My previous blogger crush has a blog about food network (A+ for content), superimposes funny/ridiculous images to screen captures to make her point (A+ for funny), and has a very sarcastic sense of humor that comes across on the blog (A+ for sarcasm) – sometimes it seems like you can tell when her voice is escalating or getting louder as she rants about the latest FN faux pas.

So that brings me to a new blogger crush, Katie of DateMeDC. From what I could gather from reading her posts, she started this blog after getting out of a super long-term relationship where she feels she missed out on the prime “going-out” years. She’s definitely making up for it as evidenced by the dozens of date’s she has documented on her blog. some of her dates are even aware of the blog! She has a level of sarcasm that makes Food Network Humor sound like compliments – it makes you laugh a little as you read on about her dating wins and disasters.

So not only does this blog have stories about her dates and dating in general (A+ on content), she also has a great sarcastic sense of humor (A+ on humor), she draws funny pictures to demostrate her point (like the “wallet dance” when it comes time to pay for dinner), and most importantly, she has what seems to be a healthy dose of introspection when it comes to her dating and what she’s looking for. this human element takes her from seeming like a sarcastic bitch 24/7 to someone you can actually empathize with and like.

So anyway, I’ve added her to the list of blogs I read – see if you like her humor or maybe her sarcasm is too much. the more you read the blog the more you find out about her dating history/past – apparently the public blog is the censored version and only her inner circle gets access to the really juicy stuff. she throws in her words of wisdom (“allessons” and “gospel according to john“) as well that stem from her dates. I think my favorite part is the crude, MS Paint quality pictures she uses to highlight her point.

Take a visit to DateMeDC, and if you’re brave enough, email her to go out (fair warning, she knows what she’s looking for, so read the blog to see if you’re a match).

Each year, my friend Mark has participated in the Rock Hill Ruritan Cardboard Boat Regatta down in Stafford, VA. I had heard of this event but hadn’t had the chance to participate yet.

Until this year.

The rules are simple. you can use cardboard, tape, glue, and paint to make your cardboard boat. You can make it as big as you want, make it themed, anything. it just needs to be made of cardboard.

So Mark led our two-man building team to start putting together a boat. Our design was canoe-shaped designed to go fast. We each had our own “box” to sit in and paddle.

We used large panels of cardboard to wrap the bottom of the boat, using contact adhesive to stick the cardboard to itself. We had a nice set of handrails, and a tapered nose (surprisingly difficult to make a 3-axis tapered nose out of cardboard). In about 9 man-hours of working, we had a finished, painted product that we put in my car and drove down to Aquia for the regatta.

There were some pretty good looking boats out there:

But ours seemed to have the most “boatyness” of them all. I think people were intimidated because of mark’s sweet paint job and the overal cleanliness of the boat. Little did they know our boat had a major design flaw. I’ll get to that in a minute.

They had various categories which you could race in, including various age groups, number of paddlers, best theme, etc. It was a very family-oriented event which had, I think, 18 boat entries. Albeit some boats were more seaworthy than others (hint: the blue box one past the white race car may not have been waterproofed at all).

So mark and I had painted our boat pretty well, we were pretty confident our boat would float no problem. We didn’t, however, waterproof the inside of the boat as well as the outside – the thinking being that we wouldn’t splash too much water on the inside.

Oh how we were wrong.

Remember those sweet handrails I mentioned? and the sweet 3-axis tapered nose and tail? well who knew that all this extra weight would make the boat top-heavy, and therefore more easy to tip over. So when mark and I tried to jump in our boat, we basically tipped it enough that it took on a lot of water. Although we made it through our first heat, the second one was not so successful. We ended up getting run over by the USS Monitor boat right at the starting whistle!

Anyway, this was a lot of fun, next year, we’ll know to make a boat more seaworthy. Maybe we’ll just plan ahead better so we’re not rushed and only spend 9 hours on it.

Yes, those are helmets.

and Yes, those are nose-clipped cardboard mustaches. Mark made both the night before the race.

So I can’t believe how quickly a year has passed. Since Mark set me up with this sweet blog url and website (he also customized the theme and layout), I’ve been trying to do it justice by writing as much as I can. Although I had a rocky start, I think I’ve kind of found a rhythm to keep up the regular posts. Being it is a blog-iversary, I wanted to look back at the inaugural year of this blog.

