Category Archives: Food and Drink

Adventures, Crime & Punishment, Food and Drink
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Thief! Silly Things People Steal From Restaurants

Photo courtesy of
‘Day 303/365 – French Twofer (Deux Pour?)’
courtesy of ‘Kevin H.’

A while ago I was sitting at the bar at Stardust (RIP, I miss that place!) and the bartenders were telling my friend and I all about the people who would steal the salt and pepper shakers right off the tables. Stardust was known for quirky condiment containers, like two pigs dancing, or cactus-shaped shakers. You get the idea. And ever since that conversation I’ve been interested in whatall people steal from restaurants.

So I asked around, and behold, dear reader, a list of the ridiculous things that people steal from restaurants around DC.

The scene: Cafe Saint-Ex
Items Stolen: The bust of the Roman God Mercury, an antique three foot tall ash tray, patio plants
Jasmin Quioco, the Director of Community Outreach at Cafe Saint-Ex, reminisces, “A few years ago I was setting up for brunch and saw a guy struggling to bring in a covered object into the restaurant. When I opened the door, he said, ‘I’m really sorry, my friends and I had a few too many drinks last night and this ended up in my apartment. We love Saint-Ex and wanted to bring it back.’ They had stolen the heavy bust of Mercury that sits next to table 4.”

The scene: Whitlow’s on Wilson
Item Stolen: Harry S. Truman
Manny Fliakas, General Manger of Whitlow’s, remembers, “Last year, I received a manila envelope with no return address and inside was a framed picture of Harry S. Truman. We had this picture on the wall by the main bar and it was stolen four years prior. The letter attached stated that the individual who stole it was cleaning out their house and preparing to move when they came across the picture. They apologized for their childish actions and assured me they had become a better person.”

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Food and Drink, The Daily Feed
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Elegy for the Brickskeller

Photo courtesy of
‘Brickskeller’
courtesy of ‘needlessspaces’

By now, I’m sure you’ve heard that the Brickskeller is officially closing before the end of the month.  While I lament its departure, the great era of the Brickskeller is long past us, and the feeling I have is the relief of the peaceful passing of a long-suffering relative.

When I moved to DC in 2000, i was a fresh college grad, poor and in need of a good education of beer.  The Brickskeller quickly became that place for me, and under the direction of Beer Guy Dave (whose emails were legendary for their rambling direction and ASCII art) and Bob Tupper, I learned more about what good beer should be, what good beer often isn’t, and the intersection of the two.  The Brickskeller is the fore-runner of RFD, Church Key, Rustico, and the Big Hunt, four killer beer bars that every beerlover in DC should know and love.  For that, they must be thanked, and thanked heartily.

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Food and Drink, The Features, The Hill
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First Look: Ba Bay

Photo courtesy of
‘Ba Bay, Sunday Night’
courtesy of ‘Madame Meow’

Ever since Locanda abruptly closed last summer, I’ve been anxious to see what would open up in its place. I would walk by the giant picture window every few weeks and there Locanda would sit, fully made up for service knowing full well it wouldn’t be serving anyone anytime soon. It was like a shrine to pasta plates of time gone by.

And then just as unexpectedly as it closed, one day a year later the ghost place settings were gone and work was in progress for a new restaurant. Enter: Ba Bay.

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Food and Drink, Special Events, The Features, We Love Drinks
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Liquid Lessons

Photo courtesy of
‘Every Food Fits – Master Mixology’
courtesy of ‘staceyviera’

The “silly season” is upon us, as a friend likes to call the December holiday rush. Suddenly everyone wants to get together and social opportunities are crammed into every evening in a frenzy before year’s end. You definitely need some relief mixed into that crazy cocktail of fun and stress!

Wait, did I say cocktail?

Luckily the city is full of cocktail classes and other libation tastings to help you connect with friends in a lively way, so you can relax and learn useful something in the process. Even our local madhouse of Type A’s can see the cost benefit in that. So here’s a sampler of upcoming events to both imbibe and educate! Enjoy, and feel free to add your favorites in the comments. Continue reading →

Food and Drink, The Features, The Hill
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First Look: DC-3

Photo courtesy of
‘Hot Dogs’
courtesy of ‘vpickering’
Before I go in to the specifics of my trip to DC-3, I need to confess something about myself: I come from a family of carnival people. We’re not all carnival people, but there definitely is a branch of the family tree that knows a lot about freak shows, overpriced games and convincing everyone if they just try one more time they’ll be able to throw the ring around the bottle. Carnivale it is not (we don’t have supernatural powers, at least that I know of) but it is still a dark past that I’m usually not offering up to strangers. But it plays a crucial role in my ability to dissect DC-3, since I obviously know plenty about hot dogs and cotton candy.

