Yearly Archives: 2011

The Features
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No Shutdown, but the District gets used

Photo courtesy of
‘Junk’
courtesy of ‘Dottie Mae’

I watched on Twitter as word of the deal first began to come in.  Several of us, on a short vacation in Chicago, had tracked the negotiations on the Internet as the day wore on, hoping that a deal could be done to keep 800,000 federal workers, and the entirety of the government of DC, in their jobs and postpone a government shutdown that would have radically affected day to day life in the District of Columbia.

The deal, from the perspective of many in the 50 states, appears to be one that many can stomach, wherein policy riders that are socially divisive were set aside in favor of $39B+ in cuts in federal spending.  The deal also contains riders that strip the District of Columbia of the right to determine their own local policies based on the desires of her residents.  Two riders attached to the bill have direct affect on local policies, but were not approved by any body of residents and voters, and were enacted over the significant objections of the elected delegate to the House.

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The Daily Feed
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Friday Happy Hour: Port City Monumental IPA

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

On Thursday, Tom and Tiff Bridge, editors of this fine publication, hosted a tacos-beers-margaritas fest at their lovely Brookland home. We ate and drank and Patrick asked me for advice on buying a tuxedo. A lovely coworker get-together.

After the party wrapped up and the Bridges were about ready to kick the last of us out, I drove fellow drinks team member William back to his house in Arlington. William is moving to California in a few weeks and has spent woefully little time at what I think is one of the best bars in the Washington metropolitan area, Galaxy Hut, in spite of living mere blocks away. We decided to do something about that.
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Food and Drink, The Daily Feed
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Food Tweet of the Week: Toki Underground

 Photo courtesy of
‘Toki Underground dumplings’
courtesy of ‘TPWP’
So I haven’t tried the famous Toki Underground yet, but I’ve known about it forever. Why? Pretty much because its Twitter Feed.

@TokiUnderground has been talking about its opening for months, getting everyone excited for ramen and dumplings on H Street. The Washington Post described Toki as “long-discussed” and “much awaited,” and the restaurant has gotten first look reviews from pretty much every DC-based pub and blog. Not a small feat.

See the tweet I love…

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Capital Chefs, Food and Drink, The Features
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Capital Chefs: Nate Garyantes of Ardeo + Bardeo (Part 2)

Photo courtesy of
‘Scallops small plate at Ardeo + Bardeo’
courtesy of ‘bonappetitfoodie’

There are often times when you go into a restaurant, eat a dish and say to yourself, “I wish I could have that at home.” The scallop schnitzel at Ardeo + Bardeo is one small platter that isn’t all that hard to make. If you’re short on time, or don’t feel like making the entire dish, you can still make the breaded scallops in this recipe and serve it over a simple salad with the cider vinaigrette dressing.

The dish is served with micro-red cabbage at the restaurant, but for the home cook you can use watercress or regular red cabbage. If you use red cabbage, be sure to let it sit in the cider vinaigrette for a little longer so the flavor takes hold. Also, when pound the sea scallop flat, go gently at first to make sure you don’t end up with mashed scallops. Bay scallops can be found at some grocery stores and fish markets, such as Blacksalt Fish Market, according to Garyantes. Again, if you can’t find bay scallops or can’t figure out how to clean them just stick with making the breaded scallops portion of this recipe. They’re delicious!

After the jump you’ll find chef Nate Garyantes’ recipe for scallop schnitzel.
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Capital Chefs, Food and Drink, The Features
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Capital Chefs: Nate Garyantes of Ardeo + Bardeo (Part 1)

Photo courtesy of
‘Nate Garyantes of Ardeo + Bardeo’
courtesy of ‘bonappetitfoodie’

When I talk to chefs about their lives and their careers, I always find it interesting how their upbringing and childhood plays a part. For Nate Garyantes, executive chef at Ardeo + Bardeo, growing up in a family that owned a restaurant made him hesitant to become a chef. “Initially, I felt it wasn’t for me,” he says. Seeing his father, the restaurant owner, work long hours and spend time away from their family made Garyantes pause before deciding to work in the restaurant industry.

