Do you enjoy the fancy Red Rocks Pizza? I know I love its bar and outdoor patio. But like their all Flash website, they’re more style than substance. Yes, they have good beers, but the food… I’ve had better. Specifically, I’ve had Moroni & Brother’s pizza.

Now starting off, the restaurant on Georgia Avenue at Delafeild, isn’t much to look at. It doesn’t have outdoor seating. Its not packed with the young and hip Columbia Heights crowd. It doesn’t even have a bar.

You could best describe it as a humble first business by Denis and Reyna Velasquez, who have been managing Pizzeria Paradiso in Dupont Circle and Georgetown for the past 15 years.

But that would be an understatement.

Oh.My.God! The food is gooood! First off, the pizza, thin crust with multiple vegetarian options, is stunning. Better yet, they have a full menu that spans form Salvadorian tamales for breakfast to Mexican enchiladas for lunch to mariscos specialties for dinner.

My favorite: the whole marinated fish.

See, I am particular about my tilapia. First I want it whole. No wasteful and tasteless fillet that insults the life taken for my meal. I wanna see the head, look my meal in the eye, and fight over the cheek meat – the best always. When I am done, even the cats go hungry.

And I’m not the only one that ♥ Moroni & Borthers. Just check out Prince of Petworth’s love, the review on Yep, and even Sveilks on DCist agree that Moroni rocks over the Red.

Better yet, Moroni delivers! Yes, you read that right. You don’t even need to visit the restaurant to enjoy their stunningly good food. Just pick up the phone and call 202.829.2090 for the best meal you’ll have all week.

But what I think is best of all is the owners attitude. From the very onset, they’ve been open to suggestions both online and in person. They are also quick to customize and overall, the nicest folk. Last but not least, unlike Red Rocks, you can always get a seat.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

Ah, Georgetown! Once I thought of it as “that snooty place I never go to because the rich preppy folk didn’t want a Metro stop*,” but having recently taken a job there, I’ve discovered — and maybe even grown to love — that historic part of DC.

This part of Georgetown wasn’t always so swanky — an old friend from church who grew up in 1950s DC regaled me with stories about how none of the kids ever went to Georgetown back in his youth because it was a slum, and the canal stunk up everything below M Street. Georgetown was just recovering from its days as an early 20th Century industrial center at the time, with factories, mills, rendering plants and a streetcar power station dotting the slope down to the waterfront. But then came the Kennedies, and the Watergate went from literal canal “gate to the water” to swanky hotel-condo-office development, and the mills and stacks and rowhouses were closed down and demolished or repurposed into shops and malls and restaurants and bars, and soon the gentrification migrated down, till the Georgetown we know today — stilleto heels and popped collars and all — filled the space from Glover Park and Social Safeway to the theaters and harbor under the Whitehurst.

Walking Washingtonians, don’t let the distance from a Metro stop deter you from paying Georgetown a visit once in a while; it’s actually a lot closer than you think. There’s three ways to get to Georgetown on foot from Foggy Bottom /GWU Metro if you don’t want to wait for the shuttle bus:

1. The Pennsylania Avenue Way: If you’ve ever walked over to Trader Joe’s from Foggy Bottom/GWU Metro, you’ve already made it more than halfway. Just keep going up Penn Ave till you pass the Salvation Army building, cross the bridge over Rock Creek, pass two or three panhandlers, and when you see Four Seasons Hotel and a Lukoil gas station, you’ve made it.
2. The K Street Way: Alternatively, you can go west along K Street to where it meets the Whitehurst off-ramp, where after two or three pedestrian crossings and a down-ramp you emerge near the theaters, but I hate walking there. The interchange makes for a vulnerable crossing and the waterfront under the Whitehurst is anything but picturesque outside of the harbor. It is, however, the shortest walk, but my least favorite.
3. The Watergate Way: This is the longest, most roundabout stroll, but it’s nice and scenic. From the metro, cross the GWU plaza and go down New Hampshire Ave to Virginia Ave and the Watergate, then just keep walking down Virginia Ave till you get to Rock Creek Parkway, where you’ll have to push a walk button. The timing of the pedestrian crosswalk light is surprisingly nice to bikers and walkers (probably to the detriment of motor traffic), and you won’t have to wait long for the walk sign. Cross the little bridge over to Thompson Boat House, turn right, and you’ll find yourself walking along the Potomac with a nice view of Roosevelt Island and the Key Bridge. The route to K Street is just a short step up through Washington Harbour.

