Gadarene

Time for me to try it again!

It's just a little ice!

That's great news! I loved him at Suna. Now I just have to figure out when I can go to The Columbia Room that won't be an hour+ wait (as it was when I tried to drop by on a random Tuesday at 6:30 pm a few months ago).

I've heard amazing things about both Bali and the Greek Islands, and you probably can't go wrong there, but let me throw out something completely different: Iceland. Staggering natural beauty and a country readymade for a week-long jaunt around the Ring Road with leisurely stops at all the wonders it contains. Downside: the beaches will have ice on them. Upside: you'll see stuff like this. Best time to go is in late April, May, or September -- outside of tourist season, so the prices aren't as high and there are way fewer people, but the days are still long and most/all roads will be open. Seriously, Iceland is one of the most uniquely beautiful places on Earth; around every corner is something breathtakingly epic. And you can actually dive into the continental fissure at Þingvellir, so your certification will come in handy.

I always wonder about that space and what it used to be (and when). Definitely a foot traffic issue, but it certainly has potential.

This is where I demonstrate that I am lazy and entitled. Mi Cuba Cafe is too far! It's, like, a ten-minute walk, down several streets, across a wide and busy 16th Street, and past two of the area's seven hundred and thirty-six churches (rough estimate). There's something psychological about having to walk ten minutes for decent stuff (and Mi Cuba Cafe, Pho 14, and Los Hermanos are all definitely decent and worthy establishments) when there are two dozen restaurants in the two blocks next to my house that really makes the stuff ten minutes away feel much, much further. Ditto Doner Bistro on Columbia, and then Thip Khao is fully fifteen minutes away, and let's not even get INTO Room 11 and those guys... Like I said, lazy and entitled.

That paint store... I remember when it was a failing supermarket. I'm not sure the paint store offers that much more marginal utility, though admittedly I'm intrinsically self-interested and don't buy paint. But yeah, that parking lot could be used for so many better things. I wonder if anything's going to go in that basement space where the random imported toys, lunchboxes, brooms, and other cheap plastic goods and sundries store (no, not that one; the other one -- no, the other other one) used to be.

Ironic to read this now, four years later, since that "great spot for a restaurant" Rieux mentioned -- and I totally agree! -- is what became the Subway. Huge waste.

This makes me happy to hear!

Ditto for all of this, except I live one block away. Mt. Pleasant is, sadly, a hard place to sustain clientele for neighborhood bars and restaurants that aspire to anything interesting, for a variety of reasons (from the surprising number of already-established-if-unfortunately-mediocre eating establishments on the strip, to a restrictive neighborhood board, to the lack of significant foot or motor traffic that could fuel word-of-mouth or steady customers from outside the immediate few blocks). It's too bad. Beau Thai has some good things (if the menu itself still tends towards the over-sweet), Don Juan is actually pretty great for what it is (those pork chops mmmmm), Marx Cafe is surprisingly solid, Zabver and Angelico are both great takeout options (albeit of very different kinds; I still maintain that Zabver's pork chop salad is one of the great dishes of the city...maybe I just really like pork chops), Lezo's tamales and pozole are legit, and even Pollo Sabroso is of a quality that belies the fast food exterior (okay, and interior). But man, I just want a Bad Saint or a Room 11 or a Tail Up Goat or a Red Hen or a Thip Khao or someplace that's striving for something more ambitious than a neighborhood bar or restaurant. Something chef-driven and thoughtful and ingredient-driven and seasonal and, at minimum, oh-so-slightly elevated. Failing that, I just want The Raven Grill to change its name and take that damn cocktail sign out of their window, because they haven't served food or offered decent cocktails for at least the last twenty years as far as I know, and every time I walk by it, it just annoys me as I think about all the phenomenal little kitchens at all the grungy little bars back in Portland. Raven Grill, my butt. Anyway. Yeah. Sad to hear that Radius is closing. I hope something interesting takes its place, or at least something at all (have you noticed how much of Columbia Road between the Safeway and 18th, and then how much of 18th along the Adams Morgan strip, are vacant storefronts now and have been for a while?). But not another Subway; the one we inexplicably have now is more than enough.

