• 30May

    St BernadusHere is Savor’s list of next week’s Savor-related beer events. Savor is already sold out, but that doesn’t mean you can’t attend the related events. Savor’s has a great lineup of attending breweries. Some of the following haven’t got Savor’s event list as of yet:

    Dcbeer.com’s Third Craft and Comedy showcase will be at the Big Hunt Monday evening at 7pm (free).

    Devil’s Backone‘s Brews Cruise is leaves from Alexandria Saturday 11 am ($60).

    Thursday Lagunitas will have a vaporizer set up at Smoke and Barrel to vape hops.

    They aren’t on Savor’s list yet, but below are some events at Churchkey. More details on these events, and Birch & Barley (their sister) events (including beer dinners) are listed here.

    • 4 Hands Brewing Company, Monday evening at 6 pm.
    • Wicked Weed Brewing, Wednesday at 4pm
    • Jolly Pumpkin, Tuesday at 4 pm.
    • Florida’s Cigar City & Funky Buddha, Thursday at 4pm
    • Kuhnhenn, Friday 4 pm.

    Also, these are not Savor-related, but there are St. Bernardus (from Watou, Belgium) events May 31st at Churchkey 4-7pm, and June 1st at Brasserie Beck 6-8pm. Details (from the Brasserie Beck people):

    Representatives will be on hand from both the Brewery and their importer, D & V International. As such, we’ll have one non-St. Bernardus beer as part of the event. We’ll definitely have special happy hour pricing for the St Bernardus stuff. The lineup:

    Bottles:
    St Bernardus 6 and 8 (dubbels)
    Tripel
    12 (Quadrupel)
    Oak-Aged 12 (Newly Released as of June 1!)

     

    Draft:
    St Bernardus Extra 4 (Belgian Pale Ale, originally a recipe from St. Sixtus/Westvleteren Monastery).
    St Bernardus 12
    Kazematten Grotten Sante (cave-aged brown ale from Belgium)
    BTW, twitter is covered in beer articles and listing for next week: https://twitter.com/search?q=savor%20dc&src=typd

    -JAY

  • 26May

    The penthouse pool and lounge at U Street, located above VIDA fitness, celebrated its grand opening last Friday evening. The spacious rooftop features a bar and pool area surrounded by cabanas, day beds and other comfortable poolside furniture. Enjoy tasty margaritas, food designed by chef Spike Mendelsohn and an amazing view at this exclusive rooftop.

    Their standard margarita, the MargaVIDA, has silver tequila, freshly squeezed lime juice and house made sour, with an added bonus for sweetness: fresh orange juice. If you like your margaritas a bit sour and a bit sweet, go for this classic drink with a twist. You can’t go wrong. The drinks menu also includes cocktails, wine and beer. For cocktails, choose from summertime citrus drinks or old school cocktails featuring new school mixology. Being a whiskey sour fan, I’d go back and try their Whiskey Sour Smash, an old-school rye whiskey drink with the added freshness of mint, lime juice and orange wedges. If you’re hungry, I recommend the Watermelon Feta Salad. As their other selections seem to be, this salad’s light and refreshing taste is perfect for the hot weather. More poolside options on their health-conscious menu include seafood dishes, sandwiches, other salad flavors and dips. I personally love that ceviche is on their menu. With a relaxed atmosphere and good food and drinks, VIDA penthouse is a great way to escape from the busy streets of DC and soak up the sun.

    Check out their website to become a member and experience this hot spot.

    -SDM

  • 18May

    Congratulations to Dimitri Moshovitis of Cava Mezze who won 3 awards (Best in Show, People’s Choice, and Best Latin) at the DC Lamb Jam last night! His dish was a lamb shoulder half smoke with mustard tzatziki on a brioche bun. It was fun being a judge at this event!

    -JAY

  • 17May
    img_20150515_181435516_hdr

    Wonderful French Master Butcher, Marc Pauvert from Spring House Farm in Lovettsville, VA Working on a Whole Lamb!