I hope this helps any fresh carless DC newbies who might feel intimidated by the prospect of trekking to Georgetown, like I did until this year. It turned out to be not so hard; now I do it all week.

See it on Google Maps.

* The truth of the matter, according to The Great Society Subway, is that a Georgetown Metro station would have been prohibitively difficult and expensive from an engineering and legal standpoint, requiring a deep dig under private buildings.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

Our friends in Boston who purchased some furniture during the pre-season are going to get their purchase prices refunded because the Sox won the series.

We can get a free taco if we go to Taco Bell between 2pm and 5pm tomorrow. Beef variety, by the way, though perhaps they’ll give you one with just veggies, Carl.

As if having the Nationals rather than the Sox wasn’t punishment enough. This is just MEAN.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

If you like your theatrical experiences a little more highfalutin than spoken word poets, how about a little Marlowe? Christopher, not Philip. The Shakespeare Theater is kicking off a new program designed to put more youthful butts in seats and it’s pretty cool. If you happen to be a year or two *cough* younger than me you can take advantage of their new 20/10 program. 20 seats in every single production that week (minus Friday and Saturday) will be set aside to be sold for $10 to anyone 35 or younger. Considering the seats normally run up to $55, that’s a pretty nice deal.

The seats are released every week starting at 10am on Tuesday for the shows through that Sunday. You just need to show up at the Sidney Harman Hall Box Office at 610 F St. NW with ID in hand, otherwise they’ll have to saw you in half and count the rings.

If you’re a little more on the decrepit side you can still enjoy the kickoff for this new program. According to the press release, all the seats for the November 6th opener of Tamburlaine will be sold for $10 when the program’s first week starts tomorrow morning at 10am.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

Well, the DC Cabbies are about to have their revenge on the city for the declaration of meters. Wednesday, coincidentally that’s Halloween, there will be a taxi-cab strike.

Except that there are multiple taxi-cab groups, not all of whom will be striking. So, there will just be fewer taxis on the street, not that you could get one to actually stop for you, ever. So, if you’re headed out in the District for a halloween event, take public transit, or plan on having a Designated Driver instead of planning to hail a cab.

Don’t give into these crazies advocating the return of the craptacular zone system which benefit only the cabbies.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

Sure, they call it the Rumbler, but it’s the same concept that sent a woman over the edge on the Howard Stern Show. The idea being, the car puts out some subsonic rumble for 10 seconds or so, causing everyone within 200 feet to turn and wonder if there’s been a localized earthquake, or if perhaps a building had come down, but I guess it’s more effective in our solitude-obsessed iPod society. It’ll certainly make you take notice.

Personally, this quote from the article made me laugh aloud and wonder if the city’s on a bender: “Lanier added an aside about the Rumbler: ‘Cops love new toys.'”

Yes. They love new toys. I know this is off the cuff, I know it’s meant in good humor, but I get the impression that these days, humor might not be in the department’s best interests, given that their officers have been arrested (and convicted!) for stealing from victims, as well as the ongoing investigation regarding the shooting death of Deonte Rawlings in Southeast, maybe now’s not the best time for humor from the chief?

Regardless, make sure to get out of the way if you suddenly feel the ground shaking, it’s probably just the Police asking to get by, as we live in a fairly stable geological region.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

It’s hard for me to believe it’s only been a year since I went to the ACLU’s 2006 member conference kickoff, but sure enough, Oct 16 2006 says my byline. At the time I said that the highlight of the evening was Steve Connell and Sekou (tha misfit), much to my surprise. I put up some clips that failed to meet WebJedi’s standards and I’m happy to say there’s several better ones to eyeball and a number of audio clips too.