So instead of enlisting in a kitchen crew, Garyantes joined the army for three years where he earned an Expert Infantry Badge. Afterwards, he moved to Hawaii where he started working in restaurants, at first in the front of house and later in the kitchen. “I fell in love with all of the fresh fruits, vegetables and fish Hawaii had to offer,” he says. It seemed that the kitchen was calling him.

After time in Hawaii, Garyantes moved to Delaware, where he became the executive chef and owner of Restaurant 821 which earned Zagat’s highest rating for food in Delaware. In DC, he was previously the executive sous chef at Jose Andres’ Cafe Atlantico and later worked at Minibar. Throughout all the different restaurants and cooking various types of food, Nate had one thing to say, “It doesn’t matter what I’m cooking, so long as it’s executed properly.”

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The Daily Feed
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That’s the Ticket: Win a last-minute outing to NatGeo Live tonight

If you’re scrambling trying to think of something to do this evening why not take in an event at NatGeo Live? Melissa Auf der Maur, former bassist for the Smashing Pumpkins and Hole, has a photography and video exhibit and a discussion of her work tonight at 7:30.

To win you need to do three things:

  1. Have a So What’s The Deal account- winners will have the ticket package added to their account. If you don’t already have one, go sign up with What’s The Deal. (It’s no obligation)
  2. Post a comment here and be sure to use the same email address you used with So What’s The Deal. (It’s not revealed to anyone but us and we have a firm no-harassing-you no-selling-your-identity policy.)
  3. Have your comment be one of the five winners picked by the sequence generator at random.org. (There is not actually anything you can do about this but I thought you should know)
  4. Come up with some variation on “say cheese.” (You do not actually have to do this, any commenter can win. But make administering this fun for me, huh?)

Get it done by 2:30pm when the winners will be selected! Entries after that point will be gently mocked (but with love).

The Daily Feed
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Bravo Says Adios to DC Housewives

Photo courtesy of
‘wine and trash tv’
courtesy of ‘staceyviera’

Do you hate reality TV about DC as much as I do? Great news: looks like Housewives of DC is going the way of Blonde Charity Mafia:

Bethesda-based Half Yard Productions contacted the cast to let them know Washington’s contribution to Bravo’s hot docu-soap franchise would not be picked up for a second season.

It marks the first time in “Housewives” history that an iteration has not moved forward for a second season. The franchise got its start 2006 at the height of ABC network’s “Desperate Housewives” mania.

On a dreary, grey morning, isn’t it nice to know that someone is no longer paying a camera crew to follow one of the [REDACTED]s around?

(via TV by the Numbers)

Entertainment, Life in the Capital, The Features, We Love Arts
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Do DC Millennials Care About Art?

Photo courtesy of
‘(065/365)’
courtesy of ‘kimberlyfaye’

Last night a friend pulled up an article on her phone that she said I simply had to read. It was a piece on the Huffington Post by Michael Kaiser, president of the Kennedy Center, bemoaning the lack of exposure to the arts by Millennials. Among other things, he points out what he calls the “low culture IQ” of twentysomethings who may have achieved a great deal already in their chosen professional fields, but have little knowledge about or even interest in attending a theater performance or going to an art gallery. The bottom line for Kaiser is the fear of what happens when Millenials hit middle age and are in a financial position to help the arts – will they?

As a member of Generation X, I always find the anxiety of the Boomers over whether the Millennials will take care of them to be mildly humorous, considering those fears were also expressed about us, and every generation hits that fear eventually. We’re now finding ourselves being asked to join boards of directors of arts institutions and worthy non-profits. What happened to being called lazy slackers in our crazy clubkid days? After years of being asked to go in the servants’ entrance it’s always funny when they finally let you in the front door.

Joking aside, I definitely feel passionate about the future of the arts and of course I want to help in their support. When I’m out reviewing, to my untrained statistical eye it seems like DC audiences are relatively mixed in age. However, lately I’ve been hearing the same question over and over from different theater companies – how do we get young audiences in? By young, they mean Millennials, though at times they even stretch the age range up to the late thirties, which shows just how dire the lack of attendance might be.

