SOTD or SOTY - Florence and the Machine - Dog Days are Over

Hello world, have you heard the XX remix of Florence and the Machines?  Apparently, in Europe they have, because shes a big start over there.  But, it seems she hasn't made it the same way in the United States?

Well, in my humble opinion, though it has a nice beat and makes me happy, nothing can compare to Florence and the Machines themselves!!! Florence Welch's voice is amazing - a little like Amy Winehouse, a little like Imogen Heap, and a little like Annie Lennox but all the best bits brough together to sound as fabulous as possible.  I want Florence and the Machine to visit Washington, DC ASAP any for as many nights as possible so we can get our souls uplifted and ourselves as danced as possible, because that is precisely what will happen. And PLEASE let it be at the 9.30 Club or Black Cat and not the Rock and Roll Hotel, I want it to be a nice big show with lots of people and lots of space to dance.

When I play this song, Dog Days are Over, I pretty much always want to close my office door, turn the shades so no one can see in the hall, and have my own little mid-day dance party. 


Now - you enjoy :)

Udupi Palace - Vegetarian South Asian Indian Cuisine Heaven!

Feeling like they have been a little too spendy lately to follow through on their restaurant week reservation at Rasika (don't worry, it was cancelled) , the Kleiner and the Kleinette visited their now standby (they've been a couple o' times pre-review) vegetarian South Asian restaurant in Takoma/Langley Park, the UDUPI PALACE! 

Udupi Palace, located at 1329 University Blvd East, Takoma Park, MD is really an absolutely delicious vegetarian Indian restaurant.  It is appointed as many Indian restaurants are, yellow walls, some indian art, tables and chairs.  It included a bakery full of indian desert delights like Burfee.  We love several things about it - first -  they serve Dosai (and Uthappam but we have yet to try those) and fabulous curries with large portions.  Dosai is an enormous Indian crepe with fillings liked curried potatoes, onions and chillis.  They are served with chutnets and yogurt sauces that allow you to customize your spice/cool levels as you prefer.  We also had Paneer Makhni which is like a Paneer Tikka Masala, but maybe more tomato-ey and creamy?  It had so much sauce that we used the suace on the Dosai and the rice.  We also ordered a side of Mango chutney which was chunky and fresh to cut some of the spice in the dishes. 

We love the Upupi Palace because the food is simply delicious and there is so much vegetarian variety - including Tofu Makhni, Chana Masala, Avail cocumnet based curry and even vegetable Jalfriezi!  Dosais include butter masala dosia, mysore dosai (potato, onion and hot chutney), and special rava masala dosia (wheat and lentil crepes with onion, chilies, and grilled with potatoes).  We can't wait to go back and try the Uthappam, or even a desert like Rasamalai (home made cottage cheese in a special confensed milk flavored with rose water and garnished with pistachio nuts) or carrot halwa.

Its a great alternative to DC's expensive, small portioned Indian restaurants and a fun chance to experience the lively Takoma Park/Langley Park border area full of shops and restaurants from all over the world [Panderias alongside Sari Palaces!). 

Do you have any favorite places in Langley Park?  or just outside the Northeastern limits of the city?

Hammam Turkish Spa at Dupon Washington Sports Club

Last night while the Kleiner was intently watching his Jets pull through to beat the Chargers in their playoff game (this is a large outpouring of football knowledge on my part, work with me) I decided that I would try out the Washington Sports Club at Dupont Circle.  Discovering that a passport membership was only $5 more than a membership to the Columbia Heights gym, I purchased one but mostly use it between C-Heights and the gym near my office.  Recently I noted that the Dupont Circle Washington Sports Club had recently installed a Hammam in their basement and decided that a good long gym session would be the perfect Sunday night football activity.  Hammam, Sauna, Steam -- around the world from Russia, to Korea, to Finland, to Sweden to Latvia and beyond are some of the most popular ways for men and women to get together, relax, talk socially and for business.  In Belgium, where I once lived, almost every woman went for the sauna after their work out, it was a ritual -- and I'm glad to see it becoming one in the U.S. too!!


I was pleasantly surprised to find the co-ed Hammam in sparkling condition.  It has two cold showers with 'light therapy', a large co-ed sauna (three heaters), an enormous hammam (that no one really appeared to use), and a large steam room.  I find that the hot, cold, hot, cold spa rotation is a great anti-dote to sore muscles, cold weather, rainy days and pretty much anything that gets you down, so I was elated to discover a good one included in my gym membership. Its co-ed, so everyone is wearing a bathing suit and at 7pm on Sunday the people enjoying the sauna were reading books and doing the rounds between hot and cold rather than going in like they do in Columbia Heights, sometimes in their gym clothes!  Overall, its a great addition, and I will probably start working out significantly more at Dupont Circle (except no pool....) just to take advantage of the Hammam. 


