It's a time honoured tradition in Washington, DC. We like to drink. We like politics... so every election cycle, whether it's the primaries or the general, local bars come up with politically-themed cocktails. If you're like me and less than thrilled with your options this year (not that I can vote anyway), I'm sure you can use a stiff drink, or five, with a cheesy name poking fun at the candidates. I love it, especially when an awesome French restaurant gets involved. Bastille is one of my favourite French restaurant in the city... well, technically it's not in the city but right outside in Alexandria, VA. It's definitely worth a metro ride to Braddock Road though, and that's saying a lot ...
Wine Wednesday
Yes way {Languedoc} Rosé
It's *finally* rosé weather in Washington, DC this week and I'm excited to start digging into the stack of pink bottles I've accumulated while we experienced a record number of rainy days. I'm extremely biased towards French wines in general, but especially when it comes to rosés, and I always gravitate towards Provençal rosés. Occasionally, I'll venture outside of Provence and pick up a bottle of new world rosé (I'm a big fan of Early Mountain's rosé right now.) But most of the time, venturing out means looking a little South West along the Mediterranée to the Languedoc-Roussillon. Sandwiched between Provence and Spain, the Languedoc is actually France’s biggest wine region, with a bit over ...
Beaujolais Nouveau Cranberry Sauce
There are two celebrations I particularly look forward to at the end of November. Both owe their dates, on the third Thursday and last Thursday of November, to laws in their respective countries. I'm of course referring to France's Beaujolais Nouveau celebration and the United States' Thanksgiving. Thanks to some rather brilliant promotion from Beaujolais' PR people, the purple-pink Gamay wine is now often paired with turkey, stuffing etc. at tables across the country. This year, I decided to combine the two holidays in one festive dish: a Beaujolais Nouveau cranberry sauce. Since the recipe only requires about a cup of wine, it's a perfect way to finish off a bottle! For one 12oz pack of ...
Life Goes On~Celebrating Beaujolais Nouveau in Washington, DC
I'm not exactly in a celebratory mood these days, but life goes on. Paris is about life, about being at a terrasse right now etc. Life has to go on and this week life includes the release of the Beaujolais Nouveau, which always takes place on the third Thursday of November (or midnight that Wednesday!) Here are a few, selected spots where you can partake in some Gamay-drinking in Washington, D.C. BITRO DU COIN Still THE place to be at midnight when Beaujolais Nouveau is released. It's probably too late to get reservations for dinner, but show up around 10PM when they start clearing out the tables. The Beaujolais typically starts pouring 11PM, which technically is well past midnight in ...
Wine Wednesday – Washington Nationals Cabernet
Even though you can buy little individual bottles of wine at Nationals Park, I really can't say that I would ever associate baseball with wine. And yet, Major League Baseball just got into the wine business with the launch of its own line-up of baseball teams branded wine. According to Fast Company, MLB couldn't get into the beer business because of its exclusivity deal with Budweiser. But wine was fair game and so in 2014, the Giants, Yankees, Mariners, Red Sox, Rangers, Phillies, and Cubs got their own custom blends and branded bottles. Obviously, there are baseball fans who are also wine fans because the program was successful enough to be extended to 13 additional teams this year, ...
Six Budget-Friendly French Wines for Bastille Day
From a baguette relay race at Paul to diner at Bistrot du Coin or a fancy patio fête at the Sofitel Hotel, there are plenty of options to celebrate France's national holiday, le Quatorze Juillet, in Washington, DC. If you're more of a homebody, why not stay at home and watch a great French film while sipping a good bottle of French wine! For the films, I've narrowed down 20 of the best French films available on Netflix right here. And to help you find the perfect bottle of wine to go along whichever flick you pick, I turned to Michelle Lim Warner and Michael Warner, co-owners of DCanter, for some suggestions. One of the things I love about the Capitol Hill wine boutique (other than the ...
A Taste of Burgundy: Jambon à la Chablisienne
Making Jambon à la Chablisienne is very simple and allows you to bring together two ingredients that are abundant in Burgundy: wine and ham. In this case, the wine in question is Chablis, one of the better chardonnays produced in the region. The original dish as it was created in the first half of the 20th century called for a whole ham cooked on the boned in Chablis with added flavouring and served over spinach or fresh noodles . Today, the recipe has been simplified: thick slices of ham are baked with a sauce made of tomatoes, wine and shallots and served over rice. Here's how to make it at home... INGREDIENTS PREPARATION Start by heating up the oven to 400° and preparing your ...
VinoFest DC: Music, Wine, Food, Charity
My! How Vinolovers has grown? It feels like not too long ago, I was attending the D.C. startup's launch party at 1776 (see pictures below) and now they're throwing VinoFest DC, a huge wine and music festival at a venue so cool I haven't even heard of it yet. Let me backtrack... Vinolovers is a DC-based personalized wine subscription and delivery service and this is their second year hosting VinoFest DC actually. Last year's event was held at Union Market, and on Saturday, May 9, wine producers, musicians, DJs and of course, vinolovers, will take over Storey Park in NoMa. If you've been in the city for a while like I have you may remember that place as the former Greyhound bus station. ...
Sip Into Spring with RAMW’s Spring Wine Fling
I don't really need a reason to drink wine on a regular weeknight, but if you do, here's one for you: it's Spring Wine Fling!!! During this week-long (March 23-29, 2015) celebration of wine programs across the Washington, D.C. region, participating bars and restaurants are offering special flights, tastings and/or parings of seasonal wines. Last night, I sat down at Boss Sheperd's, in part because I had never been and I figured it was a good excuse, to check out their spring wine fling offering. For $15, you can order a flight of three wines, sparkling, white, red or a mix from either category. I opted for the mix, though if you go, I recommend the sparkling wine flight that includes my ...
A Year In Champagne at the Angelika Film Center
With its reserved seating, gourmet concessions and interesting mix of blockbuster and special interest films, the Angelika Film Center & Cafe at the Mosaic District is one of my absolute favourite movie theater in the Washington area. Keyword: Washington area. It’s nowhere near the city and pretty inconvenient to get to if you don’t have a car. So I was thrilled when a smaller, albeit temporary version, of the art-house movie theater popped up behind Union Market. It became pretty handy when I was trying to catch up on my Oscar nominated films, showing Whiplash, Still Alice and a couple of other nominated flicks. Eventually, the pop-up Angelika Film theater at Union Market will transform ...
