Yearly Archives: 2011

Food and Drink, The Daily Feed
By

Food Tweet of the Week: Bourbon Steak

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

Let me just start this by saying that if you haven’t tried Bourbon Steak’s fries yet, please do…but that’s a totally different story.

The restaurant, located in Georgetown’s Four Seasons, hasn’t stopped tweeting since it first logged on back in December 2009. @BourbonSteakDC currently has more than 2,100 followers and tweets about five times a day. The polite restaurant will always thank you on Twitter for coming in to dine, and recently it got be excited about an event I had somehow forgotten about. 

Continue reading →

Food and Drink, Penn Quarter, The Daily Feed
By

Café Atlántico Celebrates Carnaval

The Caipirinha
The Caipirinha
by Samer Farha

Although chef José Andrés has yet to respond to my offer to judge a Gin and Tonic showdown (which still stands) it’s worth noting that tonight from 4-6, there’s a free cachaça tasting at Café Atlántico. It’s the first event in the restaurant’s Brazilian Carnaval, which culminates next Tuesday with a three-course, prix fixe dinner, samba performance, and dance party. If you’re looking for a different sort of Mardi Gras experience, you could do worse than Carnaval.

If you’re not familiar with it, cachaça, a spirit distilled from raw sugarcane, can be considered a cousin of Rhum Agricole, which itself is not to be confused with other types of rum distilled from molasses. Like rum, it can be light or dark depending on the process and aging. Unlike rum, cachaça has up to six grams per liter of added sugar. Confused? Afraid? Don’t be. If you like rum, you’ll probably like cachaça too. The classic cocktail featuring cachaça is a caipirinha. In its purest expression, it is a sipping cocktail consisting of little more than muddled lime and sugar, crushed ice, and cachaça, in an old fashioned glass. Some bartenders serve theirs in a Collins (tall) glass, topped with soda, which makes an excellent refresher in warm weather.

Tonight at Café Atlántico you can sample two different brands of cachaça: from Leblon, casked in Cognac barrels, and Novo Fogo, whose silver cachaça is rested in steel tanks so it is still white. Also part of its Carnaval celebration, the restaurant hosts a capoeira demonstration on Sunday and the aforementioned dinner on Tuesday. Reservations are recommended for the weekend and required for Tuesday night’s dinner.

I’ll be there Tuesday night to lean on Chef Andrés personally on the matter of his bar’s gin and tonic. Oh, and to try the food. I’ll report back on that subject next week.

Arlington, Food and Drink, The Features
By

Beer Dinners at Lyon Hall

Lyon Hall's Ommegang Beer Dinner

Beer dinners have been growing in prevalence and popularity in the area as the number of beer-inspired restaurants and bars continue to build. Pizzeria Paradiso, Birch and Barley, and Meridian Pint have all played host to beer-pairing dinners, and you may now add Lyon Hall of Clarendon to the mix.

Tuesday saw their first beer dinner since opening just under a year ago, and I was lucky to attend as a guest of the restaurant’s beer director, David McGregor. He’s long planned to do the pairings, which will occur on the first Tuesday of every month, and finally had the opportunity to start this week. Talk with David and you’ll sense his sincere passion towards all things malt and mash, and a genuine excitement to share in his explorations of their interplay with deftly prepared dishes.

For the inaugural dinner, David invited in Brewery Ommegang’s local director, Steve Cardello, and together with Lyon Hall’s chef de cuisine, Andy Bennett, put on a four-course meal catered to and built around the flavors and textures of Ommegang’s classic and unique offerings.

Continue reading →

The Daily Feed
By

You Can Dodge a Wrench, But Can You Dodge Diabetes?


Photo of the author, circa 2009, provided by Dodging Diabetes.
(Yeah, the organizers put this in their media kit to me. Smart PR.)

Who doesn’t love a good playground game? While I may mock kickball at really every opportunity, I have come to embrace dodgeball over the last years, especially if it is an organized tournament for a good cause like Dodging Diabetes. Not only do events like this offer a healthy dose of recess nostalgia, but by participating, you can help contribute to the $80,000 that the tournaments has raised since it began for Joslin Diabetes Center.