My history with the spa is long, I absolutely love European/Turkish style spas.  A massage or something else is nice, but, the heat baths (sauna, steam) have a really natural, really positive effect on us. Benefits include strengthening immune systems, alleviating joint pain and stress ;)  My favorite spa is the Scandinave Spa in Mont Tremblant.  Its rotation of hot and cold includes suanas, outdoor hot tubs, outdoor cold waterfalls, and  a cold plunge into the river!! I did this spa in December, in near 0 F freezing weather and was warm enough to make it through.  I also really liked the Hotel Jurmala spa in the old Latvian spa town of the same name, Jurmala.  My favorite one of recent times was located within the Standard Hotel in Miami.  It was simple, but very high quality, cedar sauna that smelled of cedar and got about 50% hotter than the Washington Sports Club sauna, aromatherapy steam room, very warm hammam, and gorgeous outdoor pool looking over Biscayne Bay.


What are your favorite ways to relax?? Any better hammam spas in DC?  I have read a write up in the Washington Post about the Korean Spa World in Centreville --- have any of you been there?  It looks interesting: Spa World.

The Music Post...

Reporting Mumbling from The Kleinette


We have been listening to loads of music lately --- while in the car driving back to DC from Miami in the days immediately following New Years Eve, we listened to both the Sirius XM Alt-Nation countdown and Sirius-XMU countdowns and found ourselves particularly impressed with the Silversun Pick-Ups, The XX (they grew on us, especially when remixed by Florence and the Machines), Pheonix, Kings of Leon (literally, we listened to every album of theirs, from the loud, swashbuckling southern swaggered first albums to the packged to light up a stadium current album), PHISH (after seeing a three set show, the album music, or the jams flowing through 'XM Jam On' sounded even better.  I can't get enough of 'Joy' - its really gorgeous), Julian Casablancas (yes, we're still locked on).  


What have you been listening to lately that you really like??  Anything we should know about? :)


We also were at the 9.30 club, TOGETHER, twice - once for Julian Casablancas and a second time for a DC special, The Junior League Band and Justin Jones and the Driving Rain.  Julian Casablancas, eh, the album is good, and some of the songs are really nice on it, but live, really not that awesome.  It seems like the 9.30 club can't get its mixing together and kept the vocals a little too low and some of the other lines much too high.  He only played 55 minutes which was a dissapointment.  We loved Justin Jones, he works at the 9.30 club and owned his stage, and owned his bluesy, alt-country, high style rock songs.  His voice fills the place and his banter with the audience was a lot of fun.  The Junior League band had a fun bluegrass pop sound, but the mixing was again bad.  The singer, Lissy, was a star of that band and her vocals were too low! The drummer was also, in the Kleiners opinion, AWESOME.  They did a really memorable cover of  the Beatles, I've got a Feeling!  


I'd see them again - hopefully somewhere smaller.  


We wanted to catch the Silversun Pickups, but why oh why are they opening for Muse??  They could fill the 9.30 club twice with their sound and popularity, couldn't they please just tour on their own? :)


For your listening pleasure - Junior League Band - South Carolina Blues

CommonWealth Gastropub - Great Beer, great atmosphere....

Lots of posting --- another review from the Kleinette, and this time about the Commonwealth Gastropub located at 1400 Irving St NW.  Commonwealth has been around for about a year, and full disclosure, I've been thinking that this would be the perfect kind of place for DC.  I lived in London for a year and while mostly, I think the British are a little too reliant in daily life on those sandwiches in the plastic triangle boxes, I really loved traditional pub food, pies and beer and especially the deserts (STICK TOFFEE PUDDING!).  


Commonwealth, first and foremost, has a gorgeous atmosphere inside.  The restaurant mixes comforting and slick to make it comfortable place in my opinion for a potential first date, meeting up with a friend to catch up for a long time, or even a more businessy lunch.  Its classy and comfortable.  It is mostly made of dark wood, glass, and blackboards filled with specials.  