    Last chance to buy tickets for tonight for DC’s Lamb Jam.

    -JAY

  • 16May

    Wonderful food industry people who create extremely tasty products:

    -JAY

     

  • 14May

    Granite City Food & Brewery celebrated the opening of its National Harbor, MD location last Monday. Their first East Coast spot, Granite City is a great addition to the many other dining options at National Harbor. Spacious and modern, this restaurant and microbrewery houses a wide range of food and drink selections for just about anyone to enjoy, beer lovers and non-beer lovers alike.

    The restaurant features a full service, wrap-around bar, open kitchen, private dining rooms, patio area, and on-site microbrewery that can be seen from inside the restaurant and is available for tours. Granite City prides itself not only the quality of its handcrafted beers but also of its made from scratch food and signature cocktails. The watermelon martini, for example, was sweet and refreshing on such a hot day. This drink, among several other martini flavors, is featured on their complete happy hour menu.

    Able to seat approximately 300 people, the restaurant and bar quickly became packed at its grand opening event. It would be of no surprise if Granite City soon becomes the place to be, especially on weekend late nights.

    If you live in the National Harbor area or are simply looking to take a day trip, be sure to check out Granite City while you’re there.

    -SDM

  • 13May
    Wine lovers crowd around to dance to VinoFest’s live music performances.

    Wine lovers crowd around to dance to VinoFest’s live music performances.

    VinoFest DC 2015 was held this past Saturday, May 9, 2015, at Storey Park NoMa in Washington D.C. VinoFest is a diverse live music and wine festival presented by Vinolovers. Upon entering the festival, tents were lined up along the gated perimeter with various activities (such as painting and life-size beer pong), wine tastings, and food trucks. Front and center of VinoFest was a stage that eventually had the entire crowd dancing by the end of the night.

    The stage featured Questlove (from The Roots), Black Masala, White Ford Bronco, Trouble Funk, Alison Carney (and her electric blue hair I could not stop staring at in admiration), DJ Adrian Loving, DJ Neekola, and D.C.’s DJ Hazzard. The musicians performed a beautiful mix of originals and old school classic covers (my favorite was TLC’s “No Scrubs”) that had almost every head at the festival swaying to the beat of the music.

    Food line-up: Dirty South Deli, Red Hook Lobster Pound DC, Slate Wine Bar + Bistro, Straw Stick & Brick Delicatessen, Swizzler, and Puddin’.

    Although I unfortunately did not get to try every single food vendor, I was able to experience Slate Wine Bar + Bistro’s chicken paella as my first VinoFest dish of the day and it was absolutely delectable.

    My second dish came from Swizzler and it was a savory tray of truffle fries. The perfect snack to share with a friend while under the warm Saturday May sun.

    My last dish at VinoFest was the David Wooderson sandwich and Fingerling Potato Salad from Dirty South Deli. The grilled asparagus, fried egg, and lemon-pepper ricotta were my favorite components in the David Wooderson (which also included English peas, mint, and trumpet mushrooms on ciabatta bread). The Fingerling potato salad was a refreshing side of potato chunks served with gochujang (Korean red pepper paste) marinated cucumber, red onions and mint.

    The wine tasting tent quickly became the focal point for majority of the VinoFest attendees (obviously) and staff members worked hard to serve the vino loving masses. I was pleased to see how professional and passionate the staff members were and am even more pleased at how proceeds of VinoFest DC 2015 will benefit DC Central Kitchen, Make-A-Wish Mid-Atlantic, and Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE). Over 1,800 vino lovers attended VinoFest DC last year so I am curious to see how many attended last Saturday.

    VinoFest DC 2015 was a huge success and I look forward to see what VinoFest has to offer next year. Until then, cheers!

