Category Archives: The Features

These are our features. They come back either weekly, bi-weekly or monthly.

Arlington, Food and Drink, Fun & Games, Life in the Capital, Special Events, The Features, The Hill
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Where to Watch the Game

Photo courtesy of
‘2010 BCS Championship 2010 BCS Championship Logo’
courtesy of ‘RMTip21’

Unless you live in a cave, or genuinely care about nothing sports related, you’re probably aware that the BCS Championship Game is this evening.  And, if you have even an inkling of football fanaticism, you’re probably planning on watching it. Year to year, the BCS Title is a clash of the titans, and one of the highlights of the football season.  This year pits the Texas Long Horns against the Alabama Crimson Tide.  I’ll leave analysis and predictions to others and focus on the most practical of matters: where to watch the game.  I’m going to assume that you’re already aware of the “my house” and the “my friend’s house” options, so here are a few suggestions in case you want to leave the living room.  If you’re not a real sports bar type, big game nights are excellent for branching out.  In my opinion, you can’t go wrong with the places below:
Continue reading →

We Love Weekends
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We Love Weekends, January 9-10

Photo courtesy of
‘Hot Tea, Cold Day’
courtesy of ‘Samer Farha’

John: Friday night I’ll be heading up to the Honor by August show at the 9:30 club to cheer on my old band mates as they rock the house. Saturday I’m in the wilds of Virginia at Jammin Java in Vienna to see the D.R.A.M.A. Kings (former members of the band The Speaks) play their first headlining show. A big rock weekend, hopefully not to be quashed by the snow.

Shannon: When it is as cold as it has been recently, it takes a lot to actually get me to leave the warmth of my house.  But Friday night’s Spelling Buzz at the Rock and Roll Hotel sounds like the perfect combination of nerdy fun and alcohol– it’s a spelling bee for adults, and all participants must drink a beer and a shot between rounds! Saturday I’m going to spend wrapped up in blankets catching up with my DVR, so I’ll finally be able to participate in the next RWDC live blogging event (while drinking heavily).  And on Sunday afternoon I’m going to make a point to ride the Metro, just to catch all the no-pants riders. Continue reading →

The Features
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My Checking Account Was Wiped Out… Here’s How to Protect Yours

Photo courtesy of
‘at the ATM’
courtesy of ‘volcanojw’

It’s easy to think of identity theft and credit card fraud happening to other people– people who aren’t observant in the ATMs that they use, or people who are careless with their PIN numbers, for example– but trust me, it can happen to anyone.  This past weekend I returned from a wonderful week-long trip to Italy that was completely relaxing and perfect.  But on Sunday, I opened up my checking account online and saw that my entire account had been cleared out while I was gone.  I’ve become a victim of identity theft, and I’m here to tell you how to avoid it.  Skimming has been spotted in DC, as well as waiter-based theft, and since we live in a tourist-heavy city, we could all use a refresher on how to keep our financial information secure. Continue reading →

Capital Chefs, Food and Drink, The Features
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Capital Chefs: Dennis Marron and Brian Turowski (Part II)

Red Cabbage - Marron
Chef Marron and Chef Turowski’s Pickled-Pink Red Cabbage

With pickled red cabbage added to my jar collection (which includes a living breathing, yeasty bread starter), my fridge is starting to look more like a science project for Halloween than what you would expect to be pieces to a delightfully edible puzzle.

As you read this morning, Katie and I went to The Grille at Morrison House this past weekend to pickle some onions and learn the tricks of the technique with local chefs Dennis Marron, executive chef of The Grille, and Brian Turowski, chef-de-cuisine of Jackson 20. The guys showed us their recipe for pickling the red onions that they pair with Jackson 20’s “Wedge” salad: a crunchy iceberg wedge, smothered with a creamy bleu cheese dressing, accompanied by plump bacon lardons – plated quite creatively, as Katie alluded to!

To start off our pickling adventure, Katie and I tasted two kinds of pickled red onions, comparing how more salt and more pickling time can affect the end result. The chefs also shared a taste of their pickled red cabbage, which I resolved to test at home for you.

Chef Marron recommends this same basic pickling recipe for cabbage, onions, cucumbers, and even SHRIMP- which he noted would also go well with a blue cheese salad. Continue reading →

Capital Chefs, The Features
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Capital Chefs: Dennis Marron and Brian Turowski (Part I)

P1020544

“Boys and their toys,” I laugh to Cathy. She and I are leaning against the counter in the kitchen at The Grille at Morrison House, watching Chef Dennis Marron pull out all his kitchen tools. He whips out a set of huge tweezers, tapping them together. “These are looser, more flexible,” he explains, comparing them to the pair he’s got in his other hand. Cathy and I nod knowingly.