We had a delicious flight of beer for tasting, a dark stout, a winter mix, a wheat beer and another for $12.  Amongst the group, we had the brussels sprouts side (I wanted the dish it came with, but I don't eat pork, so..... alas) , duck risotto appetizer, fish and chips, shrimp and salad.  We were not - ooo ahhh wowed, by the food to be honest.  The Kleiner and the Kleinette had just returned from an extended stay in the south, in particular in Palm Coast, Florida which is located by the not-so-well known mecca of delicious food, Flagler Beach, where we ate some delicious fish dishes of all kinds, so, we were underwhelmed by the mid-atlantic version.  The Brussels Sprouts were tasty and balsamic glazed, but served warm.  The risotto was a little rubbery and too salty.  


Overall, I love Commonwealth's atmosphere and would like to go back with our other groupon to try some of the snacks, but I don't think for the price, that the food was quite worth it.  I remember reading the menu while walking by when it first opened and seeing a much more 'British' menu which was what I was looking forward too.  In England, a pub like this would have many more pie selections.  Maybe this didn't go over well in DC causing the change..... I think the atmosphere was great and its a good standby if you need a comfy, cool, non-offensive place to meet friends, but, for a gastro experience, I'd probably pick something else in the area. What do people think of competitors near by, like Social? or Room 11?  Or even Tonic in Mt. Pleasant?  I haven't tried those yet.....

Policy - Flash Light, Pulse Music

The Kleinette, with her Groupon, took a visiting friend from out of town for a bite at Policy, at 1204 14th St NW, one of the bustling U Street corridors's newest resto-small plate-bar type places.   


Policy has a long list of cocktails, a slick looking bar, and a sort of hip-diner design.  Full of booths covered in red patent leather, the restaurant with its low light and pulsing techno music, it gave off the vibe of trying hard to be hip and cool.  Its menu of small plates was what drew us in, and, that was the best part of Policy.  We had the duck spring rolls,red curried lentils, a baked brie and greens, and some kind of scallop dish.  The small plates were really delicious, but, overpriced for what they were without the groupon.  They were between $8-14 a pop.  


I was really hoping to like Policy, but the experience left me confused.  The loud techno music was pulsing at 7pm on a Wednesday night.  The service was very rushed, we were in and out in 40 minutes, but the restaurant was nearly empty.  The hostess was busy txting and seemed surprised when we took her up on the offer to put our heavy winter coats in the closet.  Policy is new, and its atmosphere is confused, expensive eats and blaring nightclub scene.  The servers seemed confused by people coming in for dinner - theres just no point in rushing people when your restaurant is empty!


If you want a hip place for a drink with a snack type dish, and Bar Pilar or St. Ex are too crowded, pop into Policy, the bites will be delicious, but it might be a bit loud and too contrived.  If you want to have a nice dinner of small plates, but aren't up for a nightclub, I'd probably try a different locale in the area.....


I'm also wondering, whats with the small plates dc??  It seems like these dinner tapas are all the rage throughout a wide range of cuisines - American, South American, etc..... While I like to share, and I like to try a bunch of different dishes, if I am going mid-upscale (for a young non-profit professional) I want to pay my $14-18 for a whole dish with a main item and a few different sides.... I don't always want to share with a group and I don't want to walk out having paid $25 for a variety of things......  Peanut gallery, how do you feel about all small plates restaurants?  Are they a pain or do you like the variety? :)

Ezra's Favorite DC Restaurants

Hello Washington from the Kleinette!  It has come to my attention that Ezra Klein has posted a list of his top twelve restaurants in DC.  I'm going to give you a quick run down and my comments if possible.  Its an interesting list because he includes some of the classic ones that other restaurant critics like and then also one of my favorite favorite suburban warehouse treasures.... so here goes:

1. Palena - its in Cleveland Park, I've never been, but the outside area looks nice in the summer....

2. Komi - everyone raves about this one, again, never been!

3. 2 Amy's - they served me a delicious espresso one morning while I was working on a real estate project for work in the area... .one day I'll stop by for delicious pizza, but will it really beat Red Rocks or Pete's Apizza in Columbia Heights?

4.Jaleo/Oyamel - Tom Sietsema raves about these guys and I have to say growing up Jaleo was a Bethesda go-to for me (yes, Jaleo is a chain). and it was always delicious.  especially the Sangria.

5. Hong Kong Palace - no comment, haven't been.

6. Central - I walk by it all the time going to/from work and am waiting for it to become a work lunch destination (mm, memories of Bibiana)

7. Bar Pilar - I have sampled brunch and cheese and a tapas type dish here, all smashing.  I'm not sure why I don't go back more often...

