Category Archives: The Features

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

Music, The Features, We Love Music
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We Love Music: Mike Peters (of The Alarm) @ Gypsy Sally’s — 8/7/14

SONY DSCMike Peters and his bandmates met with their new manager one day some 30-odd years ago, and told him they already were done being a supporting act.

“From now on, we only headline shows. We don’t want to be a supporting act,” the members of The Alarm said to their sympathetic manager.

Very soon, however, he called them back with an offer they really might want to consider–opening for U2 on their tour in support of the album October. Gobsmacked, Peters nonetheless reluctantly began to explain the band should stand behind their manifesto. But before they could turn down the deal, drummer Nigel Twist grabbed the phone and shouted, “Of course, we’ll do it!”

The tour was successful, and U2 invited The Alarm to tour with them in America well, introducing their Welch friends to the United States. The bands remained friends through the years, and U2 recorded a cover of The Alarm’s “Blaze of Glory” for a BBC Radio Wales special on the 30th anniversary of The Declaration, the first-full length album from the band, which aired in April.

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Music, Night Life, The Features, We Love Music
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We Love Music: Chinese Disco Soft Opening–8/7/14

chinesediscoFrom 1977 to 1986, one of the most infamous places in DC to boogey down was in the basement of an unlikely location—a Chinese restaurant called the Day Lily, then located at 2142 Pennsylvania Ave. NW.

Thursday night, the Chinese Disco, as it was known after dark, returned to DC. With the blessing of the founders of the original night, a bar formerly known as the George has dubbed itself Chinese Disco at 3251 Prospect St. NW, and launched weekend dance parties sure to bring a little more indie dance spirit to Georgetown (a neighborhood sorely long lacking in dance spots).

By any measure, the well-orchestrated soft opening party was a success. More than 700 people signed up for the guest list, which was managed electronically at the door. The large crowd was ready to dance, and dance they did to the likes of Iggy Azalea’s “Fancy,” DJ Snake and Lil Jon’s “Turn Down for What,” and even the Spice Girls.

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Featured Photo
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Featured Photo

faith suspect

When you see this photo and think of “faith,” what’s the first thing that comes to mind? It’s likely that your own world views and biases will color your response. At its best, street photography provokes your emotions, whether its humor, anger or anything in between. This photo taken a few years ago in Logan Circle by local photographer Chris Suspect is from a new exhibit entitled “Faith” that opens Saturday at the Leica Store gallery, 977 F Street, N.W. The opening reception is from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.

The exhibit features the work of DC’s very own Strata Collective, a group of DC street photographers (now including members in Brooklyn and Los Angeles) that have been together since 2012. You can read more about the collective and the exhibit here.

We Love Arts
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We Love Arts: Stupid Fucking Bird, redux

(l-r) Rick Foucheux, Brad Koed, and Darius Pierce (Photo: Stan Barouh)

(l-r) Rick Foucheux, Brad Koed, and Darius Pierce (Photo: Stan Barouh)

Woolly has restaged Aaron Posner’s take on The Seagull, which since we’re an online outlet we can name without its asterisks: Stupid Fucking Bird. Jenn raved about it last year to anyone who would stand still or walk slower than she could, so I was excited to catch it for myself.

I’m not prepared to part with as many superlatives as she did, but I found it to be a very enjoyable play on its own merits and an interesting attempt to modernize and Americanize a classic piece of Russian literature. I’ll confess, I’m a bit of a sucker for fourth wall shenanigans, so when Brad Koed’s Con says “of course I know I’m in a play,” they are throwing me a bone. On the flip side, I’m more on the “don’t mess with it without a good reason” camp when it comes to adaptations. So how do my warring sides make peace on this?

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Capital Chefs, Food and Drink, The Features
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Capital Chefs: Amber Bursik of DC9

Amber Bursik of DC9

Amber Bursik of DC9

We’re revisiting our Capital Chefs feature with a series by music reporter Mickey McCarter. A lot has been happening recently in kitchens in D.C. restaurants, and Mickey takes a look into them from his usual seat at the bar in this series, which runs weekly on Thursdays.

When you hang out with a crowd that goes to see a lot of concerts, as I do, you are occasionally going to find yourself eating in a concert hall.

You might do so in the moment, and you might not expect the food to be too good. So you may find it refreshing when the food at your favorite venue is really consistently great.

Things make sense once you look behind the curtain at DC9, however, and find Amber Bursik in the kitchen. After finishing culinary school, Bursik worked at Georgetown fish house Hook for several years and then popular Mediterranean restaurant Palena for several more before going to work at DC9 a few years ago.