So, I want to hear from you. Here in DC we seem to have an amazing array of opportunities to enjoy the arts. But is Kaiser right in his worry that Millennials have little to no exposure to the arts, and consequently won’t support them? How often do you attend theater performances, art exhibits, concerts – and what makes you choose the ones you do? Is it a question of interest, or of being able to afford it? Please sound off! I’d love to hear what you think of Kaiser’s views and whether, in DC at least, you see it as an accurate crisis.

Update: There’s a backlash growing in the arts community to Kaiser’s post. Read more reactions from 2AMt and Tipping Over Backwards.

The Daily Feed
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Man glued to toilet seat in Elkton Walmart

Photo courtesy of
‘Who would have thunk it – a Grateful Dead toilet seat!’
courtesy of ‘Alaskan Dude’

I’m pretty sure if this had happened to me, I very likely would’ve committed hari kiri rather than call the authorities.  A Maryland man decided to brave the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune and called 911 to get separated from the Walmart toilet seat that he was superglued to by a cruel prankster.  The victim, thankfully not identified, was eventually separated from the toilet seat and sustained “injuries to his buttocks” according to CNN.

Is there a worse fate?

Food and Drink, Special Events, The Features, We Love Drinks
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Drinks Special: ARTINI 2011

Photo courtesy of
‘Drinks stations at ARTINI 2011’
courtesy of ‘Jenn Larsen’

It’s no secret that cocktails and art fuel my life. To have both combined together in one heady mix makes for glamour overload. Last Saturday night saw me at such an event, the annual ARTINI gala at the Corcoran Gallery of Art, hosted by the 1869 Society. I’ve said it before, and I’m not ashamed to repeat that being asked to serve on the judging panel of the first Critic’s Choice was a great honor and one of the high points so far of my We Love DC life.

With an estimated attendance of 750 guests mingling under classical columns in the long red gallery, dressed in the first finery of spring, it was a gorgeous scene. After my judging duties were over I stood on the marble steps just watching the crowd, marveling at how much DC has changed in the two decades I’ve been here. There was a vibrant energy, combined with a fashion sense ranging from quirkily vintage to elegantly artsy. My guest, no slouch herself when it comes to fashion and art, described it as “an eye candy madhouse.”

But this isn’t a social column! ARTINI is first and foremost an event designed to showcase the glory of the Corcoran’s collection as it inspires 12 local mixologists to be daring and creative. We already know the winner of both the Critic’s Choice and the Washingtonian Fan Favorite was Ronald Flores of Art and Soul‘s Coleman’s Juice. The Critic’s Choice was a tight race with Joe Ambrose of POV‘s Joan’s Palate coming in at second by only 0.1, rounded out by Brent Davis from AGAINN‘s The Fall of Grace. In the Fan Favorite, Brent took second and Cafe Atlantico‘s Owen Thompson’s Daisy If You Do… took third.

How did all the drinks fare? As judges we had to consider three elements – taste, presentation, and connection to the inspiration art. Trying to hit all three buttons isn’t easy.

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Food and Drink, The Daily Feed, The District
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DC Is a (Self-Imported) Beer Town


‘Den mörke härskaren’
courtesy of ‘awtyeah’

We’ve covered this ground before: DC makes it pretty easy to import alcoholic beverages legally. Tom (with my help) looked at how the law applies to individuals, and now the City Paper’s Young & Hungry blog has covered the commercial side of things. The short version of the rules as they apply to business: pay a reasonable fee, register the purchase, pay the taxes, and you’re good to go. The question is, with rules that lax, why would anybody break them?

How did this come to be? I’ve long suspected that the rules were first engineered by congressmen who wanted to be able to support the distillers, brewers, and vintners in their jurisdictions (although they’re not known for having much trouble breaking their own rules). I think since then the incentives have become all too clear. DC is a small enough market that distributors don’t have enough economy of scale to operate profitably, and the perpetually short-staffed DC government would rather make it easy to comply and pay taxes, instead of having to fund enforcement. Their budget constraints are our gain. Prosit!

