I have no idea how long Colorado Cafe has been around on Colorado Avenue NW in Brightwood, but it’s just a few doors down from the late, lamented (and long ago demolished) Colorado Kitchen, home of chef Gillian Clark’s homey gourmet comforts and ur-mom rules.

I snapped this photo last night, long after the coffee shop had closed for the day. Today, I tried to call the cafe, but it has no listed phone number. Seriously.

So I called Clark instead. She was familiar with the business that’s obviously trying to exploit the good Colorado Kitchen name that she developed and nurtured for years.

“They’ve duped some people,” Clark says via the phone from her kitchen at the General Store in Silver Spring.

Read More “Colorado Cafe in Brightwood Has “Duped Some People”” »

Y&H received a tip this morning that Teatro Goldoni, which earlier this month fired its celebrated chef Enzo Fargione, has apparently just canned its general manager, too. At least one cook may have quit as well.

“Apparently no one is very happy about the drastic changes or the new retro concept the owner wants to implement,” says the anonymous tipster.

The owner is Michael Kosmides, who told Y&H last week that he had to dismiss his chef because “customers weren’t responding to the changes he made in the menu…Our sales declined significantly since he changed the menu and concept.”

A spokeswoman for Teatro confirmed that GM Denny Lyon no longer works at the K Street restaurant. She couldn’t yet confirm any details, like whether Lyon quit or was fired, or anything about the cooks.

In the meantime, in case you missed it, a Y&H reader wrote that she and her husband ate at Teatro on Saturday, post-Fargione. Marykay77 wasn’t impressed:

Read More “General Manager Denny Lyon Out at Teatro Goldoni, Too” »

In the spirit of inclusion, this month’s happy hour of D.C. food bloggers is opening their doors and hyperlinks to area sports bloggers as well. The social is this evening from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. at Clyde’s of Gallery Place. Personally, I’m looking forward to debating what Ovechkin’s favorite snack cake might be. Hazard a guess? RSVP for tonight on Facebook.

This video was shot at the Atlantic Food Summit, which Y&H blogged about earlier this month. Personally, I’m not sure I’ve ever seen so many wonks in one room, but they were all smart and opinionated (kind of like journalists but in better clothes) and had all sort of ideas on how to fix the world’s food problems. In this vid, former U.S. Sen. Tom Daschle opines on how to help end world hunger.

Click here to watch more videos from the conference, including some responses to Daschle’s ideas.

Last week, reader and blogger Jenna challenged me over my lack of enthusiasm about Top Chef filming its next season in D.C.  It was a gentle gibe, and she immediately followed with another, gentler question to prove it: She wanted to know what local spots I’d like to see featured on Bravo’s reality show.

Here was my response to both lines of her inquiry:

Read More “Are You All Quick-Fired-Up About Top Chef in D.C.?” »

Mulled wine? Sure. No problem. But mulled beer? If we weren’t so beer-obsessed, we may not have been willing to try it. But we couldn’t help ourselves when we saw the seasonal drink on the beverage list at Domku last week.

Piwo Pogrzewanie, Polish for “warm beer,” is a spiced drink comparable to Glögg, the more typical seasonal favorite made with wine. Domku’s general manager Mauri Systo has tried different beers for her recipe, which works with any light lager, but she usually uses Baltika 5, a mild Russian beer. The drink is made with oranges, applie, cinnamon, cloves, and other spices.

It tastes exactly as you would think–like a warm, spicy, fruity lager. Although that may not sound appealing, it was quite good. You can try it for yourself as long as the weather remains dreary. Our guess is that this week may be your last chance until the fall.

If this novelty item isn’t your thing, Domku has an interesting selection of bottled beer from Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Lithuania, Latvia, and Croatia. The drafts usually include a German pilsner, a Belgian seasonal, and Rogue Dead Guy Ale. Na zdrowie!

The other day while I was shopping at CVS, I stopped almost dead in my tracks at the sight of the snack rack, where all manner of commercial cakes stared forlornly back at me, doomed souls from another era. Hostess Cupcakes, Suzy Q’s, Ding Dongs, Donettes, Sno Balls, Twinkies, Zingers, and my personal junk-food favorite, Ho Hos, which are, in a way, the Georgetown Cupcakes of my youth.

Read More “The Hostess with the Mostest: What’s Your Fave Commercial Snack Cake?” »

When my editor, Andrew Beaujon, first showed me the arresting photo that Darrow Montgomery had snapped for our look at The Source’s new izakaya-style menu, I told him, “The animal rights people are going to kill us.”

I didn’t think that was necessarily a bad thing. The animal rights people often have a better understanding of where their food comes from — and they don’t like it. Others remain blissfully unaware of the bloody, boiling messiness involved in getting animals to the table for our enjoyment.

Read More “Does This Photo Make You Mad?” »

PEEPS: An Easter Miracle of TERROR! – Funny videos are here

And just think: We’re still three weeks away from Easter.

Y&H got a little crabby last week.

Last week was one for the books: The Lagerheads found a cache of cool beers, two different sources reported that Top Chef would fire up stoves here in the District, and one of the city’s own top chefs was suddenly without a job. 

And what was one of the top items? The “news” from May 2009 that Spike Mendelsohn was evicted from his apartment. WTF? Seriously, WTF? The best I can tell, no single Web site drove traffic to the page. Hundreds of readers came through Google searches.

Your Top 5 from last week:

1. Enzo Fargione Fired from Teatro Goldoni (*)
2. Dangerously Delicious Pies and Ezme Set to Open Next Week
3. Policy Lays Down the Law With Rare Beers
4. A Day in the Life of the Maine Avenue Fish Market
5. Spike Mendelsohn Evicted from His Capitol Hill Rental House

* A certain light-drinking Budweiser beer was, once again, a popular item among readers, but we’ve stopped counting it.