Dale DeGroff returns Thursday night for what I’ve been told is a bigger and better On the Town show, this time featuring pianist Dan Ruskin. This article, originally published last year, is a good preview for this year’s show.

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.

To hear him tell that history is to see him live it. In DeGroff’s eyes, the bars, saloons, and nightclubs that dot our cities are centers of communities, places where people find and cement friendships. He found his first New York bar before he found his first apartment, and it was in that bar that he met the person who would actually get him the keys. Beer cost fifty cents and he had only a buck fifty in his pocket, but he had a guitar and knew one song (“Your Cheatin’ Heart”) well enough that somebody bought him a beer – and another, and another – and he was still able to tip the bartender at the end of the night.

And I haven’t even mentioned that the admission to this seminar also included drinks. Upon checkin at the Passenger bar each attendee received a sherry cobbler from his recipe (PX and Oloroso sherry, Cognac, orange peel, sugar, and orange juice, served over crushed ice and garnished with berries). After a brief introduction DeGroff took the Warehouse stage, which had been set up with a portable bar, and picked up his guitar. After a song he led us through the past hundred-odd years or so via their drinks, from the cobblers of the 1800s through the absinthe frappé (the Cosmopolitan of its day, so popular a song was written about it), to a long discussion on Prohibition, its malcontents, and its aftereffects.

One particular delight was the fact that some New York bars never closed, even during Prohibition (a fact you may wish to contrast with the hundreds of speakeasies in DC in those same years). The law stipulated that there had to be an intact container for there to be a crime. The Puncheon Club had collapsing shelves, a hole in the floor, and a staff member in the basement, sitting on a case of liquor, holding a baseball bat. In the event of a raid the barman would drop his bottle through the hole, and the guy in the basement would take that as his cue and grab his bat. With all the evidence smashed in a puddle on the basement floor, the lawmen would leave empty-handed. After a safe interval the barman would send for another case of liquor from his secret cellar next door and start pouring again. The night’s third drink came out of this story, as the night the Puncheon Club closed for good (to make way for Rockefeller Center) the proprietors (who went on to open the 21 Club) served a drink known as the Major Bailey (gin, lemon, lime, sugar, and mint) and handed axes to their guests. At the stroke of midnight the revelers tore the place down themselves.

After Prohibition and the Second World War, the US became a nation of highball drinkers (which you probably know if you’ve heard of Mad Men). When he got a job bartending a friend recommended that he seek out Jerry Thomas’ Bartenders Guide, without mentioning that it hadn’t been printed in a number of decades. Nonetheless he found a copy and a calling. Cocktail culture didn’t begin its recovery until the 1980s, and DeGroff was a driving force in that resurgence. When the Rainbow Room opened, he created a bar menu of classic cocktails made with fresh ingredients as they had been in Jerry Thomas’ day. The bar was a sensation, quickly becoming a place to see and be seen, and the cocktails there made bar and restaurant owners take notice that it was possible to go without mixers and still have a successful, profitable bar.

From the first moments of the cocktail restoration in the 80s his story moved to the present day, with bartenders continuing to rediscover lost or forgotten recipes and to create new ones using ingredients that had previously been unavailable. He illustrated this point with the last cocktail of the night, a yuzu gimlet (Hendricks gin, yuzu, lime, Rose’s lime cordial, and honey syrup). He then stayed around to chat, sip drinks, and sign books.

There were many more stories, but given the limits of this space and my memory after four drinks I’ll have to stop there and recommend you catch him yourself the next time he’s in town Thursday night.

Capitalizing on his new cookbook Nature, as well as an economy in the early stages of recovery, Chef Alain Ducasse is launching a new lunch program at Adour at the St. Regis hotel. I was invited to attend a preview of the new “simple, healthy, and delicious” lunch menu hosted by the chef himself. Having enjoyed one of the best meals of my life at another of his restaurants, I jumped at the chance.

Our lunch started in the bar, which will feature a monthly rotation of two new non-alcoholic beverages along with a few more permanent items. We were offered samples of both the first month’s beverages, a citrus iced tea made with green and jasmine teas, grapefruit juice, and lemon/lime soda, and a strawberry lemonade flavored with fresh cilantro syrup. Wine director Brent Kroll and I discussed them and agreed the tea might be improved by a healthy slug of gin, while the lemonade could benefit from some bourbon, but you didn’t hear it from me. These are supposed to be healthy, you know, and some employers frown on lunchtime tippling. I won’t tell if you don’t, though.

