By 
‘Vacation in a Cup!’
courtesy of ‘Phaesia2011’
Wah, wah. It’s Monday. See where all the food trucks are this afternoon for a little pick-me-up.
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Yearly Archives: 2011
By Tom Bridge
Police Week Starts Today
‘We Know It’s Raining’
courtesy of ‘M.V. Jantzen’
If you noticed a few more law enforcement people than usual here in DC today, good eye. Police detachments from all over the US are going to be in DC this week for National Police Week. Thursday is the early arrival day before the big candlelight vigil at the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial in Judiciary Square, but a memorial service is set for 11am today. Yesterday’s 16th Annual Law Ride ended at the memorial site. Starting Friday, there are a series of events at the FOP DC Lodge (2nd & H St NW), as well as an Honor Guard Competition, a Pipe Band demonstration and other festivities.
By Brian Mosley
Weekend Flashback: 5/6-5/8
‘(127/365)’
courtesy of ‘kimberlyfaye’
Mother’s Day. A tie for DC United. Two road wins for the Nationals. Excellent weather. No major world events which cause people to ask deep philosophical questions about morality. In short, a good weekend. Let’s reminisce, shall we?
By Brittany
Friday Happy Hour: Triple Crown Cocktails at The Source
Horse races are sporting events I can get behind: Gambling, hats, and over in two minutes. Also, each of the American Triple Crown races features a traditional official cocktail.
At The Source by Wolfgang Puck, the bar team decided to honor the equestrian traditions by adding each of these three cocktails to their lounge menu for a limited time. However, as an Asian fusion restaurant, the classic mint julep (Kentucky Derby), black-eyed susan (Preakness) and Belmont breeze (Belmont) seemed a bit too domestic, so they decided to add pan-Asian flavors to their interpretation of each.
Upon reading this, I was curious – and maybe just a hint dubious. These are such iconic American drinks, the julep in particular. How would spruced-up Pacific Rim variants work out?
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Capital Chefs: Eric Brannon of Ted’s Bulletin (Part 2)
‘Walk of shame burrito from Ted’s Bulletin’
courtesy of ‘bonappetitfoodie’
We’ve all had a Saturday morning where we’ve woken up parched, head throbbing and stomach gurgling for something heavy and delicious to cure a bad hangover. Granted I tried Eric Brannon’s breakfast burrito for dinner (who doesn’t love breakfast for dinner?), but I’d imagine on a weekend morning hungover or not, this burrito would really hit the spot. It’s easy enough to make, and certainly don’t feel obligated to eat it before noon. You’ll find the full recipe after the jump.
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By Tricia Barba
Tweet of the Week: El Centro D.F.
‘Yummy lunch at Surfside’
courtesy of ‘Joe in DC’
(Note those delicious tacos aren’t from El Centro D.F., but now I really want tacos.)
I think it’s the combination of it being Cinco de Mayo week and my love for Mexican food that has El Centro D.F. as our Tweet of the Week winner.
So far it has less than 150 followers, but the restaurant is only one day old! It’s a good number if you look at it that way. El Centro D.F. (or @ElCentroDF)bills itself as DC’s “Premier Taqueria & Tequileria,” and according to my friends who tried it out yesterday, it just might be.
By fedward
Breakin’ the Law: Prohibition in DC
Garret Peck (photos by the author)
Wednesday night I attended a talk on Prohibition in DC by local author Garrett Peck. He’s got a new book on the subject, developed as a result of his research for his first book, along with the knowledge he’s amassed leading the Temperance Tour. Much as it is now, DC was a playground for politicians who wanted to try out new rules. Prohibition was thus imposed on the District in 1917 by politicians who, privately (and sometimes publicly) didn’t themselves care much for or about the law.
Capital Chefs: Eric Brannon of Ted’s Bulletin (Part 1)
‘Eric Brannon of Ted’s Bulletin’
courtesy of ‘bonappetitfoodie’
Eric Brannon serves up more than your average meatloaf and mashed potatoes. Since Ted’s opened a little more than a year ago, the chef has been serving up comfort food reminiscent of mom’s cooking but with more flair at Ted’s Bulletin in Eastern Market.
