Category Archives: The Daily Feed

Food and Drink, Special Events, The Daily Feed
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Georgetown Love Potions

Photo courtesy of
‘Cinn City’
courtesy of ‘Jenn Larsen’

I may not care a fig for Valentine’s Day (of course having said that, I fully expect a boatload of lilies delivered to my door, please) but I do love cocktails! So does the Georgetown BID, which has pulled together a bunch of restaurants to provide you with enough aphrodisiac concoctions to seduce even the hardest of hearts. Starting tonight, these selections (“Love Potions,” natch) will be available through Valentine’s Day all across the Georgetown circuit at 19 spots including Mie N Yu, Neyla, and 1789. Drinks are 2 for $14, for couples or friends.

Now, I rarely get to Georgetown these days but two of the sips I sampled earlier this week were tempting enough to get me to return (that and the cocktail shaker shaped like a dumbbell that I spied in an antiques window – ahem, gift?). The standout was created by Bourbon Steak’s very talented Duane Sylvestre. As you can probably guess from the name – Cinn City – it has the red hot spice of cinnamon as its top note, with the other ingredients being Four Roses bourbon and Peychaud’s bitters (First reaction? “It really does taste like a Red Hot! But not in a candy way.”). Continue reading →

The Daily Feed
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Hot Ticket: The Postelles @ Red Palace 2/12/11

If you have not been to the Red and the Black lately, you are in for a pleasant surprise. They have combined their space with the upstairs space from the Palace of Wonders and have an attractive and thankfully bigger space now called the Red Palace. The stage is higher off the ground, the PA is larger, the DC9 guy has run the sound when I have been there, and it just has a nice club feeling inside rather than the former cramped space which felt more like an attic than a club, since it basically was an attic.

So why head out there this Saturday? Well, the Postelles bring some of their New York pop/garage rock to the new stage. Could they be the heirs to the Fleshtones? No, I think they have a little more indie rock to their sound than flat out garage pop, but boy can they do pop harmonies. I will be interested to see how harmonize live and in person over the course of a full set. And with sets from New York’s Snowmine and Toronto’s Dinosaur Bones, there will likely be some great sounds emanating from these three touring bands.

The Postelles
w/Snowmine, Dinosaur Bones
The Red Palace
Saturday, Feb 12th
$10 Advance, $12 Day of Show

The Daily Feed
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Food Truck Tracker

Photo courtesy of
‘Curbside Cupcake Van’
courtesy of ‘Mr. T in DC’

Have you thought of Valentine’s Day plans yet? If not, don’t worry, you still have the weekend to impress your significant other. Until then, why don’t you invite him or her out to your favorite food truck? Lame, but fun nonetheless.

Click on through for our ThestrEATS-powered lunch map to find your favorite food truck and have a fantastic food-filled weekend!
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The Daily Feed
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Hot Ticket: Baths @ Rock & Roll Hotel, TONIGHT!

“Cerulean” by Baths is my favorite album of 2010 that I discoverd in 2011. This week the internet is ablaze with hype for James Blake’s debut album, which granted is an emotional, electronic tour de force; but so is “Cerulean” by this 21-year old producer from Los Angeles. While James Blake continues building hype in the US behind a veil of secrecy (he’ll make his live US debut at SXSW soon), Baths aka Will Wiesenfeld is currently in the middle of a national tour spreading his off-kilter electro sounds and surprisingly emotional message city by city. Baths is playing at Rock & Roll Hotel tonight and the I expect the show to be a rare combination of massive, cutting edge beats and vulnerable vocals as Wiesenfeld croons through a crazy array of voice modulation and live mixes some sonic science. I highly recommend checking this one out!

Baths
w/ Braids and Blackbird Blackbird
@ Rock & Roll Hotel
2/11/11 – 8:30pm
$12

Food and Drink, The Daily Feed
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Thursday Bonus Happy Hour: The Bitter End


‘Campari’
courtesy of ‘bionicteaching’

I consider Jeff Faile, bar manager at Palena, a friend. This Modern Luxury article on the expanded restaurant is great on the food, but does some injustice to one of Jeff’s brilliant cocktails (vodka?!). And since he has shared the recipe with me, I can now both correct the record and share it with you.