The beverage service was accompanied by two amuse-bouches, a tzatziki (there’s a recipe on page 50) and a dourade ceviche garnished with parsley and popcorn. Yes, popcorn.

As we moved to the dining room we were greeted individually by the chef himself. I told him how much I had enjoyed my meal at Mix Las Vegas, and he smiled and responded, “I like that place.” I said I did too. Plates of additional amuse-bouches were served immediately, and the chef addressed the crowd, first in English, and then via an interpreter. His remarks were brief, though, as he quickly excused himself to head into the kitchen for “quality control.”

The first course, a spring vegetable tartine, is also in the pages of Nature (page 55), and is an excellent example of the chef’s focus on seasonality and healthy, filling dishes. It features fresh farmer cheese, shaved parmesan, fennel, asparagus, and other spring vegetables, on bread toasted “on one side.” It was indeed light yet filling, with the two cheeses nicely complementing the crisp vegetables. This was accompanied by a “cookpot of farro grain,” which isn’t in the cookbook. It had a consistency similar to risotto, but slightly less creamy, and cut with the salty punch of a Taggiasca olive.

The main course was a fillet of John Dory. Again the chef’s focus was on food that is simple, and filling without being heavy. The John Dory was served on a bed of spinach and tomato, with a light mushroom sauce. The flavors were delicate and in perfect balance, with the fish itself providing an appealing creamy texture.

Finally the dessert course was dark chocolate mousse, topped with dark chocolate shavings and candied citrus peel. It was, well, chocolate mousse, which often feels obligatory to me. It was well enough executed but still managed to leave me flat. Three delicious dishes out of four ain’t bad, though.

The new lunch program will start in April. Dinner service will include a new tasting menu inspired by Nature as well.

As you might know by now, we’re big fans of the DC Craft Bartenders Guild’s annual Repeal Day Ball, which celebrates the national repeal of Prohibition. What you might not know is that DC’s local prohibition law remained on the books for a few more months after the national repeal.

Today is the anniversary of the repeal of prohibition in DC. According to Garrett Peck’s book Prohibition in Washington, DC, DC’s repeal went into effect just after midnight on March 1, with some 200 licenses hand-delivered by police and other DC officials. The first recipients? The National Press Club, who still have license ABRA-000001 [PDF].

Know of any official or unofficial celebrations? Post ‘em in the comments.

DC has more single-occupant households than any other city, including Manhattan

From Fortune, based on data from the 2010 Census: DC has more single-occupant households than any other major US city. DC’s 48% of households is even higher than Manhattan’s 46%.

Are you the 48%?

Got plans tonight? Cancel them, and head over to the Kennedy Center for the 38th anniversary performance of TUBACHRISTMAS. 6pm. A volunteer group of tuba players (edit: and euphonium players. Whatever.) will gather and make a joyful noise unto the Millenium Stage. From past experience I can safely say you can stand or sit pretty much anywhere in the hall for good sound.

PSA: If you play chicken with a firetruck, you’ll lose. This was at the corner of 18th & L NW this morning. You’ll note the sheet metal from the car’s door is still stuck to the firetruck’s bumper.

I hope everybody is OK.

We here at We Love DC are unabashed, unequivocal fans of the DC Craft Bartenders Guild and their annual Repeal Day Ball. So much so that, within about 48 hours of the announcement that tickets were on sale (by which I mean within about twelve hours, really), Jenn, Brittany, and I (and the Social Chair, naturally) had all bought our tickets for this year’s ball. It’s the biggest party of the year, it’s focused on craft cocktails, and it’s thrown by bartenders themselves. This idea intrigues me and I would like to subscribe to its newsletter.

The ball (8pm Saturday at Halcyon House) is sold out now, but those of you who are going for the first time are in for a treat. A continual supply of treats, to be honest. I won’t go over all the names (you can do that yourself) and I can’t predict what the drinks will be, but I can provide the voice of experience to get you to the end of the night with your dignity intact and your clothes unstained. Join me, won’t you?

First off, you’ll want to dress for the occasion. If you’re like me, your trusty tuxedo will do. Yes, I have a trusty tuxedo (I was a music major in college and this is actually my fourth trusty tuxedo. It came from eBay). Renting is a fool’s game; a one-time investment pays off in fit and convenience, and makes it possible for you to do things like be somebody’s last minute date for a formal event where people bring you drinks and food. But if you can’t bring yourself to buy a tuxedo, a well-pressed suit will do. I can’t speak about women’s fashion except in examples, so: if you’re like Brittany, you’ve probably got some awesome vintage dress with a story attached, and lots of fancy accessories. If you’re like Jenn, you’ll end up with something slinky like this:

Voice of experience: last year’s event was on a particularly cold night, and the line for the coat check was long. If you can see your way to leaving your coat at home, you can skip the coat check and head straight inside. And forget about being fashionably late. You’ve paid for that time with those bartenders making those drinks. Don’t waste it!

