The Damiana flower of Northern Mexico

For Valentine's Day, Casa Oaxaca in Adams Morgan is serving a special romantic cocktail made with damiana, a Mexican flower the Mayans and Aztecs believed to be an aphrodisiac, effective for both men and women. Does it really make you horny? Y&H special cocktail correspondent Alex Baca reports from the scene:

5:05 p.m.: My date and I arrive at Casa Oaxaca and take our seats at the bar. “So I hear you have a drink with some sort of aphrodisiac in it,” I ask the bartender. He explains that, yes, the restaurant is serving the “Besamo Mucho,” a cocktail that, according to a press release, uses damiana liqueur. Damiana is a flower from Northern Mexico. Legend has it that the stuff makes you horny. We'll see. My dining companion and I each order one.

5:07 p.m.: The bartender asks us if we’d like to try some of the damiana liqueur. It’s sweet and reminiscent of passion fruit. That'd be sexy, except the smell of passion fruit more immediately recalls Herbal Essences shampoo, which isn't quite as orgasmic as the TV commercials would suggest—at least in my experience.

5:13 p.m.: Our drinks are served. I’m usually averse to sugary, tropical cocktails but, hey, this isn’t bad. White tequila, passion fruit juice, lime juice, and rose petal powder are subtle additions to the damiana.

5:15 p.m.: Not horny yet. Hungry, though. So we order tacos.

5:20 p.m.: The bartender asks if we’re feeling anything. Not me. My dining companion says he’s not, either. We all laugh, because what the hell else are you supposed to do when sitting in an empty bar with a drink that may or may not make you want to jump someone’s bones?

5:28 p.m.: Our tacos arrive. I am grateful for a reprieve from analyzing whether or not my drink is making me horny.

5:30 p.m.: Oh my God, these tacos are so good. Perfectly moist and roasted in a garlic-guajillo sauce, the food might be making me more amorous than the drink.

5:40 p.m.: Still nothing. I suppose it would’ve been helpful to have a buck-wild libido during rituals involving life, death, and possible transcendence into afterworlds. But I don't know how those Mayan and Aztec priests were able to raise, um, spirits using this stuff. Maybe they had a better recipe. I’m no more turned on than I would be after any other one drink. (Keyword: one.)

5:50 p.m.: Verdict: No tingling sensations anywhere. But who says you need liquid Viagra to get lucky, anyway? The guy I'm with is pretty handsome. Hey, wanna get out of here?
Photo courtesy of Casa Oaxaca

At the time, chef Phillip Blane and wife Laura Schiller were shopping for restaurant spaces. Blane, a former sous chef at Todd Gray's Equinox, had taken some time off to raise the couple's then-newborn son. Schiller, meanwhile, was working as the California Democrat's chief of staff. The climate toward Democratic incumbents wasn't exactly favorable back then and the fact that their first deal fell through was probably a good thing. "We thought it's probably not a good time to open a restaurant," Blane says. "If Barbara loses, then we're both out of work."

Boxer eventually won re-election. Her victory is Georgetown's gustatory gain. The couple's new restaurant, derived from the Latin phrase "E pluribus unum," opens tonight in the long-shuttered Mendocino space on M Street NW. (Eater DC has the opening menu here.) "The fact is, this is something that I have been planning and saving and building toward," Blane says. "[Boxer's re-election] may have affected the timing of it. But it wasn't going to affect whether or not we were going to do it."

The new 50-seat eatery won't be quite the wine-centric operation its predecessor was. "Wine will definitely be a big focus for us, but unlike Mendocino, we are also going to have a cocktail list," Blane says, "and we're going to have at least a dozen, probably 15, maybe even closer to 20 craft beers once we get going."

Nor will it be so California-centric, either. "We have a decent amount of California wine, but we also have some French, Spanish, Australian," Blane says. Virginia, too, he adds.

Maybe a more important difference: "Mendocino was a little bit more expensive....We're trying to be a little more approachable," says Blane, noting that entrees will range in the lower 20s.

Blane describes the fare as New American, a sort of catch-all of culinary influences. "To me, New American food is a compilation of and influenced by so many different cultures and cuisines," he says. "Both American culture—Southern influences, California influences, Texas influences, New England styles and flavors—and then certainly the global community, French, Italian, Latin American....We're trying to be reflective of that diversity in the food, in the wine and in the cocktails."

He points to a garam marsala-spiced lamb shank ($24), a Mediterranean-influenced roasted chicken breast with olives and dried fruit ($18) and a hanger steak served on crawfish grits ($24) as examples of this diverse range of cooking styles.

Above all else, Blane simply hopes his neighbors will find the place cozy. "We want this to be the go-to neighborhood restaurant in Georgetown," he says.

Unum, 2917 M St. NW, (202) 621-6959

Photo by Ashley Dejean

Tonight, ChurchKey taps the only cask in town of Bell's coveted Hopslam. Meanwhile,  Smith Commons is hosting a whole dinner dedicated to out-of-market beers and unusual pairings: the goat cheese ravioli with raisin puree and pop rocks matched up with Hair of the Dog Brewing Co.'s "Fred" certain sounds interesting. Ditto the braised pork belly with coffee  and smoked bacon paired with Alaskan Brewing Co.'s "Smoked Porter." Also on the agenda: the debut of the new Black & Orange on 14th Street, with its brand-new "Hair of the Dog" burger, as well as the opening of Unum, the new Georgetown restaurant by former Equinox sous chef Phillip Blane. Also, the grand pig-out procession known as D.C. Meat Week converges on Alexandria's Pork Barrel BBQ.

Coming up: on Wednesday, D.C.'s most talented pastry chefs show off their skills at the annual Sugar & Champagne charity event at the Ronald Reagan Building. And, on Thursday, Church & State debuts its new cocktail list, with each libation created in tribute to one of the biblical seven deadly sins. For our purposes, gluttony seems an apt choice.

For more info, click on any link in the Y&H food events calendar above.

Got something tasty going on? Email tips, daily special and event listings to hungry@washingtoncitypaper.com

Tonight: City Paper hosts its "Best of DC 2012 voting party at Carmine's in Penn Quarter. Free food provided. All we ask in return is your humble opinion on the tastiest stuff in town. Meanwhile, on Capitol Hill, popular cafe and wifi hotspot Pound is launching its new dinner service at 5 p.m. sharp, serving things like coq au vin dumplings and crispy Cuban-style pork pork chicharrones. Check out the menu here. Then, at 7 p.m., Chocolate City Brewery and Hello Cupcake debut their combined craft-beer infused cupcake at Nellie's on U Street NW.

Coming up: tomorrow night, Cashion's in Adams Morgan launches its new tasting menu, featuring six of chef John Manolatos' favorite dishes. Price is $85 per person (that's $105 with wine). Then, on Saturday, Y&H's favorite Adams Morgan sandwich spot, A.M. Wine Shoppe, hosts its second anniversary party with free tastings, demonstrations, and cocktail talk with Proof and Estadio's affable mix master Adam Bernbach.

For more info, click on any link in the Y&H food events calendar above.

Got something tasty going on? Email tips, daily specials and event listings to hungry@washingtoncitypaper.com

What weird stuff will ooze into your rocks glass in 2012? Stick your predictions in the comments.

Washingtonian

Photo by Nik Frey/Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 Generic license

Location:

Location: Bar Pilar, 1833 14th St. NW
Bartender response: “It sounds like you like bourbon?”
What we got: A Manhattan served up—“the best in the city, not even kidding,” he says—made with Bulleit rye
How it tasted: Sweetness at first sip, turning to a nicely dry tang
Price: $12
Improv points (1–5): 1. This was quite close to an Old Fashioned, but with
vermouth and in a different glass.

Location: The Gibson, 2009 14th St. NW
Bartender response: “Nice. Do you want bourbon or rye?”
What we got: A Monte Carlo served up with Old Overholt rye, Bénédictine, and a lemon peel
How it tasted: Warm, spicy, and eminently drinkable; the Overholt’s harsh edge was blunted nicely by the Bénédictine’s herbal qualities.
Price: $12.50
Improv points (1–5): 2. The combination was suitably classic and distinct, if not entirely unique.

The color and scent suggested a raspberry margarita, but the flavor was unlike anything I have tasted from a highball before. It was airy and temperate, just enough of everything to breathe new life into my afternoon. I actually felt a tad bit healthier. Go figure.  Pineapple bits and beet juice mixed with liquor? Bring it on. I felt so rejuvenated after that first cocktail that I decided to peruse the menu for another fantastic way to consume my suggested amount of folate. That is when I stumbled upon the glorious and simple B&B: a $10 concoction of Makers Mark, beets, and bitters.

What's with all the beet drinks on the menu?

Head bartender Gina Chersevani tells me she just likes the natural sweetener in the root. She makes the syrup in house, bottles herself after cooking down the red beets and adding a little vanilla bean for a little extra umph. Chersevani will be showcasing her beet bevvies at the upcoming industry trade show "Tales of the Cocktail 2011" in New Orleans, where she'll be hosting a seminar titled "Let's Not Sugar Coat It," dealing with all the ways we can avoid bogging down our cocktails with the use of artificial flavors and sugars and instead rely on the natural ingredients all around us.

But back to the B&B: When I closed my eyes and took a sniff, it reminded me of the carnival for some strange reason. Could’ve been the spiced popcorn nearby, mixed with the candyesque aroma wafting from the glass. Maybe it was the magnificent colors copulating with each other amongst the ice cubes.

Thick and sweet, the syrupy consistency coated my tongue in such a way as to suggest that Makers and I had a far more intimate relationship than I was aware of. I simply sat and savored the flavor of the newfound fabulousness of not hiding my veggies under the rim of my plate.

Trixie Tamerlane is the author of From The Other Side: Pourings from the Mind of a Bartender

Photo by Trixie Tamerlane

Two summers ago, Y&H alum Tim Carman spent a "bleary-eyed evening" with passionate Rickey advocate Derek Brown of the Passenger and forthcoming Rogue 24, discussing the drink's history and Brown's campaign to have the native bevvie declared D.C.'s official cocktail. I guess Brown can now quaff in peace, knowing the boozy effort was not in vain.

Sipping the $9 blend of Citrus vodka, cucumber, rosemary, and house made turbinado simple syrup made the 90-degree day a bit more bearable. Sitting on the patio watching the yuppies hustle and bustle along Connecticut Avenue NW, I half expected to be disappointed with the muddled cucumber concoction that was on its way to my table. At first glance, I was further concerned about the tiny Christmas tree that had sprouted in my cocktail. My first sip washed it all away. The cucumber was a perfectly dainty date for the citrus flavors offered by the vodka, and the rosemary complements turned it into a merry ménage-a-trois that left me smiling and had me ordering a second round.

Admittedly skeptical of anything containing a muddled cuke—I mean, what if a bit of pulp, or a seed became attached to my uvula?—I found that the sweet but not-too-sweet medley of sunshiny characters proves that sometimes the juice is worth the squeeze.

Circa, 1601 Connecticut Ave. NW, (202) 667-1601

Trixie Tamerlane is the author of From The Other Side: Pourings from the Mind of a Bartender

Photo by Trixie Tamerlane