Tweaked

Opens today! "This exhibition unites almost a century of work by 49 women and nonbinary artists in a range of media drawn exclusively from the Hirshhorn’s permanent collection. One-quarter of the artworks have been made in the past decade by the likes of Loie Hollowell, Rachel Jones, Deana Lawson, Sondra Perry and Kiyan Williams. One-third have never been on view at the Hirshhorn. Recent acquisitions, including pieces by Dana Awartani, Zanele Muholi and Billie Zangewa, reflect the museum’s mission to acquire and highlight global voices. Titled after a 1963 painting by American pop artist Rosalyn Drexler, whose work is featured in the first gallery, “Put It This Way” is organized by Hirshhorn Associate Curator Anne Reeve. The exhibition speaks to traditionally marginalized artists’ decisive and virtuosic achievements, and investigates a wide array of aesthetic, political and historical concerns. The full-floor presentation is intended to encourage conversations around the significance of gender in creating and perceiving an artwork, the effects of categorizing artists by gender as well as the museum’s role and responsibilities in stewarding the national collection of modern and contemporary art."

Happy Ice Cream indeed...Milk Chocolate with Apricot Jam and Chococookie is really really good. $15 for a pint of ice cream is certainly pricey...but totally worth it. 17th Street is still a mess. What was basically a 4 lane road is now barely a 1 lane road, but there is plenty of room in front of Komi/Happy Gyro for swooping in for pick up.

What a stunning place. We drove south from Central Washington, headed west through some amazing scenery along I-90, hopped on the always lovely Rt. 821 which takes you along the Yakima River Gorge, and then headed South along Rt. 97 through the Yakima Indian Reservation passing through a stunning forest and mountain range, before dropping into the Columbia River Gorge near Maryhill. At one point we could see Mt. Hood, Mt. Adams and Mt. St. Helens. The Columbia River Gorge is an interesting study in microclimates. On the Eastern end of the Gorge you are entering a semi-arid region, The Dalles, OR receives roughly 14 inches of precipitation; Hood River, OR, roughly the half point in the Gorge, receives 31 inches of precipitation; while Cascade Locks, OR on the West end of the Gorge receives approximately 75 inches of precipitation. This covers a span of 40 miles (think DC to Baltimore). Hood River, a charming river town with art galleries, restaurants, breweries, and distilleries; and The Dalles, which we only drove past and seemed a little more strip mall-ish are the two population centers. The Washington side of the Gorge consists of mostly blink and you'll miss them villages. If you are an outdoors-y type there are a ton of activities: Hood River is internationally known for windsurfing and kite boarding, there is plenty of hiking, kayaking, wine tasting, and hot springs. And you'll certainly want to catch Golden Hour and the sunset along the Columbia River. Wineries Many of the wineries are by appointment only and most have either a tasting fee or minimum bottle purchase, so make sure you checkout the details. We visited two wineries: COR Cellars: Nestled in the hills around the Gorge on the Washington side, their tasting room has a contemporary indoor/outdoor vibe. It’s a great space. We did the tasting flight and had a cheese and charcutier board. They produce wines for immediate consumption, they want wines that reflect the lifestyle of the Gorge, opening a bottle by the river at a picnic or at the end of a hike. We enjoyed their white wines, including the sauvignon blanc, tocai friulano, and Alba. AniChe Cellars: Also on the Washington side, AniChe is a women owned and operated winery that has a more rustic low key vibe with spectacular views of the Gorge. We enjoyed their slightly effervescent Puck white wines, 7 Gables red, and Tyger Tyger. While eating out we also tried the Syncline Pic Poul, which was fine, and an excellent 2015 Syrah from Savage Grace. Restaurants Backwoods Brewing Company (Carson, WA) After a day of travel, we stopped in at Backwoods Brewing Company, mainly because it was 5 minutes from our hotel. The salmon dip was good although the accompanying vegetables and bread were sort of clunky. The pizza was fine but not great. The porter was kinda weirdly sweet. Celilo Restaurant and Bar (Hood River): This was our fancier dinner of the weekend. Celilio is sort of PNW fancy, which means nice but still casual and relaxed. We started with their plate of dips and spread which was solid. We also got the skillet clams which was a good dish, although the broth needed some butter and salt. I had the fava bean and beet fettucine which was fine, again under seasoned. The wine list has an excellent selection of local wine. The restaurant is very nice, but food-wise it could have been better. Solstice Wood Fired Pizza Café (Hood River): Situated along the waterfront park, Solstice is casual, with a similar vibe to Pizza Paradiso Dupont. We had very good fries, a decent Caesar salad, and a very good mushroom pizza, with nice char to the crust. The wood fired S’more was decadent and delicious. I would return. Eastwind Drive-In (Cascade Locks): Retro style diner with a take-out window serving burgers, fries, grilled cheese, and soft serve ice cream. A delicious treat after a nice hike. For fans of Cheryl Strayed and her book Wild, this is the place she ends her hike along the Pacific Crest Trail. Other Activities Hiking: There are plenty of hiking trails around the Gorge. We decided to do the Dry Creek Falls trail, which starts in Cascade Locks. It’s an easy to moderate there and back forest hike mostly along the Pacific Crest Trail ending at a 74-foot waterfall that drops into a basalt amphitheater. It was exactly what we were looking for in a PNW day hike. It took us about 3 hours total with a lunch break at the falls. Kayaking: We did a great 2.5-hour afternoon guided kayak trip along the Wind River. The other people canceled so it ended up being a private trip with the guide, who owns the business (and was born in DC!). If you like kayaking, check out Hood River SUP and Kayaking. Hot Springs: We stayed at Carson Hot Springs Golf and Spa Resort. They bill themselves as being rustic and they are a historic hot springs spa situated in a forested area with mountain views. The room was a basic hotel room but fine for a couple of days. They have a great indoor jacuzzi style hot mineral water pool and cool off pool. They also offer private spa services. As a hotel guest you have unlimited use of the pool area. The Columbia River Gorge is a spectacular place to visit, can’t wait to return.