8. Taylor Deli - no comment

9. Vace - no comment

10. Great Wall Szechuan - One day I'll have try this, I still stand by my view that Szechuan Pavillion on K Street is the most delicious Chinese food in DC

11. Super H Mart - Ezra notes that this is not a restaurant, and hes right, but, with the number of fabulous sauces, stir sauces, soy saues, rice noodles, udon noodles, spices EVERYTHING really it makes it very easy to cook restaurant style food at home.  A secret, I believe that the chef at Thai X-ing is using the little yellow canned Thai spice concentrations combined with coconut milk to make his extrodinarily spicy and delicious meals.

12. Spice Express - I had a wrap here....

I will add to the lunch list for him, BURRITO MAN! (Pedro and Vinny's on 15th Street NW, a treasure that I wish was closer to my office..... :) )

Bibiana - Milano Italian Business Lunch

Written by the Kleinette:

This is the first review of a multipart (okay, probably only two part as restaurant week does not come so often) series on the restaurant group that owns 701, Rasika, Bardeo, Ardeo, the Oval Room and the Bombay Club.  Today, I'm going to focus on Bibiana!  Normally, the Kleiner and I have stuck to reviewing things that we do together, but, recently I visited Bibiana for a work lunch (don't get any false ideas please, this was a lucky day) and noticed that it was part of the group that owned Rasika which is where the Kleiner and I will be doing our restaurant week thing ;)

Bibiana, located at 1100 New York Avenue, is a new Italian restaurant designed in a style the owners describe as "Milano".  The colors were all beiges, silvers, blacks, creams and greys and the look was sleek but not too 'shi shi'.  The menu included very small anti pasto plates, salads, pastas, and main meals of meats and fishes.  I had read multiple reviews of the new restaurant in one of my favorite Washington Post chats with restaurant critic Tom Sietsema exclaiming that Bibiana was either a wonderful expression of Italian cuisine or a place that needed to grow up a bit.

My group shared the artichoke and date, almong ricotta piattis without the pancetta.  Both were oozing with flavor and very delicious light starters for a meal. The artichoke was served cool and tasted well-seasoned.  The sticky sweet flavor of the dates was cut well with the rich creamy ricotta. IF you want to order these dishes keep in mind that they are very small.

For our main courses, we had the Tagliatelle Alla Bolognese, the Smoked Potato Gnocchi, Brussels Sprouts and Pecorino Paccheri and the Large Rigatoni with Couliflower, Raisins and Pine Nuts.  Personally, I had the Rigatoni which was simply delicious.  THe Large noodles were coated with a light olive oil based sauce that mixed into what tasted like a reduced, sweet onion sauce with well softened golden raisins.  The Couliflower was well seasoned with matching flavorings that all melded will into the cheese which offered a kick.  The cheese was shaved and generous in such a way that I could place it on the rigatoni to contribute to the sauce.  I also tried the Gnocchi which were flavorful and light complemented well with the roasted Brussels sprouts (yum!).  The desert list looked really good, but, given that this was a work lunch, and we hoped to continue to work throughout the day, we opted for our espresso style of choice. 

The desert menu however called out, and included such yummy ideas as ricotta pancakes with cardamom sugar toping and  hazelnut semi freddo.  Also, given that this was a work lunch, I didn't have a cocktail, I want to mention that one day, when the Kleiner and I have reason to celebrate (that could be something like a birthday, or a Wednesday signally that the week is half done) I hope that we can try some of their interesting cocktails such as a 'Bibiana' made from Hibiscus Liqour, Creme de Violette and Prosecco or a Gabrielle made of Rye, Chocolate Bitters, Cardamom Syrup and Ginger.  Unique sounding indeed!

Recently I have eaten in a lot of restaurants, many not in DC, and a few here that aim to be high-end establishments.  I have found their dishes often to be played out and their service kind of half-hearted or rushy.  I found the service at Bibiana to be classy yet friendly and to be paced perfectly for the high-end meal that it was.  The dishes were unique and creative and for this I give it whole hearted thumbs up for a fancy occassional [or work lunch?] meal.

I'm looking forward to Rasika for Restaurant Week!

From DC to Florida - A hippie odyssey :)

Hello DC Blogworld!!

The Kleiner and I have taken off on an epic winter road trip....... we are going by way of Richmond, Savannah and Palm Coast to/from Miami via Charleston back to DC. 

We will offer MANY reviews from this trip - highlights of which inlcude singalong 'Its A Wonderful Life' at the historic Richmond Byrd Theater, the High Tides and Snack Jack in Flagler Beach, Florida, Clary's in Savannah, the Golden Lion of Flagler Beach, mayhaps even a review of Palm Coast's own European Village (or better, the Palm Coast Linear Park that leads through the glades to the village....) in due time.

