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FINDING A TASTY lunch during the workday has become a bit easier, thanks to the influx of food trucks bringing everything from salads and Indian curry to cupcakes to downtown D.C. While you've always been able to buy other fare from parked vendors, a new breed of food purveyors are using social media such as Twitter and Facebook to serve hungry patrons.
Sweetgreen, which has four locations in the area, launched Sweetflow Mobile in June 2009 to sell yogurt, salads and oatmeal.
Tim Noonan, the director of Sweetflow Mobile, says there are 14 rotating toppings for the yogurt, and salads are made with seasonal ingredients from the farmers market. According to Noonan, the truck has allowed Sweetgreen to introduce its products to people who may not live near one of the permanent locations.
Continue Reading "A Street Corner Near You: D.C. Food Trucks Go Online" »
CHING CHING WONG comes in from the 20-degree windchill, shivering in her puffy down jacket. She hurries past the dining room of her Georgetown tea shop, Ching Ching Cha, and immediately asks long-time manager and friend Desmond Yim to make a pot of oolong tea.
"Just coming in here makes me feel better," says Wong. It is cozy, with sunlight streaming from a skylight window and the aroma of fresh oolong leaves in the air. So why is the tearoom almost empty?
"They keep saying [on the news] not to go outside!" she says, referring to the "cold snap" we keep hearing Bob Ryan talk about. Wong says her shop provides warm refuge from this weather. What's more, its main ingredient can provide protection from winter sickness.
Continue Reading "Kick the Common Cold: Foods to Boost Your Immune System" »
EVEN THOUGH SUMMER is coming to an end, you can keep enjoying summer's bounty through the winter by canning fruits and vegetables. Another way to keep produce is by making pickles. Pickles have been showing up on tables at area restaurants for some time now, and a couple local chefs offered tips on how to make them at home.
Jamie Leeds serves pickles at her gastropub, Commonwealth, and she recommends using "hardy vegetables."
UNLIKE MOST OF ITS beard-rocking brethren, Richmond folk-rock band Ilad is more than a mere peddler of bygone sounds. While embracing traditional song styles, the group's experimental tendencies and sensitivity to mood keep its music from becoming mired in nostalgia.
"We just feel things out," says Scott Clark, drummer for the group. "I guess in a way we are nostalgic for great old music ... but we like a lot of great new music, too."
Scott says he and his fellow band members throw everything into the mix, from the Delta blues of Son House to structured Philip Glass-like pointillism. The end result is a sort of soft psychedelia that floats somewhere between rustic blues and dream-pop.
Continue Reading "Rhymes With Odd: Richmond Folk-Rock Outfit Ilad" »
SEATTLE PUNK-FOLK quintet Mostly Dimes, having proved their mettle on friendly hometown turf, recently decided to book their first big tour on the East Coast.
Most of the group's members, including frontman Tom Baisden, are D.C.-area expatriates and figure their personalized protest songs will resonate with regional music lovers' political proclivities.
But when Baisden says, "All the guys in the band are coming from the same place," he is mostly talking in terms of musical inspiration. Each member has a punk-rock past and all particularly admire the righteous rebelliousness of D.C. hardcore heroes Fugazi.
"Lyrically, our ethic is along those lines," says Baisden. "The heart of the band is an attempt to try and overcome what we grew up on -- watching 'Red Dawn' 85 times, believing our country was doing the right thing always."
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.
EVERYTHING IN THIS town is political. So many people work for (or writes about, or contract for) the government, everyone talks about politics after work and everyone will be out in force for the giant election party that will take over the city on Tuesday night. But before that happens, you can chow down on political-themed food at local eateries that are using election fever as a chance to get creative with their menus.
THE ECONOMY IS NOT WORKING OUT so well these days, but you might be, considering the number of gyms sprouting up (two — a new Vida and Results — opened just last week). Top-of-the-line equipment should help take your mind off financial crises. And if you invest your membership money wisely, you're sure to get a solid return no matter what happens on Wall Street.
