Category Archives: The Features

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

Capital Chefs, Food and Drink, The Features
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Capital Chefs: Nate Garyantes of Ardeo + Bardeo (Part 1)

Photo courtesy of
‘Nate Garyantes of Ardeo + Bardeo’
courtesy of ‘bonappetitfoodie’

When I talk to chefs about their lives and their careers, I always find it interesting how their upbringing and childhood plays a part. For Nate Garyantes, executive chef at Ardeo + Bardeo, growing up in a family that owned a restaurant made him hesitant to become a chef. “Initially, I felt it wasn’t for me,” he says. Seeing his father, the restaurant owner, work long hours and spend time away from their family made Garyantes pause before deciding to work in the restaurant industry.

So instead of enlisting in a kitchen crew, Garyantes joined the army for three years where he earned an Expert Infantry Badge. Afterwards, he moved to Hawaii where he started working in restaurants, at first in the front of house and later in the kitchen. “I fell in love with all of the fresh fruits, vegetables and fish Hawaii had to offer,” he says. It seemed that the kitchen was calling him.

After time in Hawaii, Garyantes moved to Delaware, where he became the executive chef and owner of Restaurant 821 which earned Zagat’s highest rating for food in Delaware. In DC, he was previously the executive sous chef at Jose Andres’ Cafe Atlantico and later worked at Minibar. Throughout all the different restaurants and cooking various types of food, Nate had one thing to say, “It doesn’t matter what I’m cooking, so long as it’s executed properly.”

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Entertainment, Life in the Capital, The Features, We Love Arts
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Do DC Millennials Care About Art?

Photo courtesy of
‘(065/365)’
courtesy of ‘kimberlyfaye’

Last night a friend pulled up an article on her phone that she said I simply had to read. It was a piece on the Huffington Post by Michael Kaiser, president of the Kennedy Center, bemoaning the lack of exposure to the arts by Millennials. Among other things, he points out what he calls the “low culture IQ” of twentysomethings who may have achieved a great deal already in their chosen professional fields, but have little knowledge about or even interest in attending a theater performance or going to an art gallery. The bottom line for Kaiser is the fear of what happens when Millenials hit middle age and are in a financial position to help the arts – will they?

As a member of Generation X, I always find the anxiety of the Boomers over whether the Millennials will take care of them to be mildly humorous, considering those fears were also expressed about us, and every generation hits that fear eventually. We’re now finding ourselves being asked to join boards of directors of arts institutions and worthy non-profits. What happened to being called lazy slackers in our crazy clubkid days? After years of being asked to go in the servants’ entrance it’s always funny when they finally let you in the front door.

Joking aside, I definitely feel passionate about the future of the arts and of course I want to help in their support. When I’m out reviewing, to my untrained statistical eye it seems like DC audiences are relatively mixed in age. However, lately I’ve been hearing the same question over and over from different theater companies – how do we get young audiences in? By young, they mean Millennials, though at times they even stretch the age range up to the late thirties, which shows just how dire the lack of attendance might be.

So, I want to hear from you. Here in DC we seem to have an amazing array of opportunities to enjoy the arts. But is Kaiser right in his worry that Millennials have little to no exposure to the arts, and consequently won’t support them? How often do you attend theater performances, art exhibits, concerts – and what makes you choose the ones you do? Is it a question of interest, or of being able to afford it? Please sound off! I’d love to hear what you think of Kaiser’s views and whether, in DC at least, you see it as an accurate crisis.

Update: There’s a backlash growing in the arts community to Kaiser’s post. Read more reactions from 2AMt and Tipping Over Backwards.

Food and Drink, Special Events, The Features, We Love Drinks
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Drinks Special: ARTINI 2011

Photo courtesy of
‘Drinks stations at ARTINI 2011’
courtesy of ‘Jenn Larsen’

It’s no secret that cocktails and art fuel my life. To have both combined together in one heady mix makes for glamour overload. Last Saturday night saw me at such an event, the annual ARTINI gala at the Corcoran Gallery of Art, hosted by the 1869 Society. I’ve said it before, and I’m not ashamed to repeat that being asked to serve on the judging panel of the first Critic’s Choice was a great honor and one of the high points so far of my We Love DC life.