For now, we're ensconced in North Florida, which actually offers many many awesome restaurants, cafes (Flagler Beach Coffee Beanery?) and nature spots (sitting on the beach @ at Daytona Beach).....

On Wednesday, we are off to M-I-A-M-I!! (and this is where you say, wait, they have not explained the reasoning for calling it a hippie odyssey, for now it looks like an extremely long road trip)......... to catch PHISH on NYE ;)

An Education

An Education (Scherfig, 2009) - ***1/2

From an era when candy from strangers was readily accepted.

Direct, breezly, and possessed of a remarkable economy of movement and speech, An Education, based on Lynn Barber's same-titled memoir, can easily deceive a viewer into thinking it’s a simple film. But far from it; this latest entry into the English-speaking West’s growing obsession with the tail of the post-WWII era, picking the scabs of repression and enforced order that would soon erupt into cultural and economic fissures that continue to hiss and steam (Mad Men, Revolutionary Road, A Serious Man, to name just a handful), is a dense and difficult fable that, like A Serious Man, portrays a lot of events that, on the surface, leave very little actually changed. But like A Serious Man’s oncoming storm, what we’re seeing is the last desperate attempts to preserve a social order that is collapsing under its own weight.

Behold, man's greatest Erector set.

Jenny (Carey Mulligan, fantastic) is a cello-playing spiretly young middle-class English student who loves to share her fluency and feels stifled by her father’s monomaniacal desire for her to attend Oxford; when charming older Jew David (Peter Saarsgard, ibid) leverages a ride home into what is at first a sweet seduction, Jenny leaps at the opportunity to be treated like a woman. That the relationship won’t end happily isn’t a surprise; what is surprising is how little is made of Jenny’s virginity, and how easily her father (Alfred Molina) acquiesces to an alternate route to securing his daughter stability and wealth, treating his daughter less like a precious flower to protect than an investment property to leverage.


Fine, but I want that reliever with the funky delivery and two players to be named later.

As Brendon Bouzard insightfully notes, An Education achieves the lamentably rare feat of “incorporat[ing] an incredible amount of stylistic goo-gaws, but…in service of the narrative.” With fascinating near-cameos from Emma Thompson as the curiously vile headmistress and Olivia Williams refracting her role from Rushmore, the film is most remarkable at its inability to avoid judgment or punishment, either in plot or style. The real question the film asks is in its very last line of voice-over, one that knifes its seemingly unearned conclusion, and one that asks just what a person’s soul is worth when society considers the rest of them a commodity.

Maintenance & MSG

Hi, everybody, it's the Kleiner. This is just notice of a few things:

1. I'm back! Whoo! Expect a big run of pent-up reviews, starting with Mary & Max directly below.
2. On the sidebar, you'll notice that we've begun compilation of all our reviews. We hope that once it's really up-and-running it will represent a full index of all the things on which we have opined. Cool!
3. Here's something I saw this morning at 5th & I NW walking to the metro that I thought was funny:

Yum!

Mary & Max

Mary & Max (Elliot, 2009) - ***

If the long, hard, and often fruitless struggle to make even the faintest meaningful connection with another human being doesn’t sound like the basis for an adorable claymation film, you merely lack Adam Elliot’s vivid, sometimes wild, imagination. Elliot, an Australian animator best known for the Oscar-winning short Harvie Krumpet (2004), does some pretty amazing stuff with Mary & Max, an uneven but ultimately rewarding telling of the allegedly-true story of a bizarre pen-pal relationship between a lonely Australian girl and an Aspie from New York.

Billy Idol, eat your heart out.

Mary Daisy Dinkle (Toni Collette) and Max Jerry Horowitz (Philip Seymour Hoffman) are friendless; Mary for the more conventional reasons of being awkward, pudgy, and oddly-birthmarked; Max because, to paraphrase the omnipresent narrator (Barry Humphries, dry in the classically British manner), he has trouble negotiating an unstructured and undesignated world. Reaching each other through serendipity and connecting instantly through chocolate, the Noblets, and a mutual intutition that each can relieve the other’s lonliness, a lifelong friendship begins.

New York, I love you, but you don't fit into my exceedingly limited way of engaging the world around me.

