Thing 151: Amsterdam Falafel

"Hey Fancy, what's a...fall-off...fluff...falafel?" This question was lobbed over the cubicle wall of my office on Monday, an innocent enough question (and let's just ignore for a moment that my work nickname is Fancy).

I sprung to my feet and darted over to my coworker, eyes wide in disbelief. "What's a falafel?! Grab your wallet, we're going on a field trip right now."

Well, the field trip had to wait until the next day due to such intrusions as appointments and conference calls, but the next day at lunch time, we piled into a coworker's car and road tripped from Capitol Hill to 18th St, in Adams Morgan, for some Amsterdam Falafel.

I figured, if you've never had falafel before -- fried patties made of chick peas -- then you should sample the very best falafel available for your first try. And as far as I'm concerned, Amsterdam has the very best falafel in DC (I had an ex-boyfriend who said it was the best falafel in North America, a claim I can neither endorse nor deny).

What makes Amsterdam so good? Well, for one thing, they specialize. There are three items on their menu: falafel, fries and brownies. That's it. You can decide if you want a small or regular falafel sandwich, on white or wheat pita, but that's about it. However, if you require options in your life, look no further than the enormous toppings bar to the left of the register. Just as M'Dawg had toppings galore, Amsterdam provides you with a couple dozen options for topping your falafels, all of them tantalizing and delicious.

The only advice I gave to my falafel novices was not to go too crazy at the toppings bar. It's an easy mistake to make -- a little of this, a little of that, and then suddenly you have 12 different flavors, not all of which are going to taste all that when smushed together.

For me? I favor tahini, baba ganoush and cucumber salad. Lyz went with cucumbers, red cabbage slaw and tatziki. Kristi opted for hummus and dark, caramelized roasted eggplant. And just look at these happy first timers!

Amsterdam also makes exceptional fries, and provides "garlic creme" (aka garlic mayonnaise, but I normally don't like mayonnaise, and I love this "creme" stuff) for dipping. They are twice fried and deliciously crispy and salty.

The falafel newbie was happy and full, and already plotting what her next topping combination would be.

Nearby: Peyote Cafe or the Duplex Diner

One Year, 100 Things

Three hundred and sixty five days ago, this little guy was born. Yes, DC365 is celebrating its first birthday today. In that time, I've pushed myself to see new parts of the city, visit museum exhibitions I might have been too lazy to see otherwise, took walking tours, read books about my city and ate at all kinds of fabulous and not-so-fabulous restaurants.

100 Things down, and 265 to go (!). I hope you will all continue to check in, read up, leave comments and explore the city with me.

What better place to celebrate my 100th Thing than Napoleon, where I found myself on Friday night. Napoleon is a little French bistro and lounge in Adams Morgan where they have a veritable cornucopia of champagne cocktails?! If you like champagne, champagne cocktails or just a fancy night on the town, head to Napoleon. Wear your heels (I was woefully underdressed), enjoy the DJ playing that loungy-pop music that I've never heard outside of venues like this one, and sip away at one of the many champagne cocktails on offer.

One year ago: the mission statement, Wonderland trivia, and Cowgirl Creamery.

You can also join me over at the Cork & Knife. This week: Battle Leek!

Thing 97: Duplex Diner

Today's episode is brought to you by the letter "M".

On Monday, I drank a margarita and ate macaroni and cheese and meatloaf and mashed potatoes.

Detecting a theme? On Mondays, the Duplex Diner marks all its 'm' items half price. So the margaritas, merlot, mashed potatoes, macaroni and meatloaf are half price! Here is our half priced mmmmeal:


It seems a hodgepodge of things, but in the end, it all came together deliciously. DC365 cannot dine on samosas, faux gras and raw bar alone, and sometimes I just want home cooking without the dishes piled up in the sink afterwards. The meatloaf was simple, beefy and juicy, and delicious topped with tomato sauce. The mashed potatoes were so creamy I had to verify that they didn't start out as flakes. The mac 'n' cheese was the real winner, in my opinion. It came served in a terrine enough to feed two people (though somehow I managed it on my own) -- penne in a thick, bubbling cheese sauce with crispy brown parmesan topping. Both entrees came with green beans, and we even ordered a salad on the side to try and counteract the onslaught of cheese fat, but we still left the table too full and overly satisfied.