» Vida Fitness Metropole
"It's not just a gym," clarifies David von Storch, owner of Vida, indicating Bang Salon and Aura Spa. Located on the entrance level of the 28,000-square-foot space in Logan Circle, that's where folks can get blown out and body-wrapped before descending into the three floors of fitness downstairs. Sound cavernous? An open design means huge windows on the street level are visible from two floors (and 50 feet) below. "It feels urban and sexy without feeling sexual," von Storch says.
It starts with a cardio area, featuring a D.C. exclusive: Real Ryder stationary bikes that shift from side to side to create more of a core workout. TVs are mounted on virtually every piece of equipment, but the real show may be downstairs, where the weights and machines are; they're divided by body part rather than grouped into circuits. Locker rooms lead to the Zen Spa, with two endless pools and a steam room.
1515 15th St. NW, 202-588-5559, Vidafitness.com.
» Results Gym Mount Vernon
There isn't a pool here, but there is pool. It's just the kind with an eight ball. A pingpong table completes the quirky game room that greets all visitors to Results' digs at City Vista, which were designed to maximize natural light. Think wraparound, floor-to-ceiling, southern exposure windows -- providing quite a view of the developing neighborhood.
But there's plenty to see inside, too. The abs area has TVs loaded with class content, so you can be guided through a core workout. Peek through an aquarium to spy on the co-ed Jacuzzi. A disco ball winks from the ceiling of the cycling studio. And there's a low-tech but clever innovation: "express" lockers on the fitness floor for people who want to lock something up quickly but have no need to change or shower. Owner Doug Jeffries seems almost giddy about the new Hoist line of weight equipment, which makes you move your own body in addition to the traditional weights. "It's more fun because the body rocks. Anyone who does this has a smile on their face," he says.
445 K St. NW, 202-234-5678, Resultsthegym.com.
Continue Reading "You Can Find Me in the Club: D.C.'s Newest Gyms" »
THERE WAS A TIME — say, around 6:45 p.m. or so last night — when I thought I might never leave the Rosslyn Metrorail station.
I thought I had found a clever way to avoid dealing with the aftermath of the Metro derailment that snarled traffic on the Orange Line for the evening. After my workday came to an end, instead of using the Court House station as I typically do, I hoofed it to the Rosslyn station to catch the Blue Line. Problem solved, right?
Wrong. Although plenty of fellow Orange Liners seemed to have the same idea — the sidewalks on Wilson Boulevard in Arlington were more crowded than usual — I realized when I made it down into the belly of Rosslyn that single-tracking on the Orange Line meant that Vienna-bound trains were using the upper level of the station instead of the lower level as usual. Which meant that my bullet Blue Line train had to cool its heels — in record heat, of course — at Arlington Cemetery while discombobulated Orange Line trains cycled through the station.
I was bored. So like any nerdy reporter, I whipped out my notebook. Here's how the trip went down:
» 6:15 p.m.: Left the office.
» 6:37 p.m.: Made it to Rosslyn's upper platform a sweaty mess. The place is packed, but nowhere near as crowded as the lower platform.
» 6:42 p.m.: The first train arrives: An Orange Liner bound for Vienna. It's not terribly crowded.
» 6:44 p.m.: A Blue Line train to Franconia-Springfield chugs up to the lower platform. It's a mob scene, with passengers packing through every open door.
Continue Reading "Derailment Makes for a Hot, Slow Ride on Metro" »
THE SCENE ABOVEGROUND at the Court House Metrorail station appeared calm, but underground, Metro officials and Arlington County emergency crews were working to free 200 passengers trapped on a derailed train lodged in a tunnel.
Videographer Michael McPhate of washingtonpost.com took the video above from the scene at about 4:45 p.m. The video was edited by Francine Uenuma.
» GET MORE on the derailment from our earlier post here.
Addison Road