Once you’re inside, do two things: take a moment to identify the bartenders you want to meet and the cocktails you want most to try, and locate water. It is critical to pace yourself. Drink too much too fast and you’re not getting the full benefit of your experience; sip too slowly and you’ll leave feeling like you’ve missed something special. Also, the moment you see food, eat some of it. It will run out early.

Voice of experience: it’s OK not to finish a drink that isn’t wowing you. Last year the Social Chair and I took turns with the drinks from various stations, and we lived to talk about it.

Know what you can skip, but be open minded. Last year’s event featured a Cosmopolitan made by King Cocktail himself, Dale DeGroff. Under most circumstances I’ll skip vodka-based drinks in order to make room for something not made with a spirit defined as flavorless, but Dale’s Cosmo (each served with a flamed orange peel) was one of the highlights of the night.

Move around. Mingle. Compliment people on their outfits and body art. Drink water. Keep notes of what you’ve liked, because people will keep asking all night long. If you repeatedly hear the same answers to that question, waste no time in trying for yourself. While there has been an ample supply of booze remaining at the end of the night at both of the balls I’ve attended, individual cocktails did run out, some of them quite early. Some surely will this year.

Most of all: have fun! If I told you to drink responsibly at a party run by bartenders you’d laugh in my face (and rightly so), but remember to make travel arrangements that don’t require driving, remember to hang up those fancy clothes when you get home, and drink a couple glasses of water before going to bed. The next morning when you’re wondering what hit you (hint: the last martini) you’ll be glad you had at least some sense the night before.

The following is a guest entry by the Social Chair, who is far more qualified than I am to discuss this particular subject matter.

So here’s the problem with being a girl who hasn’t been planning her wedding since she was a little girl:

When it’s time to plan your wedding, it’s a bit daunting.

When last we met, I had just purchased my wedding dress (es).No, I still don’t know which I am going to wear. Luckily, I have some time to figure that out. We decided to push the big event to 2012 and enjoy being engaged, instead of frantically rushing to get it planned this year. Our wedding will take place in October 2012. The logic went something like this:

November-February: Holidays, cold, maybe snow. March & April: Could be nice, could be cold and rainy. May & September: Generally busy months, with weather that sometimes doesn’t cooperate. June: Could be nice, could be terribly hot. July or August: Are you kidding? Who wants to be in DC then? October: It’s the most wonderful time of the year in DC. We have a winner!

And then the fine-tuning begins.

‘bride & groom at the fare machine’
courtesy of ‘nevermindtheend’

fedward did a bit of historical research about weather patterns to help narrow down the specific date. Did you know that, on weekends in the first 24 days of October, Friday has the most days of rain and the most rainfall? Saturday has three fewer days of rain and generally less rainfall than Friday, and Sunday has three fewer days of rain than Saturday, and even less rainfall. This is why I love the internet.

But being a DC bride means some extra planning when it comes to choosing your wedding date. My research started on the Meeting Planners site for Destination DC. It includes a searchable calendar for the Convention Center. This won’t cover meetings that take place in one hotel, but it can indicate dates that might make getting a hotel block more difficult. A big convention means fewer rooms available – and at a higher rate. In our case, October includes the meeting for Association of the United States Army – with an estimated 20,000 attendees. We marked that weekend right off our list.

‘More wedding photos’
courtesy of ‘max8319′

Nice weather in DC also means marathons, marches, and festivals. Those street closings can make travel difficult for you and your guests. In addition to checking the Convention Center calendar, it is worth checking dates for annual events such as:

• Marine Corps Marathon, Army 10 Miler, Race for the Cure, etc.
• National Cherry Blossom Festival
• Capital Pride
• Rolling Thunder
• National Capital Barbecue Battle
• DC Caribbean Carnival
• National Christmas Tree Lighting

Think of it this way: check the dates of any event that makes you immediately respond, “man, traffic is gonna suck that weekend” to see if it might impact your plans. It’s better to plan ahead than your guests missing the wedding because they can’t get across Constitution Avenue.

We’re hoping to avoid some of those street closings by choosing a Metro accessible location. Keep your fingers crossed that there is very little track work in October 2012.