If you’d rather enjoy the energy they bring to a live performance, you could hie yourself over to Signature Theater and see the production of The Word Begins. $40 might be a little more than you’re used to paying for spoken word, but maybe there’s a discount code out there somewhere, hmm?

Or, for the low price of free (well, not free but paid for indirectly) you could go see them at the Arlington Central library during the monthly FROM PAGE TO STAGE event done in partnership with Signature. It’s from 7 to 8pm tonight and no reservations are required. Just show up, and say hi if you spot me – I’m not going to miss a chance to see them again.

Arlington Central Library
1015 North Quincy Street
Arlington, VA 22201

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

Wandering through Golden Gate Park in San Francisco today, BB and I came across the most interesting sight.

Our collective first thought: imagine a Wonders of Cannabis festival on the National Mall. Now wouldn’t that be groovy? And impossible.

DC is way too uptight to be San Francisco cool.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

Look what all this rain has found in my roof: a brand new leak.

Thanks for the tip Mother Nature. I will be sure to fix the roof before winter snows make it worse.

For those that are counting, I am using the amazing safety pin and string in the paint bubble method to drain water before it seeps down the walls.

What is your rainy weekend find?

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

Hey! SciFi! What the hell is up with the neglect? Why no BSG movie preview lovin’ for DC?

As if it was not enough that I was left hanging months ago, literally jumping out of my seat and screaming at my television at the end of the season finale, now I’m going to be taunted by my twitterfolk in Chicago, Boston, LA, Seattle, and NYC that they’ve seen it a full twelve days early.

Are we not geeky enough for you? Are we not sufficiently devoted to political intrigue presented in a space milieu? If you prick us, DO WE NOT BLEED?!?

My tortured fangirl’s heart weeps.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

Jens Lekman may be trying to steal my boyfriend. As we strolled down the moist, chilly blocks from Lekman’s Black Cat performance last night, all my date could talk about was how sweet and charming Jens was, his lovely voice, and general awesomeness. Not that the Swedish indie pop signer’s charms were lost on me, mind you. There is good reason that, in their review of his most recent record, Night Falls Over Kortedala, Pitchfork praised his “boyfriendable baritone” and why few writers even try to avoid mentioning his dreamy smile. At his best, Lekman leans his head back and beams like Snoopy doing his happy dance and gives off an air of clever contentment.

On his records, Lekman relies heavily on an effective and sophisticated use of samples to back his sweet and witty lyrics with layers of strings, horns, and piano, drawing heavily from disco and Motown sounds (both vintage and current). From this, I had expected a live performance more akin to Atom & His Package or any of the dude-accompanying-a-laptop shows I have seen lately. Instead, a band of seven impressive multi-instrumentalists dressed in matching white outfits plays much of it live, along with Lekman himself playing guitar and occasional keyboard. The six young women played various combinations of drums, bass, timpani, saxophone, trumpet, and triangle, among other things, over the course of the night, along with a male dj/sample triggerer/laptop guy. During a particularly cheerful moment, they all put down their gear and performed a minute-long airplane dance during a long, bouncy sample.

For all the infrastructure Lekman brought to the stage, and all the energy and enthusiasm that went into the big, danceable, production-number tracks, he is at least as compelling when things quiet down. For songs like the aching “The Cold Swedish Winter” or poignant “Shirin” (about an Iraqi refugee hairdresser), Jens was left alone on the stage, with only his guitar to accompany him. For his final song, he employed an agreeable audience for finger-snapping percussion and backing vocals, something he would sweetly call “The most beautiful version of that song I have ever heard.”

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

This was sent special to Metroblogging DC today.

It was fitting that Mahalo published “How to Make Perfect Bacon” on the same day that Hudson Restaurant officially opened, taking over the same space of the former David Greggory restaurant, because this means we’ll have to make our bacon on our own and won’t be able to rely on Chef Greggory anymore.
 
