Mallios was first among a relatively small cadre of D.C. attorneys representing restaurants, bars, clubs, and hotels in front of city liquor authorities; his services helped myriad establishments navigate an arcane licensing process and fend off countless neighbors and advisory neighborhood commissions.

He had been battling cancer for more than five years, says his law partner Steve O'Brien. Mallios had been active and practicing before his illness suddenly worsened a week ago.

O'Brien, a longtime competitor of Mallios' before their practices recently merged, says he cut a swath in the legal community that will not soon be filled. "Dmitri was my partner for three years; he was my friend for 30 years. Everything I know about alcoholic beverage law I learned from Dimitri. He is irreplaceable."

Legendary trial lawyer Jacob Stein counted Mallios as a friend for 40 years. "Personally, he had a great sense of humor," he says, and as a lawyer, "he was practical, sensible, empirical, and had no traces of ideology....A client who retained him would get the best service on offer."

"He was splendid with clients," Stein added, "and the clients are often very difficult to deal with."

Laurie Collins, a former ABC board member and a fellow parishioner at St. Sophia Greek Orthodox Cathedral remembers him as "a sweet, sweet man and a good lawyer."

"He was loved by not only the business community, which he mostly represented," she says, "but I think the community was very fond of him. He was very fair."

Andrew J. Kline, general counsel to the Restaurant Association Metropolitan Washington and another titan of the liquor bar, remembers him as "someone who was respected by his clients, his colleagues....He knew how to represent folks in the hospitality industry and represent them well."

The "dean" label, incidentally, was well earned---Mallios was referred to as such in a footnote to a D.C. Council committee report on a late '90s rewrite of the city alcoholic beverage laws. LL will also add that Mallios' checkbook will be missed by city officeholders---he was a frequent donor to local candidates.

But his friends will miss him more.

Says Kline, "I loved him. He was my friend, and we'll all miss him a lot."

Adds Stein, "I really, really miss him. He is a part of my own existence. There are certain things that he and I knew about that we would talk about, and now have I no one to talk about them with."

UPDATE, 2:49 P.M.: Lynne Breaux, RAMW president, notes that Mallios was recipient of her organization's Duke Zeibert Capital Achievement Award this year. That honor goes to "an individual whose dedication and leadership have helped transform Washington’s restaurant scene into today’s vibrant and thriving industry."

His write-up in the awards program: "Known as the dean of Washington’s Alcoholic Beverage Control attorneys, Dimitri Mallios is also called THE man to know…and the man to thank when you order your next margarita. Dimitri grew up in the restaurant business in DC - Trio, one of Washington’s classics - and attended GWU, undergraduate and law, giving him a distinct advantage of native regional knowledge. As described by the Washington Business Journal, Dimitri is “soft spoken but effective. Direct but respectful. Tough but good hearted.” A rare individual and an exceptional lawyer, we toast Dimitri Mallios and his significant contribution to the restaurant industry in the Washington Metropolitan area." More here.

UPDATE, 9/21: Restaurateur and impresario Joe Englert offers a less reverent but plenty heartfelt tribute to Mallios at Young & Hungry.

• Vincent Gray loves wonton soup. Loves the stuff. Had it for lunch today. His chief of staff regularly picks up a double order for him from the Meiwah Express stand at the Reagan Building food court.
• There's a great debate over which Starbucks to patronize among John A. Wilson Building denizens. There's the regular old Starbucks on 13th Street NW, then there's the "Secret" Starbucks inside the J.W. Marriott Hotel on 14th Street NW. The former is slightly cheaper, on the way from the Metro, has a better food selection, and is patronized by Dan Tangherlini. The latter is secluded, a good spot to eavesdrop on a secret political rendezvous, offers better service, and takes you past a cardboard cutout of President Obama on your way there.
• Kwame Brown and David Catania are closet McDonald's fans.
• Harry Thomas Jr. enjoys Smoothie King.
• Jim Graham, Ward 1 councilmember and WMATA board chair, likes to eat Subway on the dais. "Ironic," says one council wag, "because he never rides the Metro!"