- I got really involved with photography as a serious hobby and shot my first wedding
- I went skydiving for the first time
- helped my friend with a wedding proposal setup
- went to the Dew Tour in Chicago and went to Taste of Chicago
- snowboarded Tahoe
- survived the Snowpocalyse of 2010
- tried my hand at baking bread
- made an epic chili dinner
- built a gutter garden and a potrack
- traveled to San Diego

Whew! What a year!

I think I’m going to try to continue this blog as it seems to be a nice way for people to keep up with what’s going on. Hopefully you don’t mind the occasional rant, but I try to keep things here pretty open-minded. Please feel free to make comments all you like – I do read them all.

Having the opportunity to travel recently has opened up for the possibility of doing some desert hiking in the Red Rock canyon just outside Las Vegas, NV. This conservation area is the closest national park to Vegas, only a short 15-20 min drive away from the strip. The park is set up so that you can drive through the whole park in a one-way loop and stop at various parking areas along the way to take pictures or hike into the canyon more.

One particular hike stood out for me, the hike to Turtlehead Peak. it was a 2000 ft vertical climb over 2 miles, with a rock scramble the last 800 feet. But at the top, there was a view of the strip and most of the canyon.

Unfortunately a wakeboarding crash the day before the hike put me out of commission from hiking up Turtlehead with a loaded pack. My neck couldn’t bear to hold much weight. Instead, I went to Red Rock and did the little mini hikes (0.5-1 mile round trip hikes). These were fun and offered some great views of the canyon crevasses. I think my favorite was the Calico II trail which leads to the trailhead to Turtlehead Peak. You can see lots of sandstone and red rock from this trail as well as climb up a lot of it to take in the surroundings.

The canyon provides some nice views of red rock, which I’ve never seen up until this point. If it wasn’t for the overhead (and overbearing) sun, I would have stayed out a little longer and done all the hikes, but I only had a couple water bottles on me and it was hot!

If you plan on going to Red Rock, I’d recommend in the wintertime or early early spring. You can take one of the trails to a waterfall during that time. any other time of the year, the waterfall is dried up.

New York has hot dogs, apples, and pizza

Boston has baked beans, sam adams, and clam chowdah

Chicago has deep dish pizza, steak, and mixed caramel/cheese popcorn

Philadelphia has cheesesteak sandwiches, water ice, and pretzels
San Francisco has sourdough bread, seafood stew and rice-a-roni (I know, its a faux pas to say that)
Seattle has Starbucks/Seattle’s Best, the birthplace of grunge music, an enormous amount of microbrews, and seafood
LA has Spago’s, high-end hot dogs (Pink’s), and streetside tacquerias (sp?)
Baltimore and Blue crabs are always synonymous
The Carolinas and Kansas city have signature takes on barbecue.

Smaller cities even have a way of making themselves shine amongst the larger cities:
Amarillo, TX, is home of the 72 oz steak
Buffalo, NY, is home to the buffalo wing, credited to the Anchor Bar for its invention

So what is DC’s signature dish? What food showcases the nation’s capital?

Some would say it is Ben’s Chili Bowl’s Half Smoke. It is one of those safe, consistent go-to foods that is satisfying and delicious. I would definitely agree this is a DC signature for a few reasons: sausage hot dogs are ubiquitous in a lot of cultures (think of any meat stuffed in a bun). Sausage, in itself, is a combination of various parts of meat, sometimes from different animals altogether – a nice cohesion of diversity that helps make it delicious – kind of like our very diverse city. Ben’s chili is also very well spiced, drawing from what seems to be a few cultural sources, another nod to our diversity. The fact that Ben’s is a historically important site in our city that is not related to government or politics or any historical events makes us appreciate it that much more. It has been frequented by locals and big wigs alike – and there are only two people who eat at Ben’s for free: Bill Cosby and President Barack Obama.

Other suggestions for signature DC food have been humorous, but unfortunately weaker candidates than Ben’s Half Smoke:
Pork – because of all the pork barrel spending in congress
Steamed crabs – available on Maine Ave waterfront
Navy Bean Soup – no clue on this one.
Chicken Wings and Mambo sauce – apparently a once popular dish that has lost footing

Ben Ali and his family kept the restaurant open during DC’s toughest time: the 1968 riots that ensued after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The restaurant was also threated to be closed when the Green Line Metro was constructed there, but they were able to remain open during that time. Now, as the U St. area is growing and becoming a DC hot spot, Ben’s popularity and continued growth appears secure – we shouldn’t worry about our half-smokes disappearing anytime soon.

