be a basketball team in the DMV region that was called the Bullets, and they wore these new colors and that DC/hands logo with the basketball in the new system is very familiar. The inevitable follow up is the muted chatter that the new jerseys should be followed by one more change – bringing back the Bullets all the way.
Some background:
‘street fryer’
courtesy of ‘philliefan99’
Happy hump day! Here’s where the food trucks are today.
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As a way to say thanks to our loyal readers, We Love DC will be giving away a pair of tickets to a concert to one lucky reader each week. Check back here every Wednesday morning at 9am to find out what tickets we’re giving away and leave a comment for your chance to be the lucky winner!
Well it isn’t everyday that you get to attend a music festival and a horse race. Let alone, for FREE! This week we are giving away a pair of tickets to the Infield Festival featuring Bruno Mars, Train, Hotspur, Puddle of Mudd, and many more bands at the 2011 Preakness at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore on Saturday, May 21st. This is the perfect chance for you to rock out in the sun all day and then watch horses run really fast until one wins!
For your chance to win these tickets 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, check back here each Wednesday for a chance to win tickets to other great concerts. Tickets for this concert are available on Ticketmaster.
For the rules of this giveaway…
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By Jenn Larsen
Rex Daugherty in Constellation Theatre's production of The Green Bird. Photo credit: Scott Suchman.
With Carlo Gozzi’s The Green Bird, Constellation Theatre has found the perfect medium for their hyper-surrealist style in a play inspired by commedia dell’arte. It’s like a wild Ferrari driven by Max Ernst through a Brothers Grimm forest. Every piece – acting, design, script – is completely committed to the creation of a madcap fairy tale world.
A hilarious translation featuring quips like, “It’s as hard to find a true friend as it is to wipe your ass with a rose” is a strong reason for the success of this production, and it’s also ably adapted and directed by Allison Arkell Stockman. As the company’s artistic director, she’s honed the ensemble’s distinctive vocal and physical gymnastics to the point where now when I think of Constellation, the idea of a majestically plumed green bird bounding across the stage to perch and speak riddles seems absolutely believable.
And what a bird. As the Green Bird of the play’s title, Rex Daugherty manages to combine elegant sensibility with masculine power while looking like a feather-festooned Brazilian dancer at an acid-drenched Carnival. Every flick of his foot like a wink at the audience, and his first frenetic appearance is a signal that this play is going to be one wild romp. Continue reading
’15/365: The Line’
courtesy of ‘Amber Wilkie Photography’
Last night the Academy Awards of the food world went down in New York City, and DC took home two James Beard Foundation Awards.
Chef José Andrés won for Outstanding Chef and Tim Carman of The Washington Post (and previously at the City Paper) won for Food-Related Columns and Commentary.
Some of you might have seen the tweets about it, but I’ve included a couple particular charming ones from the two winners after the break. You can find the full list of winners here. Congratulations to José and Tim!
By Patrick Pho
Sure Jordan Crawford and John Wall don’t look very excited in this photo, I’m sure they would rather be in the middle of an exciting NBA Playoffs that’s in full swing right now. However I am personally excited for what they are wearing- the new uniforms of the Washington Wizards.
At an unveiling this morning Wizard’s owner Ted Leonsis, Team President Ernie Grunfeld, and Head Coach Flip Saunders were among those on-hand to show-off the new look which both match the existing motif of other DC teams and take us back to the Red, White, and Blue stylings of the franchise’s past when they were better known as the Washington Bullets.
‘cupcakes’
courtesy of ‘ekelly80’
It’s Tuesday, so keep on truckin’ through the week with some grub from food trucks.
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