Washington City Paper (April 10, 2015)

Best of D.C. Free Volume 35, No. 15 WashiNgtoNCityPaPer.Com aPril 10–16, 2015

2015

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SUMMER 2015

INSIDE 2015 PAGE 7

PHOTOGRAPHS BY DARROW MONTGOMERY

4 Chatter 9 Best of food & drinK 51 Best of arts & entertainMent 97 Best of Goods & serviCes 145 Best of peopLe & pLaCes

City List 175 Music 180 Books 182 Galleries 182 Theater 183 Film

184 CLassifieds diversions 185 Dirt Farm 186 Crossword

on the Cover

Illustration by Boyoun Kim

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CHATTER

in which our readers declare with certainty that they could neVer become homeless

Home is Where the Heart Thank you to the Would Be If You Had One voters who voted in 269 categories for the Best of D.C.

48,831

April 1 officiAlly

marked the end of d.C.’s hypothermia

we will take care of you, and THIS is your option.” Shireen Parsons attempted to bring some humanity into the comments: “What a bunch of uncompassionate, hateful criticisms of people who happen to be homeless. Do you people never think, ‘but for the grace of God, there go I’?” Northwesterneer, a person who “will NEVER be homeless,” was not impressed: “God’s grace has nothing to do with how I made my life work... I could probably live the rest of my life (in poverty) off of my retirement plan.

And if I sold my house and bought a $100k house in Cleveland or Detroit- keeping $800k profit? Well I wouldn’t even be living in poverty now would I? In what craziness would I lose or burn through $1.3 million? Think about THAT before you start asking for my empathy- this city is swimming in wealth, it makes no sense not to be wealthy.” On Twitter, the comments were humane and constructive.

Kelly Cohen of the Washington Examiner tweeted, “as someone who volunteers w/ homeless families [at D.C. General] every week, @aaronwiener’s piece on DC homelessness is on point.” @KDunntweets provided a critique: “Article on DC homelessness today is moving, but a little misleading- no one thought services wld improve this winter.”

Yet another reader, Sidney Thomas, sent an email to criticize Wiener’s use of information written on a whiteboard in a government official’s office: “Although the writings were technically fair game, it seemed like sleazy ‘TMZ style’ reporting. A few months from now the WCP will be complaining because the Bowser Administration won’t give your reporters access, and you’ll be whining about —Sarah Anne Hughes transparency, lol.”

VOTES ARE IN!

season, a six-month period during which the city is legally obligated to shelter the homeless on nights the temperature drops below freezing. Last year’s family homelessness crisis caught the D.C. government by surprise, so this year they were supposed to be ready for the hundreds of families seeking shelter—but they weren’t. Aaron Wiener’s cover (“A Long Way From Home,” April 3) explored what went wrong this winter, with a specific look at the failings of rapid rehousing, D.C.’s main tool to get homeless families out of shelter. The piece also included interviews with homeless mothers who have had varying degrees of success with the program. As with any story on homelessness, the comments section quickly became a bog of poverty shaming and “this would never happen to me!”s. “I wish i could get someone to pay my rent for an entire year... pfffft i would have gotten it together by then or at least made

Find all the winners at

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some kind of progress,” wrote Beluah Bridges, while Reality Check 2015 suggested, “lets just start erecting public housing again, purchase spaces in some rural areas outside of the beltway, secure it from the inside out, and tell people, if you don’t want to ‘get it together’ on your own, yes,

Want to see your name in bold on this page? Send letters, gripes, clarification, or praise to mail@washingtoncitypaper.com.

PuBliSHeR: Amy Austin MANAgiNg eDiToRS: emily q. hAzzArd, sArAh Anne hughes ARTS eDiToR: christinA cAuterucci fooD eDiToR: jessicA sidmAn CiTy ligHTS eDiToR: cAroline jones STAff WRiTeRS: will sommer, AAron wiener STAff PHoTogRAPHeR: dArrow montgomery CoNTRiBuTiNg WRiTeRS: john Anderson, mArtin Austermuhle, jonettA rose BArrAs, ericA Bruce, sophiA Bushong, Kriston cApps, steVe cAVendish, jeffry cudlin, sAdie dingfelder, mAtt dunn, tim eBner, deAn essner, sArAh godfrey, elenA gouKAssiAn, trey grAhAm, louis jAcoBson, steVe KiViAt, juliAn KimBle, chris KlimeK, Andrew lApin, ryAn little, christine mAcdonAld, miKe mAdden, neVin mArtell, BriAn mcentee, dAVe mcKennA, BoB mondello, mArcus j. moore, justin moyer, triciA olszewsKi, miKe pAArlBerg, rinA rApuAno, mAtt rAmos, tim regAn, reBeccA j. ritzel, Ally schweitzer, jessicA strelitz, mAXwell tAni, tAmmy tucK, KAArin VemBAr, nAtAlie VillAcortA, joe wArminsKy, michAel j. west, BrAndon wu, AlAn zilBermAn iNTeRNS: jAmes constAnt, morgAn hines oNliNe DeveloPeR: zAch rAusnitz DigiTAl SAleS MANAgeR: sArA dicK BuSiNeSS DeveloPMeNT ASSoCiATe: KeVin proVAnce SAleS MANAgeR: nicholAs diBlAsio SeNioR ACCouNT exeCuTiveS: melAnie BABB, joe hicKling, AliciA merritt ACCouNT exeCuTiveS: lindsAy BowermAn, chelseA estes, stu Kelly, mArK KulKosKy MARKeTiNg AND PRoMoTioNS MANAgeR: stephen BAll SAleS eveNTS MANAgeR: heAther mcAndrews SAleS AND MARKeTiNg ASSoCiATe: chloe fedynA CReATive DiReCToR: jAndos rothstein ART DiReCToR: lAuren heneghAn CReATive SeRviCeS MANAgeR: BrAndon yAtes gRAPHiC DeSigNeR: lisA deloAch oPeRATioNS DiReCToR: jeff Boswell SeNioR AD CooRDiNAToR: jAne mArtinAche DigiTAl AD oPS SPeCiAliST: lori holtz iNfoRMATioN TeCHNology DiReCToR: jim gumm SouTHCoMM: CHief exeCuTive offiCeR: chris ferrell iNTeRiM CHief fiNANCiAl offiCeR: glynn riddle CoNTRolleR: todd pAtton CHief MARKeTiNg offiCeR: susAn torregrossA CReATive DiReCToR: heAther pierce DiReCToR of CoNTeNT/oNliNe DeveloPMeNT: pAtricK rAins CHief TeCHNology offiCeR: mAtt locKe CHief oPeRATioN offiCeR/gRouP PuBliSHeR: eric norwood DiReCToR of DigiTAl SAleS AND MARKeTiNg: dAVid wAlKer loCAl ADveRTiSiNg: wAshington city pAper, (202) 332-2100, Ads@wAshingtoncitypAper.com vol. 35, No. 15, APRil 10-16, 2015 wAshington city pAper is puBlished eVery weeK And is locAted At 1400 eye st. nw, suite 900, wAshington, d.c. 20005. cAlendAr suBmissions Are welcomed; they must Be receiVed 10 dAys Before puBlicAtion. u.s. suBscriptions Are AVAilABle for $250 per yeAr. issue will ArriVe seVerAl dAys After puBlicAtion. BAcK issues of the pAst fiVe weeKs Are AVAilABle At the office for $1 ($5 for older issues).

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速

S A T M AY 3 0 & S U N M AY 3 1 M E R R I W E AT H E R P O S T P AV I L I O N

S A T U R D AY

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P H A N TO G R A M

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MARINA & THE D I A M O N DS

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S W E E T L I F E F E S T I VA L . C O M

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M E R R I W E AT H E R M U S I C . C O M

|

T I C K E T S A V A I L A B L E @ T I C K E T F LY. C O M

Within the 68.3 square miles that make up the District of Columbia, there are about 660,000 residents, 100 nightclubs, 750 houses of worship, 131 neighborhoods, 1,950 establishments with a liquor license, eight wards, 10,670 fire hydrants—and one alternative-weekly tasked with telling you which is the best of everything.

So how do you winnow down the list of best things in a city filled with great ones? You marshall the locals. When Washington City Paper announced the start of voting for this year’s Best Of issue, we were inundated with rave reviews. Our readers submitted almost 170,000 votes—about 20,000 more than last year—in a fit of passion for their favorite yoga studios, window companies, local breweries, and pawn shops. Some votes came dangerously close—the margin of victory in the Best Friends category, as you might imagine, was as close as two BFFs—while others were a runaway hit: Bookstore Movers won the superlative by an easy margin, for example.

But here’s what’s so great about this issue: Everyone is going to disagree with something. In addition to letting readers cast ballots, we once again gave our staff writers and freelancers the opportunity to write love letters to their favorite local institutions and newcomers. Even in City Paper’s office there was, for weeks before publication, vocal argument over whose pick was misguided and whose was the best. For all our foibles, we care damned plenty about which local institution gets praised in the pages of this issue. And if a favorite didn’t make the cut this time, well, there’s always next year.

These picks also aren’t definitive. If there’s one thing we know from experience with this special issue, it’s that crowns can be snatched and heavyweights upset. Newbies can become old favorites in barely any time at all. But some things— like the passionate debates we expect readers to have on picks from best ward to best handyman—will always stay the same.

—Emily Q. Hazzard and Sarah Anne Hughes PhOTOgrAPhS BY DArrOW MONTgOMErY

washingtoncitypaper.com april 10, 2015 7

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FOOD & DRINK

Best Place to Eat Meat, Staff Pick: The Partisan

washingtoncitypaper.com april 10, 2015 9

Readers’ Picks FOOD & DRINK

Best AlcOhOlIc PuNch

Petworth Citizen & Reading Room 829 Upshur St. NW, (202) 7222939, petworthcitizen.com Readers Say: “They have a new punch every day for happy hour, and they’re all super tasty!”

Runners-Up: The Park at Fourteenth, GBD (Golden Brown Delicious)

Best AsIAN RestAuRANt

Beau Thai Multiple locations, beauthaidc.com

Best BBQ

Rocklands Barbeque and Grilling Company Multiple locations, rocklands.com Readers Say: “I discovered Rocklands three years ago and have been a... weekly repeat customer ever since.”

Runners-Up: DCity Smokehouse, Hill Country Barbecue Market DC

Best BeeR FestIvAl

Readers Say: “On occasion they have a Thai paleo menu, which is fantastic!”

Snallygaster DC snallygasterdc.com

Runners-Up: Tsunami Sushi & Lounge, Toki Underground

Readers Say: “Is there even a second place?”

Best BAgel

Runners-Up: Savor, Drink the District

Bullfrog Bagels 1341 H St. NE, (202) 4942609, bullfrogbagels.com Readers Say: “Fresh and hot when I picked them up. Even the crumbs vanished.”

Runners-Up: Bethesda Bagels, Brooklyn Bagel Bakery

Best BAKeRy

Sticky Fingers Bakery 1370 Park Road NW, (202) 2999700, stickyfingersbakery.com Readers Say: “I plan road trips from NYC to go to Sticky Fingers!”

Runners-Up: Baked & Wired, RareSweets

Best BAR

Nellie’s Sports Bar 900 U St. NW, (202) 3326355, nelliessportsbar.com Runners-Up: Boundary Stone, ChurchKey

Best BAR wIth A POOl

Penthouse Pool Club 1612 U St. NW, (202) 939-2563, penthousepoolclub.com

Best BlOODy mARy (tIe)

Founding Farmers Multiple locations, wearefounding farmers.com

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The Heights 3115 14th St. NW, (202) 797-7227, theheightsdc.com

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Runner-Up: Logan Tavern

Best BOOzy mIlKshAKe

Ted’s Bulletin Multiple locations, tedsbulletin.com

Readers Say: “The Dirty Girl Scout is heavenly!”

Runners-Up: Satellite Room, The Diner

Best BRew PuB

Runners-Up: The Donovan, Capitol Skyline Hotel

Right Proper Brewing Company 624 T St. NW, (202) 607-2337, rightproperbrewery.com

Best BAR wIth gAmes

Readers Say: “All you could want in beer, cheese, and food.”

Board Room 1737 Connecticut Ave. NW, (202) 518-7666, boardroomdc.com

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Runners-Up: Bluejacket, Mad Fox Brewing Company

Readers Say: “Board games? Check! Great drink selection? Check! The ability to bring your own favorite food? Check!”

Runners-Up: Penn Social, H Street Country Club

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Best BRuNch

Farmers Fishers Bakers 3000 K St. NW, (202) 298-8783, farmersfishersbakers.com Readers Say: “Indulgence at its best on a Saturday or Sunday morning.”

Runners-Up: Southern Hospitality, Le Diplomate

Best BuRgeR

Shake Shack Multiple locations, shakeshack.com Runners-Up: Five Guys Burgers and Fries, Good Stuff Eatery

Best cheF

Chef James “JR” Robinson kitchencray.com Readers Say: “His food tastes like magical love on a fork.”

Runners-Up: Chef Seb, Chef Jerome L Grant

Best chINese

Mr. Chen’s Organic Chinese Cuisine 2604 Connecticut Ave. NW, (202) 797-9668, mrchens.com Readers Say: “Two words: tofu curl.”

Runners-Up: Meiwah Restaurant, Great Wall Szechuan House

Best Dive Bar, Readers’ Pick: Showtime Lounge

Best cOcKtAIl BAR

Best cRABcAKe

The Gibson 2009 14th St. NW, (202) 2322156, thegibsondc.com

Clyde’s Multiple locations, clydes.com Runners-Up: The Park at Fourteenth, Old Ebbitt Grill

Runners-Up: 2 Birds 1 Stone, The Park at Fourteenth

Best cRAFt BeeR selectION

ChurchKey 1337 14th St. NW, (202) 5672576, churchkeydc.com

Best cOcKtAIl meNu

Maté 3101 K St. NW, (202) 3332006, matedc.com

Readers Say: “They are able to get things other bars can only dream of.”

Readers Say: “The best Long Island Iced Tea I’ve ever had.”

Runners-Up: Meridian Pint, Pizzeria Paradiso

Runners-Up: Founding Farmers, The Gibson

Best cOFFee shOP

Tryst 2459 18th St. NW, (202) 232-5500, trystdc.com Readers Say: “I’ve been to coffeehouses around the world, and nothing compares to Tryst.”

Runners-Up: Peregrine Espresso, The Coffee Bar

Best Tater Tots, Readers’ Pick: Sticky Rice washingtoncitypaper.com april 10, 2015 11

FOOD & DRINK Best cuPcAKe

Baked & Wired 1052 Thomas Jefferson St. NW, (202) 333-2500, bakedandwired.com

Best FRIeD chIcKeN

Best Cocktail Bar, Readers’ Pick: The Gibson

Blue 44 Restaurant and Bar 5507 Connecticut Ave. NW, (202) 362-2583, blue44dc.com Runners-Up: GBD (Golden Brown Delicious), Bonchon Chicken

Readers Say: “The cakes are taller than your average cupcake, which makes them good for sharing. They also have the best frosting... yum.”

Best gAy BAR/cluB

Nellie’s Sports Bar 900 U St. NW, (202) 3326355, nelliessportsbar.com

Runners-Up: Georgetown Cupcake, Sticky Fingers Bakery

Best DIve BAR

Runners-Up: Town Danceboutique, Number Nine DC

Showtime Lounge 113 Rhode Island Ave. NW, facebook.com/showtimebardc

Best gelAtO

Dolcezza Gelato Multiple locations, dolcezzagelato.com

Readers Say: “Dance the night away to old dance music, and drink cheap drinks!”

Readers Say: “The freshly made gelato at the factory tastes... much better than what you can buy at Whole Foods or Giant.”

Runners-Up: Raven Grill, The Pug

Best DOughNuts

Astro Doughnuts & Fried Chicken 1308 G St. NW, (202) 8095565, astrodoughnuts.com

Runners-Up: Pitango Gelato, Boccato Gelato & Espresso

Best gluteN-FRee meNu

Busboys and Poets Multiple locations, busboysandpoets.com

Readers Say: “I ate two of their donuts and went into labor 30 minutes later. It was my last meal before becoming a mom.”

Runners-Up: District Doughnut, GBD (Golden Brown Delicious)

Runners-Up: Rise Bakery; Firefly, Open City (tie)

Best ethIOPIAN RestAuRANt

Best hANgOveR BReAKFAst

Readers Say: “The vegetarian platter is outstanding.”

Runners-Up: Ted’s Bulletin, Florida Avenue Grill

Ethiopic Restaurant 401 H St. NE, (202) 675-2066, ethiopicrestaurant.com

The Diner 2453 18th St. NW, (202) 232-8800, dinerdc.com Best hAPPy hOuR

Runners-Up: Dukem Ethiopian Restaurant , Etete

The Park at Fourteenth 920 14th St. NW, (202) 737-7275, park14.com

Best FAlAFel

Amsterdam Falafelshop Multiple locations, (202) 2341969, falafelshop.com

Readers Say: “The Park has great food, drinks, prices, and atmosphere.”

Readers Say: “No one else can possibly win this category.”

Runners-Up: Micho’s Lebanese Grill, Cava Mezze Grill

Best FOOD BlOg

Bitches Who Brunch bitcheswhobrunch.com

Runners-Up: DC Reynolds, Nellie’s Sports Bar

Best Craft Beer Selection, Readers’ Pick: ChurchKey

Best Ice cReAm shOP

Ice Cream Jubilee 301 Water St. SE, (202) 8630727, icecreamjubilee.com

Runners-Up: Eater DC, Young & Hungry

Readers Say: “The waffle bowls are from scratch and made to order.”

Best FOOD tRucK

Runners-Up: Love ‘n Faith Community Cafe, Thomas Sweet

Rito Loco 606 Florida Ave. NW, (703) 626-3212, ritoloco.com Readers Say: “The variety seems to be endless.”

Runners-Up: Peruvian Brothers, Arepa Zone

Best INDIAN RestAuRANt

Rasika Multiple locations, rasikarestaurant.com

Readers Say: “Surely one of the best Indian restaurants in the country.”

Runners-Up: Indigo, The Bombay Club

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The Wonderland Ballroom

11th Annual

SUNDRESS FESTIVAL BeneďŹ tting

DC CENTRAL KITCHEN Sunday, May 3, 2015 Happy Hour all day long to anyone in a sundress

TheWonderlandBallroom.com 1101 Kenyon Street NW, Washington, D.C. 20010

washingtoncitypaper.com april 10, 2015 13

FOOD & DRINK Best lAte NIght eAts

Amsterdam Falafelshop Multiple locations, falafelshop.com Readers Say: “Open late with a simple menu and good food that’s portable. What more could you ask for from a late-night spot?”

Runners-Up: The Diner, Ben’s Chili Bowl

Best lAtIN AmeRIcAN RestAuRANt

Cuba de Ayer Restaurant 15446 Old Columbia Pike, Burtonsville, (301) 476-9622, cubadeayerrestaurant.net

Readers Say: “I will gladly drive 45 minutes to get there from D.C. Hands down, the most authentic Latino food around.”

Runners-Up: Las Canteras Peruvian Restaurant & Bar, Oyamel Cocina Mexicana

Best lOcAl BReweRy

Port City Brewing Company 3950 Wheeler Ave., Alexandria, (703) 797-2739, portcitybrewing.com Readers Say: “Locally brewed beer, casual atmosphere, and excellent live music.”

Runners-Up: DC Brau Brewing Company, 3 Stars Brewing Company

Best mARgARItA

Taqueria Poblano Multiple locations, taqueriapoblano.com Readers Say: “Marvelously crafted, these margaritas are refreshing and so delicious!

The perfect lime libation.”

Runners-Up: Sol Mexican Grill, Oyamel Cocina Mexicana

Best mIDDle eAsteRN RestAuRANt

Best Japanese, Readers’ Pick: Daikaya

Best IRIsh PuB

Fiona’s Irish Pub 5810 Kingstowne Center, Alexandria, (703) 888-3900, fionasirishpub.com Readers Say: “Great drink, food, people, and entertainment.”

Runners-Up: Nanny O’Brien’s, Kelly’s Irish Times

Best ItAlIAN RestAuRANt

Lavagna 539 8th St. SE, (202) 5465006, lavagnadc.com Readers Say: “Fresh food, great service.”

Best JAPANese

Daikaya 705 6th St. NW, (202) 5891600, daikaya.com Readers Say: “Some of the most authentic Japanese I’ve ever had in America.”

Runners-Up (Tie): Izakaya Seki, Sushi Taro

Best KABOB

Moby Dick House Of Kabob Multiple locations, mobyskabob.com Readers Say: “Best hummus ever!”

Runners-Up: Kabob Palace, Ravi Kabob House

Runners-Up: The Red Hen, Filomena Ristorante

Best KID-FRIeNDly RestAuRANt

Ted’s Bulletin Multiple locations, tedsbulletin.com

Runners-Up: Brookland’s Finest Bar & Kitchen, Silver Diner

Best KOReAN

Mandu Multiple locations, mandudc.com Readers Say: “Their happy hour specials are great.”

Runners-Up: Honey Pig Restaurant, TaKorean

Lebanese Taverna Multiple locations, lebanesetaverna.com

Readers Say: “I’ve never had a bad meal there, and I am enjoying their new menu... I was a customer the first night they opened in 1979 and try to get back to the Westover place frequently.”

Runners-Up: Zaytinya, Micho’s Lebanese Grill

Best mIxOlOgIst

Bob Vanlancker Multiple locations, (202) 2988783, farmersfishersbakers.com Readers Say: “His experience and talent shine along with his captivating personality!

Definitely a winner.”

Runners-Up: Jo-Jo Valenzuela, Derek Brown

Best mODeRN AmeRIcAN RestAuRANt

Rose’s Luxury 717 8th St. SE, (202) 5808889, rosesluxury.com Readers Say: “Duh.”

Runners-Up: Founding Farmers, Mintwood Place

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Prices do not include tax. Limited time offer.

WE ARE tHE olDEst pizzA DElivERy ADAms moRgAn (sincE 1988)

in 3 2 8 7 4 9 9

Minimum order $10.00. All Prices subject to sales tax & change without notice

washingtoncitypaper.com april 10, 2015 15

FOOD & DRINK Best mussels

Granville Moore’s 1238 H St. NE, (202) 3992546, granvillemoores.com Runners-Up: St. Arnold’s Mussel Bar, Brasserie Beck

Best NeIghBORhOOD BAR

The Blaguard 2003 18th St. NW, (202) 2329005, blaguarddc.com Readers Say: “I love love love this place. I always feel completely at home!”

Runners-Up: Boundary Stone, Rebellion

Best New BAR

Lost & Found 1240 9th St. NW, (202) 450-6052 lostandfounddc.com Runners-Up: Lyman’s Tavern, Copycat Co.

Best New RestAuRANt

Rural Society 1177 15th St. NW, (202) 587-2629, ruralsocietyrestaurant.com Readers Say: “While the food can be considered fancy, the restaurant remains fun with excellent food and beverage pairings.”

Runners-Up: Driftwood Kitchen, Compass Rose

Best PhO

Pho 14 Multiple locations, dcpho14.com Readers Say: “The most authentic pho I have ever eaten.”

Runners-Up: Pho 75, Pho Viet

Best PIe

Dangerously Delicious Pies Multiple locations, dangerouspiesdc.com

Best Doughnuts, Readers’ Pick: Astro Doughnuts & Fried Chicken

Readers Say: “So good! Best in the USA!” Plus, “I dream of the Baltimore Bomb sometimes! Yum!” Runners-Up: Pie Sisters, Teeny Pies

Best PIzzA

Faccia Luna Multiple locations, faccialuna.com Readers Say: “Real Italian pizza.”

Runners-Up: &pizza, Pete’s New Haven Style Apizza

Best PlAce tO eAt At the BAR

Boundary Stone 116 Rhode Island Ave. NW, (202) 621-6635, boundarystonedc.com Readers Say: “All the bartenders are nice and knowledgable on the food menu, as well as the ample whiskey and beer selection.”

Runners-Up: Founding Farmers; Rose’s Luxury, The Park at Fourteenth (tie)

Best PlAce tO hAve DINNeR wIth lIve musIc

The Hamilton 600 14th St. NW, (202) 7871000, thehamiltondc.com

Best PRIvAte DININg sPAce

The Park at Fourteenth 920 14th St. NW, (202) 737-7275, park14.com

Runners-Up: Hill Country, Acre 121

Readers Say: “Their back room has a pocket door! It’s cool as hell!”

Best POweR luNch

Runners-Up: Joe’s Seafood, Prime Steak & Stone Crab; Fiola Mare, Rose’s Luxury (tie)

Founding Farmers Multiple locations, wearefoundingfarmers.com Runners-Up: Cafe Soleil, Joe’s Seafood, Prime Steak & Stone Crab

16 april 10, 2015 washingtoncitypaper.com

Best RestAuRANt

Belga Café 514 8th St. SE, (202) 5440100, belgacafe.com Runners-Up: Le Diplomate, The Red Hen

Best RestAuRANt wheN sOmeONe else PAys

Komi 1509 17th St. NW, (202) 3329200, komirestaurant.com Runners-Up: Le Diplomate; Fiola Mare, Rose’s Luxury (tie)

Best RestAuRANt wheN yOu PAy

&pizza Multiple locations, andpizza.com Runners-Up: Yamas Mediterranean Grill, Toki Underground

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Taxes, fees and port expenses of up to $237.35 per person are additional and subject to change. * Prices are per person, cruise only, for stateroom category 12 or Z and based on double occupancy. Cruise must be booked between April 1st - May 3rd, 2015 (the “Offer Period”) and on Europe, Caribbean, Bermuda, Alaska, Asia, Australia New Zealand, cruises that depart between June to Dec. 2015. Offer is applicable to Individual and group bookings. To redeem offer contact your Travel professional or book online at Celebritycruises.com. Rates are subject to availability and change without notice, and are capacity controlled. Offer is not applicable to charters, incentive, meeting or contracted groups. Single occupancy bookings eligible for Offers. Refer to Cruise Ticket Contract for additional terms and conditions. ©2015 Celebrity Cruises Inc. Ships registered in Malta and Ecuador. 15043617 • 3/2015

washingtoncitypaper.com april 10, 2015 17

FOOD & DRINK

Best Small Plates, Readers’ Pick: Jaleo

Best RestAuRANt wIth A vIew

Fiola Mare 3100 K St. NW, (202) 6280065, fiolamaredc.com

Readers Say: “The outside seating along the Potomac is fantastic.”

Runners-Up: Sequoia, POV

Best ROOFtOP BAR

POV 515 15th St. NW, (202) 661-2400 Runners-Up: Roofers Union, Nellie’s Sports Bar

Best sANDwIch

White Apron Specialty Sandwiches 445 11th St. NW, (202) 3474733, whiteaprondc.com

atmosphere. They are doing good things for the D.C. food scene.”

Runners-Up: SUNdeVICH, Taylor Gourmet

Best seAFOOD

Hank’s Oyster Bar Multiple locations, hanksoysterbar.com Readers Say: “Love, love, love the Old Town location! Everyone there is so friendly, and the food is amazing.”

Runners-Up: Pearl Dive Oyster Palace, Fiola Mare

Best sINgles BAR

Nellie’s Sports Bar 900 U St. NW, (202) 3326355, nelliessportsbar.com Runners-Up: The Park at Fourteenth, The Wonderland Ballroom

Readers Say: “Love the food and the

Best slIce OF PIzzA

Pete’s New Haven Style Apizza Multiple locations, petesapizza.com Runners-Up: Wiseguy NY Pizza, We, The Pizza

Best smAll PlAtes

Jaleo Multiple locations, jaleo.com Readers Say: “They virtually invented small plates in D.C.” Runners-Up: Zaytinya, Estadio

Best sOul FOOD

Oohh’s & Aahh’s 1005 U St. NW, (202) 6677142, oohhsnaahhs.com Readers Say: “Oohh yes‚ mac and cheese.”

Runners-Up: Woodland’s Vegan Bistro, Eatonville

Best sPIce shOP

Bazaar Spices 1309 5th St. NE, (202) 3792907, bazaarspices.com Readers Say: “Everything is awesome!”

Runners-Up: Penzeys Spices, The Spice & Tea Exchange

Best sPORts BAR

Nellie’s Sports Bar 900 U St. NW, (202) 3326355, nelliessportsbar.com Runners-Up: Lou’s City Bar, Buffalo Billiards

Best steAK hOuse

Ray’s The Steaks 2300 Wilson Blvd., Arlington, (703) 841-7297, raysthesteaks.com Readers Say: “It’s all in the name.” Plus, “Best price there is for steaks.”

Runners-Up: Bourbon Steak, The Capital Grille

18 april 10, 2015 washingtoncitypaper.com

washingtoncitypaper.com april 10, 2015 19

FOOD & DRINK

Best Korean, Readers’ Pick: Mandu Best tAteR tOts

Sticky Rice 1224 H St. NE, (202) 3977655, stickyricedc.com Readers Say: “LOVE their tots!”

Runners-Up: Tonic, Quarry House Tavern

Best thAI RestAuRANt

Beau Thai Multiple locations, beauthaidc.com Readers Say: “No one could find better Thai food anywhere. Plus the atmosphere is fabulous and the staff are so friendly and professional. Certainly an asset to our nation’s capital area.”

Runners-Up: Thai X-ing, Little Serow

Best tRIvIA BAR

Nellie’s Sports Bar 900 U St. NW, (202) 3326355, nelliessportsbar.com Runners-Up: DC Reynolds, Ventnor Sports Cafe

Best vegAN/vegetARIAN RestAuRANt

Best wINe BAR

Best wINgs

Readers Say: “Obviously Soupergirl dominates with the BEST fresh, vegan, seasonal delights!”

Readers Say: “It’s hip and trendy in all the right ways. Not snobbish, just effortlessly cool. Solid wine and food, and the owners are great.”

Readers Say: “You can never go wrong with the chicken wings, they are scrumptious!”

Runners-Up: Native Foods Cafe, Woodland’s Vegan Bistro

Runners-Up (Tie): Vinoteca Wine Bar and Bistro, Flight Wine Bar

Best vIetNAmese

Best wINe lIst

Soupergirl 314 Carroll St. NW, (202) 6097177, thesoupergirl.com

Pho Viet 3513 14th St. NW, (202) 6292839, phovietwdc.com Readers Say: “Best Vietnamese food.”

Runners-Up: Four Sisters Grill, Nam-Viet

Best whIsKey selectION

Jack Rose Dining Saloon 2007 18th St. NW, (202) 588-7388, jackrosediningsaloon.com Readers Say: “Haha! Is this even a question?” Plus, “No contest.”

Runners-Up: Boundary Stone, Barrel

20 april 10, 2015 washingtoncitypaper.com

The Pursuit Wine Bar 1421 H St. NE, (202) 758-2139, thepursuitwinebar.com

Proof 775 G St. NW, (202) 7377663, proofdc.com Runners-Up: Vinoteca Wine Bar & Bistro, The Red Hen

Boundary Stone 116 Rhode Island Ave. NW, (202) 621-6635, boundarystonedc.com Runners-Up: The Park at Fourteenth, Jin Asian Caribbean Soul Lounge

Best yOguRt/smOOthIe

South Block Cafe 3011 11th St. N, Arlington, (703) 741-0266, southblockcafe.com Readers Say: “South Block’s raw juices, blended smoothies, acai bowls, and detox program are the best! My favorite is the Caveman Milk! They make being healthy deliciously addictive... Even macho men like my husband love it!”

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washingtoncitypaper.com april 10, 2015 21

Staff Picks FOOD & DRINK

Best No-Frills Bar, Staff Pick: Showtime Lounge

Best No-Wait Restaurant on 14th Street Baan Thai at Tsunami Sushi 1326 14th St. NW, (202) 5885889, tsunamisushidc.com

If you wait until the last minute to eat out on

14th Street NW, you’re pretty much screwed.

An hour-to-two wait is the admission price at most of the restaurants worth visiting on the trendy corridor. Not so at Baan Thai, where you can always count on a seat and a satisfying, affordable meal. Credit the lack of a big name chef and hip decor, or the fact that people have yet to discover that some of the

best Thai food in the District is served at a sushi restaurant. In addition to your standard California rolls, the menu focuses primarily on the pungent, spicy, and occasionally funky flavors of northern Thailand. Among the highlights: thin rice noodles with a ground chicken and shrimp peanut sauce and a tangle of greens fried tempura style as well as khao soi, a Burmese-style coconut-based curry with chicken, egg noodles, red onion, and pickled cabbage topped with crunchy fried noodles. Also don’t miss the northern Thai pork curry with strands of ginger and bright yellow pickled garlic. In the time you’d be waiting for a table at Le Diplomate, you’ll be —Jessica Sidman full and happy.

22 april 10, 2015 washingtoncitypaper.com

Best Place to Be An Adventurous Eater Without Hitting the Suburbs Thip Khao

3462 14th St. NW, (202) 387-5426, thipkhao.com

When chef Seng Luangrath opened her

first restaurant, Bangkok Golden, in Falls Church, she didn’t put her native Laotian food on the menu, fearing that Americans wouldn’t like the spicy, pungent flavors.

Instead, the restaurant served staple Thai dishes. But she soon realized that wasn’t true at all, and added a Laotian menu, which

is now the more popular of the two. At her new Columbia Heights restaurant, Thip Khao, Luangrath goes a step further. Not only is she focusing exclusively on Laotian food, she’s devoted an entire section of the menu to its most unusual delicacies. A sheet of “Let’s Go to the Jungle!” specials include a pig’s ear noodle salad with spicy tamarind sauce, an herb-spiked beef tartare with beef tripe, and a coconut red curry soup with pork blood cake. Among the more adventurous seasonal dishes was a tree ant egg salad, featuring toasted rice powder, fish sauce, lime juice, chili powder, fresh lemongrass, mint, cilantro, and onions. Luangrath calls —Jessica Sidman it “Laos caviar.”

UPCOMING EVENTS

Thurs, 4/9 at 6:30pm The Royal We Heather Cocks & Jessica Morgan Mon, 4/13 at 8:00pm An Evening of Humorous Readings Wed, 4/15 at 6:30pm The Art of Travel Four writers share their tips for trips.

Sun, 4/19 at 7:00pm Visiting Hours Amy Butcher in conversation with Tim Denevi

Mon, 4/20 at 6:30pm If the Oceans Were Ink Carla Power Thurs, 4/23 at 6:30pm BYOB Book Drive with World Book Night 1517 CONNECTICUT AVE. NW 202.387.1400 // KRAMERS.COM washingtoncitypaper.com april 10, 2015 23

FOOD & DRINK Best Restaurant, Staff Pick: The Red Hen

Best Restaurant The Red Hen

1822 1st St. NW, (202) 5253021, theredhendc.com

On a recent Friday night, a line a dozen deep formed in front of the Red Hen before the Bloomingdale restaurant opened at 5:30.

What is this, Little Serow? It seems the Italian-ish Bloomingdale restaurant from chef Michael Friedman, Michael O’Malley, and Sebastian Zutant has reached that status— even with reservations.

The reason I and others get there early like senior citizens to secure a walk-in spot at the horseshoe-shaped bar is not some fancy tasting menu or clever cuisine—the predictable trappings of a “best” restaurant. The Red Hen specializes in relatively simple food, but it does it extraordinarily well.

A custom-made grill fueled by Virgin-

ia oak is one of the restaurant’s greatest assets. A touch of smoke graces whipped ricotta crostini with balsamic brown butter and truffle honey, which should be required eating for any first-timer. The same goes for grilled octopus that likewise absorbs a bit of that campfire quality. It’s served over white beans “alla romesco” and a creamy anchovy- and tunabased tonnato sauce then topped with a salad of shaved fennel and frisée. While octopus is as cliché as tuna tartare on D.C. menus these days, this one stands out. “Large plates” like a spicy-lemony wood-grilled chicken “fra diavolo” and pan-roasted veal sweetbreads are cooked to moist perfection.

But at the heart of the Red Hen’s menu are its pastas. Made in-house to textural perfection, they are the best in the city. The rigatoni with fennel sausage ragu and pecorino roma-

24 april 10, 2015 washingtoncitypaper.com

no cheese is a menu staple for good reason. Beyond that, the offerings change with the seasons. Recently, I wavered from my standard order for spinach paccheri (wide pasta tubes) smothered in a lamb shank sauce with sweet potato. The dish looks and sounds deceptively heavy, but the flavor is light thanks to preserved lemon, saffron, and mint. Meanwhile, a saffron pumpkin-shaped pasta with butternut squash puree, wild mushrooms, sage, and toasted almonds provides the same decadent pleasure you get from a chocolate sundae.

Simplicity rules the drink menu, too, where cocktails lean bitter with a negroni or “Mr. Nick’s 5th Soul” (Old Overholt rye whiskey, Fernet, mint, Aperol). The restaurant has also become known for its wine thanks to Zutant. The former wine director at Proof began serving orange wine on the Red Hen’s menu

long before it was trendy. More recently, Zutant, who aims to one day have his own wine label, produced a rosé exclusive to the restaurant. It’s one example of how the Red Hen takes making things from scratch seriously.

But ultimately, something worthy of the title of “best” is not just about the food or drinks. It’s about how the whole experience makes you feel. In that regard, the Red Hen is cozy and warm like a (not-kitschy) cabin in the woods with a fireplace in the background. It feels like a neighborhood spot in a genuine way, not the way that countless other places now try to manufacture. At the same time, the Red Hen has reached far beyond its neighbors. It’s turned a residential area that was once more commonly described as “near Big Bear Cafe” into a mini dining hub. If youCaption don’t haveT/K a res—Jessica Sidman ervation, get in line.

The Heights is the quintessential neighborhood restaurant:

perfect for a quick weekday bite, a night out with friends, or a lazy weekend brunch.

Thank you for voting The Heights for

BEST BLOODY MARY IN BEST OF DC 2015!

3 1 1 5 1 4 T H S T N W, WA S H I N G T O N , D C | ( 2 0 2 ) 7 9 7 - 7 2 2 7 | T H E H E I G H T S D C . C O M

washingtoncitypaper.com april 10, 2015 25

FOOD & DRINK Best Reason to Get Back Together With Small Plates

truffle version emulsified with brandy.

What most people think of as a cheap lunch meat becomes a silky slice of heaven in the hands of meat master Nate Anda.

The chef works the same magic with salami using unique infusions like Campari and rosemary, meant to mimic a Negroni.

In fact, the entire charcuterie menu, featuring more than 30 types of meats presented sushi menu-style, will make you rethink your sausages, rillettes, and pâtés. You could easily make an entire meal out of the cured meats, but in case you’re craving more, chef Ed Witt has you covered with a triple stack burger, lamb ribs, a pig’s head, and more. (The menu is divided by animal.) Not even dessert escapes the meat with bacon in a fried apple pie and a walnut bourbon pie with a ba—Jessica Sidman con fat crust.

A&J Restaurant

1319 Rockville Pike, Rockville, (301) 2517878; 4316 Markham St. NW, Annandale, (703) 813-8181, aj-restaurant.com

For all the small plates restaurants in the District, you’d think at least one would wise up and start bringing the tapas with a side of Valium. No dining experience creates more anxiety than shared small plates, from the eventual check-splitting to the nearcertainty that your dining companions will devour whatever you ordered. It’s all the more confounding, then, that small plates restaurants have ballooned in the District while the plates themselves stay at entreelevel prices. There’s a way around this, and it’s called A&J Restaurant. This cashonly dim sum restaurant with locations in Rockville and Annandale has so many good dishes, you won’t end up with any duds.

From noodles in hot and sour sauce to pork potstickers, A&J is the rare restaurant with shared plates that justifies ordering more than one dish per person. The prices are so cheap—dinner for two with four plates runs around $11 each—that splitting the check is a treat. Maybe sharing isn’t so bad after all.

—Will Sommer

Best Half-Smoke DCity Smokehouse

8 Florida Ave. NW, (202) 7331919, dcitysmokehouse.com

Sorry, Ben’s Chili Bowl, but there’s a new

Best Sandwich, Staff Pick: The Mr. Chips at Dirty South Deli

Best Group Meal Kogiya

4220-A Annandale Road, Annandale, (703) 942-6995, kogiya.com

As fun as it is to eat out with your five best friends, it’s a logistical nightmare to find a place that has space, fits everyone’s budget, and doesn’t involve the awkward portioning of small plates. Korean barbecue, though, is the ultimate group activity. And the best place to get it is Kogiya in Annandale. The tables with built-in grills are big enough for six people.

If you have a larger party, there are two private dining rooms—one with eight seats and another with 12. The restaurant offers two all-you-can-eat combos: Option A ($23 per person) comes with fatty brisket, three types of pork belly, and spicy chicken, while Option B ($29) will appeal to a more adventurous crew with all of the above plus intestines. Best of all, Kogiya has some of the freshest and most generous arrays of banchan, those complimentary Korean snacks, like kimchi and daikon salad, that accompany a meal. Share a couple bottles of soju, and the party begins.

—Jessica Sidman

Best Place to Eat Meat The Partisan

709 D St. NW, (202) 524-5322, thepartisandc.com

You haven’t truly experienced bologna un-

til you’ve tried the Partisan’s foie gras and

26 april 10, 2015 washingtoncitypaper.com

Best Vegetarian Sandwich, Staff Pick: The Fun Guy at Woodward Takeout Food

king of D.C.’s signature sausage. It’s available just a mile away from the iconic U Street NW tourist trap in a smoky sliver of a barbecue joint. Chef Rob Sonderman starts with a spicy half-pork, halfbeef link from Manger Packing Corp. in Baltimore, which also supplies Ben’s and is considered the half-smoke’s progenitor. The snappy frank is topped with a hearty ladle full of rich burnt ends brisket chili amped with chipotle, ancho, and New Mexico chilies. Chopped red onions, shreds of cheddar and jack cheese, and a wiggle of bright yellow French’s mustard are the finishing touches. Perhaps the best part is that you don’t have to wade through a busload of picture-snapping Minnesotans to enjoy it. Not yet, anyway.

—Nevin Martell

Best Stoner-Friendly Food Trend Poutine There are more theories about how poutine came about than there are Southern houses where George Washington slept. But we have a theory you won’t find on Wikipedia: Dude. That guy who invented poutine? He was high. Who else could dream up a base of French fries topped with rich gravy and squeaky cheese curds? Thankfully, just in time for D.C. loosening its marijuana laws, poutine is more present than ever on local menus. On 11th Street NW, you’ve got great versions at Kangaroo Boxing Club and the Coupe. Elsewhere, the Arsenal, Bar Charley, and DGS DelicatesContinued

New Spring Menus Lunch, Dinner & Brunch

“Sing & Sip”

Mon. April 13, 2015 6:30-10 Cabaret Style Sing-A-Long Presented By “Theatre Washington Cocktails & Dinner In the Main Dining Room No Cover Fee

202-872-1126 BBGWDC.com

17th & Rhode Island Ave. NW

Champagne Brunch Weekends Saturdays A-La-Carte: $26.95 Sundays Buffet: $36.95 Unlimited Champagne

Patio Now Open With A New Happy Hour Menu

washingtoncitypaper.com april 10, 2015 27

FOOD & DRINK

Best Boozy Milk and Cookies Macon Bistro & Larder

5520 Connecticut Ave. NW, (202) 248-7807, maconbistro.com

This dessert is not for kids. Yes, the warm, gooey chocolate chip cookies are G-rated, but the tall glass of warm milk is for the 21-plus crowd only. That’s because there’s plenty of bourbon in it, along with a little sugar and vanilla to sweeten the deal. To encourage sharing, the liquor-laced drink arrives with two straws. If your dinner date doesn’t let you get in on the action, it’s totally acceptable to then pretend to go to the bathroom and ditch them. Just make sure to stop by the host stand to make another reservation, so you have the chance to enjoy this tipsy treat for yourself.

—Nevin Martell

Best Cupcake Alternative RareSweets

963 Palmer Alley NW, (202) 4990077, raresweets.com

Leave it to tourists in Georgetown to wait

in long lines for cupcakes. RareSweets owner and pastry chef Meredith Tomason suggests taking a “cake break” instead.

Whereas there’s a natural rush to eat cupcakes because of their portability, people at Tomason’s CityCenterDC bakeshop sit down for dessert. “It’s interesting to watch this city indulge,” she says. “People come in and say, ‘I told my boss I was going to the bathroom, and instead I came here.’ This is a city filled with workaholics, but they’re taking the time for cake.” Unlike cupcakes, which glob and pile high the icing, Tomason’s cakes maintain a reasonable frostingto-cake ratio. Indulge in classic cake varieties like red velvet, German chocolate, or black and white cake ($5 a slice) or try seasonal varieties including lemon and rhubarb or lavender and buttercream ($5.50).

—Tim Ebner

Best Bagel Under 70 Cents, Staff Pick: Giant

sen serve variants of these gloriously gluttonous, smothered fries. Granted, most of these are riffs on the Canadian classic… but who cares? Stop nitpicking and pass the J. —Rina Rapuano

Peter Chang

sure, it’s easy to judge from the sidelines and mock everyone for following a mere chef like he’s the second coming of Michael Jackson. But one taste of Chang’s stunning bubble scallion pancake, aromatic bamboo fish, or his full-throttle, take-no-prisoners use of Sichuan peppers and you, too, might find yourself suddenly understanding how someone could end up joining a cult.

—Rina Rapuano

When the news arrived that the formerly

Best Place to Bring a Dressed-Up Toddler

Best Way to See if You’re Ready to Join a Food Cult 2503 N. Harrison St., Arlington, (703) 538-6688, peterchangarlington.com

elusive, long-revered chef Peter Chang was debuting a restaurant in Arlington (now open) and Rockville (coming soon), D.C. food freaks lost their collective shit. And

Härth at the Hilton McLean Tysons Corner

7920 Jones Branch Dr., McLean, (703) 8475000, hiltonmclean.com/harth-en.html

28 april 10, 2015 washingtoncitypaper.com

Everyone on staff at Härth is trained to support the McLean restaurant’s littlest diners and help ensure that the whole table has a tantrum-free experience. The “Foodie In Training” menu offers a variety of unique options that specifically target tiny hands and developing palates, but there’s nothing that’s unrecognizable to a 2-year-old. The mac and cheese has a hint of truffle, meatballs are a savory mix of veal and pork, and the No-Jito is a blend of white cranberry and apple juice with a splash of mint and lime. You may just find yourself sneaking a bite off —Jessica Strelitz your kid’s plate.

Best Bagel Under 70 Cents Giant

Multiple locations, giantfood.com

The excitement began at the pop-up shop at 14th Street NW’s Cork Market, then spread to H Street NE, Columbia Heights, and upper Connecticut Avenue. Bullfrog Bagels had arrived, and with them a boiled breakfast bread ring of which the District could finally be proud. The letdown came just as quickly: The bagels would cost $1.70 a pop.

Fortunately, D.C. has perfectly serviceable bagels for less than half the price. They’re at a shop called Giant, with seven locations in the District, and they cost 69 cents each.