“When I came in here, there was a menu in the place and I had to work within the parameters of the menu in place and the size and capabilities of the kitchen,” Bursik told me. “Because of that, I was told I had to have the burgers on the menu. I could change the burgers, but we had to have burgers.”

In her last five months at the now-shuttered Palena, Bursik was working the grill station, where she was responsible for cooking what many called the best burger in DC.

“It was fun and interesting but at the same time, you are working at this fine dining restaurant and you’re cooking burgers!” Bursik said. “So it was funny to come here and cook burgers again. But we have a great burger because of it.”

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Entertainment, Music, The Features, We Love Music
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We Love Music: Filligar @ DC9 — 7/26/14

Filligar Live at DC9 - 7/26/14

Filligar Live at DC9 – 7/26/14

When you’ve watched a band evolve over the span of a decade or more, it’s easy to be blinded by your own personal biases. But when it comes to Filligar, I often like to take a step back and remember the story from the beginning.

It’s only fair that I open this story with the fact that I’ve known Filligar – which is comprised of the Mathias brothers Johnny, Pete, and Ted and their life-long friend Casey Gibson – since I was a freshman at the Latin School of Chicago. It was the Fall of 2004 and I had recently started classes when I made friends with the guys who would become the band Filligar.

My first true introduction to them as a rock band was when we shared a billing at a battle of the bands in November 2004. I’ll never forget that day. It was the day George Harrison passed away. We all hung out in our school theater’s green room before the show talking about music and whatever else freshmen in high school talk about (though Johnny was in the 7th grade at the time). They went by the name Flipside back then and I’m pretty sure I have their first disc somewhere in my CD collection stored safely in a Chicago attic. But nostalgia aside, these guys have come a long way since the early days of the band.

Their live show is what makes them standout in an over-saturated music market and, on Saturday July 26, they showed the crowd at DC9 exactly that. Not only did the packed house demand Filligar play one more song before they agreed to a one-song encore but when they ended the show for the night, their devoted fans continued to chant for more music.

Never have I felt the floors of DC9 shake as they did that night. I worried for a moment that the ground beneath my feet was about to collapse while Filligar played their staple set-ending tune “Trepador,” which they’ve recorded a couple times between 2008 and 2013. But the floors didn’t collapse and the show ended on a high note. The sheer amount of energy they expel while performing live is infectious and that’s what the room was left with — energy.

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Food and Drink, The Features, Where We Live
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Best Rickey: DC Craft Bartenders Guild @ Jack Rose Dining Saloon–8/3/14

Dustin Beruta of Cashion's Eat Place created a yummy vanilla Rickey.

Dustin Beruta of Cashion’s Eat Place created a yummy vanilla Rickey.

Sunday was a perfect day to stand alongside a bar on a roof and drink a refreshing beverage, maybe something a little sweet, maybe something a little fruity.

Seven of the top bartenders in the city were happy to oblige as they faced off under the auspices of the DC Craft Bartenders Guild for the title of best Rickey at the Jack Rose Dining Saloon in Adams Morgan. The seven Rickeys came in a variety of mixtures, and included recipes made from gin, bourbon or rye.

The arrangement for the 2014 contest was simple and effective. Three bartenders with gin-based Rickeys served their creations upstairs at Jack Rose, while the whiskey-based Rickeys were served by their mixologists downstairs. A reasonable $35 provided unlimited access to all seven Rickeys, allowing the audience ample opportunity to judge their own personal favorite from among the competitors.

The judging panel for the Rickey competition awarded best Rickey to the gin-based “Supafly Rickey,” created by Lukas B. Smith of Daikaya. It consisted of Half Moon Orchard Gin, cured sweet potato soda and a drop of rose water, garnished with a lime and a spray of lemongrass. It was pretty damn easy to drink, and it was probably the freshest and most memorable beverage among an excellent lot. The bartenders ran out of the ingredients for the Supafly Rickey well before the conclusion of the four-hour event.

Daikaya vows to display the Best Rickey Trophy at the bar for the next year, and perhaps they will continue to serve their winning cocktail as well.

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Featured Photo
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Featured Photo

Richie Miki J.

It’s always a good idea when enjoying a photograph to let it percolate a little in your mind. You know, let it bounce around a little while you take a moment to savor its goodness. At first glance, you appreciate the way the light wraps around this gentleman’s head in a way that gives him an almost saintly glow.