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

Photo courtesy of
‘Kushi 9225’
courtesy of ‘yospyn’

After last month’s time as a vegan, I felt this month I owed it to my grease-loving, carb-loading, over-eating side to indulge. And indulge I did. I ate more burgers and subs this month than I do in a normal calendar year, and I seriously think I’m better for it (though my cholesterol probably has something different to say about that). Two trips to Taylor Gourmet, where I learned that though I love an Italian hoagie, I am officially a cutlet hoagie girl, and a road trip full of gravy-loaded dinners made for a happy and not so healthy customer. Maybe next month will be better? Because December is such a great month for eating healthy, working out, and getting lots of sleep…or something…

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Food and Drink, The Daily Feed
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Find The Perfect Bubbly For Your Holiday

Photo courtesy of
‘Champagne Cocktail’
courtesy of ‘Jenn Larsen’

The holidays are a time for sparkle: a festive sequined blouse, the lovely glow of the yule log. But it’s also time for the sparkler of my choice: booze.

EatBar is hosting their annual Sparkler Tasting and Sale on Dec. 11, a great time for you to sample all things bubbly and buy your favorites for the holidays. You’ll have your standard champagne, but Wine Director Juliana Santos (one of the most adorable sommiliers around) will serve up other sparkling wines made from Chenin Blanc and Malbec, as well as Moscato D’Asti and Prosecco from Italy, and Cava from Spain.

Not only will you go boozing, Executive Chef Barry Koslow will prepare small plates to accompany the drinks, including House-smoked salmon served on a savory waffle, Country pate with stone mustard, caramelized onion and anchovy flat bread with olives, and Dragon Creek Oyster chowder shooters. Tickets are $36, and you can buy them online, or by calling 703.778.9951.

Food and Drink, The Features, We Love Food
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We Love Food: Surfside

Photo courtesy of
‘Surfside for lunch’
courtesy of ‘vincentgallegos’

I’ve never been big on take-out. By the time I decide what I want, find the menu, call it in, wait forty-five minutes, go pick it up, almost drop it on the way home, and finally get home and realize they got my order wrong, I’m not really hungry any more. And the truth is that on most occasions, I can make food that tastes better than what a restaurant lets sit for 20 minutes in a Styrofoam container. And did I mention I’m cheap? All that makes for a pretty tough road for take-out purveyors everywhere.

But as we all know, there is an exception to every rule. In this case, it’s Surfside. It might have a little something to do with its proximity to my house, but what puts it above and beyond the rest of the many take-out options in Glover Park is the food. And don’t worry, people of not Glover Park, eating in at Surfside is even better than trying to eat it off my lap in front of a TiVo-ed episode (or two) of the new 90210.

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Food and Drink, Foodie Roundup
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Thanksgiving Options for Every Eater

Photo courtesy of
‘happy Thanksgiving cupcake toppers 2’
courtesy of ‘AForestFrolic’

Between stressing out about whether to attack the stuffing or the mashed potatoes first, or hoping that your stupid brother doesn’t clothesline you in the family football game again this year, Thanksgiving prep can weigh heavy on the mind. And in a town like D.C., everyone’s Thanksgiving is not the same. Parents coming in town to shower you with love in the form of cornbread and sweet potato casserole? Or did your family book a trip to Maui and conveniently forget to tell you, forcing you to find some Thanksgiving pals via Craigslist and the cork board at your office? There is thankfully (Thanksgiving pun alert!) an option for everyone this year.

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Adventures, Business and Money, Entertainment, Essential DC, Food and Drink, Fun & Games, Life in the Capital, Night Life, Special Events, The Daily Feed, The District, The Hill
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Love The Hill This Friday

I don’t love the “Hill” in the way some people do – I’m not so political and certainly am not involved in all the Congressional happenings, but I do adore the neighborhoods that make Capitol Hill fabulous. Eastern Market has such charm, and I’ve found myself spending weekends on Barrack’s Row. What better excuse than to celebrate a part of the city that I love than by heading to The Hilly’s on Friday night?