Don’t mistake them for Safeway’s overly bready version. Frankly, you probably

te Celebra Cinco o de May itas

gar $5.00 Mar & s ta $2.50 co

Mexican Cuisine infused with modern flair served up waterside at Yards Park

Neighborhood Bistro with a Twist

Nat’s Game Day Specials $5.00 Margaritas, $3.50 Corona Light before and after the games

Lobster night Every Wed. $17.95 7oz Angus Filet and Wine Thursday $25

301 Water Street, SE Yards Park

735 8th Street, SE Washington, DC

202-484-0301

www.zestbistro.com

Happy Hour Everyday 3:30-7:00/ 9:00-Close Brunch Sat-Sun 10:30-3:00 featuring bottomless mimosas, sangria and margaritas

(At Yards Park, 2 blocks from the stadium along the river walk, next to the fountains)

202.544.7171

washingtoncitypaper.com april 10, 2015 29

FOOD & DRINK has plans to return once that building is erected, it just won’t be the same. How could it when Steak ’n Egg offers so singular an experience in D.C.: an actual diner with cheap breakfast food, limited counter space, and outdoor picnic tables surrounded by a white picket fence. It’s one of the most charming places in the District, with a structure that seems to say, “To hell with your density concerns! This is worth it!”

And as long as you order correctly (stick to traditional diner fare like eggs, grits, and corned beef hash), Steak ’n Egg offers some of the most satisfying food around, 24 —Sarah Anne Hughes hours a day.

Best Half-Smoke, Staff Pick: DCity Smokehouse

Best Place to Load Up on Artisanal Goods DC Food Swap dcfoodswap.org

First comes the surveying. Amateur purvey-

ors of baked and canned foodstuffs size each other up at the roughly bi-monthly DC Food Swap in Dupont Circle, strolling around the room full of other self-fashioned culinary artisans and proposing trades on each other’s bid sheets. Then it’s time to swap, and all sense of order breaks down. Bartering is a messy thing: It quickly becomes clear who the popular kids are, and who’s going to be stuck taking home most of what they brought. If you contribute something that’s in reasonably high demand, you’ll emerge from the swapping with an impressive assortment of chutneys, soups, salads, and desserts to last you a month or more.

(Word to the wise: Sweet baked goods tend to be over-represented and less desirable.)

Just don’t be the guy who brought Chex Mix to a gunfight: Pity trades will get you —Aaron Wiener only so far.

Best West African Hot Sauce Oh Mercy!

ohmercyhotsauce.com

won’t mistake them for the superior Bullfrog bagel, either. But topped with the right smoked fish and schmear (or eggs and bacon, or deli meats), you’ll hardly notice the difference—except in your wallet.

—Aaron Wiener

Best Eggs Cocotte Nurish Food + Drink

1231 Good Hope Road SE, (202) 9037134, nurishfoodanddrink.com

When a new acquaintance raves to me about

Kera Carpenter’s fantastic Petworth cafe Domku, I ask if he’s been to her other restaurant, Nurish Food + Drink. The answer is usually no, which is disappointing but not surprising. Nurish is located inside the Ana-

costia Arts Center on Good Hope Road SE, just a just short walk or bus ride from Barracks Row—one of the brunchiest streets in this brunch-loving town—but separated by a body of water that acts as a barrier for some. It’s a shame that instead of waiting an hour for a seat at Ted’s Bulletin, more people don’t make the trip to this cafe, which serves French-inspired dishes and fresh pastries. The brunch menu includes Nutella French toast, various tartines, and eggs cocotte. The sandwich menu has predinner options like a croque monsieur and a breakfast frittata. On most trips, I order the eggs cocotte, a simple, creamy, baked dish that is immensely satisfying on a cold morning. The dish is served with slices of baguette for dipping in the runny yolk

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of eggs that are always perfectly cooked.

Pair it with a cup of coffee, and you have a brunch that can rival anything offered across the river. —Sarah Anne Hughes

Best College Diner Osman & Joe’s Steak ’n Egg Kitchen 4700 Wisconsin Ave. NW, (202) 6861201, osmanandjoes.com

Writing about the pleasures of Osman & Joe’s

Steak ’n Egg Kitchen in Tenleytown, a favorite spot of mine while attending American University, is bittersweet. At some yetto-be-determined point in the future, the tiny shack that houses the greasy spoon will be torn down to make way forCaption a new mixedT/K use development. And while Steak ’n Egg

Sick of Sriracha? Here’s a new option for

heat seekers. Like the ubiquitous Thai condiment, Oh Mercy! hot sauce goes with pretty much everything: morning eggs, a side of fries, or a bowl of chili. Creator and Ghanaian transplant Mercy Bloomgarden’s recipe begins with ginger, garlic, onions, and tomatoes—the base of most sauces in the West African nation—then adds plenty of habanero peppers. Super spicy yet deeply flavorful, its complex taste lingers as long as the burn. Pick up a jar at the Falls Church Farmers Market, Arlington’s Lebanese Taverna Market, Maple Avenue Market in Vienna, or online at ohmercyhotsauce.com.

—Nevin Martell

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3003 M. St. NW | 202-580-8852 | i-thairestaurant.com washingtoncitypaper.com april 10, 2015 31

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FOOD & DRINK Best Fast Casual Restaurant

Micho’s Lebanese Grill

500 H St. NE, (202) 450-4533, michosgrill.com

The war to make burritos for office work-

ers is over, and it’s Chipotle clutching the terms of surrender on an aircraft carrier.

There’s nothing more disappointing than heading into an off-brand fast casual Mexican place, knowing even before the first bite that your money and time could have been better spent at Chipotle. (Quit while you’re behind, Lime Fresh). The only winning option for a fast casual upstart, then, is to stay as far away from Mexican as possible. Enter H Street NE’s Micho’s, whose shawarma and kebabs will make you forget carnitas even exist. Mediterranean wraps and batch production techniques make it perfectly suited for fast casual. On the side: an overstuffed bag of French fries, a la Five Guys.

Plus, Micho’s puts fries in their shawarmas, turning every meal into a treasure hunt.

—Will Sommer

Best Ego-Boosting Lunch Pedro & Vinny’s

1500 K St. NW, (571) 237-1875, pedroandvinnys.com

The burrito value alone is reason enough to

visit the cart that appears every day at 15th and K streets NW, rain or shine. For $7.50, you get a fully loaded chicken burrito on your choice of tortilla (I recommend garlic and onion or tomato and chili), with an ample smear of guac and an overwhelming selection of hot sauces, which are cheaper, heftier, more bespoke, and tastier than Chipotle’s. Not to mention the free chips and York Peppermint Patties, and the loyalty card that gets you each 11th burrito free.

But the best reason to stop by is flattery.

With each burrito customization you make (black or tan beans? heat on a scale from one to 10? fruity or non-fruity?) comes a heaping of praise from tortilla master John Rider, who will truly make you feel as if you’ve just crafted the best burrito the world’s ever seen. If you do really well, he’ll advise you to “take the rest of the day off.” You’ll feel just good enough to be tempted.

—Aaron Wiener

Best Locally Roasted Coffee Vigilante Coffee Company 4327 Gallatin Street, Hyattsville, vigilantecoffee.com

Vigilante Coffee Company began in 2012 in

a Trinidad rowhouse, with its coffee and beans popping up at “pop-ups” and farmers market across D.C. Now, just three years later, Vigilante has a full-scale roastery in

Best New Restaurant China Chilcano

418 7th St. NW, (202) 7830941, chinachilcano.com

oping it in a bubble of clear parchment fastened with a golden ribbon. When it’s untied, an aromatic cloud wafts out. A server then pours a small carafe of leche de tigre or “tiger’s milk”—a lime-based marinade used for ceviche—over the fish and sprinkles on herbs and marigold flowers. It’s the kind of presentation you’d otherwise find on the avantgarde $250 tasting menu at Minibar.

Cocktails are just as noteworthy as the food. You’d be hard-pressed to find a better pisco sour in D.C., but the drink menu gives you a chance to explore a number of other pisco drinks, too, including macerados (pisco infused with fruits, herbs, and spices) like cinnamon-star anise and cherry.

Blame it on Guy Fieri and his barbecue-sushi restaurant, but fusion is often considered a dirty word in culinary circles. Fortunately, José Andrés’ brand of fusion at China Chilcano is rooted in culture and history, not a slot-machine combination of random cuisines. The restaurant’s Chinese-Peruvian (chifa) and Japanese-Peruvian (nikkei) food is born from the melding of flavors and ingredients that Best New Restaurant, happened when Asian immigrants came Staff Pick: China Chilcano to Peru in the late 19th century. Today, these hybrid cuisines are as much a part of Peru’s culinary identity as General Tso’s is part of America’s.

The dim sum section is a good place to start on the sprawling menu. The best dumplings are the shrimp, pork, jicama, and peanut “siu mai” crowned with soft eggs and a shimmer of gold leaf. When you bite in, the runny yolk oozes out.

Fried rice (chaufa) and noodles (tallarines) are another area of the menu not to pass over. Hong Kong-style rice noodles are shaped like translucent green beans and topped with a tomato stew, scrambled egg, black garlic, cilantro, and five spices. The ingredients are all familiar, and yet you’ve probably never had anything like it.

Meanwhile, concolón is quickly becoming one of the restaurant’s staples.

Prepared tableside, this clay bowl is filled with aji amarillo-flavored fried rice, fatty pork belly, sweet Chinese sausage, pickled turnip, shiitake mushroom, soft eggs, and bok choy. A server pours a soy and oyster sauce over the dish, then mixes it up, making sure to scrape the burnt bits of rice from the bottom. The dish is topped with chicharrons and served with a hot sauce.

The Japanese-Peruvian section on the menu focuses on the raw fish with ceviches, sashimi, and nigiri that uses potato causa (mashed until smooth) rather than rice. An open fish prep counter and raw bar with a half-dozen seats gives diners a direct view of the seafood’s freshness, as does a lobster tank, from which live crustaceans are plucked for dinner.

In addition to the Chinese and Japanese-influenced dishes, the menu features some Peruvian classics, too—or at least Andrés’ winking take on them. One of the best examples is the sudado de pescado. China Chilcano adds some flare to this slow-poached red snapper dish with tomato, potato, and red pepper by envel-

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Like all of Andrés’ restaurants, China Chilcano’s funky decor is as much a part of the experience as the meal. Neon lights on the ceiling resemble Peru’s Nazca Lines, a series of huge ancient markings on the ground depicting animals whose full shapes can only be seen from the sky. In addition, shipyard docks were the inspiration for crates and ropes that hang from the ceilings and a wall made from a bright red shipping container. Japanese and Chinese styles of seating are imported, too.

A tatami table is built for diners to sit on the ground, while other group tables are outfitted with lazy susans. Just make sure to keep rotating the siu mai to your side of the table.

—Jessica Sidman

2033 M Street, NW | 202 530 3621 | www.MStreetDC.com

Your Neighborhood Destination Restaurant Winner OpenTable.com “Diners Choice” Award

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Saturdays: Three Courses - A-La-Carte $26.95 Sunday Jazz Brunch: Live Entertainment – Three Courses $29.95 Celebration Parties Welcome!

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Photo courtesy of our friend Amber Byrne and Live It Out Photography

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Wednesday & Saturday Nights With Dinner 21 2033 M Street, NW | 202 530 3621 WWW.MStreetDC.com

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202.249.8551

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FOOD & DRINK Hyattsville, its beans are sold in retailers like Whole Foods and Yes! Organic Market, and it’s brewed at an increasing number of restaurants in the area. Vigilante will also be part of Maketto, an Asian market on H Street NE from Toki Underground chef Erik Bruner-Yang that is finally opening this month.

I became familiar with Vigilante during its ascension after stopping at its stand at Eastern Market for a pour-over. This relationship grew from buying a cup every weekend to buying a bag of beans to use in my coffee maker to becoming so devoted to the stuff that I completely transformed the way I made—and appreciated—coffee. I began paying attention to the roast date. I invested money in the equipment needed to do a proper pour-over. I watched a, perhaps, ridiculous number of YouTube videos to determine if I should do a clockwise or counterclockwise pour. I now grind the beans with my own two hands, for God’s sake! I do this not only because of the beans’ cost (about $14 to $16 for a 12 oz.-bag), but because I now know what truly great coffee tastes like. D.C. is lucky enough to have a number of places that roast and sell good coffee. But no other cup has ever so profoundly changed my behavior when it comes to this, my most treasured addiction.

—Sarah Anne Hughes

Best Way to Blow $10 On a Ham and Cheese Sandwich, Staff Pick: Bread Furst

Best Place to Order Hot Vietnamese Coffee Bambu Desserts & Drinks

6771-B Wilson Blvd., Falls Church, (571) 4371445, facebook.com/BambuEdenCenter

There aren’t as many places to get hot Viet-

namese coffee as you’d expect at Eden Center in Falls Church, a strip mall renowned for its collection of specialty markets, restaurants, and bakeries. Looking for iced?

The more popular way of serving the drink can be ordered nearly anywhere, mostly pre-made. But if you want it hot—and you do—head to Bambu Desserts & Drinks, the only regional outpost of a California-based chainlet. They serve it scalding, caramelsweet, and amazing for $3.75. French roast coffee and two ounces of espresso are lightened with an unhealthy pour of sweetened condensed milk and a bit of half and half.

Just smelling it makes me vibrate.

—Jessica Strelitz

Best Way to Blow $10 on a Ham and Cheese Sandwich Bread Furst

4434 Connecticut Ave. NW, (202) 765-1200, breadfurst.com

beurre—a simple layering of good-quality ham, Gruyere, butter, and a bit of Dijon on house-made baguette—that’s masterful in its simplicity. Not that making the perfect baguette is easy. If it were, Washingtonians wouldn’t have gotten quite so giddy when Mark Furstenberg, the Jedi master of breadmaking, opened his Van Ness bakery last May. Believe the hype. And for God’s sake, order one of their amazing lattes. You’ve already spent a Hamilton on a sandwich. What’s another $4 in the grand —Rina Rapuano scheme of things?

We know. A 10-spot is a lot of cash to throw

down for a ham and cheese sandwich, but there’s something about this jambon

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Best Vegetarian Sandwich The Fun Guy at Woodward Takeout Food 1426 H St. NW, (202) 347-5355, woodwardtable.com

Chomping into the Fun Guy sandwich at

Woodward Takeout Food has the same meaty satisfaction as a big bite from a juicy burger—except it has no meat. Instead, this two-hander is stuffed with hearth-roasted mushrooms, sweet onions, and arugula. A trio of spreads, including goat cheese, sundried tomato paste, and garlic aioli, gives the sandwich a flavor boost. Housemade focaccia—soft and spongy on the inside, warm and slightly crisp on the outside—holds the whole mess together. Yes, it’s vegetarian,

but this is not just a great “vegetarian sandwich.” It’s a great sandwich. With the Fun Guy, there’s not mushroom for error.

—Jessica Sidman

Best Sandwich The Mr. Chips at Dirty South Deli

Food truck; National Museum of Women in the Arts, 1250 New York Ave. NW, dirtysouthdeli.com

Dirty South Deli makes a chopped pork so juicy and flavorful that if it were served between two slices of bread without toppings, I’d probably still have to consider it among D.C.’s best sandwiches. But when that addictive meat is topped with bright ingredients like citrus mayo, cilantro, and pickled jalapeños, the combination of spicy, sour,

April 10,

2015

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OOHHs & AAHH’s Soul Food Restaurant

1005 1005 U U Street, Street, NW NW Washington, Washington, DC DC 20001 20001 202.667.7142 202.667.7142

Dominique Dominique Brooks, Brooks, General General Manager Manager Oji Oji Abbott, Abbott, Owner Owner & & Executive Executive Chef Chef E-mail E-mail Address: Address: oohhsnaahhs@verizon.net oohhsnaahhs@verizon.net “This “This is is not not fast fast food….this food….this is is food food for for the the soul.” soul.”

Since 1989

Pizzeria

2909 Wilson Blvd • Arlington, VA • 2 blocks from the Clarendon Metro • 703-276-3099

823 South Washington St. • Alexandria, VA •703-838-5998 • 1229 South Atherton St. • State College, PA • 814-234-9000

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FOOD & DRINK Best Terrible Gimmick, Staff Pick: Big Board’s Beer Board

and tangy flavors leaves a lingering taste on your tongue. Pillowy brioche softly cradles the ingredients in this messy concoction that’s so soft, it falls apart once you bite into it. Add a melted slice of nutty manchego cheese to this creation and you’re likely going to start making noises that aren’t always heard in the white marble museum mezzanine where Dirty South Deli has set up shop. —Caroline Jones

Best Bar to Bring a Sandwich To A&D

1314 9th St. NW, (202) 290-1804, andbardc.com

The balance between fancy drinks and food at bars is a tenuous one. If you want a nice cocktail, you’re likely going to find a menu filled with not-so-filling small plates. And if you want a meal that’s low-key and unfussy, your beverage options probably consist of

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Matt Dunn

Caption T/K Caption T/K Caption T/K

Best Ego-Boosting Lunch, Staff Pick: Pedro & Vinny’s

whatever’s on draft and beer-and-shot combos. But at A&D in Shaw, you can pair your skillfully crafted cocktail with a variety of small snacks sold at the bar or you can bring in a sandwich from its sister restaurant Sundevich, located just around the corner. The unique spins on classic cocktails like dirty martinis and old fashioneds pair perfectly with Sundevich’s offerings like the spicy Kingston with jerk chicken and pineapple salsa and the hearty Milan breakfast sandwich with eggs, pancetta, and garlic mayo.

With the proper sustenance, you’ll be prepared for an extended stay, whether you end up chatting with friends or starting a foosball tournament in the back room.

—Caroline Jones

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FOOD & DRINK

Best Brewery Bluejacket

300 Tingey St. SE, (202) 524-4862, bluejacketdc.com

For any new brewery, tiresome regulatory hassles, finding financing for equipment and overhead, and the constant fear of folding are all just part of the business. But some brewers have slightly more unique pressures to deal with before they sell beer.

Eight-plus years in the making, Bluejacket aimed not only to meet the demands of the District’s increasingly ravenous marketplace of thirsty beer nerds, but also make beer that stood up to the high standards its leadership established and maintains at more than a dozen bars and restaurants. Sure, Neighborhood Restaurant Group Beer Director Greg Engert and his team could serve world-class beer— but how would they produce it?

No one can accuse them of being unadventurous.

“We decided to start from square one on all facets, collaborating on everything all the time,” Engert says. Since opening in October 2013, the brewery has shown impressive scope, producing over 80 unique beers, from Berliner weisse to barleywine. Initially, that prodigious effort caused a beer attention deficit of sorts; the beers were tasty, but an overarching focus could be difficult to identify.

“When you have a concept that’s built around innovation, exploration, and experimentation, that runs counter to being able to re-brew and hone in,” Engert said. “After three or four months, we got to brew new stuff and re-brew.”

Those months enabled Bluejacket to dis-

cover its cynosure: always-available beers that encourage users to stretch their palates, rather than intimidate them into indecision.

Forbidden Planet—a clean, aromatic ale whose Galaxy hops transport its classic Kölsch base to the tropics—is a beer to fawn over. Lost Weekend, a Citra-heavy IPA, is borderline irresistible when wet-hopped or on cask. The brewery’s adventurous offerings also presented new entry points for budding beer connoisseurs. Take Twit, a refreshingly tangy warm-weather quencher featuring Lactobacillus and witbier yeast, which appeals to baseball fans and beer geeks alike. It’s both fine tribute to Engert’s long pedigree of supplying a constant drumbeat of wild ales and a positive sign of Bluejacket’s open fermentation adventures to come.

“Every single batch of beer we brew is 40 april 10, 2015 washingtoncitypaper.com

based on learned experience of what we’ve done before,” Engert says. (Forbidden Planet has gone through 20 batches, give or take.)

Bluejacket’s approach—what Engert calls the “infinite possibility” of brewing—now benefits from top-quality hop contracts, new generations of in-house yeast strains, and one of the most energetic brewing teams in the region. Brewer Josh Chapman, for example, learned cooperage—the craft of building and maintaining wooden vessels, like barrels, that is usually studied over the course of decades—on the side last year.

Bluejacket spent the past year offering the

tried-and-true and thought-provoking in equal measure. “There’s that balance, which is what I think most people want out of their drinking experiences,” Engert observes.

Adding consistency to one of the District’s most sophisticated beer laboratories, at no cost to its rampant creativity? Now that’s an achievement worth lifting a glass to.

—Aaron Morrissey

♥

THANKS FOR THE LOVE DC 116 RHODE ISLAND AVE, NW WASHINGTON, DC 20001 www.boundarystonedc.com

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FOOD & DRINK Best Bar at Which to Share Secrets 2 Birds 1 Stone

1800 14th St. NW, 2birds1stonedc.com

For a town that television insists is full of

secrets, it’s not so easy to hold a private conversation over drinks in D.C. So many bars are so crowded or have such terrible acoustics that you can’t help but overhear how the girl next to you drunk-texted her boss at 2 a.m. or how the guy on the other side hates his roommates for refrigerating the peanut butter. Thankfully, 14th Street NW cocktail bar 2 Birds 1 Stone provides private nooks and tall booths where you can break away from the crowd and keep your discourse discrete—even when the place is packed. As an extra bonus, the cocktails are some of the best in the city.

Frank Underwood and Olivia Pope would —Jessica Sidman surely approve.

Best No-Frills Bar Showtime Lounge

113 Rhode Island Ave. NW, facebook.com/showtimebardc

Showtime Lounge is a real-life bar where

everybody knows your name. Hell, the bar even has its own theme song, just like Cheers. The song’s refrain: “Welcome to Showtime, where the people come to get down.” It was written and performed by Showtime’s house band, Granny & The Boys, a gray-haired funk band with a collective age decades older than the bar. There are many other reasons to love Showtime: a “Comboh” (a shot and a Natty Boh) is $5; the jukebox is free; and local barbecue joint (and Best Of pick) DCity Smokehouse delivers here. Really, what more do you need?

—Tim Ebner

Best New LateNight Restaurant El Camino

108 Rhode Island Ave. NW, (202) 847-0419, elcaminodc.com

East Los Angeles-inspired El Camino sets a

standard for post-10 p.m. D.C. dining beyond fast-casual restaurants like Amsterdam Falafelshop and Dangerously Delicious Pies.

Its kitchen cranks out tasty beef tongue tacos and generous portions of guacamole past midnight on weekends. Free from the hordes of munchie-stricken bargoers that clog U Street NW and Adams Morgan, the restaurant manages to maintain its composure with quiet corners and large booths where parties can conduct themselves without disturbing their neighbors. If the schadenfreude of eating tacos while watching people shiver outside at adjacent Showtime Lounge wasn’t enough, El Camino 42 april 10, 2015 washingtoncitypaper.com

Best Cupcake Alternative, Staff Pick: RareSweets

Cheers from Compass Rose!

Thank you all so much for voting for us as D.C.’s best new restaurant!

Your love and support has filled our small spot with a whole lot of soul and made this year so special. We start Season 2 of Compass Rose on April 17th. Come check out some fun menu changes and specials as we start our second year. 1 3 4 6 T S T. N W, W A S H I N G T O N , D C | 2 0 2 . 5 0 6 . 4 7 6 5

Taco & Margarita Goodness L.A.-Style & Regional Mexican Specialties

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Three Virginia locations: Arlington - Columbia Pike - Lee Highway Alexandria - Del Ray

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FOOD & DRINK also offers another bonus to late-night diners: Prices for strong margaritas and Tecate tallboys drop during the late-night happy hour, which begins at 11:30 p.m. Monday —Maxwell Tani through Friday.

Best Cocktail Menu to Make You Feel Smart Copycat Co.

1110 H St. NE, (202) 241-1952, copycatcompany.com

While many people are fluent in variations of

the martini (wet, dry, bone dry, dirty, etc.), few know twists on other classic cocktails or how to order them. Copycat Co., which opened on H Street NE late last year, makes it easy. One side of the menu features a cheat sheet on old-fashioneds, sours, fizzes, collins, high-balls, and other drinks with suggestions and simple, unpretentious explanations with the components of each option.

At last, you can order a “perfect” Manhattan (with a combination of dry and sweet vermouth) and know what that actually means. The other side of the menu rotates with variations of other cocktails like juleps, mashes, and hot toddies. Footnotes indicate the bartenders or bars they come from. Feel free to reward your newfound booze smarts —Jessica Sidman with another drink.

Best Gimmicky Cocktail José’s Choice gin and tonic at Jaleo Multiple locations, jaleo.com

You don’t need to be a premier mixologist to make a good gin and tonic. Pouring gin over ice, then topping it with your preferred brand of tonic water and a squeeze of lime requires little skill, even if you fancify it by adding a dash of bitters. So why would anyone spend $14 on a cocktail so simple that you could recreate in your kitchen? In large part, because you like a production. If you order a José’s Choice gin and tonic at Jaleo, the entire spread is presented to you on a shiny tray. The wide-bottomed glass looks large enough to house a fish and inside it sit juniper berries, Makrut lime leaves, and a piece of lemon peel, as well as one large pristine ice cube to keep everything cool. In fact, the ice melts so inconspicuously that you barely notice its presence in the drink. After depositing the vessel in front of you, your server pours generously from a bottle of Hendrick’s Gin and finishes it with a small bottle of bubbly Fever-Tree tonic. The result tastes floral, slightly sour, and 10 times more refreshing than anything you make at home or order during happy hour at other spots around town. Factor in the VIP experience and the large size and the cocktail compensates for its slightly absurd price.

—Caroline Jones

Best Place to Be An Adventurous Eater Without Hitting the Suburbs, Staff Pick: Thip Khao

Best Twist on a Gin Rickey Wisdom

1432 Pennsylvania Ave. SE, (202) 543-2323, dcwisdom.com

A traditional version of D.C.’s official cocktail can seem deceptively easy to make—it’s just gin, lime, and soda water, right? That’s technically correct, but the proportions and quality of the products are key to making a Rickey that’s not too watered down or too heavy on the citrus. While several bars in D.C. have mastered this simple recipe, I’ll point to Wisdom as the place to go for a next-level iteration. With more than 100 gins in-house, you can find variety simply by asking for a specific brand of spirit. I prefer to stick with the gins I like—New

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Columbia Distillers’ Green Hat and Leopold’s American Small Batch—and ask the bartender at Wisdom to put her own spin on the cocktail through a housemade shrub syrup or tonic (the berry version of the latter is my favorite). A warning: A tonic or shrub syrup in a well-made Rickey will further mask the gin, so prepare to feel pretty good then pretty terrible if you have more —Sarah Anne Hughes than two.

Best Value Whiskey Pour Little Miss Whiskey’s Golden Dollar 1104 H St. NE, littlemisswhiskeys.com

When you walk into Little Miss Whiskey’s

Golden Dollar and see customers ordering beer, you know they’re not in on the

secret. Well, it shouldn’t be that much of a secret that whiskey is the alcohol to order at the H Street NE bar, despite its extensive and very good beer list. Whiskey’s whiskey pours, which range in price depending on the quality of your selection, are dangerously generous, accounting for between two and three shots in one glass.

As someone who drinks whiskey like water, I often find myself nursing one glass the entire evening, whether I’m at a dance party or watching a new episode of Game of Thrones. If you find yourself doing the same, don’t forget to bring enough cash to tip your bartender well.

—Sarah Anne Hughes

Thanks for the love, DC! www.raresweets.com | 202-499-0077 | CityCenterDC | 963 Palmer Alley NW | Washington, DC connect with us @

Bet you didn’t know Faccia Luna has been around for 26 years!

Pizzeria

Thanks for Voting us Best BBQ in DC 8 Florida Ave NW, Washington, DC 20001 (202) 733-1919 | Tues - Saturday 12-9 Sun 12-6 DCITYSMOKEHOUSE.COM

2909 Wilson Blvd • Arlington, VA • 2 blocks from the Clarendon Metro • 703-276-3099

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washingtoncitypaper.com april 10, 2015 45

FOOD & DRINK Best Straight Gay Bar, Staff Pick: Black Cat

Black Cat

1811 14th St NW, (202) 6674490, blackcatdc.com

In January, the oldest continuously operating lesbian bar in the U.S. closed, and its employees were fired on the spot without notice. (It turns out the closure was temporary, and some of the original staff was rehired two weeks ago.)

Phase 1 has occupied a windowless, slowly decaying storefront on Barracks Row since 1971, an era that necessitated a wall just inside the entrance to serve as a barrier against glass bottles thrown by neighborhood Marines and other homophobes. When it closed with no word on when it might reopen or in what form, some speculated that, as in many other cities, a lesbian-focused bar was destined for failure now that queers feel safer being out with friends or lovers in other nightlife scenes. Why frequent the dyke bar with blown-out speakers and TBS on the TV when there are far hipper spots out there with better drinks and a scene-ier crowd?

Best straight gay Bar Aside from the fact that queers and trans people regularly suffer verbal and physical abuse even in the most progressive public arenas, queer-centric spaces are vital for strengthening communities, building relationships, and resisting assimilation. Phase 1’s temporary closure left a dark spot in the shrinking constellation of D.C.’s queer social scene, and a few of its stars (the DC Gurly Show’s queer burlesque, the DC Kings’ drag shows, plenty of DJ nights) were suddenly stuck without a stage.

Thank the heavens, then, that the Black Cat was there to welcome them in. For more than a decade, the club has been a reliable venue for gay events, including Women in the Life parties, a recurring ABBA dance night, the New Gay’s monthly Homo/Sonic party, a queerfriendly women’s spoken-word series, and 2003’s Great Big International Drag King Show. The whole venue, upstairs and down, was devoted to queer parties for the entirety of

46 april 10, 2015 washingtoncitypaper.com

last year’s Pride Weekend. And when Phase 1 closed with no warning or chance to say goodbye, the Black Cat let the bar’s jilted employees and regular performers stage a premature farewell party—a cathartic night of skits, music acts, and dancing—on its upper level. The Cat also made room for the Kings and Gurly Show on its calendar.

January also saw the permanent closure of Mad Momo’s, a gay-owned restaurant in Columbia Heights that frequently hosted afterhours parties for queers, like a promising new alternaqueer dance night called Bodywork.

Guess where that event relocated? It’s another addition to the Cat’s growing roster of parties that upend tiresome gay-bar tropes (top-40 remixes, overdone strobes, straight-looking gogo dancers), which also includes GAY/BASH, a truly gender-integrated monthly affair featuring some of the freakiest drag queens on the eastern seaboard.

Why has the Black Cat flourished as a gay

gathering spot? “There is a ‘community space’ element to the Black Cat, and that means all communities,” publicist Maegan Wood told me last summer. “This is something that the owner, Dante Ferrando, has always been a big proponent of—the idea that there doesn’t need to be, and shouldn’t have to be, a separation between people.” It also helps that, by Wood’s estimation, about a quarter of the club’s staff identifies somewhere on the queer spectrum, making for a comforting, visible presence of gays and gender-fuckers behind the bar, ticket booth, and band booking.

When I walk down 14th Street NW these days, I don’t always recognize what I see.

The architecture is cleaner and colder; the taxis are busier; the thick crowds more obnoxious, wealthier, and decidedly less gay.

The Black Cat is a respite. It may not be a gay bar, but as those get harder to find, it’s a worthy second home.

—Christina Cauterucci

Underground Dance Music and Lounge featuring DJ Double 07 and rotating roster of guest selectors.

Join us on April 23rd.

On the second level for this second installment of The down low lounge.

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March 25th • 9:00pm

$19 Pitchers of red Rich Bennett v. Noah Crowley and white sangria all evening!

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600 14th st NW | www.mxdcrestaurant.com | 202-393-1900 washingtoncitypaper.com april 10, 2015 47

FOOD & DRINK A G LO BA L DA N C E H A L L

FOOD & DRINK Best College Diner, Staff Pick: Osman & Joe’s Steak ‘n Egg Kitchen

FRIDAY APRIL 10

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445 11th St NW, Washington, DC 20004 (202) 347-4733

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48 april 10, 2015 washingtoncitypaper.com

2007 18th St. NW, (202) 588-7388, facebook.com/DramandGrain

We could make a crack about how every good

stiff one deserves a handful of nuts to go along with it. However, this blue ribbon bar snack deserves more than a juvenile joke.

Jack Rose Dining Saloon’s subterranean bar offers a supper plate—essentially a mezze platter to keep boozehounds fueled up— featuring a variety of bar nuts. Hone in on the toasted pecans. Enriched with brown butter, a hearty dash of sugar, and plenty of salt, they will make you pause from sipping your superbly crafted cocktail to say, “Whoa. These are some fucking awesome nuts.” Your drinking companion may snicker, but she’ll agree. —Nevin Martell

Best Addition to the Local Beer Scene Hellbender Brewing Company 5788 2nd St. NE, (202) 827-8768, hellbenderbrewingcompany.com

Hellbender Brewing Company deserves recog-

nition for several reasons: First, its owners, Patrick Mullane and Ben Evans, suffered through months of D.C. government red tape and spent thousands of extra dollars to open their brewery near Riggs Park.

Second, the brewery is dedicated to sus-

tainability—from a brewing system that requires less water to a program that hands off spent grain for compost and animal feed.

Third, the beer is amazing. I tasted its flagship Red Line Ale from the first batch ever produced at the commercial facility and was blown away by its clean, crisp taste. Happily, that was my experience when I tasted it for a second (and third and fourth) time.

That beer, along with two other flagship offerings plus a seasonal brew, is not being canned or bottled yet but can be found on tap at several locations around D.C. You can also visit Hellbender’s tasting room—just a short walk from the Fort Totten Metro station—with plenty of seating and a gorgeous —Sarah Anne Hughes wood bar.

Best Terrible Gimmick The Big Board’s beer board

421 H St. NE, (202) 543-3630, thebigboarddc.com

It’s 6 p.m. on a Friday: Which overbearing

bar theme would you like to oppress your night? There’s Dupont Circle’s Thomas Foolery, where you can play Uno and enjoy Ring Pops just like at grandma’s house. Or you can head to Shaw’s Chaplin’s Restaurant, which has an “opium den room” to honor the silent movie star. In a city where it seems like every bar needs a gimmick, it’s a relief to find a softer touch at the Big Board—the kind of thing that wouldn’t seem too outré in, say, Phoenix. Big Board’s big board displays the original price of beers

MIDDLE EASTERN CUISINE

Olive Lounge MIddle Eastern Cuisine Daily Specials from 11am - 5pm MONDAY $5 Gyro Sandwich TUESDAY $5 Veggie Combo Platter WEDNESDAY $3.50 Dips & $7 Off Any Wine Bottle THURSDAY $5 Chicken Kebob or Chicken Shawarma Wrap CHECK OUT OUR NIGHTLY SPECIALS Lounge Happy Hours from 4:30pm-7pm Mon-Fri

7006 Carroll Ave. Takoma Park, MD

301-270-5154

Best Value Whiskey Pour, Staff Pick: Little Miss Whiskey’s Golden Dollar

next to a price determined by demand and is made to look like you’re watching a crash on the floor of a commodities exchange.

The logic of the market scheme can’t hold up for more than a second; customers can’t horde lagers before a run, for example, or short-sell a beer and hope that it’ll be a soft night for IPAs. In practice, it’s just a fancy way to show happy hour deals. But at least it has nothing do with Charlie Chaplin.

—Will Sommer

Best Hangover Remedy Bul

2431 18th St. NW, (202) 733-3921, buldc.com

www.mideastcuisine.net Follow Us on FB and Check Us Out On Yelp

This magic elixir is a funky-tasting fish cake soup called odeng guk, and it’s Korean comfort food for chef MyungEun Cho. There are two components to this cure for overdoing it: a dashi stock with fried anchovy, onions, radish, and kombu (dried kelp) and a fish cake du jour. If the dish leaves you asking, “Is that cod or tilapia?” that’s because it’s made with leftover fish parts from the sashimi on Bul’s menu. But seafood scraps have never tasted so good, and the soup delivers a lip-smacking, savory sensation. The single serving ($13 for a bowl) is big enough for two, but go it alone if the night included Jell-O shots at Millie & Al’s. —Tim Ebner

After a heavy night of drinking in Adams

Morgan, skip the Jumbo Slice and head straight to Bul for a bowl of hangover soup. washingtoncitypaper.com april 10, 2015 49

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ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

Best Comedy Venue, Readers’ Pick: DC Improv

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Readers’ Picks ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

Best Art ClAss

Capitol Hill Arts Workshop 545 7th St. SE, (202) 547-6839, chaw.org Readers Say: “They provide classes for all ages, and never turn away a student due to inability to pay.”

Runners-Up: ArtJamz, Art Works Now

Best Art GAllery

LongView Gallery 1234 9th St. NW, (202) 232-4788, longviewgallerydc.com Readers Say: “Not only the best of D.C., but it’s been called the best from Atlanta to NYC.” Runners-Up: National Gallery of Art, The Phillips Collection

Best Arts And Culture nonprofit

BloomBars 3222 11th St. NW, (202) 567-7713, bloombars.com

Readers Say: “We couldn’t feel luckier to share our weekends with John and the amazing performers at Bloombars. Our son loves music because of it.”

Runners-Up (Tie): Art Works Now, Abadá-Capoeira DC

Best Arts BloG (tie)

Free in DC freeindc.blogspot.com Readers Say: “A community treasure and resource that never fails to deliver.”

Best Boys Night Out, Readers’ Pick: Nellie’s Sports Bar

The Pink Line Project pinklineproject.com Runners-Up: EDM Girl

Best Arts festivAl

Crafty Bastards Arts & Crafts Fair washingtoncitypaper. com/craftybastards Readers Say: “It supports small companies and has a something for everyone.”

Runners-Up: Capital Fringe, Figment DC

Best BAr GAmes

Best Boys niGht out

Best Comedy venue

Readers Say: “The hosts are the best looking people in the city, the bars have the best specials, and the questions are as if Zeus himself chiseled them onto stone tablets and ferried them to earth on the back of a lightning bolt.”

Readers Say: “Great bar food is the difference maker. For only a few bucks more you get food that was cooked rather than deep fried or reheated.”

Readers Say: “Outstanding venue. Great food, great staff, great comics, great comedy classes.”

District Trivia Multiple locations, district-trivia.com

Runners-Up: Board Room, Penn Social

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Nellie’s Sports Bar 900 U St. NW, (202) 3326355, nelliessportsbar.com

Runners-Up: The Park at Fourteenth, Good Guys Club

DC Improv 1140 Connecticut Ave. NW, (202) 296-7008, dcimprov.com Runners-Up: Arlington Cinema ‘N’ Drafthouse, Town Tavern

Best CommerCiAl Art GAllery

Toro Mata 2410 18th St. NW, (202) 232-3890, toromata.com

Readers Say: “Beautifully unique jewelry, art, and so much more. Always great conversation pieces.”

Runners-Up: Art Whino, LongView Gallery

Best CulturAl festivAl

Smithsonian Folklife Festival National Mall, (202) 6336440, festival.si.edu Readers Say: “This experience is second best to actually travelling to the featured countries.”

Runners-Up: Nowruz Festival, H Street Festival

Best dAnCe CompAny

Christopher K. Morgan & Artists 12030 Chase Crossing Circle, #202, North Bethesda, christopherkmorgan.com Readers Say: “The dancers are athletic and graceful. The choreography is beautiful and tells a great story. Every performance is stunning.”

Runners-Up: The Washington Ballet, Joy of Motion Dance Center

Best dJ

LJ MTX ljmtx.com

Matt Dunn

Best Festival, Readers’ Pick: H Street Festival

Best festivAl

Best Girls niGht out

Readers Say: “A great opportunity for people to explore the H Street area.”

Readers Say: “Entertaining, great at his craft, and not bad on the eyes!”

H Street Festival (202) 543-0161, hstreet.org Runners-Up: Capital Pride, Snallygaster

Best film festivAl

Max Major (888) 406-7571, maxmajor.net Runners-Up: Bobby McKey’s Dueling Piano Bar, The Park at Fourteenth

Best Go-Go BAnd

DC Shorts Film Festival 1317 F St. NW, #920, (202) 393-4266, dcshorts.com

Team Familiar Band familiarfaces.org

Readers Say: “Offered throughout the city at difference venues. Fun to attend.”

Runners-Up: AFI DOCS, Environmental Film Festival

Readers Say: “I was never a big fan of go-go until my friend invited me out to hear Team Familiar.”

Runners-Up (Tie): Backyard Band, Trouble Funk

Readers Say: “Relentless effort and undying passion for the DMV EDM scene.”

Runners-Up: Absolute Entertainment, EPX

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Arts & entertAinment Best Hip-Hop Night, Readers’ Pick: The Park at Fourteenth

Best loCAl hip-hop Artist

Wale walemusic.com

Runners-Up: Christylez Bacon; Asheru, Flex Mathews (tie)

Best loCAl oriGinAl BAnd

Dan Wolff & The Muddy Crows themuddycrows.com Readers Say: “Talented, engaging, and good looking to boot!”

Runners-Up: Turtle Recall, Batala Washington

Best movie theAter

Landmark E Street Cinema 555 11th St. NW, (202) 7839494, landmarktheatres.com

Best hip-hop niGht

The Park at Fourteenth 920 14th St. NW, (202) 737-7275, park14.com Readers Say: “Perfect on a Thursday night!”

Runners-Up: Rock Creek Social Club Presents #Wednesdays at Heist, Tropicalia

Best JAzz/Blues venue

Blues Alley 1073 Wisconsin Ave. NW, (202) 337-4141, bluesalley.com Runners-Up: Bohemian Caverns, Bethesda Blues & Jazz Supper Club

Best KArAoKe

District Karaoke 744 13th St. SE, (844) 9374642, districtkaraoke.com

Best Movie Theater, Readers’ Pick: E Street Cinema

Readers Say: “Incredible singers, hilarious acts, and people dancing around in their underwear—more fun than should be legal.”

Runners-Up: AFI Silver Theatre and Cultural Center, AMC Courthouse Plaza 8

Best museum off the mAll

The Phillips Collection 1600 21st St. NW, (202) 3872151, phillipscollection.org Readers Say: “I want to be in the Rothko room when the sirens go off to warn of imminent nuclear destruction.”

Runners-Up: National Portrait Gallery, National Geographic Museum

Best museum on the mAll

National Gallery of Art 6th Street and Constitution Avenue NW, (202) 737-4215, nga.gov Readers Say: “D.C. is fortunate to have lots of high quality art galleries, small and large, but none can compete with the heft and majesty of the National Gallery.”

Runners-Up: Muzette Karaoke, Kostume Karaoke DC

Runners-Up: National Museum of Natural History, Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden

Best loCAl Cover BAnd

Best musiC festivAl

Jeff from Accounting jefffromaccounting.com Readers Say: “Their song selection is on point, and really, they could give two shits about whether or not you like the music they’re having a good time.”

Runners-Up: White Ford Bronco, Party Like It’s

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Readers Say: “Between the friendly staff, the bar food, the not-too-big theaters, the cushy and clean seating, and the quality film selections, this is the best place to see a movie in D.C.”

Kingman Island Bluegrass & Folk Festival 575 Oklahoma Ave. NE, (202) 4880627, kingmanislandbluegrass.com Runners-Up: Sweetlife Festival, DC Jazz Festival

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Arts & entertAinment Best Performing Arts Venue, Readers’ Pick: the Kennedy Center

Best musiC venue

9:30 Club 815 V St. NW, (202) 265-0930, 930.com Readers Say: “With its impeccably curated mix of local, regional, and national bands, and the down-to-earth staff, this place is my second home.”

Runners-Up: Black Cat, The Birchmere

Best neiGhBorhood festivAl

H Street Festival (202) 543-0161, hstreet.org

Readers Say: “Wonderful live music and performances by local artists. People are literally dancing in the streets.”

Runners-Up: Adams Morgan Day, Celebrate Petworth

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Best new theAter CompAny

HalfMad Theatre halfmadtheatre.com

Readers Say: “Doing work that proves puppets aren’t just for kids. The use of live music is refreshing, too.”

Runners-Up: The District Arts Collaborative, Pallas Theatre Collective

Best niGht CluB

The Park at Fourteenth 920 14th St. NW, (202) 737-7275, park14.com Runners-Up (Tie): The Huxley, Town Danceboutique

Best outdoor movie series

Screen on the Green The National Mall, between 7th and 12th streets, hbo.com/screenonthegreen Readers Say: “It was the first and is still the best. You can’t beat the view.”

Runners-Up: NoMa Summer Screen, Union Market

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ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

Best Recording Studio, Readers’ Pick: House Studio DC

BEST OuTdOOR VENuE

BEST PlAcE TO SEE lOcAl MuSIc

BEST REcREATIONAl SPORTS lEAguE

BEST ThEATER cOMPANy

Readers Say: “It’s just so much nicer than all the others.”

Readers Say: “I am never more excited as when I step into that room. I know I’m going to have a good night.”

Readers Say: “There are leagues for every type of person. It’s a great way to meet new people or just have some fun with friends.”

Runners-Up: Arena Stage, Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company

Runners-Up: Black Cat, DC9 Nightclub

Runners-Up: ZogSports DC, Stonewall Sports

BEST PERfORMANcE ARTIST

BEST RAdIO STATION

BEST SINgER

Readers Say: “Simply one of the funniest dudes in this century. Came from nowhere in Wyoming and makes people laugh. He’s not just a cowboy!”

Readers Say: “I have it on all day long.

Wonderful news, talk radio, politics, all civil and factual.”

Readers Say: “This guy’s got the soul of Motown, the anointing of Mahalia Jackson, and the ear of Quincy Jones.”

Readers Say: “With more venues than a single person can possibly get around to seeing, it’s a rag-tag, seat-of-the-pants, unashamedly raucous event.”

Runners-Up: DC’s 107.3, DC101

Runners-Up: Margot MacDonald, Will Duvall

Runners-Up: Source Festival, District Improv Festival

BEST REcORdINg STudIO

BEST STRIP cluB

BEST VISuAl ARTIST

Readers Say: “Still the best place to make music. Amazing vibe. So many different producers and musicians have come through their hallowed doors.”

Readers Say: “Love their amateur dance contest!”

Readers Say: “His consistent ability to catch the most dense yet elegant image from both domestic and foreign contexts is his hallmark.”

Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts 1635 Trap Road, Vienna, (703) 255-1900, wolftrap.org Runners-Up: Merriweather Post Pavilion, The Yards Park

Doug Hecox dougfun.com

Runners-Up: Aaron L. Myers II, Brian Feldman

BEST PERfORMINg ARTS VENuE

The Kennedy Center 2700 F St. NW, (202) 4168000, kennedy-center.org

Readers Say: “Ask yourself one question: Where would you prefer to have your play be shown? It’s definitely the Kennedy Center.”

Runners-Up: Atlas Performing Arts Center, Strathmore

9:30 Club 815 V St. NW, (202) 265-0930, 930.com

WAMU (202) 885-1200, wamu.org

House Studio DC 5149 Frolich Lane, Hyattsville, (202) 505-4732, housestudio.co

Runners-Up: Buzzlounge Recording Studio, Inner Ear Studio

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United Social Sports 951 V St. NE, (202) 290-1969, unitedsocialsports.com

Aaron L. Myers II aaron2.me

Good Guys Club 2311 Wisconsin Ave. NW, (202) 333-8128, goodguysclub.com Runners-Up: Secrets/Ziegfeld’s, Camelot Showbar

Shakespeare Theatre Company 610 F St. NW, (202) 547-1122, shakespearetheatre.org BEST ThEATER fESTIVAl

Capital Fringe Festival 645 New York Ave. NW, (866) 811-4111, capitalfringe.org

Bill Crandall bill-crandall.squarespace.com

Runners-Up: Angela B. Pan Photography, Carolyn Belefski

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Staff Picks ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

Best Movie Theater Lobby, Staff Pick: Angelika Pop-Up

Best Musical Refuge From the Barren Hellscape of AdMo Dr. Clock’s Nowhere Bar

2226 18th St. NW, (202) 487-4615

Dr. Clock’s is definitely the only place in Ad-

ams Morgan celebrating a set of “b-movie muzak” on a Thursday night. The bar programs exclusively weird or forgotten shit, hosting Select DC shows, DJ nights dedicated to niche experimental music, and concerts featuring decent DJs with essentially no fans. On weekends there’s usually a dance focus, but the DJs, as a rule, avoid chart-topping EDM or resident-advisor-endorsed bro electronica. Bartender Van Hillard books the artists and DJs, and his eclectic tastes are re-

flected in both the offbeat musical selections and the bizarre foreign films that loop silently on one of two TV screens. The bar’s location, up a nondescript flight of stairs at the Rendezvous Lounge hookah bar, means that the typical Adams Morgan bar crawler is unaware of Dr. Clock’s existence. And its status as both a dive bar and a dance hall results in a diverse crowd of all ages. The shows are almost always free, the drinks are cheap, and the lack of good seating options is a decent motivator to get onto the dance floor.