Cocktails follow formulas, and the combination of a single base spirit and a particular mixer often lends its name to some other concoction made with the same mixer and a different base spirit. The Tom Collins, for instance, begat the Vodka Collins. You could ask a bartender for a Whiskey Collins, and while he or she might look at you funny they’d know exactly what you mean without having to stop to think. Some names have lost popularity over time (Mamie Taylor, anyone?), but others are still current and show up in all sorts of interesting combinations. The Mojito, by the way, is also a long drink; replace the rum with gin and it becomes a Southside; add lemon to that and it turns into a Major Bailey. Formulas! They’re magic!

Common long drinks include DC’s native Rickey (soda, lime juice), the aforementioned Collins (soda, lemon juice, sugar), the Buck (ginger ale, lime), and my current favorite, the Mule (ginger beer, lime — a Mule made with Gosling’s might be better known to you as a Dark and Stormy). The best known Mule is the Moscow Mule, made with vodka and traditionally served in a copper cup.

I like rye whiskey in my Mule, since the spicy rye and the spicy ginger beer really play well off each other. Thanks to the recent boom in artisan spirits, at both the Passenger and Bourbon Steak I’ve recently had Mules made with white whiskey. Bourbon Steak calls theirs the High Plains Mule, and it’s made with High West Silver Whiskey. Oat whiskey! Oat!

So the next time you think of ordering a Dark and Stormy, think of the many variants of the Mule and try branching out. Try gin! Try rye! You’ll be glad you did.

In February I posted a recipe and photographic step-by-step instructions for preserving your own cherries. In that post I noted, “supply is unpredictable and the cherry season is short.” If you’ve got the time, hie yourself to the supermarket, where Northwest sweet cherries are $1.99/lb through tonight (Safeway) or Thursday (Giant).

My local Safeway had Mason jars in stock the last time I looked, too. Target carries some attractive jars, but their supply can be unpredictable. I have also bought jars at Logan Hardware. What are you waiting for? Get preserving!

You may recall from previous years that July is Rickey Month. July’s over, but tonight the DC Craft Bartenders Guild wraps things up for 2011 with its Rickey Month Party at Jack Rose.

Finalists, announced via email on Friday, are after the jump, along with a few tasting notes from our team on the ones we tried.

• Gina Chersevani, PS 7′s, Rapture of the Rickey (made with green tea infused with pineapple and yuzu, it’s surprisingly bright and crisp for a bourbon Rickey, with a vanilla finish from the Woodford Reserve)
• David Fritzler, Tryst, Summer Lovin’ Rickey
• Julia Hurst, the Passenger, Rhubarbra Streisand (tastes a lot like rhubarb pie, with the Woodford Reserve’s vanilla note accented by extra vanilla and spices)
• Alexandra Nichols, Estadio, Riquitita (Brittany wrote this one up Friday)
• Jason Strich, Rasika, Plum Rickey
• Chantal Tseng, Tabard Inn, August Rickey (berry-forward, with blue plum brandy and a garnish of frozen blueberries)

The contest and party announcement seemed to come from nowhere this year. We’re still asking around to find out what went wrong with the PR, but I guess we can’t be too surprised that bartenders, of all people, aren’t the most organized planners around (and they make it up by serving us drinks). Jenn, Brittany, and I will all be at the party tonight, and we hope to see you all there.

If you follow me on Twitter, you might be aware that this has been an eventful week. Literally. Friday the Social Chair and I hosted her birthday party, Sunday we hit our usual brunch, Monday I had a tasting, and Tuesday saw the launch party for Dan Searing’s new book, The Punch Bowl. Plus Tuesday was, as always, Tiki Tuesday at the Passenger. So I was busy.

Instead of picking just one of those, I thought this week would be a perfect opportunity for a photo feature. So here goes.

At Friday night’s party everything we served had a DC connection. There were pitchers of bourbon cherry lemonade, a white sangria like the one at Jaleo, and Gin Punch à la Terrington, straight out of Dan Searing’s book. In that picture you can see the fruit for sangria being fortified by brandy and Cointreau, and the concentrated punch (just pour over ice and add seltzer). The only problem we have now is we made too much, so two of those jars of fruit and two bottles of punch concentrate are still in our fridge. I guess that’s not a bad problem to have.

Sunday night we had finally shaken off our hangovers enough to make it to hangover brunch at the Passenger, but I didn’t actually take any pictures that night. Here’s a picture of a chili half-smoke, if you need it.

