By Addison H
‘Pleasant Pops Food Truck’
courtesy of ‘Mr. T in DC’
Has the recent increase in temperature got you itching to get outside and enjoy the sunshine? Well stop gazing out the window and make your way to street level to find something delicious for lunch.
Click on through for our ThestrEATS-powered lunch map to find your favorite food truck and have a wonderful weekend!
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Who is Arcade Fire? Beats me. What is Scotland’s answer to Arcade Fire? According to NME, that would be Broken Records, a six-piece indie folk group that’s playing Sunday night at the Black Cat Backstage.
…Okay, so NME may be guilty of exaggeration. It takes more than just pianos, horns, and strings to be Arcade Fire. Plus, there’s a world of difference between the tiny Backstage, and the Merriweather Post Pavilion filled by Arcade Fire last August. But an intimate venue like this will be perfect for the melancholy tunes spun by Broken Records. I enjoyed their debut album “Until the Earth Begins to Part”, which was filled with sad-sap songs about failing relationships. The strings and horns (plus lead singer Jamie Sutherland’s accent) add a distinctly Scottish flavor to their tunes. This will be their first date on their first US tour, in support of their new album “Let Me Come Home”.
This band should be a good pairing with DC locals US Royalty. If you haven’t caught these guys yet, now is the perfect time – their self-released debut album came out just last month, and they’ve garnered attention from the likes of NPR and Washington Post. Their recent show at Rock and Roll Hotel ended up selling out, so I imagine many of their fans will come out for this one as well.
Broken Records
with US Royalty
Black Cat Backstage
Sunday, Feb. 20th
9pm
$10
By Ben H. Rome
‘Missed hit’
courtesy of ‘BrianMKA’
After a wild 7-6 victory in Anaheim and the reappearance of Alexander Semin to the goal category on Wednesday, it looked as if the spark had returned to the Washington Capitals. The Caps moved on in their West Coast tour with a stop last night in San Jose to face the struggling Sharks.
Both Alex Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom knocked in tallies last night; Ovechkin ended with a goal and an assist for another solid game. “Ovi looks like the old Ovi now,” said coach Bruce Boudreau. “I hadn’t been able to say that but in recent games he has been, so let’s hope he continues. The energy he’s playing with, he’s coming back hard and he’s not staying upright and his shifts were short. And all those things encompass a good leader. That’s what he was doing.”
After the game tied up at one apiece after the first period – both goals coming in the last three minutes – it was a slow, tight defensive grind by both teams going into the third. The Caps had jump, something lacking in recent weeks, but the Shark’s blue line did not allow a lot of scoring chances. “We are holding a lot of teams to two goals,” Sharks coach Todd McLellan said. “That is allowing us to have a chance to win games.” Continue reading
By Patrick Pho
‘All Alone’
courtesy of ‘MudflapDC’
Last night the Wizards closed out the first half of the 2010-2011 NBA season in a way that characterizes their season so far.
A loss.
It was a loss on the road, bringing the Wizards to a road record of 1-26. Thank goodness for the post-LeBron Cavaliers for getting that monkey off our backs. Wednesday’s loss to the Magic was worse than a devastating, last-minute defeat like their loss against The Heat.
It was apathetic.
Apathetic in terms of the attendance I’ve seen at home games,where the lower level is a sea of empty seats. Apathetic where you wouldn’t think twice about leaving in the last quarter if the Wiz were down. Apathetic where we look talk about the Redskins, Capitals, and even the Nationals.
The Wizards may not be last place in the NBA, but they are last place in DC sports.
By Tricia Barba
‘Pork Loin with Kumquat Marmalade @ Ardeo’
courtesy of ‘jimcollins’
Talk about an empire. DCMud.com reports that restaurateur Ashok Bajaj, the man behind Bombay Club, 701, Rasika, and Ardeo + Bardeo could soon sign a lease for the retail space at 22 West in West End. Bajaj somewhat hinted at a new project in a chat last month with my fave food critic, Tom Sietsema.