I definitely believe the Ben’s Chili Bowl Half-Smoke is akin to the Ray’s Pizza of NY, the Pat’s or Gino’s Cheesesteaks of Philly, and any Deep Dish Pizza from Chicago. It is definitely one of the recognizable good eats of DC.

So what else do we have? What foods do you think are signature DC foods? What do you think of Ben’s Half Smoke being the flagship food for DC?

Knowing your photo rights is incredibly important. although I have yet to be stopped for taking photos, I want to be prepared in case it happens. Websites like Carlos Miller’s documents inappropriate law enforcement activity and the huge misconceptions about photography in public. The biggest misconception: photographing federal buildings is illegal. Think about it this way, if google streetview can take a picture of it, why can’t you? This fear of terrorism appears to prompt many in law enforcement to stop photographers from taking perfectly legal photos. anyway. read up and keep in mind the following:

From PetaPixel:

1. You can make a photograph of anything and anyone on any public property, except where a specific law prohibits it.

I.e. streets, sidewalks, town squares, parks, government buildings open to the public, and public libraries.

2. You may shoot on private property if it is open to the public, but you are obligated to stop if the owner requests it.

I.e. malls, retail stores, restaurants, banks, and office building lobbies.

3. Private property owners can prevent photography ON their property, but not photography OF their property from a public location.

4. Anyone can be photographed without consent when they are in a public place unless there is a reasonable expectation of privacy.

I.e. private homes, restrooms, dressing rooms, medical facilities, and phone booths.

5. Despite common misconceptions, the following subjects are almost always permissible:

* accidents, fire scenes, criminal activities
* children, celebrities, law enforcement officers
* bridges, infrastructure, transportation facilities
* residential, commercial, and industrial buildings

6. Security is rarely an acceptable reason for restricting photography. Photographing from a public place cannot infringe on trade secrets, nor is it terrorist activity.

7. Private parties cannot detain you against your will unless a serious crime was committed in their presence. Those that do so may be subject to criminal and civil charges.

8. It is a crime for someone to threaten injury, detention, confiscation, or arrest because you are making photographs.

9. You are not obligated to provide your identity or reason for photographing unless questioned by a law enforcement officer and state law requires it.

10. Private parties have no right to confiscate your equipment without a court order. Even law enforcement officers must obtain one unless making an arrest. No one can force you to delete photos you have made.

These are general guidelines regarding the right to make photos and should not be interpreted as legal advice. If you need legal help, please contact a lawyer.

July 2010 Edition

1. You can make a photograph of anything and anyone on any public property, except where a specific law prohibits it.
I.e. streets, sidewalks, town squares, parks, government buildings open to the public, and public libraries.

2. You may shoot on private property if it is open to the public, but you are obligated to stop if the owner requests it.
I.e. malls, retail stores, restaurants, banks, and office building lobbies.

3. Private property owners can prevent photography ON their property, but not photography OF their property from a public location.

4. Anyone can be photographed without concent when they are in a public place unless there is a reasonable expectation of privacy.
I.e. private homes, restrooms, dressing rooms, medical facilities, and phone booths.

5. Despite misconceptions, the following subjects are almost always permissible:
* accidents, fire scenes, criminal activities
* children, celebrities, law enforcement officers
* bridges, infrastructure, transportation facilities
* residential, commercial, and industrial buildings

6. Security is rarely an acceptable reason for restricting photography. Photographing from a public place cannot infringe on trade secrets, nor is it terrorist activity.

7. Private parties cannot detain you against your will unless a serious crime was committed in their presence. Those that do so may be subject to criminal and civil charges.

8. It is a crime for someone to threaten injury, detention, confiscation, or arrest because you are making photographs.

9. You are not obligated to provide your identity or reason for photographing unless questioned by a law enforcement officer and state law requires it.

10. Private parties have no right to confiscate your equipment without a court order. Even law enforcement officers must obtain one unless making an arrest. No one can force you to delete photos you have made.