The Duplex Diner is a little bit diner, a little bit bar, a little bit gay club. The service is friendly, and our host for the evening was smokin' hot (and dating GFD, with whom I was having dinner). Located at the crux where Adams Morgan, U Street and Dupont come crashing together, I highly recommend it for a bite to eat or a drink before going out, or some delicious home-cooked 'm' items on a cold Monday night.

Join me over at the Cork & Knife, where I've started writing a weekly food column! This week: Buttercup soup with black beans.

Thing 67: Crafty Bastards

Ya'll are some crafty bastards, DC. Does anyone need a yarn-woven portrait of Michael Jackson? No. Of course not. But you kind of want one now, don't you?

In that last weekend of September it was still blissfully summery. Downright hot and sweaty as we wandered from crowded booth to crowded booth at the City Paper's annual Crafty Bastards festival in Adams Morgan. Over 100 local and regional crafters had turned out to showcase and sell their wears, from the beautiful to the practical to the wacky to the downright ridiculous. If you thought recycling was boring, you must visit the crafty bastards next year.

Caitlin Phillips of Rebound Designs makes book-bags. As in, purses made from the hard covers of used books. That purple one is Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. While they are adorable and all, I was concerned about the books that were stripped naked for the making of crafts. When I asked Caitlin what she did with the multitude of naked books running around coverless, she assured me that she donates some of them to other local artists for their art projects (is there a paper mache sculpture of an octopus that originated as Harry Potter VI somewhere in the world?). But mostly, she told me, she just has a lot of coverless books on the shelves of her apartment. You can still read them just fine, she reminds me.

Old sweaters found new life as cute, 1920s reminiscent winter caps with huge flowers at A. Bel Studio. Plastic flowers and scrap metal became an elaborate diorama.

There was plenty of jewelry - all kinds of beading and metal work, which I browsed through until I broke down and bought a green plastic necklace that says 'avocado'. There were postcards and journals, pillows and magnets, skirts and dresses and hand-printed tee shirts. Crafty people seem to really like buttons. There were many, many buttons for sale, the tiny kind that say something witty (my favorite: "Tim Gunn '08"). I've never seen anyone wear these buttons...where do they all go?

If you got hungry wandering beneath the hot sun, Sticky Fingers bakery (the vegan bakery) had a booth, and so did Cake Love (the anti-vegan bakery). I was excited to try a vegan cupcake, but by the time I felt peckish they were completely sold out. So I went over to the butter lover's Cake Love booth, and darn it, they were sold out too. Expect a post about the Love Cafe and their seasonal pumpkin cupcakes, soon.

If the vast array of crafting was not entertainment enough, there was a DJ on one end of the fair, and a live performance venue on the other, which featured spoken word poets and emcees and even a break dance battle at one point.

Crafty Bastards is eclectic and creative and sometimes downright weird but it is hard not to be inspired by these people who know how to create something new and different from old things most of us don't give a second glance to. Where I see a magazine, they see a new shelf that can hold your keys, your loose change and tell you the time. I see scrap of fabric, they add a clasp and suddenly it is a tampon case. You may not have known you needed one, but now that it exists in the world...well, you kinda want one, don't you?

Thing 59: Chief Ike's Mambo Room

Chief Ike's Mambo Room is all things to all people.

You want to sweat out the week dancing furiously to some of the best hip hop hits of the last 20 years? Check.

You want to hear local bands that aren't famous yet? Or soulful singer-songwriters with acoustic guitars? Check.

You want a quiet place to play pool with the scent of patchouli and the soundtrack to Shaft playing in the background? Check.

How about an outdoor patio where you can enjoy the summer breeze and drink giant margaritas?

Check, check, check.

The main room to Chief Ike's is a testament to its eccentricity. The walls have large murals of "day of the dead" skeletons dancing, and General Ike Eisenhower lounging along with Paul Gauguin's Tahitian women and Sigmund Freud. There is a small stage and a checkered dance floor and a towering DJ booth. Neon signs and strange things are tacked to the wall. There's a juke box that I've only ever seen used as a coat rest. They have PBR on tap. And one of the bartenders has (had? she wasn't there last night) the greatest mullet I've ever seen. It is a strange place, but I have to say, I've never had a bad time there.