My favorite news of the week comes via The Washington Post: Whole Foods Market and a D.C. real estate firm want to build a new store in Navy Yard, “but the developer says that luring the grocer would require $8 million in tax breaks.” WaPo reports that William C. Smith and Co. is proposing a 39,000-square-foot Whole Foods in the 800 block of New Jersey Ave. SE as part of a building that would also include 375 apartments.
In other Navy Yard news, JDLand writes that a beer garden might soon be on its way to Southeast. The ANC6D (Advisory Neighborhood Commission) voted 6-0 “to support the Bullpen’s plans to open an additional 632-seat beer garden at Half and M, across from the Navy Yard Metro station’s west entrance just north of Nationals Park.”
The Gun Club
The Cramps
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
What do these legendary bands of the underground have in common? At one time or another Kid Congo Powers has been their guitar player! Never staying still for long, Kid Congo Powers has loaned his trademark guitar skills to all three of the bands through some of their best sounding periods. He co-founded The Gun Club but didn’t join them on a recording until the mid-80’s. Mainly because he was too busy helping Lux Interior and The Cramps corner the market on fried-brain, psychedelic, surf punk on their second and best album. Congo also collaborated with Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds on a few choice recordings in the early 90’s. Through all of this, there was no mistaking Kid Congo’s distinctive style.
This mad chicano’s instantly recognizable open-tuned, twang guitar sound will be front an center when Kid Congo and the Pink Monkey Birds hit the back room at Comet on Friday night. The new band’s sound is very much in the vein of The Gun Club and The Cramps, with the damaged fuzz of 60’s sleaze rock gone punk. I’ve been hearing great things about this underground rock veteran’s recent shows; like his personality behind the microphone is as larger-than-life as his legendary guitar playing. This one’s going to be a helluva good time!
Kid Congo Powers and The Pink Monkey Birds
@ Comet Ping Pong
2/19/11 – 10pm
$12
By Erin McCann
Photo courtesy of the Avett Brothers
Straight from last Sunday’s Grammy awards broadcast, where they performed with Mumford & Sons and Bob Dylan, the Avett Brothers are bringing their show to DAR Constitution Hall on Friday night.
Linguistically speaking, folk rock is a genre that shouldn’t exist. Rock is too powerful, and folk is too sweet, to logically co-exist, right? And yet it does, and it is wonderful, and the result is pretty well captured in that photo at the top of this post: hard-rocking banjo, bluegrass with an edge, energy that rivals the Ramones and melodies and lyrics that wrap themselves around your head and won’t leave until you feel just a bit better about life. Listening to the Avetts, you learn what a kick drum can do to jump-start your heart.
By Addison H
‘Fry Captain Food Truck’
courtesy of ‘Mr. T in DC’
Feel like it is so close to the weekend that you can smell it? No! That’s just the friendly, neighborhood food truck parked outside your building!
Click on through for our ThestrEATS-powered lunch map to find your favorite food truck and find that last little bit of motivation to get through the week. Continue reading
‘Julia’s stove’
courtesy of ‘volcanojw’
By now, you’re all abuzz about the James Beard Foundation’s 2011 Restaurants and Chefs Awards Semifinalists list. The final list of nominees will be announced on March 21, 2011 and the winners will be selected in May. Read on for the breakdown of which DC restaurants and chefs made the cut.
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By fedward
“Here is another of my gin y tonic”
via @chefjoseandres
Who doesn’t love a little smack talk?
After Adam Bernbach’s recipe got a little love from the Post (and, for what it’s worth, from Katie Nelson in these pages) Chef José Andrés Took matters into his own hands, or at least his own twitter account, posting “thats a great drink, agree! and i love estadio but aint a gin and tonic! let me post my gin&tonic(love controversy)”.
Now Derek Brown has offered to host such a showdown at the Columbia Room. I said it to him on twitter, and now I’ll say it here: Jenn and I will be happy to assist with any judging. Just make sure that Todd Thrasher is included too, since Adam said his gin and tonic was the inspiration.
‘The Proper Way to Use a Knife’
courtesy of ‘Sprezzatura Images’
Washingtonians should feel a swell of pride: four DC chefs are represented in Food & Wine’s People’s Best New Chefs list.