The light is a harsh, midday sun and strikes our guy slightly from behind. Normally, this kind of light could create unappealing shadows on his face, particularly around his eyes and hairline. In this case, Richie (we’re assuming his name is Richie) is wearing these cool, mirrored sunglasses. And his hairline …well… he doesn’t have that problem.

Richie pulls the mirrored sunglasses, the plastic cross and the 5 o’clock shadow together very well. But what I really like about this shot is the picture-within-the-picture. If you look closely at the sunglasses, you’ll see our intrepid photographer, Miki J. And there standing next to him with an arm on her hip is a …mystery woman! [For a better view, check out the extra-large version of the photo] Those are the little things I love finding in a photo and it’s something we might have missed if we hadn’t taken the time to appreciate this shot. You can see more great photos in our flickr pool.

 

The Features, The Nationals
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Nats Drop Series Opener to Phillies 10-4

Pitchers and catchers report in 4 days.... wolfkann

It was the Washington Nationals’ first game at home since July 20 on Thursday but, unfortunately for them, it didn’t go very well. The Philadelphia Phillies were in town and the night’s starters moved swiftly through the first three innings before the potential pitchers duel took a turn.

Both left-handed starters Cliff Lee and Gio Gonzalez didn’t make it very far in the Phillies’ 10-4 victory over the Nats but they both fled the game early for very different reasons. While a reoccurring strain of a left flexor pronator haunted Lee, Gonzalez was roughed up pretty bad in the fourth inning leading Manager Matt Williams to pull him. Gonzalez lasted 3 and 2/3 innings and gave up eight hits and five runs while walking one and striking out two on 77 pitches (47 strikes). That’s when the night’s game turned into a battle of the bullpens. Continue reading →

Food and Drink, The Features
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Hot Ticket: International Beer Day @ Piazza Beer Garden, Bethesda, 7/31/14

dc brau christaki

Tonight’s the evening before International Beer Day, which occurs annually on August 1. To celebrate, Brandon Skall of DC Brau heads to the Piazza Beer Garden, 7401 Woodmont Ave., Bethesda, Md., to discuss the ins and outs of brewing.

Cesco Osteria owner and chef Francesco Ricchi also will be on hand to welcome guests, who will enjoy three world beers for $10. Ticketed guests also take home a platinum-lined DC Brau glass.

Show up and pay at the door!

International Beer Day Celebration
Piazza Beer Garden
7401 Woodmont Ave.
Bethesda, Md.
Thursday, July 31, 2014
6-8pm
$10
21+ to drink

Growing your own organic vegetables is a fun, satisfying way to bring nutritious foods to your family’s table and benefit your world as well. An organic approach to vegetable gardening incorporates the entire garden worked by tree surgery dublin— from the soil, seeds and plants to fertilizers and pest management — in a way that celebrates healthy foods, ultra-local growing and sustainability. All it takes is a change in perspective and some simple basics, and you’re on your way to growing organically.

In its simplest form, organic gardening means gardening without man-made chemicals. Instead of synthetic ingredients, organic gardeners rely on ingredients that occur naturally and that work in harmony with the natural goodness that comes from healthy, productive soil.

Organic gardening has many levels. Commercial market gardeners must meet very strict guidelines to produce and process certified-organic foods, but many home gardeners may focus simply on nurturing their soil and plants with organic and natural-based products that avoid chemical residues in foods and the environment. You can enjoy the benefits of an organic approach to gardening, whatever level works for you and your family.

Music, The Features, We Love Music
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We Love Music: The Kooks @ 9:30 Club—7/27/14

The Kooks (Photo courtesy Big Hassle)

The Kooks (Photo courtesy Big Hassle)

Celebrating their 10th anniversary, the Kooks shimmied into the 9:30 Club Sunday night with new material and a revitalized stage show that was eaten up by the sold-out crowd.

From the beginning, vocalist Luke Pritchard strutted and slid across the stage, very much looking like he could have sprung whole from the ‘60s music that inspired his lyrical Britpop.

Pritchard, guitarist Hugh Harris, drummer Alexis Nunez, and bassist Peter Denton have been opening their set with lead single “Down,” from a new album Listen, set to be released in the United States on Sept. 2. It’s a catchy pop song of jittery sophistication, and its words are a challenge to a woman seeking to bring our man “down down diggy de down down diggy diggy.”

Just because you’ve got a sad song doesn’t mean you can’t get diggy with it.

