Category Archives: The Features

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

The Features, Weekend Flashback
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Weekend Flashback: 8/28 – 8/30/09

Photo courtesy of
‘In Memoriam’
courtesy of ‘kimberlyfaye’

So would this be considered the last official week of summer here in the District? Or are we all resigned to trudging back to work a week early, since Labor Day is late this year?

Regardless of how you see it, the weekend tempted us with almost-fall-like weather, promising its charms but holding back to make us yearn that much more. Too much, I think. Fall is such a tease.

As you get back to your routine, take a gander at the weekend seen by your fellow residents and visitors. Continue reading →

Eat Like Me, Food and Drink, The Features
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Eat Like Me: August’s Best Dishes

July Foodie Blogger Damage.

August. Dead month, right? Not in the foodie world, at least not in DC. Yes, things may be slower than usual, but I was still pretty busy shoving food into my mouth. I was lucky enough to preview upcoming Masa 14 and meet Kaz of Kaz Sushi Bistro, I headed out on the town with Donna for a locovore dinner at Charlie Palmer Steak, and I returned to some all-time favorites. Mostly I’ve been eating sushi and steak, seems to be the reoccurring theme this month. At least they balance each other out in the health department, right?

So here are the best of the best dishes I’ve eaten all month. I’ll give you a list of where I’ve been (also known as what we’re working with) and then give you a look at the best of the best. Can you handle all the tasty? Continue reading →

The Features, Where We Live
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Where We Live: Shaw

Photo courtesy of
‘so d.c.’
courtesy of ‘NCinDC’

Welcome to the latest edition of Where We Live.  This week we’ll be covering a DC neighborhood with a storied history– Shaw!  Shaw and the surrounding neighborhoods of Eckington and Bloomingdale have seen a great deal of reinvestment over the last decade, and many people are discovering the charm and history in this beautiful urban neighborhood.

History: Now this is a neighborhood with a great history.  Shaw was named after Civil War Colonel Robert Gould Shaw, and originally started as a freed slave encampment just outside the original Washington City.  The neighborhood thrived in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries as a center of black culture.  Howard University opened in the area in 1866.  The area was the hotbed of jazz in the 1920s and 1930s, with its most famous resident Duke Ellington. In the 1960s, the area was hit hard by the riots, and hit again in the 1990s by the crack epidemic.  But new residents started moving in in the 1990s, drawn by its central location and reasonable housing prices, and the area began to redevelop.  Today, Shaw is one of the District’s most-loved neighborhoods, with beautiful housing, a great location, and civically-engaged residents.

Continue reading →

Food and Drink, The Features, We Love Drinks
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We Love Drinks: Mid City Caffe

Mocha, Mid City Caffe

"Mocha, Mid City Caffe" by Jenn Larsen, on Flickr

Within an hour of finishing a mocha at Mid City Caffe, I’d sped through the end of a dense Turkish mystery, sent some twenty frantic texts, moved mountains, healed the sick, and dropped way too much decor dough at Miss Pixie’s downstairs, lifting a huge wool rug effortlessly above my head the several blocks home. I did almost everything after that divine cup of chocolate and coffee except leap tall buildings in a single bound. And was already dreaming of my return to try a morning cappuccino or drift away a whole afternoon with a french press. Now that’s prime bean.

Mid City may be a small bare bones cafe, but it’s already popular with the Logan Circle crowd salivating over the prospects of a regular coffee stop. This is an area long bemoaning the death of Sparky’s, 14U, Mocha Hut – we want a basic place to lounge with high-quality java that isn’t Starbucks or Caribou, simple as that. I’d argue the ‘hood needs more cafe-type joints – sure I’m super excited about restaurants like Masa 14 opening but really, we’re an underserved area for just plain – basic – good. 

Up the stairs you’ll find a cafe divided into two small rooms – one with the friendly bar serving espresso drinks and french press coffee, pastries and a few goodies like cinnamon raisin brioche toast with a choice of spreads (like nutella… drooool). Continue reading →

The Features, We Love Weekends
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We Love Weekends: August 29-30

Photo courtesy of
‘Very hot and still the air was…………’
courtesy of ‘LaTur’

It’s the last weekend of August- are you trying to fit in just that last little bit of summer before Labor Day? Here’s how we’re making the most of our time this weekend.

Kirk:  This is my birthday weekend, so I’ll be out an about and not on my own dime.  My parents are taking me to Cava Mezze in Capitol Hill on Friday for some delicious Mediterranean food. My Saturday will feature some as of yet undetermined party spots, and then Sunday will be all about Freefest.  I’ve still not nailed down my lineup, but I’m definitely going to fit in Blink 182, just to say that I saw them.