—Maxwell Tani

Best Movie Theater Lobby Angelika Pop-Up at Union Market 550 Penn St. NE, (571) 512-3313, angelikafilmcenter.com/dc

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The recently renovated Bethesda Row Cinema

was the crème de la popcorn of theater lobbies in 2014. Now, there’s a new, hip kid in town. It’s been less than a year since the Angelika Pop-Up sprouted its three screens near a plot of weeds just north of Union Market, but the District’s cinematic cool factor has already grown exponentially, even in spite of the recent death of West End Cinema. The Angelika has the body of a warehouse but the soul of a mid-century guerilla theater, with a neato giant-eye mural out front. Inside, posters for exploitation gems like Attack of the 50 Foot Woman plaster the walls. A large lounge space with couches and café seating gives visitors ample room to enjoy a craft beer, Intelligentsia coffee (free with a movie ticket before noon), or Dolcezza gelato (from next door)

while their friends struggle to find the theater. The pop-up setup is just temporary: Angelika is in the planning stages of a permanent location intended to be built above Union Market. But with a space this full of character, why bother with anything more?

—Andrew Lapin

Best Hip-Hop Producer to Soundtrack Your Walks to the Metro Drew Dave

soundcloud.com/drew-dave

In 2011, producer Drew Dave released

Mumbo Sauce and Drumbreaks, a charming suite of nostalgic soul cloaked in golden-age hip-hop. It was a concept al-

washingtoncitypaper.com april 10, 2015 61

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT bum that spoke directly to 1970s R&B: From its Ohio Players’ themed cover art and spacious aura, Dave—then known as Soulful!—let the music breathe beneath rappers XO, Muggsy Malone, and Cortez.

Mumbo Sauce was one of the best local releases that year. Born Andrew Davidson, Dave has only gotten better since then.

Whether it’s the emotive “Too Hip-Hop” or the edgy “Get It & Go,” Dave creates music that sticks around long after its first play through. He’s an old soul who chops samples with a skill well beyond his years, letting the vinyl crackle and the drums swell. His beats—including those on his new album, SynthBASED—are incredibly scenic, each track telling a robust story. For some producers, it takes years to pull off that sort of thing. Dave’s done —Marcus J. Moore it from day one.

Best New Cultural Center Former Residence of the Ambassadors of Spain 2801 16th St. NW, (202) 7282334, spainusafoundation.org

When the mansion on the northeast corner of 16th and Fuller streets NW was built in 1922, local real estate developer Mary Foote Henderson intended the George Oakley Totten Jr.-designed building to be the new home of the U.S. vice president.

Congress declined the offer (the grounds upkeep would be too expensive), and the Spanish government purchased the building. The Columbia Heights mansion served as the Spanish ambassador’s residence until the late 1990s and remained largely unused from then until 2011, when a major remodeling project turned it into one of D.C.’s best-programmed cultural centers. Taking title cues from Prince, the Former Residence of the Ambassadors of Spain now hosts meticulously curated Spanish-themed arts and crafts exhibitions, lectures, film series, and food events; last year, it was FotoWeekDC’s home base. Everyone who works at the venue is friendly and enthusiastic, and the building includes a beautiful interior courtyard and patio space complete with wrought iron grilles from Toledo, hand-painted tiles from Seville and Valencia, and a fountain. The upstairs is still under renovation, but is set to open soon, offering more space for shows and events in the name of Spanish-American cultural exchange. —Elena Goukassian

Best Over-theHill Makeover Washington Project for the Arts 10 I St. SW, (202) 234-7103, wpadc.org

Lordy lordy, Washington Project for the

Arts looks good for 40. The nonprofit

Best New Cultural Center, Staff Pick: Former Residence of the Ambassadors of Spain

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artists’ membership organization marks its fourth decade this year with a hip new logo, a revamped online artist registry, and a lease on a just-built new home at 8th and V streets NW. WPA has weathered a lifetime’s worth of venue shakeups, financial difficulties, and one benevolent takeover by the Corcoran; Executive Director Lisa Gold compares it to a cat with nine lives. But when its 1,500square-foot storefront space in the Atlantic Plumbing building opens next door to the 9:30 Club this fall—a rare instance of an arts organization cashing in on D.C.’s blunt-force overdevelopment, especially at a time when many traditional galleries are closing in favor of pop-ups and shared spaces—it’ll be better positioned to support local artists and curators than ever. WPA plans to exhibit more video work in the new space, where it will live until at least 2022. And without the need to negotiate shows with partner venues far in advance, Gold says it’ll be much easier to take a chance on riskier, more experimental shows. It’s already shown its youthful vigor in 2015: In February, WPA invaded Yards Park with a giant, cat head-shaped inflatable that shot laser art projections out of its eyes. You can call a blow-up laser cat installation a lot of things, but you can’t say it’s for the olds.

—Christina Cauterucci

Best Venue Flouting Religious Significance Sixth & I Synagogue

600 I St. NW, (202) 408-3100, sixthandi.org

Mocking synagogue isn’t just for Jews any-

more. For the past few years, the Sixth & I Historic Synagogue in Chinatown has made a name for itself as a home for the hippest (and, often, foulest) music and comedy acts to pass through the District.

Thankfully for young area Jews desperate for some provocation and goyim looking for a night on the town, the presence of a few holy scriptures nestled just behind the stage isn’t enough for performers to clean up their acts. Patton Oswalt, Joan Rivers, and Amanda (Fucking) Palmer are some of the tart-tongued entertainers who’ve played host to unapologetically secular concerts, book signings, and near-bacchanals at the historic site. Even the Jewish acts encourage nose-thumbing at traditions: Storytelling showcases like “My So-Called Jewish Life” and “Identity Lab Live” routinely feature NSFS (Not Safe For Shul) language and what the motion pictures would refer to as “adult themes.”

But don’t worry: As long as the ark holding the Torahs is closed, Orthodox rabbis say anything’s kosher up there.

—Andrew Lapin

Best Venue Flouting Religious Significance, Staff Pick: Sixth & I Synagogue

washingtoncitypaper.com april 10, 2015 63

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

Best-Intentioned, Best-Programmed Loss, Staff Pick: Artisphere

Best-Intentioned, Best-programmed loss Artisphere

1101 Wilson Blvd., Arlington, (703) 875-1100, artisphere.com

Come July, D.C.’s patrons of the arts will have one less reason to cross the Potomac. Artisphere, the Arlington County-run center for visual art, music, and performance in Rosslyn—one of the best-curated venues in the region—will close its doors less than five years after its launch.

A victim of overinflated expectations, short-sighted government officials, and Rosslyn’s unequivocal dullness, Artisphere was built to be a cultural gem that would be as much a hangout space for the creative class as an arts venue. Its original business plan, which estimated an unreasonable 250,000 visitors in its first year, promised all things (many of them contradictory) to all stakeholders. It was rushed to open with no website or ticketing system on 10/10/10 for novelty’s sake, months before a communications director or executive director came on board, and fell short of its first revenue goal by 75 percent.

But despite considerable attendance growth and a revised business plan that envisioned a

more realistic way forward, Arlington County Manager Barbara Donnellan recommended in December that the arts center be shut down.

Apparently, the Rosslyn BID was waffling on its smaller share of Artisphere’s funding too, which is insane considering that, if not for Artisphere, there’d be no reason to voluntarily set foot in that glass-and-concrete wasteland save for a commute or a nice view of the Georgetown clock tower. Ultimately, Donnellan decided that Arlington’s tax dollars could be better spent on another venture.

I can’t imagine what. Artisphere’s international music slate and free exhibitions that blurred conventional boundaries between disciplines and classes of art are unmatched in the D.C. area. It is a space that puts artists first, making room for outsized, idiosyncratic visions that would have been too complicated or conceptual for most other galleries or performance halls. Want to set up a five-month installation of silkworms mating and spinning cocoons? No problem. Dream of recording an experimental pop album while the public watches from an observation deck? There’s a black box theater for that. Artisphere’s lead-

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ership was shrewd enough to retain highly accomplished artists as curators, too: Cynthia Connolly is a Dischord and d.c. space veteran whose photographs have come to define the city’s early hardcore punk era; Ryan Holladay is one half of the inventive music-tech duo formerly known as Bluebrain.

Artisphere will leave a gaping hole in the D.C. culture circuit; much of its programming simply couldn’t take place anywhere else. Last year’s “Fermata,” a tour de force the likes of which had never before been seen or heard in D.C., devoted an entire gallery and a dozen beanbag chairs to a 14-channel wall of speakers playing collections of sound art, which changed three times over the summer. Only Artisphere could have mustered the space, resources, and chutzpah to marshal a project of that degree of complexity. More times than I can count, I’ve heard a description of a multidisciplinary art show or an experimental theater performance and guessed that it was an Artisphere gig before even looking at the venue. Its curatorial point of view has been consistent, congruent, and daring.

Artisphere supported the creation of new

art and and offered insight into the creative process with an artist-in-residence studio, education programs, and a gallery dedicated to in-progress works. And it scored bigname exhibitions worthy of a world-class institution—the center brought Andy Warhol’s “Silver Clouds” to Rosslyn last year, and in 2012, it was the first and only U.S. venue to mount Frida Kahlo’s private photo collection, which attracted national media attention and record crowds.

With the closing of Artisphere and D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser’s scuttling of the Institute for Contemporary Expression—which would have taken over the historic Franklin School building—D.C. will have no kunsthalle-esque spaces, few colossal, malleable galleries waiting to be filled with artworks and methods that have never been seen before, and one less setting for top-notch, boundary-pushing performance arts. It’s a devastating loss for the D.C. arts community, and as an example of how fragile a tax-funded arts institution can be, even when its singular programming is absolutely on point, it’s a cautionary tale.

—Christina Cauterucci

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ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT Best Use of a Neighborhood in a Song Title Wale, “Friendship Heights” walemusic.com

“Friendship Heights,” Wale’s brilliant testa-

ment to unreciprocated affection, is the standout from 2014’s holiday-inspired Festivus mixtape. From the D.C. rapper’s intricate lyrics to the cinematic build-up and Chicago artist Chance the Rapper’s poignant bridges, the song is genius—and it all begins with its title, a nod to the Northwest D.C. neighborhood known for high-end shopping at the city’s edge. Playing on the concept of boundaries, “Friendship Heights” is a reference to the limits of friendship, as Wale and Chance the Rapper wax poetic about wanting more out of relationships with women who only view them as bud-

dies. Chance also makes a reference to “a town too small for lovers,” which aptly describes the District for those who have an active dating life or have just lived here for too damn long. It’s an enchanting, self-aware opus orchestrated by an artist quite familiar with the territory.

—Julian Kimble

Best Synth Weirdo Olivia Neutron-John

olivianeutron-john.bandcamp.com

Who says bedroom pop can’t be punk? A

song from Olivia Neutron-John, the solo project of Chain & the Gang’s Anna Nasty, may be built around cheap synths, distorted 808 beats, and near-indecipherable lo-fi vocals (think Casiotone for the Painfully Alone fronted by a Bad Moon Risingera Kim Gordon), but there’s a palpable grandness to it all. On last year’s excellent “Injury Train and I’m Never Getting

Off It”—a 22-minute track featuring an album’s worth of musical suites strung together—Nasty passionately screams over skronking sax and a keyboard arpeggio that sounds as if it was lifted from the Super Mario 64 soundtrack. As a piece of experimental music, it’s fascinating. But Olivia Neutron-John feels especially important when compared to bedroom pop’s otherwise safe and precious inclinations.

Nasty may just be trying to toy with a hackneyed trend, but in practice, she rejects and transcends the formula. That’s —Dean Essner as punk as it gets.

Best Realism Richard Estes at the Smithsonian American Art Museum 8th and F streets NW, (202) 633-7970, americanart.si.edu/ exhibitions/archive/2014/estes

Creating a painting based on a photo might

call to mind the amateur portraitists working in malls across the nation. But Richard Estes’ detailed depictions of urban America are so specific that they impart far more than the photos the artist used as inspiration, even when the two are compared side by side as they were at the artist’s recent American Art Museum retrospective. Estes captures Times Square and London’s Tower Bridge with such stunning precision that his skill almost overpowers the subject matter. His prowess is even more impressive when you consider that Estes is 82 and still travels to Antarctica and rural Maine to find sources of inspiration. The bits of personality he captures in each work—a slant of light on the metal exterior of a diner; architect I.M. Pei’s sly smile in a painting of the National Gallery of Art’s East Wing—take these snapshots to a level of higher art, prompting discussion among viewers passing through the galleries.

—Caroline Jones

Matt Dunn

Best Synth Weirdo, Staff Pick: Olivia Neutron-John

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ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

Best Place to Take an Adult Dance Class and Not Feel Like an Asshole, Staff Pick: Joy of Motion

Best Folk Troubadour Stranger in the Alps

strangerinthealps.bandcamp.com

It’s hard for a folk singer in 2015 to channel

the energy of the iconic troubadours without seeming overly nostalgic or emulative, but Steve Kolowich (aka Stranger in the Alps) pulls it off with aplomb. His second LP, Pattern Matching, dropped earlier this year and on it Kolowich proves he’s as interested in conjuring the mellow spirits of artists like Dave Van Ronk and Paul Simon as he is in creating atmospheric, occasionally electronic baroque-pop, which makes his music feel like a winning mix of old and new. Take opening track “Lady Mondegreen,” a song buoyed by a twangy acoustic guitar and Kolowich’s soulful voice.

“Crossword puzzle/Coffee’s getting cold,” he repeats, like an disenchanted workingman tired of the same drab routine.

The track never stops evolving, cycling through synth drum flourishes and bursts

of glitchy noise, a welcome departure from other paint-by-number folk ditties.

—Dean Essner

Best Payoff from a Delayed Debut Project Logic, Under Pressure mindoflogic.com

Ever since he signed to hip-hop’s most sto-

ried label, Def Jam Records, in 2013, expectations have been high for Logic. Before it was even released, the Gaithersburg rapper’s debut project was hailed as another pivotal victory for the local hip-hop scene, showing that rappers from the area could prove their worth on ever-larger stages.

After the album was announced, the wait began with a burst of excitement from his fans, but after more than a year without any news, its release began to feel like a distant hope. When Under Pressure finally arrived last October, one listen justified the

68 april 10, 2015 washingtoncitypaper.com

wait. The album is a deeply personal collection of music that details Logic’s chaotic childhood, which spurred a dependency on his muse, Nikki. On “Nikki,” he reveals his obsession’s identity to be nicotine. The album’s ambitious title track is a nine-minute summation of Logic’s existence, from the dysfunction of his youth to the family stress that ultimately motivated him to succeed against all odds. Woven into the music are voicemails from actual family members, an affectionate touch that adds layers to Logic’s personality. Rushing this album would’ve cheapened the precious, intimate details of his life he chose to share.

—Julian Kimble

Best Place to Take an Adult Dance Class and Not Feel Like an Asshole Joy of Motion

Multiple locations, joyofmotion.org

I talked about taking a tap class for many

years before a friend (perhaps annoyed by my many utterances of “This is the year! I swear!”) forced my hand with a gift certificate. Beyond the cost and logistical challenge of fitting an hour-long class into my schedule, I was most intimidated by the prospect of looking like an asshole. Visions of long-legged, leotard-clad women expertly learning the routines after just one demonstration spooked me every time I went to enroll. I can’t say I didn’t look foolish once I finally took an intro to tap class at Joy of Motion’s H Street NE location (my childhood nickname, cruelly, was “Grace”). But it didn’t matter. The class was populated by newbies of all ages dressed in leggings, sweatpants, and work clothes—no leotards in sight. The instructor was patient and put our routines on YouTube. The six weeks blew by, and I’m actually excited to enroll in the next course. Now to find the time.

—Sarah Anne Hughes

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Under the baton of Artistic Director Robert Shafer, The City Choir of Washington is A SOUND LIKE NO OTHER. RobeRt ShafeR, aRtiStic DiRectoR

REPORTING VIETNAM

Courtesy Steve Northup

Performances are at National Presbyterian Church, Washington, DC TICKETS: $15-$50. Senior, student, and group discounts available.

Opens May 22, 2015

Explore how journalists brought news about the Vietnam War to a divided nation.

Contributing support for “Reporting Vietnam� is provided by CBS Corporation, in memory of CBS News correspondent Bob Simon.

NEWSEUM.ORG 555 PENNSYLVANIA AVE., N.W., WASHINGTON, D.C. TripAdvisor’s 2014 Travelers’ Choice Top 10 Museums in the U.S.

washingtoncitypaper.com april 10, 2015 69

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

Best public-Access hand-dance Tv Show Breeze Country

Tuesdays at 4 p.m.; Wednesdays at 3 a.m.; Fridays at 8 p.m. on DCTV.

Best Public-Access Hand-Dance TV Show, Staff Pick: Breeze Country

70 april 10, 2015 washingtoncitypaper.com

“Hey Clyde, let’s go down to the basement,” emcee Daniel “Hollywood Breeze” Clayton announces to his DJ as he wanders with his microphone onto the middle of a small parquet floor crowded with dancing couples.

Breeze, wearing an admiral’s cap, wants DJ Clyde to wind down the tempo and spin a soulful dance ballad for the folks, most over 60 years old, hand dancing on Breeze Country, his public access cable program. At the edge of the dance floor, producer Henry Manning points a video camera.

The show is filmed every Wednesday from 9 to 10 p.m. at the Chateau nightclub on Benning Road NE, a homey lodgelike building between a church and a liquor store near I-295, close to a residential neighborhood. Since 1988, at various locations, Breeze Country has brought images of stylish old-school hand dancing, the District’s version of swing dancing, to local cable television channels.

D.C.’s take on this arm-turning, quickfooted style was developed in the 1950s but didn’t get its name until the ‘90s. Breeze, a former WOL-AM radio DJ who opened Breeze’s Metro Club (later known as Deno’s) on Bladensburg Road NE, started the program at his club. After his establishment shut down in the early 2000s, he moved the show to MJ’s Meeting Place in Capitol Heights, Md., and a few other spots before settling at the Chateau. Since 1995, Manning has filmed the dance night and made its simple typed opening and closing credits.

Though any willing dancer can pay the $8 admission fee on Wednesdays and shake and shimmy with a partner on the show, the crowd largely consists of 25 to 40 regulars, most of whom know one another well.

Breeze notes that the dancers help each other’s shut-in family members and provide assistance to families of regulars if a relative passes away. He says that dancing has exercise value, and his program encourages people to be active both in the club and at home watching on television.

But it’s safe to say these regular hoofers are not just looking for a workout. They’re skilled and graceful, negotiating turns and spins to music curated by DJs Lady Diane and Clyde: 1950s doo-wop songs by Pookie Hudson and the Spaniels, 1960s Motown tunes from Smokey Robinson, Chicago soul from Curtis Mayfield, and modern tunes by the likes of Southern soul singer T.K. Soul and Mark Ronson, whose “Uptown Funk” featuring Bruno Mars was a recent hit. The dancers are sharp dressers, too: Many of the guys wear fedoras, flat caps, or trilbies, and there’s usually at least one sharkskin suit. The women dress in bright blouses, heels, dresses, and dangly earrings. Some have earned community acclaim and are known by their nicknames. There’s Geach “the Black French Chef” who sometimes brings food, and show veteran “Dancing Tony,” who’s worked as a cameraman on the show and used to do flashy splits on the floor.

Breeze Country’s home for the past year, the Chateau, has been run by 83-year-old Seresa “Nut” Coleman since 1967. While some detractors think his joint could benefit from new carpeting (the decor has barely changed since the place opened), the Breeze Country dancers seem happy with its no-frills comfort. Many come on Fridays, too, when there are no TV cameras. The fact that the Chateau’s walls are covered with framed photos of picnics and Christmas parties makes it seem more like a large den room than a nightclub.

On the program, Breeze does mid-show commentaries on local political news and reads aloud from pen-written letters viewers send to the program. He’s unhappy that Prince George’s County has shut down some hand-dancing locales and is not thrilled with streetcar costs, but he’s pleased that a regular viewer of the show encouraged a young boy to watch it with her, leading the kid to start dressing more like the dancers on the program. Dancers make public asks for assistance for a VA hospital and shout out a local senior center. Breeze is proud that it’s more than just a dance club: “It’s a circle where everyone looks after each other.”

—Steve Kiviat

DOM LA NENA FATOUMATA DIAWARA Presented in Partnership With IDB Cultural Center

Born in Côte d’Ivoire, raised in Mali and now based in Dom laDiawara’s Nena willsongwriting perform songs from her new album Paris, combines traditional AfriSoyo, showcasing both her masterful cello playing can tunes with a unique contemporary folk sound and and powerful multilingual, delicate vocals. her melodies soar over her intricate guitar work.

Made possible through the Mid Tours “A sound that is both gentle andAtlantic haunting.”

— National Public Radio, “Weekend Edition” program of Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation.

THU 8 PM / DOME THEATER SATAPR APR164/ AT 8PM / DOME THEATRE

YOUR SUMMER BEGINS IN THE CAPITOL RIVERFRONT! Home of The Yards Park and Canal Park

THE YARDS PARK FRIDAY NIGHT CONCERT SERIES | 6:30 – 8:30 May 15 Jimi Smooth May 22 Still Surfin’ May 29 Sponsored by Tour de Fat: Lineup TBA June 5 Scott’s New Band June 12 DC JazzFest at The Yards: Soul Rebels & Sharón Clark June 19 Texas Chainsaw Horns June 26 Jah Works July 3 Almost Journey July 10 Hand Painted Swinger July 17 Wesley Spangler July 24 Justin Trawick July 31 White Ford Bronco Aug 7 Morrison Brothers Aug 14 Jeff From Accounting Aug 21 Lloyd Dobler Effect Aug 28 Special Guest TBA in August!

Sept 4 Crowded Streets Sept 11 Sara Gray

CANAL PARK OUTDOOR MOVIE SERIES THURSDAYS AT SUNDOWN June 4 June 11 June 18 June 25 July 2 July 9 July 16 July 23

Back to the Future Selma The Princess Bride Rush Hour Independence Day Bring It On LEGO Movie Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory July 30 Big Hero 6 Aug 6 Pitch Perfect Aug 13 The Goonies Aug 20 Guardians of the Galaxy Aug 27 To Kill A Mockingbird Sept 3 The Sound of Music

@CapitolRvrFront

Celebrate the first manned space flight!

The flight plan includes a cosmo-naughty “Space Pirates” burlesque show, interstellar live music, a celestial costume contest, a lunar dance party...and more!

SAT APR 11 AT 9PM / EVENT IS 21+ www.artisphere.com

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1101 Wilson Boulevard, Arlington, VA 22209 Free parking weekdays after 5pm + all day on weekends Two blocks from the Rosslyn Metro Follow us: @Artisphere Like us: ArtisphereVA washingtoncitypaper.com april 10, 2015 71

Best D.C. Label You Probably Didn’t Think Was A D.C. Label, Staff Pick: Carpark Records

Best Least Prolific D.C. Label 1432 R

1432r.com

A few years ago, the phrase “D.C. dance mu-

sic scene” was mostly used by people making sad jokes or journalists profiling U Street Music Hall. But while local dance music coverage is still undoubtedly Will Eastmanoriented, a viable alternative dance scene has emerged in D.C. It’s blaring out of P.A. speakers at Select DC shows, streaming online on national music outlets, and now, since the advent of 1432 R, pressed onto vinyl and shipped all around the globe. The label, which takes its name from the address

of the late, well-loved DIY venue Subterranean A, features several local D.C. acts and talented (but almost completely obscure) African DJs. Though 1432’s artists run transatlantic, the label is coherent as anything: Taken together, its records form a solid collection of dark, hypnotic, minimal dance music. The material is great for live sets; some records highlight hook-filled samples and others fall back on rhythmic dub foundations, but they could easily be played back to back with smooth transitions. 1432 R is a part-time label at best— its releases are infrequent and short. But if the material it puts out continues to be this good, maybe it won’t be for long.

—Maxwell Tani

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Best D.C. Label You Probably Didn’t Think Was A D.C. Label Carpark Records carparkrecords.com

Carpark Records was founded in 1999, too late to catch D.C.’s first wave of twee pop (which found a home at either Slumberland Records or Teen-Beat) or put out a Fugazi record while the band was still in its prime (thanks, Dischord). Despite its more recent arrival, the label has released some of the most important indie-rock records of the decade, including Beach House’s beautifully lush sophomore LP Devotion, Toro Y Moi’s psych-funk de-

Matt Dunn

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

but Causers of This, and Cloud Nothings’ loud, irate, Steve Albini-produced Attack On Memory. As of 2015, Carpark, which recently celebrated its 16th anniversary with a compilation and a DC9 showcase, is still a relatively small label, managed predominantly by the discerning ear of founder Todd Hyman. There’s not a lot of D.C. music on the current roster (the most local-sounding thing may be a song called “Guy Picciotto” by Toronto punk band Greys) because Hyman’s commitment to genre diversity transcends geography, with artists ranging from garage-rock juggernauts (Speedy Ortiz) to avant-garde throat singers (Lexie Mountain Boys) to glitchy beat-makers (Jake Mandell).

—Dean Essner

founded by Lorin Maazel

Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis

2015 Season

July 2 - August 2

Engage with the tragic tale of Roméo et Juliette, celebrate with the world premiere of Scalia/Ginsburg, and join us as we welcome the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis.

This season will also include performances of the beloved theatre piece, Our Town, and a tribute performance of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9.

For the full season and ticket information visit us at www.CastletonFestival.org or call 866.974.0767.

VISIT US AT CFA.GMU.EDU

Tod Ellison and Friends

BBC Concert Orchestra

MOMIX

Classic Broadway

Keith Lockhart, conductor; Charlie Albright, piano

Alchemia

SUNDAY, APRIL 12 AT 4 P.M. Sought-after music director and conductor Todd Ellison returns to the Center for the Arts bringing the classics of his world – Broadway! Joined by some of Broadway’s finest singers, Ellison and his Friends will entertain you with songs from favorite shows such as Damn Yankees, Les Misérables, West Side Story, Hello, Dolly! and much more. You’ll feel like you’re in New York City! $46, $39, $28 ff

FRIDAY, APRIL 24 AT 8 P.M.

FRIDAY, MAY 1 AT 8 P.M. SATURDAY, MAY 2 AT 8 P.M. It’s MOMIX! Known for their athletic virtuosity, outstanding innovation, inventive props, and vibrant, sometimes outrageous, costumes, MOMIX is bringing a new work: a visually arresting theatrical experience full of whimsy, beauty, and intrigue about the art of alchemy. “The mad and marvelous troupe has all of the mesmeric power of a magic show.” (Globe and Mail) $48, $41, $29

Ravel: Le Toubeau de Couperin, Ravel: Piano Concerto in G major, Walton: Crown Imperial, Vaughn Williams: Norfolk Rhapsody No. 1 in E minor, Britten: Variations and Fugue on a Theme of Purcell Under the baton of principal conductor Keith Lockhart, also the conductor of Boston Pops, BBC Concert Orchestra performs music of British and French composers and is joined by pianist Charlie Albright. “Its style is gutsy…the ensemble is solid.”

(Los Angeles Times) $60, $51, $36

ff = Family Friendly performances that are most suitable for families with younger children

TICKETS 888-945-2468 OR CFA.GMU.EDU

Located on the Fairfax campus, six miles west of Beltway exit 54 at the intersection of Braddock Road and Rt. 123. washingtoncitypaper.com april 10, 2015 73

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

Best planned Museum Museum of Science Fiction museumofsciencefiction.org

In 2013, entrepreneur Greg Viggiano announced his intention to open the Museum of Science Fiction in D.C. The museum will attract sci-fi enthusiasts, his website promises, with exhibits featuring repli-

cas, props, manuscripts, costumes, and sets from TV shows and movies. A plan for a preview museum is about a year behind the original schedule, with organizers now saying they hope it will open later this year. (The actual museum is not expected to open until 2018.) While the plan sounds really cool, none of this re-

ally matters to me. I’m just excited about the commitment the people behind the museum have already shown to the city, by partnering with the D.C. Public Library for a film series and with D.C. Public Schools for a STEM pilot program in classrooms. Indeed, its FAQ states, “the Museum of Science Fiction is commit-

Best overhyped Museum-to-Be Museum of Science Fiction museumofsciencefiction.org

Will the Museum of Science Fiction be the greatest, coolest, most technologically advanced museum ever built? Who knows. But with all this media coverage and hype, it kinda feels like it has to

be. Since its announcement in 2013, media outlets in D.C. and elsewhere have rewritten the museum’s press releases and plastered its renderings on the web on an almost monthly basis. For a museum that hasn’t yet found a space to operate in, that’s a whole lot of hype. How can we be sure we’re not headed for a Death Star-

Andrea Miller, artistic director Apr 16-17 at 8pm Lansburgh Theatre

The Brooklyn-based company makes its D.C. debut with choreography inspired by Israeli contemporary dance.

“Excellent, inventive, impressive” ~New York Times Gallim Dance is co-presented with CityDance and is made possible

by Reginald Van Lee. Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra is made possible by Herbert and Patrice Miller, with special thanks to Paxton Baker and Centric.

74 april 10, 2015 washingtoncitypaper.com

Best Planned Museum/ Overhyped Museumto-Be, Staff Pick: Museum of Science Fiction

sized disappointment? Viggiano says the museum has made some significant headway behind the scenes, but it’s still too early to discuss specifics on the record.

“It’s not a matter of if; it’s a matter of when this is going to happen,” he says.

“We’re moving forward with the architecture and the exhibit designs. When the

GALLIM DANCE JULIAN SANDS

A Celebration of Harold Pinter Directed by John Malkovich Sat, Apr 18 at 2pm & 8pm Lansburgh Theatre

Interpeted by acclaimed actor Julian Sands (A Room with a View, Leaving Las Vegas), the 2011 Edinburgh Fringe Festival sensation offers an intimate exploration into Pinter’s poems and political prose.

ted to using science fiction as a tool to inspire interest in science, engineering, technology, math, art, history, literature, philosophy, and—ultimately— imagination.” Using time machines and aliens to get kids and adults excited about STEM subjects is a noble cause in itself.

—Sarah Anne Hughes

site is concluded and the money is fully in place, we can start construction immediately.” Viggiano says the museum will unveil a “high-visibility exhibition” on the future of transportation at National Airport in August. In other words, if you’re hurting for your sci-fi fix, you’ll have to —Tim Regan wait just a little longer.

JAZZ AT LINCOLN CENTER ORCHESTRA with WYNTON MARSALIS Sun, Apr 19 at 7pm Kennedy Center Featuring a tribute to Duke Ellington and Ted Nash’s The Presidential Suite, with guest orator Malcolm-Jamal Warner

TICKETS: WashingtonPerformingArts.org • (202) 785-9727

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ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT Best One-Two Gallery Punch

The shows on view are likely to complement, not compete, and visitors would be foolish to stop in at one without walking a few yards for a peek at the other.

—Christina Cauterucci

Honfleur and Vivid Solutions

1241 Good Hope Road SE, (202) 365-8392, honfleurgallery.com; 1231 Good Hope Road SE, (202) 365-8392, vividsolutionsgallery.com

Best Way to Jam Out With Your Kid

Now that an armful of galleries have fled the

Best One-Two Gallery Punch, Staff Pick: Honfleur (Pictured) and Vivid Solutions

14th Street corridor in favor of cheaper or less rigid pastures, D.C. lacks an intuitive gallery-hopping route. If you want to make a real evening of art shows without traipsing all across town, head to Anacostia, where Honfleur Gallery and Vivid Solutions Gallery sit just a few doors apart on Good Hope Road SE. Both galleries are run by the ARCH Development Corporation and operate under the same leadership, and both are stalwart boosters of upand-comers on the local visual art scene, but each speaks its own distinct language.

Vivid Solutions specializes in photography; several of the past year’s shows explored D.C. communities, questions of social justice, and facets of the Black American experience. Honfleur mounts some of the most imaginative contemporary art coming out of the District today—a good chunk of it in non-traditional media—and hosts an annual exhibition of artists who live and work east of the Anacostia River.

Harambee at BloomBars

3222 11th St. NW, (202) 567-7713, bloombars.com

Three mornings a week, Baba Ras D becomes the Rastafarian pied piper of Columbia Heights. The dreadlocked Raffimeets-Marley muso sings and drums children’s tunes and a few classic-rock staples to a room full of toddlers and their parents. Attendees of all ages are encouraged to pull from bin full of instruments— tambourines, bongos, shakers—and join in. It doesn’t matter if you lack rhythm, don’t know the words, or sing like a jackal caught in the garbage disposal. All that matters is that you put your heart into it. Pre-gig bong hits for parents are —Nevin Martell totally optional.

Best Art Gallery With Regular Nude Performances DC Arts Center

2438 18th St. NW, (202) 462-7833, dcartscenter.org

Best Art Gallery With Regular Nude Performances, Staff Pick: DC Arts Center

76 april 10, 2015 washingtoncitypaper.com

Matt Dunn

In a city where not wearing a suit and tie can

leave you feeling naked, actual nudity is a rare sight. Even in many of D.C.’s art galleries, the nude human form is relegated to statues and paintings. That’s not the case at DC Arts Center, a 25-year-old art gallery and performance space in Adams Morgan.

DCAC welcomes all manner of performance art in whatever form it manifests, be it nude or clothed. Naked Girls Reading is a testament to that commitment: Each month, its performers disrobe on stage at the gallery’s black-box theater and read from a wide variety of short stories and books. Unlike the vibe at a burlesque show or a strip club, the point of these performances isn’t titillation. “These are people who are not putting on nudity for shock value,” says B. Stanley, DCAC’s artistic director. “It’s an integral part of their creation.” Stanley, who founded the gallery in 1989, sees DCAC as a safe space where young performers can bare it all, mentally or physically. “DCAC is a place where people are pushing their boundaries artistically,” he says. “And maybe they’re pushing the audience’s boundaries as well.”

—Tim Regan

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washingtoncitypaper.com april 10, 2015 77

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT Best Comeback, Staff Pick: Chad Clark and Beauty Pill

Best Earth Day Festival Broccoli City Festival bcfestival.com

Broccoli City’s mission is to spread the word

about living better, whether it be through increased exercise, a healthier diet, or community service. Two years ago, the group decided that the most effective way to share this message would be through the universal communicator: music. After a successful first run at the Half Street Fairgrounds in 2013, the Broccoli City Festival graduated to the Gateway D.C. Pavilion to better accommodate its growth. Last year saw performances from the likes of rising Virginia rapper GoldLink, mad-scientist producer and DJ Just Blaze, and the wonderfully obnoxious Harlem rapper Cam’ron. This year’s line-up is even better, led by headliner Erykah Badu and filled out with Kaytranada, Willow Smith, and a host of local stars like Kali Uchis and Ras Nebyu. These names sell loads of tickets for the festival, but once folks are there, they get

the fringe benefits of live art installations, yoga classes, and a 5K run, plus healthy food and information on living more sustainably.

—Julian Kimble

Best Comeback Chad Clark and Beauty Pill beautypill.com

From afar, Chad Clark seems incredibly calm.

His Twitter timeline is full of reflective musings; on the phone, he’s thoughtful and reserved. That’s probably because he thought he would die. In 2007, the Beauty Pill frontman was diagnosed with viral cardiomyopathy, an infection that caused his heart to swell. In 2008, he had surgery to reverse the condition, and he couldn’t lift anything heavy while on the mend. “I just hoped to live,” Clark says. “When younger people haven’t experienced mortality in their lives, they think it’s some kind of adventure.”

Clark channels that angst into his band’s forthcoming album, Beauty Pill Describes

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Things As They Are, most of which the band recorded in public at Artisphere’s Black Box Theatre. Though the album—Beauty Pill’s first in 11 years—tackles heavy themes, they’re layered in dense stacks of multifaceted pop. On the surface, the LP is tough to decipher, but following the releases of D’Angelo’s Black Messiah and Kendrick Lamar’s To Pimp A Butterfly, the public seems ready for complex, inscrutable, smart tunes.

“I don’t know what the future holds,” Clark says. “I am keeping my expectations contained at this point. I’m proud of the record, but I understand how these things work.”

Not a surprising sentiment for such a composed talent. We’re lucky to have him back.

—Marcus J. Moore

Best Breath of Fresh Air Deborah Rutter When art lovers think of the Kennedy Cen-

ter, skateboarding festivals are likely not the first thing that comes to mind. But under

Deborah Rutter, the Kennedy Center’s new president, “Finding a Line: Skateboarding, Music, and Media”—the 2015-16 season opener helmed by jazz musician Jason Moran that will transform the building’s plaza into a skatepark—is just one of many necessary risks she’ll need to take. While some of the decisions for the center’s upcoming season were made before the September 2014 arrival of Rutter, the first woman to hold the position, her tenure has already given the institution a much-needed shot of adrenaline. I’m most excited for the production of Kurt Weill’s Lost in the Stars, starring bass-baritone Eric Owens (who will be familiar to Kennedy Center audiences who saw Porgy and Bess in 2010), but the four artist-curated series (including Moran’s) all show a level of innovation and creativity that marked Rutter’s time at Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Enjoy the taste of Rutter’s style this season and prepare for what promises to be an excellent —Sarah Anne Hughes 2016-17 season.

washingtoncitypaper.com april 10, 2015 79

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

Best Jazz Compatriot Chris Grasso

chrisgrassomusic.com

This February’s Mid-Atlantic Jazz Festival featured a vocal competition in an American Idol-style format: Contestants sang their songs to a panel of three judges, who offered live comments and critique. The competition went well, but there was some minor confusion about the procedure. Would emcee Wes Biles come on after the performances to reintroduce the judges, or would the floor get thrown straight to the panel after the singer was done? When the second contestant, Polly Gibbons, finished, everyone onstage hesitated, unsure of how to proceed.

Then the leader of the accompanying trio, 50-year-old pianist Chris Grasso, made a judgment call. He jumped from his piano bench, grabbed the lead microphone, and said, “I think we’re going to go right into judges’ comments, OK? OK. Thank you.”

That’s Grasso in a nutshell. He’s both a consummate musician and a consummate professional—sensitive and tasteful on one hand, pragmatic and take-charge on the other. It’s made him a figure of respect and outright adoration among his colleagues in the D.C. jazz community. “Chris stands as a top pianist in D.C.,” says singer Lena Seikaly. “He’s very engaged in musical situations, leaves very little to chance. But he’s not just a great musician; he takes care of musicians— on and off the bandstand.”

It’s a remarkable position for someone who describes his own entry into the scene as “kind of a fluke.” Born and raised in Syracuse, N.Y., Grasso went to college as a classical pianist but minored in English. He came to D.C. upon graduation in 1986 to cover the Supreme Court for a trade journal, which whetted his appetite for law school; off he went to the University of California’s Boalt Hall, then returned to the District to work at a downtown law firm.

But Grasso also kept playing piano. One day, his then-partner, also a pianist, found among Grasso’s sheet music a fake book (a collection of jazz standards that gives just enough of the songs’ basic notation for the pianist to “fake it”). “He asked me all these questions about it, got me to show him the songs,” Grasso recalls. “And then a friend of ours, the trumpeter Kevin Cordt, got us all playing together, and it just developed from there. It was this random little hobby that I just got really interested in.”

Best Jazz Compatriot, Staff Pick: Chris Grasso Grasso’s partner died in 1995; his grief helped him understand that he didn’t want to practice law anymore. He began slowly shifting his livelihood into that of a full-time musician. “I went from being on the partner track to being a part-timer—it was about a five-year transition,” he says. The transition ended when he lucked his way into a steady gig at the Stage Door, a now-defunct bar in Logan Circle.

He also lucked his way into a long run of directing music in local hotel bars and lounges. (“I’ve never really been as successful at pounding the pavement—which I have done, mind you—as when things happen serendipitously and organically.”) His current partner, a police officer, helped him get a private event gig at the Washington Plaza Hotel, which led to him taking charge of music programming at the Henley Park Hotel, then the Mandarin Oriental, and finally the Madison, where he ended his residency in November. He also freelances, plays biweekly at a restaurant in Lanham, Md., and instructs the D.C.-area Vocal Workshop. It’s something of a joke among local musicians how much Grasso works.

Weekend nights at the hotels allowed him to work with a wide spectrum of D.C. musicians—instrumentalists and vocalists alike.

He enjoys working with both, and the feeling is mutual, because he knows how to vary his approach. “With a vocalist, it’s about finding a way to steer someone to make them even better than they might already be,” he says. “With instrumentalists, I want to plan, instruct, control, as little as humanly possible. The enemy of great musical experience is expectation and planning.” That philosophy serves him well in performances with his trio (which includes bassist Zack Pride and drummer Quincy Phillips) or in intimate duo settings with players like bassist Tommy Cecil or saxophonists Lyle Link and Marshall Keys.

But Grasso is especially at home among vocalists. A lifelong lover of jazz vocals, he loves to accompany them, unlike many jazz pianists. “He’s absolutely the best vocal accompanist in the city,” Seikaly says. “Chris is very sensitive with vocalists, with knowing what they need and want. He’s easy to communicate with, wordlessly. He’s constantly locking eyes with you.”

That pragmatic sense sets Grasso in a kind of paternal role for the whole jazz scene, and for singers in particular. “I have lots of situations thrown at me where I have to get things together and move quickly, and he’s always there to make me feel better about these high-pressure situations,” Seikaly says. “He’s my rock.” —Michael J. West

80 april 10, 2015 washingtoncitypaper.com

Best film festival AFI DOCS

8633 Colesville Road, Silver Spring, (301) 495-6700, afi.com/afidocs

Since D.C. is a center of politics and diplomatic relations, our film festivals tend to reflect niche interests. There are festivals representing specific countries (Germany, South Korea, Brazil), and specific issues (the environment, labor, human rights). There are a handful of independent film festivals, although their lack of major sponsorship means they can only afford to program content that’s mediocre at best and too often downright awful. With so many niche festivals jockeying for attention, it’s no surprise that the broad interests of the documentary festival AFI DOCS make it the area’s best.

Between 2012 and 2013, AFI DOCS (then known as Silverdocs) underwent an identity crisis. Discovery Communications pulled out as lead sponsor and the festival spread its screenings from Silver Spring into D.C. proper. For festivalgoers, its most significant change was one of convenience. “We still like to think the festival represents both [Silver Spring and D.C.],” says head programmer Andrea Passafiume. “We have the goal of showing every film twice, in both campuses.” AFI DOCS turned what could have been a fatal blow to its identity into an opportunity for greater access to its screenings. Now there’s no excuse for fans of nonfiction film not to catch the newest entries in the documentary form, whether they’re uncovering international corruption, profiling a feminist punk icon, or calling on viewers to push for policy change.

One key to AFI DOCS’ success is its deep engagement with viewers. Unlike other local film festivals, at AFI DOCS screenings, filmmakers and their subjects are regularly available for post-film discussions. Two years ago, after the festival screened Blackfish—a searing documentary about SeaWorld and alleged

orca abuse—director Gabriela Cowperthwaite and former whale trainer Samantha Berg hosted a lively discussion on whale captivity. Last year’s opening film was Holbrook/ Twain, a biopic about actor Hal Holbrook and his six decades of stage performances as Mark Twain; Holbrook stood outside the Newseum after the event, posing for eager fans and tourists excited to meet the man who played Deep Throat. “The opening night film should have a ‘wow’ factor, something that will resonate with our D.C. audiences in particular,” says Passafiume. This ongoing commitment affirms the best thing about D.C. crowds: We’re smart, curious, and global-minded.

Michael Lumpkin, the new director of AFI DOCS, is the former executive director of the International Documentary Association, and his definition of “international” is a liberal one. “International borders are blurring in terms of a film production’s nationality,” he says. “There are films produced in Europe that are about and take place in the United States. The field is now more global.” The most exciting nonfiction filmmaking defies myopic, niche classification, and AFI DOCS has the ability and ambition to program international films on a larger scale than most other D.C. festivals.

More than ever, American media consumers thirst for nonfiction storytelling. The wildly popular podcast Serial and HBO documentary series The Jinx lit on this trend, and Lumpkin is quick to point that they reflect an evolution of the documentary form: “I’m seeing more and more documentaries that have qualities more associated with fiction filmmaking. Walls are falling down between fiction and nonfiction.” A generation ago, documentaries were reputed to be difficult, dull, and tiresome, the sort of thing a high school class would watch when its social studies teacher brought in a substitute. Now, there are documentaries that are also comedies, dramas, thrillers, and even horror films. Audiences clamor for cinematic nonfiction while filmmakers push the form beyond simple educational value—and AFI DOCS is a thoughtful, curious curator of that new sto—Alan Zilberman rytelling landscape.

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Smithsonian American Art Museum April 24–September 7 Celebrating the artists engaged in a creative revolution Watch This! Revelations in Media Art is organized by the Smithsonian American Art Museum with generous support from Altria Group, The James F. Dicke Family Endowment, Margery and Edgar Masinter, Nion McEvoy, and the Smithsonian Council for American Art.

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washingtoncitypaper.com april 10, 2015 81

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT Best Historical Intervention Keeping the International Spy Museum From Renovating the Carnegie Library 801 K St. NW, (202) 249-3000, eventsdc.com/venues/carnegielibrary.aspx

With its lease in Penn Quarter due to expire in 2017, the International Spy Museum is in search of a new home in the D.C. area. It originally set its sights on one of the city’s most beautiful, underused structures: the Carnegie Library at Mount Vernon Square. Owned by the city and utilized as a frequent location for weddings and private parties, the library is home to the Historical Society of Washington and previously housed the City Museum of Washington, which only lasted for a year and a half between 2003 and 2005. Bringing the Spy Museum, which is incredibly popular with tourists and families, would surely reinvigorate the largely empty space, but the plans to turn the library’s below-ground galleries into museum space and build a large glass pavilion on the grounds rightly upset historic preservationists who wanted to keep the Beaux-Arts beauty the way it was. After all, the pristine and quiet space wouldn’t remain that way once the hordes descended. When no agreement could be reached, the Spy Museum abandoned its plan. The museum continues to look for a new location while the Carnegie Library will happily remain available to host your next catered function. —Caroline Jones

Best Historical Intervention, Staff Pick: the Carnegie Library

Best New Old Jazz Venue Mr. Henry’s

Best New Old Jazz Venue, Staff Pick: Mr. Henry’s

82 april 10, 2015 washingtoncitypaper.com

Matt Dunn

601 Pennsylvania Ave. SE, mrhenrysdc.com

There was much breast beating in 2007 when Mr. Henry’s, a venerable Capitol Hill restaurant and bar, stopped hosting live music in its upstairs dining room. At that time, music had been playing at Mr. Henry’s for almost 40 years; owner and namesake Henry Yaffe had gotten the ball rolling in 1968, when he hired a junior high school teacher named Roberta Flack to play piano and sing upstairs. Donny Hathaway, Flack’s Howard University classmate and frequent duet partner, also got an early break at Mr. Henry’s. In its last decade, the regular attraction at Mr. Henry’s Upstairs was trumpeter Kevin Cordt and his quartet, which held the spot every Friday night. (It was, in fact, the first jazz concert that I saw when I moved to D.C. in 2001.) The closure of its bandstand genuinely marked the passing of an era. Fortunately, the closure itself passed much more quickly. Mr. Henry’s came under new ownership and management last year, which set about renovating

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ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT Best Up-and-Coming Author, Staff Pick: Joe McGinniss Jr.

the upstairs dining room. It was completed at the end of the year, and this January, Cordt returned to his old haunt. This time, he’s playing on alternate Fridays, splitting the lineup with reggae-jazz band the Steve Smith Project. But jazz at Mr. Henry’s is no longer exclusive to Fridays under the new regime. In February, alto saxophonist Herb Scott began hosting the Capitol Hill Jazz Jam on Wednesday nights, augmenting the District’s increasingly rich jam session scene. When the Jazz Jam began gathering steam, Scott added another wrinkle: regular cutting contests, competitions among musicians of a common instrument. And March saw the kickoff of a Saturday night series for woman jazz vocalists. Jazz at Mr. Henry’s is back with a vengeance.