With an estimated attendance of 750 guests mingling under classical columns in the long red gallery, dressed in the first finery of spring, it was a gorgeous scene. After my judging duties were over I stood on the marble steps just watching the crowd, marveling at how much DC has changed in the two decades I’ve been here. There was a vibrant energy, combined with a fashion sense ranging from quirkily vintage to elegantly artsy. My guest, no slouch herself when it comes to fashion and art, described it as “an eye candy madhouse.”

But this isn’t a social column! ARTINI is first and foremost an event designed to showcase the glory of the Corcoran’s collection as it inspires 12 local mixologists to be daring and creative. We already know the winner of both the Critic’s Choice and the Washingtonian Fan Favorite was Ronald Flores of Art and Soul‘s Coleman’s Juice. The Critic’s Choice was a tight race with Joe Ambrose of POV‘s Joan’s Palate coming in at second by only 0.1, rounded out by Brent Davis from AGAINN‘s The Fall of Grace. In the Fan Favorite, Brent took second and Cafe Atlantico‘s Owen Thompson’s Daisy If You Do… took third.

How did all the drinks fare? As judges we had to consider three elements – taste, presentation, and connection to the inspiration art. Trying to hit all three buttons isn’t easy.

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We Love Weekends
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We Love Weekends, April 9-10

Photo courtesy of
‘field of magnolias’
courtesy of ‘ekelly80’

Patrick: I am starting my weekend early with Tacos are a well known We Love DC household. Friday I will be lending a hand with the Arlington Player’s production of 42nd Street. Saturday I will be celebrating a birthday at a new Sports bar on U Street: Touchdown. I will be ending my weekend at Signature Theatre to review their production of Art. That’s how I do my weekends: fast and furious.

Marissa: After a whirlwind week, I’m hoping to achieve my usual lofty weekend aspiration of getting a little culture and some good food. This week marked the start of the 25th annual Filmfest DC and so Friday or Saturday I’m planning on catching an Italian film, Loose Cannons. Filmfest DC runs until April 17th and you get tickets for just $11. Saturday afternoon I’ll be checking out Pleasant Pops Popapalooza in Mt. Pleasant which is running from 11 am until 3 pm. There will be live music with local DC bands, and the Big Cheese Truck and PORC Mobile will also be there. Here’s to hoping it’s sunny and warm! Continue reading →

Comedy in DC, The Features
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Comedy in DC: Allyson Jaffe

Allyson Dress

I spent a cold Spring Sunday with Allyson Jaffe, the co-owner, manager, and prinicipal of the comedy school at the DC Improv. We met up over at the Caribou Coffee near the club. I was little upset that I had to wear a jacket that day. The planet is definitely taking its sweet time adjusting to the warmer weather. What’s the deal Earth? I put my recyclables in the blue bin. Let’s step it up! Anyway, the conversation I had with Allyson warmed my day. Continue reading →

Entertainment, Music, We Love Music
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We Love Music: The Black Angels @ 9:30 Club, 4/3/11

IMG_9577
all photos by author.

On Sunday night The Black Angels played at 9:30 Club for the second time in six months. Last time they were in town, they opened for Black Mountain. This time at bat The Black Angels headlined the show, which gave them more time to marinate the audience in their dark psych-rock sound. The club was about two-thirds full, which made for a decent-sized crowd while leaving plenty of empty space for their guitars and vocals to swirl around in. The name of the game was “atmosphere” as The Black Angels enhanced their bad acid trip soundtracks with minimal red and purple lighting casting long shadows, occasionally interrupted by seizure-inducing strobes. The stage back-drop looked simple enough with its a wavy black and white pattern, but eventually continued the theme of acid freak-out as it created a number of optical illusions as different lights and projections bounced off of it. The best way to enjoy the show was to immerse yourself in The Black Angels’ audio-visual soup. Which is exactly what I did.

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Talkin' Transit
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Talkin’ Transit: The Longest Walk

Photo courtesy of
‘portraVC_TEST_ROLL6’
courtesy of ‘dr_kim_veis [”o ]’

One thousand one hundred feet. Does that sound like too long of a walk? What if you had bags and were headed to an airport?