Monday I attended a tasting of Hennessy Cognac at the French Embassy, with special guest Maurice Hennessy (a 7th generation member of the family). In the receiving area Hennessy Black ($43/750ml online) was on offer, pre-mixed with apple juice, cranberry juice, or ginger ale. I also tried it neat.

I had arrived early so I had time to wander around while they were setting up. This sample bottle was eventually replaced with a fancy decanter in the house’s signature shape that befits its $500 price tag. I have to admit I like the sample bottle better. It’s understated and shows a confidence in the product the decanter lacks.

Maurice Hennessy himself. With the piano behind him in most of the pictures, he looked more like a lounge singer than a cognac producer. He was a little horrified when I told him I’d tried the Hennessy Black neat (he was drinking it with cranberry).

So much cognac. Oddly, I preferred the $500 Paradis to the $3000 Richard Hennessy. It was more interesting in flavor and aroma (the perfume notes really come out in the Paradis), and the price difference doesn’t hurt.

The French Embassy itself is fantastic. It’s a beautiful space full of French art. What’s not to like? If you get an event invitation, it’s worth going just to see the space.

Dan’s last minute book launch event turned out to be a low-key affair. He took over the train car area at the Passenger, made a bowl of Horse and Carriage Punch, and chatted with everyone who stopped by.

Dan serves up the first cup of punch.

After Dan’s event wrapped up, I found myself at the bar between Joe Riley and We Love DC’s own Jenn Larsen. And Joe offered to buy a Cobra Bowl, as long as somebody would help him drink it. We didn’t say no.

Regular Tuesday night bartender Amy Russell, who came up with Tiki Tuesday as a way to combat winter, was more than happy to oblige.

Amy applies the garnish. The Cobra Bowl takes time to construct.

Last but not least, a little reservoir of overproof rum is set alight.

The menu board said you could order your drink in a pineapple for $5 more. Jenn’s friend Chris ordered an Oberon. The board didn’t say that drink couldn’t be beer!

Thanks for joining me on my drinking tour. Check in soon for the next installment!

Remember how I said I reached out to Dan Searing about a launch event for his book? I found out earlier today that launch event is tonight, at 6pm in the Warehouse Theater behind the Passenger.

I’ve already made use of the book, as you might discern from the above picture. That’s an oleo-saccharum in progress — sugar muddled with lemon peel, extracting the oil from the peel and resulting in a much more complex final product than you’d get with just lemon juice. I’ll see you tonight!

We now present the thrilling conclusion of the Social Chair’s first-hand gonzo journalistic effort in the trenches, er, basement.

After recharging briefly at home, I met up with three friends: my maid of honor, Darling Wedding Planner, and the self-proclaimed “Muscle” of our operation. We had a lovely, leisurely lunch and got to Filene’s Basement around 2:30. All the dresses were back on the racks, though not arranged by size. There are simply too many dresses to try to maintain any semblance of order.

Many of the employees I’d met earlier were still there, eagerly helping customers and quickly getting rejects back on the racks. Additionally, an industrious local alteration company had set up a table and could give you spur of the moment advice. I discarded some dresses after I found the alteration would cost more than the dress itself.

That advice about going late in the day? Brilliant. While there may be over a thousand people in line at 8am, the retailer estimates around a quarter of them – fewer than 300 – are brides. Though there were fewer shoppers, we decided to stick with the morning form: bring dresses back to a large open area next to a pillar with a mirror. I still had my swimsuit on, making the process easier.

The Muscle’s chosen title was not wrong: she easily grabbed 20 dresses in the time I found 3. Our process was pretty simple. One friend stayed to help me with the dresses and be a pair of eyes while the others fanned out in search of “the one.” In ninety minutes I must have tried on thirty dresses. Certainly a sense of punchiness and giddiness prevailed, leading me to even model dresses that made me look like a giant cupcake.

Dresses ranged from lovely to questionable. Of those thirty dresses only three made the cut, and one of those was also being eyed by another bride. I let her try it on, and we agreed to check in with each other before leaving (it is not all mercenary; some brides actually are helpful). No thumb-wrestling was necessary as both of us decided to pass on the gown.

So did I find my dream gown? Yes. Two of them, in fact. They are very different (one is short, too). Sorry, no pictures; a bride has to keep some secrets from her groom [endorsed]. Since our wedding is over a year away, I decided I can try to sell one – even if I lose $100 on it, a $1,000 gown for $250 is a deal. Or maybe I’ll follow my namesake Duchess of Cornwall’s lead and have a different dress for the after party.