I am a firm believer that Friday and Saturday nights, Ike's is the very best dance club in the city, provided you like hip hop (old and new) and sweating. Just don't try to dance on the banquettes in the back. Apparently, there are rules.

Last night found me at Chief Ike's to hear my friend Lee's band, which is great! (And yes, I'm biased because I know Lee, but seriously, The Frustrations are great. They got the Boyfriend dancing, which speaks volumes to their talent). They were there to celebrate the release of their new CD (which I can hook you up with, if you leave a comment), and they got the crowd engaged and dancing immediately. They have a ska-rock thing going that is easy to dance to and fun to watch. My friends are rock stars!

Before they played though, there were openers, one of whom I must direct your attention too. Eva Castillo is wonderful!!

The band between Eva Castillo and The Frustrations was not great, so the Boyfriend, Jodi and I explored the upstairs Cosmo Lounge. I've been to Ike's many a time, and didn't know this part existed. It's much more quiet and peaceful, less sweaty, with a really cool bartender with giant blond dread locks who burns incense and pours a mighty stiff vodka and ginger ale. Behind the bar is a stained glass window of a Buddha, and a bunch of lefty radical and random political stickers and paraphernalia. A sticker that says "Girls kick ass." A tinted picture of JFK and Jackie O. I small flyer saying "Kick them out, vote 2006" with a blue donkey kicking an elephant. A picture of Frank Zappa. A picture of Johnny Ramone.

There was a pool table at one end of the room, and a TV and DVD player at the other. A very chill space overall. We stayed up there long enough to cool off and have a drink, before dancing the night away to the Frustrations.

This post is dedicated to Sam of Leisure, who was too busy being at leisure to make it out last night.

Thing 42: M'Dawg Haute Dogs

After a solid afternoon of attending the Gay Pride parade and drinking on the street, followed by more drinking at the Duplex Diner with my former landlord and Andrew Sullivan, this girl needed a spot of supper before heading home to the comforts of an air conditioned apartment and a warm bed. I was in Adams Morgan, where the late night dining options are plentiful -- big slice? falafel? empanadas? scrambled eggs? -- but this time I had a hankering for a hot dog, and headed up the street to M'Dawg.

Brought to us by the same people who own the Amsterdam Falafel shop across the street (which will get its own delicious post sometime soon), M'Dawg has a similar philosophy: serve one thing, prepare it well, and then let your customers load it down with toppings. At M'Dawg, you can choose from 13 types of dogs (half smokes, red hots, brats, corn dogs, veggie dogs, etc) and then for an extra dollar you have full access to the topics bar, from onions and relish to black beans, wasabi mayonnaise or apricot chutney. Go wild! Build your own! Or, if you're like me and slightly drunk, indecisive and overwhelmed, enlist the help of the man behind the counter to build the greatest hot dog ever. Ever.

After spending my ten minutes in line debating the merits of bratwursts versus soy dogs, I settled on a Hebrew National with a poppy seed bun. Then I spent another ten minutes staring at the toppings bar, debating my usual go-to (sweet relish and yellow mustard) with something more daring.

The man behind the counter finally took charge of my dog, building a tremendously delicious monstrosity with the following: sweet relish, sliced tomatoes, raw red onion, mushrooms in garlic butter, ketchup, mustard, and cheese product.


Amazing.

Top 5 DC Things To Do This Summer

Is it summer yet? I know, I know. It's only May and frankly, once the humidity really gets going, I'm going to kick myself for saying this but -- I just can't wait for summer in DC! The sun has finally come out after our long, strange winter (sun in January? snow in March?), and now all I can think about are the wonderful outdoor activities that DC holds in the summer time. In the spirit of sunny weather, high humidity, and this friendly contest over at Problogger, I've assembled my Top 5 things to do in DC this summer:

#5 Hotel Washington's Sky Terrace Restaurant: The weather gets warm, and I start itching for cold beers on roof decks and patios. There are few finer places for an outdoor happy hour than the rooftop at the Hotel Washington. The drinks are expensive and the food is only ok, but you just can't beat it for the view. Located next to the White House at 15th and Pennsylvania, you can relax over a mango mojito and shrimp cocktail, and watch the sun set over the White House, the Treasury, the Washington Monument, and Georgetown. I enjoy it as a local, but it's also a wonderful and impressive place to bring your out of town visitors.