—Michael J. West

Best Up-andComing Author Joe McGinniss Jr. joemcginnissjr.com

Joe McGinniss Jr. came to D.C. with stereo-

typical Washington aspirations—to work in politics and policy—but ended up gravitating toward storytelling instead. For years, he’d resisted a writer’s life because he’d seen how it had “wrecked” his father, Joe McGinniss Sr., the subject of the classic journalism ethics text The Journalist and the Murderer, which explores the fraught relationships between writers and their subjects. But once he burned out on politics, Joe Jr. found release in writing. As a student of American University’s public policy program, McGinniss found himself scribbling notes for stories in the margins of his school texts. “There was nothing else I wanted to do,” he says. In blue jeans, a zip-up hoodie and sneakers, McGinniss confirms that you don’t have to move to Brooklyn and wear beanies and Warby Parkers to be a successful novelist. You can be a dad who writes between dropping off and picking up his 7-year-old son from school in Northwest

84 april 10, 2015 washingtoncitypaper.com

D.C. That’s been McGinniss’ routine since the publication of first novel, The Delivery Man, a fast, racy, sometimes violent read about a twentysomething torn between sticking around his childhood home of Las Vegas, where he’s pulled into his friend’s call-girl service, or following his too-goodto-be-true girlfriend to California. McGinniss is just putting the finishing touches on his second novel, which will be released early next year. The book follows a young couple who moves with their toddler from Boston to a suburb of Los Angeles, seeking to sweeten their lives and salvage their marriage in the process. The plan is to flip a house on the Carousel Court, from which the book takes its title, and rise a few rungs on the socioeconomic ladder. But of course, nothing goes as planned. McGinniss promises that his next book will be set in D.C. and, thankfully, will not involve politics.

—Natalie Villacorta

Best Place to Drink Espresso and Sample Dance Vinyl Bump ‘n Grind

1200 East West Highway, Silver Spring, (301) 588-8000, bumpngrind.co

Local chocolate and coffee, top-notch burritos,

and new vinyl for sale? Sounds too dope to be true, but that’s just what you get at Bump ’n Grind in downtown Silver Spring, a quaint café that just opened in December. Owned by local DJs Joe Liehr and David Fogel, who curate the annual Forward Festival at the Jefferson Memorial, Bump ’n Grind has the cozy feel of Tryst, but without the nightmarish parking situation and duels for the last seat on the couch. There just for the music?

Patrons can rent needles from the front desk and sample the café’s curated record selection before making a purchase. Bump ’n Grind hosts monthly radio shows, guest DJ sets and movie nights, too, making it perfect for a morning stop on the commute or an evening wind-down. —Marcus J. Moore

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washingtoncitypaper.com april 10, 2015 85

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

Best Checkers Club, Staff Pick: Capitol Pool Checkers Club

Best Checkers Club Capitol Pool Checkers Club 813 S St. NW, (202) 234-5328

The Stealer intercepts me as soon as I set foot in an empty-looking building on S Street NW. “When you think you’ve got it,” he warns, “I’ll steal it from you.”

He’s not as imposing as he might sound.

By day, he goes by his given name, Oliver Griffin. He’s in his early 80s, with slickedback gray hair and a mustache and soul patch to match. He moved to D.C. from Natchez, Miss., in 1957.

But when he steps inside that ragged building he’s been frequenting for 25 years, he’s as fierce as they come. Everyone addresses one another by boastful nicknames. Trash talk flies from the tables, where the intensity doesn’t let up except to restock on Miller High Life from the fridge.

The Capitol Pool Checkers Club has made its home on S Street since 1982, and as its members have aged and the surrounding Shaw neighborhood has transformed—at a once notoriously dangerous corner less than two blocks away, a sherry bar now sells $30 cups of coffee—it’s remained stubbornly the 86 april 10, 2015 washingtoncitypaper.com

same. But it probably can’t last. For one thing, the dues-paying men of the club (they’re all men) are nearly all deep into retirement. Even the one they call Boy Wonder is past 50.

“When we came in, we had about 50 members,” says Donald Cunningham, aka Pressure Man. “We have about 10 to 12 paying dues now. Most of the guys are deceased or sick or moved out of town.”

Then there’s the building the club calls home. The checkers players had a chance to buy it for $75,000 in the early 1980s but declined. A few years ago, the property, which also includes upstairs residences and vacant storefronts, hit the market for $3 million.

But for now, the club appears safe. The owner, the daughter of a previous owner who was murdered in the early ‘90s, charges the club $700 a month—below market for the neighborhood, but more than the $500 the members paid until last year. She’s assured the players that they can remain as long as both they and she can afford it. She hopes to turn the building into a community center, with financial help from the city. If she can’t, it’s probably only a matter of time before a developer makes her an offer she can’t refuse.

“Being here for more than 30 years, we’re considered a part of the community,” says Tal Roberts, the club’s president, who grew up on a farm in Alabama with no electrici-

ty and started playing checkers as a distraction from school, where he struggled with academics and the teacher would literally put a dunce cap on his head. Inside the club, checkers is a useful distraction from the outside world, with its climbing real-estate values and development pressures. The walls are plastered with news stories about checkers and tables of players’ checkers ratings. The players will explain enthusiastically why they play pool checkers—which requires players to capture an opponent’s piece whenever possible, jumping either forward or backward—as opposed to straight checkers or other variants. Or they’ll look at games in progress and predict with certainty who will win. It’s more fun than predicting the future of a dwindling club.

“Once you get on the Mason, you’re probably going to win,” says The Stealer, examining a board on which one player has placed pieces along the long diagonal known as the Mason-Dixon Line. Then he does some quick mental projections, and adds, “Except he’s gonna lose.”

He cackles at my reaction to his ability to see 10 moves ahead, then looks around at his checkers partners with whom he’s been playing for a quarter century. His expression turns serious. “Comes with prac—Aaron Wiener tice,” he says.

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9/19 CHANTE MOORE

UPCOMING SHOWS SATURDAY APRIL 11TH

THURSDAY APRIL 9TH

DAVE BARNES & MATT WERTZ

FRIDAY APRIL 10TH

SATURDAY APRIL 11TH

WITH RA THE MC, NINO SWAGG, RUSH DEM, DEVIN WHITE, STYMIE & BLACK WOODSON

LATE SHOW

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ALICE SMITH

PRODUCED BY JILL NEWMAN PRODUCTIONS

SUNDAY APRIL 12TH

FAYCEZ U KNOW MUSIC GROUP PRESENTS:

FRIDAY APRIL 17TH

A SPRING MUSIC AFFAIR FEAT. THE SOULFUL SOUNDS OF HALIMA PERU, SCOTT “LAROC” CARTER & KEENEN “KO” IVOR

DEVIN THE DUDE & BACKYARD BAND 4/19 MICHELLE BLACKWELL: 15TH ANNIVERSARY SHOW: GOGO MICKEY, CAL DA ANIMAL, THE MISFITZ + MORE! 4/20 HIGHER GROUND: MONOPHONICS & PEOPLES BLUES OF RICHMOND WITH CONGO SANCHEZ, TIME IS TIME + MORE! 4/24 JARABE DE PALO 4/25 KEITH SWEAT: ALBUM RELEASE SHOW 4/27 O-TOWN

FRIDAY APRIL 17TH

LATE SHOW

HIP HOP LIVS PRESENTS

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NEMR

THE LEBANESE “KING OF COMEDY”

MIXTAPE

MAYSA

FRIDAY APRIL 10TH

COMEDY AT THE HOWARD

JON MCLAUGHLIN

INCOGNITO WITH SPECIAL GUEST

THURSDAY APRIL 16TH

BRINDLEY BROTHERS PRESENT:

BALTSOUNDMANAGEMENT PRESENTS

LYQUIN & AWTHENTIK

4/28 4/30 5/1 5/2 5/2 5/3 5/4

GRAVITY DJ PAULO & DJ TWIN

COMEDY AT THE HOWARD: DARNELL RAWLINGS SHEILA E. ILOVEMAKONNEN, KEY & SONNY DIGITAL LEE FIELDS & THE EXPRESSIONS + TROUBLE FUNK (BIG TONY’S BIRTHDAY & FUNK PARADE CELEBRATION) OFFICIAL FUNK PARADE AFTER-PARTY & BIG TONY’S BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION WITH LEE FIELDS, TROUBLE FUNK + MORE! ERICA CAMPBELL OF MARY MARY RATA BLANCA

U

WITH THE HARLEM GOSPEL CHOIR

LATE SHOW

THE CHERRY FUND PRESENTS:

EVERY SUNDAY !

5/6 RAW DC PRESENTS SENSORY: DC’S LARGEST LOCAL ARTIST SHOWCASE 5/8 TEEDRA MOSES: ALBUM RELEASE SHOW 5/10 COMEDY AT THE HOWARD: TOMMY DAVIDSON (2 SHOWS) 5/14 TIERRA SANTA 5/15 WHITE FORD BRONCO 5/16 BRENCORE ENTERTAINMENT PRESENTS TRIBUTE TO PHYLLIS HYMAN 5/16 LATE- THE LEGACY OF CHUCK BROWN

ADMISSION GETS YOU U ALL YOU CAN EAT BUFFET + ENTRANCE TO THE SHOW!

2 SHOW EASTER SPECIAL! SUNDAY, APRIL 5, 2015 DOORS AT 10AM + 1PM

HOME MAKERS ★★

★

★★★

NATIONAL ARCHIVES MUSEUM THROUGH JANUARY 10, 2016 • LAWRENCE F. O’BRIEN GALLERY

Spirited Republic is presented in part by the National Archives Foundation through the generous support of HISTORY® and the Lawrence F. O’Brien Family.

#SpiritedRepublic

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ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT Theatres’ E Street Cinema. Now in its 12th year of operation, E Street’s eight comfortable theaters feature the right mix of indie and mainstream flicks. What the place lacks in edge it more than makes up for in convenience, quality, and selection. Most importantly, it promotes hydration with good beer and self-serve pitchers of water.

—Aaron Wiener Enough said.

Best Shy Glizzy Mixtape of the Past Year Young Jefe

www.facebook.com/ShyGlizzyOfficial

I hate to call City Paper out, but we got it

Best Breath of Fresh Air, Staff Pick: the Kennedy Center’s Deborah Rutter

Best Cinema Landmark E Street

555 11th St. NW, (202) 783-9494, landmarktheatres.com

Of all the dizzying changes ripping through D.C., few have been as dramatic as the tumult in the cinema scene. With new theaters now open or arriving soon at Union Market, in NoMa, off U Street NW, and by the Anacostia riverfront, the number of screens in the District is nearly doubling. On the art-house side, the city is losing West End Cinema but gaining a small theater in Mount Pleasant. Through it all, the city’s best cinema remains Landmark

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wrong in last year’s best local albums recap.

While Law 3 was an excellent mixtape, it felt more like a misplaced victory lap than the next step in D.C. rap. It was Young Jefe that should have gotten credit for helping propel the 22-year-old further into the national spotlight attracted by his single “Awwsome.” Jefe showcased a more grown Glizzy that was last present in the justified frustration of 2012’s breakout Fxck Rap. The last year hasn’t been the breakthrough year for D.C. rappers that it should have been. Wale spent the better part of the year recording a whole lot of Nothing, Fat Trel flashed his Rick Ross money on Instagram instead of laying down tracks, and Tabi Bonney only released one short single.

Some of the best local hip-hop releases came from a dude who reps Gaithersburg and a semi-anonymous Virginian. Law 3 was supposed to be the tape that the DMV needed to fill the void, but it falls short to the awwsome-ness of Young Jefe. Chances are, if someone’s blasting a local rapper out of her headphones on the Metro, it’s a Shy Glizzy track you’re hearing. Law 3 felt like an attempt keep hold of the crown of the best active D.C. MC, but Young Jefe made his case for good. It seems like Glizzy is just one magazine feature, one crossover, one major-label contract away from blowing up, but Young Jefe lays out the fact that he doesn’t give a fuck about fame, making that inevitability even sweeter. —Matt Ramos

Best Free Jokes Comedy at the Kennedy Center 2700 F St. NW, (202) 416-8000, kennedy-center.org

D.C.’s comedy offerings can be pretty slim

some months. While local up-and-comers have found their footing at showcases in bars like the Brixton and Wonderland Ballroom, and well-known national touring acts hit the DC Improv or big venues like the Lincoln and Warner theatres, comedians with a moderate amount of name recognition and

GW LISNER PRESENTS

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THANK YOU FOR THOSE WHO VOTED US BEST RECORDING STUDIO HOUSE STUDIO washingtoncitypaper.com april 10, 2015 89

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT big Internet followings don’t always make it to D.C. outside of occasional shows at the Black Cat. The Kennedy Center is trying to fix that by inviting those acts to perform at the Terrace Theater as part of its Millennium Stage programming. In the past year alone, Daily Show alumnus and Saturday Night Live cast member Michael Che, politically minded stand-up act Hari Kondabolu, and podcast host Nikki Glaser have performed at shows that are always free to the public. In an effort to loosen up its stiff image, the Kennedy Center started its comedy initiative with a $5 million grant from Capital One and has recruited major comics like Jay Leno and Kathy Griffin to perform big-ticket shows in the Concert Hall. While those acts might draw in Kennedy Center regulars, the free shows demonstrate to younger residents that the performing arts center on the Potomac isn’t as imposing as it looks.

—Caroline Jones

Best Random Mid-Week Hip-Hop Party Rock Creek Social Club’s Wednesdays at Heist

facebook.com/RockCreekSocialClub

Rock Creek Social Club has always been ahead

of the curve. The D.C.-based lifestyle brand was created in 2010 in response to what some considered a stagnant nightlife circuit. Eager to disrupt the scene, the club created the weekly come-as-you-are Good Life Tuesdays party at now-defunct lounge Recess. Its reign as D.C.’s most unorthodox party came to an end when it ceased in late 2012, but its essence was officially resurrected earlier this year at Dupont Circle’s Heist.

Music lovers of all stripes still gather to hear DJs like Jerome Baker III, Spinser Tracy, and DJ Money mix music from Kanye West, Migos, and Dave Nada with the Backyard Band’s greatest hits and an occasional Nirvana song. Word that Rock Creek Social Club

had reclaimed the mantle of D.C.’s best party spread in January when District native and reigning NBA MVP Kevin Durant sauntered in with his Oklahoma City Thunder teammates in tow. These pro athletes, no strangers to flashy soirees, partied with the vigor of the average patron—that’s the vibe of Wednesday nights at Heist. There’s also no cover charge, making it even more likely that Rock Creek Social Club will take over the hip-hop week one day at a time.

—Julian Kimble

Best Mainstream Venue for Seeing Underground Acts The Pinch

3548 14th St. NW, (202) 722-4440, thepinchdc.com

At some of D.C.’s live music venues, it’s tough

to get a decent spot to see the band. At oth-

ers, you’re lucky if you even get in the door before the joint’s at capacity. Not so at the Pinch. While it attracts some out-of-town acts on national tours, it’s an even better spot to see local acts before they’re able to sell out some of the city’s bigger clubs. Unlike those larger venues, the Pinch’s cover charges don’t feel like extortion, but the couches on the sides of the basement walls still offer the intimacy of a house show. Unlike shows at those other basement venues, you don’t have to go home too early, the sound always works, and you can still access the creature comfort of being able to order a proper drink.

—Matt Ramos

Best Buskers DuPont Brass dupontbrass.com

Imagine waking up at 5:30 a.m. and lugging a heavy brass instrument halfway across town to perform for total strangers. That’s what

Alex Schelldorf

Best Mainstream Venue for Seeing Underground Acts, Staff Pick: The Pinch

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R O F S K N A TH

VOTING IR FA TS AF CR & TS AR y t f cra bastards!

D.C.’S BEST ARTS FESTIVAL! SAVE THE DATE

CRAFTY BASTARDS 2015

Take Metrobus and Metrorail to the...

AfroHORN • The Bad Plus Joshua Redman • Charlie Hunter Trio with Bobby Previte and Curtis Fowlkes • COMMON • The Cookers feat. George Cables, Billy Harper, Donald Harrison, Billy Hart, Eddie Henderson, Cecil McBee & David Weiss • Esperanza Spalding Presents: Emily’s D+Evolution • Femi Kuti and The Positive Force • Gretchen Parlato/Lionel Loueke Duo • Jack DeJohnette Trio with Ravi Coltrane & Matthew Garrison • John Scofield Überjam Band • Marshall Keys • Nicholas Payton • Paquito D’Rivera • Snarky Puppy • Soul Rebels • Stanton Moore Trio • Thundercat Alison Crockett • Allyn Johnson • Antonio Parker • Braxton Cook • Bohemian Caverns Jazz Orchestra w/Oliver Lake • Charles Rahmat Woods • Brad Linde w/Elliott Hughes • Bruce Williams w/Allyn Johnson and the UDC JAZZtet • Christie Dashiell • Christylez Bacon • Edmar Castañeda • David Schulman • Elijah Balbed Jo-Go Project • Eric Byrd • Ernest Khabeer Dawkins • Fred Foss • Gary Thomas • George V. Johnson Jr. • Janelle Gill • Mark Meadows • Michael Thomas • Oxygen for the Ears (Film) • Nicole Mitchell • Nobuki Takamen • Pepe Gonzalez Afro-Cuban/Latin Jazz Ensemble • Paul Carr • Reginald Cyntje • Sam Prather’s Groove Orchestra • Siné Qua Non • Sharón Clark • Wade Beach • Warren Wolf Over 50 DC venues/partners including The Yards, Capitol Riverfront, Bohemian Caverns, Twins Jazz, The Hamilton Live, Atlas Performing Arts, Sixth & I, UDC, EAST RIVER JazzFEST Celebrating Strayhorn, CapitalBop, NYU/DC, The Phillips Collection, The Kennedy Center, Embassy of Japan and more…

Don’t Miss June 12–13 Events DC Presents:

DCJAZZFESTATTHEYARDS

SATURDAY SEPT. 26 + SUNDAY SEPT. 27 WASHINGTON, D.C.

CALLFORVENDORSCOMINGSOON. Join the email list and follow @CraftyBastards for updates

washingtioncitypaper.com/craftybastards

For tickets, artists and complete schedule, visit DCJAZZFEST.ORG Schedule subject to change.

PLATINUM, GOLD & SILVER SPONSORS

The DC Jazz Festival® is a 501(c)(3) non-profit service organization. The DC JazzFest is sponsored in part with major grants from the Government of the District of Columbia, Muriel Bowser, Mayor; and, in part, by major grants from The Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation, The Mayo Charitable Foundation, NEA Foundation, CrossCurrents Foundation, New Music USA, and with a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts and the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities, an agency supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts; and by the City Fund, administered by The Community Foundation for the National Capital Region. ©2015 DC Jazz Festival. All rights reserved.

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ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

flugelhorn and trumpet player Jared Bailey and his bandmates do each Christmas and summer season. Bailey’s a member of DuPont Brass, a nine-person brass band you’ve probably seen—or at least heard— blasting tunes outside Metro stops around the District. When the group’s members first performed at Dupont Circle for tuition money in 2011, they were playing from a Canadian brass-band book. “We started out playing a bunch of classical brass quintet arrangements,” Bailey says. Over the years, the band’s repertoire has expanded to include Beatles hits, the theme song to the kids’ show Arthur, and the Super Mario Bros. tune. And last year, DuPont Brass began producing original music of its own.

“It’s fun playing other people’s songs,” Bailey says. “But we also have some stuff —Tim Regan we’d like to say.”

Best Take One/Leave One Book Collection Petworth Citizen Reading Room

Matt Dunn

Best Cheerleader for the D.C. Indie-Rock Scene, Staff Pick: DC DIT

829 Upshur St. NW, (202) 722-2939, petworthcitizen.com

That a bar named after a local newspaper

from the early 20th century and adjoining a bookstore would house a decent reading room collection comes as no surprise. But the magic of Petworth Citizen’s offerings, which patrons are invited to contribute to and borrow from, is in its randomness.

Want exercise and diet tips? You’ll probably find some old Atkins volumes on the shelves. How about a literary classic that you never got around to reading in college? Penguin editions of Dickens and Hardy are stacked and already marked with the thoughts of a former English major. Want to visit Thailand, Texas, or Tokyo? Travel guides from a decade ago are readily available. As neighbors clear off their shelves and rely more on their ereaders of choice, the reading room benefits from their cast-offs. The next time

you stop by for a cocktail or author talk, bring a big bag. Who knows what free treasures you’ll want to take home.

—Caroline Jones

Best Cheerleader for the D.C. Indie-Rock Scene DC DIT

dc-dit.com

D.C. musicians are still doing it for themselves, but in today’s local music landscape, far more often, they’re doing it together. The punker-than-thou exclusivity of DIY is fading in favor of a more accessible, community-centered sensibility and the understanding that the District’s creative clout can’t grow off the independent efforts of a smattering of isolated bands.

At the forefront of a network of coopera-

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tion and mutual support is DC DIT, led

by Alex Tebeleff of Paperhaus and Matt Dowling of Paperhaus and the Effects.

DC DIT books and promotes shows at DIY spaces and traditional clubs like the Pinch, giving well-known and up-andcoming local bands billing alongside acts from out of town, many of whom Tebeleff and Dowling have met on tour. In addition to boosting local bands’ profiles in the D.C. and connecting them with potential allies in other cities, DC DIT has helped cohere a posi-vibes scene that roots for all its members. By making D.C. an attractive destination for DIY touring acts, too, DC DIT has fortified the District’s already vibrant house show scene. When there’s more places to play, more bands spring up, a cycle that’ll make the city an even better place to make and support art.

—Christina Cauterucci

A&E

ATA-D American Tu

S E P TE M B E R 2 0 1 4 Book Talk: Author Serpil Ural discusses her book, “Folktales of Turkey: From Agri to Zelve”

September 9

Congressional Reception at the U.S. Congress

September 12-14

Turkish Heritage Weekend at Tysons Corner Center Plaza & Movie Screenings

September 17-24

S E P TE M B E R 2 0 1S4E P TE M B E R 2 0 1 4

ATA America

Associa

Turkish Restaurant and Cuisine Week Book Talk: Author September Talk: Author Serpil Ural discussesWashing her book September 7 Serpil7 Ural discusses Book her book,

September 21

September 12-14 Turkish Heritage at Tysons Corner Cent Turkish Heritage Weekend at Tysons Corner Center PlazaWeekend & Turkish Cuisine TalesSeptember Cultural12-14 Workshop Movie Screenings Movie Screenings

September 28

September 27, 2015 • 11am - 7pm tu rk ish Sunday, Pennsylvania Avenue NW between 12th & 14th Streets “A Magical Journey to Turkey” fe st iv al www.turkishfestival.org www.turkishfestiva September 17-24 12th DC Turkish Festival

uania), GoldLink sows nostalgia on two levels: EXECUTIVE SPONSORS There are the classic hip-hop cuts that root his tracks in deep historic context, and then there are samples from Men in Black, Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes, and Britney Spears’ “Toxic,” which tap into the aesthetic consciousness of his young peers.

Now, hip-hop kingmakers are taking notice. GoldLink chilled with Def Jam founder Rick Rubin, who’s said he digs the artist’s “non-hip-hop hip-hop direction,” at Rubin’s Malibu Shangri La studio earlier this year to talk future collabs. Still, GoldLink hasn’t constrained himself to schmoozing with the usual suspects of any one scene—he’s performed at MoMA PS1, toured with electronic acts SBTRKT and Flume, and names Edgar Allan Poe, Grimes, and Pink Floyd among his influences. GoldLink rhymes with a healthy streak of braggadocio, but he’s not so cocky as to think he already knows all there is about rap artistry. He’s studied how rap royalty grew their voices and made the industry work for them, taking a scholar’s approach to success rather than gambling everything on his considerable talent.

At a U Street Music Hall show last November that had audience members packed to the walls, GoldLink ripped his shirt off and bounded back and forth across the stage like a tennis ball. The young, rapturous crowd had been yelling his name for an hour before he took the stage, and its writhing members knew every lyric and bass bump. “Bounce that ass for my kinfolk,” GoldLink sang ad infinitum on “Ay Ay,” The God Complex’s opening track. The exhortation would have read as a petty, vaguely misogynist demand on anyone else’s lips; coming from GoldLink, it sounded like a recruitment slogan from Uncle Sam, noble and patriotic. If this is our fate under future bounce, GoldLink’s got my vote.

—Christina Cauterucci

September Turkish Restaurant and17-24 Cuisine Week Turkish Restaurant and Cuisine Week

September 11/13/14/17 Turkish Screenings during DCShorts Film September 11/13/14/17 Turkish Movie Screenings during DCShorts FilmMovie Festival Pennsylvania Avenue between 12th & 14th September 21 Workshop Turkish Cuisine TalesNW Cultural Workshop September 21 Turkish Cuisine Tales Cultural September 28

ORGANIZED BY

There’s plenty of noteworthy local music making noise outside the District these days, but it’s been a minute since D.C. exported a brand new sound of its own. If area rapper GoldLink keeps up his pace of invention, D.C.’s next major contribution to the global music ecosystem will be future bounce.

A product of all three branches of the DMV, the 21-year-old whiz kid dropped his debut mixtape, The God Complex, in summer 2014. For a first release (his only previous recordings were six tracks on a SoundCloud page), it’s astoundingly mature, outré, and cohesive, the work of an artist who has both a well-articulated vision and the talents to spirit it into being. File GoldLink under hip-hop, but don’t expect him to stay there—he brings the most forward-looking, lizard-brain-satisfying sensibilities of electronic music to bear on the basics of hip-hop in an organic, highly streamlined mix.

GoldLink’s tracks have the polyrhythmic breakdowns and call-and-response of gogo; the claps and syncopation of gospel; the silky, sexy hooks of ‘90s R&B; the bass-banging, trance-inducing echoes of deep house; all doused with elements of Afro-Caribbean drumming and Top 40 pop. Producer Lakim of the L.A.-based Soulection record label (tagline: “The Sound of Tomorrow™”), who ran beats for “Fuck Being Polite” on The God Complex, coined the term “future bounce” to describe what he and GoldLink have created: a sound for a generation raised in a flattening world that’s hit with cultural stimuli from all sides.

“Imagine Montell Jordan’s ‘This is How We Do It’ on crack,” GoldLink told Complex of the future bounce genre. Along with producer copilots Louie Lastic (a polished local beatmaker) and Fingalick (a rising star from Lith-

1526 18th St. NW Washington, DC www.atadc.org

1526 18th “Folktales of Turkey: From Agri to Zelve”“Folktales of Turkey: From Agri to Zelve”

Best New homegrown Music Genre Future Bounce

Association o Washington

Washingto September 11/13/14/17 Turkish Movie Screenings during DCShorts Film Festival www.atad September 9 at the U.S. Congress Congressional Reception at the U.S. Congress September 9 Congressional Reception

Handout Photo

Best New Homegrown Music Genre, Staff Pick: GoldLink’s Future Bounce

September 7

IN PARTNERSHIP WITH

12th DC Turkish Festival

“A Magical Journey to Turkey” “A Magical Journey to Turkey” ORGANIZED BY

WASHIN

September 12th DC Turkish Festival28

ORGANIZED IN PARTNERSHIP WITH BY

GRANTED

BY WITH IN PARTNERSHIP

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EXECUTIVE SPONSORS

MEDIAEXECUTIVE SPONSORS SPONSORS

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The Catholic University of America Benjamin T. Rome School of Music presents

Gala Concert

50TH ANNIVERSARY

Sunday, April 12, 2015, 8 p.m.

The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts Concert Hall Selections from Rodeo and West Side Story and the complete Carmina Burana Tickets available at the Kennedy Center Box Office, charge by phone at 202-467-4600 or at kennedy-center.org.

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GOODS & SERVICES Best Place to Buy Yourself Something Avant-Garde, Staff Pick: Jewelers’ Werk Galerie

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Readers’ Picks GOODS & SERVICES

Best Architecture Firm

Best Bike shop

Readers Say: “Best damned architects in town. Inspired, responsive, innovative, thorough. Kendall Dorman is a brilliant thinker about space and texture.”

Readers Say: “They always provide great service and never try to upsell on services or parts I don’t need. I cannot imagine going anywhere else.”

The Bike Rack 1412 Q St. NW, (202) 3872453, thebikerackdc.com

Runners-Up: R. Michael Cross Design Group, OTJ Architects

Runners-Up: BicycleSPACE, Capitol Hill Bikes

Best Arts & crAFts supply store

Best Bookstore

Fibre Space 1219 King St., Alexandria, (703) 664-0344, fibrespace.com

Readers Say: “Best yarn shop around. Great yarn and very friendly.”

Runners-Up: The Yarn Spot, Plaza Artist Materials & Picture Framing

Best BAnk/ credit union

Industrial Bank Multiple locations, (202) 7222000, industrial-bank.com

Best BArre studio

Biker Barre 738 7th St. SE, (202) 7331009, bikerbarre.com Readers Say: “Joanna is the best instructor in this metro area and beyond!”

Runners-Up: Pure Barre, The Bar Method

Politics & Prose Bookstore 5015 Connecticut Ave. NW, (202) 364-1919, politics-prose.com

202-642-HOME

Readers Say: “We have to keep bookstores alive!”

Runners-Up: Kramerbooks & Afterwords Cafe, Capitol Hill Books

Best Bus to new york

Tripper Bus 7272 Wisconsin Ave., Bethesda, (877) 8263874, tripperbus.com

Readers Say: “Prompt and userfriendly. Love the complimentary water on hot days and the WiFi!”

Pa id Ad ve chilled rtisem en t

Runners-Up: Washington Deluxe Bus, Vamoose Bus

Best General Contractor 2015 Best Kitchen Remodeler 2015 Best Roofer 2015 Best Painter 2015 Best of Houzz 2015 BBB RATING: A+

W .K A

W

Runners-Up: City First Bank of DC, Navy Federal Credit Union

Construction and Remodeling

W

Readers Say: “Industrial Bank has the most amazing staff! Their desire to help me fulfill my financial goals seems personal. They are truly a family bank that supports individuals trying to take care of their own families.”

KARMA HOME DESIGNS

RM AH

Best cABle provider

O ME D E

Verizon (800) 837-4966, verizon.com Readers Say: “Fast and Easy!”

Runners-Up: RCN, Comcast

Best cAr deAlership service (tie)

Alexandria Toyota 3750 Jefferson Davis Highway, Alexandria, (703) 684-0700, alexandriatoyota.com Fitzgerald Auto Mall 11411 Rockville Pike, North Bethesda, (301) 8814000, fitzmall.com

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O M

Wiebenson & Dorman Architects PC 410 Florida Ave. NW, (202) 234-4200, wdarchitects.us

.C S N G I S

Best cellphone provider Best cAr-shAre service

Car2Go (877) 488-4224, dc.car2go.com Readers Say: “I use it so much, my new roommate actually thought I had a white and blue Smart car.”

Runners-Up: Zipcar, Uber

Best cArpet cleAners

Hadeed Carpet & Rug 4918 Wisconsin Ave. NW, (202) 678-1111, joehadeed.com Runners-Up: Ayoub Carpet Service, Normandy Carpet

Verizon (800) 922-0204, verizonwireless.com

Readers Say: “Works underground on the subway... Duh!” Runners-Up: AT&T, T-Mobile

Best child cAre

ASAP Sitters 2226 Banbury St., Charlottesville, (703) 209-4717, asapsitters.com Readers Say: “Always great sitters and always available. Good customer service.”

Runners-Up: Little Angels Child Care Center, Hush Hush Little Baby

Best Farmers Market, Readers’ Pick: Dupont Circle

BESt ClOthInG BOutIquE

BESt CROSSFIt Gym

Readers Say: “It’s a struggle not to buy everything each time I go into Violet. Julie is amazing.”

Readers Say: “Friendly and knowledgable staff, locker rooms with free towels, shampoo, and effective workout classes!

It also has great clientele, not a meathead haven!”

Violet Boutique 2439 18th St. NW, (202) 621-9225, violetdc.com

Runners-Up: Nubian Hueman, Current Boutique

BESt COnSIGnmEnt ShOp

Current Boutique 1809 14th St. NW, (202) 5887311, currentboutique.com Readers Say: “Gently used gems!”

Runners-Up: Secondi, Ella-Rue

BESt COntRACtOR

David Waguespack 4701 Sangamore Road, #40, Bethesda, (301) 2297852, casedesign.com

CrossFit Balance 1111 14th St. NW, (202) 9620232, crossfitbalance.com

Best Hospital, Readers’ Pick: Sibley Memorial Hospital

Runners-Up: CrossFit MPH, Second Wind CrossFit

BESt DAnCE ClASS

Eric Ruiz Zumba eruiz.zumba.com Readers Say: “By far, the most welcoming and energetic workout you will get in D.C.!

No matter your age or skill level, you will feel comfortable getting your groove on in Eric’s class!”

Runners-Up: Joy of Motion Dance Center, Sahara Dance

Runners-Up: Karma Home Designs, LLC, Traditions General Contracting

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GOODS & SERVICES Modern Mobler Vintage Furnishings, Readers’ Pick: Best Place to Buy Home Furnishings

BESt DEntISt

Dr. Daniel Cave 1112 16th St. NW, (202) 628-9450, drcave.com Runners-Up: The DC Dentist, Capitol Hill Dental Group

BESt DOCtOR

Dr. Moody Mustafa 2311 M St. NW, (202) 331-3338, drmoodymustafa.com Readers Say: “Always laid back, very artsy.

Dogs in the office lighten your mood.”

Runners-Up: One Medical Group, Metro Immediate & Primary Care

BESt DOG Walk SERVICE

Wagtime 1232 9th St. NW, (202) 7890870, wagtimedc.com

BESt DOGGIE DayCaRE

BESt ElECtRICIan

Readers Say: “Terrific people, great hours, and the dogs have fun!”

Readers Say: “Professional, reliable, friendly.”

Runners-Up: Wagtime, Your Dog’s Best Friends

Runners-Up (Tie): Stephen Palmer Electric, Inc., Superior Electrical Service

Runners-Up: Minerva Mastacaneanu, Green Revolution Skin Studio

BESt EyE DOCtOR

BESt FaRmERS maRkEt

City Dogs 1832 18th St. NW, (202) 2349247, city-dogs.com

BESt DRy ClEanER

The Press Dry Cleaning & Laundry Multiple locations, (202) 2999888, thepressdc.com Readers Say: “I love their spot on Capitol Hill. They know my name and take the absolute best care of everything I have brought in from winter coats, sweaters, my wedding dress‚ even my dog’s wool coat.”

Runners-Up: ZIPS Dry Cleaners, Georgetown Valet

Readers Say: “Always on time! Always about your pooch! Great folks.”

Runners-Up: Metro Mutts, Fairy Tails

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Wilcox Electric 7th St. SE, (202) 800-1928, wilcox-electric.com

Ali Matini 1307 Wisconsin Ave. NW, (202) 337-8310, georgetownoptician.com Readers Say: “Extremely good, caring, and courteous doctor. Great follow-up with patients.”

Runners-Up: Eye Central, Dr. Michael Berenhaus

BESt FaCIal

Joy’s Spa 2471 18th St. NW, (202) 2340909, joysspadc.com Readers Say: “Joy’s facials are the best anywhere. Great staff too!”

Dupont Circle 20th St. NW, (202) 362-8889, freshfarmmarkets.org Readers Say: “Part of my Sunday ritual whether I ‘need’ locally sourced yogurt and excellent greens or not. Great music.”

Runners-Up: Eastern Market, Takoma Park

THANKS FOR VOTING US BEST PLUMBER! Dear Spartan Customer, Without you we wouldn’t be celebrating our 51st year in business. We want to personally thank you for your continued support. Thank you for voting us as Best Plumber in “Best of DC”. There is not a day that goes by that we don’t appreciate each and every one of you for making our success possible.

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GOODS & SERVICES BESt FAShIOn BlOG

Divine Style DC (703) 863-5718, divinestyledc.com Readers Say: “Love this blog! It breaks things down for me, and I learn about the hot new trends as things are coming out, so I know what to be on the lookout for when I’m shopping!”

Runners-Up (Tie): A Lacey Perspective, Capitol Hill Style

BESt FlOwER ShOp

Lee’s Flower and Card Shop 1026 U St. NW, (202) 265-4965, leesflowerandcard.com Readers Say: “I have done business with this family for many years and have known all three generations. They are the greatest.”

Runners-Up: Little Shop of Flowers, Flowers on Fourteenth

BESt FOOD DElIVERy SERVICE

Alive Juices (202) 436-2300, alivejuices.com Runners-Up: scratchDC, Washington’s Green Grocer

BESt FOOD mARkEt

Broad Branch Market 5608 Broad Branch Road NW, (202) 249-8551, broadbranchmarket.com Readers Say: “Not just a store, a community center.”

Runners-Up: Union Market, Whole Foods Market

BESt GARDEn StORE

Ginkgo Gardens 911 11th St. SE, (202) 5435172, ginkgogardens.com Readers Say: “It always lifts my spirits to enter their garden space and pick some favorites to take home to plant! And the staff is friendly and helpful, too.”

Runners-Up: Frager’s Hardware, Johnson’s Flower & Garden Centers

BESt GREEn BuSInESS

Community Forklift 4671 Tanglewood Drive, Hyattsville, (301) 985-5180, communityforklift.com Readers Say: “It’s a treasure trove. You never know what you’ll find.”

Runners-Up: Skincando, D.C. Sustainable Energy Utility (DCSEU)

BESt GROCER

Trader Joe’s Multiple locations, traderjoes.com Readers Say: “Excellent products for reasonable value.”

Runners-Up: Whole Foods Market, Harris Teeter

Best Home Goods Store, Readers’ Pick: Home Rule

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GOODS & SERVICES BESt Gym

VIDA Fitness Multiple locations, vidafitness.com Readers Say: “Super swanky and groovy.

They have the most modern equipment, great classes, a friendly staff... They’ve got it all! Best gym I have ever joined.”

Runners-Up: Balance Gym, Crunch Fitness

BESt HaIR SalOn

Salon XYZ 1807 Florida Ave. NW, (202) 986-0707, xyzsalon.com Readers Say: “This is the perfect place to get your hair cut... It’s low-key but stylish, and everyone who works there is not only talented but nice. Plus, they care about the contributing to the community and the environment. My friends and I all refer to the owner as ‘Geneva the Hair Goddess!’”

Runners-Up: Michael Anthony Salon, Fiddleheads Salon

BESt HaIR StylISt

Manuel Solorzano 3256 Jones Ct. NW, (202) 9650484, manuelsalon.com Readers Say: “He has diamond hands and makes the impossible possible. Manuel is an outstanding hair stylist... Many thumbs up!”

Runners-Up: Geneva Fishman, Hunter Barnes

BESt HanDyman

Fred at Case Design Multiple locations, casedesign.com Runners-Up (Tie): Nationwide Handyman, Jim’s Handyman Service, LLC

BESt HaRDwaRE StORE

Frager’s Hardware 1323 E St. SE, (202) 5436157, fragersdc.com

Best Car-Share Service, Readers’ Pick: Car2Go

Readers Say: “I wish my house was as organized as their store. They have everything.”

Runners-Up: Logan Hardware, Old Takoma Ace Hardware

BESt HOmE GOODS StORE

Home Rule 1807 14th St. NW, (202) 7975544, homerule.com Readers Say: “So much awesome merchandise in such a small space.”

Runners-Up: HomeGoods, Salt & Sundry

BESt HOSpItal

Sibley Memorial Hospital 5255 Loughboro Road NW, (202) 537-4000, sibley.org Runners-Up: George Washington University Hospital, MedStar Georgetown University Hospital

BESt InDOOR CyClInG StuDIO

BESt lanDSCapInG

BESt lawyER

Readers Say: “Off Road feels like a second home. A boutique gym that offers all that you need to get super fit and have fun at the same time.”

Runners-Up: Ginkgo Gardens, Four Seasons Landscaping & Nursery

Runners-Up: Noah Peters, Paul Strauss

Off Road Indoor Cycling 905 U St. NW, (202) 6811319, offroaddc.com

Runners-Up: Zengo Cycle, Biker Barre

BESt KItCHEn REmODElER

Karma Home Designs 4036 8th St. NE, (202) 642-4663, karmahomedesigns.com Runners-Up: Case Design/Remodeling, Inc., Fajen and Brown

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Hawthorne Garden Design 2908 32nd St. NW, (202) 7445978, hawthornegarden.com BESt launDRy SERVICE

Washio (310) 773-6358, getwashio.com Runners-Up: Logan Circle Laundromat

David Benowitz 409 7th St. NW, #222, (202) 529-9374, criminallawdc.com BESt lIquOR StORE

Schneider’s of Capitol Hill 300 Massachusetts Ave. NE, (202) 543-9300, cellar.com Readers Say: “Is there another choice?”

Runners-Up: Circle Wine & Spirits, Calvert Woodley Wine & Spirits

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GOODS & SERVICES Politics & Prose Bookstore, Readers’ Pick: Best Bookstore

BESt mAkEup ARtISt

Greggory Marcus twitter.com/greggorymarcus Readers Say: “He is everything!” Plus, “He has done my makeup several times and was OMAZING! (OUTSTANDINGLY AMAZING).”

Runners-Up: Body Bronze, Erwin Gomez

BESt mAnI/pEDI

Joy’s Spa 2471 18th St. NW, (202) 2340909, joysspadc.com Readers Say: “Keeps my feet looking and feeling great! I cannot live without Joy’s.”

Runners-Up: Izzy at Thomas Shelton, Mimosa Salon

BESt mARtIAl ARtS ClASSES

Seichou Karate 807 N Royal St., Alexandria, (571) 257-5401, seichoukarate.com

traditional Japanese martial arts training regimen. “ Runners-Up: Capitol Hill Aikikai, BETA Academy

BESt mED-SpA

Pekoe Acupuncture and Wellness Center 1410 9th St. NW, #1, (202) 408-4858, pekoedc.net Runners-Up: Joy’s Spa, Logan 14 Salon Spa

BESt mEn’S GROOmInG lOunGE

The Grooming Lounge 1745 L St. NW, (202) 466-8900, groominglounge.com Readers Say: “Both D.C. and Virginia locations have excellent staff and wide service options.”

Runners-Up: Barber of Hell’s Bottom, Wise Owl Club

Readers Say: “Seichou Karate is the only dojo in metro Washington to offer a 106 april 10, 2015 washingtoncitypaper.com

BESt mOVERS

BESt pAIntER

Readers Say: “Above and beyond service! Bookstore Movers exceeded our expectations in every aspect of our move.”

Readers Say: “Neat and clean. No mess, no fuss.”

Bookstore Movers (202) 570-4697, bookstoremovers.com

Runners-Up: Town & Country Movers, My Truck Buddy

BESt ORGAnIC FOOD DElIVERED tO yOuR DOOR

Washington’s Green Grocer 8900 Edgeworth Drive, Unit K, Capitol Heights, (301) 333-3696, washingtonsgreengrocer.com Readers Say: “Always a beautiful array of yummy-ness.”

Runners-Up: Relay Foods, Hungry Harvest

Karma Home Designs 4036 8th St. NE, (202) 642-4663, karmahomedesigns.com Runners-Up (Tie): Tech Painting Co, John L Juenemann Painting and Decorating, Ltd.

BESt pAwn ShOp

Crown Pawnbrokers 1726 14th St. NW, (202) 3322522, crownpawnbrokers.com Readers Say: “Staff is always friendly, and they have a good selection of Blu-rays and PlayStation games.”

Runners-Up: Woodbridge Gold & Pawn

BESt pERSOnAl tRAInER

Delvin Tyler 1116 24th St. NW, (202) 388-4269, ufcgym.com/georgetown Readers Say: “Great motivator... tough but

Here’s to winning the vote in D.C. Thanks Washington, D.C. for voting us Best Wireless Provider in the Washington City Paper.

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4G LTE is available in 500 markets in the U.S.; coverage maps at vzw.com. See verizonwireless.com/bestnetwork for details. Š 2015 Verizon Wireless.

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washingtoncitypaper.com april 10, 2015 107

GOODS & SERVICES fun! Keeps you coming back.”

Best Food Market, Readers’ Pick: Broad Branch Market

Runners-Up: Ingrid Nelson, Fitness Together

BESt pESt COntROl

Innovative Pest Management 1412 E St. SE, (202) 2324948, ipm4u.com

BESt plACE tO Buy wInE

DCanter Wine Boutique 545 8th St. SE, (202) 8173803, dcanterwines.com Readers Say: “Great selection... lots you can’t find anywhere else.”

Readers Say: “They actually do what they say they’re going to do.”

Runners-Up (Tie): Schneider’s of Capitol Hill, Trader Joe’s

Runners-Up: Connor’s Termite & Pest Control

BESt plACE tO GEt wAxED

Joy’s Spa 2471 18th St. NW, (202) 2340909, joysspadc.com

BESt pEt SERVICES

Sit-A-Pet P.O. Box 15688, (202) 3628900, sitapet.com

Readers Say: “I fly all the way from Miami, Fla. to get my eyebrows waxed by Joy! She is the best!”

Readers Say: “I have used this service for 30 to 35 years and LOVE it. The ‘pet sitters’ are warm.”

Runners-Up: M3 Massage & Spa, Rosinda Guerriero, The Studeo

Runners-Up: Wagtime, Mindful Pet Services

BESt plACE tO GEt yOuR BIkE FIxED

BESt pEt ShOp

BicycleSPACE 700 5th St. NW, (202) 9620123, bicyclespacedc.com

Howl To The Chief 733 8th St. SE, (202) 5448710, howltothechief.com

Readers Say: “Everyone is very helpful, and the work is done in a timely manner.”

Readers Say: “Frequent buyer program, always friendly advice.”

Runners-Up: The Bike Rack, Capitol Hill Bikes

Runners-Up: Wagtime, Metro Mutts

BESt plACE tO GEt yOuR CAR SERVICED

BESt pEt SpA

Wagtime 1232 9th St. NW, (202) 7890870, wagtimedc.com Readers Say: “Wagtime, bath and nails!