That was the decision in front of the Washington Metropolitan Airports Authority Dulles Corridor Committee this morning, and it seems the answer was, “yes, it is too far to walk.” The committee, as reported by WTOP’s Adam Tuss, voted to support a below ground station that would bring the Metrorail extension to Dulles about 500 feet from the terminal.

The problem is that this is going to come at an additional cost of about $300 million. That’s roughly half a million dollars per foot that we move closer to the terminal.

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Entertainment, Fun & Games, Music, We Love Music
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The Winning Ticket: The Dirty Heads

As a way to say thanks to our loyal readers, We Love DC will be giving away a pair of tickets to a 9:30 Club concert to one lucky reader each week. Check back here every Wednesday morning at 9am to find out what tickets we’re giving away and leave a comment for your chance to be the lucky winner!

Two tickets to see The Dirty Heads at 9:30 Club on Monday, April 11th. You know you want them…

For your chance to win these tickets simply leave a comment on this post using a valid email address between 9am and 4pm today. One entry per email address, please. If today doesn’t turn out to be your lucky day, check back here each Wednesday for a chance to win tickets to other great concerts. Tickets for this concert are available on Ticketfly.

For the rules of this giveaway…
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Sports Fix, The Daily Feed
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For first time in three years, Wizards win a 3rd straight game

Photo courtesy of
‘John Wall | Wizards’
courtesy of ‘Danilo.Lewis|Fotography’

Like a lot of things, basketball works in mysterious ways. If Austin Daye’s buzzer-beating three-point shot Tuesday night had done what many thought it was going to do and rattled through the net, Washington’s 107-105 win over the Detroit Pistons would instead have gone down as one of the three most excruciating losses of a largely excruciating season (my top two being the 95-94 home loss to Miami on December 18, the day the Gilbert Arenas trade was officially announced and the Wizards blew a four-point lead with 17 seconds remaining, and the 100-99 home loss to Orlando on November 27 that was settled with a Dwight Howard baby hook).

But Daye’s shot didn’t rattle through the net. Instead, it rattled back out, leaving the Wizards players shaken by just how close a call they’d had. “I’ve never seen [a shot like that],” said John Wall after the game. “I’ve never seen one go all the way in like that before coming out.”

“We’ve lost enough tough ones,” Flip Saunders said ruefully after the game. “We deserve a little bit of luck. That last one was definitely pretty right on.” Continue reading →

Entertainment, Music, We Love Music
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We Love Music: Sara Bareilles @ Rams Head Live!, 4/3/11

DSC05141-1
all photos by Mike Kurman

After I heard that he was a big fan, I asked guest reviewer and concert photographer, Mike Kurman to cover the Sara Bareilles concert for We Love DC.

On a cold, rainy Sunday night in Baltimore, Sara Bareilles grabbed hold of the diverse, multi-aged crowd and didn’t let go for her hour and forty minute set. Rarely have I seen a performer with such confidence as Bareilles. Supporting the excellent ‘Kaleidoscope Heart’ LP, Bareilles came out with a backing four piece band that was equally energetic and extremely tight. There was no warming up or easing into the set. Barielles came out banging on the keys of a royal blue baby grand while swaying, swerving, and singing. Her voice didn’t crack once throughout the evening, not one note was sour or even close to off key, as it echoed off the industrial brick walls of Rams Head Live! as if it was a temple. The performance was downright flawless.

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The Features
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Virginia Tourism, NPS, “Art” and Advertising Money

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

You may have noticed the sculpture of the word “LOVE” erected in Dupont Circle last week. While it was billed as an art installation, it was actually part of an ad blitz done for the Virginia Tourism campaign, and the Park Service isn’t happy at all about being lied to.  According to Lydia DePillis from the City Paper, the installation was removed with prejudice Friday.

Virginia Tourism took down their blog posting on the takeover, but the press release remains online.

What would an ad like that cost, though? I know you can’t buy ad space in Dupont Circle, as it’s Park Service land and they don’t permit advertising on public land, even in DC, but I did some talking to media buyers today, and came up with some numbers.

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Sports Fix, The Features
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Opening Day Disparities

Photo courtesy of
‘Pickle’s Pub’
courtesy of ‘pvsbond’

Yesterday afternoon in the perfect weather in Baltimore, 46,593 fans turned out at Camden Yards to watch the Orioles open their home season against the Detroit Tigers. A technical sellout for the O’s, while the Nationals drew 2,000 under the capacity for Nationals Park. The weather couldn’t have been more different, and the atmosphere in Baltimore yesterday was of a different character than that of Washington. Two ballparks, both palaces of the sport, but two very different crowds. Why? What essential character is present in Baltimore that is lacked in DC?