I think the point about hotel bars is right on, and it's probably not a coincidence that I've had so many good experiences as a tourist in other cities, because a talented bartender is adept at making people feel welcome, and someone being new to town and interested in hearing local recommendations about what the city has to offer is a great jumping off point for a memorable and positive interaction. Thanks also to you and DaveO for the tip about Paul at Southern Efficiency; I'll certainly go back on some slower weeknight and see if he's working. I just want to like the drinks a little more! Almost forgot; this is a good point. I believe it was last Thursday around 7 pm.

Every photo I've seen of the open-faced sandwiches at Aamanns looks simply stunning.

If it's okay with Don, I think I might use this thread from time to time as a catch-all for my positive experiences with bar staff in the D.C. area, along the lines of what I describe above. (Maybe that merits moving it into the Beer, Wine, and Cocktails forum, though I still hold out hope that more people will be able to chime in with current gems I've missed or forgotten.) The two women working behind the bar at Southern Efficiency last week were quite personable and knowledgeable and, if I had been in a more hospitable mood myself that day (as opposed to being humidity-sodden and generally disgruntled), would probably have been inclined to chat. It's my secret shame that the drinks at Southern Efficiency look delicious on paper but, when transmuted to liquid form, are never quite balanced to my taste, tending more sweet than I like. So I might not go back sometime soon, but it made me happy to encounter more people who seemed truly to enjoy their jobs and interacting with customers. (As an aside, this is your periodical reminder that the folk at Little Serow really are sine qua non when it comes to offering interesting pairings and genuine warmth in equal measure; if only I could just sit there and work my way through all the wines on the menu...but that's what Tail Up Goat is for.)

I'm going in two weeks, so I'll report back. I also have a friend who lives in Copenhagen who sent me a detailed list of recommendations; when I can access my personal email, I'll relay them here. I've got lunch reservations at Geranium (3 Michelin stars, for whatever that's worth) and Studio, and dinners planned at Amass (very excited about this), Radio, and Geist. Other places on my radar include Kodbyens Fiskebar (open Sundays!), Aamanns, Almanak, and Oliver and the Black Circus for food, and Baest, Ved Stranden, Ruby, and Atze Peng for drinks, as well as the things that my friend recommends.

I was there a few months ago, and it's still fantastic.

Has anyone been to Archipelago? How did you find it?

This is a wonderful, wonderful, wonderful post. You've nailed it. As for the Drink Co recommendations, I've had stellar (if not transcendental -- an admittedly high bar!) experiences at Mockingbird and am quite sad they're temporarily closed. The folks at Eat the Rich have always been perfectly personable, though I stopped going as often once their oyster prices increased above my comfort level. I haven't been to Southern Efficiency in a long long time, and I don't know why, and I should remedy that; their current menu looks great. The one time I've tried to go to Columbia Room in its new location, I was told it would be an hour wait even to get into the main bar -- this was 6:30 pm on a Tuesday! So I haven't given that another shot. Speaking of Brown brother affiliates, I should also get back to The Left Door, which is much closer to my apartment than the things in Shaw, but the drinks were (unfortunately if understandably) eye-wateringly expensive the only time I've been, so I haven't been back. I remember really enjoying the bartender, though. (Speaking of that area, I also want to like 2 birds, 1 stone much more than I do, since I'm a huge Adam Bernbach fan, but a combination of pricy drinks/limited menu/sterile ambience/polite-but-not-warm barstaff keeps it from my regular rotation.) But anyway, yes, I loved your post, and your advice feels spot-on. We seem to be of similar temperaments; I should buy you a drink sometime! What was the name of the restaurant in Arlington?