When confronted, threatened with detention or the confiscation of equipment, ask the following questions:

* What is your name?
* What is the name of your employer?
* May I leave? If not, what is the legal basis of my detention?
* If equipment is being demanded, what is the legal basis for the confiscation?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_place#Restrictions_on_state_action_in_public_spaces_in_the_United_States

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photography_and_the_law

http://www.flickr.com/groups/nomorefreephotos/discuss/72157604655395007/

http://www.krages.com/bpkphoto.htm

http://www.usatoday.com/tech/columnist/andrewkantor/2006-08-11-photography-rights_x.htm

Ok, so DC is trying to become more bike friendly – thankfully! unfortunately, there have been some casualties of people getting killed by cars in the district. When possible, a white bicycle is locked to something near the location of the incident. This is just a reminder not only for cyclists but also drivers that they need to watch out for bikers on the road.

From my experience, the two things cyclists are most worried about are:

1. Getting Doored. This means when you parallel park, look out your window before you open your door in case a bike is coming down the bike lane. Doors kill cyclists.  Look out your window before opening it.

2. Blind spots. Your car has a blind spot. and even if you claim it doesn’t, you can’t look in 360 degrees all the time. Just be aware and take a really good look when you merge or make a turn. Cyclists will split lanes to get through cars.

Think of it this way – bumping a bike at even a slow speed like 5mph is still a 2000+ lb vehicle hitting a 20 lb bike. Car wins. Every time. Don’t have this on your conscience.

Thank you for reading this PSA and drive or cycle safe.

I just came across this article where WaPo reports DC is being looked at by NY restaurateurs as a good area to expand, citing the stable economy and cheaper leases.  I and definitely a fan of this, as it should make our 2-3 year food trend gap a little shorter as restaurants look to DC for expansion.  Areas like Penn Quarter, Georgetown, and Downtown (and probably the Verizon center area) are the areas of focus for their high traffic and established businesses/attractions.  Areas like U St and 14th St. are not on the radar yet – probably because these are the up and coming places not yet established.

I think these restaurateurs will find great success in DC if they can get over a few speed bumps:

- Stay in the city. Most of our high-end restaurants are in the city, but some (like L’auberge, Restaurant Eve, 2941, Volt) are outside the city.  Staying in the city helps concentrate the restaurants and make DC a food destination, not the DC Metro Area.

- Ease us into the high-end cuisine. Macrogastronomy, macrobiotic, and other food techniques are hard to come by at area restaurants.  When you bring your food here, don’t overwhelm us or you’ll be mocked for your foams and xanthum gum mixtures.

- Bring something new. Don’t bring another steakhouse, another chiurriscarra, another tapas place. Although I don’t mind some of the things coming down the pipe like gourmet burger joints and high end ramen (believe me, its coming), some stuff like cupcakes hit the DC food scene and have been made bigger than what it really is – it’s just tiny cakes.  Now, cupcakes are keeping us in limbo, just waiting for the next hot trend to take its thunder.

- Make high-end food appealing to more people. I haven’t eaten at a lot of high-end places in DC.  Some places like Citronelle, Komi, Restaurant Eve, and L’Auberge have great sounding menus, but I just haven’t been able to justify spending money on the food, yet.  But when I go to NY, I barely hesitate to eat when I’m up there. Granted, the places I’ve been to have been fantastic (re: Volt, 1789), but I don’t feel the big draw to eat at the high end places here like I do in NY.  Offer us menus with familiar yet new combinations and we will start to trust your restaurants with anything crazy you decide to throw at us.

Who knows, maybe in a few years, we’ll start to see Washington DC get a section on eater.com!

While in Las Vegas recently, I got to eat at Restaurant Guy Savoy in Caesar’s Palace. This renowned French chef gained international attention with his Michelin-starred restaurants as well as Bravo TV’s Top Chef notoriety. His two premiere restaurants are in Paris, France, and Las Vegas. The Las Vegas location has earned 2 stars from Michelin.

On an aside, the Michelin Guide is a restaurant guide published by the (you guessed it) tire people. The stars are described in the book as the following:

[One Star:] a very good restaurant in its category, worth a stop”, [Two Stars:] “excellent cooking, worth a detour”, [and Three Stars:] “exceptional cuisine, worth a special journey”

Although there are standards associated with the Michelin review process, the “Red Book” (Michelin book reviewing hotels and restaurants) has come under a lot of fire for being biased towards French cuisine, and not maintaining their inspection schedules – especially for being lax with 3-star restaurants.

Nevertheless, I was in Vegas and I wanted to eat. I went to the Restaurant Guy Savoy to eat in their bar. I heard of the bar menu having a “bites” menu, where you would pick from a list of seasonal/changing appetizers/mini-entrees. It was $25 for 2 bites, $30 for 3, and $35 for 4 (I think).