That ends LL's Food Day. He's kinda hungry.

Tommy Wells has been Ward 6 councilmember since 2007.

Favorite Ward Haunts: "It really depends on the occasion. If my wife and I are beleaguered and had a rough week and we want comfort food, we go to La Loma. Sam Fuentes and his family take care of us....When you want to go to someplace nice, we like Trattoria Alberto [on Barracks Row, 8th Street SE]....For special occasions, we'll go to Montmartre. We love the French food and good wine....When we're [feeling casual], I'll go to the Argonaut for sweet potato fries and a Dogfish Head 90-minute IPA, and nine times out of 10, the fish tacos."

Home Cooking: "Marinated salmon on the grill, wild rice from Minnesota, usually with mushrooms and raisins in it, and asparagus." Actually, make that mushrooms and Craisins.

Fave Wine Region: Côtes du Rhône

Power Lunch Locale: "I have been mourning the loss of Les Halles. It was reasonably priced and I liked the dishes....I generally don't go to Chef Geoff's because they vehemently opposed sick leave, so I'm going to Bluepoint [Grill] for a real change. The good news there is the bad news: The food is not great, but I never have to wait for a table"---meaning it's easier to have a private conversation. Recently, though, he's spotted more colleagues on the premises seeking seclusion.

Quick Bite: "Same place every time," he says---a Japanese spot in the Ronald Reagan Building food court. "It's called 'Kabuki' something," he says, and he always gets the sushi deluxe with an orange juice. "And the weirdest thing is, it often costs different amounts." Wells recently returned from a European vacation, and apparently the sushi stand missed him. "I went back two days ago, and they added other sushi pieces. they let me know they were doing that as a gift."

Bag It: His sushi trips provided valuable intel on a pet piece of legislation. Wells, of course, is currently pushing a bill to charge five cents for paper and plastic bags. "The other odd thing is, sometimes they put it in a plastic bag, sometimes they put it in a paper bag. That indicated to me there's no economic difference between the two." Wells, of course, usually refuses the bag. But not always. If there's a long line of tourists behind him and the counterperson sticks his lunch in a bag, he'll take it. "I don't want to be too weird," he says.

Kaffeeklatsch: "I routinely meet with people in the back part of Firehook. I can have a fairly private conversation without constantly being interrupted by constituents. When it doesn't matter, I go to Port City." There was recently a coffee scandal of sorts in Ward 6, when the Murky coffeeshop on 7th Street SE was revealed not to have paid its taxes. Wells, however, had already avoided the joint, after owners painted over a intricate mural inside depicting an Eastern Market street scene. "I quit going there," he says. "I boycotted the affront to community art."

No Reservations: One place in Ward 6 Wells hasn't been: Dr. Granville Moore's on H Street NE. "I can't get a table!" he protests. "I'm the councilmember! What's that say about [owner] Joe Englert?"

Is the District next?

LL is talking letter grades here, specifically as applied to the cleanliness of restaurants, markets, taverns, and other establishments slinging comestibles. Anyone who's been to L.A. has seen a big block "A," "B," or even "C" posted prominently outside all food-serving establishments. (You don't stay open with anything less than that.) The thinking goes that the public scrutiny forces restaurants to aim for a level of sanitation beyond the bare minimum.

Ward 3 Councilmember Mary Cheh says she's introducing a bill at tomorrow's legislative meeting that would implement an L.A.-style system here. In a press release, Cheh points to a "definitive study" that "13.1 percent decrease in the number of foodborne-disease hospitalizations in Los Angeles County in the year following the implementation of the program."

So is this a valuable consumer protection measure or creeping nannyism at a time when restaurateurs are facing economic hardship?

Orange County, Calif., recently decided it was the latter, and rejected a letter-grade system. Don't expect a warm reception from local restaurant owners---LL will update with any official reaction he can muster.

