Spotted on Pennsylvania Avenue this weekend: some sweet classic rides like vintage Rolls Royce, Morgans and Aston Martins. Also spotted: a sweet deal on some classic cocktails! On Thursday, April 28th, the Occidental Bar & Grill kicked off the return of its Classic Cocktail Hour. Offered Monday-Friday (3-7PM) on the patio lounge, bar and the indoor dining room bar, the Classic Cocktail Hour is bringing back 5 timeless cocktails: the Cherry Blossom, the Cable Car, the Last Word, the Pimms Cup and a Real Old Fashioned (sans lime.) The sweet deal is that, to celebrate The Occidental's 105 anniversary, your first cocktail -with the purchase of a food item from Chef Rodney Scruggs' menu- ...
Liquid Diet
Flexing my (Belgian) culinary mussels
Perhaps I was inspired by the tasty Classic Mussels that my friend Olga of Mango Tomato ordered as a starter at Brabo when we dropped by last week to try their new spring menu. Perhaps it was my Belgian heritage kicking in. My grandmother, after all, did grow up in the suburbs of Brussels and my father and I were both born in the Northern French city of Lille, a mere 20 kilometers from the Belgian border. Or perhaps it was the $4.99 bag of mussels I stumbled upon by chance at Whole Foods... whatever the reason was, I decided to have some classic moules-frites for dinner the other night. MOULES MARINIERES Ingredients for 2-3 peoples 1 bag of mussels (approx. 2lbs), rinsed, scrubbed ...
Cork and Fork: A Wine Family Affair
For the Landragins, wine is more than a business. It's a family affair that dates back to 1772. Dominique Landragin was literally born in wine, or to be more exact, in Champagne. Dominique's grandfather was the manager of the Veuve Clicquot vineyards and his father was the vineyard manager at Heidsieck Monopole. Dominique followed on their bubbly footsteps but took his chance with "new world" wines. He moved to Australia where he co-founded Yellowglen, Australia's first methode champenoise winery, with his wife Anna. The couple currently resides in the DC area with their family where they run two successful wine shops in Gainesville, VA and Bethesda, MD. Anna explained that their goal is to ...
Allez Les Bleus et Allez le Beaujolais!
Today is a big day in France! After a 1-0 win at Croke Park Saturday, Les Bleus take on Ireland at the Stade de France tonight for part deux of a face-off that will determine which of the two countries gets to go to the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. In the first leg of the qualifying play-off, there was no luck for the Irish at all and tonight is make or break for Trapattoni's men. Domenech's team on the other hand, only needs a nil all draw to qualify for the World Cup, a score les bleus have specialized in recently. All of France is abuzz with the match and football is drowning out the other big event taking place tonight: the official release of Beaujolais Nouveau!Celebrating l'arrivée ...
Wine Wednesday: Down Under Wines
I don't know what it was. Perhaps the delicious snacks or the company of great friends. Or maybe it was the sweet Australian tannins or the presence of an actual representative from the land of Oz. Whatever it was, last night was one of our most succesfull Wine Wednesday to date... We started the tasting with two South Australian rieslings: one from Barossa Valley and one from nearby Clare Valley. The 2008 Cat Amongst The Pigeons Riesling from Barossa Valley was medium-bodied, crisp but not overly dry and received an 89 points rating from Robert Parker's Wine Advocate. The second riesling, a 2008 Kilikanoon "Mort's Block" Riesling (Watervale), was a bit drier and received 91 points from ...
Whose Rickey Reigns Supreme
There isn't a lot that is considered native of Washington D.C. though perhaps one can consider lobbying as a profession that. If it wasn't invented in Washington D.C., lobbying was at least perfected here and is strongly associated with the District. So it shouldn't come as much of a surprise that D.C.'s "native" drink, the Rickey, can trace its roots to a lobbyist. Lobbying was said to have truly started in the United States during the administration of Ulysses S. Grant. A smoker, he found himself banned from the White House by his wife and was said to have enjoyed his cigars in the lobby of nearby Hotel Willard where politicans and others started to approach him for favours while he was ...
Road Tripping: Naked Mountain Vineyard
It's easy to get people to flock to your vineyard when your slogan is "Drink Naked"! This small Virginia winery says it sells almost more t-shirt with their motto than they do wine. Nonetheless, Naked Mountain Vineyards and Winery is a lovely mom-and-pop kind of shop, with delightful views of the Blue Ridge Mountains, a small but charming tasting room and an inviting wrap around deck where you can soak up the sun, while overlooking the vines and sipping a glass of chardonnay. The winery only produces a few different kind of wines, so sampling all of them wasn't too hard. I personally preferred the 2008 Cabernet Franc Rosé but my friends walked away with a few bottles of Raptor Red. Naked ...
