Tag Archives: POV

Food and Drink, The Daily Feed
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Haute Pizza at POV

POV Mushroom Pizza
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.

Food and Drink, The Daily Feed, We Love Drinks
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Friday Happy Hour: Peep of View

Photo courtesy of
‘Peep of View’
courtesy of ‘rabid_c’

Welcome to the Friday Happy Hour, your single drink primer for the weekend.

There aren’t a ton of holiday specific drinks out there, and pretty much the only ones that do exist are Christmas drinks.  POV at the W Hotel has stepped in to remedy this with their new Easter themed cocktail, the “Peep of View.”  It’s a concoction of vodka, grapefruit juice, cranberry, and St. Germaine, topped off with champagne and garnished by a Peep.  As you can imagine, it’s sweet and fruity and drinking it was a severe test of my masculine security. As over the top as a Peep garnished cocktail sounds,  it’s an altogether pleasant drink. House squeezed juices give it a freshness that pairs perfectly with open air on the rooftop at POV. Not to mention that food and beverage director Robert Sabin wouldn’t let anything pass from his shop that wasn’t well constructed.  He even took into account how the marshmallow from Peep garnish would affect the flavor of the drink.  This weekend, consider the season.  Have your self a Peep of View at the W (but remember to get a reservation before you go).  Happy Easter!

The Features, We Love Drinks
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We Love Drinks: Fall Cocktails

Monaco

"Monaco" by Jenn Larsen, on Flickr

Fall cocktails… Once upon a time, that just meant drinks with heavy cream. No more, thanks to some brilliant mixology (my waistline is thankful too).

I’ve been sampling some luscious fall drinks. Everyone is rolling out menus featuring autumnal tastes – apple, pear, cinnamon, pepper, rosemary, cardamom – oh my. Spice has cream beat! Mulling and infusion are everywhere. It’s a good season for sipping slowly, admiring how flavors change and deepen over the course of your evening. Sigh.

Another fantastic benefit of all these freshly squeezed juices and housemade sodas and herbal infusions is that many bars are now offering non-alcoholic versions of their cocktails. With lots of parties and events in the fall, if you don’t feel like imbibing or are not able, you should always feel unabashed to ask. A good bartender should be able to respond without making you feel like a second-class citizen.

So let’s get down to it, shall we? Some of my favorite fall cocktails, with the usual quirky candlelit odd-angle photographs…
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Food and Drink, Life in the Capital, Night Life, Penn Quarter, Special Events, The Features
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Second Look: W Hotel Washington (Now, With Pictures!)

Photo courtesy of
‘P7130052’
courtesy of ‘needlessspaces’

Chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten’s green eyes flash with amusement as I launch into a tirade of questions about the DC food scene. Jean-Georges is holding a plate of appetizers during a tray-pass reception at the downstairs Wine Bar at the W Hotel Washington. I’ve captured his attention for a few minutes, battling other reporters and bloggers with notepads and cameras out, much like myself.

“So with all the celebrity chef steakhouses in DC, what sets yours apart?” I ask coyly. “Only half our menu is steak,” he responds quickly, “and our appetizer list is like a best-of from all my restaurants.” “So why DC, what made you choose DC?” I ask. “My relationship with the W, they approached me, it seemed like a fit,” Hmm, I thought, I wonder how he views DC, if this wasn’t a concept he came up with on his own. “So the DC food scene, has it arrived or is it on it’s way?” I ask. “Oh, Komi rivals any restaurant in New York!” Vongerichten responds, making a plug for his old friend from France. And suddenly Jean-Georges has a second reporter touching his arm and he is pulled in another direction. He shoots me a grin, and with that he’s off. (He returns later to pointedly offer me a mini-mini burger, only to dash off again.)

And so there I am, in the crowded basement of the W, sipping cocktails, ruminating on the hotel and making conversation. I’m here to try all of Vongerichten’s food, but also to check out the scene on the deck at POV, attempting to answer all the questions Jenn asked in We Love DC’s first post about the W, written when Jenn visited before it opened. What is the scene going to be? Jenn pondered, saying it will only be answered when the bar is filled with people. And last night, it certainly was full to the brim with all kinds of people, food and fanfare. Continue reading →