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Looking Back: The Arlington Nationals?


From StadiumPage.com Concepts

There is a small – yet fascinating – history of professional baseball stadiums that never made it past the concept stage. This came to light yesterday again when a link started flying around the Sports blogosphere (initiated by Jonah Keri, I picked up the bandwagon at SB Nation), documenting the great history of could-have-beesn for major league spectators. It’s been so popular that the site has been going in and out of service since discovered by baseball fanatics coming out of their long winter of offseason hibernation.

While it was fun to play around with some concepts for my hometown team (the Fenway Dome seems like a horrifying idea, and I vividly remember the new Fenway concepts because it was around the time I put a “Save Fenway Park” bumper sticker on the 1997 Ford Explorer I drove to high school in downtown Phoenix), I got quickly distracted by the 2004 look back to a concept designed to lure the Montreal Expos to the Washington area, yet not in DC: Northern Virginia Stadium.

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The Daily Feed
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A very Speakeasy Valentine’s Day

LLLForSpeakeasy edit

I’m not generally a Valentine’s Day fan. I don’t need a special day to tell my wife I love her; frankly speaking Valentine’s Day is in many ways “Amateur Night” for all the folks out on the town. So, I tend to be averse to V-day and all the trouble it brings.  Finally, there seems to be something for me on Valentine’s Day.  Logic, Luck and Love lays out the good and the bad of the matters of the heart, and you don’t even need to worry about a diamond, or fancy chocolates, or even a difficult-to-get reservation at a place that you can’t afford anyway.

It’s not that I’m cynical about love, but I am cynical about its artifice.  This seems to be an easy antidote that, and Speakeasy is known for those quality productions.  That’s where we come in.

Speakeasy DC is reprising the Two Pear Productions 2010 Fringe show Logic, Luck and Love at the Atlas Performing Arts Center on Monday night, and we’ve got a pair of tickets to giveaway.  To enter, leave a comment with your name and email address, and we’ll pick one at random for a pair of tickets to see the show on Monday night.

The Daily Feed
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CANCELED: Linkin Park @ Verizon Center, Tonight!

Well I’m sure this news is going to disappoint a lot of people…

“Linkin Park has been forced to cancel their February 10th show in Washington DC at the Verizon Center. Lead vocalist Chester Bennington is ill and under doctor’s orders to refrain from performing. The band sincerely regrets this unavoidable cancellation and apologizes to fans for any disappointment caused. Tickets will be refunded at point of purchase beginning February 11th.”

Food and Drink, The Daily Feed
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Calling All Chocolate Lovers

Photo courtesy of
‘Chocolate Molleaux – Koko Black Carlton AUD13’
courtesy of ‘avlxyz’
Do you like chocolate and champagne? If so, February might just be the right month for you to head to the city’s Ritz-Carlton because the Chocolate Decadence Buffet is back.

Executive Chef David Serus is turning the Lobby Lounge into a chocolate paradise with candy, cakes and tarts. You will also find a “Champagne Sommelier” if you fancy a flight of champagne.

All you chocolate connoisseurs can get 5 items for $35: Tiramisu cheese cake, Cherry jubilee, Chocolate raspberry tart, Chocolate Panacotta, White chocolate macaroons thanks to the macaroons UK delivery, Brownie Sunday martini, Vanilla Chocolate Pudding, Strawberry Champagne, and more. Additional pieces are $5, and the Champagne Flights of Fancy is priced at $38 per flight.

Chocoholics can also enjoy The Ultimate Indulgence, a blend of Crème de Cocoa, Godiva dark chocolate liqueur, vanilla vodka, Bailey’s Irish crème, and a splash of heavy cream.

So, trying to impress a first date or just looking to gorge on treats with best friends? The Chocolate Decadence Buffet and Champagne Flights are available February 11 through the 14th.  Reservations are required for seatings at 6, 8, and 10 p.m.

The Lobby Lounge is located in The Ritz-Carlton, Washington, D.C. at 1150 22nd Street, NW. The closest metro is Foggy Bottom-GWU (blue/orange lines). For more information, contact 202-835-0500.

