Category Archives: People

Interviews, People, The Features, We Love Drinks
By

We Love Drinks: Jason Robey

Jason Robey, New Heights. Photo courtesy of Pfau Communications.

Jason Robey, New Heights. Photo courtesy of Pfau Communications.

We Love Drinks continues our series where we look behind the bar, profiling the many people – from mixologists to bartenders, sommeliers to publicans – who make your drinks experience happen.

Charred rosemary? Curried pumpkin seeds? Beet juice? Not to mention the bubbling pots behind the bar… what’s going on here?

You might think you were in some mad scientist’s laboratory, except that the guy torching a “lollipop” of tightly wound orange peel is actually extremely laid-back. This is Jason Robey, mixologist at New Heights, a native of southern Maryland back in DC by way of New York and North Carolina. His return is thanks to the recession, and that may be the best thing the economic downturn has done for our city. His drinks have just the proper blend of alcohol and aesthetics, with only as much flash as is absolutely necessary.

Jason strikes me as a perfectionist, but without any uptight vibe. His bar preparation set-up takes two hours. His infusions take anywhere from one to two weeks. There’s an evident amount of care and dedication that goes into the background work before your glass even hits the bar. Not afraid to experiment, Jason still manages to maintain a very practical style in what is after all a warm and inviting bar.

And like the best bartenders, he has a self-deprecating wit. I’m beginning to think that’s part of the job description. He was planning a cocktail riff on the classic Maryland crab boil the night I visited. It took a minute to realize he wasn’t actually joking. If anyone could pull that one off, it would be Jason.

“You know how I think of all these drinks?” he asks.

I shake my head.

“In the shower.”
Continue reading →

Food and Drink, Fun & Games, People, The Daily Feed, WTF?!
By

To “the tall brunette with the near perfect body…”

Photo courtesy of
‘DSC_1573’
courtesy of ‘euthman’

I’m not going to say much about this because my mother reads this blog, but “even if you are a liar and fart like a Clydesdale, I’d love to meet up,” has to be the greatest pickup line of all time.  Tall brunette in Rockville, you’re on notice.  Maybe it’s time to start carrying a small dog to blame, or something.

Alexandria, Food and Drink, Interviews, People, The Features
By

He Loves DC: Lamar Brown

Lamar

Earlier this week, I sat down with Lamar Brown, engineer and corporate drone by day and wine connoisseur and entrepreneur by night. His cozy shop just off King Street in Old Town Alexandria, Carafe Wines, is the city’s only “micro-winery,” allowing customers to sample and then bottle their own wines. With grape juices shipped in from vineyards in Chile, California, New Zealand, Italy, France and Washington, to name a few, it may not be the most green method, but he’s created a truly unique niche for delightfully aged wines made right in good old Alexandria.

Having lived in Northern Virginia for 10 years, Lamar had a vision to take his extreme interest and admiration for good wine to the next level. His dream was realized two years ago, and now, he proudly allows his customers to make their own wines and their own private labels.

Nestled between a gorgeous marble bar and a bustling fireplace, I sampled the Rosso Miscele Reserve, a Tuscan-styled wine vented from Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, and later a dab of the Merlot Reserve, a full-bodied wine with hints of red cherries, toasted oak and herbs. Then we sat down to business and focused on Lamar’s storied history with wine, the DC area, and, of course, what wine pairs best with Matchbox sliders.

What inspired you to start Carafe Wines?
Actually, a love of wines, to be honest. And I saw a cool niche. The whole wine making experience actually originated in Canada. I ran into it there, and I worked with a lot of Canadians to bring the concept to DC. I did some research, and DC area is actually the second most wine-centric area in the country outside of California. So, we sell more bottles per capita than anybody. I thought people would get a cool kick out of being able to make their own wine.