Shiney and handsome... cannot say enough.”

Runners-Up: Howl To The Chief, City Dogs

BESt phOtOGRAphER

Erin Scott Photography 408 Independence Ave. SE, (301) 458-0581, erinscottphotography.com Readers Say: “Erin was so kind and wonderful to work with. I hate having my picture taken, and she made me feel at ease.

Plus I LOVE the photos! “ Runners-Up: Len Depas Photography, Erin Kelleher Photography

BESt pIlAtES StuDIO

Excel Pilates DC 3407 8th St. NE, (202) 2693020, excelpilates.com Readers Say: “Great, classically trained instructors!”

Runners-Up: Fuse Pilates, Fuel Pilates

BESt plACE tO Buy A CAR

CarMax Multiple locations, carmax.com Readers Say: “Best prices.”

Runners-Up: Koons Automotive, MINI of Alexandria

BESt plACE tO Buy BEER

Fenwick Beer and Wine 1327 Fenwick Lane, Silver Spring, (301) 650-5770, fenwickbeerandwine.com Readers Say: “Hands down the best selection of beer in the D.C. area. Free samples and a new selection almost every time I walk in.”

Runners-Up: D’Vines, Rodman’s

BESt plACE tO Buy EyEGlASSES

Georgetown Optician 1307 Wisconsin Ave. NW, (202) 337-8237, georgetownoptician.com Readers Say: “Fashion-conscious eyewear with impeccable service!”

Runners-Up: Costco, Warby Parker

BESt plACE tO Buy FuR hAnDCuFFS

Secret Pleasures Boutique 1510 U St. NW, (202) 664-1476, secretpleasuresboutique.com

Readers Say: “This is the best (and maybe only) sex shop in D.C.! <3 this place!”

Runners-Up: Le Bustiere Boutique, Lotus Blooms

BESt plACE tO Buy hOmE FuRnIShInGS

Modern Mobler Vintage Furnishings 7313 Georgia Ave. NW, (202) 882-1648, modernmobler.com Readers Say: “Love the store.”

Runners-Up: Peg Leg Vintage, Hudson & Crane

BESt plACE tO Buy JEwElRy

Legendary Beast 1520 U St. NW, (202) 7971234, legendarybeast.com

Readers Say: “Anne Fox is extremely knowledgeable about all things vintage. Her incredible customer service and ability to find you or someone else just the right piece is something special.”

Runners-Up: Gala Artisan Jewelry & Gifts, Lou Lou

BESt plACE tO Buy VInyl

Joint Custody 1530 U St. NW, (202) 6438614, jointcustodydc.com Readers Say: “Number one.”

Runners-Up: Crooked Beat Records, Som Records

Distad’s BP 823 Pennsylvania Ave. SE, (202) 543-0200, mybpstation.com Readers Say: “These guys have been my auto ‘A-Team’ for over 20 years. The best!”

Runners-Up: Lee’s Auto Services, Murray’s Auto Clinic

BESt plACE tO GEt yOuR CRACkED phOnE SCREEn FIxED

uBreakiFix Multiple locations, ubreakifix.com Readers Say: “David is the BEST GUY IN THE WORLD.” Runners-Up: CrackedMacScreen, Apple Store

BESt plAStIC SuRGEOn

Austin-Weston Center for Cosmetic Surgery 1825 Samuel Morse Drive, Reston, (703) 893-6168, austin-weston.com Readers Say: “Very professional and experienced doctors who did a great honest job! Nobody would think they did something on your face!”

Runners-Up: DAVinci Plastic Surgery, Soheila Rostami, MD, FAAO, FABCS

BESt plumBER

Spartan Plumbing, Heating and Air Conditioning 1776 I St. NW, #900, (202) 5590339, spartanman.com Runners-Up (Tie): Stevens Co. Plumbing & Heating, Michael & Son Services

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Wat Massage

thanks you for your support and voting us best of DC!

Surrender Yourself

to the beauty and healing cultures of Wat Massage, conveniently located in the heart of Washington, DC. Wat Massage offers the perfect way to rejuvenate your mind, body and spirit.

From the moment you pass though the door of Wat Massage, you are whisked away from the urban frenzy of the city life and transported into a world of tranquility.

Wat Massage specializes in sWedish, deep tissue, and trigger point therapy Massage techniques Wat Massage is a proud 5 star business on YeLp. Minerva, our esthetician, Was voted in the top three for best faciaL

1804 Vernon ST Washington, DC ÂŤ (202) 588-9393 ÂŤ www.watmassage.com washingtoncitypaper.com april 10, 2015 109

Best Real estate agent

Best Tailor, Readers’ Pick: Christopher Kim’s Menswear & Custom Tailoring

Jennifer Knoll 5454 Wisconsin Ave, Chevy Chase, (202) 441-2301, jenniferknoll.ttrsir.com/eng Runners-Up: Craig McCullough, Daniel Brewer

Best Real estate gRoup

DC Home Buzz 1405 Park Road NW, (202) 503-4013, dchomebuzz.com Readers Say: “I’ve worked with Carolina in the past, and if the rest of the agency is anything like her, they deserve best real estate group!”

Runners-Up: Valentino & Associates LLC, City Chic Real Estate

Best Ride shaRe

Runners-Up: Car2Go, Lyft

Best Running stoRe

Pacers Running Store Multiple locations, runpacers.com Readers Say: “I won’t go anywhere else for my shoes. And I love the run club and races too. Also, they have a donation bin for my old shoes.”

Runners-Up: Fleet Feet Sports, Potomac River Running Store

Best shoe RepaiR

Philip’s Shoe Repair 808 Upshur St. NW, (202) 726-5762 Readers Say: “Old world skills. No one better, anywhere.”

Runners-Up: George Shoe Repair, Inc., Old Town Shoe & Luggage Repair

Best shoe stoRe

DSW Multiple locations, dsw.com

Matt Dunn

Uber 1876 Connecticut Ave. NW, (202) 750-9626, uber.com

Best stoRage Company

Best theRapeutiC massage

Best Wedding Venue

Runners-Up: Public Storage

Readers Say: “This place is hands down the best massage in town! Staff is fantastic, recommend it highly!”

Readers Say: “Affordable... and simply beautiful.”

Best tailoR

Runners-Up: Unwind Wellness Center, Blue Heron Wellness

Town & Country Movers 7650 Rickenbacker Drive, Gaithersburg, (301) 670-4600, townandcountrymovers.com

Christopher Kim’s Menswear & Custom Tailoring 2000 M St. NW, (202) 9555467, christopherkims.com Runners-Up: Cheryl Lofton’s Salon; Modern Tailor, Stephen the Tailor (tie)

Best tattoo paRloR

Runners-Up: Comfort One Shoes; Nordstrom, Pacers Running Store (tie)

Bethesda Tattoo 8227 Woodmont Ave., Bethesda, (301) 652-0494, bethesdatattoo.com

Best spa

Readers Say: “The best I’ve had the chance to experience.”

Azure Dream Day Spa 2420 Wilson Blvd., #100, Arlington, (703) 243-4343, azuredreamspa.com Readers Say: “Great service! Every time I go to Azure Dream Day Spa I feel so good and relaxed! The place is very nice, clean, and conducive to relaxation.”

Runners-Up: Joy’s Spa, M3 Massage & Spa

Runners-Up: Fatty’s Tattoos & Piercings, Tattoo Paradise

Best tea shop

Calabash Tea & Tonic 6902 Fourth St. NW, (202) 525-5386, calabashdc.com Readers Say: “This unique place makes me feel global every time I visit! I love the generous selection of exotic teas, and the atmosphere is inviting and parlor-chic.”

Runners-Up: Teaism, Capital Teas

Wat Massage 1804 Vernon St. NW, (202) 588-9393, watmassage.com

Best thRift stoRe

Unique Thrift Store Multiple locations, imunique.com Readers Say: “Fun, fun, fun!”

Runners-Up (Tie): Georgia Avenue Thrift Store, Buffalo Exchange

Runners-Up: Carnegie Institution for Science

Best WiReless pRoVideR

Verizon (800) 922-0204, verizonwireless.com

Readers Say: “Great coverage and customer service.”

Runners-Up: AT&T, T-Mobile

Best Vet

Best yoga instRuCtoR

CityPaws Animal Hospital 1823 14th St. NW, (202) 232-7297, citypawsanimalhospital.com

Denese Cavanaugh Multiple locations, theyogafusionstudio.com

Readers Say: “I can’t say enough good things about CityPaws. The doctors and staff are incredible and always provided high levels of caring service to our dog.”

Readers Say: “Deeply knowledgeable, positive, challenging, generous of heart and spirit... Denese is a wonder.”

Runners-Up: Hayley Ann Steinbarth, Amir Tahami

Runners-Up: AtlasVet, District Veterinary Hospital

Best Vintage Clothing stoRe

Nomad Yard Collectiv 411 New York Ave. NE, (929) 3223397, nomadyardcollectiv.com Readers Say: “This place is simply magical.

By far the best vintage shop D.C. has ever experienced.”

Runners-Up: Amalgamated Clothing, Treasury

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Josephine Butler Parks Center 2437 15th St. NW, (202) 4627275, washingtonparks.net

Best yoga studio

Yoga District Multiple locations, yogadistrict.com Runners-Up: Sun & Moon Yoga Studio, Down Dog Power Yoga

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Staff Picks GOODS & SERVICES

Best Old-World Cobbler

Best Place to Get a Flat Bike Tire Fixed, Staff Pick: BicycleSPACE

Philip Calabro at Philip’s Shoe Repair 808 Upshur St. NW, (202) 726-5762

As posh new bars and restaurants flood Up-

shur Street NW, the small commercial strip in the heart of Petworth looks different every week. But one man has kept his spot on the block looking the same since 1966. Philip Calabro, owner of Philip’s Shoe Repair, polishes and re-caps the shoes of neighborhood residents with aplomb. When he returns them, they look (and smell) brand new. You won’t even get a lecture on proper leather care when you drop off a pair of boots in serious need of resuscitation or pick up a repair weeks after completion.

Just don’t show up expecting anything fancy. With the exception of a yellowed map of Italy hanging on one wall and a couple of chairs for waiting customers, the decor is sparse. Your shoes will likely be returned in a plastic grocery bag. They don’t accept credit cards. Still, it’s worth digging out your checkbook to pay for a successfully rehabbed shoe and explore nearly half a century of neighborhood history.

—Caroline Jones

Best Newsstand The Newsroom in Dupont Circle

1803 Connecticut Ave. NW, (202) 332-1489

Walk into The Newsroom on Connecticut Av-

enue NW north of Dupont Circle and you might confuse it for a deli or souvenir shop.

Yes, the staff makes sandwiches to order and sells nationalistic paraphernalia, but its real draw appears when you walk through a narrowed doorway and are met with thousands of pages of reading material. The sheer abundance of material is shocking— print is supposed to be dying, right?—but for journalism nerds or anyone with a niche interest, The Newsroom is overwhelmingly exciting. Looking for European editions of fashion magazines? How about African political magazines published in French?

Obscure business journals? It’s all there, along with your Peoples, Vanity Fairs, and Atlantics. The best part is searching for one specific title and inevitably finding three or four additional publications you’ve just got to have. After all, you’ll need lunchtime reading material to pair with the turkey sandwich that’s waiting for you up front.

—Caroline Jones

Best Place for a NonJudgmental Manicure Angelo M

615 Pennsylvania Ave. SE, (202) 543-0215

If you look at my nails currently, you would perhaps not trust me to give manicure advice. But this blurb is directed at the men and women who feel intimidated by the prospect, partially, because their nails look a mess. I wanted a manicure for a special event but hadn’t been to a salon for that purpose in several years. I picked Angelo M Nails because of the solid Yelp reviews and its location: I doubt a salon could stay open in fancy neighborhood like Capitol Hill unless it provided quality services. (“I work for Senator so-and-so! He’s gonna hear about this sloppy pedicure!”) Beyond walking out with really lovely Navy blue nails, the experience did not make me feel foolish because I wasn’t up-to-date on manicure procedures and etiquette. My manicurist helped me relax my wrists, put my fin-

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gers in the proper places, and avoid getting polish on my coat (which I initially failed to remove). She also did not begrudge me when I tried to tip her with my credit card, only to find out tips were only accepted in cash. One trip to the ATM later and I had successfully completed my experience. The event was so great that I’ve even been back since, despite having nowhere to go and no one to impress but my dog.

—Sarah Anne Hughes

Best Fake Nails Silk Wraps by Vicky’s Nails 1616 Wisconsin Ave. NW, (202) 342-0406, vickysnail.com

Dolly Parton is the undisputed OG of fake nails—she somehow plays guitar with pointy, lacquered talons, and wrote “9 to 5” by clacking her digits against a table (or so her story goes) and writing a song around the beat. It’s a daunting look, but if you’ve never had fake nails, this is a very

easy way try it out: Go to Vicky’s and ask for silk wraps, which are like fake nails with training wheels and minimal commitment.

A technician will cut small squares of delicate fabric and glue them to the surface of your natural nail, then harden everything with layers of clear liquids and mysterious powders. It takes a while: Consult the receptionist specifically but 90 minutes for the initial application wouldn’t be out of the question. The result is a set of long tips that look totally natural and don’t feel as heavy as acrylic nails. A coat of polish on these babies will easily last as long as gels. Don’t get these if you do hard work with your hands—typing is totally fine, car washing or gravedigging would not work— and if you get sick of the tune-ups you’ll need every two weeks, you can have them removed easily with minimal damage to your natural nails. Services aside, Vicky’s is a little slice of heaven—cheerful yellow interior, homey touches, ultra-friendly technicians, and an excellent range of polishes

Yet again a DC Best for Best Bus to NYC! Thank you for your votes.

The way to travel from Arlington and Bethesda direct to NYC

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GOODS & SERVICES Best Skincare Miracle, Staff Pick: Hela Spa

and colors. Their customer loyalty program is unusual for a nail salon (spend $300 and get a free manicure), and if you love this place as much as I do, it will get a workout.

—Emily Q. Hazzard

Best Short haircut Evolve

Best Eyebrow Threading

2905 M St. NW, (202) 333-9872

Unique Eyebrows in Union Station 50 Massachusetts Ave. NE, thebeautifulu.net

The best eyebrow threading in D.C. isn’t

found in a traditional storefront, but at a kiosk on the mezzanine level of Union Station. This shouldn’t be a problem unless you object to having hair ripped out of your face in the middle of bustling transit center as frazzled people with rolling suitcases whiz by. Unique Eyebrows charges $10 for the pleasure of removing just those hairs around your eyes that society has deemed superfluous, but the lower price does not equal a lower quality than other options in town. It’s quick and nearly painless, and I’ve never had a bad result. (I had half an eyebrow waxed off before my senior prom, so I’m familiar with rough eyebrow experiences.) I always feel a little bit guilty for spending my somewhat limited extra cash on threading, but the low price and, if I say so myself, handsome result takes some of —Sarah Anne Hughes the sting out.

Best Skincare Miracle Hela Spa

3209 M St. NW, (202) 333-4445, helaspadc.com

Hela Spa’s interior is lovely but unremarkable,

decorated in the style of a soothing Scandinavian spa hidden inside pristinely new medical offices. Or possibly a spaceship. The prices may strike you as a bit high, but cost will suddenly become no object when you see your esthetician swan into the treatment room. Your esthetician’s skin is so poreless and luminescent it makes Gwyneth Paltrow’s face, in comparison, look like that of a Non-Famous, or someone who wantonly eats gluten and has never done a cleanse.

You wonder if there’s dark magic at work in these offices, then you resolve to throw yourself on its altar. “Just give me that skin,” becomes your silent mantra. You settle in and the lights are lowered to a womb-like darkness. Potion after exotic-smelling potion is applied to your hopeful visage, then your skin is massaged and manipulated under the esthetician’s careful hands. More potions. More massaging. Your pores are gently extracted. Time passes in a fugue state of profound relaxation, until you walk out feeling like you’ve been to a therapy session, a massage, and maybe a quietly transcendent religious retreat. And later in the mirror you see a genuine miracle: Your face isn’t red or blotchy, as it is after more workaday facials.

Your pores are nearly invisible. Your fore-

head glows as though you eat nothing but kale when in fact your last dozen meals have been carryout. In practical terms, this was the only treatment I’ve ever done after which my spouse actually commented on my improved appearance afterward. Worth every dollar and then some. —Emily Q. Hazzard

Best Massage for Freaks, Queers, and NonConforming Bodies Freed Bodyworks

1337 Pennsylvania Ave. SE, (202) 321-9715 freedbodyworks.com

Nothing takes the relaxation out of a massage like the feeling you’re being judged. Too many people who don’t fit the norms of the mainstream spa industry—which is often marketed and tailored to white, straight, fit, vanilla, cisgender clients—don’t seek professional bodywork because of a bad experience, or fear of a bad experience, with a judgmental or uneducated practitioner. Oh, that every massage studio could be like Freed Bodyworks. Founded by genderqueer massage therapist Frances Reed, the Hill East wellness center opened in 2013 as a practice built around the needs of clients with non-conforming bodies, identities, and lifestyles. Every element of the Freed experience speaks to radical inclusion, from the blank space on the intake form for a client’s preferred gender pronoun to the fatpositive expandable massage tables. Are you

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a man who wears high heels that cause knee trouble? A woman or trans man who wears a chest binder that hinders proper breathing? A sub who can’t take off her collar before getting on the massage table? A person whose body doesn’t conform to one of two narrow gender categories? Freed’s practitioners won’t be shocked or demand explanation. (And if your repetitive motion injury comes from your nightly spanking practice, you don’t have to pretend it’s from swinging a baseball bat.) Earlier this year, following a bang-up fundraising campaign that mobilized its growing army of fans, Freed moved to a new, larger rowhouse space just a block up the street from its old spot. Its bigger digs include a room for yoga classes, wellness seminars, and massage workshops; it’s also added shamanic healing, Reiki, and psychotherapy to its menu of services. It’s telling that the majority of Freed’s clients don’t even choose the studio for its refreshingly inclusive philosophy and practices— they come because Freed’s therapists just do damn fine work. —Christina Cauterucci

Best Dentist’s Office in Which to Run into a Local Reporter Dr. Kham

1112 16th St. NW, #340, (202) 628-9450, drcave.com

What is it about Dr. Kham that makes him so popular with journalists? Maybe it’s that,

D.C. is a long hair city—extensions, blowout bars, and keratin treatments abound, and while the K Street and Capitol Hill sets are known for their fairly staid lookbook (helmet hair is alive and well in the halls of power), District locals are starting to push the sartorial boundaries.

But God help you if you’re a woman looking for a great short cut. My journey to find a good chop has been fraught with peril at every turn. There was the salon where the stylist was so afraid to give me “a boy cut,” I had to select a lock of hair, hold it up, and tell her where to start. There was the salon where no one knew how to dry my short hair, so I left with a wet head. There was the salon that wanted to charge me almost $300 for the cut—not including color. There have been tears and so many terrible (or worse: mediocre) haircuts along the way.

Then I found Evolve. It’s the D.C. home of the classic Parisian cut: stylish, but not trendy, flattering, but not self-conscious. Cuts (they do men and women) are unfussy, beautifully done, and will grow out elegantly, but Sophie is the queen of short, feminine style. And yes, there’s a girly crop for every hair type: curly, fine, coarse, processed, and beyond. To get the most of your experience, surrender to the vision of the woman with the scissors, and don’t come in asking for something just because it’s what you’ve always had. The salon itself is tiny—just three chairs—but prepare for it to feel like a second home. If you have cropped hair, that means you’re in the chair every five to six weeks like clockwork, so you’ll be happy this hidden gem smells beautiful and sends you out the door feeling like a —Emily Q. Hazzard million euros.

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GOODS & SERVICES like journalists of the modern age, he does it all himself, serving as the dentist, hygienist, and, on occasion, receptionist. Maybe we reporters, accustomed to listening more than talking, don’t really mind the one-sided conversation he carries on so well. Or maybe he’s just simply the kindest dentist around, and we’re lucky to have gotten the scoop.

Whatever it is, newsrooms are well represented in his office. This fall, nearly half of the Washington City Paper editorial staff was going to Dr. Kham. Then half of those patients decamped for the Washington Post, where they’re surely spreading the gospel.

We reporters may not have the best insurance or personal hygiene, but we’re good at —Aaron Wiener getting the word out.

Best Place to Take Your Dog When He’s Acting Kind of Weird, but It’s Probably Nothing, but Maybe It’s Something, and What If It’s the Worst?!

Dupont Veterinary Clinic 2022 P St. NW, (202) 466-2211, dupontvetclinic.com

Nervous pet owners, this place is for you. Is

your dog looking forlorn? Do you sense your cat has a death wish? Did your lizard just barf, and you can’t tell why? Get thee to Dupont Veterinary Clinic, where your neuroses will not be judged and your fears will be assuaged by any one of the very capable vets on staff. They will administer treats to your animal, who in all likelihood is probably fine, and they will look into your eyes, you who are probably fine but may need to talk to a different kind of professional, and tell you things are going to be OK. You can cradle your animal for a few minutes in the exam room. If you piddle nervously on the floor, you can say it was your pet. They’ll smile and nod. And on a practical note, they send postcard reminders for vaccinations, plus follow-up calls after shots to see how your animal is reacting. But what if the worst has happened? Your dog has consumed antifreeze, your cat has swallowed a crayon? Does he need life-saving surgery?

Will it come out the other end in a few days? Your vet will offer a range of treatment options from “Panicked First-Time Pet Owner, Please Take All My Money” to “Well, Bitsy Is Getting On In Years, Maybe It’s Her Time.” This clinic works closely with Friendship Animal Hospital if major emergency care is needed, and they do follow-up calls to check in after a procedure.

I get the sense they are also listening for a telltale twinge of panic in your voice. It’s —Emily Q. Hazzard going to be OK.

Best Bus Line, Staff Pick: U Street-Garfield

Best Bus line U Street-Garfield

Of the 325 Metrobus routes that criss-cross the D.C. area, only one line offers travelers the opportunity to visit historic Anacostia, Barracks Row, H Street NE, U Street NW, and Adams Morgan—five of the greatest sections of the District—during one $2 trip. Metro’s U Street-Garfield Line travels from the Congress Heights neighborhood east of the Anacostia River to the Duke Ellington Bridge that connects Adams Morgan and Woodley Park. My love of the 90 and 92 bus routes, which have slightly different beginning and end points, is both practical and something a bit more emotional. Not only does the 90 connect my Near Northeast home, which is a

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mile away from the nearest Metrorail station, to neighborhoods in Southeast and Northwest, but it connects the two sides of a divided city. I use it to visit friends on U Street, to have breakfast at The Diner, to tour Cedar Hill, to have brunch at Belga Cafe, to see a show at the Anacostia Arts Center, and to go to a concert at the Black Cat. It’s an easy way for people disconnected from the city’s rail system get around and for denizens of Northwest to leave their beloved quadrant for other locales. The 90 buses also connect to some of the city’s other great routes, like the X2 and 14th Street Line, giving riders access to Minnesota Avenue, downtown D.C., the Nation-

al Mall, and Columbia Heights and its northern neighbors.

It’s true that all five of the areas I highlighted above are accessible by Metrorail to varying degrees. But riding a bus, as opposed to an underground train, is an opportunity to learn about your city by seeing parts of it you wouldn’t have otherwise visited. The 90 buses will take you from Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue over the Anacostia River on one of the 11th Street Bridges, up 8th Street past the Marine Barracks to Gallaudet University, down Florida Avenue and U Street by the Reeves Center to 18th Street and Rock Creek Park. Riding the 90 bus gave me a better understanding of how these major neighborhoods are connected to one another and the city at-large. When faced with the question, usually preceded by a sigh, “How are we going to get all the way over there?” the answer is simple: Take the 90, —Sarah Anne Hughes of course.

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GOODS & SERVICES Best Bike Shop for Biking Newbies

District Hardware and the Bike Shop 1108 24th St. NW, (202) 6598686, thebikeshopdc.com

If you are saying to yourself: “A bicycle… is that the one with two wheels?” then please go to this shop. They have a range of attractive, rideable bikes for sale, including some used models with charming bells and baskets already attached. The staff is very friendly—you won’t be judged for choosing your helmet based on its color coordination with your bike—and The Bike Shop offers very fair repair rates in addition to a serviceable but not overwhelming selection of accessories and safety equipment.

They won’t replace anything they don’t have to, and they often have used parts on hand for a good price. Probably not the best for seasoned cyclists or speed demons, but for someone just starting out, it’s the best.

—Emily Q. Hazzard Dogs welcome.

Best Place to Get a Flat Bike Tire Fixed BicycleSPACE

700 5th St. NW, (202) 9620123, bicyclespacedc.com

minute eHow video, fixing a flat bike tire is a real pain. Your thumbs will hurt for an hour, and there’s a good chance you’ll overlook whatever malfunction caused the flat in the first place and end up with another cut tube. For bike shop employees, on the other hand, it’s easy. So why do so many of them make such a hassle about it? Are they not getting paid? Like dentists, many bike shop workers are openly disdainful of people who don’t show the same scruples about the thing that’s become their life’s work.

Not so at BicycleSPACE, where the staff’s unusual friendliness (for a bike shop) also applies to the simple, but arduous, task of putting on a new tube. Getting them to fix your tire will cost a few more dollars, but the saved time—and thumbs—are worth it. Even better, they won’t roll their eyes at —Will Sommer you for asking.

Best Place to Buy Old Video Games eStarland

14225 Sullyfield Circle, Chantilly, (703) 941-0165, estarland.com

You might not know or care which Call of

Duty kill simulator is popular right now, but you probably remember your first video game console with a degree of fondness.

There’s something so nostalgic about those old, gray, blocky things and, if you’re any-

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For something that can be explained in a two-

Best Place to Make Sure Your Eyebrows are On Fleek, Staff Pick: FYUBI Makeup & Brow Studios

Best place to make Sure your Eyebrows are On Fleek Fyubi Makeup & Brow Studios

1522 U St. NW, (202) 812-3580, fyubi.com

The storefront of Fyubi is a siren song. People walking by this U Street NW address will stop in their tracks and find themselves strangely drawn to the downstairs space. The lower half of the building is visually different from everything else on U Street. A large window allows pedestrians to peer into a pure white room with gold accents. A chandelier sparkles and dangles from the ceiling. The heavenly design draws people through the front door just to ask, “what is this place?”

This place is the creative manifestation of owner and beauty specialist Flaminia Garioni.

Garioni grew up in the beauty industry and previously worked in Georgetown as a makeup artist. As her reputation and roster of clients grew, she decided to start a business of her very own. Her studio specializes in makeup application, brow shaping, pedicures, and other services.

A tour of Fyubi delights the senses and

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epitomizes the concept of “approachable luxury.” Clients are ushered into a makeup room that looks like it belongs in Beverly Hills rather than the District. Just past the makeup room is a space with custom-designed pedicure chairs featuring high backs, deep seats, and individual docking stations for iPads. Bringing friends along to your appointment? They can lounge on comfy, pillow-laden couches. Fyubi imports Faby brand nail polishes straight from Italy (it’s currently the only retailer in the country carrying the highly-pigmented brand). Face masks made of natural ingredients are created in front of clients.

This type of beauty spot might appear to the untrained eye to be just another salon. But Garioni has accomplished something quite extraordinary, turning the service-driven concept of makeup-guru-on-the-go and repackaging it into a brick-and-mortar salon.

Garioni’s concept salon is timely; the beauty industry in general is undergoing a period of transformation. Instead of going to a de-

partment store to purchase products or learn about trends and techniques, customers are looking to other sources for beauty solutions: makeup artists have cult followings on YouTube, Instagram has become a viable platform for beauty professionals to make a name for themselves, and the eyebrow industry has taken off. Garioni has managed to capture the personality- and fan-based following of online beauty experts and combine it with an elegant retail service experience.

People who have been keeping tabs on the D.C. retail scene over the past few years will recognize that her store has already beaten the odds. Garioni—a female and minority business owner—has maintained a small business in an economy that still isn’t sure how to handle independent ventures. She has taken her talent for makeup application and eyebrow shaping and projected those skills into a physical space that supports her solo beauty efforts. That takes gumption, vision, and a new type of beauty industry leader. One like —Kaarin Vembar Flaminia Garioni.

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GOODS & SERVICES thing like me, you’d pay a decent sum of money to recapture those early mornings you spent mashing buttons on a rectangular controller in your family den. Luckily, there’s an outlet for that: eStarland, a veritable bazaar of childhood gaming memories. Though the company does most of its business through an online storefront, it maintains a sizeable retail storefront located in the back of a nondescript Chantilly business park. Step inside the emporium and you’ll be faced with a warehouse stacked floor to ceiling with five aisles of Atari games, Super Nintendos, and Sega Geneses of all different makes and models. Unlike the used games found in dingy record stores or at the bottom of thrift store bins, eStarland’s games are decent in quality and always playable. And in the rare event that you can’t find something to pique your interest, the store’s knowledgeable staffers can help you locate and order your game or peripheral of choice online. —Tim Regan

Books for America

1417 22nd St. NW, (202) 8352665, booksforamerica.org

Best Comic Shop Fantom Comics

2010 P St. NW, second floor, (202) 241-6498, fantomcomics.com

Fantom Comics isn’t just a comic book shop.

It’s a comic community hub where all are welcome. Esther Kim, who plays a dual role as the store’s manager and its friendly, smiling ambassador, says that’s been her mission ever since the shop moved out of Union Station and into its new Dupont Circle space last July. Though she’s not technically the store owner, it would be hard to tell otherwise. Kim is usually the one to greet each visitor as they walk through the door. Each morning, she’s one of the first employees to arrive. And at night, she’s one of the last employees to leave. To Kim, it’s a labor of love. “I’m basically building my dream comic book store,” says Kim. “I wanted to create a welcoming and safe space for anyone who’s into comic books.”

To build that sense of community, the shop regularly hosts book clubs, ladies’ nights, geeky burlesque shows, meetups for local comic book collectives Square City Comics and DC Conspiracy, artist workshops, and make-your-own comic drawing sessions.

The shop also carries zines, comics, and graphic novels from D.C. authors and small press publishers that aren’t found in major bookstores. “These are the best people I’ve ever met,” says Kim. “I want everyone that comes here to know that you’ve found your people, that you’ve found your world.”

—Tim Regan

Best Bookstore for Book Hoarders

Best Comic Shop, Staff Pick: Fantom Comics

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Best Book Store for Book Hoarders, Staff Pick: Books for America

Books for America’s website is misleading. “Is it just a used book store?” it asks. “Hardly,” is the response. “This store (or Center for Reading & Literacy as we also like to call it) is the headquarters of our nonprofit organization.” All well and good, but this is absolutely a used bookstore, and a very satisfying one at that. Now that having a massive book collection is not just socially acceptable but a very trendy form of hoarding, where do you go to stock up on spines by the gross? Here. But don’t go in looking for the latest releases: You’re better off entering with an open mind, ready to stock up on classics and surprise treasures. “My God,” you’ll find yourself saying while standing in the Civil War section. “How have I never finished Shelby Foote’s opus The Civil War: A Narrative... It’s only 3,000 pages!” Prices here are astonishingly cheap.

Expect to pay $3.75 for trade paperbacks, a few bucks more for nonfiction, and $5 or so for history; snag art books at the high-end range of $6 to $8. Leave here with as many titles as you can carry feeling both rich in knowledge and actual currency.

—Emily Q. Hazzard

Best Place to Get Free Home Furnishings Fancy condo dumpsters Want a new bookshelf? Or a large mirror?

Or an armchair? No need to make a trip to Ikea or scour Craigslist. If you have a little bit of patience, you can find all these things within a couple months in the garbage room of that fancy condo or apartment building next door. You’d be surprised what rich people throw away—from coffee tables to framed art, complete with overhead lamp attached (one of my neighbors actually found two of these). And a lot of this stuff is in great condition. The best times to check out the dumpsters or trash rooms are at the beginning or end of the month and at the beginning and end of summer, when more people are likely to be moving in and out and dumping all their unwanted possessions.

And don’t think of it as scavenging through garbage—think of it as rescuing items from the landfill. (Most of the time, these items aren’t even in the dumpsters, but on the ground next to them.) Just make sure you’re not obviously trespassing in the process. If you’re looking at anything wooden, check for signs of an infestation: Even rich people can have bed bugs. —Elena Goukassian

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GOODS & SERVICES

Best D.C. Store your mom is Going to Ask you About

Best Home Decor Store, Staff Pick: GoodWood

Bluemercury

Multiple locations, bluemercury.com

Best Way to Make Your Home Feel Like You Live in Europe European Country Living

1006 King St., Alexandria, (703) 7784172, europeancountryliving.com

You may never get to move to the south of France, but your dining room can at least resemble that dreamy version of your life.

European Country Living is a dynamic furniture and home goods store located on King Street in Old Town Alexandria. Expert buyers travel throughout Europe and select antique, vintage, and handcrafted items to fill the store. Shoppers can pick up something small and luxurious like a box full of fragrant potpourri) or an invest-

ment piece like a hutch. Selections change frequently, so it’s good to pop in every now and then and meander through the showroom. You will leave with inspiration to turn your home into a mini villa.

—Kaarin Vembar

Best Home Decor Store GoodWood

1428 U St. NW, (202) 9863640, goodwooddc.com

If you’re lucky enough to own an apartment— or at least have rented one you don’t already want to move out of—ditch your Ikea and Target furniture and make this shop your first stop in town. GoodWood offers a wellcurated selection of beautiful, solid vin-

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tage pieces for surprisingly fair prices. The furniture tends toward a darker palette— think stained woods and leathers paired with jewel-toned rugs—and the pieces often have a lived-in, rustic feel. The expert staging helps you imagine these one-of-akind pieces finding a home in your home.

In addition to furniture, it’s got a range of smaller decor items: vintage artwork, lamps and rugs, pillows, serveware, and beyond.

It’s often less expensive than some other, more picked-over furniture stores in the U Street NW area, and if you can’t find a piece of furniture you like (or your studio is already crammed to the rafters), there’s plenty else to catch your eye. GoodWood describes itself as an “American mercantile and dry goods store,” a phrase that calls

To all the haters who say D.C.’s fashion and beauty scene is non-existent: pipe down. Local beauty company Bluemercury effectively dropped the mic this February when they announced their acquisition by Macy’s for $210 million.

Bluemercury’s shopping experience is similar to Sephora’s. Different makeup and skincare brands are housed in the same retail space and customers are invited to experiment with products. But Bluemercury feels more sophisticated than their major competitor.

Make no mistake—Bluemercury isn’t a new kid on the block. They’ve been around since the late ’90s and expanded from an online-only venture to brick and mortar locations in 18 states. The Macy’s deal means Bluemercury now has access to even better ecommerce resources.

But as it continues to grow, will the beauty chain lose sight of the things that made it special in the first place? Part of the company’s appeal for D.C. customers is it allows handson access to high-quality beauty brands and products (think Chanel and Bobbi Brown) without the hassle of a visit to a makeup counter in a suburban mall (of which there are plenty in the region). Bluemercury sales associates are known for their product knowledge, makeup application skills, and customer service. It remains to be seen whether the Macy’s takeover will make for a watereddown Bluemercury shopping experience.

All this change on the business side of the company means your mom might soon be shopping at a Bluemercury store in your hometown rather than stocking up when she comes to visit. You’ll still be able to claim insider bragging rights (“I knew about that years ago!”) when your friends start to rave about Bluemercury’s excellent hard-to-find brands, including CANE + AUSTIN, Ren, and others. And the company’s headquarters will remain in D.C., which means #ThisTown is now officially a beauty capital.

—Kaarin Vembar

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GOODS & SERVICES

to mind hard tack and lard by the pound, but the goods on offer are decidedly decorative. I’m always hard-pressed to leave without a candle, unique piece of jewelry, or dress catching my eye. New items arrive on Thursdays, and their delivery service is —Emily Q. Hazzard excellent.

fit a wide variety of home interior styles.

Now your lighting choices can go beyond utilitarian and become an extension of your home’s style. And what better way to get your apartment on a new wavelength?

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Best Place to Go Shoe Shopping but Leave Empty-Handed

Best Place to Get a Housewarming Gift American Holiday

DSW Georgetown

1319 Wisconsin Ave. NW, (202) 684-2790, iloveah.com

3222 M St. NW, (202) 971-7000, dsw.com

Your best friend had a baby, your cousin

moved into a new condo, and it’s your boss’ birthday next Friday. Basically, you are in gift-giving freak-out mode. Fear not, friend, because American Holiday is here to help.

This Georgetown store will solve your gift conundrums, but that’s not even the best part. Prices are actually—wait for it—affordable. Not in the “oh, this blanket is only $450” kind of way a certain Goop editor will try to pass off as reasonable, but in the realm of “wait, these salt and pepper shakers are $12?” or “these adorable Jack Russell Terrier bookends are less than $40!” The shop recently relaunched—freshly painted and redecorated—with some higher price points.

Merchandise now includes more furniture, but items are well-selected and unique. A drafting table that can be utilized as a dining table sports a $1,195 price tag. It’s such a fantastic and clever piece you might just hand over a chunk of this month’s rent to —Kaarin Vembar bring it home.

Best Place to Buy a Gift Tabletop

1608 20th St. NW, (202) 3877117, tabletopdc.com

Best Place to Get Fantastic Lighting for Your Apartment, Staff Pick: Urban Essentials

ket for a unique kid’s gift, some interesting barware, some affordable and unusual jewelry items, or an unexpected throw pillow. Better yet, just stride about this store, imagining how beautiful your home could look—like a family of stylists and architects from Oslo lives there—if only you shopped here more often. Now that the weather is warm, gift someone a cotton farmer’s market tote in a festive print, or, if you’re feeling generous, splurge on a picnic basket and include a few cocktail recipes so the recipient can throw impromptu (and illegal!) park parties. If you’re in the market for a gift for yourself (or have a baby on the way), Tabletop offers registry services.

Toward the back of the store, there’s a big enough selection of serveware and china to outfit a new home and fill out an enviable —Emily Q. Hazzard wedding registry.

This is the place to go if you’re in the mar-

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Best Place to Get Fantastic Lighting for Your Apartment Urban Essentials

1401 14th St. NW, (202) 2990640, urban-essentials.com

Have you ever been to a friend’s place for the first time but felt as though you had in fact been there before? You (probably) aren’t experiencing a glitch in the matrix: Our interiors are all starting to look alike because everyone within a 20-mile radius is buying the same furniture from the same big box retailers. Now’s the time to call on Urban Essentials. This independent furniture store in Logan Circle has a smattering of sophisticated-but-useful offerings like comfy chairs, wall art, and outdoor dining sets, but this store really shines (pun intended) with its lighting selection. Modern chandeliers, sconces, floor arc lamps, and table lamps are contemporary in design but still

To get here, enter an empty-looking storefront and take the downstairs escalator, following signs to the Georgetown Department of Motor Vehicles. A practically hidden entrance usually precedes a practically hidden shopping gem, but this DSW is practically the opposite: Never in your life can you look at so many shoes and see so little inspiration. Brace yourself for row upon row of sensible heel heights in black and brown. Evening footwear? Gold. Handbags? Square. It’s as if a corporate office got together to brainstorm this inventory and decided D.C. lacks appetite for anything but cubicle garb. It’s devastatingly boring—you’d have a better time at the DMV. Leave the way you came in and cleanse your palette with something borderline insane at John Fluevog, Dr. Martens, or Buffalo Ex—Emily Q. Hazzard change.

Best Place to Buy Yourself Something Avant-Garde Jewelers’ Werk Galerie

3319 Cady’s Alley NW, (202) 3373319, jewelerswerk.com

It’s not fair to call this small, airy space a shop, but it’s not a just an art gallery, either.

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GOODS & SERVICES Best Place to Shop for Rockstar Edge, Staff Pick: Rosies & Rockers Boutique

Caption T/K

Best place to Shop for Rockstar Edge Rosies & Rockers Boutique 2001 13th St. NW, (202) 3287625, rosiesandrockers.com

In a city that has earned a reputation for genuflecting at the altar of Brooks Brothers, Rosies & Rockers—specializing in rockabilly- and pinup-style clothing—is a sartorial breath of fresh air. Founders Ally Crane and Mateen Khan recognized a gap in the D.C. apparel scene and created their retail space in response.

The store is located directly across the street from the U Street Metro station—perfect positioning for a brand that is actively participating in the alternative music scene.

Black Cat, 9:30 Club, DC9, U Street Music 128 april 10, 2015 washingtoncitypaper.com

Hall, and Velvet Lounge are all a stone’s throw away from Rosies & Rockers’ front door.

Music and art are at the center of the store’s mission, which strives to go beyond just selling clothes. Crane and Khan are using the shop to cultivate a community that encourages upand-coming artists. The boutique frequently host events and provides a physical space where people can showcase their talents. An upcoming open-mic night offers up the boutique as a performance space for budding poets, dancers, and musicians. A yogi recently offered a free DOOMASANA class—that’s yoga practiced with metal music playing in the background, for the uninitiated. Exper-

imental DJs and a rap group have performed sets in the store. Last year they hosted a show featuring the Chocolate City Burlesque and Cabaret. This place is all about subcultures and alternative art forms.

Rosies & Rockers participated in Crystal Couture—a fashion event showcasing local retailers and designers—with a particularly memorable runway show. Models ambled down the catwalk wearing the store’s rockinflected apparel with neon handcuffs. It was a look not typically embraced by the straightlaced D.C. retail scene but it lived up to the Rosies & Rockers brand—edgy, creative, and completely unorthodox. —Kaarin Vembar

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GOODS & SERVICES Best Place to Buy Yourself Something Avant-garde, Staff Pick: Jewelers’ Werk Galerie

Inside, you’ll find jewelry you can purchase, but it “isn’t fashion-based, it’s art-based,” says owner Ellen Reiben. If you come here looking for a diamond solitaire for your betrothed, you’re in the wrong place. All of these ambiguities start to make sense once you step inside and check out some of the incredible pieces on display. The space is dominated by stack upon stack of white drawers that open to reveal one-of-a-kind wearable artworks—some of it incredibly strange, all of it compelling—by international artists. While you might come across necklaces or bracelets made with more traditional materials—gold or silver or precious stones—you’re more likely to find wearable artworks made of paper, fabric, metals of every hue and texture, or textiles. Prices range from $50 to $15,000, but you’ll find the biggest selection in the $100 to $500 range. Reiben was a jeweler before starting the gallery-shop in 1984, and her expertise and eye shows in the selection.

She says she hasn’t recently counted how many artists are on display, but around 75 is a fair guess, and the space features a new exhibition every month except December and January. If you somehow manage to leave with nothing dangling from your ears, at least the space between them will feel en—Emily Q. Hazzard riched.

Best Store to Help with Your Couch to 5K Program, Staff Pick: Fleet Feet Sports

You will find people who are knowledgeable, encouraging, and will tell stories about their personal fitness experiences. Because it helps when a totally ripped sales associate says, “When I started out I had a hard time running one block.” That type of testimonial is nothing short of inspiring.

—Kaarin Vembar

Best Personal Trainer if You’re a D.C. Politico Justin Faust

Best Store to Help With Your Couch to 5K Program Fleet Feet Sports

1841 Columbia Road NW, (202) 387-3888, fleetfeetdc.com

It’s okay that you ate nothing but carbs this

winter. It snowed, it was freaking cold, and House Of Cards season 3 came out. All is understood and excused. However, it just might be time to pull yourself off that sofa, brush off the Dorito dust, and make a plan

130 april 10, 2015 washingtoncitypaper.com

to get that body moving. Don’t know where to begin? Start with the staff at Fleet Feet.

You don’t have to have previous running experience to get the help or product(s) you need. Employees are driven and dedicated to their respective sports, but absolutely welcome newbies. (Sample dialogue that is acceptable includes phrases and halfmumbled questions like, “I need the shoes.

To put on the feet? For the run?” They will actually treat that garbled nonsense as a legitimate request—don’t ask how I know.)

In an Adams Morgan alley, there’s a door to a gym that’s different from the countless others in the District. Justin Faust owns it and runs a tight ship there—Mayor Muriel Bowser trusted Faust to keep her in campaign shape. He’s a former Howard University football player who started off as a personal trainer while finishing up a masters degree in Mass Communications.

He says he originally thought it would be a good way to earn money while staying in shape, but it wasn’t until he completed an internship as a sports broadcaster at the local NBC affiliate that he realized that his hobby was more fulfilling than his end goal, and he decided to make sculpting bodies his full-time passion. He says his clients regularly boast weight losses of 30 to 80 pounds in less than a year. Justin takes his job seriously, and even though I like engaging anyone I meet in a conversation about

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GOODS & SERVICES D.C. politics, he moved from the subject like a running back avoiding a tackle. I’m sure his clients appreciate his silence, making him the best secret keeper in all of D.C. An even better-kept secret is the address of the gym: Faust asked that we not publish it to preserve its exclusivity. —Matt Ramos

Best Independent Grocery Store, Staff Pick: Smucker Farms of Lancaster Co.

Best Reason to Take Your Shoes Off Flight Trampoline Park

7200 Fullerton Road, Springfield, (703) 260-7705, flighttrampolinepark.com

Trampolines, like boats, are things that you want your friends to have but you really don’t want to own yourself. But why wish that hassle on anyone? Instead, go to Flight Trampoline Park in Springfield, one of a growing number of trampoline facilities in the booming adult regression space. It’s mostly aimed at kids—there’s even a discount for homeschoolers—but adults are the ones who can really take advantage of a trampoline’s bounce, thanks to their weight. Inside Flight, floors and some walls have been trampolined, so jumpers can play high-altitude dodgeball and pull tricks. A basketball hoop offers a chance to relive all of your Spike TV SlamBall dreams.

For late-night trampoliners, there’s “Club Flight,” the awkwardly named event where the bouncy surfaces are lit up with overhead lights. It’s all of the fun of a trampoline, with none of the dead grass.

—Will Sommer

Best Free Yoga Union Market

1309 5th St. NE, (301) 6527400, unionmarketdc.com

Union Market is a haven for well-to-do residents and visitors looking to purchase organic celery, grass-fed beef, and $40 olive oil. That’s my gentle way of saying it can be a prohibitively expensive place to shop. But Union Market should get credit for its free programing, from the summer and fall outdoor movie series to its weekly yoga class.

The latter, led by Nya Alemayhu, takes place Sundays at the market’s Dock 5, a uniquely industrial setting for a yoga class. There’s a $5 suggested donation, which is half what a class costs at the ubiquitous Yoga District, but there’s no pressure to donate or judgment if you don’t. It’s a great way to share a restorative experience with your neighbors before you head inside to spend too much money on a brunch cocktail.

—Sarah Anne Hughes

Best Merchandising Decorium

116 King St., Alexandria, (703) 7394662, decoriumhome.com

Merchandising is the art of placing products in a store in an aesthetically pleasing way.

Decorium in Old Town Alexandria takes this concept to the next level by creating entire internal worlds in their retail space.

Customers walk through a wonderland of rooms and fanciful vignettes: Greenery and chandeliers are sprouting from the ceiling. Patterned rugs are underfoot. A large, stained-glass piece completes a living room display in the front window. Decorium is all about unique home goods. Some are statement pieces (think blue chandeliers and chairs worthy of an Alice in Wonderland tea

132 april 10, 2015 washingtoncitypaper.com

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GOODS & SERVICES party), but they also sell gifts at an affordable price point. The displays round out a lovely in-store experience that transports clientele from King Street into a fairyland —Kaarin Vembar of its own creation.

