Photo of the Day: November 27, 2009
Morning Roundup: Black Friday Edition
Car Pushed Into Anacostia River By Train
The Saturday Morning Post
In Vino Veritas
Drink of the Week: Bombay Government Regulation Punch
Every visitor to Hummingbird to Mars is greeted with a cup of punch before sitting down to imbibe a bevy of fine cocktails. The Bombay Government Regulation Punch is a pleasant rum drink topped off with fresh gratings of nutmeg. It is wonderfully refreshing with that perfect edge. Unfortunately, for a vast majority it is unlikely they will be able to sample this drink at Hummingbird to Mars, but you can make David Wondrich's recipe at home.
A few weeks ago, there was a Small Bite about the reservation-only speakeasy, run by Derek Brown, Justin Guthrie, and Owen Thomson. The establishment serves painstakingly-made cocktails and has a code of conduct for patrons - no cell phones, no pictures, no blogging, and no disclosing of the location. These rules were put in place to create a relaxing environment to have a drink, and to maintain quality by serving fewer individuals (not unlike Johnny Monis' strategy at Komi). A few bloggers were permitted to disclose details to get out the word, but were requested not to disclose the location of the establishment. So it was a rather rude awakening for those involved in the business and cocktail-aficionados to see the rules flaunted and the location obviously implied by Washington Post spirits writer Jason Wilson.
As a result of the location reveal, the brains behind H2M will take a break after honoring already-made reservations, and have not yet made a decision about where to go from there. This situation is particularly galling for H2M fans since Wilson actually lives in Philadelphia: here's this outsider ruining one of our only unique establishments.
This all points to the inherent struggle for food and drink writers between being a reporter and being a food advocate. Do we write about the local dining scene because we want the latest scoop, or because we want to encourage fine homegrown restaurants and bars and better values for diners? One poster on Don Rockwell pointed out that Wilson was doing his job as a journalist by revealing the location of Hummingbird to Mars. Maybe so, but personally I care more about ensuring that restaurant owners, farmers, brewers and distillers see D.C. as a receptive environment for opening better restaurants, providing better ingredients, and ensuring wider distribution of beers and spirits to those who seek them out. Wilson sees himself as a reporter and not as an advocate, but what D.C.'s food reporting scene needs are people who are passionate about building a better environment for its consumers.
Photo by pixilista
Small Bites
Taste This
Taste of Bethesda will take place this Saturday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. It will feature 50 restaurants, and bundles of four tickets can be purchased for $5.
Taste of Georgetown will be October 11, also from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Wisconsin and M St. One tasting ticket is $5, while a bundle of four is $20. Twenty-seven restaurants will feature their fare at the event.
While the Taste events are not a cost-effective way of dining, it is an opportunity to try out cuisines from a number of different places. Another upcoming event is in Wheaton on November 2.
Turkish doesn't mean turkey
This Sunday, the Turkish Festival will be taking place at Freedom Plaza. Sip thick Turkish coffee or hopefully sample some doner kebabs as well as other examples of Turkish cuisine, get your fortune told, or watch traditional folk dance performances.
Pepin' up for a new book
One of my favorite PBS Saturday morning cooking shows was always the one with Jacques Pepin and his daughter, Claudine. He would frequently show his slightly inept-in-the-kitchen daughter the correct way to do things, which was always good for a laugh. And he seems to be one of the few guest chefs who understood Julia Child's childlike glee at touching and tasting everything being prepared. He'll be visiting the Smithsonian Associates on October 29 to discuss his new cookbook, "More Fast Food My Way," with WaPo food editor Joe Yonan. Tickets are $28 for general public, and $18 for members.
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well, that sucks. i was really looking forward to an evening at H2M once my work schedule opened up. Wilson might have been "doing his job" in a strict sense, but it's not like he's an investigative journalist breaking a murder case. why ruin it for everyone?
I always kinda sympathised with Claudine. Clearly, she has great rapport with her dad, but sometimes I really got the impression that Jacques needed to uncletch his sphincter about her technique. So what if she isn't flaking the cod just the right way for the brandade de morue? Its fu**ing fish and potatoes, Jack. Lighten the hell up. At least he always deferred to her on the wine selection, seeing as that's what she does for a living.
I can't really blame Wilson. If he didn't blow the speakeasy's cover, some other blog clown would have made the scoop. So some soda jerk blows the blind tiger's cover? Big woop. I just think the foodie community needs to hire some goons and break his legs is all I'm sayin. We only kill our own. And I know some guys, if ya know what I mean. And that carpet you roll the body in when you take it to the dump? I'll throw that in for free.
i've been to H2M and had a great time, i was actually about to email for reservations to go back. great job, douchebag!