#4 Larry's Homemade Ice Cream: The great foods of summer: tomatoes, corn, grilled steaks (I'm lookin' at you, Lee), watermelon and of course, ICE CREAM. Although this is highly debatable, I'm convinced that the best ice cream in the city can be found at the little underground shop on Connecticut Ave in Dupont, Larry's Homemade. The shop is nearly as old as I am, and as the name implies, all of the creative and fabulously flavored ice creams are homemade. Along with the normal flavors, they've created more exotic ones, including Key West, ecstasy, Fred and Ginger, rum raisin (with real booze) or haluah (named for the Syrian candy of honey and sesame paste). I keep meaning to try something different, but I absolutely cannot resist their oatmeal cookie dough flavor, with big chunks of oatmeal cookie dough and chocolate chips in a cinnamon flavored ice cream.

#3 E Street Cinema: DC gets mighty sticky in August and sometimes you just need to retreat to an air conditioned room for a couple of hours. I'd recommend the E Street Cinema, which specializes in independent and foreign films. You might even learn a thing or two from that new documentary or get some culture out of the latest film from Italy. The concession stand serves beers and gourmet treats along with the usual popcorn and sodas.

#2 Wolftrap: I adore Wolftrap in the summertime. The beauty of the outdoor venue in the middle of a national park, the wooden stage and majestic seating structure, the camaraderie of my fellow concert goers seated together on the lawn. There is something for everyone to see over the summer - something on their schedule will appeal to all people from all age groups. There is opera, comedy, folk music, Broadway musicals, rock bands way past their prime, crooners and disco bands and guitarists who don't wash their hair. Over the years I've seen Ben Folds, Garrison Keillor, Rent, Eddie From Ohio, the Louisiana Swamp Ramp (an all day festival of jazz and Cajun music), Ani DiFranco and Joss Stone. Few things are as pleasurable as packing a really fabulous picnic dinner of tomato salad, brie cheese, babaganoush, sandwiches from the Italian Store and a bottle of cold white wine and picnicking on the lawn of the Wolftrap before your show. Then, once the sun goes down, lie back on your blanket, surrounded by the humidity and the mosquitoes (bring your bug spray) and enjoy the show.

#1 Screen on the Green: If you know me, you know that this is my most favorite thing to do in DC all summer. Ok, let's be honest -- all year. Yes, I know that it is hotter than damnation, and I know that the movies generally suck (though check out the schedule; this year they're pretty good). But I'm up to a rotating group of around 30 people who join each Monday night, we put together really spectacular pot luck picnics (Peruvian chicken, pasta salad, charcuterie, blue cupcakes, grilled sausages, homemade cookies, cheez-its), and every color of box wine you could want. Or not want, but it's there. The party gets started around 7:00, and the movie gets started around 9:00, once it's dark. Then, after the cartoon and before the movie comes the HBO dance. If you've been to SotG, then you know what I'm talking about. I know that other cities do free outdoor movies in the summer, but only DC can they be on the National Mall, with the Capitol Dome illuminated behind the movie screen. It is my favorite DC summer activity.

So now it's your turn. What are your "can't misses" for the summer? What should I add to my list of things to look forward to? Leave a comment, let me know what to put on my summer to do list.

Thing 23: Pasta Mia Anna Maria's

I like to break Passover by gorging on Italian food. As far as I’m concerned, Italians have the monopoly on all the best carbs – pasta, pizza, garlic bread, and tiramisu – and after eight days without, all I want is a big ol’ plate of spaghetti and a rich, buttery hunk of aromatic garlic bread.

This year, I chose Pasta Mia as my place of choice for my Italian feast. I’d never been, and people keep telling me how wonderful it is, so I figured that it was a perfect place to break Passover. “It’s so worth the wait!” people tell me.