This probably all sounds like something only a Bridezilla could love, but it turns out there is much more to the day. I’m even glad I went in the morning. While I was more than happy not to participate in the chaos, it was great seeing friends and family supporting each other. Many people were there because it was an event they would all remember. And despite all the chaos, there were beautiful moments like this:

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.

To hear him tell that history is to see him live it. In DeGroff’s eyes, the bars, saloons, and nightclubs that dot our cities are centers of communities, places where people find and cement friendships. He found his first New York bar before he found his first apartment, and it was in that bar that he met the person who would actually get him the keys. Beer cost fifty cents and he had only a buck fifty in his pocket, but he had a guitar and knew one song (“Your Cheatin’ Heart”) well enough that somebody bought him a beer – and another, and another – and he was still able to tip the bartender at the end of the night.

And I haven’t even mentioned that the admission to this seminar also included drinks. Upon checkin at the Passenger bar each attendee received a sherry cobbler from his recipe (PX and Oloroso sherry, Cognac, orange peel, sugar, and orange juice, served over crushed ice and garnished with berries). After a brief introduction DeGroff took the Warehouse stage, which had been set up with a portable bar, and picked up his guitar. After a song he led us through the past hundred-odd years or so via their drinks, from the cobblers of the 1800s through the absinthe frappé (the Cosmopolitan of its day, so popular a song was written about it), to a long discussion on Prohibition, its malcontents, and its aftereffects.

One particular delight was the fact that some New York bars never closed, even during Prohibition (a fact you may wish to contrast with the hundreds of speakeasies in DC in those same years). The law stipulated that there had to be an intact container for there to be a crime. The Puncheon Club had collapsing shelves, a hole in the floor, and a staff member in the basement, sitting on a case of liquor, holding a baseball bat. In the event of a raid the barman would drop his bottle through the hole, and the guy in the basement would take that as his cue and grab his bat. With all the evidence smashed in a puddle on the basement floor, the lawmen would leave empty-handed. After a safe interval the barman would send for another case of liquor from his secret cellar next door and start pouring again. The night’s third drink came out of this story, as the night the Puncheon Club closed for good (to make way for Rockefeller Center) the proprietors (who went on to open the 21 Club) served a drink known as the Major Bailey (gin, lemon, lime, sugar, and mint) and handed axes to their guests. At the stroke of midnight the revelers tore the place down themselves.

After Prohibition and the Second World War, the US became a nation of highball drinkers (which you probably know if you’ve heard of Mad Men). When he got a job bartending a friend recommended that he seek out Jerry Thomas’ Bartenders Guide, without mentioning that it hadn’t been printed in a number of decades. Nonetheless he found a copy and a calling. Cocktail culture didn’t begin its recovery until the 1980s, and DeGroff was a driving force in that resurgence. When the Rainbow Room opened, he created a bar menu of classic cocktails made with fresh ingredients as they had been in Jerry Thomas’ day. The bar was a sensation, quickly becoming a place to see and be seen, and the cocktails there made bar and restaurant owners take notice that it was possible to go without mixers and still have a successful, profitable bar.

From the first moments of the cocktail restoration in the 80s his story moved to the present day, with bartenders continuing to rediscover lost or forgotten recipes and to create new ones using ingredients that had previously been unavailable. He illustrated this point with the last cocktail of the night, a yuzu gimlet (Hendricks gin, yuzu, lime, Rose’s lime cordial, and honey syrup). He then stayed around to chat, sip drinks, and sign books.

There were many more stories, but given the limits of this space and my memory after four drinks I’ll have to stop there and recommend you catch him yourself the next time he’s in town. And if you’re interested in more MOTAC events, there’s one on May 23rd on (wait for it) Prohibition, featuring Prohibition-era drinks and a talk by local author Garrett Peck. Advance tickets are $45 for non-members, with discounts available for members.

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.

This annual sale gives brides the chance to buy a dress marked down to $250, $300, or $700. It is one day only, no returns accepted. The Filene’s Basement website gives some great tips, one of which is the recommendation that one show up late. Accordingly, I planned lunch and drinks with a few friends before I hit the sale. More about that later – because for you all, I went bright and early to see what it is like when the doors open. I imagine it is very much like when piranhas attack.

We arrived at Mazza Gallerie about 7:30 am, half an hour before the doors open. The line extended around the building to Wisconsin Avenue. Groups of people — bridal “teams” — had been waiting for hours. We even saw someone packing up camping equipment. Many teams had matching funny headbands or matching t-shirts (note to future brides: choose something other than pink if you’d like your group to stand out). There were large posters declaring “Size 6, mermaid style,” both homemade and handed out by Slim-Fast, an event sponsor.