It could be a matter of longevity of fanbase, that much is true. The Orioles’ roots in Baltimore go back to 1954, but the franchise is one of the original eight franchises in American League baseball, tracing its heritage to the St. Louis Browns and the Milwaukee Brewers. Their first few seasons, as well as the Nationals’, were rough. From 1954 through 1959, the team spent six seasons in the cellar of their division. In 1959, going 74-80, they finished 6th of 8, and 7th of 8 in attendance, much as the Nationals have done. With 50 years of additional history, you’re going to build a lot of loyalty, especially with three World Series titles, three additional league pennants, and four more playoffs appearances. So yes, a longevity of franchise can build camaraderie through suffering and through success.

But what of atmosphere and ambiance? It’s hard not to see the significant differences between Nationals Park and Camden Yards. Where Nationals Park has nothing but the Bullpen (an ad-hoc space barely constructed over an empty lot), Camden Yards has a number of nearby options for revelry and a strong vendor culture. The street meat is strong in Baltimore, but weak in DC. Let’s look at some that, shall we? Continue reading →

Featured Photo, The Features
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Featured Photo

Photo courtesy of
‘Vintage’
courtesy of ‘kimberlyfaye’

This shot could have been taken fifty years ago. A slightly rusty 1950s era Chevrolet Styleline Deluxe, parked on the cobblestones near a tram line in Georgetown. About the only thing in this shot that looks out of place is the parking sign, but who knows?

Kim Baker‘s processing of the shot also adds a hint of “vintage” without overdoing it or distracting from the composition and subject of the shot.

Entertainment, The Features, We Love Arts
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We Love Arts: Photograph 51

Elizabeth Rich and Alexander Strain in Theater J's "Photograph 51." Photo credit: Stan Barouh.

Biographical plays can be tricky. The best – works like Peter Shaffer’s Amadeus or Hugh Whitemore’s Breaking the Code – have come to brilliantly define the genre but also created conventions that theater audiences now take for granted. There are the poetic monologues illustrating the main character’s motivations, the chorus or narrator trying to shape the life for you (either trustworthily or not), crazy jumps in time, and an overall attempt to make some philosophical sense out of a life. The pitfall is, a life may not necessarily have a theme other than the playwright’s desire for one.

Playwright Anna Ziegler teases some sadly beautiful metaphors out of the life of scientist Rosalind Franklin in Photograph 51, now playing at Theater J. It’s a swift ninety minute production with no intermission, befitting the race it depicts but perhaps also the difficulty in breathing theatrical life into what was an intellectual and lonely pursuit. If you have a young niece or daughter whose interest in science you want to encourage, this may be the play to take her to – or not, considering it’s a deeply discouraging look at the boys’ club Dr. Franklin struggled against in her quest to map the contours of the DNA molecule.

It’s this struggle that Ziegler focuses on, and she makes us feel it keenly. We cringe every time the mature and learned Dr. Franklin is addressed by her backbiting colleagues as “Miss Franklin.” But there’s something else going on here as well, the suggestion that it was this prejudice alone that resulted in her not being the first to win the DNA mapping race. Does Ziegler want us to be convinced of that at the play’s end, or is it simply that Franklin’s pride was the block to success? Continue reading →

Entertainment, Music, We Love Music
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We Love Music: Tim Reynolds @ Blues Alley, 4/1/11


all photos by author.

As a photographer, I’ve never had band management ask me to check on a venue’s photography policy. But when Tim Reynolds publicist sent an email asking me to check on the photo policy for Blues Alley in Georgetown, I hopped on the phone.

“Yes, I’m a photographer and I’m scheduled to shoot the Tim Reynolds show you have coming up. What’s your photo policy?”

“We have no photo policy.”

“Oh, ok. So I’m good to go, anything else?”

“No, it’s a ‘no photo policy.’ We don’t allow photos at all.”

“Uh….”

“But you can shoot the soundcheck if it’s okay with Tim’s management.”

Score.