“I’m cooking food that gives you memories,” he says. “It’s so rewarding to have people come up to you and say, ‘This is like how my mom made it.’ It pays homage to folks at home.” For Brannon, his cooking is about revamping the simple and attainable classics, which is still a challenge.
The restaurant’s homemade pop tarts and adult (read: liquor-laced) milkshakes have generated worthy buzz around the city. This year the restaurant was nominated for a RAMMY as one of 2011’s Best Neighborhood Gathering Places, one of the few public vote categories. And he says new milkshakes, pop tarts and some fun entrées such as a Texas style brisket will be making their debut on the menu this spring.
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Food Truck Tracker
‘Pulled Pork from PORC mobile’
courtesy of ‘yostinator’
Feeling a little hungover from cinco de mayo? Get yourself to a food truck for a filling lunch!
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By Tom Bridge
The end is coming! (But probably not soon)
‘The End Is Near 91.7 FM’
courtesy of ‘pasa47’
I was driving down New Jersey Avenue yesterday around lunch, lost in thought, stopped at the light right before 395, when a disheveled man tapped on the window glass. I was expecting it to be one of the panhandlers that usually frequents that block, but I was surprised to find instead a man in a white wifebeater undershirt with a hastily stenciled message about the end of the world on May 21st. The green light saved me from response and I drove onward.
The group is part of the Family Radio Network, a Christian fundamentalist radio network lead by Harold Camping, who set the date for the end of the world on May 21st, 2011. The Post has a detailed story, including a hysterical anecdote from a person employed by the Department of Homeland Security who has taken a leave of absence until the 23rd of May.
You may see these folks on the street corners here in DC for the next week or two, but let ’em just be. I suspect they’ll be pretty disappointed come 6:01pm on May 21st, when the world hasn’t ended. That’s punishment enough. Though, a friend tweeted yesterday, if they’re right, at least we won’t have to deal with them constantly reminding us they had it pegged.
By Addison H
Pinkberry Opens in DC
‘IMG_0153’
courtesy of ‘A. L. Huber’
The “crackberry” phenomenon has finally made it to DC proper. Last night, hundreds, if not thousands of devotees lined Connecticut Avenue to get a taste of the west coast’s favorite frozen yogurt, Pinkberry. According to Pinkberry, their new DC store handed out around 2000 free samples of their tangy brand of fro-yo that had people lined up down the block and around the corner.
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By Dan Rowinski
A Little Brains, Heart and Nerve: Say Goodnight, Washington Capitals
‘IMG_1503.jpg’
courtesy of ‘bridgetds’
I could wile away the hours,
Conferrin’ with the flowers,
Consultin’ with the rain,
And my head I’d be scratchin,’
While my thoughts were busy hatchin’ …
The Bruce Boudreau Era is done.
Make no mistake about it. Heading into the postseason the question was not so much about how far the Caps would go but more about how they performed once they got out of the first round. “Does Boudreau lose his job if the Caps do not make it to the Stanley Cup Finals” was an unfair question. The Stanley Cup is perhaps the hardest trophy to win in all of American sports, outside of the horse racing Triple Crown.
Washington just needed to play respectably, up to its potential and level of talent. No choking, no dramatic series losses after being up big. From the Eastern Conference semifinals on, if the Caps played well but got beat, that would have been an acceptable outcome.
That is not what happened.
Getting swept by the Tampa Bay Lightning was simply appalling. There is no excuse for it. It looked like Washington had found a way to win in the playoffs after the New York series. They were motivated, they played tight defensively, were opportunistic when they needed to be and, most importantly, they looked like they were focused and playing together. Sheer talent and determination should have been enough to get them through the semifinals.