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Entertainment, Music, The Features, We Love Music
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We Love Music: A Q&A with Erin and The Wildfire

Provided by Red Dust Music

Provided by Red Dust Music

I’ll never forget the first time I heard Erin and The Wildfire live. I’ve always been a firm believer that the live music experience tends to trump any recording (within reason) and this band captured my attention from their very first song of their live set back in March 2014 at Iota Club in Arlington, Va. Since then, the band — featuring vocalist/multi-instrumentalist Erin Lunsford, guitarist Ryan Lipps, bassist Matt Wood, and drummer Nick Quillen — continues to make waves regionally and has a stop at Jammin’ Java planned for this Sunday night, July 27. They’ll be joined by Tim Jones and Zach Broocke as part of a Buncearoo Presents show in Vienna, Va.

Tell us a little bit about yourselves. How did you all get together to start this band and why? There’s got to be a story there!

Met through a student-run musicians’ collective called O Records. Erin needed a band for a frat party so we learned some terrible covers, took our shirts off, and the rest is history.

How would you describe Erin & The Wildfire’s sound to someone who’s trying to decide if they should come to a show?

“It’s a rock show.” Particularly, Irish mellow bog-punk. But seriously, soul + blues + funk. Continue reading →

Capital Chefs, Food and Drink, The Features
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Capital Chefs: Ed Witt of The Partisan

Ed Witt in the kitchen of The Partisan

Ed Witt in the kitchen of The Partisan

We’re revisiting our Capital Chefs feature with a series by music reporter Mickey McCarter. A lot has been happening recently in kitchens in D.C. restaurants, and Mickey takes a look into them from his usual seat at the bar in this series, which runs weekly on Thursdays. This week, Mickey talks to Ed Witt of The Partisan, which is probably the only time he’ll revisit a chef previously profiled!

The best show Ed Witt has seen in recent times was Two Man Advantage, a hockey hardcore band from Long Island, in a concert last summer.

To be clear, it’s a seven-man band that play hockey-themed hardcore punk. They put on quite a show.

That the congenial Mr. Witt has a great appreciation for hardcore isn’t much of surprise considering he looks like he fits right in with the punk rock crowd—he’s thin, bald and covered in tattoos. At the moment, he would rather be watching Ceremony, the California-based hardcore punk band, at the Rock and Roll Hotel. But instead he’s talking to me at a table in the back of The Partisan.

In reality, there is nothing Witt would rather be doing than cooking and spending time in his kitchen. And you can tell by the way his eyes light up when he discusses the food at The Partisan, which he opened a little over four months ago with Nate Anda and Michael Babin. For Witt, the experience harkens back to his time at Italian eatery Il Buco in New York City nearly a decade ago.

“When I worked in Il Buco in New York, I was there for three years. And I always wanted to open a place that was similar to that in that style but more American and not so Italian and Old World. It all came together with that,” Witt told me.

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All Politics is Local, Business and Money, Education, History, People, Scribblings, Sports Fix, The Features
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The Football Name Debate: Are We Missing the Point?

DSC_5205 Ben R

“The debate is over about the R-word; it’s now about whether if it’s proper to have a football team in this country carry on using a defined slur.” That was the closing statement by Jacqueline Pata, the Executive Director of the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI). Her comment capped off a forum at the Center for American Progress, Missing the Point: The Real Impact of Native Mascots and Team Names on American Indian and Alaska Native Youth. The Center released a new report that examined several bodies of research about the harmful impact of mascot representations on the self-esteem of AI/AN youth, how they create a hostile learning environment, and the decades-long movement to retire them. The report by Erik Stegman and Victoria Phillips looks at recent key findings and incorporates statements from several Native youths, providing context that is relevant today regarding the use of these mascots and imagery.

Sitting on today’s panel was Pata; Travis Waldron, Sports Reporter, ThinkProgress.org; Mark Macarro, Chairman, Pechanga Band of Luiseño Indians; Dr. Michael Friedman, Clinical Psychologist; and Erik Stegman, Associate Director, Center for American Progress. The forum started with very poignant remarks by fifteen-year-old Dahkota Franklin Kicking Bear Brown, a student at Argonaut High School in California, and a Champion for Change at the Center for Native American Youth. Congresswoman Betty McCollum (D-MN) also spoke briefly at the event.

