To say that I had low expectations when I ordered a Riesling from Idaho during the DC food blogger happy hour at Vinoteca last night would be quite an understatement. But the 2008 Sawtooth Riesling came with a high recommendation from Jenny from Eating with Pleasure so I decided to give it chance. And I’m sure glad I did.The saying is “you learn something new every day” right? Well, I learned that there's more to Idaho than potatoes! The Northwestern state produces a decent Riesling! Apparently, Idaho has a long wine producing history, with the first vineyards there being planted here in the 1860s. The prohibition essentially wiped out their wine industry and when it resurrected in the ...
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Movie Review: Alice in Wonderland
Last night I had the opportunity to preview Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland, which is slated to open in DC theaters on Friday March 5. Throughout the story, Alice gets accused of not being the “real Alice” and if you are a true fan of Lewis Carroll's original tale, Tim Burton’s version may not be “real Alice” enough for you. But it is an enjoyable version nonetheless. Rather than update the original story, Tim Burton appropriates Carroll’s characters and uses them in his own modern-fantasy film. In his version, the story begins with an older Alice, attending her proposal party. The “adults” in her life are in essence telling her what her life ought to be: to marry a Lord she doesn’t love ...
Higher Education
Famous DC reports that classes are starting today at the hot spot of "higher education" (literally!), the Trapeze School of New York. Last year, I wrote a post about the Trapeze School, back when it was located in Penn Quarter at 9th and H streets, on the old-convention center parking lot. The school has moved since then to a tent located at Navy Yard, at the corner of 4th St SE & Tingey St SE. Classes again are filling up fast, so don't wait too long to take the plunge! ...
Hello Kushi!
When I lived in Montreal, one of my favourite place to indulge in my sushi cravings was Isakaya, a cute little Japanese bistro located on Avenue du Parc, right on the outskirt of the McGill ghetto. I never thought twice about its name, but I've been hearing the word isakaya thrown around DC a lot lately... I first investigated this isakaya business when writing about the upcoming opening of Kushi in my neighbourhood. Isakayas, it turns out, are more about drinks than food. They're actually Japanese drinking establishments who happen to serve food too! Thus the word "izakaya": "i" means to sit and "sakaya" means sake shop. Of course, the label "isakaya" gets thrown around a little losely at ...
Catch that Oscar Nominee if You can
Avatar was released in a total of 3,457 theatres in the US, which means that if you're like me and you haven't managed to see it yet... well, you probably just didn't try! Of course, now that Avatar has been nominated for 9 Oscars® including Best Picture and Best Directing, I'm thinking I should probably have given it a chance. Not every movie is backed by a big studio and most don't have the luxury of coming out on as many screens nationwide as Avatar or The Blind Side (3,110 theaters). Nominees in the best foreign picture categorie or best documentary are typically harder to catch even if you try. Luckily, there are a number of local opportunities to catch up on your Oscars®-nominees ...
Glitter and be gay: Candide, the musical, comes to D.C.!
The Shakespeare Theatre Company unveiled its line-up for the 2010-2011 season and the highlight, for once, will not be a Shakespeare play! Instead, the most anticipated production will be the musical adaptation of Voltaire's classic satire Candide. The rarely produced operetta by Leonard Bernstein will become the first musical ever staged in Sidney Harman Hall. It will be directed by Tony Award winner Mary Zimmerman and will run from November 30 to January 2 at Sidney Harman Hall.The 2010-2011 season will kick off at the end of the summer on a more traditional note with a revival of the wildly popular Twelfth Night, which will mark the second year of Free For All at Sidney Harman Hall. And ...
French haute couture… American petits prices!
I still lived in the fashion's capital when Karl Lagerfeld, the ultimate name in French high fashion, released an exclusive line of clothes for H&M. His collection of 30 pieces, including a little black dress, had parisiennes in a frenzy and sold out in less then 30 minutes. The genius behind Chanel explained that the idea was "quite modern" and thus appealing to him. It was the first such collaboration for the Swedish retail giant but it was certainly not the last. Since 2004, Hennes & Mauritz has collaborated with several international designers and fashion icons, from Stella McCartney to Madonna or Jimmy Choo and Comme des Garçons. The latest French fashion designer to lend her ...
Happy Valentine’s Day!
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Celebrating the Olympics, eh.
D.C. probably has more snow on the ground than Vancouver does right now. Nonetheless, the Canadian city will kick off the 2010 Winter Olympics tonight. In honour of the games, Montreal native and former Top Chef contestant Spike Mendelsohn is adding a few special items to his Good Stuff Eatery menu. The most exciting item? Poutine!! I spent four years in Montreal attending McGill University and while I didn't quite minor in poutine, I did enjoy my fair share of the traditional Quebecois dish. Poutine is basically a caloric layering of French fries, fresh cheese curd and brown gravy. It is so popular in Quebec that you can order it at McDonald's there. In the US, it's a little bit harder to ...
New Truck on the Block
Normally I wouldn't cover the launch of a new food truck in D.C. But the folks at Eat Sâuçá made it very difficult for me not to. First, they chose to stop a few blocks away from my office on their inaugural day. Secondly, the menu features merguez-frites and toffles. Merguez are basically French hot dogs, they're our street food par excellence and toffles... well... that's just a fancy word for waffles and Eat Sâuçá serves them with Nutella so I just had to order one! Food truck fever hasn't quite reached the same level in D.C. as it has in New York or Los Angeles, but the city is trying to catch up. No, don't except D.C. Restaurant Week Truck anytime soon (though there's still time to ...