A Perfect 3 Day Weekend

I have been thinking a lot about mini-breaks. Maybe because Labor Day is coming up. Or because I just came back from a romantic mini-break of my own. Or maybe it's the anything-but-mini two week break I'm gearing up to take next week when I manifest destiny and spend a bit of time on the West Coast. At any rate, I have mini-breaks on the brain.

Are you visiting DC for a long weekend? Maybe you're just thinking of doing so, but don't know what to do in that brief time? Do you live in DC and have stopped seeing the great opportunities that surround you every day? Take a couple days off, and live like a tourist. See the sights!

Below is my idea of a perfect 3 day weekend. If you are visiting for Labor Day, this schedule can be very easily adapted by doing the Friday stuff on Monday. Just be sure you call ahead and make sure everything is open. And a very happy mini-break to you!

DC365's Perfect 3 Day Weekend

Friday

Assuming you're driving into town Friday morning, or maybe you live here and you're working a half day, let's start with lunch at Ceiba. Enjoy a mojito, some empanadas and those glorious mussels to really get you in the holiday spirit. Then head down the street the National Museum of Women in the Arts for some culture. Stroll through the galleries for a few hours, and then hit the Cowgirl Creamery for a late afternoon snack at the cheese counter. That evening, take the metro over to Trusty's for a couple drinks and some light dinner. If the Nats are playing that night, it's a great place to watch the game. If they're not, you'll still have a great time playing the free board games.

Saturday

Saturday morning head over to Eastern Market for a leisurely breakfast at murky coffee. Don't forget to bring your book. After you've had your caffeine, head down to 14th Street for an afternoon at the galleries. That evening for dinner, don't miss Kaz Sushi Bistro (get the scallop ceviche, if it's featured on the menu). Enjoy a Saturday night singing karaoke at the Peyote Cafe in Adams Morgan, and if you get the munchies late-night, be sure to walk across the street for some M'Dawg haute dogs (and yes, vegetarians, they offer soy dog). If you are a man who loves men, or maybe just a person who loves cowboy hats, I'd recommend doing your karaoke at Remington's instead of Peyote.

Sunday

Start your Sunday morning by having breakfast and a nice stroll around the Dupont Circle Farmer's Market. In the afternoon, head down to the National Gallery and check out the Matisse Cut Outs (and be sure you stop for some gelato in the basement of the gallery for your afternoon snack!). For dinner that evening, head over to Cleveland Park for some delicious pizza at 2Amys, and then finish up your evening on a more low key note by taking in a movie at the Uptown.

For more ideas on things to do by activity or neighborhood, don't forget the DC365 City Guide, which is updated regularly as I do new things. Have fun!

Thing 58: Screen on the Green

Oh sweaty humidity! Oh warm red boxed wine! Oh bad movies, great friends, five kinds of cookies and cute puppies! Oh HBO dance!

It's only just ended, but I miss Screen on the Green already.

I've already written that this activity is my favorite thing to do in DC in the summer, and now with another season under my belt, I stand behind that statement more than ever.

Rather than write a summary of the last five Mondays, which would be rather tedious for me to write and for you to read, I will simply give you some suggestions for making your own SotG experience the best that it can be next summer (only 47 weeks away! But who's counting?).

1. Do the HBO dance. What is it? How do I do it? When do I do it? Why does everyone do it all at once like that? Well, I still don't know the mystery of its origin, but for those of you curious about technique, I have made this instructional video:
   
   
   
   See? Easy enough! Once you've gotten the hang of it, this is what it looks like in practice:
   
   
   
   
2. Invest in one of these chairs that support your back when you lean into it. I haven't yet, but I sure wish I had, every year.


3. Get there early for a good spot, especially if it's a really good movie, like Casablanca. The people who arrived later for Casablanca had to sit about three blocks away from the screen. The movie will actually start around 9pm, when it gets dark enough to see the movie projected on the screen.
   
   


4. Bring your dog! If your dog is relatively small and well-behaved, he or she is a welcome addition to the party.
   
   



5. Fried chicken makes an excellent picnic food.
   
   



6. Maybe don't bring your dog and fried chicken at the same time, unless you want to see a very sad looking dog.
   
   



7. Bring enough box wine that it doesn't matter when the movie turns out to be about a carnivorous carrot from another planet that drinks blood.
   
   



8. Wear light, comfortable clothes. We lucked out somehow and it was downright chilly for one of the movies, but for the most part it is very very hot and very very humid. I favor dresses or shorts and I pity those poor saps who wear jeans. Also, bring lots of water. Man cannot stay hydrated with box wine alone.


9. Bring your bug spray! I practically bathe in the stuff, and I still get a bite or two by the end of the evening, so be warned.


10. Enjoy the view. Other cities show outdoor movies, but we're the only one with a view of the Capitol and the Washington Monument as our backdrop.

Side note: In addition to the DC365 City Guide, keep an eye out for some more new features and changes coming to the site! Exciting changes are afoot!

Thing 57: Kaz Sushi Bistro

Dear Sushi Taro,

I'm sorry, but we need to break up. I have found a new sushi love that is more innovative, delicious, and attentive to my needs. I know that you are around the corner from my house, but convenience isn't going to win you this one. You are very very good at what you do...but just not good enough.

