IT'S WELL AND truly winter, and short of free cupcakes, nothing will get you to venture outside. These days, rather than tromping from bar to bar seeking a clientele not composed of Republican staffers crying into their $2 beers, you want to go somewhere warm and stay there for a few hours. There are reasons Oscar-winning movies tend to come out at the end of the year, and one of them is that people want to curl up in a dark theater and forget that the weather outside is frightful.
But sometimes popcorn isn't enough. There are few D.C. theaters where you can get a stiff drink before your friend drags you to "Twilight," but here are some nearby watering holes where you can snag a cheap drink and maybe a snack before embarking on your cinematic adventure.
If you're catching a show at Gallery Place, take a tiny stroll down H Street to Matchbox, the claustrophobic upscale pizza joint. On weekdays between 5 p.m. and 7 p.m., sit at the bar for $4 martinis, $2.75 pints of Yuengling and $2 off small pizzas. Yes, it's dark and cramped, but it'll get you in the mood for a movie theater.
Continue Reading "Cheap Drink and a Movie: Pre-Movie Happy Hours" »
DO YOU LIKE wine? How about Australian wine? Yeah, they make wine there. Also kangaroos.
Lia's is hosting an Australian Wine Dinner to familiarize you with wines of the continent. And nothing impresses the ladies like a man who has a lot of opinions about wine! Just another dating tip from me to you. No need to thank me.
The dinner includes six courses, six wines and guest speaker Nick Stacy.
» Lia's, 4445 Willard Ave., Chevy Chase; Mon., Sept. 22., 7 p.m., $69; 240-223-5427. (Friendship Heights)
AS THE FIRST sushi restaurant in D.C. in the 1970s, Sushi-Ko created a standard of raw fish excellence. Thirty years later, it's duplicating its efforts.
The new Sushi-Ko, tucked in the new shopping center above the Friendship Heights Metro, presents the same menu in a bigger, sleeker space. While fusion sushi adorned with jalapeños might lure holdouts to the raw side, remember the small plates, especially the marinated crispy-fried eel, sweet yet tangy with a balsamic flair.
» Sushi-Ko, 5455 Wisconsin Ave., Chevy Chase; 301-961-1644. (Friendship Heights)
Written by Express contributor Stefanie Gans
LEARN TO MAKE frozen treats and snack on cakes and cookies at Rock Creek at Mazza in Friendship Heights.
Students in the two-hour class this Wednesday at the "mindful dining" restaurant will learn from Rock Creek pastry chef Yasmine Sandhu to make (healthy) sorbets and granitas with seasonal fruit and (less healthy) vanilla ice cream with the alternative sweetener Whey-Low. (Note to serious calorie counters: 1. Ice cream, yummy! 2. Whey-Low is made of three kinds of sugar and the company isn't clear how eating sugar is, in fact, low calorie.)
After class, dine on a three-course lunch, including the fresh-made, frozen creations for dessert, on a menu that totals under 1,000 calories. $100 gets you the class, the lunch, wine and a cookbook to keep.
» Rock Creek Mazza, 5300 Wisconsin Ave, Washington; Wed., Aug. 20, 10 a.m., $100, (202) 966-ROCK. (Friendship Heights)
Written by Express contributor Rachel Kaufman
Photo by Larry Crowe
CHUCK PALAHUNIK IS best-known as the author of "Fight Club," the deliciously twisted novel that became a hit movie. Often thought of as a boundary-pusher, we have faith that Palahniuk's new book, "Snuff," will be just as shocking and well-written as all his others.
In "Snuff," a porn priestess named Cassie Wright takes on a new project: a serial fornication film involving 600 men. Tonight, you can listen to Palahniuk's take on this provocative plot in an onstage interview at the Avalon, followed by a Q&A. (The admission price includes a copy of "Snuff.")
» Avalon Theatre, 5612 Connecticut Ave. NW; Tue., 8 p.m., $30; 202-966-6000. (Friendship Heights)
Photo courtesy Doubleday
FOR THE NEXT WEEK, get a little culture at Filmfest D.C.
Yes, film festivals have been a staple of hipster culture for long enough that they aren't cool anymore, but this year's Filmfest D.C. has a host of promising movies, including "Made in Jamaica," which is about reggae (if you couldn't guess; read our feature story here,) and "Basic Sanitation," about some do-gooders who make a horror movie to try to get their community to clean up the local river.
