Yesterday marked the first day of the Lunar New Year, known to most people as Chinese New Year. In China, it's a time to wipe out the old with rituals such as extensive house cleaning and usher in the new with new clothes and the consumption of lucky foods. One of my favorites is a sweet "nian gao" or rice cake. more ›

I know you're all excited about the dawning of a new Lunar New Year -- but as you usher in the Year of the Rabbit, if you could at least move the mass illegal fireworks display outdoors, that would really be great. Unfortunately, that little bit of common sense was lost on a group of merrymakers at the Eden Shopping Center in Falls Church. more ›

Drink of the Week: Hot toddy more ›

Yesterday at the DC Improv, the Food Network's Robert Irvine filmed an episode of "Dinner: Impossible". For those of you not aware of the premise of the show, Irvine is tasked with cooking for a large number of people in a limited amount of time. more ›

Our schizophrenic winter continues this morning as a confused mess of frozen and unfrozen precipitation falls across the region. I woke up early enough to catch a few flakes falling in Brookland, but it appears to have now switched over entirely to rain. Yippee. Tangherlini to Improve MetroAccess: Metro had often cast itself as the wronged when facing accusations of poor MetroAccess service, but with a new man at the helm, the transportation agency is... more ›

This weekend is not only the last of January, but the last of the Chinese calendar year. We had some lewd jokes about fireworks and "The Year of the Rooster" prepared, but given that our last attempt at ethnic humor almost ended with us being chased out of D.C., we’ll play it safe this time and simply wish you all a Happy Lunar New Year. FRIDAY >>The key to a vibrant local music scene is... more ›

Happy New Year! No, DCist isn't a little late on our greeting, today is the Lunar New Year. Popularly called Chinese New Year or Spring Festival, the lunar new year is a major holiday in many Asian countries, including Vietnam (Tet), Korea (Sol-nal) and Mongolia (Tsangaan Sar). Instead of a fixed date each year, the Lunar New Year falls on the second new moon after the winter solstice. more ›