So, why do you think DC is the number two area for wine purchases in America? Continue reading →

Interviews, People, The Features, We Love Drinks
By

We Love Drinks: Josh Volz

JV2_high_res_2

Josh Volz, at Marvin. Photo credit: Sam Vasfi

We Love Drinks embarks on a series where we look behind the bar, profiling the many people – from mixologists to bartenders, sommeliers to publicans – who make your drinks experience happen.

“The coolest winter I ever spent was a San Francisco summer,” Josh Volz quips as he mixes up… a San Francisco Summer cocktail. A bartender who can quote Mark Twain is high in my books. He’s a man in total command of his sometimes chaotic bar, flooded by loyal regulars and dandies alike. Always in motion, befitting the vibrant and constantly shifting scene of Marvin, he’s rustling up a hand-crafted cocktail with no pretension and no intimidation.

“What’s the one thing people would be surprised to learn about your job?” I ask.

Josh laughs.

“That it’s easy,” he replies.

This I find hard to believe, watching him juggle multiple drink orders from both the bar and the servers at one of the busiest spots in DC. Not to mention, this is a man who came to cocktails relatively late – his first taste of liquor wasn’t even until the age of twenty-five. But it’s a fitting job description for someone who strives to run an inviting, approachable bar. He’s got a wry sense of humor and a balanced, classic cocktail style. I genuinely enjoyed sitting at Marvin’s downstairs marble bar getting to know him and his regulars better. Isn’t that the best part about going to a bar anyway?
Continue reading →

Downtown, Dupont Circle, Food and Drink, Life in the Capital, People, The Daily Feed
By

Dining with Elites

Photo courtesy of
‘Grant Bar, Old Ebbitt Grill’
courtesy of ‘marialgilbert’

In a city known for it’s power grubbing politicians, it stands to reason that there are certain dining oasis that all of them congregate to.  Most are well known to DC locals, places like Old Ebbitt and the Palm, but CNN helpfully categorizes DC’s power restaurants by who your most likely to see dining in them.  For example, did you know that Sonia Sotomayor is a fan of Lebanese Taverna or than Rahm Emmanuel enjoys Tosca? If you want to rub elbows with our nation’s leaders and don’t quite know where to go, read the article to find out.

Food and Drink, History, Night Life, People, The Daily Feed
By

A Repeal Day Celebration

Photo courtesy of
‘West End Bistro’
courtesy of ‘InspirationDC’

I can’t remember prohibition.  My grandfather can barely remember prohibition.  But that doesn’t mean that the anniversary of its repeal is bad excuse to drink.  The 76th (thanks Nicole) anniversary of the 21st Amendment is less than two weeks away and DC’s Craft Bartender’s Guild is celebrating in style.  They are hosting the Repeal Day Ball on Dec. 5 at PS7 in Chinatown.  Tickets are available to the public at $100 a pop, which gets you in the door and lots of booze.  If you’re really interested in DC’s bartending scene, you can throw down an extra $50 for VIP tickets, which gets exclusive demonstrations by DC’s best and a chance to meet your favorite mixologists. Tickets are available here.

Food and Drink, Night Life, People, The Features, We Love Drinks
By

Drinks Preview: The Passenger

Photo courtesy of
‘The Passenger 7’
courtesy of ‘maxedaperture’

Let’s say you love hand-crafted cocktails, but your friend is all about Miller High Life. Up until this point, I’d be hard-pressed to recommend a place where you both would feel comfortable. Thankfully, brothers Derek and Tom Brown have created a bar where the two of you can happily cosy up in a booth together.

Last night, The Passenger opened its doors to the public. The night before, I was lucky to attend a preview of the new bar and sample the atmosphere. It’s still a work in progress, the rough-and-ready quality mimicking the surrounding neighborhood. If you were familiar with the Warehouse, the space revamps the front bar and the back area near the theater. It’s got a black diamond quality, with exposed brick, hardwood floors and a long photographic mural that’s meant to remind you of the view from a train’s windows. Booths line the walls and by this weekend the back section will be finished to resemble a mirrored dining car.