The festival's theme is "Latin American Cinema," and if you take your movie ticket to Ceviche or its sister restaurants, you'll get a free appetizer.
» Filmfest D.C., various theaters; $10, April 24 - May 4; 202-628-3456
Photo courtesy Lawrencepictures
With Van Ness Work, Red Line Delays to Continue
Map It:
Cleveland Park Dupont Circle Friendship Heights Tenleytown
Van Ness
Woodley Park
SORRY, RED LINERS — those weekend delays you've been dealing with aren't quite over yet.
Now that complex platform rehabilitation work at the Metro Center station and switch replacement near the Medical Center station have concluded, a new project will soon be getting started at the Van Ness-UDC station and will take place over four upcoming weekends.
Van Ness is home to an interlocking switch that allows trains to travel from one track to another. The two nearest switches are located near the Dupont Circle and Friendship Heights stations, meaning that for inbound and outbound trains to proceed through the work zone, they'll have to share a track through the following stations: Woodley Park-Zoo/Adams Morgan, Cleveland Park, Van Ness-UDC, Tenleytown-AU and Friendship Heights. That's a pretty long stretch, meaning that there could be delays of 30 minutes.
The work will start Friday at 9 p.m. and wrap up by closing on Sunday — a pattern that will repeat during the weekends of Feb. 29-March 2, March 7-9 and March 14-16.
The service pattern goes as follows:
Continue Reading "With Van Ness Work, Red Line Delays to Continue" »
Major Weekend Track Work to Slow Red Line
Map It: Bethesda Friendship Heights Grosvenor Medical Center
A SWITCH REPLACEMENT near the Medical Center station will slow Red Line trips over four upcoming weekends. Although trains will service the entire length of the Red Line, single tracking between the Friendship Heights and Grosvenor-Strathmore stations will lead to the following changes, starting on Friday night:
» During the work periods, trains will run every 18 minutes through the work zone and on to the Red Line's Shady Grove terminal.
» During the day, alternating trains running from Glenmont and downtown D.C. will terminate at the Friendship Heights station before returning to Glenmont. During that time, trains will run at nine-minute intervals between Friendship Heights and Glenmont.
» After 9 p.m., all Red Line trains will run at 18-minute intervals, meaning that weekend warriors on Fridays and Saturdays, and those out on Sunday nights, will likely experience longer wait times for the Red Line.
The work periods will be in effect for the following weekends:
» Friday, Jan. 11, 9 p.m. through midnight closing on Sunday, Jan. 13.
» Friday, Jan. 25, 9 p.m. through midnight closing on Sunday, Jan. 27.
» Friday, Feb. 1, 9 p.m. through midnight closing on Sunday, Feb. 3.
» Friday, Feb. 8, 9 p.m. through midnight closing on Sunday, Feb. 10.
Image courtesy WMATA
METROBUS' CROWDED 30-SERIES BUS LINE, which currently is comprised of the 30, 32, 34, 35 and 36 routes, is poised to get some new numbers: 31, 37 and 39. Those would be local and express routes designed to alleviate congestion and quicken the ride along one of Metrobus' most crowded and delay-plagued corridors. The plan came out of a series of public hearings held in recent months on the future of the bus line.
The proposed changes, which could go into effect by summer, are subject to public hearings, modifications and approval by Metro's board in the coming months, according to a timetable laid out in recent public presentations.
Here's what may be in store:
Continue Reading "Express Buses Eyed for Metro's Crowded 30 Line" »
MORE BAD NEWS for Metro's Red Line: Ultrasonic testing overnight turned up another set of flaws on a different part of the heavily traveled corridor, a development that will continue the slowdowns riders have been experiencing throughout the week.
The flaws were detected in sections of track at the Forest Glen, Takoma and Fort Totten stations, Metro says. Those flawed sections of track come in addition to the imperfections discovered earlier in the week between the Medical Center and Friendship Heights stations.
The transit agency says that track workers will be installing new sections of rail while the system is closed — work that's expected to be completed overnight and into the weekend. Until it's finished, though, trains will operate at a reduced speed — 35 miles per hour instead of the usual 44 — in the spots where track flaws were found as a safety precaution. Those speed restrictions have been in place all week between Friendship Heights and Medical Center.
Metro's cautioning riders to be on the lookout for minor delays.
» "Rail Flaws Continue to Cause Minor Delays Today on Parts of the Red Line" [WMATA]
Addison Road