Chef Greggory loved pork – he roasted a pig on Wednesdays for a Pork and Pinot Happy Hour and made a variety of happy hour treats, including my favorite – pulled pork on a bacon-flecked buttermilk biscuit that was downright dangerous.
 
And then there were the bacon dinners.  Once a month, Chef Greggory served a six-course dinner with bacon as a featured ingredient in each course (yes, even dessert), with a matched wine accompanying.  Seated at large tables and ganged up with strangers, the bacon and wine made friends of everyone by the end.  Most were repeat attendees, so faces began to look familiar after a few months.  The best part?  Take home bacon – everyone went home with a pound of artisanal bacon and a catalog full of bacon products.
 
The day after a bacon dinner I had a client lunch scheduled, and she wanted to go to David Greggory.  I walked into the restaurant and Chef Greggory was sitting at the bar.  He turned to me in surprise and said, “What are you doing here?  You’re not out of bacon are you?”
 
I am now, Chef Greggory.  And we’ll miss you.

Lisa King is a writer and consultant in Arlington, VA

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

On a Scale of Zero to Sucktacular, I would put Kz’s House of Talent near the top of that scale. Their “comedy contest” tonight at Floyd’s (the best description of Floyd’s is that it’s a TGI Fridays that’s had its soul sucked out) was the single biggest entertainment lie I’ve been told since they tried to pass off Baltimore as DC in this summer’s Die Hard. I was expecting a great slate of comedians. I didn’t make it past the Emcee.

For my $10, I got the world’s worst DJ, a sound system that didn’t work, strobe lights that made me wonder if we were in a bad rave, and two R&B “acts” that could only charitably told to find day jobs and keep them. I felt really bad for the “opener” on the night, Mike Blejer, who was really quite funny, when the crowd could hear him. Sadly, the guys running the sound system were either deaf or unable to notice that the entire crowd at Floyd’s was asking them to turn it up. The representative for KZ’s House of “Talent” foisted her acts on us without warning, despite the event being advertised as a comedy night. They were so bad, I thought about going to the bathroom to hang myself, or using my fork to put holes in my eardrums.

Putting Blejer, who won the Improv’s Comedy Showcase in September, on in front of a dead crowd who couldn’t hear him was the first strike. The second strike was the really shitty R&B acts. I came to see comedy, not bad music in entertaining LED-blinking glasses. The third was the emcee. I understand that comedy is about laughs. I understand that not everything a comedian says on stage is true and actually fact. But that’s no reason to get up there and bag on your girlfriend for a good solid ten minutes. You don’t have to go right for the “my girlfriend so fat…” jokes.

That’s when I found out that my friend who was performing hadn’t been given a performance order, and had to pay part of the cover charge, that’s when we bailed. Don’t go to Kz’s events. You’ll just be annoyed that you spent money for nothing.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

“A D.C. police officer confessed in court today that, while responding to a false alarm at a Northeast Washington home in August, he swiped the owner’s credit card from a credenza while she was gone and tried to rack up thousands of dollars in charges.”

We’ve got enough problems in this town without the cops ending up as the bad guys. Apparently, the cop was also dumb enough to use his home phone as the number he called from to change her PIN, which was how he got caught. He used it at several area ATMs, on tape no less, so this was a pretty much slam-dunk case.

Between this guy and the questions being asked about the off-duty cops who shot that kid in the back in Southeast, one has to ask some serious questions about the MPD. Where the hell are you guys hiring?!

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

Just when you thought it couldn’t get any worse at the corner of Upshur Street and New Hampshire Avenue. That the Petworth Eyesore at 4143 New Hampshire Avenue NW couldn’t take it to that next level of ugly, it has.

Look at the Petworth Eyesore now. Notice anything missing? Like say a front porch?

Granted, the original porch wasn’t much to look at, but at least it was a porch so it matched the neighbourhood. Now the house, porchless, looks naked.

Here, take another look at the household degradation of a once majestic edifice. At this point, I only wish the contractor would go bankrupt and sell the house to a developer that would bulldoze and start new.