Chef Marron is flipping big fat cuts of bacon in a cast iron pan using tweezers, and I was poking fun at him, teasing him about his tool of choice. His partner in crime, Brian Turowski, chef de cuisine at Jackson 20, is sticking up for him. “There’s a lot of detail work in plating here,” Turowski says. “The tweezers are good for that.” And it’s true. Chef Marron oversees the kitchen at two Old Town restaurants, the more casual southern-American themed Jackson 20, and the more buttoned-up The Grille at Morrison House. Chef Turowski has taken over duties at Jackson 20, and Marron spends most nights at The Grille. The plates at The Grille are more fussy, and thus, the tweezers. The home-cooking at Jackson 20 is much more basic in presentation. Today, both tweezer-wielding chefs are together in the kitchen, teaching Cathy and I to construct Jackson 20’s signature Wedge salad – a fatty delight of blue cheese, pickled onions and bacon.

Chef Marron pulls out a spoon. “We call this one the shovel”, he says. He’s rummaging around, trying to find all the second-hand tools he’s bought and stocked the kitchen with. “I got a sandwich press for six dollars once!” he exclaims with glee. “Chefs are cheap,” Turowski jokes. And that’s not all. Together they’ve collected tons of spoons, a seltzer, even an ice crusher. Cathy inquires where they get all their cookware, and Marron points towards King Street, where Look Again Resale Shop is located. The thrift store is a treasure trove, apparently. “Good stuff over there,” Marron agrees. Continue reading →

Food and Drink, The Features
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Dude, Where’s My Taco Bell?

Photo courtesy of
’11/365 – Taco Bell is a fickle mistress.’
courtesy of ‘BLW Photography’

What DC needs is a good Taco Bell. Fellow We Love DC Author Max addressed this pressing issue in May of 2008 and somehow I find that our beloved District is still plagued by a lack of cheap taco-y goodness.

Monday night, I figured this out for myself. It was the cosmic forces that really brought this one together. I kid you not. You see — my friend’s car needed a good jumping and I chose (out of the kindness of my heart) to stand outside in the bitter cold of night for an hour. The hour passed. The man with the jumper cables showed up. He told us, “Now you gotta drive around for AT LEAST 25 minutes to make sure that battery doesn’t fail ya,” so we did.

Instead of driving aimlessly, we plugged in the good old GPS to find somewhere less random to go. But of course fate chose to get involved. We passed Cactus Cantina (on Massachusetts NW and Wisconsin NW) when thoughts of gluttony suddenly possessed me, “I want tacos,” I said.

And — ALAS — the dream to find a Taco Bell was born.

Continue reading →

Interviews, Sports Fix, The Features
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Capitals Hockey: Mid-Season Report Card

Photo courtesy of
‘Center Ice’
courtesy of ‘Ghost_Bear’

We’re just passed the halfway point of the 2009-10 hockey campaign for the Washington Capitals. Successful? In many ways, absolutely. Joining me on the breakdown is Adam Proteau, writer and columnist for The Hockey News and a regular contributor to THN.com, who kindly offered up some of his own analysis of the Caps season so far.

Overall, impressive. The Caps have hit 50 points faster than any other incarnation of the team before and are definitely on pace – barring a complete and total Jagr-esque breakdown – to end in one of the top four playoff seeds.

“They’re looking like a complete, versatile, dynamic team very early on in the year,” says Adam. “I thought it would take them longer into the season to fully assimilate Seymon Varlamov and some new veterans and function as an effective unit of a championship caliber, but I think they’re there already.”

Continue reading →

Featured Photo
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Featured Photo


‘1001a’
courtesy of ‘dr_kim_veis [”o ]’

I’m fascinated, endlessly so, by good portrait photography. It is but a moment in the life of a person — sometimes a stranger, others someone we know, but only through the spotlight. That moment is often telling. The individual’s character, their outlook on life, even their mood are forever immortalized in one sixtieth of a second. The portrait also reflects on the photographer, perhaps in a more subtle way. What does their use of color, light, and framing convey?

Dirk Mevis‘s portrait leapt out at me from the We <3 DC pool. His use of light to highlight not just his subject but also the tableau around her is subtle, yet eye popping. The subject is also intriguing: what’s she looking at? Is she worried? What is she waiting for? And what do those wilted flowers add to the picture? And the darkness?

A good portrait leaves the subject as much a mystery as before. Maybe even more so. This one is worth seeing large.

Food and Drink, The Features, We Love Drinks
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Where Is Your Favorite Beer?

Photo courtesy of
‘Down the Bar’
courtesy of ‘Kevin H.’

I know a lot of people who angst about beer-lovin’ favorite Fat Tire, myself included. So when I went home over break, I was thrilled to find Fat Tire in all my favorite North Carolina bars. Which begged the question, if Fat Tire has bridged the Mississippi River and come East, why hasn’t it arrived in the DMV area yet?

So I set out to ask Greg Engert, beer God over at the Neighborhood Restaurant Group all about the process of acquiring certain beers. He’s worked with both Rustico and Churchkey to procure all kinds of crazy beers, including my favorite beer of all time, Chimay Red, and my runner-up favorite Raspberry Lambic.

Greg explained: “In order to get your favorite brand into DC/ VA, there are many hoops one has to jump through. First is actually establishing if the brewer of said beer has the production capacity to ship to a new territory. Presuming production is capable, a distributor in the area has to be procured. Once a distributor has agreed, then the beer will start shipping. With imports, the brewery needs to have ample product, and then both an importer and a separate distributor need to be established as well.”

Which makes perfect sense – your favorite beer from little town in Nebraska nowhere isn’t going to have any easy time distributing to all of the District. But that’s not the only hurdle. Continue reading →

Sports Fix
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Sports Fix: Firearms Edition

Photo courtesy of
‘_MG_5524’
courtesy of ‘dbking’

Redskins
Record: 4-12
Last Two Weeks: 0-3
Place: Last in the NFC East

Well, this is one season no one will want to revisit anytime soon. This morning, Jim Zorn was fired (my only surprise was that he rode their plane home), after the Skins put up their worst record since they went 3-13 in the 1994 season. Zorn finishes his tenure with the Redskins at a tremendous 12 and 20 (.375), or, just where Steve Spurrier finished in 2003. He is the sixth coach of the Skins to be fired since Dan Snyder bought the team in 1999, none of whom have an over-.500 record.

There’s little to celebrate at the end of the season. Jason Campbell still isn’t the Quarterback-leader the Skins are hoping for. Chris Cooley is on the mend, this is true, and he’ll be a bright light for 2010/2011, but there’s a lot of rebuilding left t go.

But if the Skins were to do one thing this off-season to engender trust from their fans? Take Dan Snyder away from the reigns of the team. Entirely. Hire Shanahan and then take two years away from the team, Danny boy, and maybe then you’ll be alright.   Continue reading →

Essential DC, Life in the Capital, The Features
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We Love Resolutions: 2010 Edition

Photo courtesy of
‘Comet-looking Fireworks over DC’
courtesy of ‘ianseanlivingston’

Well, hello, 2010, so nice to meet you! While you, my dear reader, are busy recovering from your hangover, the We Love DC authors have banded together yet again to bring you our second-annual We Love Resolutions feature (here’s 2009’s). Here is our list of things we resolve to do in our fine city during 2010. For those of us who have been around for a year (our staff doubled in 2009!) we’ve even held ourselves accountable to last year’s resolutions by reporting on our score.

Rachel:
1) Finally go to the Spy Museum. I’ve lived here since August of 2005, it’s really time I get there.
2) See a Wizards or Capitals game at the Verizon Center. As a baseball junkie, I went to Nationals Park AT LEAST 15 times in 2009. It’s time to broaden my horizons.
3) Wake up early enough to get the full-effect of a Saturday at Eastern Market.
4) Spend a day on Roosevelt Island.
5) See the sunrise AND the sunset while sitting on the Lincoln Memorial steps, facing the reflecting pool and Washington Monument — AT LEAST 5 times each.

Corinne:
1) Go to the top of the Washington Monument (as a DC-area native, I think it is finally time I check out the panormaic view from our city’s most iconic landmark!)
2) Check venues off my must-eat list like brunch at Tabard Inn, a burger at Ollies Trolley, custard at Dairy Godmother and Korean feasts in my hometown of Annandale (anyone have any good suggestions?)
3) Visit the Smithsonian’s Anacostia Community Museum
4) Take more day trips and weekend jaunts to explore nearby gems-seafood in Annapolis, live music in Baltimore, hiking/camping in Virginia’s gorgeous mountain ranges
5) Attend more embassy events, maintain my dwindling language skills and continue my hunt to befriend Scots/Irish folk in DC!
6) Write more, photograph more, yoga more, volunteer more

Tom:
1) Move into the District.  Yes, that’s right, it’s time to move inside the line.  We’re looking in Eckington, Bloomingdale and Shaw.  Seen anything that’s awesome?
2) Finally get an exercise plan together.  Maybe it’s time to map out some walks within the city?  I’d like to try some of the bike trails, as well
I know, two doesn’t seem like a lot, but it’s time to focus on what’s really important and getting things moving.

How’d I do in 2009?  Well, I caught a Wizards game, and I got my Snowy Iwo Jima shot, but I still haven’t made it to Marvin. Continue reading →

We Love Weekends
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We Love Weekends, January 1-3

Photo courtesy of
”
courtesy of ‘erin m’

Happy New Year, everyone. We hope you have plans for a fantastic start to 2010. If you need some ideas, here’s what we’re up to this weekend.

Max: I’m headed to NYC this weekend for the first time in over two years.  I seriously can’t wait to experience the chaos that is the Big Apple.  If I were staying in DC though, I’d go check out the Yinka Shonibare exhibit at the National Museum of African Art.  I’ve heard it’s amazing.  I’d also think about going to see Avatar 3D again because it was that freakin’ awesome.  Given that it’s supposed to be cold as (fill in the blank) this weekend, I’d spend the rest of my weekend indoors with a nice mug of Irish coffee and a good book. Continue reading →

News, Sports Fix, The Daily Feed
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Hampton Roads Just Says No to Skins/Chargers

Photo courtesy of
”
courtesy of ‘Chris Rief aka Spodie Odie’

Hampton Roads/Virginia Beach should be a no-brainer Redskins market, right? I mean, who else would you cheer for? Well, this weekend they pulled the Redskins game off the air so that WVBT could show the Dallas/Philly game that has actual consequences for the playoff picture. That’s just how bad the Redskins are this year. The sports director at WVBT said the Skins were “unwatchable,” and that emails after he read the decision on the air on Tuesday night were running 30:1 in favor of the Cowboys/Eagles game.

Yowch. Sorry Skins.

The Features, We Love Drinks
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2009, A Glass Half Full

Glass Half Full

"Glass Half Full" by Jenn Larsen on Flickr

When I inaugurated the We Love Drinks feature back in September 2008, I really didn’t give it much thought to start with, honestly. We founding writers were tossing around feature ideas, and I said, “hey, what about drinks? I go out a fair amount.” That simple. It began mostly with bar reviews, with some coffee and tea thrown in for good measure.

But that slowly started to change when I realized there were people passionate about drinks culture in the city – not just nightlife and where to go to get wasted (not that I was writing about that! those days are over, darlings, good-bye jello shots!). It was a humbling experience to discover what a neophyte I was – when I got caught in the crossfire of a discussion on how to make your own bitters, for example, or the first time someone asked me whether I preferred green or yellow Chartreuse. Certainly the vast world of wine was still a mystery despite the wine bar explosion, and don’t even get me started about my beer ineptitude.

So why I am admitting this to you? Because these days I’m all about humility. I may be opinionated, but I’m still eager to learn and am constantly excited about the many different possibilities in our city of drinks. Respect for the taste and the balance of a proper cocktail, diving into the vast world of wine and beer, and most importantly understanding your own tolerance – that’s been my experience in 2009. Here are a few key moments that helped me on this continuing journey. Continue reading →

Comedy in DC
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Comedy in DC, on CD

Today we’re going to talk about DC comics whose work you can purchase, to listen to in the privacy of your own home. Why? Two reasons:

1. The holidays cause a lull when there aren’t that many shows, but I’ve still got a regularly-scheduled column to write, and:

2. Hampton is going to record a CD on Thursday, January 14 at the Comedy Spot in Ballston, and you should all go. When comedians record a CD, they aren’t trying out any new material that hasn’t been polished yet, or screwing around to entertain the other comedians in the room, they’re actually trying to get their best stuff recorded as a way to further their careers. So you should check this out.

So that made me think, “Which other local comics have CDs you should check out?”   Continue reading →

News, Sports Fix, The Daily Feed
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Redskins’ Orakpo Named to All-Pro Team

Photo courtesy of
‘Brian Orakpo being interviewed’
courtesy of ‘Chris Doelle’

Congratulations to the Skins’ Outside Linebacker Brian Orakpo, who was named to the Pro Bowl 2010 Team today. He’ll be headed to Hawaii Miami for the only Postseason action any of the Redskins see this year (unless you count Shaun Suisham going with the Cowboys…) in the Pro Bowl. Orakpo’s 11 sacks share the team lead, and he remains the one good thing that Vinnie Cerrato did, so I suppose that’s something to be comforted by, Skins fans.