Food and Drink, The Daily Feed
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Lamb: The Other Red Meat

Photo courtesy of
‘Rack of lamb’
courtesy of ‘bonappetitfoodie’

My dinner routine at home can get a little boring every now and then as I rotate between steak and chicken with the occasional pork chop thrown into the mix. So last week I expanded my palate a little and went to a lamb dinner at Bibiana Osteria-Enoteca, where I learned some basics about butchering a lamb (not that I’m trying that at home anytime soon…) and tried some great lamb dishes.

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The Daily Feed
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WLDC Sports Ticker – February 9

Photo courtesy of
‘See you in Spring Training…’
courtesy of ‘BaseballBacks’

Lead Item: On a Sunday when the Heat play the Celtics and the Magic play the Lakers, it’ll be pretty funny that the third game most people will be watching will involve the Wizards on the road in Cleveland. You see, something is very likely going to give by that game, either the 0-for-the-road Wiz will get their first win away from Verizon this season or the Cavs will get off the schneid to end their league record losing streak. Assuming the Cavs don’t ruin it by beating either Detroit tonight or the Clippers on Friday, Cleveland will have lost 27 straight leading into the contest with the Wizards. The Wiz have two “tune up” games at home, so we already know that they’ll leave the Sunday either 1-25 on the road of 0-26.

The Ticker: Have you seen the “Olsen’s Army” and “The General” ads around the metro? I have to say, between Coach Ben and the good news about Charlie Davies week long “try out,” hoping this can be a good season for United…the Washington Nationals, signing your discarded infielders to minor league deals since 2011…as Dan reminded us, yesterday’s loss to the Sharks was more about mid-season hockey than it was about any prognostication toward the playoffs…DC area college hoops update: George Mason (20-5), last out – win, 78-63, over UNC-Wilmington, next up – Saturday vs. James Madison; Georgetown (18-5), last out – win, 83-81 over Providence , next up – tonight at Syracuse; Maryland (15-8), last out – win, 91-70 over Wake Forest , next up – tonight vs. Longwood.

Final Number: 869 – the number of miles 30,000 pounds of baseball equipment traveled this week on the road between Nationals Park and the Nats’ spring training home at Space Coast Stadium in Melbourne, Florida.

The Daily Feed
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Hot Ticket: Linkin Park @ Verizon Center, 2/10/11


“A Thousand Suns” cover.

Two time Grammy Award winning rap/rock group Linkin Park comes to the Verizon Center on Thursday night. Formed in Agoura Hills, California in 1996, the band has sold over 50 million albums worldwide, including “Hybrid Theory” and “Meteora”. What more can you say about a band that has spawned hard hitting songs like “One Step Closer,” Crawling,” and “Numb”? Touring on the strength of their latest album, the politically charged “A Thousand Suns”, Linkin Park promises to bring a high energy performance to the stage.

Also on the bill is Pendulum, an drum and bass band from Australia and Does It Offend You, Yeah?, a British electronic rock group. Both opening bands have been garnering considerable buzz overseas over the past two years.

If you’d like to get a preview of the concert, you can head over to linkinpark.com and get a free EP download of official bootlegged songs from the current tour featuring all three bands. Thursday night promises to be one of the most memorable concerts for the first quarter of 2011 and tickets are still available!

Linkin Park
w/ Pendulum & Does It Offend You, Yeah?
@ Verizon Center
2/10/11
$42.50 – $72.50

The Daily Feed
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“Beer 2.0” Dispenser On Its Way to Verizon Center

YouTube Preview Image

Seriously, sometimes it’s just the simplicity of Ted Leonsis’ announcements that makes him one of the most fun owners in any of the major leagues. In an ever-so-brief post to his Ted’s Take blog today:

Bottoms Up Beer Dispenser

We got one.

Check it out at tonight’s Wizards game.

Or Saturday’s Caps Game

And then he links to the above video. Come on, that’s just straight cool. For more info on this delightful invention, I highly recommend this Wired piece from last month.

UPDATE: It’ll be just outside section 114, according to Leonsis.

Food and Drink, The Daily Feed
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Food Truck Tracker

Photo courtesy of
‘20100825_fojol_0018’
courtesy of ‘Amber Wilkie Photography’
Happy Hump Day! Just think, in two days it will be the weekend. Until then, maybe you should reward yourself with lunch from a food truck. What else beats standing outside in the cold?