Best Up-and-Coming Arts Neighborhood The Arts Walk at Monroe Street Market

If you haven’t visited Edgewood and Brookland lately, you’re missing out: This Northeast corner of D.C. is quickly changing into a destination for lovers of good food and art. Monroe Street Market is a clever mix of apartments, restaurants, and 27 artists’ studios (otherwise known as the Arts Walk) right next to the Brookland-CUA Metro stop. It’s worth a stroll through this neighborhood to get a feel for this new arts scene that includes photography, painting, leather work, and printmaking. It also has a burgeoning retail corridor: Local artisans sell their wares alongside a newly opened bookstore for nearby Catholic University students. Quick tip: Keep an eye out for weekend farmers market announcements this summer.

—Kaarin Vembar

Best Up-and-Coming Arts Neighborhood, Staff Pick: The Arts Walk at Monroe Street Market

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GOODS & SERVICES Best Place for Lumberjack Chic, Staff Pick: Federal

Best Free Class at D.C. Public Library 3-D Printing

901 G St. NW, (202) 727-0321, dclibrary.org/mlk

The many free classes offered by the D.C. Public Library have varied purposes. The computer classes, for example, allow adults to learn basic technology skills so they can successfully compete for jobs. Different branches offer Ta’i Chi, HTML, yoga, American Sign Language, Zumba, and audio storytelling, allowing D.C. residents to improve both academically and physically gratis. But for me, there are no cooler classes than the ones where you get to use the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library’s 3-D printer. During the jewelry printing class, you not only learn how to use 3-D design tool TinkerCAD to make a bracelet, but you can send your design to the library’s Digital Commons to be brought into existence for a small cost. After you have the skill, you can send your own (tasteful, legal) designs to the 3-D printer. Or you can wait for one of the library’s forgotten items giveaway days to pick up an item and claim it as your own creation.

—Sarah Anne Hughes

Best Independent Grocery Store Smucker Farms of Lancaster Co. 2118 14th St. NW, (202) 9867332, smuckerfarmsdc.com

Smucker Farms is serious about fresh mer-

chandise. This farm-to-table hotspot delivers produce and artisan edibles from Southcentral Pennsylvania. (Think grass-fed beef, root vegetables, and creamy cheeses.) Part of the store’s charm is its ability to solve culinary problems. Need that one ingredient for your Tuesday night dinner? Chances are, it’s in stock. Making a special meal for a new paramour? Grab a bottle of Maryland wine, homemade noodles, sauce, and something sweet from Capital Candy Jar. Need a healthy snack on a Saturday afternoon?

Check out the crates of Gala apples.

In addition, a trip to this neighborhood grocery store will reveal food you never knew was produced nearby. Did you know Room 11 makes small, individual desserts? That a hot sauce is produced in Herndon? That small batches of dog biscuits are made at Union Market? Or that ‘CHUPS makes fruit ketchup here D.C.? The highlight of their offerings, though, can be found in their Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program.

Buy in, and you’ll be treated to a box of seasonal vegetables and goodies from an association of regional farmers.

—Kaarin Vembar

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THE ITALIAN CULTURAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON DC

Thank you to our loyal customers for voting us

is a non-profit organization that promotes Italian language and culture, through monthly events, scholarship awards, and through its Italian Language Program, established in 1974.

We offer both daytime and evening language classes for adults and children of all levels and ages. In addition, we offer courses focused on History, Cinema, Opera, Travel, Cooking, Food-wine pairing, Art Classes (drawing still life) and Latin for 5th-8th graders and High School students + adults. For kids and teens, besides “Italian for Kids” and “Pre-school Italian Immersion” classes, we offer Arts & Crafts themed Workshops and Summer Camps.

Instructors are native Italians and well-trained. Classes are held in Downtown Bethesda and at the Friendship Heights Village Center in Chevy Chase.

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Best Place to Get a Cup of D.C. Joe, Staff Pick: DC Compass Coffee

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Compass Coffee

535 7th St. NW, compasscoffee.com

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When you walk into Compass Coffee’s Shaw cafe, the first word that comes to mind is “open.” The floorplan encourages customers to sit at community tables or in small groups. Large windows and skylights allow natural light to stream in and contribute to a bright, cheerful vibe.

But this former laundromat turned coffee shop isn’t just about beautiful interiors.

Those bags of beans in the back aren’t props, they’re a product roasted in-house. Roasting occurs five days a week during business hours, and customers can sit at the bar and watch the process take place. (Owners Michael Haft and Harrison Suarez invested in an energy-saving roasting machine that has 85 percent lower carbon emissions than the average roaster.)

It’s a great location for freelancers who need to bang out some work or for locals who need a cozy meetup spot. Even better, they produce a stellar cup of coffee that lives up to the vibe of —Kaarin Vembar their physical space.

Best Children’s Clothing Store Little Birdies Boutique

3236 P St. NW, (202) 333-1059, shoplittlebirdies.com

Have you ever seen something so adorable

you want to curl up into a little ball and die from its overwhelming cuteness? That sums up entering Georgetown’s Little Birdies Boutique. This imaginative store focuses on children’s clothing, accessories, and toys for the little darlings in your life. Owner Shanlee Johnson selects products with great care: Blankets are soft on newborn skin, wall art brightens an entire nursery, and dishware is practical enough for daily use. And just when

138 april 10, 2015 washingtoncitypaper.com

you think you’ve got this retailer all figured out, she surprises you with Bob Dylan, Neil Young, John Lennon, and Aerosmith onesies, which will make your kid the sweetest, hippest 6-month-old on the block.

—Kaarin Vembar

Best Place to Get a Cute Outfit at the Last Minute Secondi

1702 Connecticut Ave. NW, #2, (202) 667-1122, secondi.com

In the past five years, consignment stores

have become a mainstay of the D.C. retail scene. One of the stores that paved the way, Secondi, is still showing the newcomers how it’s done. The secret to their success is a highly curated selection of clothes in chic silhouettes. Buyers bring in pieces that are perfect for D.C.—polished yet alluring. (A recent visit revealed Saint Laurent slingback pumps, a Diane von Furstenberg skirt, and a Lilly Pulitzer striped blazer.)

The apparel offered also covers just about every occasion. Need a LBD? They have a whole section. How about an evening gown?

Sundress? Ensemble for a big work presentation? Done, done, and done. Secondi has a consistent brand, a viewpoint, and an answer to the perennial question, “What will —Kaarin Vembar I wear?”

Best Place to Get Cute Jewelry Without Breaking the Bank Bloom

1719 Connecticut Ave. NW, (202) 6219049, facebook.com/pages/Bloom

From the outside, Bloom looks like a fancyschmancy jewelry store, but do not be blinded (or intimidated) by the bling. Instead, step inside and take a look around.

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Best Place to Get a Cute Outfit at the Last Minute, Staff Pick: Secondi

Begin checking price tags and then listen to yourself say, “Where has this place been all my life?” Bloom is an absolute find for glam girls on a budget. With statement necklaces hovering around $30, drop earrings at $12, and studs at $10, you can afford to pop by for a new piece and leave with enough money to get you through the weekend. It’s not just price point that makes Bloom special, though. They also carry semi-precious stones and delicate sterling silver pieces.

The back room carries imported items including Turkish towels, soaps, and tiles.

Bloom has managed to outfit an entire store full of costume jewelry that is fun without looking cheap. It’s a modern day accessory —Kaarin Vembar miracle.

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Best Place to Donate Your Clothes After Spring Cleaning Martha’s Outfitters

2114 14th St. NW, (202) 328-6608; 2204 Martin Luther King Ave. SE, (202) 885-9613, marthastable.org

Involuntary spring cleaning is a real phenomenon. One day, when the first stretch of warm weather is upon us, you will start straightening your apartment for no particular reason. The Spirit of Clean will take over your otherwise slovenly state, and you will find yourself reaching for a rag and that vinegar/water concoction you made after a late-night Pinterest binge. In the middle of your spring frenzy make sure to set aside items that will help someone else. Martha’s Outfitters, the thrift store arm of nonprofit

Martha’s Table, provides free and reducedprice clothing to communities of people who are in need. Support their efforts by donating your gently-used clothing, housewares, and accessories. Your place will be more organized and it will calm the Clean House Spirits. At least until next year.

—Kaarin Vembar

Best Place to Get Your Shoes Fixed After Salt and Snow Ruin Every Fucking Pair You Own Old Town Shoe & Luggage Repair 824 King St., Alexandria, (703) 299-0655, donshoe.com

If you live in a city, and that city has been tormented all winter long by snow—and

sleet and sludge—and you still have to do things like go to work and get groceries and run to the bank and basically live your life, your shoes will inevitably take a hit. The District Department of Transportation does the right thing by cleaning the streets and salting the roads, but that salt gets in your leather (or faux leather) footwear and starts to break it down. But hold on: You don’t have to throw everything out and start fresh next season. Instead, do some #adulting and go to a cobbler. Some of the best shoe doctors around can be found at Old Town Shoe & Luggage Repair. This store has been serving the D.C. area since the mid-‘90s, and employees are known for their exceptional craftsmanship and prompt service. You will save yourself time and money the next time the weather turns —Kaarin Vembar cold.

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GOODS & SERVICES LIFELINE DID YOU DidKNOW? you know?

You may qualify for assistance in paying your home phone bill. Discounts Youtelephone may qualify forare assistance paying yourofhome phone for basic service available toineligible District Columbia bill. Discounts low-income residents. for basic telephone service are available to

GOODS & SERVICES Best Place to Donate Your Clothes After Spring Cleaning, Staff Pick: Martha’s Outfitters

eligible District of Columbia low-income residents.

Verizon Washington, D.C. Lifeline Plans: Verizon Washington, D.C.’s Lifeline service, known as “Economy II,” offers reduced rates on Verizon’s monthly telephone bill and one-time discounts on the cost of installing phone service. Additionally, toll blocking is available to Economy II customers at no charge.

Verizon Washington, D.C. Lifeline Plans:

Economy II Service*: $3.00 per month unlimited local calling.

Value-added services not included Verizon Washington, D.C.’sforLifeline service, known as “Economy II,”are offers reduced(e.g., Call Waiting, Caller ID). No connection charges apply. Also, customers will not be charged for the federal rates on Verizon’s monthly telephone bill and one-time discounts on the cost of subscriber line charge. Economy II customers who are 65 years of age or older can have this service at a further phone service. Additionally, toll blocking is available to Economy II customers reducedinstalling rate of $1.00 per month.

at no charge.

* Full terms and rates for these services, including terms of eligibility, are as set forth in federal and in Verizon’s tariffs on file with the Public Service Commission of the District of Columbia. All rates, terms and conditions included in this notice are subject to change and are current at the time of printing.

Economy II Service*: $3.00 per month for unlimited local calling. Value-added services are not included (e.g., Call Waiting, Caller ID). No connection charges apply. Also, customers will not be charged for the federal subscriber line charge. Economy II Eligibility: whobeen arecertified 65 years District customers residents who have by theof age or older can have this service at a further reduced Washington, as eligible may apply rate DC of Lifeline $1.00Program per month.

Restrictions:

for the Economy II program. To apply, schedule an ✓ No other working telephone service at the same location appointment with and the rates Washington, DC Lifeline Program byeligibility, are as set forth in federal and in Verizon’s tariffs on file with the Public * Full terms for these services, including terms of ✓ No additional phone lines calling 1-800-253-0846.

Households which one or more Rates as stated here are effective as of September 1, 2011. But, the rates and other terms are Service Commission of the District ofinColumbia. ✓ No Foreign Exchange or Foreign Zone service individuals aretoreceiving subject change in benefits the future.from one of the following ✓ No bundles or packages public assistance programs or have an annual income that is 150% or below the Federal Poverty Guideline may ✓ No outstanding unpaid final bills be eligible. ✓ Bill name must match eligible participant Restrictions: ✓ Food stamps Eligibility: ✓ No separate Lifeline discount on cellular or wireless  No other working telephone service at ✓ Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) phone service DistrictSecurity residents who have been certified by the the same ✓ Supplemental Income ✓ Business lines are notlocation eligible District Department of the Environment’s Energy ✓ Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP)  No additional phone lines must match eligible participant as income(Section eligible8)may apply for the ✓ Phonenumber ✓ FederalOffice Public(DDOE) Housing Assistance No Foreign Exchange or Foreign Zone ✓ Must be a current Verizon customer or establish new Economy II program this program. To apply, ✓ Medicaid service service with Verizon schedule an appointment with DDOE by calling 311. ✓ National School Lunch Programs (Free Lunch Program)  No bundles or packages Households in which one or more individuals are  No outstanding unpaid final bills receiving benefits from one of the following public  Bill name must match eligible participant assistance programs may be income eligible.  No separate Lifeline discount on cellular

Contact Washington, DC Lifeline Program at 1-800-253-0846 to apply     

or wireless phone service Food Stamps To learn more about the Lifeline program, visit www.lifelinesupport.org.  Business lines are not eligible Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC)  Phone number must match eligible Supplemental Security Income participant Public Assistance to Adults  Must be a current customer or establish Temporary Disability Assistance Program new service with Verizon

THANKS FOR VOTING US BEST PLACE TO BUY FURRY HANDCUFFS Contact DDOE at 311 to apply To learn more about the Lifeline program, visit www.lifelinesupport.org.

Best Place For Lumberjack Chic

Best Washington Tailor for D.C. Residents

Federal

Sammy Lee Tailor Shop

2216 14th St. NW, (202) 2999008, federalstore.com

When you enter Federal, you will have a sud-

Your Sexuality! “a healthy part of life”

SECRET PLEASURES BOUTIQUE 1510 U Street NW • Washington, DC 20009 • 202.664.1476

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den urge to see a man about a horse. It might be because the store smells like fresh leather, or perhaps it’s that a wolf rug stares up at you as you take your first steps inside the door.

Perhaps it’s the taxidermy that hangs precariously from the walls. Whatever it is, this store will tap into your rugged, wild side.

Luckily, the merchandise is there to help outfit that inner (and outer) mountain man.

Federal sports a carefully curated selection of tried-and-true brands like Levi’s Vintage Clothing, Red Wing Shoes, Pendleton, and Converse. It’s also taking chances with new brands that are creating apparel the old fashioned way, like the Raleigh Denim Workshop, a jeans brand out of North Carolina.

Buyers place an emphasis on craftsmanship and products made in the USA. In a retail environment where independent men’s clothing stores are going extinct, Federal has managed to pull together an impressive lineup of brands that share the same aes—Kaarin Vembar thetic.

615 Pennsylvania Ave. SE, #2, (202) 543-9292

Sammy Lee is best known as the tailor to

members of Congress, his cramped, second-floor shop on Pennsylvania Avenue SE located about a mile from the Capitol. But just because Lee alters the suits and dresses of the people who continue to deny D.C. autonomy doesn’t mean you should stay away out of protest. On the contrary, this is one part of Washington that residents of the District should take advantage of. Lee is a master who can completely take apart a dress and put it back together looking (and fitting) better than new. The prices match the quality and speed of the service, so if your issue is a missing button or an undone hem, you could go elsewhere. But if you have a treasured piece of clothing (like the 1960s blue chiffon dress I took to Lee for a major alteration) then the cost is worth it for the peace of mind and end result.

—Sarah Anne Hughes

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PEOPLE & PLACES Best College/University, Readersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Pick: Georgetown University

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Readers’ Picks PEOPLE & PLACES

BESt FriEnd

Best Elementary School, Readers’ Pick: Washington Yu Ying PCS

Alexandra Shandell

Readers Say: “No one can beat her.”

Runners-Up: Mr. Maxx, Mary Catherine O’Neill

BESt grAduAtE PrOgrAm

Georgetown University 3700 O St. NW, (202) 687-0100, georgetown.edu Readers Say: “Top ranked program in D.C.” Runners-Up: The George Washington University, American University

BESt high SChOOL

Woodrow Wilson High School 3950 Chesapeake St. NW, (202) 282-0120, wilsonhs.org Runners-Up: School Without Walls High School, Montgomery Blair High School

BESt hOuSE OF WOrShiP

World Mission Society Church of God 1720 1st St. NW, (202) 387-3082, usa.watv.org Runners-Up: National Community Church, All Souls Church, Unitarian

BESt LiFE COACh

Bonny King-Taylor bonnyking-taylor.com BESt APArtmEnt BuiLding

BESt COLLEgE/univErSity

BESt drAg King

Readers Say: “Sweet location, wellmaintained apartments, average rent is low, and staff still gets well paid above average with benefits.”

Readers Say: “Hoya Saxa!”

Runners-Up: Sebastian Katz; Avery Austin, Max McKenna (tie)

Newton Towers 1435 Newton St. NW, (202) 4132439, newtontowers.com

Runners-Up: Senate Square, City Market at O

BESt ChArity EvEnt

City Dogs Rescue, Dining Out With Dogs 2121 Decatur Place NW, Unit 3, (202) 567-7364, citydogsrescuedc. org/eatwell Runners-Up: DC Central Kitchen, Capital Food Fight (tie); Mrs. DC America Pageant

Georgetown University 3700 O St. NW, (202) 687-0100, georgetown.edu Runners-Up: The George Washington University, American University

BESt COLumniSt

Petula Dvorak washingtonpost.com Readers Say: “Spot on!”

Runners-Up: Carolyn Hax, Gene Weingarten

BESt COmmunity BLOg

PoPville popville.com

Runners-Up: DC Thrifty Mom, Baby Friendly DC

Ken Vegas dckings.com/meet-the-kings/kenvegas BESt drAg QuEEn

Shi-Queeta Lee shiqueeta.wix.com/lee Runners-Up: Summer Camp, Peaches

BESt ELEmEntAry SChOOL

Washington Yu Ying PCS 220 Taylor St. NE, (202) 635-1950, washingtonyuying.org Readers Say: “Great teachers and wonderful administration!”

Runners-Up: Inspired Teaching Public Charter School, Lafayette Elementary School

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Readers Say: “My longtime acquaintance with Bonny’s great coaching inspired me to make a huge move, opening up our formerly stagnant life to new friends, new work, and travel experiences!”

Runners-Up: Nathaniel “Big Nate” Murrell, Jana Sedlakova

BESt LOCAL CrAFtEr

Katie Stack, Stitch & Rivet 716 Monroe St. NE, Studio 3, (202) 340-3581, shopstitchandrivet.com Runners-Up: Billet Collins, Yinibini Baby

BESt LOCAL SPOrtS PLAyEr

John Wall nba.com/wizards

Runners-Up: Alexander Ovechkin, Jayson Werth

PEOPLE & PLACES BESt LOCAL SPOrtS tEAm

Washington Nationals 1500 S Capitol St. SE, (202) 675-6287, washington. nationals.mlb.com Readers Say: “NATS NATS NATS WHOO!” Runners-Up: Scandal Ultimate, Washington Capitals

BESt middLE SChOOL

Inspired Teaching Public Charter School 200 Douglas St. NE, (202) 248-6825, inspiredteachingschool.org Readers Say: “This is a great school for kids all over the city.”

Runners-Up: Alice Deal Middle School; District of Columbia International School, Stuart-Hobson Middle School, Thomas Jefferson Middle School (tie)

BESt mixEd-uSE dEvELOPmEnt

City Vista 475 K St. NW, (301) 652-7400, cityvistadc.net Runners-Up: Monroe Street Market, CityCenterDC

BESt nEighBOrhOOd

Capitol Hill

Readers Say: “Everything you want is close by... It’s been my village for 30 years!”

Runners-Up: Shaw, Logan Circle

BESt nEighBOrhOOd FOr dining

14th Street NW

Runners-Up: Logan Circle, U Street NW

BESt nEighBOrhOOd FOr nightLiFE

U Street NW

Readers Say: “Great options for live music, dancing, and to hear your favorite DJs. There’s also a good selection of late-night food spots for those hungry after a long night of dancing.”

Runners-Up: H Street NE, Adams Morgan

BESt nEighBOrhOOd FOr ShOPPing

Georgetown

Runners-Up: Friendship Heights, 14th Street NW

BESt nEW COndOS

K at City Vista 475 K St. NW, (202) 682-4525, katcityvista.com Readers Say: “You can walk to Safeway in the winter without having to leave the building!”

Runners-Up: CityCenterDC, Navy Yard

BESt nEWS AnChOr

Jim Vance nbcwashington.com Readers Say: “After all of these years he is still so cool. Also, I love watching him because he kind of looks like my dad.”

Runners-Up: Eun Yang, Wendy Rieger

BESt nOnPrOFit

City Dogs Rescue 2120 Decatur Place NW, (202) 5677363, citydogsrescuedc.org Readers Say: “So much love and compassion in this group of volunteers that give selflessly to save the lives of man’s best friend!”

Runners-Up: Casey Trees, Lucky Dog Animal Rescue

BESt PLACE tO dAy triP

Annapolis

Readers Say: “Nothing beats some fresh crabs, cold beers with Old Bay covered rims, and a cool bay breeze on a summer day.”

Runners-Up: Harpers Ferry, Great Falls Park

BESt PLACE tO Find A OnE-night StAnd

Professionals in the City 2950 Van Ness St. NW, (202) 6865990, prosinthecity.com

Best High School, Readers’ Pick: Woodrow Wilson High School

Readers Say: “Smarter than hooking up with a co-worker.”

Runners-Up: Nellie’s Sports Bar, The Wonderland Ballroom

BESt PLACE tO tAKE An Out-OFtOWnEr

The Capitol Steps 210 N Washington St., Alexandria, (703) 683-8330, capsteps.com Readers Say: “Always a rollicking good time.

Don’t know how they stay so current and so funny, but I’ve never been disappointed.”

Runners-Up: Washington National Cathedral, National Mall

BESt PLACE tO tAKE SOmOnE On A FirSt dAtE

Little Fountain Cafe 2339 18th St. NW, (202) 462-8100, littlefountaincafe.net Runners-Up (Tie): Le Diplomate, Board Room

BESt PLACE tO vOLuntEEr

Lucky Dog Animal Rescue 5159 Lee Highway, Arlington, (202) 741-5428, luckydoganimalrescue.org Runners-Up: Food & Friends, City Dogs Rescue

Best Neighborhood for Nightlife, Readers’ Pick: U Street NW

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PEOPLE & PLACES BESt PrESChOOL

Best Local Sports Team, Readers’ Pick: Washington Nationals

Waterfront Academy 60 I St. SW, (202) 484-0044, waterfrontacademy.org Readers Say: “This is the first year my daughter is attending Waterfront Academy, and this is the first time she really enjoys school... This school has been a blessing for our family.”

Runners-Up: Bridges Public Charter School, Faith Lutheran Preschool

BESt PrOPErty mAnAgEmEnt COmPAny

Nest DC 87 Florida Ave. NW, (202) 540-8038, nest-dc.com Readers Say: “You expect your property management company to be capable and responsive, but Lisa and her team have figured out how to make it fun. They are absolutely the best.”

Runners-Up: Nomadic Real Estate, EJF Real Estate

BESt rAdiO PErSOnALity

Kojo Nnamdi thekojonnamdishow.org Readers Say: “The silkiest voice on radio.

And who doesn’t get their funk on when the Politics Hour theme song plays?”

Runners-Up: Kane, Elliot Segal

BESt rEAL EStAtE dEvELOPEr

The JBG Companies 4445 Willard Ave., Suite 400, (240) 333-3600, jbg.com Runners-Up: Douglas Development Corporation; The Bozzuto Group, MRP Realty (tie)

BESt rESidEntiAL BuiLdEr

The Neighborhoods of EYA 4800 Hampden Lane, Suite 300, Bethesda, (301) 634-8600, eya.com Runners-Up (Tie): Ditto Residential, The Bozzuto Group

BESt rEStAurAnt tO BAng in thE BAthrOOm

The Coupe 3415 11th St. NW, (202) 290-3342, thecoupedc.com Runners-Up: Nellie’s Sports Bar, The Wonderland Ballroom

BESt ShOPPing CEntEr

Eden Center 6751 Wilson Blvd., Falls Church, (703) 204-4600, edencenter.com Runners-Up: Tysons Corner Center, The Fashion Centre at Pentagon City

BESt SPOrtS COACh

Matt Williams nationals.com

Runners-Up: Barry Trotz, Ben Olsen

BESt SummEr CAmP

Headfirst Summer Camps 2639 Connecticut Ave. NW, Suite 250, (202) 625-1921, headfirstcamps.com Readers Say: “My son was always happy after the camp. He felt empowered to lead,

share, and do things after being with the camp’s team. Great counselors and happy environment.”

Runners-Up: Congressional Camp, Sportrock Climbing Centers

BESt tEAm OWnEr

Ted Leonsis tedstake.monumentalnetwork.com Readers Say: “He’s the most visible owner in the city and actually attends Wizards games.”

Runners-Up: Ted Lerner, Anyone but Dan Snyder

BESt trAvEL AgEnt

Jessica Pociask/WANT Expeditions (231) 620-9268, wantexpeditions.com Readers Say: “Jess rules!”

Runners-Up (Tie): John Paul Berry, Connoisseur Travel, @MichaelLarrick

BESt tWittEr PErSOnALity

@dougfun twitter.com/dougfun

Readers Say: “Doug FUN!” Runner-Up: @FunnyJared

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BEST DAY EVER. EVERY DAY. northwest dc ď&#x201A;Ť bethesda, md Thanks for voting us Best Summer Camp in DC!

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Staff Picks PEOPLE & PLACES

Francis Gregory is a mirrored pavilion with diamond-shaped windows that flood the building with natural light. From certain angles outside, it seemingly dissolves into the surrounding woods, while the wood interior creates a harmony with the mature trees. It’s a building that must be seen in person to fully appreciate.

—Sarah Anne Hughes

Best Change to the Home Rule Charter Elected attorney general District residents can’t vote for many offices,

so it was a thrill to cast a ballot last year for a new position—even if it was for something as obscure as the city’s first elected attorney general. Three months into Karl Racine’s first term, it appears electing the attorney general is the best change to the Home Rule Charter in years. Racine isn’t Adrian Fentyera pitbull Peter Nickles; neither is he the second coming of Irv Nathan, the legalistic killjoy who worked for Vince Gray. Instead, he’s refreshingly aware that his job security depends on keeping voters happy; it’s hard to imagine a non-elected attorney general being so gung-ho about marijuana legalization. Even if Racine was doing a crummy job, the fact that a majority of the D.C. Council tried to stop his election from even happening should be a great sign that an AG selected by the people is worth having.

—Will Sommer

Best Public Restroom National Portrait Gallery, first floor

8th and F streets NW, (202) 633-8300, npg.si.edu

Best-Looking D.C. Public Library Branch, Staff Pick: Francis A. Gregory Neighborhood Library

Best-Looking D.C. Public Library Branch Francis A. Gregory Neighborhood Library 3660 Alabama Ave. SE, (202) 698-6373, dclibrary.org/francis

In addition to being a home for shared books

and computers, D.C.’s public libraries are some of the most attractive and architecturally interesting buildings in the city. Fifteen libraries have been rebuilt and renovated over the past several years, while the D.C. Public Library is preparing to revamp its largest branch, the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library. The D.C. Public Library

150 april 10, 2015 washingtoncitypaper.com

has done an admirable job both modernizing historic buildings and building new ones that aren’t just boring clumps of brick and glass, but I feel compelled to single out the Francis A. Gregory Neighborhood Library on the border of Hillcrest and Fairfax Village. Designed by the architecture team Adjaye Associates and Wiencek Associates,

Aside from offering visitors free access to some of the world’s most important art and cultural objects, the Smithsonian museums are great locations to make a pitstop should you need to refill a water bottle, charge a phone, or escape the elements. You could likely do this at any Starbucks without a busy barista scolding you, but you’re supposed to buy the coffee chain’s water. When nature calls, you don’t want to be trapped behind a line of customers and interlopers waiting for a key. In that situation, your best bet is the National Portrait Gallery’s first floor ladies’ room. Its location in the heart of Penn Quarter makes it more accessible than the other

washingtoncitypaper.com april 10, 2015 151

PEOPLE & PLACES museums on the National Mall, and the bathroom’s convenient location just to the left of the G Street entrance makes it easy to spot in a hurry. The stalls are big enough for some elbow room, equipped with hooks for purses or jackets, well-stocked by the Smithsonian’s hard-working custodial staff, and always clean. Plus, once you finish your business, you can take a little time to enjoy the art. The painting of Ted Turner and his bison herds currently on view next to the bathroom entrance is quite something.

—Caroline Jones

Best Councilmember on Twitter, Staff Pick: Vincent Orange

Best Future Dog Park Francis Dog Park

25th Street NW between M and N streets NW, dpr.dc.gov/page/francis-dog-park

This massive, fenced-in field on the 1200 block of

25th Street NW has been approved by D.C.’s Department of Parks and Recreation to be converted to an officially recognized dog park, but locals have been using it as an off-leash run for years now. Currently, it’s a mixed-use park— that means you and your dog can romp in proximity to the various soccer and frisbee matches regularly held there, but it’s up to park users to share the space nicely. The canine and human regulars mostly live in the West End and promote a more laid-back attitude than the S Street Dog Park or Rose Park in Georgetown. Little dogs are welcome, but the action gets rowdy: The sheer size of the fenced area attracts big, fast dogs ready to chase tennis balls and wrestle in mud. Wear shoes you don’t mind getting dirty, and be prepared to see a few snarls and dust-ups. This dog park is one of the few spaces in the city where dogs can still be dogs and owners aren’t prone to hovering or fretting.

—Emily Q. Hazzard

Best Councilmember on Twitter Vincent Orange

twitter.com/vorangedc, twitter.com/orangevo40

In previous years, this category would have

gone to Marion Barry, who used his Twitter account to start feuds and keep up with Scandal. With Barry deceased, though, only At-Large Councilmember Vincent Orange stands as his social media heir. Orange has managed to take his eccentricity in both policy and personal matters to his two Twitter accounts. The failed 2014 mayoral candidate tweets almost exclusively by sending out four pictures at once, a style so strange that it’s been dubbed “VOing.” True to a man who begged his colleagues to elect him chairman on the grounds that he’s “the best,” a lot of these pictures are just pictures of Orange himself. The mind reels at what innovation Orange could bring to more modern social networks. Get this councilmember on Yik Yak! —Will Sommer

Best Safe Haven Casa Ruby casaruby.org

For the past decade, drop-in community center Casa Ruby has been a symbolic home for D.C.’s most victimized and stigmatized LGBTQ residents: transgender Latin@s, immigrants, young people, and those living in poverty. Led by the irrepressible Ruby Corado, the bilingual safe space in Pleasant Plains offers wraparound services—from clothing and hot meals to job placement and legal counsel—but when a homeless client comes looking for a place to stay, Casa Ruby can only offer so much. With a limited number of beds and gender-specific shelters that leave trans people unsafe or unwelcome,

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D.C.’s emergency housing network falls far short of its residents’ needs. That will change this spring. With grants from the D.C. Department of Human Services and the Elton John AIDS Foundation (as well as financial support from small donations and local fundraisers), Casa Ruby is set to open a new transitional home just three blocks from the center. It will accommodate up to 12 trans and gender-nonconforming young adults, doubling D.C.’s count of beds available for homeless LGBTQ youth. Residents of the three-story, seven-bedroom rowhouse, who will be able to stay for up to 18 months, will get the benefit of a dedicated social worker and help finding jobs or education programs so they can achieve financial independence. But most importantly,

they’ll enter a community that supports and protects them because of who they are, not in spite of it. Corado has said she wants the place to be “the gayest house.” For the lucky dozen she takes under her wing, it’ll also be the safest. —Christina Cauterucci

Best ANC for Theatrics 5D and 8E (tie) ANC 8E appeared to be running away with

this ignoble distinction when, at an Advisory Neighborhood Commission meeting in October, Commissioner Mary Cuthbert yelled at a neighbor, “I’m going to knock your ass back where you belong, you little motherfucker,” and proceeded to charge Continued

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PEOPLE & PLACES

Best villain Andy Harris

In less than a year, the Metropolitan Police Department went from patting down suspects for marijuana to handing their pot back to them at precincts. Thanks to receptive politicians and mellow voters, decriminalizing and legalizing pot turned out to be easy.

Too easy, as it turned out. Enter Rep. Andy Harris (R-Md.), a villain so perfect it’s like he stepped out of an activist’s fever dream. With his patronizing attitude and willingness to meddle in the District’s affairs, Harris has become the bad guy on more issues than 420.

Harris first earned notoriety outside of his Ocean City district last year when he tried unsuccessfully to quash decriminalization with a congressional budget rider. He didn’t succeed, but he managed to make a lot of people mad along the way with his patronizing treatment of the city. When mayoral candidate David Catania showed up at Harris’ office to ask for a meeting with the congressman, Harris’ staff wouldn’t even let him make an appointment.

Missing out on a chance to throw more young, mostly black people in jail didn’t discourage Harris. After District voters overwhelmingly approved marijuana legalization in November, Harris teamed up with a handful of like-minded Republican colleagues to pass another budget rider aimed at harshing the city’s buzz. So far, they haven’t blocked possession or sharing the drug, but the rider did prevent the city from taxing or regulating marijuana sales. With the rider, Harris inadvertently created the most socialist pot economy in the country.

It’d be one thing if Harris’ views were so popular in Congress that he could get bills passed.

But that’s not how Maryland’s lone congressional Republican gets things done. Rather than round up votes in the House and Senate and avoid a presidential veto—a certain impossibility—Harris relies on the gridlocked congressional budget process. He attaches budget riders on District money, much of which has already been raised by the city itself. That way, Harris and a few compatriots can slip through marijuana restrictions that would never be supported by Democrats (or even many Republicans) if they were on their own.

Perhaps the most irritating thing about Harris is his use of his medical degree to end arguments over legalization—he’s an anesthesiologist, not some sort of expert on brains or lungs. Harris has opened the door for, say, a podiatrist from Utah to claim to be an expert on abortion in the District.

The District has responded to Harris in the half-hearted way that only people without their own congressional representation can. Signs banning Harris appeared in

a few District businesses after he kicked off his anti-drug efforts, but they’re mostly in the kind of crunchy bike shops and bookstores that Harris would never go to in the first place. You can take our drugs, Andy Harris, but you’ll never buy our panniers.

—Will Sommer

Best Ward Ward 1

Like many of the staff picks in the Best Of issue, this one is colored by bias. I live in Ward 1; in fact, I’ve lived in three different parts of Ward 1. I’ve also lived in two other wards and spent considerable time in the other five, and there’s a reason I keep coming back to Ward 1: With all due deference to the charms and the passionate residents of wards 2 through 8, Ward 1 is simply the best ward.

Let’s start with some basic facts. Ward 1 is by far the smallest ward, and therefore the most densely populated. Just about every block in the ward is pedestrian-friendly and transit accessible. And yet it’s not dominated by bland apartment buildings; most of its streets, from LeDroit Park in the southeast to Mount Pleasant in the northwest, are lined with the distinctive rowhouses that define D.C.’s streetscapes.

Ward 1 is also the most racially diverse ward: It’s the only one where whites, blacks, and Hispanics each make up more than 20 percent of the population, according to the 2010 census, and with a higher-than-average Asian population to boot. My block in Columbia Heights is just about one-third white, one-third black, and one-third Latino. Apart from the intangible benefits of interacting with neighbors of different backgrounds, this brings concrete ones as well, particularly of the edible sort. Nowhere else in the District will you find as robust a selection of pupusas, tacos, tibs, and pho as in Ward 1.

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The ward has its very own central park, known colloquially as Malcolm X and officially as Meridian Hill. It’s the city’s most successful urban park—no disrespect to the wilds of Rock Creek Park, a good chunk of which is also in Ward 1—surrounded by enough density for it to be an easy walk for much of the ward, yet sufficiently removed from the bustle to foster an atmosphere of serenity and easy recreation. Whatever type of D.C. weirdo you hope to find, he’s probably at Malcolm X on a sunny Sunday, slumped on a bench or balanced on a slackline or perched on an acroyogi’s feet or dancing wildly to the weekly drum circle.

Ward 1 is growing fast, and not without its share of growing pains. Rents and home prices in the ward have shot up, first near U Street NW and in Adams Morgan and Mount Pleasant, and more recently in Columbia Heights and Park View. Landlords of rentcontrolled apartment buildings across the city have taken advantage of exceptions in the rent-control law to hike rents well above the typical limits, but many of the high-

est-profile cases have been in Ward 1, and especially in Columbia Heights. Still, residents of the ward have also been particularly successful at preserving affordable housing through the Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act and other means. These efforts will have to continue, with help from the city, if the ward is to maintain the diversity that’s so critical to making it No. 1 among the Dis—Aaron Wiener trict’s eight wards.

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and shove the man, forcing the police to intervene. It’s also the commission that sought a cut of a lucrative deal in which, in exchange for backing a controversial Congress Heights development, local groups would receive hundreds of thousands of dollars in payments. But ANC 5D wasn’t going to allow 8E to win the honors without a fight. The drama centers largely on the commission’s chairwoman, the evercolorful Kathy Henderson, who has previously been caught on camera taking down campaign signs for candidates she opposed and who lost a libel lawsuit battle with local restaurants that resulted in a $141,592.87 judgment against her. ANC 5D is now in a state of near-mutiny: A majority of the commissioners voted against participation in a standard insurance program because they said Henderson was refusing to share commission documents that were stashed in her house and turn over financial records to the new treasurer. That led Henderson to send out a press release, on mock-District letterhead, railing against her commission colleagues and falsely accusing one of the commissioners of never having been sworn in. Who said community meetings —Aaron Wiener were boring?

Best Newspaper Columnist Mark Lee, Washington Blade In the District’s mushy local media scene, it’s hard to find any columnists who will veer away from the center-left. But the Washington Blade’s Mark Lee has a viewpoint! Specifically, it’s that booze, businesses, and nightlife rule, and that anyone who doesn’t like them can stuff it. Lee is a refreshingly cranky voice for the otherwise progressive LGBT paper (Lee blames the H Street-Benning Road NE streetcar on “transit hipsters”). Lee, an onand-off nightlife impresario who has waged his personal battles with prohibitionist Advisory Neighborhood Commissions and noisehating neighbors, carries that animosity into his columns. The archetypal Lee column involves putting down some form of government (he delights in pointing out the endemic low voter turnout in local races), while praising the innate wisdom of the market. Before November’s general election, Lee urged his readers to skip voting for those meddlesome ANCs entirely: ”It only encourages them.”

—Will Sommer

Best Late-Night Bike Route Madison Drive NW and Jefferson Drive SW Late at night, the stretch of the National Mall between the Washington Monument and the Capitol is the best way to bike from quadrant to quadrant in D.C. Many of the north-south streets dead-end before the Continued

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Best Bike Lane L Street cycletrack

Last year, the city added a record nine miles of bike lanes, bringing the District total to 69 miles. Some of these new lanes truly changed the way people get around by bike, like the protected cycletrack on M Street NW and the beginning of one of First Street NE. And then there are the lanes that have been a part of our transit fabric for years. But even the best of them have their flaws. The 15th Street NW cycletrack, named D.C.’s best bike lane in the 2011 version of this issue, has narrow lanes, and no one seems to know how to turn left when heading north, leading cyclists to plow through intersections as left-turning cars nearly hit them.

(You’re supposed to follow the pedestrian signals.)

The Pennsylvania Avenue lanes offer a particularly scenic ride, but somehow the lights seem to collude against cyclists to flash red after red, while the city still hasn’t found the right solution to prevent taxis from U-turning across the lanes. The 11th Street lane helps uptown commuters avoid the worst of the hill heading up to Columbia Heights, but it doesn’t afford the protection of a separated cycletrack. The M Street lane is a great addition— if only the parking fears of a church in the 1500 block hadn’t compelled the city to scrap a block of the lane’s protection.

The best lane remains the L Street cycletrack.

It’s luxuriously wide, it’s uninterrupted, and it provides a safe and convenient way of traversing downtown from west to east that didn’t previously exist. The location on the left side of the street avoids conflict with right-turning drivers, and the striped interchange with cars provides for a leftturn vehicle lane that allows cyclists to continue straight without having to follow pedestrian signals or worry about getting run over. Yes, every cycletrack is an experiment, and some drivers and cyclists continue to misunderstand the leftturn mechanism. And yes, delivery trucks undeterred by Twitter-shaming continue to park in cyclists’ way. But with the city now slowing down its delivery of new bike lanes, the L Street track is likely to remain D.C.’s best bike lane for —Aaron Wiener years to come.

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PEOPLE & PLACES Mall, or tunnel under it, so you can ride for long stretches without hitting any intersections. On a typical night, with the museums closed and hardly any cars passing through, westbound Madison Drive NW and eastbound Jefferson Drive SW are empty. This is also the only time that the city’s iconic sights aren’t partially blocked by tourists.

For once, it feels a little bit like a big city park, quiet except for the occasional jogger. And even though it’s a shame that a dead zone in the middle of the city breaks up D.C. at night, the centrality means it’s a convenient link from neighborhoods in Southeast and Southwest to most of Northwest. For a Northwest resident like myself, nothing clears my head after sitting through the end of an extra-inning loss at Nats Park like biking home across the Mall at a comfortable pace, with a view of trees, illuminated monuments, and little else.

—Zach Rausnitz

Best Attitude Former U.S. Attorney Ron Machen For the past four years, former U.S. Attor-

ney Ron Machen has been engaged in a reputational deathmatch with Vince Gray.

Gray risked disgrace (and probably a lot more) if Machen could prove his case; Machen’s legacy as the District’s top prosecutor would fall apart if it turned out that he torpedoed Gray’s re-election prospects last year without getting the goods. Two men enter, one man leave… or so we thought. In March, with a relaxed attitude that would make Matthew McConaughey proud, Machen announced that he was leaving office before finishing off Gray. In an interview with the National Law Journal, Machen said that people who complain about who he didn’t charge don’t “really understand what’s most significant to me.” What even is a mayor, man? This prosecutor is chill.

—Will Sommer

Best D.C. Government Instagram Account Sam the MPD bloodhound instagram.com/samthebloodhound/

The best D.C. government Instagram account

is devoted to Metropolitan Police Department Chief Cathy Lanier’s favorite officer, Sam—who just happens to be a bloodhound. Because we are #blessed, Sam is actively posting photos to social media; his account is a mix of photos of the crimesolving pooch looking adorable (wearing a life jacket! eating birthday cake while wearing a party hat!) plus images of a much more serious nature. A big part of Sam’s job is to find missing people, so information about missing children and senior citizens is posted to the Instagram account, exposing

these cases to people who may not have otherwise known about them. The account is a reminder of the hard work the police dog is tasked with doing—plus a little cuteness for —Sarah Anne Hughes our sake.

Best Bike Trail, Staff Pick: Anacostia Riverwalk

Best Bike Trail Anacostia Riverwalk The video, posted on YouTube last August, would make any cyclist cringe. A knot of spandexed cyclists race up Rock Creek Park’s Beach Drive, until one of them changes lanes too soon, knocks down the bike behind him, and sends several weekend warriors sprawling across the road. The video occasioned all sorts of outrage on the Internet, but the real lesson went unsaid: Rock Creek Park is too crowded. So it’s a happy mystery why so few bike riders make it over to the Anacostia Riverwalk Trail, which combines riverside views, wooded trails, and near-total solitude.

Like another less-used route, the Metropolitan Branch Trail, the trail’s unfinished nature means sometimes running into dead ends or, at the Navy Yard, a locked gate. But while you run into those obstacles, you also won’t be running into many joggers. Never hustle for a Strava score on Beach Drive again.

—Will Sommer

Best Government Blog District, Measured districtmeasured.com

Revenue analysis typically doesn’t scream

“page turner” or “clickbait,” and government offices aren’t often known for their gripping writing. But starting in late January, the D.C. Office of Revenue Analysis has managed to produce an actual mustread for local policy wonks. District, Measured churns out several blog posts a week that are chock-full of maps, charts, and analysis highlighting the changing face of the District. Using data from tax filings and other sources, the blog quantifies some timely subjects (D.C.’s Irish ancestry on St. Patrick’s Day, demographic trends after a Washington Post story on the topic) and some random ones. District, Measured has become a tremendous resource for residents and reporters alike. For the latter, the challenge, with so many worthwhile posts appearing on the blog, is often deciding which ones not to write about. —Aaron Wiener

Best Reason to Get a Jurisdiction Map Marijuana legalization As of February, marijuana is legal in the

District—kind of, sort of. It’s a good excuse to light up, but also a good chance to remember how much of what makes up the District is actually owned by the feds.

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If you don’t, you might end up jail. That’s because the feds, unlike Mayor Muriel Bowser and District voters, aren’t on board with legalizing possession. Staying legal while staying high requires knowledge of the more than 20 percent of land within the District’s borders that belongs to the feds.

While smoking anywhere in public remains illegal, green types ignorant of municipalfederal jurisdictions risk running afoul of federal agencies like the U.S. Park Police.

So get yourself a map—or at least don’t bring pot to most parks and nowhere near —Will Sommer the National Mall.

Best Way to Visit Upper Northwest Car2Go There are no Metro stations west of Wis-

consin Avenue NW or north of Van Ness.

Bus coverage is spotty. And distances, for residents accustomed to the proximity of everything in the neighborhoods closer to downtown, are vast. Fortunately for Washingtonians who don’t own a car, there’s a fast, cheap, and convenient way to access those hard-to-reach places. Car2Go isn’t the perfect transit mode for every part of D.C., since you still have to deal with the twin annoyances of driving: waiting in traffic and finding a place to park. But in sparsely populated Upper Northwest, neither of these is

much of a problem. (Never mind the Tenleytown residents who have complained, implausibly, that the diminutive Smart cars make it too hard for neighbors to find street parking, or the Shepherd Park resident who left a note on a Car2Go windshield advising its drivers that it’s “rude and a breach of residential etiquette” to park in front of a private home.) Best of all, since demand out there is low, your blue-and-white vehicle’s likely to be waiting for you when you’re ready to head back home.

—Aaron Wiener

Best Use of a Time Out Paul Pierce and Otto Porter taste baby food Now that the Wizards are playing consistently good basketball and filling Verizon Center, the team has greatly raised the production value of the Jumbotron videos.

Wolf Blitzer now introduces every game from the set of The Situation Room, and the players record different videos to play during the endless TV timeouts. Sometimes they sing Christmas carols, sometimes they dance, and sometimes they face-off in playful competitions. The weirdest and most compelling competition took place in November when NBA champion and 17year veteran Paul Pierce and second year player Otto Porter tried to identify unlabeled jars of baby food by taste. Pierce, a

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father of three young children, appeared unphased by the task; the 21-year-old Porter looked disgusted, shaking his head and grimacing. Who suggested this particular battle? Why did Pierce and Porter agree to appear? This video proves once and for all that while the Wizards are no longer the league’s worst team, they’ll never possess the brassy swag of the Heat or the stubborn intensity of the Spurs. They’ll stay weird, and for fans, that’s for the best.

—Caroline Jones

Best Media Makeover Washington Post / Washingtonian It’s been boom times lately for two publica-

tions with “Washington” in their names.

The Washington Post, buoyed by Jeff Bezos and his army of Amazon wage slaves, has managed to staff up and nab more scoops.