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News, People, Special Events, The Features
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We Love Sports: The U.S. Armed Forces Wheelchair Basketball Game

Photo by Rachel Levitin

Billy Demby travels to Walter Reed Medical Center to coach their wheelchair basketball team two times a week for two hours at a time. Demby, a Vietnam veteran and bilateral amputee himself, coached the All-Marine wheelchair basketball team to win gold in the 2010 Inaugural Warrior Games before starting with Walter Reed a couple years back.

The 2011 Walter Reed wheelchair basketball team is one of many participating in the Wounded Worrier Project. The Wounded Warrior Project is a non-profit organization founded in 2002 dedicated to honoring and empowering wounded warriors. Walter Reed’s team is also one of three teams who have participated in the U.S. Armed Forces Wheelchair Basketball Game two times since the game’s inaugural event last year.

This year’s U.S. Armed Forces Wheelchair Basketball Game was played Thursday, March 31 at American University’s Bender Arena and Demby’s Walter Reed players took the court against the National Rehabilitation Hospital Ambassadors.

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Sports Fix, The Daily Feed
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Nationals lose laugher to Braves 11-2

Photo courtesy of
‘scooting through’
courtesy of ‘philliefan99’

April baseball can be a peculiar thing. The Nationals today displayed that peculiarity in all of its ugliness before a crowd of 22,210, surrendering 11 runs to the Braves,

Despite a month of Spring Training ball, both the Braves and Nationals made some ugly miscues in the field this afternoon.  In the bottom of the first, Braves’ veteran Chipper Jones crossed in front of Jayson Werth on the basepath, inciting a collision that threw Werth off his balance and cost him a few steps. He turned 3rd and headed for home to be thrown out, but awarded the run on obstruction.

Twice the Nationals’ outfielders ran into trouble with balls in the right-center gap, with Werth and Ankiel having some miscommunication over who was playing lead.  The biggest defensive trouble came from Danny Espinosa today, whose efforts in the fifth formally cost him an error and the Nationals a run, but that was just one of four plays on the day that hurt the Nationals in the field.

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capitals hockey, Sports Fix, The Daily Feed
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Ovechkin’s OT winner sends Caps to the top of the East

Photo courtesy of
‘ovi en fuego…’
courtesy of ‘choofly’

Alexander Ovechkin scored the game-winning goal with 1:41 remaining in overtime to give the Washington Capitals a 5-4 overtime win over the Buffalo Sabres in a weird and wild game Saturday night at the Verizon Center. The win moved the Caps to the top of the Eastern Conference by one point over the idle Philadelphia Flyers, though Philadelphia does have a game in hand.

However thrilling the win was to the 18,398 fans who made up the 100th consecutive sellout crowd for a Capitals home game, Capitals coach Bruce Boudreau was in a less-than-celebratory mood at his postgame press conference.

“I’m concerned with the process of how we played,” Boudreau said, “I thought it was way too close to looking like last year.” Continue reading →

Sports Fix, The Features
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Blatche, Crawford lead Wizards over Cavs

Photo courtesy of
‘Wizards’
courtesy of ‘erin m’

Andray Blatche tied his career-high point total with 36, and set a new career-high rebounding total with 19 as the Washington Wizards held off the Cleveland Cavaliers 115-107 Friday night at the Verizon Center. Playing without John Wall, who was serving a one-game suspension for throwing a punch at Miami Heat center Zydrunas Ilgauskas Wednesday night, the Wizards (19-56) became the first team in NBA history to have two rookies record triple-doubles in the same season after Jordan Crawford scored 21 points, dished 11 assists, and grabbed 10 rebounds (recording career-highs in the latter two categories). Wall recorded the other triple-double by a first-year player when he had 19 points, 13 assists, and 10 rebounds against Houston November 10.

It would be easier to get excited about Crawford’s and Blatche’s achievements if they hadn’t come against a truly execrable Cleveland (15-60) team featuring Baron Davis, perhaps the biggest waste of NBA talent over the last 15 years (True to form, Davis managed 10 points and 11 assists, but went 2-for-8 from beyond the three-point line and 4-for-12 from the field with a plus/minus of -11). But it also won’t do to be too churlish, as Wizards coach Flip Saunders came roaring into the media room after the game full of praise for his team’s effort.

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