Kyle Bailey of Birch & Barley, Daniel Giusti of 1789, David Guas of Bayou Bakery and Nicholas Stefanelli of Bibiana are all nominated in the Mid-Atlantic region. While I would argue that these chefs are hardly “new,” since they’ve all received previous accolades, it’s still great to see them all nominated, repping DC.
The way the contest works is you get to pick the winner by voting online. I’ll be sorely disappointed if we get beaten by someone in Philadelphia or Pittsburgh, so go vote now. Voting runs until March 1, 2011.
Congratulations to the chefs!
By Patrick Pho
As a social media professional, I fully understand the risks of my job. It is a job that doesn’t end after 5 PM or when you walk out of the office. We remain connected at all times through Blackberry devices or iPhones. Yesterday morning my alarm went off and I rolled over to my bed stand for my iPod Touch. Like most mornings I check Twitter as my body slowly awakens. As I checked my timeline I noticed an odd tweet from my friend Gloria:
By Tricia Barba
As part of the Kennedy Center’s maximum INDIA festival, some special menu items will be available at Roof Terrace Restaurant and KC Café throughout the month of March to coincide with several exhibitions and performances.
It’s billed as “East meets West.” Twelve chefs from India led by Chef Hemant Oberoi, the Executive Grand Chef of the Taj Mahal Palace & Tower in Mumbai, will fly in for a delicious collaboration with Roof Terrace Restaurant’s Executive Chef Joe Gurner.
Roof Terrace Restaurant will offer three, three-course prix-fixe menus, each priced at $65 per person, and the KC Café will feature a range of Indian foods a la carte style. Diners who purchase the special items will get recipe cards, letting them recreate the dishes at home…too bad I can’t cook.
I’m all about the gastronomic journey. Menu items include Khurmai Aur Aloo Ki Tikki, potato and apricot cakes with tamarind dressing; Roti Pe Boti, spiced lamb on leavened bread; Kali Mirch Ka Murg, chicken with peppercorn and mint; and desserts like Masala Chai Kulfi, spiced tea ice cream; and Elaichi Gulab Jamun Crème Brulee.
By Dave Levy
Screengrab nabbed by Carriage Clock Rock
The above is presented with minimal comment.
Lead Item: Pitchers and Catchers have reported and it’s supposed to be about 68 degrees on Friday. It feels like spring, my friends. With that, it’s only appropriate that both necessary and unnecessary prognostication gets going. In terms of the latter, we get to say things like, “The Werth signing was really for 2012, expect a similar or slightly improved team in 2011 over the 69-win team from last year.” When it comes to the former, the most important resource for teams may be uber-smart Baseball Prospectus simulators. Well, yesterday there were some leaked preliminary statistics that may or may not be accurate, so we at least have something about which to talk.
Rob Neyer at SB Nation caught it (and then did correct that the projections had been erroneously posted), and while the headline for these faux-projections was about the Yankees simulated to miss the playoffs, I did get a chance to peek before they were removed. Your Washington Nationals…only a five game improvement to an average projection of about 75 wins. The math makes some since; after all, the National League has few elite teams, but, unfortunately, the Phillies and Braves combine to fill out about a solid quarter of the Nats’ schedule. It’s tough competition, but with the fading Marlins and Mets, shouldn’t the Nats pick up a few more games to get closer to .500?
The WLDC Sports Team will have its own projections as we get closer to Opening Day on March 31, but for now, it’s just fun to talk baseball. More sports news from around the District after the jump.
‘ritual’
courtesy of ‘M.Markus’
Council Member David Catania (I-At Large) introduced a bill yesterday to allow pharmacists to dispense oral contraceptives to patients without a prescription from a doctor. The bill is intended to increase access to contraception among patient populations who may not be able to afford the office visit to have a doctor prescribe it.
Specifically, the bill would authorize the DC Boards of Pharmacy and Medicine (the bodies which issue licenses to pharmacists and doctors, respectively) to come up with some rules to govern the process by which pharmacists could dispense hormonal birth control without a prescription.