Elliot tales his tale with a surplus of gusto – a suburban Australia drenched in earth tones and filled with big-eyed animals and deeply-weird humanity stands in stark contrast to a grey-on-grey Manhattan bursting with noise and nearly-visible odors. The characters are brilliantly distinctive, the animation painstaking, and the story compelling. But the film is not without its flaws, some grievous – it’s mostly told as a recitation, almost entirely blanketed by voice-over from either the narrators or letters exchanged between the protagonists. It occasionally drones, and leaves you begging for these characters to actually interact, or even act, without feeling dictated to. And while the music is often used exceedingly well – especially Penguin Café Orchestra’s “Perpetuum Mobile,” – when it’s not, most notably in a scene near the conclusion set to Pink Martini’s version of “Que Sera,” it threatens to throw us out of the film altogether.

In spite of its flaws and limitations, Mary & Max is well-worth seeing, especially at a breezy 80 minutes. It’s mostly compelling, always inventive, and crafted with delicacy, care, and a weird but ineffable love for its creations. Veering between adorable and wicked with manic abandon, Mary & Max is an unusual, unique, but ultimately rewarding film.


Seen at the AFI Silver as part of the Washington Jewish Film Festival.

Watch the trailer:

The Passenger - The Joy of the Unknown

The Kleiner and I had been craving extra-decent cocktails for a couple weeks now and after not actually finding them in New York (the West Village, our destination to bar hop has apparently gentrified into a land where plain rail drinks like cranberry and vodka seem to be the choices), decided to skip right to the top and try out the new 'The Passenger' bar a few blocks away from the Sixth and I synagogue on 7th Street about a block south of the Mt. Vernon Square metro station.

The row of shops by the metro has long had many empty store fronts - so - the Passenger is a welcome sight on this row that should be filled with businesses.  The bar itself has a dark ambiance, almost like a warehouse, with only a few booth like tables and a long bar.  It is dim, and the side wall is lined with evening photography that plays with light and design. There were a variety of patrons ranging from couples, to groups of friends, to people reading books and working on their laptops at the bar.

The food menu is short, you have your choice of a few different paninis or hot dogs (more to come) and some interesting bar muchies like salted spanish almonds.  As we were arriving just after work, the Kleiner had a panini with roasted vegetables including asparagus and mushrooms with route 11 salt and vinegar chips and I had a 'slaw dog', meaning beef hot dog with coleslaw and bbq sauce and sweet potato chips.  A simple dinner, but a very savory and tasty one to my surprise!

Now, what you are probably (or should be waiting for), the cocktails!  They do not have a cocktail list, rather you tell the waiter or waitress or bartender (ess?) what kind of base liqour you'd like and an idea of how you'd like it to go, e.g. spicy, nutty, lemony, bitter or sweet and they whip you up a cocktail.  I had a almond/vanilla spice flavored vodka drink, a spiced rum drink [almost tasted like curry] while the Kleiner had a whiskey based drink (heavy on the whiskey) and a suberp lemon martini (strong, without a strong alcohol taste and a clean yummy lemon finish.  All of the cocktails were $8 which we thought was a great price point.  The wine list has been described elsewhere as diverse and the beer list had a quirky selection too - but - given out cocktail cravings we didn't pay much attention.  Next time perhaps??

**note -- it was not so crowded at 6.30 on Monday night, but some reviews I've seen mention that it can get crowded already!  Congrats!

Angelica Kitchen - Delicious, Creative, Vegan Fare in the East Village

The Kleiner and I, in search of a delicious and unique vegetarian meal, visited the Angelica Kitchen in Manhattan's East Village for dinner last Wednesday before Thanksgiving.   The Angelica Kitchen didn't call itself 'Vegan' officially, however, the menu was completely devoid of any product derived from an animal.  Washington, DC does not seem to have too many exclusively vegetarian restaurants, the main ones that I know about are Vegetate (which to our dismay is closing and looking for a new space) and Soul right by Howard University.  There are a lot of vegetarian options in the cities restaurants, but not straight up pick anything you want on the menu vegetarian joints.  In fact, I liked it so much that I invited them to open one in DC, but, I'm not sure they want to trek so far south -- a shame!

The atmosphere of the Angelica Kitchen was perfect in my eyes - softly lit, orangey, little wooden private tables and large windows looking at the city.  On this night friends and couples could be found chatting intimately and enjoying heaping plates of freshly prepared veggies.

The Angelica Kitchen featured a very comprehensive menu with lots of unique options of different vegetable fritters, tofu formulations, pastes made of curried cashews, dragon bowls and veggie filled sushi.  We opted to try the curried cashew paste with raw vegetables that left us with a punchy, spicy taste in our mouths.  I had a dish with roasted red squash, green salad with mustardy dressing and balsamic marinated tofu with mushroom ragout. YUM!  Hows that for creative vegan?  The Kleiner had a vegetarian Rueben that could be described not as a fake Rueben but what a rueben would be if was not meant to be composed of corned beef.  We skipped desert preparing for Thanksgiving day, but the menu had a variety of vegan deserts that tempted us greatly. 