We walked down the line, chatting with a few groups. Some highlights:

• A team with an “Attack Pack,” a 6 page explanation of how it all works. It included pictures to help her team know what she did and didn’t like.
• The Royal Wedding was not missed. People starting live-streaming it and sharing with their neighbors at 5 am. Kate’s dress met with approval.
• First in line arrived at 9:30 am… the day before. Her team drove from Dover. She also won a $250 credit to use towards a dress. Plus, it was her birthday!

At 8 am, there’s a countdown, a lot of screaming, and a stampede when the doors open. There were over 1,700 hanging up at 8:00. By the time Fedward made it to the back of the store – less than a minute later – the racks looked like this:

Instead of hanging up, dresses were in piles. People grab as many as possible, and then a strange economic system emerges. “Looking for a size 10 ball gown. I’ll trade this size 16.” Instead of going to dressing rooms, people tried things on wherever they could find space. The company recommends wearing a swimsuit or sports bra to facilitate this, though some brides did not worry about modesty.

We wandered around a bit, trying to find people we’d spoken with earlier, but no luck. Instead, I chatted with people who worked there. Everyone agreed it was going to be a long day, but one they loved. They also all said I was smart to wait until the afternoon (though, I admit, I’d worn my swimsuit… just in case).

We left around 8:30 to get some much needed caffeine and breakfast.We saw a few groups departing, defeated. Around 9:15 we saw a team crossing the street, carrying a trophy in the form of a dress bag. After trying 30 dresses in an hour, she’d found the one, marked down from $1,800 to $700. They arrived at 3:30 am, but were still in high spirits. It made all the chaos worth it.

Did I get my dress? Did I get stampeded by brides? Find out in Part 2.

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.

Peck pointed out in his talk that there were more speakeasies in DC during Prohibition than there had been legal drinking establishments before it. It wasn’t illegal to possess alcohol, it was just illegal to produce it, sell it, or transport it across state lines. The assumption had been that the District (and later the country) would just drink itself dry and that would be the end of that. As you might guess, things didn’t work out that way.

One of the most interesting tidbits was on the so-called Man in the Green Hat, a bootlegger named George Cassiday. He was famous for two reasons: first, for ten years during Prohibition he had offices in US Government buildings, first the House Office Building, and then (after a bust) the Senate Office Building. Second: he wrote about his work for the Washington Post while Prohibition was still in effect.

Another interesting revelation was in the slides that accompanied the talk (all of which are also to be found as plates in the book). In 1932 a pro-repeal organization called the Crusaders produced a map of speakeasy busts in the District during 1931 – 1,155 of them. It was published in newspapers nationwide. There are clusters along 7th St NW, K St NW, and across from the Navy Yard, and three marked as having occurred on government property (one just a few hundred feet from the offices of the Anti Saloon League). Oddly enough, Cassiday was arrested in 1930, so the busts in 1931 involved other bootleggers to Congress.

Peck pointed out the locations of several breweries in DC that were permanently shuttered by Prohibition. The Safeway on the Hill was once a brewery (and also an ice cream plant, thanks to its refrigeration capabilities). Few of the buildings exist in those forms today. He also highlighted the locations of the Anti Saloon League offices (no longer standing) and the Methodist Board of Temperance, Prohibition and Public Morals (now the United Methodist General Board of Church and Society). More sites can be seen on the next Temperance Tour.

I enjoyed the talk and look forward to reading the book in its entirety. If you’re interested in the history of Prohibition and its effects, you can also check out Peck’s first book, along with Daniel Okrent’s excellent history of Prohibition Last Call, and Iain Gately’s exhaustive Drink: A Cultural History of Alcohol (both available from the DC Public Library and wherever quality books are sold).

It may come as a surprise to you that I have time to read in between all those trips to the Passenger for brunch, but it’s true. It probably won’t come as a surprise, though, that I’ve been reading a lot about drinking and prohibition lately. Two DC area authors have new books on those subjects.

First (in order of release), Garrett Peck, author of The Prohibition Hangover and leader of the Temperance Tour, has a new book on the subject of Prohibition in Washington, D.C. He’s giving a talk tomorrow at Pound the Hill, and will be having a launch party at the Woodrow Wilson House on May 19.