They practically walked Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell to prison, imploded Rolling Stone’s University of Virginia rape story, and ran a series of Secret Service scoops (which have done some unravelling of their own lately). As usual, the Post’s Local columnist roster is less murderer’s row and more shoplifter’s alley, but a personnel shake-up holds promise even there. Heck, noted hunk Liev Schreiber is playing Post editor Marty Baron in an upcoming movie. Take that, Grey Lady! At Washingtonian, meanwhile, new Editor Michael Schaffer has increased the mag’s stories-worth-reading-tobest-doctor’s-chaff ratio considerably (Schaffer formerly edited Washington City Paper). Schaffer’s writers get salacious, writing about students at prudish Catholic University dodging the no-sex rule— unlocked windows are key—and cuckoos who move out to West Virginia to evade electromagnetic currents. Who knew that the city’s best tabloid would be a suburban lifestyle magazine? —Will Sommer

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Best Place to Get Hit While Riding a Bike Connecticut Avenue NW

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to avoid while cycling in D.C., few of them come close to the five-plus-mile deathslope legally known as Connecticut Avenue NW. A morning ride downhill from Chevy Chase Circle to Farragut Square is a high-speed nosedive with no bike lane or cycletrack to protect you from Maryland drivers heading to work. The road is a sea of potholes that pushes you toward the center of traffic. If you manage to survive the craters and wavering traffic patterns, you still have one last huge obstacle to avoid: the taxicabs, whose drivers seem to have zero regard for the safety of cyclists along the way. Should

you want to avoid these obstacles, you can choose to legally ride on the sidewalk on any portion of the street that isn’t in the central business district. Sidewalk riding is still a bad decision since even the sleepiest portions of Connecticut Avenue are filled with pedestrians, even more so around Dupont Circle and the National Zoo. Since no other major north/south artery west of Rock Creek Park exists, there really is no way to avoid the trip if you live and work around Connecticut. With just about everything that makes potential cyclists run away from the pedal life and no immediate plans to add more bike-friendly infrastructure in the area, it appears as if Connecticut Avenue can keep this title for the —Matt Ramos foreseeable future.

Best Crank Courtland Milloy Every Washington Post Local columnist has a schtick. Petula Dvorak combines human services sobbers with Reston cocktail party errata, while recently exited columnist Robert McCartney used his conventional wisdom to tuck readers in and put them to bed. Courtland Milloy, on the other hand, is a grouch.

Milloy-watchers figured he had peaked in 2010, when he denounced “myopic little twits.” (That’s Milloy-speak for whites who venture east of Rock Creek Park.) But Milloy showed he hadn’t mellowed in a column last July, when he declared that the city’s cyclists amount to “biker terrorists” who could deserve being hit with a car. Milloy went further in another column, proposing a comically unfeasible system of trails meant to keep cyclists away from his commute. There are lot of reasons not to take Milloy seriously. As a Fort Washington, Md. resident, he has as much right to expect the city to cater to him as someone in Kathmandu. Milloy, who himself had to ride a bike after having his license suspended, has a driving record that would make Tony Stewart blush. None of that’s worth bringing up, though, because engaging with Milloy means he’s won. Like a cheap wine, Milloy has only gotten more —Will Sommer sour with age.

Best Creepy and Probably Haunted Statue Adams Memorial

201 Allison St. NW, (202) 726-2080, rockcreekparish.org/cemetery

For a city populated by oddball monuments,

secret passages, and underground tunnels, D.C. is a surprisingly not spooky place to live. Sure, Congress is probably passing rights-eroding legislation backed by corporate interests as we speak, but that’s not really something you can share around a campfire to scare your friends. But there washingtoncitypaper.com april 10, 2015 161

PEOPLE & PLACES is one place that’s likely to make your hair stand on end if you visit: the Adams Memorial in Rock Creek Cemetery. Of course it’s creepy, you’re probably thinking, it’s a statue inside a graveyard. But the context in which it was built is so much creepier than that. The statue—a seated, hooded figure with its eyes closed—was commissioned by famed Adams political family member Henry Adams after his wife, Marian, committed suicide by swallowing potassium cyanide. Designed to resemble a Buddhist deity, the memorial statue stands watch over a hexagonal plot of land night and day, and from a distance, looks as though it could stand up or turn its head at any moment. Scaredy-cats, take note: If you’re too creeped out to visit it in person, a replica version of the memorial is located on the second floor of the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s east wing. —Tim Regan

Best Destination on an Unexpectedly Warm Winter Day Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens 1550 Anacostia Ave. NE, (202) 692-6080, nps.gov/keaq

Let’s stipulate one thing at the top here: Yes,

Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens is probably better in the summer, when the lily pads are blooming, the trees are lush and green, and the native wildlife isn’t mostly holed up for the season. Fine. But that doesn’t take anything away from the place as a wintertime destination, either. Stop by Kenilworth the next time it hits 60 in December, and you’ll find peace and quiet you wouldn’t have thought possible in the District. You’ll probably be one of about five people visiting, for one thing, which means you’ll have the run of the place to wander around the pondside paths and bask in the surprising sunshine.

Bring a picnic, set up on the grass by the visitors’ center, and let the geese wander as close as you dare before you edge away warily. You’re not allowed to feed them, but that also means they won’t come begging for your cheese. It’s almost relaxing enough to make the drive back home on 295 feel pleasant.

—Mike Madden

ball machines. If you ever hung out at a movie theater as a teenager, you’ll know the unique satisfaction of watching pinball machines chatter and clink while metallic balls smash around their insides. But unlike when you were a teenager, you can drink beer (at least legally) while messing around on pinball machines like Red and Ted’s Road Show, Avatar, and the rebooted Star Trek. —Tim Regan

Best Prince of Petworth Replacement D.C. subreddit

reddit.com/r/washingtondc

PoPville (née Prince of Petworth) used to be a

place where you could look, Being John Malkovich-style, into the minds of the most rabid, clueless Washington newcomers with Internet access. But thanks to a rigid comment policy and an increasingly public-minded prince, PoPville hardly offers the unfiltered look into white angst that it once did. Thankfully, that space has been filled by the D.C. subreddit, a forum that plays host to the most unfiltered gentrifier id this side of ChurchKey. On the D.C. subreddit, tourists are always standing on the left side of escalators and teens are always threatening public order with their ATVs. The naïveté can be charming, too. My favorite: asking whether a neighborhood is safe enough to rollerblade in.

—Will Sommer

Best Place to Wait in Line for Pinball

The Washington Post editorial board has its pas-

sions—charter schools, endless war in the Middle East. But these days, nothing gets them going like pushing along the mayoral plans of Muriel Bowser. Since Bowser took office, the ed board and District editorial impresario Jo-Ann Armao have run a series of editorials flacking for Bowser’s agenda on budgets and the D.C. Jail. In the Ward 8 special election, the Post pitched in for Bowser’s Green Team with an editorial about why people shouldn’t vote for one of the biggest rivals to Bowser’s favored candidate. Last year, the ed board endorsed Bowser in the primary, then stuck with her again in the general election (helped along by a heap of the animus towards Bowser rival David Catania over education). But a lot of the goodwill is Bowser’s inheritance from mentor and Post hero Adrian Fenty, who the ed board backed all the way until he lost the mayoralty. The Post’s influence isn’t what it used to be, which prompted Vince Gray’s campaign manager to declare it the “kiss of death” when Bowser won it during the primary. But Bowser’s own campaign manager had the more accurate appraisal of the ed board’s power: “If he doesn’t want it, I’ll take it.”

—Will Sommer

Best Pipe Dream Georgetown gondolas Exciting transportation projects (translation:

ones that don’t involve expanding a road) are getting a bad rap. The D.C. streetcar was declared a bust before a single paying customer had taken a ride. Yes, passenger service will likely begin on H Street NE and Benning Road at some point this year, and yes, D.C. is apparently expanding beyond the 2.4-mile line despite the decade of issues the city has faced on this project. But if we can’t get a streetcar system going in under ten years, despite the fact that trolleys first ran in America in the mid-19th century, why even propose something more ambitious?

Because, my friends, sometimes you need to (pipe) dream big. Enter the Georgetown gondolas, an actual idea to run cable cars on an elevated wire next to the Key Bridge from the D.C. neighborhood to Rosslyn. The idea was pitched as part of Georgetown 2028, a plan from the neighborhood’s business improvement district includes things that may actually happen like bike rack installations and wider sidewalks. It’s wildly expensive, it’s seemingly impractical, and it’s my favorite transportation pipe dream. See you on the gondolas in 2028.

—Sarah Anne Hughes

Leesburg

3720 14th St. NW, (202) 723-0502, lymanstavern.com

These days, bars are great places to practice

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Muriel Bowser and the Washington Post editorial board

Best Weekend Getaway

Lyman’s Tavern

the timeless art of standing in line. There’s a line to the door. A line to the bar. A line to the bathroom. Why not add another line to your routine? At Lyman’s Tavern in Petworth, patrons form lines not to tab out, but to stick quarters in one of the watering hole’s six pin-

Best Political Alliance

Best Creepy and Probably Haunted Statue, Staff Pick: Adams Memorial

Leesburg is just an hour’s drive from the District and has all the history and charm of other Loudon County villages but none of the snobbery (I’m looking at you, Middleburg). To really get a feel for spring, go for the annual Flower and Garden Festival on April 18 and 19 this year, but on any weekend you can stroll the downtown area and peruse locally owned shops. Stop by King Street Coffee to sample some locally roasted beans from Hopscotch Coffee

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PEOPLE & PLACES Roasters in Winchester, then time your caffeine buzz to carry you on the scenic drive home. Take U.S. 15 south on your way back to I-66 east and stop at some of the small wineries along the way, or just gawk at the farms and historic buildings on the route. Remind yourself that a farm mortgage out here is probably less than the rent you’re paying in the city.

—Emily Q. Hazzard Sigh wistfully.

the names of Middle Eastern villages, then telling Arabs to get a better language. You —Will Sommer tell ’em, Chris.

Best Local Talk Radio Host

A journey from D.C.’s northern neighbor-

Chris Plante, WMAL-AM Between national syndication deals and the pervasive liberal mood of the D.C. metro area, the local talk radio crank is nearly extinct in the District. Worse, most of the ones that remain opt for a cheerful business conservatism that wouldn’t rattle Jeb Bush. For the real thing, you’ve got to go to Chris Plante, who steers one of the area’s top righty talkers in the post-drive time slot from 9 a.m. to noon. Plante’s clumsy broadcasting skills and regularly fumbled words don’t cover up his frequent glimpses into the far right’s id. In talk radio kook terms, Plante’s show has it all, including a go-to whiney voice for impressions of his political opponents and an ambient disdain for anything #blacklivesmatter. To get some material for this blurb, I turned on WMALAM and found Plante stumbling through

Best Time to See D.C. United Modelo Sunday Funday 2400 E Capitol St. SE, (202) 587-5000, dcunited.com

hoods and suburbs to RFK Stadium to see some guys chase a ball for 90 minutes can suck up a lot of energy, especially if you’re relying on Metro to get there. Add on the cost of tickets and a beer and you’re looking at a 4-hour excursion that costs upwards of $50. But traveling to a game in Southeast becomes worth it on Sunday Funday, when, for $10, you can purchase a seat at the match and a 24 oz. Modelo or Tecate can, which normally costs $10 at RFK’s concession stands. Once you get to the stadium, just find a spot close to the action (technically your seat is assigned but let’s be honest: A Sunday-night sellout is rare), watch the men in black take on teams from big soccer towns like Salt Lake City and Orlando, and hold on for dear life while the stands shake.

It’s a good thing your pockets are heavier.

—Caroline Jones

Best Time to See D.C. United, Staff Pick: Modelo Sunday Funday

Best traffic Circle that Should Be immediately Eliminated Dave Thomas Circle Florida and New York avenues NE

You won’t find “Dave Thomas Circle” on a map or list of official traffic circles in D.C. And if you ask most Washingtonians if they’ve navigated around it, they’ll look puzzled. But for those of us who must regularly pass through the area where New York Avenue, Florida Avenue, First Street, and O Street meet in Northeast D.C., there is no other name for the traffic nightmare created to accommodate a Wendy’s. Traveling east through Dave Thomas Circle on Florida Avenue is simple enough, as is traveling north and south on New York Avenue. But the many lanes that wrap around the Wendy’s— like kudzu vines hoping to choke the life out of a tree—create a mind-blowingly unsafe and confusing situation. Let’s take, for example, drivers headed west on Florida Avenue, who—because of a Wendy’s!—cannot directly cross east. Instead, they are directed into one of four traffic lanes on First Street NE, where they are joined by drivers who turned off New York Avenue and Eckington Place and want to go east on Florida Avenue or First Street. (Following this so far?)

Drivers in these four traffic and one turning lanes often find themselves in the wrong cattle chute, leading them to cut off other

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drivers, as well as cyclists and pedestrians.

Believe it or not, this intersection was actually redesigned a few years ago in an effort to improve the quagmire. But the only way to do this properly is to raze the Wendy’s, which the company is unlikely to do considering how popular the location is. Think the D.C. United stadium at Buzzard Point is worth using eminent domain for? Try Dave Thomas Circle. —Sarah Anne Hughes

Best Argument for the War on Cars Wendy’s 100 New York Ave. NE

In the government office hellscape where New York and Florida avenues NE meet, there’s one bright spot: Wendy’s. While the chain’s perky commercial mascot isn’t for everyone, the fries definitely are. So why is one of the District’s most prominent Wendy’s so hard to reach? Located in an impossibly tiny triangle of land that’s blocked off by O Street NE, First Street NE, and the two state avenues, getting to and from the Wendy’s means risking your life for a fry sleeve. This is endstage automobile culture: a restaurant penned in by cars that is really difficult to reach in a car. If you manage to make it to Wendy’s, leaving is just as hard, thanks to the traffic patterns swirling around New York Avenue.

Thanks a lot, Henry Ford—I’ll stick with —Will Sommer Dave Thomas.

ouDo suffer you suffer Do you allergies? suffer m allergies? from from allergies?

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allergic conjunctivitis allergic conjunctivitis females females allergic females conjunctivitis s one screening Thestudy study visit, involves one in-house one screening stay of 4one days visit, one stay in-house stay of 4 days The involves one screening visit, in-house of 4 days • Ages • Ages 18 – 50 • History of eczema 18•–History 50 • Ages of • History 18 eczema – 50 of eczema / /3 3nights andand to outpatient visits.

Ifvisits. you qualify andqualify complete to 5 outpatient nights visits.

Ifupyou up5qualify to 5 outpatient and complete If you and complete “atopic dermatitis”“atopic “atopic dermatitis” dermatitis” • BMi 19 – 32 • BMi 19 – 32 • BMi 19 – 32 the youyou may receive up to $4,020 in compensation. y receive up the tostudy $4,020 study in compensation. may receive up to $4,020 in compensation.

• otherwise healthy • otherwise healthy • otherwise healthy non smoking males non smoking males non smoking males © 2014 PAREXEL International Corporation. All rights reserved.

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As a Full-Service Community Bank, We Offer: • Personal Banking

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• First-Time Home Buyer Programs • Commercial Loans washingtoncitypaper.com april 10, 2015 165

PEOPLE & PLACES Best Zoo Animal American bison

National Zoo 3001 Connecticut Ave. NW, nationalzoo.si.edu

The National Zoo has a charisma problem.

The latest panda cub flopped; the charming hippo is gone; Rusty the red panda has exhausted a city’s patience (we get it, he’s a horny rascal). The elephants, despite taking over ever-larger portions of the zoo, still just sway back and forth. So it’s a relief that, last year, the zoo ditched the glamor and brought in two American bison. The furry beasts harken back to the original bison pair that helped inspire the zoo’s creation in the first place, even if they don’t live on the National Mall like their predecessors. Better still, there’s no rush to visit Wilma and Zola—named by students from Gallaudet and Howard universities—so you can look at their enormous heads as long as you want. A sign near them reveals that 30 million bison once roamed North America. Would that we could be so lucky in —Will Sommer the District.

Best Lonely Zoo Animal Komodo dragon

National Zoo 3001 Connecticut Ave. NW, nationalzoo.si.edu

The National Zoo remains one of the most popular tourist destinations in D.C. despite being miles from the National Mall and the other Smithsonian museums. It’s not hard to see why: It has not one, not two, but three giant pandas, including baby Bao Bao. There’s a large outdoor elephant exhibit where a pachyderm who can paint lives. The naked mole rats inside the Small Mammal House?

The best. But whenever I visit the National Zoo, I make sure to check in with the Komodo dragon behind the Reptile Discovery Center. The requirement that you walk for about ten seconds to get from the front of the building to the back seems to deter visitors from checking out the Komodo dragon, who lives in a small glass enclosure obscured by dirt and scratches. Sure, most of the time he’s just being still or walking really slowly from one side of his exhibit to the other, but he’s still a Komodo dragon, one of only a few who live in captivity in North America. Attention —Sarah Anne Hughes must be paid.

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washingtoncitypaper.com april 10, 2015 167

model call

PEOPLE & PLACES

We are looking for people to feature in an ad campaign that will run this summer in DC. If you fit one of the categories below, we want to hear from you.

• Male and Female African American parent, ages 35 - 45 • Male and Female Caucasian parent, ages 40 -50 • Male and Female Hispanic parent, ages 35 - 45 • Male and Female African American youth/ pre-teen, ages 9 - 14 • Male and Female Caucasian youth/pre-teen, ages 9 - 14 • Male and Female Hispanic youth/pre-teen, ages 9 - 14 • Male Caucasian, ages 21 - 25

Simply send us a photo of yourself (headshot and full body) and include your name, age and contact information to models@ octanepublicrelations.com by 4/20/15. Follow-up will take place by 4/24/15. Note: Professional headshots and photos are not required.

Best Place to rub Shoulders With the rich and Powerful CityCenterDC 825 10th St. NW, (202) 289-9000, citycenterdc.com

Long gone are the days when trapeze artists practiced on the expansive parking lot in downtown D.C., but CityCenterDC is still flying high. Attracted by its glitter (or blinded by its glare), big-time politicos have lined up to drop ungodly sums on the condos there.

Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) got the party started early last year when she spent a record $2.7 million on a condo in the new complex. Attorney General Eric Holder and his wife soon joined them, dishing out $1.5 million on a condo that ensured Holder a short commute to the Department of Justice just five blocks to the south—until, that is, McCaskill and her Senate colleagues get around to confirming Holder’s successor. At least he doesn’t have to go far to lobby her to help him get out of a job from which he’s been trying to retire for more than six months.

The rental apartments aren’t much cheaper. Two-bedrooms go for $4,700 a month.

Under a deal with the city, 92 of the apartments were required to be “affordable”—but for many Washingtonians, they’re still out of reach. Half of those units will be available to households making up to 80 percent of area median income, or $86,000 a year for a family of four, while the other half are capped at 60 percent of AMI. Then there’s the retail mix at CityCenter.

“Mix” might be a strong word, given that 168 april 10, 2015 washingtoncitypaper.com

the retailers to sign on early were nearly all luxury bag stores, including luggage shop Tumi and handbag purveyors Kate Spade and Longchamp. Then came the fancy shoe stores, led by Allen Edmonds and Salvatore Ferragamo, and tony clothiers like Hugo Boss, Zadig & Voltaire, and Loro Piana. Top it all off with DGBG, the latest project of peripatetic French chef Daniel Boulud.

Howard Riker of Hines, the Houstonbased developer that built CityCenter, says all this luxury retail will serve the high-paying hotel guests around downtown whom the concierge previously directed to Tysons or Friendship Heights for upscale shopping.

That’s great for those visitors and for the retailers who collect their dollars. But what about for the rest of us? To many Washingtonians, the glitzy public alley and puzzling video display are less of an amenity than the Megabus stop that occupied part of the lot at the site after the old convention center there was demolished and before CityCenter started to go up. Was the shiny, mixeduse development the best use of the largest piece of vacant downtown land the city will have for many years to come (at least until the new convention center bids us adieu)?

This question will be long debated. But one thing’s clear: With people like McCaskill and Holder dropping those sums on condos and tourists paying $1,000 for handbags, it’s certainly been good for the city’s bottom line.

—Aaron Wiener

washingtoncitypaper.com april 10, 2015 169

PEOPLE & PLACES Best Government Twitter Account DC Water

Enroll Your Child Today!

Voted one of the Best Preschools in D.C.

In February, DC Water announced that its general manager, George Hawkins, had joined Twitter. His feed has been about what you’d expect from the director of a water authority: largely informational and promotional, and not exactly scintillating. (Sample tweets: “On a plane to first meeting the Board of the North American Electric Reliability Corporation”; “The IAC charge on your water bill pays for 13 miles of Metro sized tunnels to capture 98% of sewage overflow into our rivers.”) Then again, they don’t need to be scintillating: DC Water’s own Twitter account is the best the D.C. government (or, in this case, a government-established authority) has to offer. When a disaster like, say, a water main break happens, it’s quick and informative; at other times, it offers handy plumbing tips. But mostly, it’s just funny and savvy, with embedded videos, GIFs, Photoshopped images, and (actually relevant!) cat photos to bring out the fun side of water management you never knew existed. John Lisle, the witty former communications guru for the District Department of Transportation, headed up the Twitter account before he handed it off to the equally successful Andy Le. In addition to their fresh feed, they also know how to take a compliment: On March 9, when Atlas Brew Works head brewer Will Durgin tweeted, “@dcwater has, by far, the best twit-

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6 0 I S T R E E T S W | W A S H I N G T O N , D . C . 2 0 0 2 4 ( 2 0 2 ) 4 8 4 - 0 0 4 4 | W W W.WAT E R F R O N TA C A D E M Y. O R G

170 april 10, 2015 washingtoncitypaper.com

Best Person to Name Something After, Staff Pick: Marion Barry

ter feed of all municipal agencies,” DC Water responded, “If you really mean it, say it with beer.” Cheers to you, @dcwater.

—Aaron Wiener

Best Person to Name Something After Marion Barry

Less than 24 hours after Marion Barry’s death last November, a mural appeared in Petworth commemorating him. The hastily produced mural looked like less the Ward 8 councilmember and more like McDonald’s Grimace, but that’s not the point—people were hot to honor the Mayor-for-Life. So how is it that, nearly six months after Barry died, so little has been named after him? Blame it on the changeover between mayoral administrations, which threw Barry ally Vince Gray’s plans for a commission to decide on Barry honors into limbo. Finally reconstituted under Muriel Bowser, the commission aims to produce its recommendations by the end of the year. But At-Large Councilmember Vincent Orange already has his own idea: renaming the University of the District of Columbia after his old pal. Naming a school after the crack-smoking mayor—already a gag in Jon Lovitz’s High School High—would be nuts. One UDC student tells me having Barry’s name on his diploma would be cyanide for his career prospects. But for a mayor whose career that was full of unlikely moves, maybe this —Will Sommer should be the last one.

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Joy is an absolutely gorgeous black and tan coonhound who was rescued with her sister Juliet. Joy and Juliet are both calm, sweet girls. Joy seems to be housetrained, although like most dogs, may need a refresher in a new environment. Joy is a little shy at first but once she gets to know you, she loves to show you her spunky side!

She is very affectionate. Joy has been a great jogging partner. She also loves to go for a hike or just for a ride in the car! She has been easy to train and already has learned to go in the crate. Joy is a quiet and calm young gal, who can’t wait to give her new family tons of love and affection in return for a forever home!

I am already spayed, housetrained, and up to date with shots.

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washingtoncitypaper.com april 10, 2015 171

By the NumBers

166,102 154,102 Total votes submitted

Total valid votes

2013 Best of D.C.

136,613 valid votes

2014 Best of D.C.

125,598 valid votes

unique voters: 48,831 200000

AverAge vAliD votes per CAtegory: 573 Biggest margin of victory (winner’s votes as a percentage of total votes for a question)

Food & Drink 60,258

Bookstore Movers, 80% Best Movers Crown Pawnbrokers, 73.17% Best Pawn Shop

150000

Community Forklift, 70.85% Best Green Business Amsterdam Falafelshop, 69.15% Best Falafel Fred at Case Design, 63.70% Best Handyman

categories with the most votes:

Food Market, 3,295 Place to Volunteer, 3,011 Bar, 2,975 Restaurant, 2,835 Yoga Studio, 2,681 Burger, 2,630 Local Brewery, 2,114 Food Truck, 2,061 Nonprofit, 1,861 Pizza, 1,808

Arts & Entertainment 21,552

narrowest margin of victory

(winner’s votes as a percentage of total votes for a question)

&pizza, 4.69% Best100000 Restaurant When You Pay Alexandra Shandell, 4.59% Best Friend Fitzgerald Auto Mall , 4.43% Best Car Dealership Service Little Fountain Cafe, 3.34% Best Place to Take Someone on a First Date Inspired Teaching Public Charter School, 3.24% Best Middle School

reader comments we’re still contemplating The doctor to DC’s power gays...

Picking someone without herpes to 50000 Plus, they have a man in a boat!

Goods & Services 53,205

I don’t allow just anyone in my nether regions.

come home with you... It’s a minefield

It’s in Ohio

BOTTOMLESSSSSS

My skis pull out...

Fuck all of them. ALL OF THEM. Is this a joke question?

It’s like having a personal chef at 1/2 the cost. I’ve fired my personal chef!

Also known as how I sprained my ankle and woke up in my living room floor on my birthday.

172 april 10, 2015 washingtoncitypaper.com

So local it hurts. As in you’ll never find an avocado there.

Jocelyn. She is a dog.

Ceramics, baby!!

No one cooks with more sole than him.

Latin is dead. Long live Latin.

slap ma fro

LONG ISLAND ICED TEA!! OR SHOULD I SAY \STRONG-ISLAND\”!! “

i plan on dying there some day much further into the future than it would have been had they not taken such good care of me for years

LOL JK THERE ARE NO GOOD BAGELS IN DC. People & Places 19,087

That’s like asking “best communicable disease”

HOME. WHY PAY?

I grew up in jersey so I know from bagels! Panera has among the best!

Dear god, the Dark and Stormy is just sexual.

It’s like a party in your living room!

The dentist to DC’s power gays...

0

God & Mary are there!

Hey... wait a minute. Crap.

THANK YOU FOR VOTING! Get

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washingtoncitypaper.com april 10, 2015 173

174 april 10, 2015 washingtoncitypaper.com

CITYLIST Music

Friday Rock

Music . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175 Books . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 8 0 Galleries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 8 2 Theater . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 8 2 Film . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183

SearCh LISTIngS aT waShIngTonCITYpaper.Com

Dianne reeves at kennedy Center Concert hall, april 11

blaCk Cat baCkstage 1811 14th St. NW. (202) 667-4490. Church Night featuring Stranger in the Alps. 9 p.m. $12. blackcatdc.com.

Funk & R&B gypsy sally’s 3401 K St. NW. (202) 333-7700.

Nappy Riddem, Jay Worls, Higher Education. 8 p.m. $10–$14. gypsysallys.com.

u street musiC hall 1115 U St. NW. (202) 5881880. Crookers, Racecarbed, Basscamp. 10 p.m. $15. ustreetmusichall.com.

BluEs the hamilton 600 14th St. NW. (202) 787-1000.

Kiss & Ride. 10:30 p.m. Free. thehamiltondc.com. zoo bar 3000 Connecticut Ave. NW. (202) 2324225. Sooky Jump Blues Band. 9 p.m. Free. zoobardc.com.

Folk roCk & roll hotel 1353 H St. NE. (202) 388-ROCK. William Elliott Whitmore, Esme Patterson. 9 p.m. $13–$15. rockandrollhoteldc.com.

classical

Jazz atlas perForming arts Center 1333 H St. NE. (202) 399-7993. Andrew Bishop, Gerald Cleaver, Tim Flood. 8 p.m. $28. atlasarts.org.

Folger elizabethan theatre 201 E. Capitol St. SE. (202) 544-7077. Ships, Clocks, and Stars: Music of Telemann and Other Baroque Masters. 8 p.m. $37. folger.edu.

mr. henry’s 601 Pennsylvania Ave. SE. (202) 5468412. Kevin Cordt Quartet. 8 p.m. Free. mrhenrysdc.com. twins Jazz 1344 U St. NW. (202) 234-0072. Diane Marino. 9 p.m. & 11 p.m. $15. twinsjazz.com.

JEREMY ENIGK

saturday Rock

9:30 Club 815 V St. NW. (202) 265-0930. Dan Deacon, Prince Rama, Ben O’Brien. 10 p.m. $15. 930.com.

blaCk Cat 1811 14th St. NW. (202) 667-4490. The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, Daddy Long Legs. 9 p.m. $20. blackcatdc.com.

ClarenDon presbyterian ChurCh 1305 N. Jackson St., Arlington. (703) 527-9513. Sir Richard Bishop, Robert Millis, Kohoutek. 7 p.m. $10. clarendonpresbyterianchurch.org.

DC9 1940 9th St. NW. (202) 483-5000. Blue Blazer, DJ Matt Winter. 11:30 p.m. $10. dcnine.com. gypsy sally’s 3401 K St. NW. (202) 333-7700. The Suitcase Junket. 7:30 p.m. Free. gypsysallys.com. Splintered Sunlight. 9 p.m. $12–$15. gypsysallys.com.

BLUES EXPLOSION

SICK OF SARAH THE LAST YEAR

ANA TIJOUX HOWLIN’ RAIN

BLITZEN TRAPPER

APR 24

HANK GREEN

APR 25

EIGHTIES MAYHEM

MAY 6

barns at wolF trap 1645 Trap Road, Vienna. (703) 255-1900. Poulenc Trio. 8 p.m. $35. wolftrap.org.

blues alley 1073 Wisconsin Ave. NW. (202) 3374141. Ramsey Lewis. 8 p.m. & 10 p.m. $60. bluesalley.com.

APR 12

MAY 2

the hamilton 600 14th St. NW. (202) 787-1000.

Maxi Priest. 10 p.m. $25–$40. thehamiltondc.com.

tropiCalia 2001 14th St. NW. (202) 629-4535. Sensations Fix, Protect-U. 7:30 p.m. $10–$13. tropicaliadc.com.

PUNK ROCK KARAOKE

APR 18

iota Club & CaFé 2832 Wilson Blvd., Arlington.

(703) 522-8340. Blame It on Jane, Hand Painted Swinger. 8:30 p.m. $12. iotaclubandcafe.com.

baCk alley theater 1365 Kennedy St. NW. Andrea Parkins, Ayman Fanous, J. Surak. 7:30 p.m. $10. backalleytheater.tumblr.com.

APR 11

APR 16

gypsy sally’s 3401 K St. NW. (202) 333-7700. Allie Farris. 7:30 p.m. Free. gypsysallys.com.

CHURCH NIGHT (21+)

JON SPENCER

APR 15

Fillmore silver spring 8656 Colesville Road, Silver Spring. (301) 960-9999. Blackberry Smoke, The Temperance Movement, The Ben Miller Band. 8 p.m. $30. fillmoresilverspring.com.

DIAMOND RUGS

APR 11

APR 14

DC9 1940 9th St. NW. (202) 483-5000. Whirr, Adventures. 6:30 p.m. $12. dcnine.com.

ElEctRonic

@blackcatdc UPCOMING SHOWS

APR 10

blaCk Cat 1811 14th St. NW. (202) 667-4490.

Diamond Rugs, New Madrid, Justin Collins. 9 p.m. $16–$18. blackcatdc.com.

kenneDy Center ConCert hall 2700 F St. NW. (202) 467-4600. Chick Corea, Herbie Hancock. 8 p.m. $45–$125. kennedy-center.org.

www.blackcatdc.com

APR 10

9:30 Club 815 V St. NW. (202) 265-0930. Delta Rae. 6 p.m. $25. 930.com.

howarD theatre 620 T St. NW. (202) 803-2899.

Incognito, Maysa. 8 p.m. $39.50–$75. thehowardtheatre.com.

1811 14TH ST NW

MAY 8

HARRY & THE POTTERS

POKEY LAFARGE

SPEEDY ORTIZ PREE (RECORD RELEASE)

EVERY WEEKEND AT 7PM

FRIDAY

SATURDAY

TEN FORWARD SICK SAD WORLD A HAPPY HOUR "HAPPY" HOUR 1 STAR TREK:TNG TWO DARIA EP. PER WEEK

ROMULAN ALE SPECIALS

EPISODES PER WEEK MYSTIK SPIRAL DRINK SPECIALS

NOW OPEN at 5pm M-F!

howarD theatre 620 T St. NW. (202) 803-2899.

Dave Barnes & Matt Wertz, Jon McLaughlin. 7:30 p.m. $22–$45. thehowardtheatre.com. roCk & roll hotel 1353 H St. NE. (202) 388-ROCK. Elikeh. 8 p.m. $15. rockandrollhoteldc.com. u street musiC hall 1115 U St. NW. (202) 5881880. The Last Bison, Neulore. 7 p.m. $18. ustreetmusichall.com.

RED ROOM & LUCKY CAT PINBALL

TAKE METRO!

Funk & R&B roCk & roll hotel 1353 H St. NE. (202) 388-ROCK. Elikeh, the Sol Power All-Stars. 8 p.m. $15. rockandrollhoteldc.com.

WE ARE LOCATED 3 BLOCKS FROM THE U STREET/CARDOZO STATION

TO BUY TICKETS VISIT TICKETFLY.COM

washingtoncitypaper.com april 10, 2015 175

TRIVIA EVERY M O N D AY & W E D N E S D AY

$10 BURGER & BEER MON-FRI 4PM-7PM $3 PBR & NATTY BOH ALL DAY EVERY DAY

600 beers from around the world Downstairs: good food, great beer, $3 PBR & Natty Boh’s all day every day

*all shows 21+ THURS, APR 9

UNDERGROUND COMEDY DOORS OPEN AT 630PM FRI, APR 10

ELLIE QUINN PRESENTS EARTH’S MIGHTIEST BURLESQUE SHOW DOORS OPEN AT 830PM S AT, A P R 1 1

UNDERGROUND COMEDY DOORS OPEN AT 6PM SHOW AT 7PM

VALENTINE CANDY BURLESQUE SHOW DOORS OPEN AT830 MON, APR 13

TRIVIA

STARTS AT 730PM WITH DISTRICT TRIVIA TUES, APR 14

ElEctronic 9:30 Club 815 V St. NW. (202) 265-0930. The Ting Tings, Kaneholler. 6 p.m. $25. 930.com.

Pyramid atlantiC art Center 8230 Georgia Ave., Silver Spring. (301) 608-9101. Audrey Chen/ Margaret Rorison/Flandrew Fleisenberg, Janel Leppin/ Anthony Pirog/Jeff Surak. 8 p.m. $10. pyramidatlanticartcenter.org. u Street muSiC Hall 1115 U St. NW. (202) 5881880. Boddika, DJ Lisa Frank, Posers. 10 p.m. $12. ustreetmusichall.com.

Jazz blueS alley 1073 Wisconsin Ave. NW. (202) 3374141. Ramsey Lewis. 8 p.m. & 10 p.m. $60. bluesalley.com.

Kennedy Center ConCert Hall 2700 F St. NW. (202) 467-4600. Dianne Reeves and Friends. 8 p.m. $20–$68. kennedy-center.org.

Kennedy Center millennium Stage 2700 F St. NW. (202) 467-4600. The Blues Alley Youth Orchestra.

6 p.m. Free. kennedy-center.org. montPelier artS Center 9652 Muirkirk Road, Laurel. (301) 377-7800. The Freddy Cole Quartet. 5 p.m. $30. arts.pgparks.com.

tHe SCHleSinger Center at noVa Community College, alexandria CamPuS 3001 N. Beauregard St., Alexandria. (703) 845-6156. Alexandria Symphony: Dare to Think Heroically. 8 p.m. $5–$80. alexsym.org.

DJ nigHts Howard tHeatre 620 T St. NW. (202) 803-2899.

Mixtape with DJs Shea Van Horn and Matt Bailer. 11 p.m. $10–$12.50. thehowardtheatre.com. roCK & roll Hotel 1353 H St. NE. (202) 388-ROCK. Northeast Disco Communications. 5 p.m. Free. rockandrollhoteldc.com.

Sunday rock

birCHmere 3701 Mount Vernon Ave., Alexandria.

(703) 549-7500. Shawn Colvin, Rachael Sage. 7:30 p.m. $49.50. birchmere.com. blaCK Cat baCKStage 1811 14th St. NW. (202) 667-4490. Jeremy Enigk, El May. 7:30 p.m. $15. blackcatdc.com.

DOORS OPEN AT 6PM

mr. Henry’S 601 Pennsylvania Ave. SE. (202) 5468412. Natalie Jean. 8 p.m. Free. mrhenrysdc.com.

dC9 1940 9th St. NW. (202) 483-5000. Eskmo, Christopher Willits, Outputmessage. 9 p.m. $12–$15. dcnine.com.

LAST RESORT COMEDY SHOW

twinS Jazz 1344 U St. NW. (202) 234-0072. Diane Marino. 9 p.m. & 11 p.m. $15. twinsjazz.com.

gyPSy Sally’S 3401 K St. NW. (202) 333-7700. Josh Savage. 9:30 p.m. Free. gypsysallys.com.

BluEs

tHe Hamilton 600 14th St. NW. (202) 787-1000.

Pimps of Joytime, The London Souls. 7:30 p.m. $15–$20. thehamiltondc.com.

DUPONT ROTARY CLUB MEETING DOORS OPEN AT 630PM WED, APR 15

HIGHLAND BEER RELEASE PARTY STARTING AT 6PM. WE WILL BE POURING WOLFGANG, GAELIC, ST.T’S, CAHSMERE, BLACK MOCHA TRIVIA

STARTS AT 730PM WITH DISTRICT TRIVIA 1523 22nd St NW – Washington, DC 20037 (202) 293-1887 - www.bierbarondc.com @bierbarondc.com for news and events 176 april 10, 2015 washingtoncitypaper.com

Pimps of Joytime at the Hamilton, april 12

zoo bar 3000 Connecticut Ave. NW. (202) 2324225. Smokin’ Polecats. 9 p.m. Free. zoobardc.com.

Folk

warner tHeatre 513 13th St. NW. (202) 783-4000.

REO Speedwagon. 8 p.m. $43–$73. warnertheatre.com.

gyPSy Sally’S 3401 K St. NW. (202) 333-7700. The Suitcase Junket. 7:30 p.m. Free. gypsysallys.com.

Funk & r&B

Hip-Hop

boSSa biStro 2463 18th St NW. 202-667-0088. Trial

By Stone, One Tribe. 8 p.m. $5. bossproject.com.

Howard tHeatre 620 T St. NW. (202) 803-2899.

The Smokers Club featuring Devin The Dude & Backyard Band, Laelo. 11:30 p.m. $25–$70. thehowardtheatre.com.

gyPSy Sally’S 3401 K St. NW. (202) 333-7700. Cory Henry and the Funk Apostles, the Nth Power. 8 p.m. $15–$25. gypsysallys.com.

classical

Howard tHeatre 620 T St. NW. (202) 803-2899.

Faycez U Know. 7:30 p.m. $25–$45. thehowardtheatre.com.

Folger elizabetHan tHeatre 201 E. Capitol St. SE. (202) 544-7077. Ships, Clocks, and Stars: Music of Telemann and Other Baroque Masters. 5 p.m. & 8 p.m. $37. folger.edu.

roCK & roll Hotel 1353 H St. NE. (202) 388-ROCK. Young Fathers, Mas Ysa. 8 p.m. $15. rockandrollhoteldc.com.

washingtoncitypaper.com april 10, 2015 177

Jazz Blues alley 1073 Wisconsin Ave. NW. (202) 3374141. Ramsey Lewis. 8 p.m. & 10 p.m. $60. bluesalley.com.

UPTOWN BLUES

www.bethesdabluesjazz.com

A

P

R

I

L

THURSDAY APRIL 9

THE FABULOUS THUNDERBIRDS FEAT. KIM WILSON

PLUS THE CATHY PONTON KING BAND FRIDAY APRIL 10

THE CHUCK BROWN BAND SA 11 JOE CLAIR & FRIENDS TWO SHOWS! S 12 MICKEY BASS AND THE MANHATTAN BURN UNIT W 15 JIM KWESKIN AND GEOFF MULDAUR

w/

Fri. Apr. 10 Sat. Apr. 11 Fri. Apr. 17 Sat. Apr. 18 Fri. Apr. 24 Sat. Apr. 25

Sookey Jump BLueS Band Smokin’ poLecatS moonShine Society Stacy BrookS BLueS Band Swamp keeper’S Band Bruce ewan the red harmonica king

Sundays mike FLaherty’S

FRIDAY APRIL 17

TITO PUENTE JR & HIS ORCHESTRA SA 18 THE SOUL CRACKERS W/ TOMMY LEPSON SUNDAY APRIL 19

JUNIOR WALKER’S ALL STAR BAND THURSDAY APRIL 23

FREDA PAYNE

FRIDAY APRIL 24

CLUB NOUVEAU

PLUS CALVIN RICHARDSON TWO SHOWS!

TH 30

Open Mic Blues JaM Big Boy LittLe every Thursday

INTERNATIONAL JAZZ DAY FEATURING DAVE DAMIANI, SPENCER DAY AND MAYA SYKES M A Y

dixieLand direct Jazz Band

3000 Connecticut Avenue, NW (across from the National Zoo)

202-232-4225 zoobardc.com

Birchmere 3701 Mount Vernon Ave., Alexandria.

(703) 549-7500. Zappa Plays Zappa. 7:30 p.m. $65. birchmere.com.

Folk

Black cat Backstage 1811 14th St. NW. (202) 667-4490. Sick of Sarah, the Last Year. 7:30 p.m. $12. blackcatdc.com.

kenneDy center millennium stage 2700 F St. NW. (202) 467-4600. D.C. Lead Belly Showcase. 6 p.m. Free. kennedy-center.org.

Hip-Hop u street music hall 1115 U St. NW. (202) 5881880. Gordo Brega, Ethan Spalding, Uptown XO, King Streets, Cane, Snypa B, Anthony Naylor. 7 p.m. $15. ustreetmusichall.com.

classical folger elizaBethan theatre 201 E. Capitol St. SE. (202) 544-7077. Ships, Clocks, and Stars: Music of Telemann and Other Baroque Masters. 2 p.m. $37. folger.edu. phillips collection 1600 21st St. NW. (202) 3872151. Choral Arts Chamber Chorus. 4 p.m. $15–$30. phillipscollection.org.

WoRld

GIRMA YIFRASHEWA

F4

LUTHER RE-LIVES SHADOWS OF THE 60’S: A TRIBUTE TO THE FOUR TOPS

S 10

(MOTHER’S DAY BRUNCH & EVENING SHOW) WIL HART OF THE ORIGINAL DELFONICS

Bossa Bistro 2463 18th St NW. 202-667-0088.

Cheick Hamala Diabate. 9 p.m. Free. bossproject.com.

Vocal the hamilton 600 14th St. NW. (202) 787-1000.

Eliane Elias. 7:30 p.m. $30–$40. thehamiltondc.com.

Dc9 1940 9th St. NW. (202) 483-5000. Inter Arma, Yatuja. 9 p.m. $10–$13. dcnine.com. Inter Arma, Yautja, Drugs of Faith. 8:30 p.m. $10–$12. dcnine.com.

Dc9 1940 9th St. NW. (202) 483-5000. River City Extension, Air Traffic Controller. 8:30 p.m. $12–$14. dcnine.com. River City Extension, Cold Fronts, Duke Walker. 8:30 p.m. $12–$14. dcnine.com.

Funk & R&B

gypsy sally’s 3401 K St. NW. (202) 333-7700. Jake Jones. 7:30 p.m. Free. gypsysallys.com.

gypsy sally’s 3401 K St. NW. (202) 333-7700. Zach Deputy. 8 p.m. $12–$15. gypsysallys.com.

music center at strathmore 5301 Tuckerman Lane, Bethesda. (301) 581-5100. Engelbert Humperdinck. 8 p.m. $38–$88. strathmore.org.

Rock

Jazz Bohemian caverns 2001 11th St. NW. (202) 2990800. Bohemian Caverns Jazz Orchestra. 8 p.m. & 10 p.m. $10. bohemiancaverns.com.

Rock

rock & roll hotel 1353 H St. NE. (202) 388-ROCK. Rx Bandits, A Great Big Pile of Leaves, Cayetana. 8 p.m. $17.50. rockandrollhoteldc.com.

Funk & R&B Bossa Bistro 2463 18th St NW. 202-667-0088.

Granny & The Boys. 9 p.m. $5. bossproject.com.

Jazz mr. henry’s 601 Pennsylvania Ave. SE. (202) 5468412. Capitol Hill Jazz Jam with Herb Scott. 8 p.m.

Free. mrhenrysdc.com. twins Jazz 1344 U St. NW. (202) 234-0072. Nicole Saphos. 8 p.m. & 10 p.m. $10. twinsjazz.com.

countRy gypsy sally’s 3401 K St. NW. (202) 333-7700.

Front Country, Sol Driven Train. 8:30 p.m. $12–$15. gypsysallys.com. hylton performing arts center 10960 George Mason Circle, Manassas. (703) 993-7759. Phil Vassar, Lyndsey Highlander. 8 p.m. $28–$46. hyltoncenter.org.

7719 Wisconsin Ave., Bethesda, MD (240) 330-4500

178 april 10, 2015 washingtoncitypaper.com

WoRld

Black cat 1811 14th St. NW. (202) 667-4490. Ana Tijoux. 7:30 p.m. $15–$18. blackcatdc.com.

SA 16 KING SOUL

Two Blocks from Bethesda Metro/Red Line Free Parking on Weekends

kenneDy center millennium stage 2700 F St. NW. (202) 467-4600. Glenelg High Jazz Ensemble and Colonial Forge Jazz Choir. 6 p.m. Free. kennedy-center.org.

Monday

FEAT. WILLIAM “SMOOTH” WARDLAW SA 9

Jazz

Wednesday

TWO SHOWS! S3

Dc9 1940 9th St. NW. (202) 483-5000. Lee Bains III & the Glory Fires, Wanted Man, Father’s Honor. 8:30 p.m. $10. dcnine.com.

sixth & i historic synagogue 600 I St. NW. (202) 408-3100. Rodrigo Amarante, Big Search. 8 p.m. $15–$18. sixthandi.org.

EDDIE MONEY

BE’LA DONA

Rock

Bohemian caverns 2001 11th St. NW. (202) 2990800. Rob Mazurek’s Black Cube SP, Sao Paulo Underground. 7 p.m. & 8:30 p.m. bohemiancaverns.com.

MAY 1ST

SA 2

Tuesday

rodrigo amarante at sixth & i historic synagogue, april 12

Hip-Hop Black cat 1811 14th St. NW. (202) 667-4490.

Ana Tijoux, Rebel Diaz, Malportado Kids. 7:30 p.m. $15–$18. blackcatdc.com.

I.M.P. PRESENTS Merriweather Post Pavilion • Columbia, MD

JUST ANNOUNCED!

FAITH NO MORE

w/ Refused.................................. AUGUST 2 On Sale Friday, April 10 at 10am

THIS WEEK’S SHOWS

APRIL

ALL GOOD PRESENTS

FEATURING

The TingSeeds Tingsw/ w/The KANEHOLLER Show!

6pm Doors ................................. Sa Tribal Movement &Early Leilani Wolfgramm .........................................

Th11 2 Martin Sexton Show!

Galactic (F 3 - w/ w/ Brothers ChopteethMcCann • Sa 4 - Early w/ Too Many6pm ZoozDoors Band)............................ ..................F 3 &Sa Sa18 4 Randy Rogers Band Show!