Over the last year, the debate over the use of the slur by the Washington professional football team has largely centered on issues of economics and fan nostalgia. The larger issue at hand, however, is beyond the sports soundbites that dominate this discussion. Data and research now shows that the use of such racist and derogatory team names (and by association, ‘traditions’ and fan antics) have real and detrimental effects on Native youth today. With fifty percent of the Native population being of 25 years of age or younger, the danger of perpetuating this practice and continuing the cycle of defeatism, hostile learning environments, and poor self-esteem is all too real. Continue reading →

Capital Chefs, Food and Drink, The Features
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Capital Chefs: Spike Mendelsohn of The Sheppard

Spike Mendelsohn of Good Stuff Eatery

Spike Mendelsohn of Good Stuff Eatery

We’re revisiting our Capital Chefs feature with a series by music reporter Mickey McCarter. A lot has been happening recently in kitchens in D.C. restaurants, and Mickey takes a look into them from his usual seat at the bar in this series, which runs weekly on Thursdays.

Back in April during the James Beard Foundation’s Chefs Boot Camp for Policy and Change, Spike Mendelsohn cooked a whole pig for a feast. He used the pig’s head to make a 10-hour cheese head broth for a soup.

About halfway through, musician Jack Johnson wandered into the kitchen to check out Mendelsohn’s work. A long-time admirer of the folk rock surfer, the chef was over the moon, happy to share secrets of the soup with Johnson and his wife.

Soon, everyone ate the pig, and sat around a fire while Johnson played the guitar for hours. Afterward, they ate the soup.

“That was a pinnacle moment of my life where I got to meet a guy that I’ve always looked up to for numerous reasons,” Mendelsohn told me.

The happy encounter was no accident. Mendelsohn and 14 other chefs had gathered outside of San Francisco for the boot camp dedicated to bolstering the advocacy work of chefs and musicians.

“Not only did I meet him, but I was there as a peer of his. We were there to learn about the same thing and share ideas. As the weekend progressed in boot camp, we sacrificed a pig. It was part of the learning process of where food comes from and what is a good way to sacrifice a pig and what is the wrong way to sacrifice an animal for food.”

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Music, The Features, We Love Music
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Hot Ticket: Technophobia w/Void Vision, Curse @ Black Cat, 7/19/14

technophobia071914Our friends in dark-wave trio Technophobia have enlisted their friends on a number of remixes for their song “Bleeding Hands.” And so vocalist Denman C. Anderson and synthmasters Stephen and Katie Petix are throwing a cassette release party for these remixes this Saturday, July 19, on the backstage of the Black Cat.

The song receives new treatments from Pleasure Curses, Lenorable, Psykofly and Semita Serpens.

According to a Technophobia press release, “The original Bleeding Hands gives way to trip through a midnight discotheque from dance duo Pleasure Curses. Soon after, the void opens up for a space-birthed dirge courtesy of Lenorable, before the hammer comes down via Psykofly’s brutish drum and bass treatment. The last hope of light is finally vanquished due to Semita Serpen’s riveting ‘Industrial Cinema’ remix.”

Void Vision (Photo by Nikki Sneakers)

Void Vision (Photo by Nikki Sneakers)

In a show to celebrate the cassette release of the “Bleeding Hands” remixes (which you also can hear online at Soundcloud), Technophobia will host Philadelphia’s Void Vision in their first DC appearance along with Baltimore’s Curse.

I saw Void Vision in Philadelphia three years ago, and I can attest that artist Shari Vari is a frenetic bundle of new romantic/new wave/dark wave/industrial energy in a sonically sweet wrap. Given how much energy our own Technophobia put into a show, this performance is guaranteed to grab your attention.

Technophobia
w/ Void Vision, Curse
Black Cat
Saturday, July 19
Doors @9pm
$10
All ages

Featured Photo
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Featured Photo

Double rainbow latergram number7cloud

Did your friends flood your Facebook, Instagram and Twitter feeds this week with photos of the double rainbow? Could you practically hear them squealing with delight as you imagined them pulling out their camera phones to snap a picture of the semi-mythical atmospheric occurrence? Well, some of us missed the stupid rainbow(s) because … well, thunderstorms make us sleepy.

All is well because, fortunately, frequent flickr contributor Number7Cloud craftily recreated the double rainbow’s appearance over the DMV. Just about the only thing that could make this picture better would be if there were a leprechaun riding a unicorn in the background.

Capital Chefs, Food and Drink, The Features
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Capital Chefs: Mike Friedman of The Red Hen

Chef Mike Friedman at The Red Hen

Chef Mike Friedman at The Red Hen

We’re revisiting our Capital Chefs feature with a series by music reporter Mickey McCarter. A lot has been happening recently in kitchens in D.C. restaurants, and Mickey takes a look into them from his usual seat at the bar in this series, which runs weekly on Thursdays.

Positively embarrassed that I had not yet eaten at The Red Hen by the time it picked up a few RAMMY Awards last month, I recently slipped up to the 18-seat bar that dominates the room for dinner and a chat with Chef Mike Friedman.

Like myself, Friedman often enjoys eating at bars. It’s more casual and you can talk to the bartender and the people around you. Stroll in for a pasta and a glass of wine and you’ve struck gold. On this particular visit, I’m also very happy to hear David Bowie and the Talking Heads on the restaurant’s sound system, which makes me feel right at home. Friedman’s business partners Michael O’Malley and Sebastian Zutant decide what’s on the radio at the restaurant, he told me.

While good music does indeed make for a comfortable bar experience, there’s way more to The Red Hen, of course.

“Bars drive business to a certain extent. We didn’t want to have a restaurant that was a bar. We wanted to have a restaurant that was a restaurant,” Friedman said. “There is a central bar at The Red Hen where everybody dines. It’s the overflow for people that can’t get tables. It’s rare that you see it three seats back. We usually send people around the corner to Boundary Stone, which is our local bar. And they wait until they get a text from us saying that their table is ready.”

DC restaurants generally have been getting back to basics when it comes to food, Friedman said. And good neighborhood places have been able to excel by taking a more casual approach than some fancier DC staples.

Friedman compared the latest wave of DC restaurants to the scene in Paris some six years ago, when sous chefs were leaving Michelin-starred restaurants to open small bistros of their own.

“We are not at that level Paris was at, but certainly here you are seeing that new wave coming,” Friedman said.

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Entertainment, Music, The Features, We Love Music
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We Love Music: The Morrison Brothers Band

Pictured (L to R): Kevin Nolan, Matt Nolan, Willie Morrison, Dave Benson, and Truman Morrison.

Pictured (L to R): Kevin Nolan, Matt Nolan, Willie Morrison, Dave Benson, and Truman Morrison.

Washington, D.C. is a city internationally known as being the hub of American politics as opposed to it being the home of Country music but the home-grown Morrison Brothers Band has made D.C. their Nashville. Seven years ago, the current lineup of D.C.’s own Southern Rock band was set and now they’re headlining the 9:30 Club for the second time on Friday, July 11.

As their moniker points out, The Morrison Brothers Band does actually consist of two sets of brothers from D.C. including lead vocalist Willie Morrison and his older brother/guitar player Truman as well as drummer Matt Nolan and his younger brother/multi-instrumentalist Kevin Nolan. Then, to round out the group, there’s multi-instrumentalist Dave Benson and vocals from Alyson Gilbert.

Willie and Truman were college students away from home in Los Angeles at the same time when they originally started the band. They even ended up playing the group’s first show at the infamous Roxy. Upon graduation, Truman moved back to D.C. and started the migration of the band from California to its current D.C. home. During that summer, Willie and his big brother were introduced to drummer Matt Nolan (who was attending school in New Orleans) out of necessity and he seemingly passed the audition to fill a much needed void before casually mentioning that he knew a bass player and would bring him next time. That bass player ended up being Matt’s 12-year-old brother Kevin.

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Capital Chefs, Food and Drink, The Features
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Capital Chefs: A Rock and Roll Reintroduction

Oysters at Clyde's Jenn Larsen

Several months ago, I was standing at the bar in Clyde’s of Georgetown, talking to friends Tim and Patrick, when Tim recommended that I read Anthony Bourdain’s Kitchen Confidential. Patrick enthusiastically agreed, and given that both men are sharp but usually quite different in their tastes, I made a note to take it on a plane to Las Vegas.

And I thoroughly enjoyed it, in large part because you got a sense of Bourdain’s New York City in the 1970s and 1980s—a place where for him food, music and vice came together vividly in kitchens, dive bars and streets. I particularly enjoyed his mentions of slipping into CBGB’s for a show and his nods to the punk rock heroes of his past. Afterward, I read three more Bourdain books. With his success as an author, his world got a lot broader but it was still read like an adventure in rock and roll.

I began to contemplate my own community, made up of venturesome people who go to see concerts at the 9:30 Club, the Black Cat, DC9, the Howard Theatre, The Fillmore, DAR Constitution Hall, and many other places around town. They live in these establishments and associated places—places that don’t host shows but serve fine food and drink. I’ve occasionally eaten with my fellow music admirers at some of these places; I’ve sometimes grabbed a dinner alone before or after a show; and I’ve made lists of interesting places to eat when recommendations are made. Man cannot live on music alone, after all.

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