With dozens of teams participating, there will be hundreds of dodgeball players who make their way out to the Champions Fieldhouse in Rockville for the sixth annual event. This year’s tournament is coming up in a little more than a week – Sunday, March 13 – and the early bird deadline for teams to sign up at the discounted $350 rate has been extended to Monday, March 7.

Like the founders of the event – both area natives – I have several family members who face this disease, so it’s an easy cause to get behind. I’ve actually participated a few times in the past, and it really is a ton of fun on top of the philanthropy. Now, I had the advantage of several years of camp counseling under my belt, so I may have come in a bit as a ringer. While I won’t give out too much advice beyond the obvious (Dodge, Duck, Dip, Dive and Dodge), may I remind any players out there that defense can be a darn good offense against a hot shooting team. Now go sign up!

Business and Money, Essential DC, Food and Drink, News, The District, The Features
By

Sprinkles Cupcakes Comes To DC

There is a new edition to the saturated DC cupcake scene and it comes to M Street in Georgetown in the form of a pink and brown row house. Sprinkles Cupcakes, started in 2002 by Candace Nelson and her husband Charles, opened  in 2002 in Beverly Hills, is the Magnolia Bakery of the West Coast and has been featured on Oprah, Entourage and The Today Show.

With the proximity of so many other cupcake options (Baked & Wired, Georgetown Cupcake, Scoops, etc.,) offering high quality cupcakes and all priced relatively equally at $2.50 – $4 per cupcake, the principal question is: what makes Sprinkles’ sugary treats different? Continue reading →

The Daily Feed
By

New IMAX Film “Arabia 3D” Opens at Smithsonian

A look at the history and modern culture of Saudi Arabia, Arabia 3D has opened at the Smithsonian Natural History Museum. Filmed in stunning 3D IMAX, the film explores a nation which the filmmakers felt may be often misunderstood by Westerners in vivid detail. The first major international film to ever be shot entirely in Saudi Arabia, this production comes from the team that previously made such popular IMAX movies as To Fly – the first-ever IMAX which has been showing at the Smithsonian since its 1976 release – and Everest – the most-viewed IMAX to date.

Though the subject matter might initially seem less compellingly visual than an ascent up Mount Everest, the medium is put well to use. The camera soars over vast deserts and modern, glittering cities and deep below the Red Sea. Camels and coral appear convincingly dimensional just in front of the viewer’s eyes. Most stunning, though, is the footage of pilgrims at the Hajj. Taken from close within and from far, far above, the viewer gets a visceral sense of the intensity of the single largest annual gathering of humanity in the world. Continue reading →

Food and Drink
By

First Look: Pound the Hill

Photo courtesy of
‘Pound the Hill’
courtesy of ‘Samer Farha’

Nestled within the cozy confines of a turn-of-the-century Pennsylvania Avenue row building, lovingly restored by Karl Johnson and his co-owners, lies the newest addition to the Capitol Hill neighborhood, coffee shop and world bistro, Pound the Hill. Sporting an exposed brick and timber scheme and original plaster ceilings, Pound the Hill evokes a decidedly urban feel perfectly suited to its DC environs.

In complementary contrast to its historic interior, Pound the Hill has incorporated modern decor and technology to transform their space into one uniquely tailored to its intended purpose. The rows of red and white cups and mugs and similarly-colored staff attire reflect the restaurant’s DC heritage, while sleek granite counters and exposed wood floors convey a sense of efficiency and speed, two elements that are enabled by the wireless iPad-based POS system that allows the baristas to roam the store to remotely take orders and process payments. All these elements seamlessly combine in a stunning visual chemistry that transports visitors to the store away from the bustle of busy Pennsylvania Avenue.

Much more after the jump.

