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RESTAURANT WEEK IS BACK. Honestly, it seems like a misnomer at this point, since between two D.C. RWs per year and similar events in Bethesda, Wheaton and lots of other suburbs, there are probably more Restaurant Weeks than non-Restaurant Weeks.
Nonetheless, we're here to help. In case you have no idea what we're talking about, Restaurant Week (Jan. 11-17) is a magical time when D.C.'s finest eateries charge $35.10 for dinner and $20.10 for lunch — usually consisting of appetizer, entree and dessert. And some places even have reservations left for next week! Here are some good bets for spending your gourmet dollars.
» Willow (4301 N. Fairfax Drive, Arlington) is extending its RW menu through Jan. 23. That's a fairly common thing — Darlington House, Zaytinya and a host of others are doing it too — but Willow's menu is particularly mouth-watering. We're especially into the "drunken duck" flatbread and the lemon brulee gingersnap tart.
Continue Reading "The Frugal Gourmet: Winter Restaurant Week 2010 Picks" »
AFTER SURVEYING THE FULL HOUSE from a back room at the DC Improv Comedy Club's Lounge, Chris White heads toward the stage and introduces himself. Then he starts cutting himself down. Next come the stories about his dysfunctional family: "Parenting is a job. My mom treated it like a job. Every day at
5 p.m. she would stop working and go to happy hour."
Just as the crowd teeters on the brink of deciding whether the 32-year-old comedian is funny-funny or crazy-funny, White switches gears, closing with a terribly off-key sing-along (folks chimed in on the chorus) of the Backstreet Boys' "I Want It That Way."
And the audience knows: Whatever White's deal, they just spent an hour laughing.
For White and other local comedians, that's the ultimate employer feedback. Nine-to-5 isn't really in comics' vocabulary — unless they're talking about their day jobs, which many keep to earn a living. Prep time is short — usually a few hours per week — and performances can clock in at a whopping three minutes, but most funny folks aren't in the business for the big bucks. They're in it for the big laughs.
Continue Reading "Secrets of the Funny Business: The Pursuit of Laughter in D.C." »
DONATE CALORIES to the Gold's Gym Burnathon for diabetes awareness this Saturday. Ballston (3910 Wilson Blvd.) is holding special Spinning classes, and all gyms are open to the public as they attempt to burn 180 million calories in one day.
Photo by Pete Martin for the Washington Post
WEDNESDAY: Just because it's not really summer anymore doesn't mean we can't have fun. If you're feeling sad and lonely, take the Metro out to Ballston for Grand Cru's "mix-and-mingle" event.
You can meet new friends over $3.50 glasses of wine and discounted tapas. Or you can just get schnockered by yourself and eat a mountain of paella. Both are good options, but one is more socially acceptable.
» Grand Cru, 401 Wilson Blvd, Arlington; Wed., Sept. 9, 5:30 p.m.-7 p.m., free; 703-243-7900. (Ballston)
Photo by John McDonnell/The Washington Post
IT'S BEEN 24 HOURS since Remy Munasifi uploaded his latest video on YouTube. And if you've got a Twitter feed or a Facebook page or a Gmail account, you've probably already seen it: It's a rap lauding the 28-year-old's Starbucks-laden, Whole Foods-hoppin' 'hood: Arlington, Virginia.
"Arlington: The Rap," which sings the praises of Crate & Barrel and notes the ubiquity of brown flip-flops, has jumped from 300 to 30,000 YouTube views in less than a day. We caught up with Munasifi to quiz him on his, uh, Clarendon street cred.
» EXPRESS: What makes Arlington so hardcore?
» MUNASIFI: It's populated by straight-up thugs. Really, seersucker is a fabric, but it's really a fabric that holds the town together. I was on the Metro and I saw a guy with brown flip-flops and seersucker shorts and I said, 'Yes! This is a video that needs to be made.'
It's a unique place — that's why I moved here. I like it a lot. There are a lot of individuals, unique personalities, creative people. It's kinda artsy. Everybody's real nice, too. It's not something that happens completely up and down the East Coast.
» EXPRESS: The video has gotten a lot of traffic in just 24 hours. Has response been crazy?
» MUNASIFI: That's cool. Now I'm just worried that folks are going to get sick of it; it's only been a day. I'm just happy that folks liked it. I put other videos out there — about something general. But this [song] was about a two-mile radius, so I didn't think it was really going to do [well].
» EXPRESS: Where did the idea come from?
» MUNASIFI: I live in Clarendon now, just a couple blocks from the Metro. I just moved here a few weeks ago and I thought that would be kinda cool to introduce everybody to my new 'hood. I really like Clarendon; I didn't land here by accident. It was like a celebration. I got a couple e-mails yesterday that folks liked it, and I was content with that. So far today it's been more of the same.
MONDAY: Richmond's got Patricia Cornwell. But, hey, just two and a half hours up 95, we've got our own crime noir extraordinaire in George Pelecanos. Take that!
