Drink of the week: Brown Derby Where: Bar Pilar All the big guys have covered the Tuesday night specialty cocktails made by Pilar's self-described sherpa Adam Bernbach. So what do you do when it's not Tuesday? Certainly you could choose from the good selection of beers. But this summer you should opt for a Brown Derby. The drink is composed of Bulleit bourbon, fresh-squeezed grapefruit juice, and honey. At first it sounds odd, since citrus......

What is it about historic D.C. firehouses that spark culinary ambition? A pair of in-the-works restaurants aim to address this burning question. As Express recently reported, a pre-World War II firehouse in the Bloomingdale neighborhood is slated to become an eatery called EC-12, whose name references the old Engine Company 12 that used to occupy the building. Architects are currently working on building plans, after which developers will be able to apply for a building......

This post by DCist Food contributor Analiese Bendorf Since their 2005 inceptions, 14th Street, NW establishments Café Saint-Ex and sister restaurant, Bar Pilar, both headed up by Chef Barton Seaver, have been serving up satisfying fare to Washingtonians hungry for a pre-Black Cat bite or low-key weekend brunch. Seaver, as Todd Kliman recently reported, is bidding farewell to Café Saint-Ex and Bar Pilar, but fans of the chef's casual cooking will be able to get......

Ain't Named Passion For Nothing Once again, the men of Passion Food's restaurants (TenPenh, Ceiba, D.C. Coast, and Acadiana) get out of their kitchen kits for a nude romp through 2007. Mr. Kliman over at the Washingtonian lets us in on what's underneath the aprons of some of Passion Food's cookmen, like Acadiana sous chef Anthony Piscioneri and TenPenh chef de cuisine Cliff Wharton. Though most aren't totally naked (though I hear Mr. October, Ceiba's......

Now's the time to get your ticket to the Third Annual Transformer Silent Auction and Benefit Party. Held on Saturday, November 4, at the Edison Place Gallery, the night promises to be an evening of creative company, great food, and a celebration of local talent. The five-year-old Transformer Gallery is hosting the event, which will start with a silent auction between 7 and 9:30 p.m. for original works from over eighty artists. Step up and......

They'll Kick You Out If You Give Butterstick an IPA Normally, the Feed saves its activity-related post for "after the jump," but given the popularity of last year's event, as well as the sheer number of great brews available, we're bumping this one up to front-page status. Tickets are on sale now for the Friends of the National Zoo (FONZ) 2nd annual Brew at the Zoo mixer/fundraiser/drunkfest. For $60, or $45 if you're a......

The world's most popular sporting event, soccer's World Cup, gets underway tomorrow in Germany. Unlike 2002 when matches took place in the wee hours, this year's start from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Eastern time, meaning it's a lot easier to hit a bar or two and watch a game. Some DC area bars and restaurants are opening early for the fans, including Pour House on Capitol Hill, Lucky Bar in Dupont, and Fado......

On any other Wednesday evening, you might find local writer Sarah Grace McCandless at Bar Pilar, staging pictures with friends in the photo booth, or enjoying a drink at Larry’s Lounge, her favorite dive. Tonight, you won’t find Sarah at either place. Instead, she’ll be at Olsson’s in Penn Quarter reading from her second book, The Girl I Wanted to Be. Whether she's already won you over with her memoir, Grosse Pointe Girl , or......

Shalom, readers. The Washington, D.C. area welcomes competing Jewish Literature Festivals to town: The Hyman S. and Freda Bernstein Jewish Literary Festival at the DCJCC and the Jewish Community Center of Greater Washington’s 36th Annual Book Festival. Both festivals offer exciting programs. On 16th Street, the DCJCC kicks things off Monday with Nick Olcott, one of the leading lights in the local theater scene, paying special tribute to Arthur Miller and Saul Bellow. It continues......

Last Friday, the television behind the bar at Bar Pilar was switched from a tie ball game between the Nationals, who were then a half game off the wild card, and their division rivals the New York Mets to a preseason Redskins game. On Saturday night (or perhaps Friday, as well; we can't be sure how quickly these things turn around) a measure of karmic retribution was exacted, as the Nats erased an eight......

What are the smokeless bars and clubs and restaurants? I don't go out in D.C. as much as I would (as much as I do in NYC), because of the smoke. D.C has an active smokefree lobbying group, Smokefree D.C., which regularly goes head-to-head with Ban the Ban and other pro-smoking establishments groups (smoking "choice" if you will). So far, efforts to legislate smokefree bars and restaurants in the District have not panned out, but......

It may be Sunday, but we couldn't have asked for a better weekend -- spare the freak thunderstorm Friday night that left some 32,000 area residents without power. Great weather promotes outdoor activity, like walking, running, and cycling. And in cycling news, though lacking in a specific local angle (spare the French Embassy on Reservoir Road in Northwest), it's worth noting that Lance Armstrong, pictured at right, today ended his highlight-filled career with a record-breaking......

Opening its doors just under month ago, Bar Pilar had a lot to live up to. The owners of Café Saint Ex hit a home run with their first undertaking, growing a small local secret into a popular nightspot that draws customers from far outside the neighborhood. That growth and the crowds that come with it, predictably, have locals seeking the next hip thing. The owners of Saint Ex hope that it’s Bar Pilar, or......

The morning after the United States celebrated 229 years of independence, the General Assembly of the 55-member Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) voted to endorse a resolution calling on the U.S. Congress to pass the legislation necessary to granting District residents full voting rights. The move represents an international endorsement of the District's voting rights cause, spearheaded by a coalition of activist organizations known as Team D.C. Democracy who last Friday took......

If you've walked down 14th Street NW recently, you may have noticed a few doors down from Café Saint-Ex (14th and T sts) a covered-up window with a tiny sign reading "Bar Pilar" in a font that bares a striking resemblance to that of Saint-Ex. El Camino Real is no more, enter Ernest Hemingway. According to the Washington Business Journal (second item), the folks that created Café Saint-Ex are crafting Bar Pilar as a "late......