I think Washington State is vastly underrated for its varied natural beauty. It seems to me most East Coasters think of Washington as Seattle, when in fact that climate/terrain is a narrow slice of the state. Obviously, the Seattle area is beautiful, but just as beautiful is Central and Eastern Washington, which is primarily a dry climate. With just under a 5 hour drive you can go from lush rain forest in Olympic National Park to mountain skiing in the Cascades to highland desert along the Columbia River. We spent four days in the Grand Coulee region, which could be ripped straight out of the American Southwest. We were quite shocked that such a landscape exists and is unknown on the East Coast. Grand Coulee area That said, there isn't a lot going on in the Grand Coulee region. Coulee City's population is 550 people, Grand Coulee/Electric City combined population is approximtely 2,000 people. To the south, Ephrata is approximately 8,000 people. We rented cabins at the Sun Lakes Park Resort, which bills itself as rustic. The cabins are bare bones: bed, linens, and a toaster are provided, but bring your own kitchenware, cutlery, plates, cups etc. However, the resort does have decent amenities including a snack shake with good ice cream and decent burgers and fries; a small store with packaged and frozen food, snacks, and beer; a surprisingly well kept laundry facility; a great putt putt course; heated swimming pool; and watercraft rentals, boat launch, and a golf course. This is very much a chill and be with your family type of place. With proper prep you can do well ie: if you want fresh produce, bring your own. Other Activities We went on a lovely hike to the Lake Lenore Caves, a series of cliff caves overlooking Lenore Lake. The trail is well marked and an easy/moderate climb to the caves, with fantastic views of the surrounding lake and cliffs. This hike can be well explored under two hours. Gamble Sands Golf Course: fantastic links style golf course near Brewster, WA perched on top of the hillside overlooking the Columbia River. This is a must play course if you are in the area and is ranked within the top 100 public golf courses in the country. I highly recommend walking the course. Grand Coulee Dam Tour: The Grand Coulee Dam is the largest hydropower generating complex in the country. Show up approx. 45 minutes early to get a place in the tour. They also do a nighttime laser light show projected onto the dam during the summer. All in all, I thought it was a fascinating part of the country.