Well, I can’t tell you if it is or not. We arrived at 8:15, and after 45 minutes of waiting outside – not even making it to the indoor waiting foyer, my party and I gave up. At that point it was 9pm, the Boyfriend was cranky from not having eaten, I was cranky because I was wasting precious grain-eating moments, and GFD could only attest that the food was “fine” and was waiting just to humor me. Am I willing to wait over an hour for a plate of spaghetti? Apparently not.

So, we bailed, and ate mediocre Italian food at Anna Maria’s on Connecticut Avenue. Anna Maria’s is an institution in its own right. It’s been around for over forty years, and was well known in the ‘60s and ‘70s as a late night stop for celebrities such as Bob Hope or Muhammad Ali. As proof, the walls are lined with signed photographs from the likes of Dom Delouise, Tiger Woods and LL Cool J. The restaurant is quiet and cozy, not at all crowded (no line!) and the service is good enough. If only the food were good. Sadly, it is woefully under-seasoned and nothing special.

We ordered garlic bread to start since we were all hungry and cranky at this point. It arrived buttery and crisp, and loaded with garlic and parsley. A promising start, for sure. On the other hand, I was just happy it wasn’t matzo. We wolfed it down while we waited for our main meals.

I stuck to the basics – spaghetti with meat balls. The Boyfriend ordered meat lasagna, GFD ordered linguini with calamari, and his boyfriend ordered meat ravioli. It was all…fine. Just, fine. Nothing that I couldn’t have made at home and some of it considerably worse than what I could have made. Everything needed salt. The best part of the Boyfriend’s lasagna was the sausage that was inexplicably served as a side. GFD’s linguini was bland. We ordered tiramisu and cannoli for dessert. The cannoli was wonderful, like a crunchy, cream filled donut, the taste of sweet fried dough lingering on the tongue. The tiramisu, like most everything else, was just OK.

LL Cool J, next time you come to town, let me show you around. We will eat at much better places, you and I.

So my question to the masses is this: should we have waited for Pasta Mia? I’m sure the food would have been better, but is a plate of spaghetti worth an hour or more of waiting? I will attempt a return visit if people can convince me it’s worth it. Are there any other Italian joints I should put on my list? In a city that does Thai, Ethiopian and Indian so well, where can a girl go for good fettuccini or veal saltimbocca?

Thing 19: Peyote Cafe

Wanna go out in Adams Morgan without running into the usual frat boys, fabulously well dressed people, or inappropriately un-dressed people? Wanna go to a place that doesn't care who you are, what you look like, how old you are or what you're wearing, just so long as you know the words to "Sweet Caroline"? Do you love to karaoke, or at least love to sing along with those who do? Go go go to Peyote Cafe.

Peyote is easy to miss. It's located in the basement level of the bar-a-palooza that houses Roxanne's and that unclear rooftop bar. Although marked by a fairly large sign, the sign is below eye-level when walking up 18th Street, so you really need to be looking for it already. Once inside, it's just a small basement room, with one bar that takes up nearly an entire wall and a banquette lining the other wall. There are no tables and no stage for singing, those karaoke-ing are right there among the sweaty masses, wielding their microphone.

I was at Peyote on Friday night to celebrate a friend's birthday. Once again, I was impressed with the diversity of people there, especially for an Adams Morgan bar. Black, White, college age, young professional and downright old people, really hot and really not people, skinny, fat, well-dressed, sloppy, punks and preppies -- all of them belting out 'Nsync and ABBA with not a hint of self-consciousness.

If it's crowded and you want to sing, expect to come up with $5 or $10 with which to "tip"(bribe?) the emcee. My friends are karaoke pros -- they know how to rile the crowd into a frenzy of singing and toasting and dancing with their masterful rendition of "Piano Man." "Raise your glasses!" they command, and everyone in the bar raises their glasses high and joins along with the chorus. "Sing us a song, you're the piano man. Sing us a song tonight..." The applause is long and loud after they finish the song.

A short time afterwards, my friend is called back up for another crowd pleaser. He sings "Take On Me," the 80s hit by A-HA, complete with most excellent 80s dance moves during the musical interlude. We all join in with our best falsettos, "I'll be gone...In a day or twooooooooooooo."

One last word about karaoke at Peyote. If you go and you are singing, please please please no slow songs. I don't care how good you are at belting out that power ballad. It is guaranteed to slow the party down and no one will like you.