Brad Pitt Has Your Secret Shit: Rolling DC

Seattle spoiled me and I reeaalllyy want my own place but I am also poor so I have to consider roommates in the interest of being practical. Still not 100% sure what my monthly take home is going to look like, which also makes things complicated.

Plus some of those particular DCers were so wed to just going to a few particular places within walking distance in their DC neighborhood that they seemed to miss out on alot of what I see as the benefits of city life

lol curmudgeon, sometimes just going to a few particular places within walking distance in your DC neighborhood IS the benefit of city life!

Otm!!! I hate when I can't walk to meet my immediate needs.

It is completely ludicrous to me that it takes me 90 min to get home and then if I want to do anything as simple as go pick up some groceries I would need a car because the concept of things within walking distance is nonexistent here.

To be fair, Alexandria was planned at a time that your servants would have done your grocery shopping for you.

wah wah wah
so can a local tell me how one finds an apartment? bc the craigslist here is total shit.

i found mine by starting w/rent.com and then looking for management companies.. everything is stupid expensive around here. srsly if you decide to go the roommate route in dc, at least for a time & would be interested, i am considering that too - i can afford an ok place by myself now, but i finally realized it is time to be an adult and save some money

email/fb me with some details. i feel like i have to consider everything at this point! (even though my idea of being adult is living alone lol, but i get your point)

let me know if you want someone to check out your shortlist places, or just need a drink after!

and actually since you called it out by name mt. pleasant boosters may be the worst of the lot--SUBPAR BARS AND RESTAURANTS DOES NOT EQUAL AUTHENTICITY

― W i l l, Thursday, April 22, 2010 8:18 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark

living in SF where it is surprisingly difficult to find a pretty good sit-down mexican/salvadorean place with full bar makes me miss haydee's a lot.

Already need a drink and o haven't even looked yet!

Better foresight woulkd have had me wrangling someone into happy hour between close of business and evening work event. Next time!

Developers turn to artists to create buzz By Jonathan O'Connell Washington Post Staff Writer Monday, April 19, 2010;

In coming years, developer JBG plans to tear down a string of storefronts it owns along the 1300 block of U Street NW and put up a 240-room boutique hotel, built atop new retail and topped off by a rooftop pool and adjoining bar. But Chevy Chase-based JBG is more than a year away from construction. The developer needs a hotel operator and will need to finance construction, a tall order until lending picks up again. Meantime, the company will fill part of its property with something different: Andrew Wodzianski. Wodzianski is a local painter and mixed-media artist whose specialties include robots and Barbie doll iconography. For two weeks beginning Monday, as part of a special public art gala, he will occupy a specially constructed 100-square-foot cube in a vacant JBG storefront. There he will paint, sculpt and live using miniature furniture that pops up from the floor, nearly 24 hours a day before passersby on U Street. The exhibit, Wodzianski said, "taps into my willingness to sacrifice myself, my foolishness and my growing interest in performance-based art." "It's going to require two weeks of sponge bathing, but I'm okay with that," he added.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/04/16/AR2010041603867_pf.html

Somebody (not me) e-mailed Todd Kliman the following in his foodie chat:

Arlington, VA: Todd, What exactly did you mean when you said the Ray' the Steaks East River is the most important opening? I know you like the Ray's concept (listing it in your top 100), but what makes this iteration of Michael Landrum's restaurant empire so special?

Todd Kliman: What makes it so important -- to my mind, the most important restaurant ever to debut in Washington, D.C. -- is its location.

East of the River is like forgotten country for most Washingtonians. Michael Landrum's going in there, and going in there as he has done, with passion and a respect for what is already there, is a significant statement. It's a statement about what a restaurant is, or should be. About the divisions in the city. About what business can do, if it is not solely preoccupied with maximizing profits. About food as culture, and a means of connection. About what is possible, if people have imagination and drive and a belief that the stereotypes we are daily assaulted by are false.

And all of this I've just typed -- all of this has nothing to do with the quality of the food, or the service, or the value (which is considerable). The place transcends all those considerations, I think. And I think that's interesting in and of itself.

I would like to believe that if Landrum is successful, that other restaurateurs will follow. Surely, if he succeeds, it proves something -- proves many somethings. But somehow I doubt that it will be, as they say in biz circles, a game-changer. It ought to be. But there are many ought-to-bes in this city.

I wouldn't necessarily disagree with anything he said there, but I still think it's a HUGE leap from that to "he most important restaurant to debut in the city's history"

oops, "the most important restaurant to debut in the city's history"

(and I'm sure there's an argument to be made for a number of places by people who know the restaurant history of the city better than I, but Jean-Louis at the Watergate springs to mind immediately for 30 years of being incredibly influential on a local and national level)

hey i don't care about horse races so much but where could i get a good julep on derby day?

Bourbon! They make a huge batch of mint-infused bourbon every year and they go all out w/ it on derby day.

but is it full of douches, too?

ps anyone who wants should have juleps w/ me or something bc i have no friends and i work too much to make them oops.

The bar is often full of douches, but this is also a typical feature of anyplace that celebrates derby day.