The house is well beyond saving now. And I’m not just talking about the porch, which was my last straw. Just look at the half-assed chimney. Now doesn’t that say “fire hazard” to you? It says melted vinyl siding and a housing code violation to me.

And maybe to the DCRA too. The Petworth eyesore trash is full of fresh PVC piping torn out to put a shower box in. Seems that the unlicensed plumber’s work wasn’t up to standards either.

Anybody got a sledgehammer, or better yet, a wrecking ball? I wanna set my own standards now.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

Continuing my posting run of crap-I-saw-on-the-internet, Consumerist today has a post talking about a DC reader’s cellphone bill. They claim it’s a luxury tax, though considering that Fenty carries multiple cellular devices that seems not to jibe with his definition of “luxury.” A commenter on their thread says that it’s a straight up utility tax which would be 10% for residentials and 11% for commercial, however.

The only problem with that is that from what we see of the existing bill it would seem to be $60 in old charges, $30 in new charges and then that almost $9 fee… which ain’t 10% of $30 by a factor of 3. I don’t have an AT&T bill handy so I don’t know – do “usage charges” break out separate from basic fees? $60 in base fees plus $30 in usage could make that $90 taxable, making the 10% number work.

I’ll admit to getting a chuckle from one of their other commenters saying “People from DC should still be operating under the 20 year moratorium that denies them the right to complain about anything relating to local government as a result of re-electing a crack head like Marion Barry.”

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

If you’re not a regular Boing Boing reader you might not have seen this post linking to a Guardian video of Dutch magician Wouter Bijdendijk – in his stage persona of Ramana – supposedly levitating in front of the White House.

Nothing on WaPo about it, or at least no hits on Bijdendijk or Ramana, so it could be bogus. Well-assembled if it’s fake, however.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

On any other day but today, I am always amazed at the number and variety of motorcycles lined up on M Street NW just before Connecticut Avenue.

Like the motorcycle parking at McPherson Square, the M Street lot attracts all types of bikes, from crotch-rockets to scooterists. Enough kinetic sculptures to temp anyone to ride.

But I do wonder about motorcyclists on rainy days. What happens to them then? Is it back to the Metro or cars, do they get rides with others, or is precipitation a good excuse to go back to bed?

For me, in this weather, its the latter, no matter the beauty of the bike. Because, of course, its all about the hair.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

The good news is that rain is likely through the week till Saturday. The bad news is that rain is likely through the week till Saturday.

The warmth of an oddly over-long October summer (not to be confused with The September that Never Ended) has finally given way to a slow-moving cold front coming up from the south, bringing much-needed rain to relieve the drought, and gray and gloomy days for the rest of the work-week. This may well be the front that finally ushers in Fall for real — but then that’s what we thought the last time the temperatures dropped.

So have an umbrella handy, and break out the light sweaters. If you haven’t gotten a flu shot yet, schedule it up — colder temperatures can mean lower immune resistance and more people crowding into indoor spaces where a cough or a sneeze is more likely to catch you. Wash hands often and don’t touch your nose or mouth before washing. Use an extra paper towel to open public restroom doors from the inside. Germs. They’re everywhere. Bring your own utensils to restaurants, too. Keep a strong alcohol-based hand sanitizer on you at all times. And wear tissue boxes on your feet. Yes, yes, that’ll keep those microbes away!

Ahem.

As always, Capital Weather is on top of things, and the NWS Northeast Radar Mosaic lets you obsessively keep track of precipitation as it moves up the coast.

Also a good time to stock up on hot chocolate. Heat will kill germs.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

Wonkette alerts us to a bloody-handed protester attempting to smear Condi Rice with fake blood just before a House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing today, only to be dragged off by security.

This immediately got me wondering whether the protester in question, named Desiree Farooz, is local. A quick search shows that she isn’t, as she was previously interviewed on SHALOMSALAAMPEACE as being bused in by Code Pink from Texas. Now we know what she was on that bus for.

This is where I nod my head to Wayan’s beat.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs