Dave Chappelle is a comedic genius, and his skit for Samuel L. Jackson Beer compares favorably with any of the fake commercials produced by SNL. 

I wonder if Greg Engert at Birch & Barley/ChurchKey can add this to his 500-plus beer list? Maybe even hire Chappelle to do his Sammy Jackson shtick? It might actually clear out enough people at the Logan Circle hotspot so that I could get a seat.

Birch & Barley, the oft-promised beer bar and restaurant, will open tonight at 5 p.m. And while we’ve drooled over it for months, we’ve heard little about it other than the numbers they promised: 555 bottles, 50 taps, and 5 casks. I admit I was skeptical, worried that the list would be vaporware like the 1,000+ beer menu at The Brickskeller — but a swing by the bar yesterday put me at ease.

Read More “Birch & Barley Opens Today. What’s Inside?” »

For a first yet another peek at the long-discussed Birch & Barley and ChurchKey, check out the ChurchKey blog, launched today with a post by beer director Greg Engert. If you’ve ever asked Engert a question about anything, you know the man’s got some verbosity, and this post is no different. The 900-word treatise covers everything from beer selection to restaurant philosophy to food to temperature and storage. Make that lots of detail on temperature and storage — which is great for drinkers like me who don’t want their beer with icicles in it, or poured anywhere near a frosted mug.

Still no word an opening date, though. I knew you were going to ask.

Steve Mannino has taken over the kitchen at Rustico

One by one, we’re running through the 50 restaurants that made the cut on this year’s Young & Hungry Dining Guide. If you have visited the day’s featured restaurant, let us know what you think. If you’re planning to visit for the first time, tell us about your meal when you return.

To illustrate a larger point, I want to let you in on a small, behind-the-scenes spat between me and Frank Morales, the chef at Rustico. For a while now, Morales has been pissed at me for an online review I posted in January, around the time of Obama’s inauguration, which dissed the chef’s sincere-but-sloppy effort to produce a Chicago-style deep-dish pizza. Now, I don’t take it personally that Morales holds a grudge—at least not much. Mostly what I glean from the situation is that Morales takes extreme pride in his regular work—and hated being called out for a specialty pie that’s difficult to create under the best of circumstances, let alone under the heat of a quickie special-event menu. His anger is understandable, and frankly, Morales’ passion is what makes Rustico such a delight to frequent on those days when there’s no culinary pressure to suck up to a new president. Since taking over the job, Morales has run with Rustico’s beer-forward concept, creating smart, chef-driven versions of the fatty pub fare that pairs so well with suds. He and beer director Greg Engert have, in a very short time, created the model by which all gastropubs should be judged.

Addenda: Frank Morales has since left Rustico and has been replaced by former Olives chef Steve Mannino.

Rustico, 827 Slaters Lane, Alexandria, (703) 224-5051

Photo by Darrow Montgomery