On Friday I went to see Vladimir Ashkenazy conduct the National Symphony Orchestra through Sibelius’ Symphony No.1, Oceanides, and Symphony No. 7. The music was beautiful, and Ashkenazy was adorable. To top the night off, a woman sat behind me and taught me a lot about how to behave at the symphony. Here’s what I [...]
A based-on-real-events overheard conversation in D.C.:
Girl 1: Did you like the movie? I thought it was fun, but I didn’t like the ending?
Girl 2: Yeah, the ending was, like, too depressing for me. But the characters were really likable so…
Girl 1: It’s still early? Let’s get a drink? There’s this great bar a block away?
Girl [...]
A year or so ago, my boyfriend bought a 1979 Chevy LUV truck from upstate New York. It was old. It was rusty. It had some holes. But it was a good little truck. It'd been through a lot. Who knows how much hay it hauled or how many bumpy back roads it traversed. That [...]
This topic may be a bit unseemly, and I'm usually too apathetic (except, maybe, about foie gras) to start a movement, but someone has to say it. Ladies, you gotta stop this hovering over the toilet bullshit. Get your quad workout somewhere else. You hoverers are the ones causing the problem. You're the ones splattering [...]
I thought we, as a civilization, were going downhill. Smoking bans are spreading across the country. New York is outlawing trans fat. Chicago (and soon California) put the kibosh on foie gras. Apparently it's cruel. (Too bad it's oh so delicious.) But there is light at the end of the smokeless, healthy, svelte tunnel. Chicago [...]
Joanne Chen recently published The Taste of Sweet: Our Complicated Love Affair With Our Favorite Treats, in which she explores all things related to the sweet tooth. While I have not read this book (yet, Ms. Chen, yet), I did read an interview with the author where the topic of super-tasters and non-tasters came up. [...]
The Kentucky Derby may be over, but the Preakness and the Belmont are still looming. So there is time to perfect that ever-tricky drink, the mint julep. The Post ran a very helpful column in last week's food section devoted to the julep. Jason Wilson points out that there are many, many variations on the [...]
On May 3 chef Tom Power announced on the foodie site Don Rockwell that Corduroy has re-opened. The restaurant, which “serves the best food of the season, with much of the restaurant’s produce coming from local farms,” according to the site, was formerly located on K Street in the Four Points. It has moved into [...]
Poetry month is wrapping up, and tonight offers the perfect way to celebrate it. Poetry Out Loud, a program co-created by the National Endowment for the Arts and the Poetry Foundation, is a national poetry recitation contest for high school students. In spelling-bee style, students have moved up the ranks, from their classrooms to last [...]
Good news for all you seafood lovers. Barton Seaver, chef of the acclaimed Hook, has opened Tackle Box. This new joint not only shares the same block of Georgetown as Hook, but it also shares Seaver's dedication to sustainable seafood. But in a more casual setting. From the Web site, the reasoning for opening a [...]
Via Don Rockwell, I just came across Gridskipper's list of D.C.'s most overrated restaurants. Their top choice is Lauriol Plaza, but they also include some surprises like Jaleo and Central. While I wasn't impressed with Central (to be fair, I've dined there only once), I've never heard anything but raves about that place. What do [...]
I'm not a regular reader of Esquire, but I was checking out the home page and was excited to see a tab for The Best Bars in America. This is slightly misleading because of the democracy the mag allows in its choices; there are bars listed for every state (even Puerto Rico!). So what are [...]
Earth Day is coming up. I totally support Earth Day. But not when it comes to my theater program. Some friends and I went to see The History Boys at Studio Theatre over the weekend. (Definitely worth seeing, by the way. They've extended the run through May 18, so go buy tickets.) Shortly before the [...]
In case you haven't been following it, two of our intrepid staffers have been braving the mean streets of D.C. during happy hour in a selfless service to our beloved readers. During the month of April, the Corcoran Gallery of Art's 1869 Society is hosting a contest in which 15 area restaurants have designed "artinis." [...]