Seriously, Georgia Brown's?

Dunno if that was your idea, Mr. Mayor, or yours, Mrs. First Lady, but you both need some better culinary counsel. I mean, how much more Clintonian can you get?

LL thought this was a new day for America!

UPDATE, 4:45 P.M.: Apparently GB's was the Fentys' idea. Jill Biden---ahem, Dr. Jill Biden---was there, too.

• In WaPo: The MPD has tied the death of 14-year-old Giovanni Sanchez to Mara Salvatrucha (also known as MS-13).
• New Columbia Heights alludes to a new restaurant coming to 14th St.
• Now that the recession has reduced individual spending power, says Penn Quarter Living, is it finally acceptable for good people to buy those cheap Prada knockoffs at the metro kiosks?
• Word of new shopping options coming to Petworth, courtesy of Petworth News.
• Braveheart over at River East Idealist sounds a call to arms: "Let us not develop River East just for development's sake. Let's fix broken windows and everything they represent."
• And Now, Anacostia has some good news and some bad news: Verizon FIOS is coming to Anacostia, but it won't be fully in place for 9 years. (That's kind of like Georgia Ave. resident fantasizing about the supposed trolley system that's on its way.)
• Also in WaPo: Police confiscate cocks in Virginia.

Update: Asher Corson, Mary Cheh's communications director, writes in to clarify the FiOS deal: "The build out deadline is just that, a deadline, not a timeline.  What I mean to say: FiOS is more likely than not to be entirely built before the 9 year deadline."

If I had a regular job, I would've spent the day doing this (warning: that's me in the spandex):

Can't watch it? Click here. And for the love of Allah, don't tell me what you did today.

Let me be the first to say: You can have mediocre barbecue much closer to home.

Bear Creek's decor is hunting-lodge chic. There's a display case filled with old guns and shell casings. There's a diorama over the buffet table of a bear attacking some sort of wild cat. There's a giant moose staring benevolently at you from its perch over the fireplace. This is no place for PETA.

As its name states, Bear Creek deals in "open pit" barbecue, which is essentially a giant uncovered, wood-fired grill that releases its smoke straight into an equally giant hood. This cooking method differs from a barbecue smoker, in which the beef, pork, or whatever is trapped inside some contraption (maybe a converted oil drum, maybe some pricey piece of equipment from Barbeques Galore) until the smoke and meat are one.

The smoke penetration at Bear Creek is no where near as deep, and we sampled widely from the menu. We ordered pork ribs, brisket, pulled pork, sausage, even a Frito pie. We ordered as if we'd never eat again.

The ribs were the star; they boasted a ruggedly charred exterior, which gave way to a pink, smoky flesh that offered just the right amount of resistance when you tore it away from the bone. The brisket slices, by contrast, were only adequate; they were these too-thin ribbons of beef with minimal smoke penetration and little juicy, flavorful fat. Neither the pork nor the beef were adequately seasoned, which would have improved both dramatically. The pulled pork didn't rate anywhere near the stuff they produce at Buz and Ned's in Richmond, which may not be a fair comparison, but there you have it.

The sausage was an outright disaster. Soft and undercooked, the link's lone saving grace was its spice level, which still wasn't enough to make me eat more than one nubbin.

There's always a calculation one has to make when confronted with the fact that you've just invested so many hours of your waking day on a single meal, particularly when the meal turns out to be so utterly average. You must take the number of different entrees you ordered (five, in our case) and multiple that number by the average rating you gave for all the dishes on a 1-to-5 scale (2.1 average, based on the following ratings: pork, 3.5; beef, 2; pulled pork, 2; sausage, 1; Frito pie, 2) and divide by the hours invested (five). If your score is less than 2.0, then you wasted your time.

My score was 2.1. So there you have it: Scientific evidence that it's worth driving, just barely, to Bear Creek for barbecue. Unless, of course, you don't believe in science.