Continue reading →

capitals hockey, The Daily Feed
By

Caps Rock the Blues, 3-2

Photo courtesy of
Jason Arnott Has Had an Immediate Impact
courtesy of ‘clydeorama’
The Capitals came from behind twice to defeat the St. Louis Blues 3-2 last night at the Verizon Center. General Manager George McPhee is looking awfully good this morning as newly acquired Jason Arnott scored the winning goal in the third period. Once nearly unbeatable at home, the Caps won back-to-back home games for just the first time since November. Sitting in second place in the Southeast Division and fifth overall in the Eastern Conference, the Caps are looking to move up in the standings with 17 games to go.

The Caps got off to another uneven start in the first period, playing aggresively but not wisely. Passes were not connecting, and there were too many turnovers and missed defensive assignments. The Blues had several excellent scoring chances with passes going through the slot or even through the crease, and one shot rang off the post. The Caps gave up numerous odd-man breaks, and finally a 3-on-2 turned into a 1-on-0 and Alex Steen beat Michal Neuvirth top shelf to make it 1-0. Continue reading →

Food and Drink, The Daily Feed
By

This Week in Food

Photo courtesy of
’15/365′
courtesy of ‘_rockinfree’
What’s coming: Fifty years ago when I was a student at University of Maryland-College Park, I fell in love with Chipotle. Only I could get myself into credit card debt by buying one vegetable burrito every day for one year. Anyway, Prince of Petworth hears that Chipotle will open up a series of Asian themed restaurants this year that could be called ShopHouse Southeast Asian Kitchen. Long name. A source tells PoP that ShopHouse has signed a lease in Dupont Circle at 1516 Connecticut Ave next to BGR.

In openings: Tom Sietsema tweets that Penn Quarter’s Hill Country BBQ will start serving its brisket and beans on March 12th. Hello Texas! Just two weeks later on the 28th, Pizzeria da Marco will open in Bethesda. Metrocurean tells us that the 130-seat restaurant will serve traditional Neapolitan pizzas fired in a 4,500-pound wood-burning oven. In what’s prob my fave opening of the month, PoP reports that Paila Chilean Grill and Cafe has opened up at 1424 Park Rd in Columbia Heights. See the menu here.

Continue reading →

Food and Drink, The Features, We Love Drinks
By

Drinks Special: Sake at Kushi

Photo courtesy of
‘Kushi 02’
courtesy of ‘Max Cook’

In the whole wide world of drinks, there’s nothing more intimidating to me than a sake menu. Staring at the thirty-six selections at Kushi Izakaya & Sushi, my brain usually goes blank. Add shochu and my head really spins. It may be the Japanese. At least I can bumble my way through a French wine list, but sake? Forget it. So when my WLDC partner-in-photographic-crime Max Cook and I had the chance to spend some time with their beverage director, George Young, to learn about sake, we jumped. Well, I jumped, Max loves sushi more than sake. But after just an hour reviewing the basics of production and sampling the menu, I felt much less intimidated and am now eager to explore more.

Luckily, George himself is newly converted to the joys of sake and proved the perfect host to de-mystify the nature of rice wine. Wait, let’s start with that phrase – sake isn’t actually “rice wine,” as wine implies production from fruit. Sake comes from rice, and therefore is considered its own category. But how does rice become sake? What’s the difference between those cloudy white liquids and the clear ones? And what about hot versus cold? George patiently explained it all for us. Continue reading →

Food and Drink, The Daily Feed
By

FREE FOOD ALERT: Chick-fil-A Free Fryday

Photo courtesy of
‘Chick-fil-A’
courtesy of ‘ Jomo’

Get ready for a little Friday pick-me-up, folks. Chick-fil-A’s throughout the metro region will be giving free fries with your order this friday, March 4th. The “Free FryDay” is in honor of the Heinz Dip & Squeeze ketchup packets. All you have to do is mention either the ketchup packets or Free FryDay between 2 and 4 pm to get yourself some free medium waffle fries. I believe this is what Charlie Sheen would refer to as “winning.”