A very good friend of mine, Erin, said that the Caps would be swept. She is an evil genius. Most pundits picked Washington to win anywhere between five and seven games. Myself, I thought Washington could eke it out in seven. I was not going to be one of those writers who dismissed the Lightning as too young or too raw. Tampa has a superbly talented hockey team not to be underestimated.
What I did was overestimate the Washington Capitals.
By Jenn Larsen
We Love Arts: Cyrano
(L-R) Eric Hissom, Chris Genebach, Todd Scofield, Richard Ruiz, and Dan Crane in Cyrano at Folger Theatre, through June 5, 2011. Photo credit: Carol Pratt
If you’re expecting to see Folger Theatre do the traditional over-three-hours-five-acts-cast-of-hundreds production of Cyrano (and yes, having been brought up on Derek Jacobi’s brilliant RSC Cyrano, I was), forget it. You don’t need the caffeine, it’s already built into this lightning fast adaptation by Michael Hollinger and director Aaron Posner. Nine actors play multiple roles over two acts in a translation that may lose some of the poetry but none of the verve.
Or rather, the panache.
Thanks to its constant reinvention in popular culture ever since its debut in 1897, the plot of Edmond Rostand’s play about the swashbuckling 17th-century soldier with an enormous nose and a heart to match is well known enough that slicing and dicing the text isn’t viewed as too sacrilegious. Hollinger’s new translation tosses the Alexandrine couplets in favor of a less formal tone, and the cuts he and Posner made streamline the action to its most essential elements. Sure, I missed a few of my favorite bits and the lusciousness of the Anthony Burgess translation, but that didn’t mar my enjoyment. This adaptation is whistling sharp, like a rapier. Or as a friend put it afterwards, “It’s the Cliff Notes version… if Cliff Notes were actually really good.”
What is the beating, raging heart of this production? Eric Hissom’s Cyrano de Bergerac. Completely believable as both a scathing poet and a dashing fighter, his self-loathing whips him on to acts of self-destructive bravery and selfless love. Battling a hundred knights on the bridge? I bet he could’ve handled a thousand. Continue reading
By Ben H. Rome
Video Game Art Chosen for Future Smithsonian Exhibit
‘DC Meetups – 09-03-22 – Your Move’
courtesy of ‘mosley.brian’
The Smithsonian American Art Museum invited the public to help select the video games that will be included in its upcoming exhibition “The Art of Video Games,” which opens in Washington, D.C., March 16, 2012. The exhibition is one of the first to explore the 40-year evolution of video games as an artistic medium, with a focus on striking visual effects and the creative use of new technologies.
Voting took place between Feb. 14 and April 17 of this year. The website recorded more than 3.7 million votes from 119,000 people in 175 countries. A list of the winning 80 games across 20 gaming systems is available online and is organized by era, game type and platform. The 80 games will be displayed in the exhibition as screen shots and short video clips.
In addition to these 80 games, the exhibition will feature five games for visitors to play for a few minutes, to gain some feel for the interactivity—Pac-Man, Super Mario Brothers, The Secret of Monkey Island, Myst, and World of Warcraft.
By Tricia Barba
This Week in Food
Happy Cinco de Mayo. Hopeully by now you know where you’ll be heading tonight for those margaritas.
Happenings
There are so many places recently open or opening soon. Senart’s Oyster and Chop House started off with a bang late last week serving fantastic oysters and a killer lobster roll. Plus there are finally signs up for Nooshi (Noodles & Sushi) and Tash (Kabob, Bread & Rice), which we’ve been hearing about for months. Also coming to Barracks Row is Spring Mill Bread Co. (bread, sandwiches and pastries) and 32 Below (Frozen Yougurt). 32 below is also hiring if you like to swirl, however “mean people need not apply.”
Speaking of that cold stuff…
Starting today at 6pm you can head Dupont Circle for some free Pinkberry (just until 10 though!). The yogurt is famous for its healthy ingredients with fruit from local farms, and will even be open until 2 a.m. on weekends.
Opening on Cinco de Mayo?