Well, considering that the three experiences I had in Berlin (and at Room 11 and Tail Up) happened literally the first time I ever went there, I don't think this is quite the whole answer. Some bartenders are friendlier than others; some make better drinks than others; some do both, whether it's your first time or your fifteenth. I think the notion that there are dozens of bars in the area that would offer this kind of experience is either wildly optimistic, or else I'm not doing a very good job articulating what I'm looking for. The guy at Twinpigs in Berlin started waxing lyrical, within ten minutes of my sitting down, about a Basque sloe liqueur he had managed to procure, and its astonishing properties when paired with Heering; the folks at Pauly Bar were talking to me as if they'd known me for years after a half hour or so, telling me stories of their families while whipping up Audrey Sanders-inspired creations and debating with each other about the type of red wine that should traditionally be the float in a New York Sour. I'm not looking for Kansas, I'm looking for Oz -- and sometimes it's not right around the corner. (Especially when around the corner is the Raven.)

I just got back from a short vacation in Berlin. While there, I discovered (again) that one of my premier pleasures in life is sitting at a bar, whiling the time away while chatting with bartenders/bar managers who (1) are friendly and charming and interesting and fun, (2) have the time and inclination to chat back, when not busy,* and (3) know their **** inside and out, serve (or recommend) consistently delicious drinks, and -- as a bonus -- are unabashed cocktail/wine/sherry/what-have-you geeks. The kind of place where the people who work there are enthusiastic about what they do and enjoy discussing their craft -- and, here and there, parceling out complimentary tastes of cool things -- or various other topics with semi-random customers who take an interest. There are places with people like this in D.C.: Bill and the entire bar staff at Tail Up Goat; Sean and Nate in particular at Room 11; Chantal at the Reading Room when she's not slammed; a few people at Lapis, Barcelona, Bar Pilar (although I've also had strikingly bad service here recently), and Ripple whose names now escape me; and of course Gina, Adam, Owen, and a couple of others back in the day when they were regularly behind the stick at a place I frequented. But I'm sure I'm forgetting, overlooking, or not aware of some places that fit these criteria, so: who are the cocktailiers/bar managers/bartenders in D.C. who are most likely to enhance your bargoing experience by their combination of skills and personality? I'm especially interested in places that (1) are in D.C. proper and not too far from public transit, since I'm thoroughly carless; or (2) I could plausibly walk into on a random night and sit down at the bar with minimal wait or advance planning (so not places like The Columbia Room, Dram & Grain, or Rose's, or The Red Hen). Thanks. *The proviso of "when not busy" is especially salient in this city, since my sense is that the really good bars (and really good bartenders) get jam-packed here even on an average weeknight more often than certain other cities with a denser, more variegated craft bar culture,** and I'm certainly not going to be that guy who tries to make small talk when someone's got six orders to fill. **(I probably spent about 9 hours of my 2.5 days in Berlin just hanging out at the bar of Pauly Saal chatting with the barstaff -- all three of whom were absolutely awesome, and absurdly credentialed -- on a Friday and Saturday night, and the room was never more than a third full, and for much of that time I was the only person at the bar itself. Also great Berlin bar experiences in this vein: Rutz Weinbar and Twinpigs.)

Or different tastes, yeah. Because man, whatever they were doing just hit me exactly right. It was a top 5 high-end dining experience of my life. (The other four would probably be: Disfrutar in Barcelona (April 2016); Central in Lima (September 2014); Momofuku Ko in their old NYC space (September 2012); and Table 21 at Volt (April 2010).)

Dill in Reykjavik is easily one of the best restaurants in the world, or at least it was when I was there in April 2015. A bartender in Berlin this weekend excitedly high-fived me when he learned I'd been there; he said he'd been last January and could still remember every dish. Phenomenal food. There was a series of five or six dishes in the middle where each one was the best thing I'd had in recent memory, and they kept topping each other.

I was just in Berlin this weekend; this post is a reminder to myself to say something about my food/drink experiences some time soon.

Virtually everything in DC is expensive for what it is. In my experience, Chez Billy was a thoughtful neighborhood joint with a good atmosphere and an emphasis on quality. We need more of that (we really don't have that many), and I'm sad to see it go.

Duke's is on the shortlist of best burgers in the city, hands down.

Ugh. That's such an unseemly article, for everyone involved (including the headline writer).