The Silver Spring novelist stops by Arlington's Central Library from 7-9 p.m. to read from his latest work, "The Turnaround." The novel stems from a harrowing real-life incident in which three white youths in 1972 drove into the black neighborhood of Ken-Gar, hurling racial obscenities and a firecracker — before realizing they were cruising into a dead-end.
The fictionalized aftermath from this occurrence reverberates throughout the lives of characters on both sides in this poignant novel, which many have cited as one of the author's strongest works to date.
» Arlington Central Library Auditorium, 1015 North Quincy St., Arlington; Mon. Jan. 26, 7-9 p.m., free; 703-228-5990. (Ballston, Virginia-Square)
Photo courtesy Little, Brown
WITH A NAME LIKE Big Buns, the pun possibilities are endless. And we do love puns around here, and the restaurant obviously encourages it. But we'll spare you and skip straight to the serious food business.
Big Buns Gourmet Grill in Arlington features simple American fare in an eco-friendly setting (look around for posters detailing their use of recyclable and biodegradable supplies). There are four meats (or meat-like items), all seasoned and grilled, to choose from as a base: an angus beef burger, chicken, mahi mahi, or a portabella mushroom. Have yours either on a bun or in a bowl of fresh romaine, all done up with any combination of six cheeses, sixteen toppings, and four sauces. The burgers are famous, but for a healthier option, try the mahi mahi in a bowl with roasted red peppers, black bean and mango salsa, and sweet chili vinaigrette. It's not too spicy and not too sweet ... and because the menu's so basic, the chefs can focus on cooking everything to perfection.
Add regular or sweet potato fries and a soft drink, shake, or $2 Yuengling (!) and you've got a lot of great food for just over $10. Because when they say their buns (along with everything else) are big, they mean it.
Basically, we like Big Buns and we cannot lie. (Sorry, it was just too easy.)
» Big Buns Gourmet Grill, 4401 Wilson Blvd., Arlington; 703-276-3032. (Ballston)
Written by Express' Kelsey Parrish
Photo by Richard A. Lipski/TWP
IMAGINE RUNNING A MARATHON. Then another the next day. And another the next day. Since May 4, that's pretty much been the life of Matt Hill and Stephanie Tait, a Canadian duo running 11,000 miles across the U.S. and Canada to inspire environmental action (Runforoneplanet.com). Apparently, they sometimes stop long enough to chat about their mission to raise money and convince folks to go green. See them for yourself as their route brings them to D.C. On Tuesday at 6 p.m., they're visiting the Logan Circle Lululemon (1461 P St. NW, 202-518-4075), and on Wednesday at 6 p.m. they'll swing by Ballston's Potomac River Running (3924 Wilson Blvd., 703-243-2332). Both nights, they'll be leading 5k fun runs and chatting about topics like eating locally and composting. Feel inspired? Donations are happily accepted. Or on Tuesday, buy a performance top from local eco-clothing brand Atayne (which is hosting the event) and 10 percent of the proceeds will go to their cause.
Photo courtesy of iStock
PIZZA, BULGOGI, GUMBO AND edamame on the streets of D.C.? It seems the capital is finally nearing the tipping point for great street food. Though hot dogs and chips are still the street-cart staple, a few entrepreneurs are venturing into new culinary territory. And just because the weather's turning cooler is no reason to stay inside — these food options will coax anyone out of the office and onto the sidewalk.
THE LUNCH BUNCH
Delle & Campbell's Halal Luncheonette, On the Fly, and D.C. Central Kitchen's Capital Cart rule the lunch hour with shawarma, Teaism-inspired curries, and po'boys. The carts are a D.C. Business Improvement District experiment aimed at improving vending downtown. Scott Pomeroy of the D.C. BID cautions that the experiment hasn't been a total home run. "It'll take a little bit of time to build up," he says, but "vendors are seeing repeat visitors."
Since Delle & Campbell's has been cooking up halal food since '07 (in a different location), and On the Fly's green carts have graced D.C.'s streets for just as long, Capital Cart's the new kid on the block. Run by D.C. Central Kitchen training program graduates, the cart's takes on gumbo and healthy sandwiches are tasty and easy on the wallet.
Continue Reading "D.C. Good to Go: Area Street Carts Serve Variety" »
WE STARTED THE DAY with a piece about slowness on the Orange Line, now we'll end the day that way, too. Get ready for some delays, commuters.
A "kink" in the rails — a bend created by high temperatures — was discovered at 3:15 this afternoon between East Falls Church and Ballston, Metro says. Orange Line trains are now sharing a track between Ballston and East Falls Church. Metro is also running shuttle buses between Ballston and Vienna, which are "stopping at Ballston-MU, East Falls Church, West Falls Church-VT/UVA, Dunn Loring-Merrifield and Vienna," according to a press release.
Good luck out there.
Photo by Michael Lutzky/The Washington Post
Addison Road