We Love Weekends
By

We Love Weekends, March 5-6

Photo courtesy of
‘(061/365)’
courtesy of ‘kimberlyfaye’

Michael: I’m hoping to stock up on rest this weekend because next week has a plethora of amazing shows for me. That said, I cannot resist Smith Westerns at Rock & Roll Hotel on Friday night. Their sophomore album “Dye It Blonde” is incredible and I think this show will live up to the high expectations it has fostered.

Tom: The first warm weekend of the year looks to be a wet one, so I’ll be mostly plotting to stay inside. Friday night I’ll be out at Iron Horse celebrating a friend who is starting her first business next week (Congratulations, Cheryl!) and Saturday afternoon we’ll be jaunting over to Siné for drinks with area sportsblogger WFY to talk about the future of the Nationals and get ready for the first telecasts and radiocasts of the year.  Sunday means bottomless mimosa at Rustik DC, followed by preparing for another long week of blogging. Continue reading →

The Daily Feed
By

Sturm, Wideman, Arnott does not a Stanley Cup make

Photo courtesy of
‘IMG_5283.jpg’
courtesy of ‘bridgetds’

The deadline has passed. The contenders have loaded up. Plans have been made for the future, be it long-term team architecture or the short term with eyes on playing some extended Spring Hockey.

And Dennis Wideman and Marco Sturm along with Jason Arnott have made their way to D.C.

In many ways this makes a lot of sense.

But does it?

Continue reading →

Sports Fix
By

The Wizards’ Building Blocks For 2011-2012

Photo courtesy of
‘Wizards v Jazz – 01.17.11’
courtesy of ‘MudflapDC’

Today the Wizards will lose yet another player as Al Thornton is expected to officially clear waivers after the team waived him earlier this week. He is expected to sign with the Golden State Warriors, the same team that defeated the Wizards last night 106-102. Meanwhile the team also made an addition this week, re-signing D-leaguer Mustafa Shakur to back-up John Wall at point guard.

We’ve mentioned before about the level of turnover that’s occurred this season, when you are a 15-45 team in the basement of the Eastern Conference that’s to be expected. Even owner Ted Leonsis knows that this rebuilding season means going through a lot of losses and I commend the team for sticking to their strategy of amassing picks and young talent to build upon instead of taking the Synder-esque approach of patching the team through expensive free agents.

The team tried that last year when they patched their aging core of Arenas/Butler/Jamison with Randy Foye and Mike Miller and we all know how that went: a 26-56 record. With 23 games left in the season it’s realistic that we could match that again without the expensive contract/lackluster performance of Gilbert Arenas or the injuries that have plagued Butler and Jamison this year. Who knows if Caron or Antwan would of been injured had they stayed with the Wiz, but the fact they are both pushing 30 doesn’t bode well in general.

Looking at the Wizard’s strategy of rebuilding through the draft and young talent, I took a look at the team to see who’s a part of winning the Wizard’s future. Who we should be watching the rest of the season, and who’s pretty much as good as gone come the end of April.

Continue reading →

The Daily Feed
By

And the Cherry Blossoms Cometh…

DSC_0189

Hard to believe it, but the National Cherry Blossom Festival is right around the corner! The official festival celebration is from March 26 through April 10 this year.

Just announced this morning by National Park Service Chief Horticulturist Rob DeFeo, the optimal bloom time for the blossoms will be March 29 – April 3, right in the middle of the Festival. The average peak bloom date is April 4 with varying lengths; last year was a short window due to the heavy snows that blanketed the area in February protracted heat wave in March 2010.

This year’s Festival boasts nearly 400 free events and performances surrounding traditional and contemporary arts and culture, natural beauty, and community spirit; in celebration of the 99th anniversary of the gift of cherry blossom trees. The Blossom Kite Festival, always a great event held on the National Mall, has moved to the first Saturday of the festival, March 27.

For the first time in 15 years, the popular Sakura Matsuri Japanese culture street festival on April 9 will charge an admission fee of $5.

