Weekend Picks

Washington Post has their Nightlife Agenda; Daily Candy has the Weekend Guide and now I give you my picks for the weekend:


Friday Night
Lejeune is playing on the mainstage at BlackCat at 9pm. $10 at the door.


Saturday Night
Jammies and Jamenson at Asylum in Adams Morgan

Now usually this is somethign I would totally be against - women in lingere pillow fighting while men swoon over them getting drunk off whiskey but now i'm just totally intriqued as to what type of women would participate in this! Check out the video on the Proffessional Pillow Fighting Leauge here.

Sunday
Chinese New Years Parade


This year will be the year 4705, the Year of the Boar. In the Chinese legend people born in the Year of the Boar are known to be pure of heart, generous and kind. Possessing inner strength and courage, they can take on any task and are driven by a passion for life. A Boar friend is one who listens, is sincere and trustworthy.

Head down to Chinatown Marching bands, lion and dragon dancers, clowns and other performers. A five-story high firecracker will be lit - whatever that means! Festivies run from 2-5pm Sunday.

Monday
What better way to spend the cold, snowy President's Day then ice skating at the National Gallery of Art's Sculpture Garden. Admission is $7 with another $3 for skate rental.

Afterwards stop by Jaleo at Gallery Place for their Paella Festival. Happy Hour from 5-6 will include free Paella samples.

Ozio Sucks!

As a follow-up to Nick's post - Ozio Sucks. As planned, we made an effort to get there this week, but 2 steps inside the door we smelled an oddly reminiscent stench from the pre-2007 DC bar scene - SMOKE. Apparently Ozio is one of the few bars in DC where you can still spark up your cancer kazoos. Of course some of you may be thanking me for pointing this out as you were looking for this last bastion of tobacco, but for most of us that's a big deal-breaker for happy hour hot spot status.

The good news is that right next door was The Daily Grille. We secured a cozy spot in the bar and discovered their $2.95 happy hour appetizer menu. Between 3-6 you get happy hour size portions of about 10 of their appetizers. We ordered a handful and they were fantastic. No drink specials, though so it's not all good. But, it's another option to consider in the rotation...

Coordinating happy hour.

For some reason, I tend to be the one who coordinates happy hour. I'm sure my unwillingness to go somewhere I don't want to contributes to my typically being HHHIC (Head Happy Hour-er In Charge) but I like to think that it's my passion and drive. Making plans for next week's happy hour before this week's happy hour ends can't hurt.

I have been wanting to go to Ozio for a few weeks now but it has never seemed to work out. Last week, after the happy hour fairy again failed to deliver my wish, I proclaimed that I was going to Ozio for happy hour if I had to go by myself. We are going to Ozio but events have transpired this week leading to quite a happy hour schedule.

As it stands now, I am heading to Ozio after work (about 5-ish) only to leave to meet former co-workers, and Kristin, at Capitol City on 11th and H street at 6. The co-workers are not a late night crowd so I expect that party to wind down no later than 8 (probably earlier) at which point, Kristin and I will head for the Front Page. Thank god for the 42 bus (up and down connecticut avenue to H street).

Rave Review: Acadiana

Nick and I enjoyed a Valentine's dinner last night at Acadiana, 901 New York Ave, NW. I'd been eying this place since it opened, but hadn't heard any reviews compelling enough to put it at the top of the list. However, when making late V-Day reservations on Monday, I didn't have many choices and decided to give it a try. That was a very good decision. Acadiana is part of the restaurant group that owns other DC favs, such as DC Coast, Tenh Penh, and Ceiba. An ode to New Orleans cuisine, Acadiana's menu features all the traditional dishes - gumbo, jambalaya risotto, BBQ Shrimp, and of course hot bisquits to start. Last night they offered a 3-course menu with quite a few options for the starter and main course. I had a hard time choosing, as they all sounded so good. I ended up going with the beet salad, BBQ Shrimp, and the Vanilla Bean and Rose Water Creme Brulee. Nick chose the chicken and sausage gumbo, Roast filet of beef with buttermilk mashed potatoes, and the espresso cake. They started us off with the most amazing bisquits - hot, buttery, and served with a cream cheese and pepper jelly spread. Divine. They they brought an amuse bouche to start, it was a crawfish wonton that was just enough spicy and piping hot. My salad was phenomenal - thinly sliced red beets, goat cheese, spiced pecans, spring greens, and a honey vinagrette. It was one of the best salads I've had in ages. Nick was also a big fan of the gumbo. Our main courses were also terrific, although mine a bit salty for my taste. Finally, my dessert was a huge serving of creme brulee with both the creamy custard and the sugar crust perfectly executed - I at it all! Nick was less excited about the espresso cake, but I had a taste and thought it was excellent - light and airy with a fragrant rasberry coulis. In a final nice touch, they sent us home with a box of truffles to enjoy later. MMMM.

For the decor, the restaurant isn't much to write about, muted tones make it look almost dingey - as if it's been around awhile and not just a year. But I did like the eclectic chandeliers and the wait staff's chef coats. Fortunately the excellent food far outweighed any cosmetic criticisms and the bar looked like a place I'd like to visit again too. The prices were also on the high end, but I we felt like it was worth it for the food. I'd definitely recommend giving Acadiana a try, especially if you like New Orleans cuisine!

seriously people, its just snow

does anyone else feel like new mayor adrian fenty totally let us down in our first major snow storm? i thought it was bad enough that i didn't see any plows out at 7am wednesday morning . I mean, i heard this snow was anticipated as of saturday -- if that's not enough warning, i don't know what is. however, with the two hour delay for the government, i was willing to cut him some slack as i was only the second person to even venture out of my neighborhood on foot. i fully expected my neighbors to fall down on the job. this is dc, so it didn't surprise me that only 2 houses had shoveled their sidewalks in a 5-block walk to the metro and that this morning all that unshoveled snow had been walked on and compressed into lumpy, icy death traps. what did surprise me was that the sidewalks that fall into the public domain were still encased in snow a full 24 hours after the initial snowfall and causing some serious pedestrian back up by the foggy bottom metro. we are talking about entire sections of sidewalk just totally abandoned by the district of columbia. its by a hospital for goodness sakes! people in wheelchairs and crutches are much more likely to be frequenting the area. and considering that this is a relatively nice part of the area that the city typically caters to pleasing, i don't even want to know what areas in ne & se dc looked like. needless to say, with the warmest year on record (or something close to it) i think the city could have brought out all the stops for our one snowstorm. for shame, fenty, for shame.

Reading the Classics

So I recently signed up with DailyLit which is a site that brings books right into your inbox in convenient small messages that take less than 5 minutes to read. I thought it sounded like a great way to read some of the classics I've always wanted to. I am starting with Marcel Proust's Swann's Way. If Steve Carell in Little Miss Sunshine can be the foremost Proust scholar in the U.S., then I certainly read a segment of it on email once a day! The only problem is that b/c it comes in short messages, it takes awhile to get through an entire novel. I finished the 2nd fragment of Swann's Way today. Only 204 more to go...

Come on snow day!!

It sounds like Tuesday or Wednesday may be our best hope for a snow day. I can't even remember the last time I stayed home for work because of the snow so I am crossing my fingers! I could use a day off to play in the snow. Who's up for finding a hill to sled down? Two high school girls were so desperate for a snow day in Ohio that they got arrested for posting a snow day on the school's website. I'm not that desperate but I would be grateful for anyone who can make a snow day happen!