Leavenworth Let's be clear, Leavenworth is a Bavarian themed village in the middle of the Cascade Mountains so it's pretty much going to be a tourist trap, but if you stop off make sure you get ice cream from Whistlepunk Ice Cream. Also, if you have the time and option, the US Highway 2 crossing of the Cascades via Stevens Pass is even more scenic than the I-90 Snoqualmie Pass route. East Wenatchee You'll find several fruit stands along Rt. 2 just North of Wenatchee along the East side of the Columbia River. We randomly picked Estes Fruit Stand. Not a ton of produce was available 5 minutes before closing but we picked up cherries. Apparently, it's a poor cherry harvest this year. They also have beautiful own-grown flowers. I would suspect the produce selection would be better in July and August.

A quick stop off in the Seattle area. Grateful Bread Baking: We stopped in at the Duvall, WA location but they also have a Seattle bakery in the Wedgwood neighborhood. Tasty pastries including the ham and cheese croissant and good coffee. Golden Steer Meat Market: A random listing, but if you need a butcher in Woodinville or Bellevue...we bought a 12lbs brisket, which was smoked overnight in a Green Egg for around 12 hours and damn it was good. They also had a good selection of sausages, thick cut bacon, and amazing looking pork butts, among a lot of other offerings. One major beef...the wine selection at Seattle area grocery stores is so vastly superior than DC. Many grocery stores have a local wine section featuring a broad range of Washington State wine...stuff I hunt all over DC to find and is almost never available is on sale with a bonus card.

Announced today per Jose's IG account. Washington Post story

Per Popville “Today, Chef Peter Chang and his daughter Lydia Chang announce Chang Chang, a new dual restaurant concept coming to the Dupont Circle neighborhood of downtown Washington D.C this fall. The two-in-one restaurant will feature parallel dine-in and carryout services, which will function as fully separate entities, with little to no menu overlap between them." Chang-In, the full-service side of Chang Chang, will be something new and unique, offering a new take on seasonal modern Chinese cooking. Helming the kitchen will be rising star Simon Lam, a Chinese American chef who started at NiHao, and whose resume also includes a decade long tenure at Chef Jose Andres’s China Chilcano, both in Las Vegas and Washington, DC. Chang-Out, will feature a carryout and delivery menu with favorite dishes from Peter Chang’s popular locations from Virginia Beach to Connecticut.

I went to "This Present Moment: Crafting a Better World" at the Renwick over the weekend and highly recommend. "This Present Moment: Crafting a Better World showcases the dynamic landscape of American craft today. The exhibition highlights the role that artists play in our world to spark essential conversations, stories of resilience, and methods of activism—showing us a more relational and empathetic world. It centers more expansive definitions and acknowledgments of often-overlooked histories and contributions of women, people of color, and other marginalized communities. On view at SAAM’s Renwick Gallery, This Present Moment activates two floors of gallery space, highlighting 171 artworks from SAAM’s extensive holdings of modern and contemporary craft, in a range of craft mediums from fiber and ceramics to glass and mixed media. These objects deepen the history of the studio craft movement while also introducing contemporary artworks that push the boundaries of what we interpret the handmade to be in the twenty-first century."

The Passyunk neighborhood has a couple of small breweries. We stopped in at Cartesian Brewing for a quick quaff early on a Sunday afternoon. They offer three sizes of pours, including 5oz glasses which is a good way to sample if you are not familiar with their product. The brewery is a classic warehouse/garage set up with picnic tables, back deck, and some outdoor seating if the front garage doors are open. You can bring your own food, and three dudes walked in with cheese steaks. Their beer list isn't up to date on their website but they had about 10-12 beers on tap. I went with a perfectly enjoyable black IPA type beer. My brother had a lager which was fine. Passyunk is a cool, hipster-y neighborhhood worth exploring just south of the Italian Market area.

Isgro's is about old school as it gets. Good choice for cannoli and ricotta cookies, open at 8am 6 days a week...in case you decide cannolis are need for breakfast. Which we decided was indeed necessary. Isgro's is just off the 9th Street Italian Market area at S. 10th and Christian.