Katie: I’m moving apartments this weekend, so the entire thing will be taken up with trips to Ikea, the Crate & Barrel outlet in Alexandria and Target. Doesn’t that sound fun? No? Yeah, no. If I were going to be frolicking freely around the city instead of unpacking coffee mugs and arranging my closet, I’d do all kinds of things out in the sun, as I’m feeling crunch time as the summer season dwindles. (AH! Say it ain’t so!) I might take a nice water taxi ride from Alexandria over to the National Harbor and check out Ashton Kutcher’s celebrity eatery Ketchup just for kicks and giggles. I also hear fun things about Bobby McKey’s Dueling Piano Bar over in those parts, who doesn’t love Jay-Z on the piano? Sunday I’d probably find a key lounging spot with some iced coffee – maybe say a stop by Tryst on my way to Meridian Hill Park. That sounds perfect. Too bad I’ll be wrangling boxes, packing peanuts and clothing hangers instead.

Shannon: This weekend I’m going to take advantage of the final days of Restaurant Week (though if you can’t make it this weekend, many restaurants are extending the promotion).  And I’m also going to take advantage of the final days of summer (sigh) by spending an entire day at the pool with some sweet tea vodka, my summer drink of choice.  I’d also like to stop by my favorite nearby winery, Three Fox Vineyards, for a day of wine tours and lounging around in a hammock.  Because what says summer better than laziness and drinking? Continue reading →

Interviews, The Features
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Why I Love DC: Corinne

Meridian Hill Drum Circle IMG_9449

Meridian Hill Drum Circle by Corinne Whiting

I admittedly love DC, first and foremost, because it feels partly mine. I picnicked in its triangular parks as a wee one (our downtown visits allowing my dad an excuse for an office reprieve); I’ve played tourist around its sites on countless field trips with classmates and relatives; I’ve frolicked along its brick sidewalks as a college student for the first time unleashed, unsupervised, in a big urban world. So, yes, it is familiar and yes, some of my favorite people of all time still call this place home. DC is indelibly etched into the story of what makes me me.

But sweep all that personal history to the side, and I can see this magnificent city as if through the eyes of a visitor (in fact, my job insists that I do). I recognize its allure for tourists and locals alike, and I’m grateful to have roots in a city that keeps me coming back for more.

Perhaps, more than anything, I love that a city stroll can take me on a global walkabout. A challenging game of name-that-flag along Embassy Row sends me past an exquisite tiled mosque, distinctive ambassadorial residences and multilingual, wide-eyed diplomats exploring their new ‘hood. In Mount Pleasant, with Mana playing on my iPod, I pass chatting men on overturned crates as impromptu vendors sell tamales nearby, and the sights, sounds and smells temporarily transport me to Latin America. Within a fifteen-minute bubble of my home, I can eat amazing Ethiopian food cooked by Ethiopian chefs, Thai cooked by the Thai, Peruvian cooked by Peruvians. Authenticity rules our culinary scene. And I love that, at certain dinner parties, I might meet new friends who’ve come from or lived in countries like Bulgaria and Brazil, Martinique and Morocco.

Continue reading →

Comedy in DC
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Comedy in DC: Around the Intarwebs

YouTube Preview Image

Kind of a mish-mash this week of different stuff for the end of DC’s sleepy August…

First, a video (above): Jewish Guilt vs. Catholic Guilt go head-to-head in the 1976th annual Guilt-Off, starring Jared Stern and Chris White. The infographic is cracking me up all on its own.

Second, a show: Friday September 4, DC Improv Lounge, Drag Me To Hilarity, featuring, well, almost everyone who ever made me laugh. Hampton Yount, Jake Young, Aparna Nancherla, Eli Sairs, and Mark Reiss. The Improv Lounge has been quiet lately, so it’s nice to see a solid show in there.

Thirdly, some improv: Washington Improv Theater’s Neutrino Video Project, in which they take a suggestion, and then the cast and crew runs out onto the street to script, shoot, and assemble a video in the time it takes to watch the finished product. When they say, “The only way to see how it all comes together is to be there when it all goes down,” I tend to believe it. In any case, it’s a far cry from tired old improv games, so this looks like something to check out. It’s only running another couple of weekends, so don’t miss it.