To note, it is Bring Your Own Bottle - so grab one if you want to imbibe and enjoy the creative fare!  

Electronic Fairy Princess Imogen Heap at the Historic Sixth and I Synagogue

The Kleiner and I just saw Imogen Heap play at the historical Sixth and I synagogue on Monday evening immediately upon returning from their long hiatus playing on and around Long Island for Thanksgiving.

Aside from the nightmarish traffic (in the future, will only take the Pennsylvania Amish Country adventure route to New York), the trip was fantastic and included a visit to the Angelica Kitchen (a delicious East Village vegan restaurant), Bryant Park and its Christmas Market (oh, the beautiful ice rink and double oh, for the modernized European market complete with chocolate of the Israeli Max Brenner chocolate shop served by 'the bald man' [or one of the owners] himself, lots of pizza and the Sweet Lilly spa.  We also saw 'An Education' which may or may not be reviewed later by the Kleiner.

First of all, concerts at Sixth and I are great, as we have discovered.  The space is gorgeous - there is a beautiful sephardi painted dome and mezzanine and main temple seating.  Everyone piles into the synagogue benches and those who want to get really close to the artist press themselves against the 'bima.'  Imogen Heap herself, is a magical fairy princess of electronic music.  She started the evening by personally introducing her openers (and members of her 'band).  Each time she came out, her hair became wilder and wilder until it was one big frizz mess piled on her head and secured with a few different bows.  She wore a short satin skirt - almost like a tutu and white ballet flats.

I absolutely love her music and her joint project Frou Frou, so I was extremely excited for this show and even more excited that it was at Sixth and I.  It is amazing to see how she puts together the music live.  Her set included numerous computers, synthesizers, microphones and toys that she uses to generate the sounds that get sequenced into her music.  Some of the insturments truly were just her voice make a few chirps or heavy breathing.  Her openers, who also comprised most of her 'band' also do the same thing, bringing even more computers and mics to the stage.  Truly amazing.

The set was heavy on her newest album, Ellipse and inlcuded a few much loved favorites such as 'Just for Now' and 'Hide and Seek' from Speak for Yourself.  Other songs played were 'Bad Body Double' which was a lot better live than on the album - the upbeat bits include almost hip hoppishly strong beats which generate great energy, an audience favorite, Swoon, Last Train Home, Aha! (which almost had hints of Klezmer) and Litte Bird. During Aha!, she brought up a local cellist who competed via her website to add the cello live. The last encore,the heart breaking - 'The Moment I Said It,' was chilling, near to the point of tears.

Overall, the show was fantastic, but, one aspect was confusing.  She seemed to play many slow songs, despite the fact that her discography includes so many fantastic upbeat songs that fill a space so well.  I can imagine they are extremely difficult to build up the sounds for now that I can see the complicated rig needed to generate the richer songs, but, the pay-off for the audience is worth it.  On the other hand, most of the lyrics to her songs are not only sad, but emotionally jarring, bringing you with her on emotional highs of falling in love and the lowest lows watching yourself lose your spouse, or the way 'clothes feel like second hand throwaways' when your ex falls in love with someone new' or the pain and confusion of watching your parents divorce.  Perhaps a live show that only includes the upbeat songs would be a dishonest representation of the artist.... 



I would 100% see Imogen Heap again, but hope the next time will be at the Black Cat or another venue where the audience can dance ;)

Beige Friday?

Currently blogging from Roosevelt Field Mall in Garden City, NY, America's 11th biggest and the largest in the state. The Kleinette's now having a pedicure, but I couldn't help but notice: crowds are large but manageable, maybe only a notch or so above your average Saturday crowd. Anyone else feeling the recession today?

Right Next to DeNiro

Sorry for the slow posting! Live has been crazy lately, but soon we'll turn the backlog into a flood of posts!

In the meantime, quick update: we're in TriBeCa! While the Kleinette gets a manicure, I'm going to stare longlingly at the
menu at Nobu. Oh, New York...

Baltimore - WE LOVE YOU - part. 1 of ???