If you’re expecting an upscale exclusive club atmosphere with pinkies raised over clinkety-clink glasses, well, you’ll be disappointed. What we have here is a funky, eclectic neighborhood bar that’s set to evolve organically. And I’m not kidding, in addition to those famous made-to-taste cocktails you can also get Miller High Life and a chili half-smoke.

This is a bar where both mods and rockers are easily at home. Continue reading →

Food and Drink, People, The Features, We Love Drinks
By

Drinks Special: Holiday Rum Punch

Mixing up rum punch

"Mixing up rum punch" by Jenn Larsen, on Flickr

The first in an occasional series where we ask local bartenders, mixologists and other libation lovers to show us how to rustle up some specialty drinks. As I can’t fit you all in my kitchen, I’ll bring my kitchen to you.

In just a few weeks, many of us will be joining family and friends for a relaxing, low-key little gathering known as Thanksgiving. Perhaps you’ve been asked to contribute something, and you’re racking your brain for what to do. How about punch?

Ok, not that kind of punch – I’m not advocating holiday violence! Though I know many of us feel like pulling a punch over the holidays, let’s get happy instead. Punch by its communal nature is festive, like an alcoholic water-cooler bringing everyone together as you dip and pour. To help get us in the holiday mood, Dave McCabe tested out my kitchen one afternoon with a winter rum punch. He brought the punch ingredients, we provided the cheese, everyone got happy.

Formerly a manager at Oyamel, Dave is now co-owner of Punk’s Backyard Grill in Annapolis. He explained that the restaurant is dedicated to serving healthy food at reasonable prices, and as a member of the Maryland Green Registry is an avid believer in sustainability. Dave himself is clearly a passionate proponent of honest and simple ingredients, both in food and in cocktails. This punch recipe is both easy and approachable.

But wait, let’s kick up the classic champagne cocktail first. You’re going to need it while you squeeze all those grapefruits and lemons. Continue reading →

Food and Drink, People, The Features
By

Women Chefs in DC Area Win in a Landslide

Nora Pouillon

This past Sunday was the Women Chefs and Restaurateur’s awards dinner titled “Women who Inspire.” Emceed by Top Chef finalist (and stand-up comedian – or at least she should be) Carla Hall, the dinner honored many DC women chefs. Often teetering between an association dinner and the Oscars, dozens of women chefs, including those who were being honored and even more, were back in the kitchen preparing 6 courses to interlude each of the award-winner announcements.

Women Chefs and Restaurateurs (WCR) recognizes women who have demonstrated excellence and innovation in: the dining room, kitchen, baking and pastry arts, beverage profession, farming and food production, community affairs, as well as for a lifetime of culinary excellence.

Local Nora Pouillon, of Restaurant Nora in Dupont Circle, prepared the first course (paired with a non-local chef, Gabrielle Hamilton of Prune) and last but not least, accepted the final award of the night and the most honorable. She was awarded the Genesis prize, which recognizes a woman who has achieved a true “first” in the culinary profession – a clear win for the originality of her all organic restaurant. Nora was pioneer in the organic food movement, having the first and only organic restaurant in DC, Resaurant Nora, for a long time.

Seated with one of six tea sommeliers in the world, the founder of the Cambridge School of Culinary Arts, a restaurant owner, and the chef of her family’s bed and breakfast, it really became apparent that we were surrounded by foodies when our table began to debate over the true ingredients of a “Mirepoix.” Between a “Garbure” with Stone and Thistle Farm Braised Pork Belly (by Nora and Gabrielle) and a Ballotine of Pheasant with Confit of Idaho Fingerling Potatoes (by Barbara Lynch, No. 9 Park and Kate Jansen & Tracy O’Grady of Willow), I fumbled with how to eat, pronounce and appear cultured, all at the same time, while enjoying the award presentations and acceptances for a variety of categories.