Doors ................................................ Sa Benjamin Booker w/Late Olivia Jean 10:30pm .............................................................................

Su18 5 Manic Street Preachers w/ U.S. Royalty ................................................................M 20 ALL GOOD PRESENTS

Hurray For The Riff Raff w/ Son Little ................................................................. Tu 21 Kodaline w/ Gavin James ........................................................................................... Th 23 Iration w/ Stick Figure & Hours Eastly Early Show! 5:30pm Doors ................... Sa 25 U STREET MUSIC HALL PRESENTS

Duke Dumont w/ Will Eastman Late Show! 10:30pm Doors.............................. Sa 25 Houndmouth ................................................................................................................ Su 26 Spandau Ballet All 2/9 Spandau Ballet tickets honored. ................................... Tu 28

MAY Joe Pug w/ Field Report (solo) ......................................................................................Sa 2 Butch Walker w/ Jonathan Tyler................................................................................ Th 7 The Maine w/ Real Friends • Knuckle Puck • The Technicolors ......................... Su 10 Aaron Watson .............................................................................................................. Th 14 ALL GOOD PRESENTS

Papadosio ....................................................................................................................... F 15

AN EVENING WITH

Walk Off The Earth

.................................................................................................. Sa 16

MANY MORE SHOWS ON SALE!

9:30 CUPCAKES

930.com

The best thing you could possibly put in your mouth Cupcakes by BUZZ... your neighborhood bakery in Alexandria, VA. | www.buzzonslaters.com

Kendrick Lamar • Banks and more! ........ MAY 30 Calvin Harris • The Weeknd and more!... MAY 31

Y, APRIL 10 AT 10AM! SINGLE-DAY TICKETS ON SALE FRIDA m For more info, visit sweetlifefestival.co

feat.

Kix • Europe • Queensrÿche and more!............................... MAY 1 & 2

Two-day and Single-day tickets on sale now. For a full lineup, visit m3rockfest.com.

DC101 KERFUFFLE

FEATURING

Incubus • The Offspring • Panic! at the Disco • Dirty Heads and more! .......MAY 3 For a full lineup, visit dc101.com Florida Georgia Line w/ Thomas Rhett & Frankie Ballard ...............................MAY 9 Kenny Chesney w/ Jake Owen & Chase Rice ................................................. MAY 27 The Decemberists w/ Father John Misty .......................................................... JUNE 4 CAPITAL JAZZ FEST FEATURING

Kenny G • George Clinton and Parliament/Funkadelic and more!.............JUNE 5-7 For a full lineup, visit capitaljazz.com

Florence + The Machine ............................................................................ JUNE 9 Hozier w/ The Antlers ................................................................................................... JUNE 20 Fall Out Boy | Wiz Khalifa w/ Hoodie Allen & DJ Drama ............................... JUNE 27 Sam Smith .....................................................................................................................JULY 24 My Morning Jacket w/ Jason Isbell ...................................................................JULY 26 CDE PRESENTS 2015 SUMMER SPIRIT FESTIVAL FEATURING

ERYKAH BADU • ANTHONY HAMILTON and more! .................. AUG 8 For full lineup, visit merriweathermusic.com.

PHISH .........................................................................................................AUGUST 15 & 16

Willie Nelson & Family and Old Crow Medicine Show............ AUG 19 Darius Rucker w/ Brett Eldredge • Brothers Osborne • A Thousand Horses .... AUG 22 Death Cab For Cutie w/ very special guest Explosions in the Sky ..........SEPT 13 • merriweathermusic.com • 930.com

Echostage • Washington, D.C.

JUST ANNOUNCED!

9:30 CLUB PRESENTS AT U STREET MUSIC HALL Oh Land .......................................... Su MAY 3 The Last Bison w/ Neulore ........ Sa APR 11 Larsen & Natsuki Kurai Priests w/ Protomartyr & The Gotobeds .Th 16 Stu w/ Matt Sanders...................................... Th 7 Kitty, Daisy & Lewis w/ Gemma Ray ... F 17 Nick Hakim w/ Ben Talmi........................ F 8 Joey Fatts w/ Maxo Kream • Uno Hype • Vaunfe ................................. M 20 Haitus Kaiyote....................................... Sa 9 Footwerk w/ Trevor Young & DJ Heat Tennis w/ Kuroma ................................ Tu 12 and Twinkdrumz ................................... Th 23 Shy Girls w/ Young Ejecta.................... Th 30 Lo-Fang ................................................. W 13

EDWARD SHARPE AND THE MAGNETIC ZEROS ............................JUNE 16 On Sale Friday, April 10 at 10am

9:30 & BRINDLEY BROS. PRESENT

• Buy advance tickets at the 9:30 Club box office

DAR Constitution Hall • Washington D.C.

ABC’S NASHVILLE IN CONCERT

Atmosphere w/ B Dolan • deM atlaS • DJ Adatrak ................................................MAY 2 TV On The Radio w/ Bo Ningen ..........................................................................MAY 19 Hot Chip w/ Sinkane ...................................................................................................... JUNE 5 Tame Impala w/ Kuroma ....................................................................................SAT JUNE 6 Belle and Sebastian w/ Alvvays...................................................................... JUNE 11 Milky Chance w/ X Ambassadors ................................................................... SAT JULY 27 Interpol ............................................................................................................................JULY 28 Twenty One Pilots w/ Echosmith....................................................... SEPTEMBER 8 Stromae ............................................................................................................. SEPTEMBER 16 2135 Queens Chapel Rd. NE • Ticketmaster

FEATURING

Clare Bowen • Chris Carmack • Charles Esten and more!.. MAY 3 For full lineup, visit abc.com/nashvilletour.

Ticketmaster

Pimlico Race Course • Baltimore, MD

ARMIN VAN BUUREN w/ Childish Gambino .... SAT MAY 16 All day event! For more info, visit preakness.com/infield.

RFK Stadium • Washington, D.C.

20th Anniversary Blowout!

Buddy Guy • Gary Clark Jr. • Heart • and more! For full lineup, visit 930.com ... JULY 4 Ticketmaster

1215 U Street NW, Washington, D.C.

THIS SUNDAY!

Rhiannon Giddens (of Carolina Chocolate Drops/New Basement Tapes) w/ Bhi Bhiman . APRIL 12 Rick Springfield STRIPPED DOWN An intimate solo performance of music & storytelling

w/ Tad Kubler of The Hold Steady ......................................................................... APRIL 19

The Idan Raichel Project ................................................................................ APRIL 22 Daughtry STRIPPED - ACOUSTIC SHOW! w/ Lucie Silvas.................................................. MAY 2 Lisa Lampanelli .................................................................................................... MAY 29 LIVE NATION PRESENTS

T.J. Miller ................................................................................................... SAT JUNE 20

AEG LIVE PRESENTS

Jim Jefferies ....................................................................................... SAT NOVEMBER 7 • thelincolndc.com •

Tickets for 9:30 Club shows are available through TicketFly.com, by phone at 1-877-4FLY-TIX, and at the 9:30 Club box office.

9:30 CLUB BOX OFFICE HOURS are 12-7PM Weekdays & Until 11PM on show nights. 6-11PM on Sat & 6-10:30PM on Sun on show nights.

9:30 CUPCAKES The best thing you could possibly put in your mouth.

Cupcakes by BUZZ... your neighborhood bakery in Alexandria, VA. www.buzzbakery.com

U Street (Green/Yellow) stop across the street!

PARKING: THE OFFICIAL 9:30 parking lot entrance is on 9th Street, directly behind the 9:30 club. Buy your advance parking tickets at the same time as your concert tickets!

HAPPY HOUR DRINK PRICES

AFTER THE SHOW AT THE BACK BAR!

930.com

washingtoncitypaper.com april 10, 2015 179

ana tijoux at black Cat, april 15

EPA employee explains how the cars of the future will take on climate change. Politics & Prose. 5015 Connecticut Ave. NW. April 11, 1 p.m. Free. (202) 364-1919. ann paCkeR The acclaimed novelist chronicles five generations of family members living in Northern California in her new novel, The Children’s Crusade.

Politics & Prose. 5015 Connecticut Ave. NW. April 14, 7 p.m. Free. (202) 364-1919.

RobeRt D. putnaM The author, a professor of public policy at Harvard, studies economic disparities and their impact on students in Our Kids: The American Dream in Crisis. Politics & Prose. 5015 Connecticut Ave. NW. April 12, 5 p.m. Free. (202) 364-1919.

IOTA CLUB & CAFE

JaMes M. sCott Scott uses archival research to tell the story of James Doolittle, the Army pilot who retaliated against Japan after the Pearl Harbor attack in Target Tokyo: Jimmy Doolittle and the Raid that Avenged Pearl Harbor. Politics & Prose. 5015 Connecticut Ave. NW. April 15, 7 p.m. Free. (202) 364-1919.

12 taps--craft BEErs--growlErfills

new hours

open 4 pm

mon-tue-wed-thu

happy hour 4-7 pM BEforE shows

open 10 am

fri-sat-sun-hol

peteR slevin The author, a longtime Washington Post reporter, explores the life of the First Lady in Michelle Obama: A Life. Politics & Prose. 5015 Connecticut Ave. NW. April 13, 7 p.m. Free.

(202) 364-1919.

BrEakfast - Brunch - BoozE

april

th arcology @ iota 02 DJ saM snow on thE DEcks

7:30

frEE

fr blue heart revival 8:30 03 w/ Jonathan sloanE $12 & thE waywarD Dog

tavis sMiley Talk show host and radio personality Tavis Smiley remembers his friend, Maya Angelou, in his new book, My Journey with Maya. Barnes & Noble Downtown. 555 12th St. NW. April 10, 12:30 p.m.

Free. (202) 278-0300.

................................... sa e a r l y s h o w - a l l a g e s 04 amy speace 5:00 & MEgan palMEr-fiDDlE/vox $15

w/ katE kliM ...................................

tRaCy k. sMitH In the emotional memoir Ordinary Light, the author focuses her attention on her mother, whose abiding Christian faith inspired her to become a writer. Smith also reads April 12 at 6:30 p.m. at Busboys and Poets Brookland. Politics & Prose. 5015 Connecticut Ave. NW. April 11, 6 p.m. Free. (202) 364-1919.

8:30

sa hEllo DharMa 04 stErEoriots

$10

Ms friDrich’s MEssy ann BanD Dr roBErts & pEnny lanE su DaviD tEwksBury 7:30 05 BEn EpparDHJason BurkE $10 color schoolHpaulo franco 12 taps--craft BEErs--g rowlErfills 12 opEn taps--craft BEErs--g rowlErfills mo for happy hour 4 - 7 pM

IOTA IOTA CLUB CLUB & & CAFE CAFE

new hours ................................... open 4 pm mon-tue-wed-thu 06 no show tonight! closED for r&r

tu lgbtuesdays@iota frEE hour 4-7 pM & BEforE shows 07happy half-pricED apps hh until 9 pM

................................... open 10 am fri-sat-sun-hol --Do you -play?-wEBrEakfast Brunch 08 open mic night !

- BoozEfrEE 8:00

april arcology @ iota

two sign-ups @ 7:30 & 10:00pM

th th arcology @ iota fr blame it on jane 02 DJ saM snow on thE DEcks 02 10 DJ saM snow on thE DEcks

w/hanD paintED swingEr fr blue heart revival blue heartsloanE revival fr the weathervanes sa 03 w/ Jonathan 03 w/ karEn Jonathan sloanE 11 w/ & thEJonas waywarD Dog

7:30 7:30

8:30 frEE frEE

$12 8:30 8:30 8:30 $12 $12 $12

& thE waywarD Dog ................................... w/ DEar crEEk ...................................

sa s Mo e a r l y s h o w - a l l a g e 8:00 bachelor sa a r l yspeace s h oboys w - aband l l a gfrEE es 13 04 e amy 5:00 04 & MEgan speace 5:00 palMEr-fiDDlE/vox $15 champagne fever 8:30 fr amy MEgankliM palMEr-fiDDlE/vox $15 17 w/& katE alarkE w/ sara curtin $10 w/ katE kliM firstand come first served 8:30 sa hEllo DharMa SU Bells Hunters 8:00 thank you for your business 04 $10 stErEoriots sa DharMa 8:30 Braddock Station Garrison 19 hEllo 04 stErEoriots $10 Ms friDrich’s MEssy ann BanD $10 -CD Release show-

...................................

................................... iotaclubandcafe.com

W/ DONWILSON ZIENTA 2832 BLVD ...............................................

Dr roBErts & pEnny lanE 7:30 su DaviD tEwksBury ARLINGTON VA @IOTA 703/522-8340 TU BEn LGBTuesdays FREE 05 EpparDHJason BurkE su DaviD tEwksBury 7$10 :30 2 1/2 BLOCKS EAST OF 21 color HALF-PRICED APPS & HH till 9pm schoolHpaulo franco 05 $10 ...............................................

BEn EpparDHJason BurkE CLARENDON METRO

Dr roBErts & MEssy pEnny ann lanEBanD Ms friDrich’s

mo opEn happy - 7FREE pM WE color --DO for YOU PLAY?--hour 4 schoolHpaulo franco 06 show tonight! closED for r&r OPEN MIC NIGHT 22 no mo opEn for happy hour! 4 - 78:00 pM TWO SIGN-UPS 7:30 & 10:00PM 06 lgbt no show tonight!@ closED for frEE r&r tu uesdays @iota ADAM EZRA 8:30 TH 07 half-pricED apps & hh until 9 pM 23 $12 tu uesdays@iota frEE 07 Melissa 7:30 FR half-pricED -Do youFerrick play?-wE apps & hh until 9frEE pM 08 8:00 w/Andy Zipf $20 24 open mic night !

...................................

................................... ................................... lgbt

...................................

sign-ups @ 7:30 & 10:00pM --Do you play?-frEE wE two (The Cowards Choir) 08 8:00 mic night !

SA open Bombadil and 9:00 fr blame it on jane 8:30 two sign-ups @ 7:30 & 10:00pM 10 /hanD paintED swingEr $12 Darlingside $15 25 w Theweathervanes Harry Bells 7:30 SU blame fr it on jane the 8:30 sa 11 10 ALAN AND 26 w/ karEn Jonas ww/SIR /hanD paintED swingEr $12 $12

w/ DEar crEEk THE CALYPSO PONZI SCHEMERS

the weathervanes 8:30 sa ...............................................

Mo 8:00 11 bachelor boys band FREE karEn Jonas $12 TU w/ LGBTuesdays @IOTA 13 frEE DEar crEEk

28 champagne HALF-PRICED APPS & HH till 9pm fever 8:30 fr ...............................................

Mo 8:00 17 bachelor w/ alarkE w/ sara $10 boyscurtin band frEE 13 WE --DO YOU PLAY?-FREE first come first served OPEN MIC NIGHT !

8:00 22 champagne fever 8:30 fr thank you for your business SIGN-UPS @ 7:30 & 10:00PM 17 w/TWO alarkE w/ sara curtin $10 w/

i o tfirst a c l ucome b a nfirst d c a served fe.com

2832 WILSON BLVD

thank you for your business ARLINGTON i o t a c l u b a VA n d c703/522-8340 afe.com

2 1/2 BLOCKS EAST OF

C L2832 A R EWILSON N D O N MBLVD ETRO

ARLINGTON VA 703/522-8340 2 1/2 BLOCKS EAST OF

CLARENDON METRO

Thursday Rock

9:30 Club 815 V St. NW. (202) 265-0930. Walk The Moon, The Griswolds. 7 p.m. (Sold out) 930.com. blaCk Cat baCkstage 1811 14th St. NW. (202) 667-4490. Howlin’ Rain. 7:30 p.m. $12. blackcatdc.com.

DaR Constitution Hall 1776 D St. NW. (202) 628-4780. John Mellencamp. 7:30 p.m. $53–$145. dar.org.

DC9 1940 9th St. NW. (202) 483-5000. Hookworms. 9 p.m. $10. dcnine.com. u stReet MusiC Hall 1115 U St. NW. (202) 5881880. Priests, Protomartyr, the Gotobeds. 7 p.m. $15. ustreetmusichall.com.

Funk & R&B bossa bistRo 2463 18th St NW. 202-667-0088. The Blue Beat All-Stars, The Transmitters. 8:30 p.m. $5. bossproject.com.

countRy gypsy sally’s 3401 K St. NW. (202) 333-7700.

Hackensaw Boys, New Country Rehab. 8:30 p.m. $15–$20. gypsysallys.com.

MR. HenRy’s 601 Pennsylvania Ave. SE. (202) 5468412. Hollertown. 8 p.m. Free. mrhenrysdc.com.

WoRld aRtispHeRe 1101 Wilson Blvd., Arlington. (703) 8751100. Fatoumata Diawara. 8 p.m. $24. artisphere.com.

classical kenneDy CenteR MillenniuM stage 2700 F St. NW. (202) 467-4600. NSO Youth Fellows. 6 p.m. Free. kennedy-center.org.

180 april 10, 2015 washingtoncitypaper.com

Books

an evening of HuMoRous ReaDings Comedians, humor writers, and newspaper columnists come together to read from their work at this casual evening hosted by Brian Agler. Kramerbooks & Afterwords Cafe. 1517 Connecticut Ave. NW. April 13, 8 p.m.

Free. (202) 387-1400. tHe aRt of tRavel Local travel writers offer up tricks and tips for making the most of your vacations, whether you’re venturing far or sticking close to home.

Kramerbooks & Afterwords Cafe. 1517 Connecticut Ave. NW. April 15, 6:30 p.m. Free. (202) 387-1400.

MattHew b. CRawfoRD The author explores handson occupations and how we maintain focus amid many distractions in The World Beyond Your Head: On Becoming an Individual in an Age of Distraction.

Politics & Prose. 5015 Connecticut Ave. NW. April 12, 1 p.m. Free. (202) 364-1919. gRantlanD panel witH JonaH keRi Keri, a staff writer for Grantland.com, leads a panel discussion with several other writers for the sports and entertainment website. Presented by Politics & Prose. Busboys and Poets Takoma. 234 Carroll St. NW. April 15, 6:30 p.m.

Free. (202) 726-9525. pHilip keRR The author reads from his 10th Bernie Gunther thriller, The Lady from Zagreb, in which the detective is sent to Croatia to figure out how mysterious events connect to a rising German film star. Politics & Prose. 5015 Connecticut Ave. NW. April 10, 7 p.m.

Free. (202) 364-1919.

JuDitH MilleR Miller, the notorious New York Times reporter who got drawn into the middle of the Plame Affair, recounts her version of the events in The Story: A Reporter’s Journey. Politics & Prose. 5015 Connecticut Ave. NW. April 16, 7 p.m. Free. (202) 364-1919. azaR nafisi Nafisi, a Johns Hopkins University professor and the author of Reading Lolita in Tehran, discusses her work and accepts the Smithsonian Accociates’ Benjamin Franklin Creativity Laureate Award. S. Dillon Ripley Center. 1100 Jefferson Dr. SW. April 10, 7 p.m. $20-$25. (202) 633-3030.

MaRgo oge In Driving the Future: Combating Climate Change with Cleaner, Smarter Cars, the former

JennifeR teege The author, who was placed up for adoption when she was one month old, explores her heritage in her new memoir, My Grandfather Would Have Shot Me: A Black Woman Discovers Her Family’s Nazi Past. Sixth & I Historic Synagogue. 600 I St. NW. April 15, 7 p.m. $12-$25. (202) 408-3100.

Galleries

aDaMson galleRy 1515 14th St. NW, Suite 202.

(202) 232-0707. adamsongallery.jimdo.com. Opening: “Gordon Parks: A Segregation Story” Photographs chronicling racial segregation throughout America by the late Life magazine photographer Gordon Parks.

April 11–June 27. anaCostia aRts CenteR 1231 Good Hope Road SE. anacostiaartscenter.com. OngOing: “Eternal Spring” Artist Matt Hollis affixes hundreds of artificial flower petals to his canvases to both mimic and celebrate the changing seasons in this exhibition of assemblages. March 27–April 25. aRtispHeRe 1101 Wilson Blvd., Arlington. (703) 8751100. artisphere.com. OngOing: “Infinitesimal” Artist Monica Stroik explores the limits of perception and memory in this immersive new exhibition of oil paintings that draws inspiration from Artisphere’s architecture. Feb. 4–April 25. Opening: “Bruised” Local animator Safwat Saleem and WAMU’s Rebecca Sheir curate this new participatory art project that invites visitors to share their stories of defeat. Saleem will then animate the stories and display them on screens throughout the building. April 15–July 31. atHenaeuM 201 Prince St., Alexandria. (703) 5480035. nvfaa.org. ClOsing: “Enveloping Time” Paintings, collages, and mixed media pieces featuring envelopes and other print media motifs are highlighted in this retrospective of works by artist Robert Cwiok. Feb. 26–April 12. Opening: “Rara Avis” Martin Tarrat and Langley Spurlock present “The Abcdearium of Birds,” a collection of illustrations and verses about imaginary birds, while Beverly Ress presents large-scale drawings and constructions of birds. April 16–May 31. bRentwooD aRts exCHange 3901 Rhode Island Ave., Brentwood. (301) 277-2863. arts.pgparks.com.

OngOing: “Brentwood Arts Exchange 5th Anniversary Show” Artists who’ve presented work at the center

washingtoncitypaper.com april 10, 2015 181

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lee bains iii and the Glory fires at dC9, april 15 over the years return to celebrate at this anniversary show. March 16–May 9.

CaPitol skyline Hotel 10 I St. SW. (202) 4887500. capitolskyline.com. OngOing: “Upward Mobility” Photographer Avi Gupta presents a large-scale photograph of the Corcoran Gallery of Art’s staircase printed on a banner on the side of the Capitol Skyline Hotel to close the WPA’s South Capitol Skyscape series.

Feb. 2–April 30.

lonG View Gallery 1234 9th St. NW. (202) 2324788. longviewgallery.com. OngOing: “Networks” Abstract paintings by Long View regulars Sondra N. Arkin and Eve Stockton. April 2–May 3.

Carroll square Gallery 975 F St. NW. (202) 234-5601. carrollsquare.com. OngOing: “Linear Function” Artists Alex Mayer, Nick Primo, and Douglas Whitmer present paintings and sculptures that require a sparse use of materials, be it wood, paint, or steel.

Feb. 6–April 24.

Morton fine art 1781 Florida Ave. NW. (202) 6282787. mortonfineart.com. ClOsing: “Natalie Cheung” Abstract, colorful photographs by local artist Natalie Cheung. March 27–April 16. ClOsing: “Andrei Petrov” Abstract landscape paintings by artist Andrei Petrov.

March 27–April 16.

Cross MaCkenZie Gallery 2026 R St. NW. (202) 333-7970. crossmackenzie.com. OngOing: “Blast Off!” Flight-themed works by artists Eve Biddle & Joshua Frankel, Matthew Courtney, David Favrod, Maxwell MacKenzie, Philip Slagter, and Trevor Young.

April 3–April 25.

old Print Gallery 1220 31st St. NW. (202) 9651818. oldprintgallery.com. ClOsing: “Tonal Array” Aquatints from the late 20th and early 21st centuries by artists including Linda Adato, Takamune Ishiguro, and Henry Ziegler. Feb. 20–April 11.

tHe fridGe Rear Alley, 516 Eighth St. SE. (202) 6644151. thefridgedc.com. OngOing: “Rose Jaffe.” New colorful portraits by local artist Rose Jaffe.

April 4–May 3.

Gallery Plan b 1530 14th St. NW. (202) 234-2711. galleryplanb.com. OngOing “Africa” Landscape paintings inspired by artist Freya Grand’s travels around the continent. March 25–May 3.

GoetHe-institut wasHinGton 812 7th St. NW. (202) 289-1200. www.goethe.de/washington. OngOing: “gute aussichten: new german photography 2014/2015” The eight winners of this annual photography competition display more than 300 images chronicling everything from life in Haiti and the Dominican Republic to the Matterhorn. March 5–May 1.

Greater reston arts Center 12001 Market St., Ste. 103, Reston. (703) 471-9242. restonarts.org.

Opening: “Installation” Sculptor Patrick Dougherty installs a new piece in Reston’s Town Square Park and the Arts Center showcases images of his other largescale works around the world. April 16–July 3.

Greater reston arts Center 12001 Market St., Ste. 103, Reston. (703) 471-9242. restonarts.org.

Opening: “Patterson Clark” The Washington Post’s “Urban Jungle” columnist presents a series of works printed on wood carved from invasive tree species.

April 16–July 3.

Hillyer art sPaCe 9 Hillyer Court NW. (202) 3380680. artsandartists.org. OngOing: “CircuitScapes” Paintings of computer circuits styled to look like landscapes by painter Glen Kessler. April 3–April 25. OngOing: “J.D. Deardourff” Colorful screenprints inspired by comic books by graphic designer and artist J.D. Deardourff. April 3–April 25.

182 april 10, 2015 washingtoncitypaper.com

Honfleur Gallery 1241 Good Hope Road SE. (202) 365-8392. honfleurgallery.com. OngOing: User Error” Larry Lairson references op-art in his large paintings that frequently incorporate materials like glue and linen. March 20–May 1.

robert brown Gallery 1662 33rd St. NW. (202) 338-0353. robertbrowngallery.com. OngOing: “Thirty Years of Discoveries” View paintings, ceramics, and calligraphy at this retrospective exhibition celebrating the works of artist Stephen Addiss. Feb. 28–April 18. transforMer Gallery 1404 P St. NW. (202) 483-1102. transformergallery.org. OngOing: “Before the Law” Raul Romero and Jane Carver use Kafka’s “before the law” parable as inspiration for this multimedia show that explores the relationship between absolutism and relativity. March 14–April 25.

Visarts 155 Gibbs St., Rockville. (301) 315-8200. visartsatrockville.org. OngOing: “Jeffrey Cooper” New wood carvings and sculptures by artist Jeffrey Cooper.

March 27–April 26.

ViVid solutions Gallery 1231 Good Hope Road SE. (202) 365-8392. vividsolutionsdc.com. OngOing: “Anacostia River Photography” D.C. residents share their photos and memories of the Anacostia River in this open-call group show. March 20–May 1.

ZenitH Gallery 1429 Iris St. NW. (202) 783-2963. zenithgallery.com. OngOing: “Women of Zenith Who Have Reached the Zenith” Female artists take over the walls at this exhibition to celebrate Washington’s female leaders and Zenith Gallery’s 37th anniversary.

Jan. 14–April 26.

TheaTer

Carousel A carousel barker gets a second chance at love in this Rodgers and Hammerstein musical that features classic songs like “You’ll Never Walk Alone” and “If I Loved You.” Olney Theatre Center. 2001 OlneySandy Spring Road, Olney. To May 10. $18-$75. (301) 924-3400. olneytheatre.org.

Hub Theatre at John Swayze Theatre. 9431 Silver King Court, Fairfax. To May 3. $20-$30. (703) 674-3177. thehubtheatre.org. uncle Vanya Round House presents the area premiere of playwright Annie Baker’s adaptation of Chekhov’s classic about a blended family that fights over the value, both sentimental and monetary, of a country estate. Round House Theatre Bethesda. 4545 East-West Highway, Bethesda. To May 3. $10-$50.

(240) 644-1100. roundhousetheatre.org.

Vanya and sonIa and masHa and sPIke Playwright Christopher Durang satirizes Chekov’s characters and premises in this Tony-winning play about two dreary siblings whose lives are upended when their sister comes to visit with her new boyfriend and makes a big announcement. Aaron Posner, whose Chekov adaptation Stupid Fucking Bird impressed local audiences in 2013, directs. Arena Stage. 1101 6th St. SW. To May 3. $55-$100. (202) 488-3300. arenastage.org.

Film

3 Hearts Marc and Sylvie meet after missn ing a train in France and spend a blissful night

murder Ballad at studio theatre, april 15 to may 10 Freedom’s song Abraham Lincoln’s life and words come to life in this musical that tells the stories of individuals’ highs and lows throughout the Civil War. Ford’s Theatre. 511 10th St. NW. To May 20. $27-$69.

(202) 347-4833. fordstheatre.org. g-d’s Honest trutH Roberta and Larry, a devoted Jewish couple, have the opportunity to rescue a Holocaust torah and give it to their synagogue. Renee Calarco’s new comedy, inspired by the true story of Rabbi Menachem Youlus, examines how communities deal with scandals past and present. Theater J. 1529 16th St. NW. To April 19. $10-$65. (202) 518-9400. theaterj.org. tHe Island This South African play, devised by Athol Fugard, John Kani, and Winston Ntshona, explores the physical and psychological torture suffered by black political prisoners during Apartheid through the guide of a performance of Antigone. 1201 N. Royal St., Alexandria. To April 26. $50-$55. (703) 548-9044. metrostage.org. laugH Mabel, a wealthy orphan, is sent to live with a calculating aunt who aims to steal her fortune by setting Mabel up with her son. Their courtship flounders but reveals a love of movies and ultimately results in a Hollywood-style romance. Wayne Barker designed original music for this world premiere of Beth Henley’s play. Studio Theatre. 1501 14th St. NW. To April 19. $20-$78. (202) 332-3300. studiotheatre.org. lIgHts rIse on grace An African-American young man and a daughter of Chinese immigrants fall in love in an inner-city high school. They reconnect after six years, during which the man is swallowed by the system, and struggle to figure out their altered relationship in Chad Beckim’s new play about love, faith, and family. Woolly Mammoth Theatre. 641 D St. NW. To April 26. $40-$68. (202) 393-3939. woollymammoth.net.

14th St. NW. To May 10. $20-$50. (202) 332-3300. studiotheatre.org. old WIcked songs A young American piano prodigy moves to Vienna in order to conquer a case of writer’s block and meets a tough and traditional Austrian teacher. As the two very different characters interact, it’s unclear whether they’ll suffer or survive working together. 1st Stage. 1524 Spring Hill Road, McLean. To May 3. $15-$28. (703) 854-1856.

1ststagespringhill.org.

wandering the streets together. When they depart, Sylvie returns to an ex, while Marc marries Sylvie’s sister, threatening the relationships between all three of them. (See washingtoncitypaper.com for venue information) dancer Iranian dancer Afshin Ghaffarn desert ian forms an underground dance company during the dramatic 2009 presidential election in this film based on a true story. (See washingtoncitypaper.com for venue information) eFFIe gray An art critic, his wife, and a pre-Raphaelite artist are drawn into a love triangle in this romantic drama based on a true story. Dakota Fanning, Tom Sturridge, and Emma Thompson star. (See washingtoncitypaper.com for venue information)

tHe orIgInalIst Arena Stage Artistic Director Molly Smith directs the world premiere of John Strand’s drama about cantankerous Supreme Court justice Antonin Scalia. Helen Hayes Award winner Edward Gero stars as Scalia, who spars with a stubborn, liberal law clerk as they prepare for an important case. Arena Stage. 1101 6th St. SW. To April 26. $70-$110. (202) 488-3300. arenastage.org.

FurIous 7 The crazy, car racing crew from the previous Fast and the Furious films are in danger after the brother of a man they killed comes seeking revenge.

(See washingtoncitypaper.com for venue information)

PassIon Play Sarah Ruhl’s extravagant play jumps from Elizabethan England to Weimar-era Germany to America in the ‘80s as different groups of people act out the annual story of Christ’s resurrection. Michael Dove direct’s Forum’s production, which follows in the tradition of past shows like Angels in America and Scorched. Forum Theatre at Silver Spring Black Box Theatre. 8641 Colesville Road, Silver Spring. To April 11. $30-$35. (240) 644-1390. forum-theatre.org.

longest rIde A former champion bull n tHe rider and a college student who dreams of mak-

sImPly sondHeIm Signature Theatre celebrates 25 years of producing musicals by Stephen Sondheim with a new review directed by Eric Schaeffer and featuring six favorite Signature vocalists. Signature Theatre. 4200 Campbell Ave., Arlington. To April 19. $75-$90. (703) 820-9771. signature-theatre.org.

man oF la mancHa Don Quixote’s epic journey past windmills and monsters comes to life in this classic musical that features songs like “I Really Like Him” and “The Impossible Dream.” Sidney Harman Hall. 610 F St. NW. To April 26. $20-$110. (202) 547-1122. shakespearetheatre.org.

soon In this world premiere by composer and lyricist Nick Blaemire, all of earth’s water is due to evaporate in a few months, which sends aimless 20-something Charlie into hibernation on the couch. Her mother, friend, and boyfriend try to encourage her to take advantage of what time is left but she soon reveals past events that have kept her confined physically and emotionally. Signature Theatre. 4200 Campbell Ave., Arlington. To April 26. $39-$94. (703) 820-9771. signature-theatre.org.

marIela In tHe desert Playwright Karen Zacarías’ draws inspiration from the lives of Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo to tell this story about Mexican art patrons who find their inspiration lacking when their family and friends move away. GALA Hispanic Theatre. 3333 14th St. NW. To May 10. $20-$50. (202) 234-7174. galatheatre.org.

sWIng tIme—tHe musIcal Enjoy the music of Benny Goodman, Glen Miller, and Duke Ellington in this comedic wartime musical set during a war bond radio drive broadcast. Arleigh & Roberta Burke Theater at the U.S. Naval Heritage Center. 701 Pennsylvania Ave. NW. To June 24. $19-$49. (202) 573-8127. swingtimethemusical.com.

murder Ballad A woman revels in her perfect life until her ex-lover returns to turn everything upside down. David Muse directs Julia Jordan and Juliana Nash’s exciting rock musical. Studio Theatre. 1501

tHe tyPograPHer’s dream A typographer, geographer, and stenographer discuss their careers in this comedy that questions what happens when your job is your life and you happen to hate your job. The

A REVENGE FANTASY THAT’S LIKE NOTHING YOU’VE SEEN ON SCREEN BEFORE. FIERCE AND BEAUTIFUL.”

“

me tHree tImes Simon Pegg stars in this n kIll comedic thriller about an assassin who discovers he isn’t the only person attempting to kill his target.

(See washingtoncitypaper.com for venue information)

ing her name in New York’s art world fall in love but find conflict in their relationship. Based on the novel

by Nicholas Sparks. (See washingtoncitypaper.com for venue information) magIcIan: tHe astonIsHIng lIFe and Work oF orson Welles Documentarian Chuck Workman turns his attention to the career of actor, writer, and director Orson Welles in this new film that incorporates rarely seen archival footage. (See washingtoncitypaper. com for venue information)

– Manohla Dargis, The New York Times

I CANNOT SAY ENOUGH ABOUT THIS EXTRAORDINARY FILM. WILDLY EXHILARATING.”

“

– Dennis Dermody, Paper

THE GREAT THING ABOUT THE FILM IS THAT THE MORE YOU COMAND IT TO SIT AND STAY, THE MORE IT SLIPS ITS LEASH AND RUNS AMOK.” “

– Anthony Lane, The New Yorker

“ Tender, harrowing and

heartbreaking.

THE FINAL SCENE IS AS TRANSCENDANT AS ANYTHING I’VE EVER SEEN IN THE MOVIES.” – Amy Taubin, Art Forum

“ The first thing to be said about this film, is that

THERE’S NEVER BEEN ANYTHING QUITE LIKE IT.

The whole production speaks well for the power of film; IT’S A SERIOUS STUNNER.” – Joe Morgenstern, The Wall Street Journal

tHe salt oF tHe eartH Filmmakers Wim Wenders and Juliano Ribeiro Salgado chronicle the like and career of Brazilian photographer Sebastião Salgado in their award-winning documentary. (See washingtoncitypaper.com for venue information) WHIle We’re young Ben Stiller and Naomi Watts play a middle-aged couple whose lives and livelihoods are upended when they form a friendship with their 20-something neighbors. (See washingtoncitypaper. com for venue information) god Told from the perspective of an n WHIte abandoned mixed breed dog, this Hungarian film follows him as he leads dozens of other half-breed followers as they rise up against their human oppressors.

(See washingtoncitypaper.com for venue information) Woman In gold Helen Mirren stars as Maria Altmann, a Holocaust survivor who takes her fight to reclaim a portrait of her aunt that was stolen by the Nazis all the way to the Supreme Court, in this film inspired by a true story. (See washingtoncitypaper.com for venue information)

WHITE GOD a film by

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EXCLUSIVE ENGAGEMENT STARTS FRIDAY, APRIL 10

Film clips are written by Caroline Jones. washingtoncitypaper.com april 10, 2015 183

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Art, Media & Design

Musical Instruction/ Classes Stand-UP! Speak-UP! and SING-OUT!!! (Finding Your Inner Voice) One Day Intensive Saturday, April 11, 2015 10:30AM-3:30PM Light Lunch Provided Cost $100 in Advance $125 @ door McNair Studio & Production Co., LLC @St Paul United Methodist Church 2601 Colston Dr, Chevy Chase MD 20815 Facilitated by noted Medical Doctor & Spine Specialist Dr. Deborah L. Bernal & Dwight McNair-The Vocal Sensei

EAT, DRINK, PAINT! Learn the secrets to painting in a 2 hour class - Sip, snack, paint your night away! *BUY TICKETS on FACEBOOK* (Search: Learn Make Live) www.Universe.com/LearnMakeLive No Experience needed!

Legal Services OWE BACK TAXES, RECENT ARREST, other legal problems? Contact the Law Offi ce of Effi e Forde to get the help you need - 202-5081483. Conveniently located to METRO.

This workshop empowers you to let your inner voice speak through you & to you by helping you identify, express & live in your truth.

Improve lung capacity, posture & body stance for vocal projection. Promote clarity of thought, speech and message. Remove blockages like stage fright & performance anxiety.

Use your voice with more ease & confidence.

Call 202-486-3741 or email dwight@dwightmcnair.com

Tenley Bulk Trash Removal and light moving. 202-437-4413.

Antiques & Collectibles

Garage/Yard/ Rummage/Estate Sales Flea Market every Saturday 10am-4pm. 5615 Landover Rd. Cheverly, MD. 20784. Contact 202-355-2068 or 301-772-3341 for details.

YARD SALE! Saturday 4/11 books/furniture/+more 4500 block 9th St NW ~ 8-11a.m.

Raising funds to send a scout to camp.

ELECTRONICS DISH TV Starting at $19.99/month (for 12 mos.) SAVE! Regular Price $34.99 Ask About FREE SAME DAY Installation! CALL Now! 888992-1957

Voice, Piano/Keyboards-Unleash your unique voice with outof-the-box, intuitive teacher in all styles classical, jazz, R&B, gospel, neo-soul etc. Sessions available @ my studio, your home or via Skype. Call 202-486-3741 or email dwight@dwightmcnair.com

Bands/DJs for Hire DJ DC SOUL man. Hiphop, reggae, go-go, oldies, etc. Clubs, caberets, weddings, etc. Contact the DC Soul Hot Line at 202/2861773 or email me at dc1soulman@live.com.

Musicians Available Bass player available. Formerly with Asleep at the Wheel, Katy Benko, Hey Norton, Night Train, Burch Rivers. Call Hal on 703-862-3766 or email halbo@ yahoo.com

Upcoming Shows

Get CABLE TV, INTERNET & PHONE with FREE HD Equipment and install for under $3 a day! Call Now! 866-353-6916

You are invited to enjoy yourself at the NASIM Conference Cultural Night, April 17, 2015, at the Sheraton Hotel, Silver Spring, MD. http://youtu.be/Od9VQwvxGZU

Cars/Trucks/SUVs

Events

Cash For Cars Any Car/Truck.

Running or not! Top dollar paid.

We come to you. Call for Instant Offer: 1-888-420-3808 www. cash4car.com.

Musical Instruments KIMBALL PIANO for sale. $1999. Upright, mahogany brown, like new. 202/678-2346.

CARLOS ROSARIO PCS NOTICE OF INTENT Notice of Intent to Award Sole Source Contract to ProActive School to purchase, host, maintain, and update their proprietary system. Please contact Gwen Ellis, Business Manager via email gellis@carlosrosario.org with questions.

Volunteer Services Defend abortion rights. Washington Area Clinic Defense Task Force (WACDTF) needs volunteer clinic escorts Saturday mornings, weekdays. Trainings, other info:202-681-6577, http://www. wacdtf.org, wacdtf@wacdtf.org.

Counseling

Licensed Massage & Spas Excellent Massage by beautiful therapists in Qi Spa. Swedish, Deep Tissue, Hot Stone massage. 3106 M Street, NW, Washington, DC 20007. www.qispadc@gmail.com.

Appointment or walk-ins welcome.

Ask for City Paper Specials! 202333-6344.

Heaven-On-Earth.

You’ve tried the rest, now come to the best! 240-418-9530, Bethesda.

MD Massage License #R00120.

Yoga, Pilate & Classes Stand-UP! Speak-UP! and SING-OUT!!! (Finding Your Inner Voice) One Day Intensive Saturday, April 11, 2015 10:30AM-3:30PM Light Lunch Provided Cost $100 in Advance $125 @ door McNair Studio & Production Co., LLC @St Paul United Methodist Church 2601 Colston Dr, Chevy Chase MD 20815

Miscellaneous KILL STINK BUGS! Harris Stink Bug Spray. Indoor/Outdoor, Odorless, Non-Staining. Effective results begin after spray dries.

Available: Hardware Stores, The Home Depot, Buy online: homedepot.com

The Carlos Rosario PCS seeks quotes to purchase 1 (one) color photocopier w/network capabilities and the following features: 3 hole-punch, staple, scan, fax, 90 ppm color, 90 ppm black, single pass dual scan, touch screen panel, paper size-letter, legal, ledger. Please send all quotes via email to gellis@carlosrosario. org. All quotes must be submitted no later than 4:00 pm Friday, April 17, 2015.

Pregnant? Thinking of Adoption? Talk with a caring agency specializing in matching Birthmothers with Families Nationwide. Living Expenses Paid. Call 24/7 Abby’s One True Gift Adoptions. 866-413-6293. Void in Illinois/New Mexico/Indiana.

Moving & Hauling

WANTED: Soul/R&B 45s, LPS, 12”s, Show Posters (see Globe Posters), or any DC area soul music related memorabilia.

1950s-1980s considered. Cash paid. Call 703-380-7952

General NOTICE FOR QUOTES

Mark your calendar now! The Hall of Fame and Distinguished Service award program will be held May 28th from 5:30 to 8 pm at Knight Hall, University of Maryland, College Park. The reception immediately prior to the program will feature our Reese Cleghorn interns.

Facilitated by noted Medical Doctor & Spine Specialist Dr. Deborah L. Bernal & Dwight McNair-The Vocal Sensei This workshop empowers you to let your inner voice speak through you & to you by helping you identify, express & live in your truth.

Improve lung capacity, posture & body stance for vocal projection. Promote clarity of thought, speech and message. Remove blockages like stage fright & performance anxiety.

Use your voice with more ease & confidence.

Call 202-486-3741 or email dwight@dwightmcnair.com

HIRE AN INTERN. CHANGE A LIFE. To sponsor an intern, contact Jetheda Warren, jwarren@theurbanalliance.org, 202-459-4308 Urban Alliance empowers under-resourced youth to aspire, work, and succeed through paid internships, formal training, and mentoring. www.theurbanalliance.org

washingtoncitypaper.com April 10, 2015 185

CORPORATE ROCKERS

By BREndAn EmmETT QuiglEy 1

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1 Coast rival 6 Kwik-E-___ (Springfield business) 10 Flippant 14 “That’s ____!” (song with Italian food in its lyrics) 15 The Time Machine subservient race 16 Italia’s capital 17 “Rolling In the Deep” singer, brought to you by a PepsiCo sports drink 19 Bridge designer: Abbr.

20 Counter’s beginning 21 They walk on two feet 23 Small amount, as of cream 24 “Man of the Year” rapper, brought to you by a Dutch beer 28 Spelling competition 29 It comes after 11 30 Houston’s own recluse king of outsider music, brought to you by a prophylactic maker 36 Océano color 39 Classic name for a dinosaur

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51 ___ gow (gambling game) 52 “Mother” metal guy, brought to you by a tech company 59 Hosp. aide 60 A ___ (in theory) 61 Traveling overseer 63 Feed bag morsels 65 “Hold On, We’re Going Home” rapper, brought to you by a bankrupt energy company 68 Soft party cheese 69 Theater award given by the Village Voice 70 Some fur coats 71 European erupter 72 ___-do-well 73 Some Sony flat screens

Down 1 Guitarist’s tool that changes the key 2 Surrounded by

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3 Deere product 4 “___ you kidding me?”

5 “___ So Bad” (Tom Petty song) 6 Cry from a wounded soldier 7 First Hebrew letter 8 Competition for loggers 9 Affixed, as a bow 10 Pre-PhD exam 11 Regent’s Park attraction 12 Declaration that doesn’t set things straight?

13 Pulled pork establishment, briefly 18 Not in class 22 ___-pitch softball

25 Transitive vb. follower 26 Grazing fields 27 Snake that chokes 30 “Give it a shot” 31 ___ Speedwagon 32 Drug with the street names “killers” and “Rushbo” 33 Dwarf who speaks in spoonerisms 34 Manning who wears #10 35 Jeopardy! legend Jennings 37 Container at Peet’s 38 August baby, likely 41 Suffering 42 Bread served with chicken vindaloo 45 End of many web addresses 47 End of many web addresses 49 European peak 50 Human being 52 Mostly blue ball?

53 Abstract designs often done in black and white 54 Mythical crier 55 “And I am not kidding!”

56 It has a gentle setting 57 One celebrating a recent nuke deal 58 Wall Street character Gordon 62 ___ up (tell all) 64 Big wet body 66 Place you might wait an eternity to get a renewal, briefly 67 Fjord’s cousin

LAST WEEK: A-HOLES S A I L

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S O F T R U M U R R Y R O K E Y B E L E I N S F T H E E L L D I O O N G T H O O O F E K A T T A

I M A G M E D E O O L O N B P I O O S T E E M U I M G A S T O O G E T A A N H O L R O U P O G R E E X R S I E S P P S S O

E A G E R Y E S M S T A B

Exelon

PEPCO AND EXELON:

Empowering The District We are a diverse collection of nonprofit and business groups that represent and serve the people of the District of Columbia.

We believe the proposed merger of Pepco and Exelon will benefit the District’s residents, communities, civic life and business environment.

If approved, this merger will create savings that will be passed on in customers’ utility bills, saving families and businesses more of their hard-earned money every month. It means honoring and maintaining Pepco’s strong commitment to workforce-and supplier-diversity programs. It means more jobs for District workers. That’s good for families, local businesses, and the District’s workforce.

It means millions of dollars more that could be used for programs such as bill credits, low-income assistance and energy efficiency programs through a $33.75 million Customer Investment Fund. It also means continued annual charitable contributions and local community support – exceeding Pepco’s 2013 level of $1.6 million for 10 years following the merger. And it means $168 million to $260 million in economic benefits to the District. That’s good for communities and those most in need.

It also means enhanced reliability of our electric grid and additional resources to speed storm restoration. It means a commitment to sustainability and corporate citizenship. It means continued local presence and local leadership. And it means millions of dollars more invested in our local economy. That’s good for all of us.

WE SUPPORT THE PROPOSED PEPCO AND EXELON MERGER.

OF GREATER GREA W WASHINGT ON

LEARN MORE AND LET YOUR VOICE BE HEARD. VISI T WWW.PHITOMORROW.COM PA I D FO R BY E X E LO N S H A R E H O L D E R S

washingtoncitypaper.com april 10, 2015 best of d.c. 2015

best of d.c. 2015 april 10, 2015 washingtoncitypaper.com