Fashionable DC, The Daily Feed
By

Solas Nua Brings Modern Irish Fashion to DC

Monday night, Solas Nua presented Paisean Faisean – a showcase of several new Irish fashion designers. Styled by DC-based blogging duo Birds of a Pleather (who also make up part of the wonderful Worn Magazine team), the show included pieces by Orla O’Connor, Katarzyna Wypych, Deirde Williams, By Yvonne, Ellis Boyle, Emma Manley, and Kathy Mooney – all upcoming Irish designers rarely seen in the U.S.

The always-lovely upstairs space at Fathom Creative was washed with harsh white light from all directions – including a series of raw florescent tubes on the floor used to demarcate the L-shaped runway. A video piece, “Dias A/W 2010,” by Soyna Lennon and Christian Ammann looped silently on a suspended screen and one wall was cloaked with gauzy white drapes, out from which the models would appear. Packed with camera crews and attendees, the room took on a hint of downtown loft.

The collections by Katarzyna Wypych and Orla O’Connor, in particular, seemed to really reference Ireland’s craft and fashion traditions with their use of wool knit materials as they use in this Kurta Pajama for Men, but transformed into much more experimental pieces. It was, however, Ellis Boyle’s dresses which seemed to really win over the crowd, achieving an elegant balance of wearability and modern design. The Caribbean-born, Spain-raised, and now Ireland-based designer showed a marvelous use of textiles cut to move with the models – who seemed to particularly enjoy flouncing the frothier skirts as they walked.

Solas Nua is a non-profit dedicated entirely to promoting contemporary Irish arts and bringing them to American audiences. This show, presented in conjunction with Ireland’s Year of Craft celebration, was one of a number of events the organization is hosting in Washington in the coming months. Today is the opening of their Irish Writers Festival and there are other arts and music events on the horizon.

News, The District, The Features
By

Campaign Update: 54 Days Until Election Day

Photo courtesy of
‘Candidates for DC Council At-Large Seat’
courtesy of ‘luisgomezphotos’

There are 54 days until election day in the At-Large special election to fill Kwame Brown’s empty At-Large seat, but that’s not the only deadline left.  This past week, the public had the opportunity to inspect the signatures gathered by each candidate and decide if they were valid, or if they deserved a challenge.  The deadline for challenges was Monday at the close of business, and several petitions were challenged.

Lawrence Guyot, nominally of the Lopez campaign, challenged signatures gathered by the Mara campaign.  Bandele McQueen, nominally of the Biddle campaign, challenged signatures gathered by the Mara, Weaver and Patterson campaigns.  The moves are high risk (could alienate voters), but also high reward (could disqualify strong competition), and won’t be ruled upon until the 15th.  It’s been revealed in the last day or so that some of the signatures that have come under scrutiny are themselves interesting. DCist has a fairly fun list which includes Bryan Weaver’s own wife, ANC Commissioner Bob Summersgill, Mayors Fenty and Williams.  In total, 6,516 signatures have been challenged.

Continue reading →

The Daily Feed
By

Win a Pseudo Date With James Franco!

Photo courtesy of
‘high times magazine arrivals 280908’
courtesy of ‘ramsey everydaypants’

Up until last Sunday, I lived under the delusion that James Franco could not possibly be as awkward as his mirror makeout sessions and laser kitty Twitpics might suggest. But then the Oscars rolled around, and even the hot could not mask the painful truth. Congratulations, James Franco. You are officially the most awkward man alive.

But maybe DC will bring out the best in him. On March 31, the wonderful 826DC writing center will be hosting An Evening with James Franco at the Hotel Monaco, featuring the Academy Award nominee in the flesh. For $250, you can make eyes at Franco over dinner, while laying down a cool $1,000 will get you into a VIP reception with the man himself. Between your shared celebrity, wealth and ridiculously good looks, I’m sure you and James will find plenty to talk about. If not, you can always fall back on that age-old ice breaker, Charlie Sheen.

If you’re interested in attending the benefit, please contact Joe Callahan at joec@826dc.org or 202-525-1057. For more information about 826DC, please visit the site or read about it right here on We Love DC.