    -EHY

  • 12May
    It’s the most exciting time of year for the DC gluten-free population. Sunday JUNE 7th is the fifth annual Gluten-Free Expo- a time where gluten-free vendors from all over the world come to offer their newest goodies to the DC gluten-free population. Last year’s expo brought over 2,200 visitors, and with more vendors than ever before, this year will be even bigger and better! And even more exciting- I was asked to be a featured blogger at the event! Which means you as my readers get to benefit by getting discount tickets to the Expo. So make sure you save the date and click the link below for more info about the event and to save 25% off the price of a ticket with this coupon code: GFNOVAGIRL25OFF.

    -JPM (Joyana)
  • 06May

    DominionJust in time for the warm weather, downtown Bethesda’s Piazza Beer Garden at Cesco Osteria is now open. Beer lovers and food enthusiasts can enjoy unique local beers and tasty Italian foods while soaking up the sun in this relaxed spot.

    Voted “Best Outdoor Beer Garden” by Bethesda Magazine, the piazza prides itself on its sustainability and support of local farmers and breweries. The piazza was created from sustainable and environmentally friendly materials, and the menu and beer options are local. Some favorite foods are the margherita pizza and fried calamari, among many other hearty Italian bites to choose from. At their season-opener beer bash last Tuesday, guests were treated to glasses of Dominion Candi, a popular Belgian Tripel. Perfect for the summertime, this beer is light, refreshing and on the sweet side. Piazza offers twelve taps with a changing selection of beers from local breweries as well as many bottle selections to please any kind of beer lover.

    On May 7th, Cesco Osteria will celebrate its 18th anniversary. Chef and owner Francesco Ricchi is offering all diners a complimentary glass of prosecco and birthday cake to celebrate. Check out Piazza Beer Garden Monday through Friday from 4pm to 10pm or Saturday from 2pm to 10pm.

    -SDM

    Click to add a blog post for Piazza Beer Garden on Zomato

  • 05May

    I love it when a restaurant has the ability to hijack my taste buds. Located adjacent to the 9:30 Club, ‘Satellite Room’ offers many surprises in food and pop culture. Upon my arrival, I was greeted by their very friendly hostess. After explaining it was my first time as a guest, she invited me to explore the venue’s vast art collection. I was amazed reviewing those paintings. Before I knew it, I whipped out my camera and started taking pictures.

    Although most of those pictures won’t make it into this article, the memories of that art work…I will cherish forever. My personal favorite was the “Marilyn Misfit” portrait. Being a fan of Marilyn Monroe, and a fan of the punk band “Misfits,” this painting captured my imagination and held it hostage. It was at that moment that I realized before taking my first bite of anything…I was hooked on this place!
    The menu was packed with delightful food options, and it was challenging to decide which dish I wanted to order. Chef Charles Smeed was available to speak with me, so I inquired about the popular food choices. He explained how it would be difficult to narrow it down to a single selection, because their customers love everything that comes out of the kitchen. However, he was willing to create a sampler plate for me to taste a few items. Imagine my surprise when he presented:

    • Sausage Biscuit & Gravy
    • Chipotle Glazed Meatloaf
    • Steak & Eggs

    As a food critic, I’m rarely at a loss for words. But after tasting this delightful combination of ‘food heaven’…all I could say was “WOW!” Chef Charles informed me that the meals prepared at the Satellite Room were created from scratch. The ‘love’ used to prepare these dishes is obvious. And just when I thought it was over…it was time to taste one of their signature drinks from the “Breakfast Cereal Boozy Milkshakes” collection. Using several types of cereals (combined with some popular spirits), these shakes will make you feel like a kid again. Speaking of kids…they also offer non-alcoholic versions. So if you decide to bring the young ones with you…I’m sure they’ll going to love it too!

    My only regret was not being able to eat more food. As I watched various burgers and other food delights enter the dining area, it occurred to me that I simply must return to the Satellite Room. Devouring one of those burgers with my eyes was not enough. When I spoke to some of the customers at the bar about their favorite night to hang out here, they suggested I visit during the late night ‘Wu-Tang’ Wednesday event. I’m looking forward to what DJ Baronhawk Poitier will spin on the turntables to enhance my delightful dining experience.

    -WMM (Comedian/Writer/Cook and my friend,  WayneMan)

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