Awards will be given to some of the Hill’s best eats and drinks – favorites like Granville Moores, SOVA, Ted’s Bulletin are all up to win. Plus local businesses like Frager’s and Bikram Yoga are up for awards, too. Ticket prices are $65 for CHAMPS members, $75 for Buy Local members and $80 for the general public.Price includes open bar and food, with guest bartenders from Wisdom, Tunnicliff’s, Argonaut and Matchbox.

Business and Money, Essential DC, Food and Drink, Life in the Capital, The District, The Features, They Make DC
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They Make DC: Dolcezza

Dolcezza Robb and Violeta

This They Make DC marks the first entry in a series that will profile the various small businesses manufacturing their products in the DC Metro area. In these features, we’ll tour the facilities and shops where these goods are made and sold, with the ultimate goal to gain a deeper understanding of what it’s like to own, run and operate a business in our beloved capital city. So without further adieu, let’s kick this bad boy off.

Robb Duncan and his Argentinian wife Violeta met by chance in 2000 at a conference in Brazil. Two weeks later Robb flew back to Portland, Oregon, sold everything he had and moved down to Buenos Aires and they were married. While living in Buenos Aires, Robb fell in love with gelaterias. Having toured Italy, Duncan was very familiar with Italian gelato, and while he liked it, he was never blown away by it. So he was surprised when he discovered that Argentinian gelato, made by Italian immigrants and their descendants, tasted a lot better to him.  When Argentina’s economy crashed in the early 2000s, Robb and Violeta moved to DC, where he could get a job as a software engineer for the federal government and where Violeta could finish up her degree at American University. Continue reading →

Entertainment, Food and Drink, People, Special Events, The Features, We Love Drinks
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Thankful (for Drinks)

Photo courtesy of
”
courtesy of ‘flipperman75’

Two weeks til Thanksgiving. Maybe you are staying put in DC and hosting your own dinner. Or you’re heading elsewhere and are faced with the inevitable stress of traveling. In either case, chances are you’re going to need liquid courage. Don’t panic, We Love Drinks is here to help.

Some personal disclosure – my parents are teetotalers. Explains a lot, doesn’t it? For my brother and I, no holiday visit to the parental compound is complete without a trip to the local liquor store, loading up on a whole cart of wine and spirits. He has expensive tastes. Somehow I end up paying. But it’s worth it.

Of course I’m not advocating getting bombed for Thanksgiving! Enjoy the holiday by indulging in some civilized drinks in moderation. I canvassed three local sommeliers for their recommendations of what goes best with the traditional feast, and as with the end of summer wines list culled previously, they’ve responded with some stand-out sips.

Let’s start with Elli Benchimol from Chef Geoff’s, who speaks for most of us when she says, “My Thanksgiving lasts all day, and most of the night, there are usually children running around, as well as adults, and it is an absolute necessity to have lots of wine, not only to keep you sane, but to keep you going.” Continue reading →

Adventures, Essential DC, Food and Drink, Fun & Games, The Daily Feed
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Ben & Jerry’s Giving Away Ice Cream in Support of Dreamgirls

Photo courtesy of
‘ice cream sandwiches!’
courtesy of ‘urban farmgirl’

Get your buttocks out of your seat and run over to the  Ben & Jerry’s of Georgetown (3135 M St, NW) so you can test out their new handmade ice cream sandwiches, “Dreamwiches,” in honor of the Duke Ellington School of the Arts’ December production of Broadway’s Dreamgirls.

Pose for a picture with “The Dreams,” post it to any social network with information about the Duke Ellington School of the Arts’ December production of Broadway’s Dreamgirls and get free ice cream. This is one of several appearances that students from the school are making around DC during November to promote the show.

Adventures, All Politics is Local, Business and Money, Food and Drink, Life in the Capital, News, The Daily Feed
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MoCo To Serve Booze On Sundays

Photo courtesy of
‘LIQUOR at Kenny’s and Kovak’s…’
courtesy of ‘ellievanhoutte’

Before today, if you were looking to buy booze on a Sunday, then Montgomery County was not your friend as it tightly controlled the 24 county-owned liquor stores and prohibited the sale of alcohol on Sundays.

Now in an executive order from County Executive Ike Leggett, that  should pass today and will be in place by the end of November, county-owned liquor stores will be able to open for business on Sundays. This six-month trial has some estimating that the county will pull in an additional $2 million a year . Skol!