Just the tip of the iceberg for DC women chefs and restaurateurs, Ellen Kassof-Gray, whose excellent management and hard-efforts in the front of the house at Equinox Continue reading →

People, The Daily Feed
By

Our Ovie, Full of Grace…

Photo courtesy of
‘sky’
courtesy of ‘volcanojw’

So Washington Capitals owner and bazillionaire Ted Leonsis spills the beans that he had Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople (cue TMBG!) bless himself and the Great Eight last night at a private event at Vice President Joe Biden’s home.

Now, I know there’s some concern that the Caps may well falter without their primary offensive force…so I guess why not employ some Holy Back-up, just in case? Especially since the Devils (out of New Jersey) showed the Caps last night just how much they need Ovechkin.

So does this mean Ovie’s up for sainthood if the Caps win the Cup?

Food and Drink, News, People, Special Events, The Daily Feed, The District
By

Iron Chef Comes To The White House

Photo courtesy of
‘The White House – The Dream Home of Many Children’
courtesy of ‘adcristal’

The Food Network announced today that Mario Batali, Bobby Flay and Emeril Lagasse came to the White House last month (how did we miss this?) to film a special two-hour Iron Chef episode, called “Super Chef Battle”. Michelle Obama and White House Executive Chef Cristeta Comerford gave Batali, Lagasse and Flay the challenge of using produce from the White House garden as the “secret ingredient”. In new-media fashion, Flay even tweeted about it this morning.

The special episode premieres Sunday, January 3rd at 8pm ET. Here is the full New York Times article (and a picture of Mario Batali wearing RIDICULOUS orange shenanegans on his feet).

$5 says FLOTUS wore a cardigan for the episode.

Entertainment, Essential DC, Fun & Games, Life in the Capital, Night Life, People, Special Events, The District, The Features
By

Georgetown Halloween 2009

Photo courtesy of
‘Halloween in Georgetown’
courtesy of ‘ep_jhu’

Ever since moving to DC in 2006, I have managed to miss out on the Georgetown Halloween scene for one reason or another, so this year I vowed to check out the madness and see what all the hubbub was about.

Our method of event transportation from Glover Park was on foot, which was a wise decision give the street closures. We arrived on the scene at around 11pm, and found the M Street inundated with costumers.  The DCPD had temporarily fenced in the sidewalks for crowd control purposes, which created a nice parade-like crowd movement along the M Street corridor.  The bars were jammed packed with waiting lines, and picture takers were everywhere. Continue reading →

All Politics is Local, Downtown, News, People, The Daily Feed
By

DC Voting Rights Provision Unlikely

Photo courtesy of
‘Capitol up close’
courtesy of ‘brianmka’

Last week we reported that voting rights proponents were looking to add a provision in an upcoming defense appropriations bill that would grant DC representation in the House.  Well, it’s looking like that probably won’t happen, after all.  The chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Dan Inouye, a Democrat from Hawaii, has stated his intention to block the provision.  Senate Democrats fear that controversial additions to the spending bill could bog it down, or perhaps, kill the current iteration all together.  Rep. Holmes-Norton seems to be holding out hope that the provision will still make it into the bill, but many voting rights advocates are already looking for other means.

Interviews, People, The Features
By

He Loves DC: Walker Lamond

Photo courtesy of
Walker Lamond from the “Rules for My Unborn Son” Media Kit
courtesy of ‘K1rkles’

Walker Lamond can be described as the fatherly sage of the masculine aesthetic.  Perhaps you don’t know his name, but it’s more than likely that you’ve at least heard of his blog, “1001 Rules for My Unborn Son.” As the title suggests, Walker doles out practical advice to his son on his popular Tumblr page.  He’s gathered a substantial following over his past year and a half of blogging, including the attention of a few publishers.