See you around the neighborhood,
DC365

* * *

I am completely in love with Kaz Sushi Bistro. It courted me at restaurant week, and I am head over heels addicted now. I will be back, again and again. Oh Kaz, how I love you and your unique flavor combinations, innovative use of tapioca in a range of forms and beautiful presentations!

A dear friend from college (in fact, my first friend from college, whom I met at orientation), was in town for one night only, from Atlanta en route to Boston, with one day of meetings in DC in between. Geoff is vegetarian (but still eats seafood), so I wanted to take him out for restaurant week but I needed to be sure it was a place that would have a good range of vegetarian and seafood options. After a lot of hemming and hawing, list making and research (thank you, DC Sara), I got us reservations at Kaz Sushi Bistro. I was a little nervous at how a sushi restaurant would handle the restaurant week structure (three courses for $30), but I figured if nothing looked good, we would order a la carte from the regular menu. Either way, I was going to have a nice dinner with an old friend.

I needn't have worried. Kaz, my new love, handled the three course structure perfectly. The restaurant week menu consisted of one of the check-off sheets usually used to order sushi, but you were instructed to choose one from a list of eight small plates/appetizers (which tended to be more cooked or meat options), three from a list of nigiri sushi (the rice overlayed with fish pieces that are ordered in pairs), two from the list of maki rolls and one from a choice of two desserts. And the choices! Such innovative, interesting pairings! Tuna with toasted almonds? Asparagus and roasted red peppers? Flounder with shiso? Yes, please.

To drink, I ordered a sake "tasting". They have two versions, each with three different sakes (and only $8 or $9). What was great was that when it arrived, the three shots were served on a little laminated card that told you what each shot was and its predominant characteristic. This was tremendously helpful in understanding the differences between a "light" sake and one aged in a cedar barrel (and there is a big difference there, the cedar barrel one tasting almost like whiskey). Now I know that I like unfiltered sake the most.

Our appetizers arrived. I had ordered a scallop ceviche. Just look at how beautiful this is:

The pink balls on top are tapioca. The shellfish was so tender and flavorful, soaked in a traditional latin ceviche of citrus, red onion and cilantro, but enhanced with salty bits of seaweed. The marinade was so sour and delicious that I was tempted to drink it out of the scallop shell when I was done. (Um, ok, by tempted, I mean I did. Geoff is not easily embarrassed. In fact, after tasting some of mine, he said he would drink it if I did not). Geoff had spicy broiled mussels, that came in a rich red curry sauce, warm and fragrant. The wooing had begun.

Next came out this gorgeous plate:

I ordered an asparagus and red pepper roll, the bitter crunch of the blanched asparagus a nice pairing with the sweet red softness of the pepper. Then a salmon skin roll, fatty and smoky, with a crunch from some carrots and that surprising, pungent and clean aftertaste from the shiso leaf.

That beautiful dark pink nigiri on the left is tuna, under which is nestled slivers of crunchy toasted almond. Why has no one thought to pair those two things before? So simple, and yet the bitter smokey crunch of the almonds and the sweet salty softness of the fish...oh my. The center two pieces of nigiri are flounder, the red sauce dotting them is made from Japanese pickled plums, and the faint green you see below is a mix of wasabi and shiso. The softness of the fish, the sweetness of the plum and its favored pairing, shiso, and then at the end, the sinus-pain-inducing wasabi. Amazing. And finally, fatty and sweet eel, done perfectly.

Geoff had some real winners too, from what I snuck off his plate. A roll with crunchy tempura'ed eel. Tuna nigiri with black olive tapenade. Two pieces of nigiri with roasted Japanese eggplant, shrivelled and purplish-black ("what is THAT?" Geoff asked me before remembering he had ordered eggplant. Indeed, if it were fish, it would be extremely disconcerting). I have never in my life liked eggplant, but I could eat that eggplant sushi every day. Which is really saying a lot.

And finally dessert. Only two choices on the restaurant week menu -- espresso tapioca with vanilla ice cream, and lychee panna cotta with mango sorbet. Geoff ordered the former and I ordered the latter. They were both beautifully presented in martini glasses.

Geoff's tapioca was a bit strange, the coffee flavor so strong and the texture of the tapioca so light, they seemed a bit mismatched. I was happier with my lychee panna cotta, which was light and creamy, with large pieces of lychee fruit, and a tangy sour mango sorbet slowly melting into it. Sigh...

The atmosphere and service were very nice, they just fall secondary to the food. I would eat that food in a shack, served by ogres. (Of course, the restaurant itself is softly lit, with inlaid bamboo colored lights in nooks, upholstered benches lining the walls and round, white table clothed tables in the center of the room. The sushi bar is at the back, where you can sit and watch these masters at work. And our service was nothing but gracious and helpful, if a bit slow). The normal, non-restaurant week prices are perfectly reasonable for a sushi place ($4-$7 for rolls, sushi pieces and other small plates).

Oh Kaz, you have have romanced me and it has worked. I am putty in your hands. I want to see you every day, and I will be back just as soon as I can. Till then, I miss you. All my love.