Have you been roaming the streets of Washington searching for Pikachu? I returned from Paris to find that Pokémon Go had taken the United States by storm (and of course promptly downloaded the app as well). Over the past week, small business owners and restaurants around the city have been trying to cash in on the popular augmented reality game, advertising their status as Poké Stops, enticing shoppers and dinners by setting up lures and, of course, coming up with pokemon inspired drinks and food. Duffy's Irish Pub near U Street has been particularly keen on all fronts offering Pokémangorita, lures, free wifi and phone chargers. Meanwhile, ever one to give into fads, I made my way to ...
Macaron
Weekend Highlights: Packing, Crabs & Macarons Glacés
In France, in May, it seems that every other weekend is a three day weekend (because it is). Here in the United States we get one May bank holiday for Memorial Day. I rarely get to take advantage of the time off though because my huge annual work conference always falls right around that time. This year is no exception. I'm off to Anaheim on Thursday. It's been a while since my last trip to California, so I actually decided to stick around for a few days afterwards and I'm SO excited. Now I just need to find a place to watch the France-Romania game on June 10th in Venice! I can't believe the Euro cup starts next week!! So I had a pretty low-key weekend, getting everything ready for my trip ...
A Taste of Spring: Cherry Blossoms Everything
Cherry blossoms season is almost done here in Washington. The actual blossoms faded away late last week. Who can blame them? It's been barely 40 degrees for the past two days... and don't get me started on the wind! But officially, the festival ends on April 17 so there's still more than an entire week to celebrate our city in boom and enjoy festival events, like the fireworks on the 9th, the Sakura Matsuri street festival and the official parade on the 16th, or all the different themed eats, which let's be honest are my favourites anyway! Now, I'm not a huge fan of the official "cherry picks" gimmick co-sponsored by the Restaurant Association of Metropolitan Washington that sees ...
A Rainbow of Colourful Treats from Olivia Macarons
Ever since it opened back in 2013, Olivia Macaron has been my go-to spot to grab my favourite French treats! I love the way these turned out as a rainbow of delightful pastries, with, from top to bottom, red velvet, rose (always my fave!), lemon-basil, almond (close runner up!) and honey-lavender. Not pictured are some of their current seasonal offerings: passion fruit (a local take on Pierre Herme's famous mogador combo that pairs the tart fruit with milk chocolate - I'm allergic to cocoa, so I've never been a fan) and black sesame. What's your ultimate favourite macaron flavour? Please share in the comments and have a wonderful #MacaronMonday! ...
Is Ladurée Finally Coming to Washington, DC?
Do you know how long I've been waiting to write a post like this? Well, I've lived in DC for about 12 years and been blogging for 6... so that answers that question ;-) I had actually had thought I'd be writing a post like this announcing that Maison Kayser had finally nailed down some retail space in the District but it looks like Ladurée beat them to the punch (please be true, please be true). And I'm not going to complain about that (though I still would LOVE for Maison Kayser to open in the District pretty please!!!) {update: that's happening too soon! Hurray!!} News that one of Ladurée's signature pastel green coloured storefront would be opening in Georgetown appropriately broke ...
Dîner en Blanc – Part Deux, DC Edition
When Washington played host to its first Diner en Blanc last year, the main complaints from participants concerned the location. Yards Park in Southwest DC was a beautiful venue, don't get me wrong, but it didn't strike anyone as particularly iconic. Compared to some of the other famous locations where the all-white diners have popped up across the globe -- Lincoln Center in New York, the Trocadero with the Eiffel Tower as backdrop or on 6 bridges over the Seine in Paris, Covent Garden in London, Rodeo Drive in Los Angeles to name a few -- the 42-acre development on the Anacostia River waterfront was a bit lacking in Washington monuments and recognizable sites. It was also a bit out of the ...
Dîner en Blanc – New York Edition
Last night, I joined 5,000 revelers at Pier 26 in Tribeca for the fifth edition of New York's Dîner en Blanc. Being involved with the DC event, which this year will take place on August 29th and involve 2,500 guests, I can appreciate the sheer logistics of getting all of us, carrying our own tables, chairs, tableware, centerpieces and food, there! Our evening started at Washington Square Park, one of 24 meeting spots throughout the city. Well, really it started on a bus to New York... but let's not go there ;-) Following a quick glass of rosé on tap at Claudette (no it wasn't weird at all to show up there with 2 chairs, I swear...), my friend Caitlin and I met Katie, our very ...
Postcard from New York: Meow Parlour
Crumbs & Whiskers' kickstarter campaign has raised over $35,000, has gotten all of the necessary permits from the D.C. government and, this just in, officially signed a lease for a Georgetown location. So Washington is definitely getting a cat café in the near future though it probably won't open until late summer. And until it does, I thought I'd share what I hope Crumbs & Whiskers will be like. And that's basically Meow Parlour. Meow Parlour is New York's first, adn to date only, cat café. Or perhaps I should say a space with cats, where you can bring coffee purchased at another location around the corner. Unlike Paris' cat cafe, Cafe des Chats (which actually is more of a ...
Saint Paddy’s Day Treats at The Sweet Lobby & Olivia Macaron
Two of the best macarons shops in Washington have cooked up special Saint Patrick's Day treats! Obviously both are going green, though Olivia Macaron's Irish Cream macaron has a hint of gold dusting too! What would your ultimate Saint Patrick's Day macaron flavour be? I love Bailey's so I think that's be a great flavour... but I also think an Irish Whiskey Caramel macaron would be pretty awesome! Images courtesy of Olivia Macarons' instagram and The Sweet Lobby's Instagram. ...
Olivia Macaron Venturing out of Georgetown
No, the Georgetown purveyor of colourful macarons is not opening a second boutique in Shaw. At least not yet (how great would it be though??) But there's still some good news if you love Olivia Macaron but don't love trekking all the way to M Street... you can now purchase a limited selection of macarons to go along your favourite coffee blend at La Colombe in Bladgen Alley. Obviously, there's a lot less flavours available at La Colombe, but it's great to know that there are some available in Shaw right? Also, if you can't make it to (or don't want to) Olivia Macaron or La Colombe, Olivia delivers nationwide (just call 202.965.1000 for orders.) La Colombe is located at 924 N St NW. Olivia ...