The Weekly Feed has the potential to be one of the more popular and commented-on regular columns on this site. I mean, everybody eats, and DC everybody eats out. However, burying it relatively late on Friday afternoon every single week seems to get in the way of that. Have you ever considered moving this to another day of the week?
And I don't get it ... if it's "Reservations Only" with a strictly limited number of visitor allowed at any given time, what the heck difference does it make if the physical location is revealed (or implied) in a newspaper review? If there's no chance they'll be let in, people aren't exactly going to be lining up outside the door. Taking their toys and going home this way just makes it seem like the project was more about creating exclusivity and cachet out of a faux sense of mystery and being "in the know" than actually creating a "relaxing atmosphere to have a drink."
So forgive me if I don't exactly cry a river over this semi-private little party choosing to break itself up rather than let the peons know where they're hanging out.
This city needs more pretension like I need to not drink 2 bottles of wine tonight. This is all so pathetic. Enough with the lame rules and idolizing of the ’20s.
And if you’re a business owner willing to whore your super secret establishment out to the media, then you take the risk that this will happen. Reporters aren’t in the business of keeping secrets. Except Woodward, of course.
Do not bring champagne bottles and sabres to Duke's Shoe Repair in the Reeves Center at 14th & V...there is not a chartreuse speakeasy there.
shhhhh...
damnit, indiecognition, you revealed one of the other locations! thank god you didn't reveal the other location [above a place in bloomingdale named after a large, hairy, gay man]!
"This city needs more pretension like I need to not drink 2 bottles of wine tonight."
I second the motion. Why would you take something as simple and straightforward as drinking and sully it with super-secret handshakes and non-communique policies? That reporter did these clowns a favor by ruining their lame tea party. Maybe the proprietors will come down to earth sooner rather than later.
Perhaps the Hummingbird thing is lame (i wouldn't know i've never been.) But, it seems that the only people who would complain about the concept of exclusivity are the ones who are bitter about not getting in.
IMGoph, I think I know where you're talking about. But I didn't know St. George was gay.
That said, maybe you've seen me elsewhere? Say hi if that's the case -- I'm there at least a couple days a week for big chunks of afternoon.
Gosh, thanks for that insightful "you're just jealous!" analysis, ifod. Now if you could just go back into the thread and point out where anyone actually "complained" about the "concept of exclusivity" . . .
Are upscale watering holes so ubiquitous and are obscure specialty drinks so trite that erstwhile honest proprietors are compelled to micro-market segment into an entirely confected fantasy of being quasi-illicit? Or are these places truly illicit and therefor simply tax dodges?
Eh, who cares. Really. Thanks for the recipe.
PX still manages to be quasi-exclusive and yet still a great place to hang out and have excellent cocktails. It's a shame there isn't a downtown DC equivalent, where it's either Grey Goose guidos and table service, or $2 MGDs and clowns with nametags.
And this is why you can't have nice things.
PX still manages to be quasi-exclusive and yet still a great place to hang out and have excellent cocktails. It's a shame there isn't a downtown DC equivalent, where it's either Grey Goose guidos and table service, or $2 MGDs and clowns with nametags.
It's not downtown, but Jimmy Valentine's has done a great job of cultivating a bit of mystery and exclusivity without being douchey.
It's not downtown, but Jimmy Valentine's has done a great job of cultivating a bit of mystery and exclusivity without being douchey.
JV's cachet owes a lot to it's location: relatively cheap rent, little advertising, and on the edge of H Street. Once upon a time, the old 930 Club, the Insect Club, and DC Space resided in a similar "marginal" environment. Then it became "Penn Quarter" and the neighborhood goes upscale.
So long as the douches don't feel "safe" parking there on a Saturday night, that exclusivity will remain intact.
Uh, you guys are missing the point. Which is the punch recipe. Now, where the hell do I buy a bottle of Batavia Arrack? Speedy's Liquors in Columbia Heights definitely does not have it.
Ok, first, FLOUTING, not not not not flaunting. Thank you.
Second, thanks for the punch recipe!
My apologies to any and all conspiracy theorists, as the General Manager of Bourbon and one of the guys behind Hummingbird I would love to let you in on a little secret. The reason we are shutting down for awhile is because I am also a second year law student and I have to study for my midterms. Sorry it's not an exciting reason I know but it's all I've got.
Fair enough thomsono. Now any explanations for the douchery inherent in having a bar with nondislcosure agreements?
Is this group a private club or an actual business? Because exclusivity/douche cred aside, the website is non ADA compliant, which is a different kind of douche move entirely.