Adventures, All Politics is Local, Business and Money, Entertainment, Essential DC, Food and Drink, Fun & Games, History, Life in the Capital, News, Penn Quarter, Special Events, The Daily Feed, The District
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TEAISM to be Carrotmobbed

Photo courtesy of
‘Every Food Fits: “What’s Up, Doc?”‘
courtesy of ‘staceyviera’

This Saturday, November 13th starting at 10am at TEAISM’s Penn Quarter location,  the Restaurant Opportunities Center of DC (ROCDC) is organizing DC’s first ever Carrotmob to promote paid sick days for DC restaurant workers.

You might say: “But Rebecca, what the heck is a carrotmob?” And up until 15 minutes ago, I would have responded “I have no clue. Perhaps a pack of redheads angrily waving orange vegetables?”  And, unsurprisingly, I’d be dead wrong.

In reality the term “Carrotmob” comes from the phase “use the carrot, not the stick,” and is a method of activism in which consumers use their buying power to reward businesses that take socially responsible actions.

The TEAISM mobbing is in response to the Accrued Sick and Safe Leave Act, which passed two years ago and provides 3-7 days of paid sick/safe leave to many District workers. However, the law left out your server, waitress, waiter, and bartender, so they’ve been working (aka serving you) while they’re sick. Despite this TEAISM has gone above and beyond the call of duty and provides all their workers 5-7 sick days; They are indeed truly worthy of a good old fashioned carrotmobbing.

You can join the mobbing by visiting the Penn Quarter TEAISM this Saturday and by RSVPing at the event’s Facebook page.

Entertainment, Food and Drink, People, Special Events, The Daily Feed
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Wine Away Your Afternoon

Photo courtesy of
‘glasses’
courtesy of ‘philliefan99’

Looking to sneak out this dreary afternoon and indulge in some liquid escapism? Rajat Parr, wine director for the Mina Group and widely considered one of the top sommeliers in the world, will be at Bourbon Steak this afternoon from 1pm to 4pm signing copies of his new book Secrets of the Sommeliers.

This is a fantastic chance for an informal chat about any and all wine questions with the man “who knows everything and everyone in the wine world!” says Julian Mayor, Bourbon Steak’s sommelier. Rajat Parr is a highly noted authority on burgundies, so if you want to learn more about the famous French varietal this is a great opportunity. Not to mention free wine and food in a beautiful setting. If I could sneak away, I certainly would.

Food and Drink, News, The Daily Feed
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Breaking News: Morty’s is Now Closed

Photo courtesy of
‘MortyKrupinDec2006’
courtesy of ‘runneralan2004’

It’s probably the saddest news I’ve gotten since moving to the District — Morty’s Delicatessen in Tenleytown is now closed.

Just moments ago, I received word from a gentleman over the phone at Morty’s that they are in the process of shutting down shop. No further details were available at this time, but more on this story is sure to come on Wednesday once the table-tops, pickle jars, and hanging salamis are left to their own devices.

Owner Morty Krupin, 71, had retired this past March but assured his clientele that his retirement would have no bearing on keeping the New York style Delicatessen open.

While the details are not available at this time, I find it pertinent to say: “Thank you, Morty Krupin, for providing hundreds of hungry stomachs with the New York style comfort food that we who showed up at your restaurant craved so badly.”

Dupont Circle, Food and Drink, The Features, We Love Food
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We Love Food: Agora

Photo Credit: Kim Maxwell Vu

A very good friend (and frequent dinner date) lived on 17th St. and P St. for a long time before moving to New York earlier this year. At least once a month we would meet at her house with no real dinner plan, walk out the front door and…stand. There were plenty of restaurants on 17th St., but none of them ever really struck us as compelling. It was all very poetic – restaurants, restaurants everywhere but not a bite to eat. There was Komi (too expensive), Sushi Taro (too long of a wait), and the slew of restaurant slash bar establishments that I could never really tell apart. Enter Agora to solve all my problems.

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

Photo courtesy of
‘at vace in northwest d.c.’
courtesy of ‘staceyviera’

October wasn’t exactly a regular eating month for me. I was in China for two weeks (where I dined on delicious, delicious things that I won’t even try to identify), I spent a few days eating every random thing in my fridge to clean it out before my trip, and the rest of the month was spent mostly dedicated to Vegan Week. By all accounts it shouldn’t have been a hallmark eating month, at least not in any D.C. locations, but I was pleasantly surprised by how well I did eat.

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