Is none other than El Centro DF in Logan Circle. Like we’ve told you, the restaurant is all about Mexican comfort food and is brought to us by Richard Sandoval and Kaz Okochi (also behind Masa 14). It opens today at 5pm for a Cinco de Mayo party — hello tequila. Read more from DC Eater.
Ostrich Eggs
And my favorite blog post of the week is an easy pick: “What the Heck Do I Do With . . . Ostrich Eggs?” Best Bites Blog put together a video series where they asked professional chefs “to show us how to use those crazy ingredients we normally shy away from at the grocery store.”
Happy eating!
Food Truck Tracker
‘Sabora Street’
courtesy of ‘yostinator’
Forgive us, foodies and city dwellers. We’ve been remiss with our Food Truck Tracker. But it’s back and in action. Check out where the food trucks are rollin’ this afternoon. After all, you’ll need something in your stomach to soak up all those margaritas you’ll be drinking tonight in honor of cinco de mayo.
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By We Love Music: Pinback @ Black Cat, 5/1/11
All images courtesy of Paivi Salonen
Bands using video projectors at their live shows can be hit-or-miss. At their best, you can have a band like Godspeed You! Black Emperor, who count their projectionist as a full-on band member. He moves back and forth between four(!) projectors, mixing up a series of dark images to add to the brooding feel of the music. At their worst, you might as well stare at the iTunes visualizer on your laptop.
As I arrived at Pinback’s show on Sunday night at the Black Cat, the first thing I noticed was the projector. I had mixed feelings about how openers Judgement Day used it; it seemed gimmicky to me at first, but I was convinced by one song, where their playing synced perfectly with their video track. It was sick, to say the least; it showcased their skills as virtuosic musicians with creativity beyond musical composition. Pinback, on the other hand, wasted an opportunity to do anything exciting with their visuals. They weren’t very dynamic as performers either, so their use of a projector felt like a crutch, just to try to make their show more visually appealing.
By Ben H. Rome
Caps Lose Series, Season to Tampa
‘IMG_6554.jpg’
courtesy of ‘bridgetds’
If you haven’t heard by now, there was a complete implosion down in the Tampa Bay area. How is this relevant to DC? Because the implodees were our own Washington Capitals.
The Caps dropped Game 4-and the series-with a lackluster, passion-less filled “do or die”contest to the Tampa Bay Lightning, 5-3.
Our own Dan Rowinski will conduct a WeLoveDC postmortem tomorrow. Meanwhile, the gnashing of teeth, calling for heads, and fan deconstruction has already started. If you’re looking for answers to sooth the depressing rage, look no further than On Frozen Blog today and swing back here tomorrow for our own analysis.
By Tom Bridge
In the wake of more protest arrests, a question
This evening, a group of four eight women protestors, lead by Mary Cheh, were arrested near the Capitol for blocking traffic as part of a protest against the 251-175 vote to prohibit local tax dollars being used for abortions.
While it’s clear that the District’s rights to self-governance are being deeply abridged, pointless protests like the one today, and the one scheduled for next week, same time/same place, do nothing to advance the cause of self-determination for the District. Instead, they’re just a sideshow that demonstrate that we understand the theatrical part of politics, but we’re failing categorically at its other half: policy.
I’d like to ask public figures in DC a favor: Until you can come up with a solution to the problem, if you’re going to get arrested, do us all a favor and stay in jail until you think of something that will work.
So that begs the question, DC: Who would you like to see locked up for good for protesting? A set of options, and a write-in field, after the jump. Continue reading
By Addison H
Top Dog Half-Smoke Challenge
‘Top Dog – Jackson 20 & The Grille’
courtesy of ‘Hans Bruesch-Olsen’
The half-smoke is a venerable DC institution, dating back to the 1930s when Briggs & Company Meatpackers combined equal mixtures of coarsely ground beef and pork. Locals and tourists alike flock to Ben’s Chili Bowl and various cart vendors around the Mall to experience this glorious bit of Washingtonian foodstuff.
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