Wilson? Low class. If he really felt that it would've been impossible to drink the fine cocktails of H2M without disclosing the location... well, then don't drink there, sir.
See? Could've kept his integrity and stayed home prayin'. BUT, instead, went out, hit the sauce, and lost all. Oh, the humanity.
Yawn...so glad to be an adult, I can drink at home, or at a friends, listen to any music I care to, have broadband access and not have to put up with newbies from Ohio who think they're really swingin' with the "in" crowd now, baby! Free parking too!
I've started a club, called "Magpies to Mercury", so exclusive that the location is unknown to anyone! Beat that!
Lane: I usually get most of my cocktail making supplies at Ace Beverage. So I'm a little hazy on where else you can find arrack. I'm guessing wherever you can find a large array of bitters and other funky things. Also a lot of places can place orders for you, if they're not on the shelves. I don't think arrack is a super common request, so I doubt most places would typically stock it.
Wow. This might be the most retarded item I've read on this site. Not only is it factually incorrect (according to one of the owners who commented above, it's not temporarily closing because the Post sorta kinda revealed where H2M was, but because of law school midterms), but the premise is illogical.
1) Why are being a reporter and encouraging a better food scene exclusive to each other?
2) DCist said: "[P]ersonally I care more about ensuring that restaurant owners, farmers, brewers and distillers see D.C. as a receptive environment for opening better restaurants, providing better ingredients, and ensuring wider distribution of beers and spirits to those who seek them out." And not telling people where something is located helps this cause how? By keeping out would-be customers?
3) "Wilson sees himself as a reporter and not as an advocate, but what D.C.'s food reporting scene needs are people who are passionate about building a better environment for its consumers." Well, clearly you're not a journalist (just an advocate, right?), as you managed to report the impossible -- Wilson's inner thoughts (that is, apparently he doesn't see himself as an advocate. How do you know?). It's more like you don't see him as an advocate. Who the hell knows how he sees himself. And really, does it even matter? Again, I personally don't buy into the statement that food/fashion/entertainment journalism and advocacy are exclusive. The very fact that a place that is supposedly as awesome as everyone seems to believe even exists in DC is something that must be made public in order to capture the attention of and encourage others (hopefully, non-douches) to open similar joints. If that's not being an advocate, than I'm assuming we just have different definitions of that word.
Lastly, if you don't want the public, er, riff-raff intruding on your "secret" space, then stay at home. Nothing's more exclusive than that. Or move to N. Korea, I hear getting in there is invite only.
I'm just curious if everyone who's posting "serves them right" and similar sentiments has actually been to Hummingbird.
I have, and there are a few things that I think need to be mentioned:
1. This isn't a full-time gig for any of the guys involved in it. H2M is something that they started ON THEIR DAYS OFF. Instead of relaxing, unwinding, running errands, etc., these guys are taking on two additional evenings of what is still work because they want to work with classic cocktails and innovative techniques that their regular work environments don't permit. What do you do with your days off? Most of us try to get as far away from our day-to-day as possible.
2. The location of the evening has ZERO impact on what is served or how the drinks are prepared. Revealing it (and doing so in such a jaded, "aren't I cool?" way) took away from what could have been a decent piece. He obviously spoke to at least one of the bartenders to get the recipe he published...do you think that bartender would have given him the recipe if he had acted like a prick while at Hummingbird? Instead he played nice while he was there and then turned around and gave us a "check me out, I'm cool enough to get in and even cooler for blowing their cover" piece.
The idea that so many people feel qualified to talk about how the three guys behind this 'deserved' to have the location revealed when they've never even met any of them or bothered to check out H2M for themselves before passing judgment is sad...but not especially surprising.
I couldn't wait for my wedding crap to be over so I could finally take a night to try to get reservations at H2M, and I'm brokenhearted that they are taking a "break" with the possibility of never coming back. Whatever the reason -- Mr. Cool-Guy Wilson, exams, too much for a day off -- I'm sad. What angers me most is that again, people complain about how there's nothing cool to do in DC, and the minute someone does something unusual or out of love for [food][booze][whatever], everybody jumps on the chance to call it elitist, or stupid, or whatever. Go be "of the people" at your crap bars in Georgetown or in other places up the street in Adams Morgan, please, and don't worry your little so-called non-elitist heads about the irony in my statement, either. Many cities now have eating and drinking clubs underground, and they are selective. So what? Go make your own.
Sniff. All I wanted was a good drink....
Thank you, DCist Jamie, for your attempt to help me out. For any other drinkers out there, wallywine.com will ship it to you, but only if you call and plead with them first. Can't wait to try out this punch.