Chatayee Thai debuted a vegan menu several years ago for a Vegan Food Week and it proved so popular they kept it and it often outsells their regular menu. The appetizers at Chatayee outperform their entrees. We have enjoyed: Massaman & Roti - vegetables in a soupy coconut peanut broth with puffy roti Thung Tong - a fried beggar's purse filled with pumpkin, potato, and taro Autumn Rolls - Fat fried spring rolls with root vegetables, cabbage, mushroom Tod Mun Puk - roasted vegetable red curry corn fritters I like their pad thai and the kang rawang hed (mushroom rawang curry) I find their signature curries to be little thin and not very punchy. Certainly a weaker part of their menu. Since we have good Thai options in DC, I'm not sure people would travel to Philly and then go to a Thai restaurant, but if you are faced with the dreaded vegan/veg/meat eater problem, Chatayee is a good choice. One note, their "outdoor" seating is basically tables out on the sidewalk next to a bus stop, so not great.

We ordered take out from the South Philadelphia location of Tiffin. Overall the food was good, more rich than nuanced. I'd say a cut below some of DC's neighborhood Indian places like Indique or Masala Art. But certainly tasty on a rainy Friday night. The samosa chat was good, although a little too smothered in chutneys. The onion bhaji were dense and probably didn't stand up well for delivery. The chana masala was good and we enjoyed the saag paneer. When ordering you can get a "family" size order of many dishes which helps when ordering for a group, which arrived in a quart sized take out container. Tiffin has also launched Indian Chaat Factory, a plant based chaat menu available at the South Philadelphia and Mt. Airy locations.

Don and Mera Rubell own one of the world's largest contemporary art collections. In October, they will be opening a satellite museum in Washington, DC, housed at the old Randall Junior High School at 65 I Street, SW (A block from the DC DMV on Half Street for people who get their cars inspected in DC, and a block from the Capitol Skyline Hotel, which they also own). Their main museum and collection is in Miami (I visited the Rubell in Miami in February 2020, during our last trip before the pandemic shut everything down...that seems forever ago). For lovers of contemporary art, this should be a major opening. This Art World Power Couple Will Open Their D.C. Museum This Fall

Rose Ave Bakery is another bakery I don't know much about, but they are opening a brick and mortar in Woodley Park. Their doughnuts do look great on IG.

Captain Cookie and the Milkman: Food truck/bakery, three brick and mortars (Foggy Bottom, Brookland, Eastern Market) with a new store opening in Cleveland Park. Plus a loction in NYC. I guess they are doing something right...has anyone tried them?

Champions League does not disappoint. Liverpool v. Real Madrid May 28.

Tim Carmen on Cracked Eggery

Yep, great game.

Champions League Semi-Final Round Leg 1 this week: Man City v. Real Madrid 3pm April 26 Liverpool v. Villarreal 3pm April 27 Leg 2 next week: Villarreal v. Liverpool 3pm May 3 Real Madrid v. Man City 3pm May 4

Back at the bar and some good eating last night: Mussels escabeche with potato chips: huge plump mussels, steamed and then marinated in a mix of olive oil, house made vinegar and paprika. And the potato chips are always good. A nice plate of braised artichokes and fava beans served with the always delicious sheep's milk ricotta. Finocchi alla giudia: Apparently this is known as brasied fennel Jewish style, and is pretty much a fennel and garlic gratin. (As a general rule, any dish listed in Italian on the wine bar menu is worth investigating) No Amys Pizza with smoked mozzella, lamb sausage, capers, garlic, grana, and extra olive oil, cooked well done. We also saw them carve up a massive 46oz 90-day dry aged bone in ribeye, looked rediculously delicious.

Has anyone explored the Columbia River Gorge? We are planning a long weekend trip in June. In particular, we will be roaming between Cascade Locks (on the west end of the Gorge) to The Dalles area (on the east end of the Gorge) I'm looking at several wineries (Columbia Gorge AVA), but also looking for recommendations for restaurants and other activities like hiking. We are flying out of PDX, but otherwise will not be going to Portland. The trip is Gorge-specific. Thanks.

Oh I don't think that. Benzema is pretty much the hottest striker on the planet right now. And RM is riding the wave. Despite being stacked with players, both PSG and Chelsea don't have much fortitude. RM took advantage of that during the second half of the PSG match and both Chelsea matches. The RM v Chelsea matches were the matches of the tournament so far. I think RM v Liverpool will be a more wide open, entertaining final. City are boring.

Han Palace Woodley Park has opened.

Imperfecto?