The Round Robin bar at The Willard has some history w/ the mint julep.

Tehresa I'm in VA that afternoon meeting a friend's baby but should be back some time that evening and up for julep action. I like Bourbon but haven't been to the Round Robin, so up for trying that.

The Washington Post Going Out Gurus re Derby Day:

It's Kentucky Derby Day, and if you're wondering where to watch the Fastest Two Minutes in American Sports, we suggest the high-brow Bonnets and Bow-Ties viewing party at the Willard Hotel's Round Robin Bar, with hat contests and bow-tie contests and some of the finest mint juleps outside of Churchill Downs; the lower-brow Derby Day party at the Red Derby, which kicks off with $2 drinks at brunch from 11 to 3 and continues with $4 juleps until close; and the whiskey-soaked Derby parties at Bourbon, where the mint juleps are made with mint-infused bourbon and served in frosted metal cups, and you can sample a half-dozen new whiskeys from the cult Willett label.
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/goingoutgurus/2010/04/nightlife_agenda_103.html

wow bourbon sampling sounds awesome. also scary since it's in press.
considering going neighborhood shopping this weekend but it seems so exhausting. can't an apartment just materialize for me?

http://dcist.com/2010/04/michael_schaffer_named_editor_of_wa.php

Washington City Paper changes

How many DC restaurants and clubs do Eric Thievery Corporation Hilton and his brother have a hand in, 10? Feature article on them in today's W. Post Food section

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/05/04/AR2010050401208.html

They plan to open three restaurants by the end of this year: the Brixton, at the corner of Ninth and U streets Northwest; another in what was formerly Billy Simpson's House of Seafood and Steaks on Georgia Avenue; and a spot that's coming along next to Marvin (working name: Blackbird Warehouse). It will make for quite a year, one in which they also have opened Patty Boom Boom, invested in the new U Street Music Hall and advised Eric's wife, Tien Claudio, and partner Steve Kaufmann on the recently opened Dickson Wine Bar.

The brothers have 200 full-time employees working for their projects, but "it's not corporate," says Ian, 38. "We don't want to corner the market. We're a family-owned shop." They don't advertise, and they don't pay for PR.

It's gonna be 9 places. Hats off to a certain someone who is complimented in the article.

kudos.gif

He's keeping a low profile now I guess.

Meanwhile I'm curious about a place he's not associated with-- the Babylon Cafe out in Bailey's X-Rds./Falls Church that has Ethiopian and Middle Eastern and Caribbean music and I'm not sure what's on the food menu(or if its mostly just a nightclub). Not on metro either.

I'm not gone! Just enjoying all the newfound fame and fortune that comes from being mentioned in the 17th paragraph in a Food section article.

^^^ ballin'

which of the new hilton places are you most excited about?

also, why didn't the article say anything substantial about brixton? that building looks pretty cool. and way beat up.

Of the ones that haven't opened yet, I'm really excited about Blackbird and another project I can't even mention yet.

The article seemed like it was more focused on the places that are already open than the ones that are coming up - it didn't really say anything substantial about any of the future projects.

Post review of U Street Music Hall is up now, too:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/gog/profile/u-street-music-hall,1161767/critic-review.html

hey i was repping the gibson to a coworker earlier! i think we will plan an outing someday.

i still need to check out u street music hall in its finished state!

yah i'm embarrassed to say i still haven't been. would like to see michael mayer but got an early meeting the next day. maybe derrick carter.

Do DC foodies and biz people respect these Rammys restaurant Awards that are coming up in June?

http://www.ramw.org/Rammy-s/

hello

hello EL TB, my schedule is actually somewhat reasonable now and we should get drinks!

and no, curmudgeon, nobody respects the Rammys.

It rhymes with Wammies and Grammys

yeah let's just say it's a lot like the Wammies.

what's everyone think of tyler cowen (profiled, not for the first time, in the post today)? i'm impressed by the scale of his ethnic food guide but unsure of its credibility. his takes on a few places i've eaten at seem accurate enough, though.

It's a lot more useful as a blog where you get an accurate picture of the most recent info rather than as a dining guide. His takes are pretty good, but based on the sheer number of restaurants a lot of places he's reviewed have closed, changed ownership, or gone downhill in the intervening time and it may not be reflected in his guide for years.

Also, most of his takes seem to be based on a single visit, which is dangerous - he may miss out on a place's best dishes, it may be an off night, etc.

Hi TB I live here bow btw and also want to has drinks! Also if you have an apartment up your sleeve I will take that, too.

seems like he returns again and again to his favorites, which is not surprising but yeah, could mean he is missing out on stuff. many of the ones i spot-checked were from 2008-2006.

seen three white tops flying over in the last 30 minutes--over the years i've seen probably hundreds but it still makes me wonder who's flying where and why

now it's six so i figure training exercises

Wow.

The photo of Cowen in that article is at Eyo, an excellent Ethiopian place in Bailey's X-Rds/Falls Church near Arlington and Alexandria (but not metro train friendly). I ate there recently. But you folks are right--some of the information is out-of-date.

Area btw u st and col heights: shady or no? Coworker says it can be... Is that just because he's from indiana?