Yesterday we told you that Fojol Bros earned spot on Eater’s “List of Top Twenty Food Trucks in America.” So maybe try that truck out if you haven’t been before; it’s “Indian with flair.”

Click on through for our ThestrEATS-powered lunch map!
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Food and Drink, The Daily Feed
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First Look: Vento

ventooo

Photo Courtesy Vento

Go to Vento.

There was only one downside to my Saturday night visit to the new Italian trattoria: I couldn’t help but to chastise myself over the fact that it had taken me almost three months to head there in the first place.

From the second I walked in, Vento passed my first test: ambience. The Dupont Circle restaurant is unpretentious, beautiful, classy and chic. I absolutely love the lighting.  The noise level is energetic, but somehow you don’t have to yell for your dining companions to hear you.

Second test is service. A lot of people disagree with me, but I’m a firm believer that service has to be up to par with the food in order for the establishment to be considered a good restaurant. Our server greeted me from the moment I sat down and my wine and water glasses stayed pleasantly full during the meal. Drinks-wise there is a nice selection of wine, but not the annoying “let me throw a phone book down on your table.”

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The Daily Feed
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Solar Decathlon, Now with Extra Carbon Emissions!

Photo courtesy of
‘surPLUShome’
courtesy of ‘afagen’

The City Paper’s Lydia DePillis broke the news early this morning that the Solar Decathlon, usually held on the National Mall near the Smithsonian Castle, is moving down to the National Harbor.  The change in venue will certainly affect the attendance of the event, which always felt to me to be more discovery-by-accident than “Hey, let’s go see the solar houses!” Add in that the only way to get there by public transit is a bus that runs just twice an hour from the Branch Ave metro, and you’ve got a recipe for hiding this great event from the public eye.

Way to go, Department of Energy and Interior, that was some bang-up thinking so your event planner could get a few more rewards points from the Gaylord hotel chain.

News, The Daily Feed
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D.C. Attorney General dismisses DUI cases

Photo courtesy of
‘Light Patrol’
courtesy of ‘Nick.Fisher’

Freeman Klopott of the Examiner has the eagle eyes. Late yesterday, he spotted a series of dropped cases by D.C Attorney General Irvin Nathan, all of which were DUIs.  Last Spring, the Intoxilyzer 5000 series blood alcohol testers fell under serious scrutiny when 8 of the department’s 10 units were suspected of producing faulty results. Since then, the Police Department has been trying to get the new Intoximeter machines certified with the medical examiner’s office, but failing that, they were pulled off the street last week.

Police were collecting evidence using the Intoximeter machines, but according to internal police emails presented by Klopott, not presenting those results in court as certified evidence, due to the conflict with the medical examiner’s officer over certification.  As an intermediary measure, police are now collecting urine samples from suspects to use in court. More information on breathalizer legal cases and dui on the best legal agency near you.

I think there’s something doubly scary here: 1) That Police can’t trust their own equipment to give them solid results and 2) even if they could, watching case after case be thrown out while the potentially irresponsible go free without punishment will have an effect on morale.

The Daily Feed
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Sharks beat Caps on a day in February

Photo courtesy of
‘Alex and Alex’
courtesy of ‘jakarachuonyo’

Oh, the potential headlines seem so dramatic.

“Sharks take a bite out of the nation’s Capitals”

“San Jose proves to the NHL that Caps are not contenders”

“Silicon Valley switches the circuits of D.C.’s hockey team”

By now you should realize that the Caps lost to the Sharks, 2-0 at the Verizon Center on Tuesday night. Anti Niemi got the win for San Jose with 25 saves. Michal Neuvirth took the loss, making 34 stops.

Really, it was some classic February hockey. A hot team on a momentum gaining road trip coming to visit a smug team feeling good about itself because it just blew through its two primary rivals over the weekend and thinks that it can go toe-to-toe with anybody. The smug team comes out flat, can never gain traction on the ice and all efforts come in vain as things eventually start to unravel in the third period. The postgame interviews are short and redundant and everybody goes home to bed to wake up for practice the next morning.

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