Second (but not least by any stretch), one of our favorite bartenders, Room 11′s Dan Searing, has a book out today. You may recall that Dan started Punch Club before Room 11 even opened. Now you can bring his expertise home with you in book form, as his The Punch Bowl has just been released.

Buy both today and support these DC authors. I’ve reached out to Dan to find out if he’s got a launch event planned, and will post an update here as soon as I find something out.

Got plans Saturday night?

The Grin Gala, now in its fourth year, is a benefit for Operation Smile. It is described as “an evening of cocktails, dancing and silent auction.” Lauren Graham, pictured above, is this year’s honorary host. Tickets come in two varieties: general admission ($120, of which $95 is tax deductible), and VIP ($240, of which $215 is tax deductible).

VIP access includes an early reception on the Chamber of Commerce rooftop with top DC chefs and mixologists including Chef Todd Gray and Mixologist Simo Ahmadi from Equinox; Chef Peter Smith from PS 7; Chef Victor Albisu and Mixologist Troy Bock from BLT Steakhouse; and Mixologist Stephen Warner from Columbia Firehouse.

The Social Chair and I will be there as invited guests. Look for us there Saturday night, and a wrap-up of the cocktails and food here next week!

A couple years ago the Social Chair and I were sitting at a bar when the couple next to us asked us a question. They said they’d overheard our conversation with the bartender and were looking for a restaurant recommendation, since they were visiting from out of town and wanted to try something other than their usual haunts. We got to talking about where they were from (“Outside Toronto”), and we mentioned that we were leaving in a week to go visit family and friends both in and outside Toronto. It was at this point in a conversation with a Canadian that I would usually get to play my trump card, since my sister lives in a town even most Ontario natives haven’t heard of. But when we told them the name of the town (West Montrose), they got a little wide-eyed. And then they asked, “which house?”

It turned out that these strangers, from “Outside Toronto,” had almost bought that very house, and after they didn’t buy it their friends did. Their friends, in fact, were the couple who sold the house to my sister and brother-in-law (and since my sister’s family is moving to The Hague, it’s for sale again). In this city you never know who you might meet.

Judging by what I’ve seen on Twitter, and a stale rant that has been making the rounds again (which I won’t dignify by linking here), tourist season has fallen hard on some of you (the fact that it arrives at the same time as allergy season also doesn’t help, I’m sure). But I ask your patience as I make this heartfelt plea: please be nice to tourists.

It’s simple, really. There’s an argument to be made on economic grounds, since the taxes on tourist dollars help pay for essential services in DC, but that’s not my argument. There’s also a case to be made on political grounds, since the plight of a disenfranchised DC voter is often unknown to a tourist from the heartland, but I’m not worried about that either. Much.

I think we should all be nice to tourists simply because that’s what the members of a civil society do. I’ve been a tourist elsewhere, and I’ve had to stop people and ask for directions. I’ve also had people volunteer to help me figure out a map, or a tram network, or a train ticket system, or a menu, and it always brings a little light to my day to experience the reality that people everywhere are essentially good, and wow, I was totally on the wrong bus (San Francisco, twice). Or tram (Amsterdam).

There’s more than that. We are all, like it or not, ambassadors for our city. Every interaction any of us has with a visitor reflects on all of us. If you’re friendly and helpful, we look good. If you’re gruff or rude, you reinforce the stereotype of southern efficiency and northern charm. My own mother has said derisively that “everyone in DC works for the government” (for the record, neither the Social Chair nor I do), evidence we’ve got the deck stacked against us already. Why make it worse?

It’s too easy sometimes to forget that this city, this majestic capital, stands as a symbol of civic ideals. I chose to move here over a decade ago, and I consider the District my home. Every interaction any of us has with a tourist is a chance for the city — and possibly by extension the nation — to make a good impression. I experience discomfort every time I read a rant on one web site or another about tourists doing it wrong (this site has been guilty of that too). So somebody stands on the left side of the escalator in the Metro. What’s your hurry? The next train is in three minutes. Six, tops. If cooling your heels on a Metro platform for a few minutes is the worst thing that happens to you all day, you’re still having a good day.

So be nice. Give directions. Answer questions. Make room at the bar. Recommend your favorite restaurant. Smile. If you don’t do it for me, do it for the mom who raised you right. If you don’t do it for her, do it for DC. We’re not petulant jerks. We live in one of the most beautiful cities in the world, where almost everything is free because those tourists pay sales tax while they’re here and most of them pay federal income tax when they’re back at home. I know I love it here, and I hope you do too. Share the love. You never know who that person you help will turn out to be.