According to the Post, the program under consideration might involve collaboration with doctors similar to the District’s pharmacist-administered-vaccines program. Continue reading
By Addison H
‘20100825_fojol_0018’
courtesy of ‘Amber Wilkie Photography’
Happy hump day! Need something delicious or a shot of sugar to get you through the rest of the rest of the week? Or maybe just an excuse to get out of the office for an hour?
Click on through for our ThestrEATS-powered lunch map to find your favorite food truck and have a fantastic food-filled Wednesday! Continue reading
Mushroom pizza at POV
Courtesy of BrandLinkDC/POV
It’s not often that pizza is regarded as a beacon for haute cuisine. But when it’s served under Jean-Georges Vongerichten’s name while you take in a view of DC from POV’s rooftop, you’ll see why their new pizza is a far cry from delivery.
The W Hotel’s POV recently added three gourmet, individually-sized pizza options to their menu, including a traditional mozzarella, basil and tomato pie, wild mushroom and goat cheese pie and a truffle and fontina pie. The pizza made with black truffle peelings and truffle oil has been available at other Jean-Georges restaurants, in case it sounded familiar to you. And if the new pizzas aren’t enough for you, POV is also adding a creme fraiche cheesecake with kumquat marmalade and a walnut fudge brownie with a salted caramel ice cream.
Sounds like a good option for entertaining those fancy clients who are in town. A little haute pizza and a cocktail should be all they need to unwind after a day of meetings.
The comedy show for cool dudes is back, and as we have already established, you are a cool dude, in the unisex, non-gendered sense of the word, so it seems this comedy show is for you.
On Friday night, 7 PM at the Velvet Lounge on U Street, 5 measly bucks gets you an evening of comedy hosted by Hillary Buckholtz, and featuring Tim Miller, Kyle Martin, and Michael Foody, all hilarious.
Headlining this cornucopia of hilarity will be Team Submarine, a duo from New York (video above), who describe their comedic style as “grown men throwing things at each other while words come out of their mouths.” So, you know, maybe sit in the back.
By Don
‘Superior Court Detail’
courtesy of ‘roarofthefour’
More accurately, they are a budget issue when you fail to honor them. That’s not a new lesson for our area: improper arrests during Charles Ramsey’s tenure as police chief cost the city well over a million bucks. But it seems to be one lesson officials aren’t taking seriously: as DCist’s Heather Goss reported yesterday, security continues to harass photographers for no valid reason. In this case it was a DC Superior Court guard and Federal Marshals.
Potentially luckily for the DC budget it was the marshals who violated Jerome Vorus‘ rights and deleted his photograph – an Atlanta man just got a $40,000 award for having his photos deleted against his will. Mind you, if I was the one suing – and we’ve seen no indication that Vorus intends to – I’d name the District as well.
It’s one thing to get caught by something like this for the first time, but repeatedly stepping on the toes of people who aren’t afraid to make you pay up is just dumb. When you consider that the estimate of practicing attorneys in the area tops 80,000 it might be in the city’s interest to make sure authorities don’t overstep their bounds. $40,000 is a lot to pay for a picture you don’t even get to hang on your wall.
By Tom Bridge
‘STOP’
courtesy of ‘fromcaliw/love’
Virginia is considering a bill (actually, it’s most of the way through the system) that would allow the police to charge anyone who makes a California stop at a red light with a class one misdemeanor that could add six points to their license, suspend it for six months, fine you $2,500 or put you in jail for a year.
That’s the equivalent of a DUI. For a rolling right on red.
The original bill was set to have this take effect if you were involved in a traffic accident where someone was killed or badly injured, but the committee saw fit to replace the original bill with a more generic provision which would place the infraction at the discretion of the police officer. The proposed law would affect infraction related to traffic signals, not just right on red, which would also apply to traffic signals that are offline.
The committee that proposed the bill is chaired by Rep. David Albo, whose firm does work related to DUI defense and other “Serious Traffic Issues.” Who better to defend you than the guy whose committee brought out the law, right?
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