Finally, another video: Seaton Smith’s “Pimpin’ Referee,” made in cooperation with the Sierra Mist Comedy Lab, which supports new comic talent. Who knew sugared water could be so hilarious? Seaton has been posting this one to Facebook for a while and I just got around to watching it, which I assure you was my loss. Continue reading →

Downtown, History, Monumental, Penn Quarter, The Mall
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Monumental: Freedom Plaza

Photo courtesy of
‘Freedom Plaza’s Mini Scale’
courtesy of ‘CathyLovesDC’

“Put yourself in the map”. That’s what I always tell my friends when they’re feeling turned around and lost. But not everyone has the appreciation for maps that I do, which is why I was so excited that I could literally put myself in the map at Freedom Plaza, and maybe take a friend or two with me to show them how it’s done.

Located just east of the White House at 14th and Penn between the Ronald Reagan building and the National Theatre, Freedom Plaza is one of those places in DC that you’ve probably already been to and never really noticed. The first time I was there was for the “Light the Night” walk for blood cancers which used the plaza as the basecamp for the start of the walk. It was dark out, and I had that feeling of: “This is probably somehow important – I mean it IS in the heart of Washington – but I can’t really tell in the dark.”

Different colored stones and brass inlays create a smooth, flat, and rectangular depiction of L’Enfant’s plan. The layout, the inscriptions, and the history are subtle and easily missed – unless you know why you’re there. Similarly, ironically shaped patches of grass stand out as awkward additions to the plaza until you realize they symbolize the National Mall.

Continue reading →

Sports Fix, The Features
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Sports Fix: Redskins Preview

Redskins
Redskins photo courtesy of Ben Domenech

Our Redskins Preview comes to us courtesy of Ben Domenech, editor of the New Ledger, and lifelong Redskins Fan.

Fellow fans of the Washington Redskins, I have nothing to offer you but horrible tales of impending mediocrity and inevitable despair. Oh yes – we suck again.

If there’s anything I’ve learned from 27 years of cheering for the Washington Redskins, which my mother swears began when I was still in diapers, it’s that under Joe Gibbs, the Redskins are at least a respectable franchise, and occasionally a good one. The Gibbs years of old were magnificent, yes — something I’ve appreciated all the more as I’ve gotten older. We’ve since been able to appreciate both the cheap suckitude of the flailing Norvous years of the dying squire, and the expensive, flashy suckitude of Dan Snyder’s entertaining obsession with shiny objects.

What do you have at the end of all those years, with great players and terrible players come and gone? A team that will beat teams they should, lose to teams they should, and still, somehow, command your pocketbook like none other. Continue reading →

Featured Photo
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Featured Photo


Blue Angel by M.V. Jantzen

I love Peeps.  The delicious tiny birds and bunnies come in a variety of pastel colors, have emotionless expressions on their cute, little squishy faces, and have become an integral part of our Easter celebrations.  Hell, even if you don’t celebrate Easter, it’s still fun to stuff these fluffy blobs of sugar in your face, chewing on their boneless, chemical-laden bodies. They’re completely harmless unless you’re a diabetic or are trying to watch your weight…or until they decide to kill you.  Sometimes it’s those that you least suspect who can cause the most amount of harm, and in this case it appears to be a giant blue Peep.  Revenge is sweet.

In all seriousness, the Peeps that you have no doubt noticed invading our city are the work of local street artist, DIABETIK.  These wheat pastings started cropping up during the winter and have been multiplying like, um, rabbits.  Along with the bitten Peeps you may have noticed other distressed treats such as broken gingerbread men and melted ice cream cones.  I wonder what’s next for DIABETIK?  Cupcakes that have been stepped on?  Jolly Ranchers covered in ants?  No matter what crops up, be on the lookout for mistreated treats looking for revenge, for you may be their next victim.

We Love Food
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We Love Food: El Pollito

Photo courtesy of Me

El pollito, courtesy of Me

Overall I’m inclined to agree with Carl about the crack metaphor: it’s overused, and unless you punched your mother in the face or [redacted] someone’s [redacted] and then let them [redacted] in order to get it, then NO, that chicken ISN’T like crack.

When Tom Sietsema went and checked out El Pollito in Crystal City, however, that’s exactly the comparison someone used in front of him in line. Crack, that is, not the punching your mother stuff. My darling wife and I were delighted to see this review, since the place that used to occupy this storefront looked like it had about 9 customers over the six-month period it was there. Overall we won’t frequent a restaurant that doesn’t seem to do some business – old food is just not conducive to a good dining experience.

So when we went and got some takeout there on Friday evening we were a little concerned to walk in and find the place completely empty. However the rotisseries are right there in plain view and a simpler menu like this makes it less of a concern to me than a larger menu and a closed kitchen, so we went ahead and picked up our order.

Which was simply -eh-.

Continue reading →

The DC 100
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DC Omnivore 100: #18, Fruit Wine

Photo courtesy of
‘Bluemont Dessert Wines’
courtesy of ‘tbridge’

It’s time for another edition of the DC Omnivore 100, where we explore the top one hundred foods every good omnivore should try at least once in their lives.

“Fruit wine made with something other than grapes,” to be precise. Tom and I were kicking around which part of the Omnivore 100 list we wanted to try, and remembered that our CSA farm, Great Country Farms, has an affiliated vineyard run by the same family just across the street. We remembered seeing on their tasting list some wines made with fruit from the farm. And since we’re out there picking up our CSA share every week, it would be pretty easy to just drop by and grab a couple of bottles to try.

So we did. We picked up “The Peach,” a 50/50 blend of peach wine and vidal blanc, and “The Strawberry,” a sweet dessert wine made with 90% strawberry wine and 10% red wine. We brought them along on our trip out of town this weekend so that we could share them around with family. You know, in the name of Science™. Continue reading →

The Features
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Why I Love DC: Cathy

Photo courtesy of
‘Shadow on the Mall’
courtesy of ‘CathyLovesDC’

Because, because, because… Why I love DC is always changing. I don’t know if it’s me growing or if it’s the city that’s actually changing. I can’t tell anymore. But I do know, that I didn’t love DC for a long time. I wanted to move to someplace more exciting: Paris, London, LA, San Francisco, Chicago! But I’m still here, so what’s keeping me here?

My first day in DC was when I moved into Georgetown. My dad was following me around with a camera the entire day, so that even when I’m not smiling, I can prove beyond a reasonable doubt that it was my first day in DC. I loved living in Georgetown. I loved that I could wander on to M Street for lunch and probably come back with bags and bags of new things from any number of stores. I loved that being in the middle of a large city gave me incredible part time job opportunities that other campuses didn’t have. But Georgetown is a bubble. Its quaint European-style streets and stores suck you in, and you have no reason to leave. Continue reading →

History, Monumental, The Features
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Monumental: Robert Emmet

Dublin Emmit Statue
Emmet statue in DC by Corinne Whiting

On a recent return trip to Dublin, Ireland, I happily killed some time strolling through the city oasis of St. Stephen’s Green. On my way out of the lush park, I meandered past a statue so familiar it brought me to a screeching halt. There stood a petticoat waistcoat-clad Robert Emmett (1778-1803)–bold jaw, foot forward, ready for battle. Now where I had seen this Irish patriot before?

But, of course. Where else but in DC, where memorials and monuments are so ubiquitous that many get passed without so much as a second glance. I too had been guilty of repeatedly strolling by this mystery man who reigns over a cozy triangular park near Massachusetts Avenue and 24th Street NW, having never stopped to learn his story. I vowed to visit him next time I found myself on embassy-lined Mass Ave.

Nestled beneath the branches of a Yoshino cherry tree, the DC Emmet stands on a granite pedestal just a few blocks from the Irish Embassy. This “boy martyr of Erin” appears mid-speech, one hand open in rhetorical gesture, the other somewhat clenched to display his “revolutionary spirit.” Emett’s father instilled in his sons a passion for Irish independence at a time when men and women-Catholic and Protestant-fought for freedom from Britain. Trinity College expelled the young Robert for his involvement in the 1798 rebellion and, in 1802, Emmet traveled to France as a member of the United Irishmen’s Party. Here he unsuccessfully appealed for French aid from Napoleon and Talleyrand. The following summer Emmet led an uprising outside of Dublin that British troops swiftly crushed. Emmet was executed (either hung or beheaded, accounts vary) on September 20, 1803 at the ripe age of 25.

Continue reading →

Entertainment, Food and Drink, Fun & Games, The Features, We Love Weekends
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We Love Weekends 8/22-23

"Lake Anna Lifeguard Stand" by needlessspaces, on Flickr

"Lake Anna Lifeguard Stand" by needlessspaces, on Flickr

Ah, one of the last summer weekends is upon us. The city is emptying out, you can have bar space to yourself, everyone’s baking in the heat and living slow. Enjoy.

Katie: It seems like DC’s disgustingly hot weather is going to keep up this weekend, so my plans will revolve around keeping cool. I’d happily take a day trip down to the beach at Lake Anna State Park outside of Fredericksburg, where you can soak up the sun on a sand beach, and float around in the huge lake. There’s even a snack shack with ice cream when you need a cool treat. To continue my plans to stay cool, I’ll probably be spending Saturday night on the roof deck at Eventide in Clarendon where they’ve built an entire food, wine and cocktail list revolving around cold. Sunday I’ll head over to my new Farmer’s Market crush, the small but loveable Columbia Pike market (props to WLDC author Donna for suggesting it to me!) and grab some watermelon for the fridge. The rest of Sunday will be spent indoors reveling in air conditioning catching up on summer flicks like (500) Days of Summer or Julie and Julia.

Jasmine: This weekend, I am venturing to a couple of places I’ve never been before. I pass the Postal Museum on my new commute, so I figure I better check that place out. Right now, they have an exhibition featuring alphabet stamps, which sounds like it will feed the word nerd in me. I also want to take a day trip to check out Great Country Farm’s outdoor laser tag setup in Bluemont, VA, which I read about a while ago. They have a lot of other activities, too (including a vineyard across the street) in case laser tag is a bust, but I am envisioning it something like the paintball scene in 10 Things I Hate About You.

Paulo: We’ll be at the Philips Collection to see Paint Made Flesh, an exhibit of modern post-World War II paintings of the human figure. Time permitting, we may also check out the Corcoran Gallery’s exhibition of William Eggleston’s Democratic Camera. Oh, and Alexandria residents may want to check out the current show of landscapes at The Art League Gallery, Torpedo Factory — especially since it includes a painting by (ahem) my wife.

Continue reading →

Getaways, The Features
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Getaways: Shepherdstown, WV

Photo courtesy of
‘Shepherdstown2’
courtesy of ‘macfanmd’

Grab your friends, pack the car and put on a big smile – it’s Getaways time everybody! This week we are taking an exciting and fascinating trip to a few small towns in wild and wonderful West Virginia. WV is super far, it’s nowhere near here. It must be hundreds of miles away and you have to drive on dirt roads for hours upon hours through overgrown brush just to get there. Oh, and of course there’s the dodging of shotgun toting rednecks as you drive through the endless hills. Right? Right? Wait…WRONG! If you think like this, like thousands of other DC area residents do, take a minute and slap yourself. Then repeat (except this time on the other side of your face, to prevent facial bruising of course).

Now that your face has healed, it’s reality check time. Harpers Ferry is 67.1 miles from the center of DC and accessible entirely by highways. Shepherdstown – just a few more miles and only one two lane, paved road needed. What’s that? You’ve heard of them-there towns? Tubing, white water rafting, a national park, hiking/camping, civil war battlefields and a town that looks the same as it did in 1861? Yep, that’d be Harpers Ferry. A quaint little artisan town, on the Potomac river, filled with unique little shops, art galleries and eateries, home of the very first steamboat, an accepting and socially progressive culture and host to a historic, growing, top rated small public university? Shepherdstown it is. Nestled amongst natural beauty that beats anything you could have expected from a quick drive outside I-495, this little duo of WV small towns cannot be beat. Throw in the county seat, the historic town of Charles Town, and you get a trifecta of small town life with endless possibilities for an incredible getaway.

Continue reading →

History, Interviews, People, Scribblings
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Scribblings: Haynes & Klehr

Photo courtesy of
‘Soviet Unterzoegersdorf’
courtesy of ‘boklm’

In 1993, former KGB officer Alexander Vassiliev was permitted unique access to Stalin-era records of Soviet intelligence operations against the United States. Vassiliev subsequently shared the notes he took with Library of Congress historian John Earl Haynes and Emory University professor Harvey Klehr. Together they have written an extraordinarily detailed and shocking account of the KGB’s espionage successes in America, including penetrations of American government and industry at the highest levels. The authors expose Soviet spy tactics and techniques and shed new light on many controversial issues, including Alger Hiss’s cooperation with Soviet intelligence, KGB recruitment of muckraking journalist I.F. Stone, and Ernest Hemingway’s meetings with KGB agents. Join John Earl Haynes and Harvey Klehr, authors of Spies: The Rise and Fall of the KGB in America, at a special free lunchtime chat and booksigning event at the International Spy Museum on Thursday, August 20 from noon to 1 p.m. (No tickets required.)

A special Q&A with the authors after the jump. Continue reading →

Sports Fix, The Daily Feed
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Nats Offer Dollar Ball, First Look at Strasburg on Friday

Photo courtesy of
‘Batter up’
courtesy of ‘afagen’

The Nationals are offering $1 seats in the lower bowl for Friday’s game against the Brewers, and also offering a look at pitching phenom Stephen Strasburg’s first press conference at Nats Park at 2pm on Friday. The conference will be followed with a Q&A with various Nationals players and front office staff in a Town Hall format that, for once, won’t feature the words “Health Care”, “Nazis” and “Barney Frank“. We’re also pretty sure no one will be outside this Town Hall with AR-15s.

If you missed the parcel of tickets that went on sale for $1 today, there’s another set of 1,000 seats that go on sale on Friday at noon, so get your clicking fingers ready, Nats fans!