Food and Drink, The Daily Feed
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This Week in Food

Photo courtesy of
‘(034/365)’
courtesy of ‘kimberlyfaye’
On their way

Prince of Petworth has some good food news for us. If signs speak the truth, King of Kabob is taking over the old Bao Restaurant & Lounge at 1018 Vermont Ave. Also, if you love your seafood and need something more than a truck, PoP hears that Luke’s Lobster Shack is coming to Penn Quarter at 622 E St, NW. Luke’s currently has 4 locations in New York City. With seafood rolls and brisket (Hill Country) now available in PQ, I might have to move there.

The name reminds me a little too much of those books we all read in elementary school, but this is good news anyway! The Hill is Home updates us on BoxCar Grill (just a working name for now), which will be Xavier Cervera’s fifth (sixth if you count Pacifico) establishment on the Hill. The Hill is Home says BoxCar will be an upsale place with an in-house charcuterie, cheeses, and a large wine selection.

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We Love Weekends
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We Love Weekends, April 9-10

Photo courtesy of
‘field of magnolias’
courtesy of ‘ekelly80’

Patrick: I am starting my weekend early with Tacos are a well known We Love DC household. Friday I will be lending a hand with the Arlington Player’s production of 42nd Street. Saturday I will be celebrating a birthday at a new Sports bar on U Street: Touchdown. I will be ending my weekend at Signature Theatre to review their production of Art. That’s how I do my weekends: fast and furious.

Marissa: After a whirlwind week, I’m hoping to achieve my usual lofty weekend aspiration of getting a little culture and some good food. This week marked the start of the 25th annual Filmfest DC and so Friday or Saturday I’m planning on catching an Italian film, Loose Cannons. Filmfest DC runs until April 17th and you get tickets for just $11. Saturday afternoon I’ll be checking out Pleasant Pops Popapalooza in Mt. Pleasant which is running from 11 am until 3 pm. There will be live music with local DC bands, and the Big Cheese Truck and PORC Mobile will also be there. Here’s to hoping it’s sunny and warm! Continue reading →

News, The Daily Feed
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Shutdown would put UDC semester in jeopardy

Photo courtesy of
‘Part of UDC’
courtesy of ‘spiggycat’

When local news yesterday started to tick down a list of DC personnel who would not be working yesterday, the obvious came up: DPW won’t have trash pickup, nor will their parking enforcers be operating, DDOT’s pothole crews will stop, all staff blackberries will stop operating.

The one I hadn’t considered was the University of the District of Columbia.  With over 5,000 students, the shutdown of the University may put graduation in jeopardy for many, if the shutdown drags on for any significant length of time.  If the semester is never completed, that may leave many students forced to pay for an additional semester in order to graduate, and in the case of visa students, may have more complications.

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Comedy in DC, The Features
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Comedy in DC: Allyson Jaffe

Allyson Dress

I spent a cold Spring Sunday with Allyson Jaffe, the co-owner, manager, and prinicipal of the comedy school at the DC Improv. We met up over at the Caribou Coffee near the club. I was little upset that I had to wear a jacket that day. The planet is definitely taking its sweet time adjusting to the warmer weather. What’s the deal Earth? I put my recyclables in the blue bin. Let’s step it up! Anyway, the conversation I had with Allyson warmed my day. Continue reading →

The Daily Feed
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Caps finish home schedule strong, anticipate playoffs

Photo courtesy of
‘The Gentleman’
courtesy of ‘Brian Isemann’

It is a Wednesday night in April. Washington, D.C. was about 65 degrees in the afternoon with a bit of a chill breeze coming from the water. The townsfolk are buzzing about cherry blossoms and how utterly bad the Nationals are going to be.

For years in D.C., this was not a time to be talking about hockey.

But, there is this red machine is like a fire in the middle of the city. People flock to it for the experience, for the cheers and the hits and the hope to see Alex Ovechkin light a lamp, hear a foghorn sound. For 101 straight regular season games, Verizon Center has been packed to the rafters with manic fans, unleashing fury and clamoring for chicken wings.

It was no different this Wednesday.

And their team didn’t disappoint.

The Caps were sloppy against the Panthers, but they certainly were the better team, claiming a 5-2 victory to finish off their home schedule (25-8-8) of the regular season. Washington is now a win away from claiming its second straight Eastern Conference regular season title and having home ice through a theoretical playoff run.

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