Tomorrow, Walker will join the ranks of the bloggers turned authors when Rules for My Unborn Son, a book of his axioms, is released. It turns out that Mr. Lamond is a resident of DC and, on the eve of his literary debut, he graciously agreed to answer a few questions about his book and life in the city.  He even gave some advice while he was at it. So, continue reading to discover Walker’s thoughts on becoming an author, DC’s greatest sartorial misstep, and how to improve our taxi system.

Continue reading →

Food and Drink, People, Special Events, The Daily Feed
By

Learn About The Good Stuff

Photo courtesy of
‘a flight of whisk(e)y’
courtesy of ‘sleepyneko’

At 7pm, Thursday, October 22, National Geographic Live gets its drink on with photographer Jim Richardson and whisky expert Dave Broom hosting a guided tasting of Scotland’s finest single malt whiskies.  Co-sponsored by DC’s Brickskeller, the tastings will be paired with Richardson’s  images of the Celtic landscapes, distilleries, and people that produce these world reknown spirits. Obviously you must be 21 or older. View event details at Exploring Scotland’s Whisky Trail.

Entertainment, Fun & Games, Life in the Capital, News, People, The Daily Feed, The District
By

Who Would Win In A Fight?

Photo courtesy of
‘Battle of the Beltways’
courtesy of ‘brianmka’

The Nationals’ Screech? Or the Orioles’ The Bird?

Well, in the battle over D.C. TV ratings, our neighbors to the north have won. According to the Washington Business Journal, “D.C. is the only TV market in the country where a team from another city (the O’s) gets better ratings than the hometown team.”  That’s sad.

What’s sadder still is that the two teams combined for 201 losses. :(

Interviews, People, The Features
By

He Loves DC: Michael Babin

Michael Babin 3

Michael Babin isn’t necessarily a DC household name, but his restaurants sure are. He’s one of the co-owners behind the Neighborhood Restaurant Group, (NRG) the powerhouse behind Buzz, Evening Star Café, EatBar, Planet Wine, Rustico, Columbia Firehouse, Star Catering, Tallula and Vermilion – all Northern Virginia staples that have quickly become community favorites. With Michael opening his first restaurant in DC proper any day now, the beer-focused Birch & Barley and upstairs bar Churchkey, I thought it was high time to talk to him about what he loves about DC.

Katie: How long have you lived in the DC area?
Michael: 18 years.

What is the best thing about DC, in your opinion?
DC is much more manageable and affordable than just about any other city with comparable cultural attractions. Also, the people who live here tend to be well educated, well informed, and passionate about public issues. Because there is more awareness of the inside baseball of how things really work, it can seem to outsiders like a cynical town, but just as much (if not more), it’s a city of idealists and big dreamers.

What would you change about DC if you could?
Lower the pollen levels and eradicate those tiny Asian mosquitoes.

Why did you start NRG, and what do you see for it in the future?
I opened the Evening Star Cafe because I wanted to get a practical education in business by starting and owning one. A few years later, I decided to do this full-time and it turned into NRG. I have too many goals for NRG to mention, but personally I hope to continue to earn the right to work with smart, creative, and committed partners in the kitchens and fronts-of-house to create and operate places that we, and our guests, genuinely love. Continue reading →

All Politics is Local, Business and Money, Downtown, Essential DC, Media, People, The Daily Feed
By

DC’s Fifty Most Powerful

Photo courtesy of
‘Don’t Let Mr. Emanuel Down 1680 x 1050’
courtesy of ‘sdpurtill’

Calling DC the “center of power” is about as cliched as a description can be, but, it is, never the less, a truthful description.  GQ has delved a little deeper into the power structure of our city and released a list of its 50 most influential occupants.  At the top is none other than Rahm Emanuel, Obama’s angry, 9 fingered, little chief of staff.  Speaking of Obama, he failed to make the list, but I’m assuming that the editors of GQ just assumed that he was a given.  The rest of the 50 are pretty much cabinet members, committee chairs and lobbyists.  No surprises, really.