The Kleiner and I found ourselves in Baltimore yesterday after a family type of thing in Columbia.  Each and every time we enter charm city we find ourselves a little bewitched because there is something special about it, the fact that its still changing, still pulsing, still trying after so many years of decaying economy, its history and its singular non-transient culture - all are endlessly endearing.  Upon arrival we roamed through Fells Point, which is the typical next stop after the Inner Harbor for many a tourist.  We checked out, among other stores, the Sound Garden, one of the few really cool independent record stores still around anywhere these days. Next, we drove up to Hampden to visit the fabled Atomic Books, an 'ideological' book store with loads of magazines and books on politics and arts, so we could see through the minute we were permitted inside before the extra early 7pm Saturday night closing.

 The Sound Garden

As we are big adventurers, or minor ones, however you see it, we decided to keep walking down the road to Falls Road which led to what seemed to be the center of Hampden which was adorable in ways that I just haven't found a place to be adorable in the DC area.  We passed the Wine Bar, a swank place with loads of $6-$10 glasses of wine and interesting 'small plates' at reasonable prices ($5-$7).  There was a make your own pasta joint, a kitchy 'Cafe Hon' playing on the Baltimore 'Hon' ladies, lots of vintage shops with funky finds in the window, a 'junque' shop, or shops, organic salons and the place we ultimately chose for dinner, The Golden West.  

Cool menus look like album covers.

The Golden West was a quirky, southwestern inspired cafe with loads of 'last supper' painting son the walls, funky tables and chairs, great music and a million art flyers (including one for the soon to be checked out Patterson Art Collective) laying about the crowd of young people, families, and couples.  A long bar was situated in the back of the restaurant with a long, bottle beer list and a fantastic cocktail list that ranged in price from $5-8 (is that possible in DC, no!) with drinks such as a bacon martini (ok, not for me, but maybe for you) a New Age Cowboy (cream or soy, bourbon and cinnamon), Italian Boyfriend (limoncello martini), and a rootbeer infused vodka!  The menu offered generous selection for vegetarians, vegans and carnivores alike.  The Kleiner had an un-chicken barbeque and I had an Aztec Burrito, that while spicy as hell, was delicious with roasted corn , eggplant, avocado, plantains and salsa fresco.  The menu included appetizers like buffalo tofu, cheeto pie, and a reminder to order your fresh cookies then to be baked for the end of your meal (3 for $4).

The Golden West has been around for 13 years and we can see why.  The service could be described as lackadaisical at best, but we loved the super veg friendly menu, the quirky surroundings, the affordable composed cocktails and the atmosphere of being somewhere special that cares about its food and its sense of community.  Dear Golden West, when will you add a location to Mt. Pleasant Street?

Intense Police Activity at 14th and Columbia?

We were just driving west on Columbia Rd at about 10:00pm. As we reached 14th Street we found Columbia Rd blocked off going west towards 16th Street NW with at least 4 police cars.  A spotlight as usual was set up on Columbia Road.  There were other police cars posted around roads to the west of Columbia Rd.  Does anyone know what is happening in Columbia Heights tonight, November 14th?

*****update

From Prince of Petworth: http://www.princeofpetworth.com/2009/11/terrible-crime-in-columbia-heights-sat-night

And the Washington Post:http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/14/AR2009111403300.html

Nat Osborn @The Rookery (SOTD)

Last Thursday, the Kleinette and I were lucky enough to follow through on a recommendation to go see Nat Osborn & The Free Radicals open for the Honey Island Swamp Band at The Rookery. Unfortunately, we couldn't stay late enough to see the main act, but it was still a very worthwhile experience.



The Rookery is a cool venue, striking just the right balance between cool dive and upscale chic. The venue has two stories, the first of which is just the bar, the second of which has the small stage in an intimate room with a second bar. The bar has a $30 credit card minimum, so be sure to bring cash. The show we saw was $5/per, which seems to be the standard cover there for their shows, which is pretty good! They don't have "big names" like the Black Cat or the 9:30 Club, but they're well-located near the Foggy Bottom metro and off the Rock Creek Parkway, drinks aren't priced tooooo unreasonably (two mixed drinks put us back $16) and it's a fun, lively atmosphere.







As for Nat Osborn & the Free Radicals, they were a blast. Only Osborn and two other performers were present, which meant they had to ditch a lot of the instrumentation you hear on their album, which is more densely layered with horns and strings. Live, however, they really play up a more classically bluesy vibe, which we greatly enjoyed. Their music catchy and fun, and Osborn has a compelling stage presence, clearly enjoying performing and feeling the music strongly. The above video, the opening verse and chorus of "Yours Alone," can't really do justice to either the venue or the performance, but hopefully it gives some sense of the liveliness of the music and intimacy of the venue. The video below is the album version of "Claire." The self-titled EP has six fun tracks.







All in all, both artist and venue come recommended!
-The Kleiner