When you walk towards the Restaurante Guy Savoy, you are kind of walking to one remote corner of Caesar’s Palace. The doors are huge and very modern looking with the multiple panes of glass and the off-set hinge. Inside the main doors is the hostess stand to the left and a giant glass wall where you can see through to the many many bottles of wine held in long racks along the glass. It is quite impressive as the hostess took us to the bar, an open gas fire provided some solace from the constant casino air conditioning.

When looking at the menu, there were many options available for the “Bites”. I ended up choosing the foie gras terrine and the sweetbreads with mushrooms.

What I liked most about my experience at the bar was how the server treated you. Even though I only had two “bites”, I was treated like a full-service meal was ordered. There was some bread with salted butter, amuse bouche of foie gras sandwich and a parmesan waffle bite, and each Bite was served individually as if they were various courses.

The foie gras terrine was really tasty. it wasn’t too fatty and wasn’t too salty (two things I don’t like my foie gras to taste like). It was a single slice of delicious foie gras with toast.

My sweetbreads was the highlight. I like sweetbreads (the thymus gland and/or pancreas) but rarely get to have them. The sweetbreads were really savory and flavorful, along with the truffle slice and mushrooms, it was just perfect.

The other thing on the menu I would have liked to have was the truffle soup. I got to taste it with the group I was with and it was really good. It was not rich at all (little or no cream) but it was a very refreshing hit of truffle flavor. I have tasted nothing like it before.

So if you’re looking to get a taste of Guy Savoy and some really good service, come to Caesar’s Palace and sit at the bar for some Bites. It’s definitely worth it, especially if you can’t afford the $100, $200, or $300 prix fixe menus they serve in the dining room.

BGR reminds me a LOT of BRGR in NYC. These slightly more high-end burgers are a noticeable step up from the ubiquitous Five Guys. Don’t get me wrong, I love me some Five Guys – with all the toppings, the deliciously seasoned burger, it’s a great place to pig out. But BGR and BRGR have (not only similar names) a slightly elevated set of burgers – even their menus are a little similar.

BGR’s location is pretty good, located right off Dupont Circle on Connecticut Ave. The inside is pretty straightforward, walk in, go to counter, order, then get food at the pickup counter when your buzzer goes off. The thing that sets this place apart from Five Guys is that their burgers are big, probably around 1/3 lb patties, and they ask you how you like it cooked. I ordered it medium and it came out a perfect medium. I cannot stress enough how hard it is to cook a burger to a perfect medium throughout the meat – the only grey was the very very outside with a delicious crust. I ordered the Wellington burger, which is described as:

This was by far our most popular burger of the month. Roasted mushrooms, caramelized onions, garlic with a touch of mustard seed and blue cheese all atop our burger. Served on a fresh, buttery-toasted brioche bun with our mojo sauce.

This is their most popular burger for very good reason – it’s delicious. The mushrooms are roasted with some black truffle (oil, presumably) which makes them sing. For me, I love my steaks and burgers with blue cheese – and they were definitely generous with the blue cheese. The bread was great, too – substantial enough to handle a burger of this size, but light and airy so you don’t feel like you’re eating a giant loaf of bread. I think this burger is definitely worth a try if you’re not afraid of mushrooms and blue cheese. I’d get this again if their other options didn’t look so damn good! I got my burger naked, but if you do order, remember to ask for lettuce, tomato, onion, etc if you so desire. I didn’t miss any of those toppings with my Wellington at all.

As comparison, the burger I usually get from BRGR is the one with blue cheese and bacon – also quite excellent, but I think I like the BGR one more because of the mushrooms.

The dupont location also sells milkshakes from local dairies, they had a blueberry shake today, which I had to try. it was a very good shake that wasn’t too sweet, and didn’t overpower the blueberry flavor. they shakes are made to order, so it take a minute to come out, but it is well worth it! BRGR also gets their milkshakes from the local NY Ronnybrook Farms dairy – a most excellent shake, which BGR may need to learn from. I’d want to try the BGR vanilla bean shake next time I think.

So if you’re in Dupont, and are craving a great burger, go to BGR. hurry up and get your burger before the area gets saturated with more boutique/gourmet burger joints – rumor has it a Shake Shack is opening in DC soon. hopefully the SS line will be better than the 1+ hr wait in NY!