I am leaving this weekend for DC for work this summer through early August. Does anyone have suggestions on any great wine-related activity in the capital? Some categories in particular:
Big tasting events. I saw that the French Embassy is hosting Drouhin later this month. Has anyone been to one of the Embassy’s tastings? Any other great events?
Good wine shops–in addition to Weygandt, of course.
Restaurants/shops that do good wine dinners or smaller organized tastings?
Other stores include: Calvert-Woodley, Bassin’s (MacArthur Beverage), Schneiders, and Arrowine (new store opening this weekend on K Street). All have dinners/tastings and email lists; you can sign up and get news on same. Arrowine, for example, is doing a champagne tasting this weekend at the new Foggy Bottom (K Street) store.
Many wine stores taste wines on Saturday afternoon. A great way to spend a Saturday afternoon is to make the rounds.
The stores to be recommended depend on what you like.
For Bordeaux, go to MacArthur’s or Calvert-Woodley
Burgundy - Weygandt Wines or Arrowine
Cheese - Arrowine - unbelievable cheese
California - MacArthurs
Small Production French - Arrowine or Weygandt Wines
Italy - MacArthurs or Arrowine
German Wines - Get to know Phil at MacArthurs
Alsace - Get to know Phil at MacArthurs; but then Weygandt has the great wines of Albert Mann
I e-mailed Doug that very question today. Unfortunately, the answer is no, so I will have to continue to cross the Potomac Ocean to get my cheese fixes.
Wow, I lived on the GW campus right next to that place for a year. I remember poking around there back when I knew nothing about wine. It’s in about the worst location for someone in DC without a car, but I’ll have to make the trek out there once or twice.
I saw Howard responded - but I wish! My office is on K Street so the new store is actually much more convenient. I love their coppa (among other things).
Here’s an important “Do-Not”: Do not drive over 25mph on MacArthur Boulevard while going to or from MacArthur Beverage. I received a ticket in the mail today…$92 for driving 37mph in 25mph zone. DC has those camera-and-radar setups. The city is not visitor-friendly.
Some restaurants you will want to patronize in the area:
Ruan Thai, in Wheaton, MD. Food there is off-the-chart good. Best Thai restaurant in the DC area. Try the crispy duck with basil, and the pahd Thai.
Divino Lounge, Bethesda MD. Argentinian. Strange ambience: after dark they turn on loud Eurodrivel Technodisco music, which…well, don’t get me started on that. But it’s worth the visit for the food. Be certain to try the grilled sweetbreads and the parillada.
Tako Grill, also in Bethesda. Another place with off-the-chart-good food. Best sushi bar I know of anywhere.
Jaleo, on 7th Street in DC (not far from the Smithsonian’s American Museum of Natural History, and right across the street from the Spy Museum). Excellent tapas, and some nice sherry too. One of my favorite hangouts in the District.
Love Jaleo–good call there. I’ve heard good things about Tako Grill too. Thanks for the suggestions.
Not sure about Gordon Biersch. Better than Dogfish Head out in the burbs? It’s also a pretty big national chain.
I was going to start a thread in Epicurean Exploits about must-eat restaurants. But maybe I’ll just ask it here… thoughts on places for some of these cuisines?
Afghan
Ethiopian
French bistro
General high-end dining
Ramen
Ribs
Sushi
Anywhere with a particularly interesting wine list
I don’t like Dogfish Head beer at all, so that answer there is easy. Go with Gordon Biersch.
Adams Morgan is awash in Ethiopian and Somali restaurants, and I’ve eaten at a number of them, but no single restaurant stands out. I always had good food at all of them, though.
Oh, here’s another good spot: Joe’s Noodle House in Rockville. Authentic and adventuresome Chinese cuisine. Try the marinated duck tongues. There are many menu items there, that you might not find anywhere else in the states. Great food and very reasonable prices. Note: traffic is absolutelyhorrible in that area around rush hour of any day, all evening on Friday, and most of the evening on Saturday. Gridlock is a distinct possibility at any random moment. Take the Metro to Rockville if you are able. But even if you have to drive, be sure to eat there at least once; it would be a good idea to take several friends with you, so that you can order multiple exotic dishes, and share them.
The Source - Saturday Dim Sum Brunch. 12-3 on Saturdays. Good wine list too. A bottle of wine, some Wolfgang Puck “dim sum,” and then go to the National Gallery for an hour or two. Not a bad Saturday afternoon.
Wolf Trap - National Park for the Performing Arts in Virginia. A great venue for concerts although the acts are sometimes a bit tired (ABBA tribute band again???). For some reason, I always feel compelled to drink Ridge ATP Zinfandel or Carignane, but you are free to choose your wine. I recommend that you buy tickets for a seat instead of the lawn. Pack a picnic dinner, sit on the lawn, and then move into the seating area for the show after you have finished the wine (no food allowed in the covered area). Less stress (i.e., getting a good spot on the lawn) if you get there late and you avoid any rainstorms. A car is recommended for this activity.
Little Saigon - this is another VA activity, but my current favorite Vietnamese place that is byob. $10 corkage (details in VA BYOB thread).
There is also a DC BYOB thread in the BYOB forum. Weygandt maintains a DC corkage list on their website.
Bourbon Steak in Georgetown - get on the email list for special events. E.g., they do a fantastic pork-themed event (sort of like Charlie Palmer’s Pigs and Pinot). My gf recently treated me to a set menu “East Meets West” event hosted by Michael Mina (which was fantastic). Events sell out quickly, however. Great wine list, especially if you want to splurge on some Krug Clos du Mesnil or similar (Clos d’Ambonnay?); but lots of mortal options too.
Other restaurants with event lists are Eve and also BLT Steak. I’ve been to great wine/event dinners at both.
DC is also the capital of various charity and other events/boondoggles. Summer is a little tougher, but worth following twitter feeds of Best Bites Blog (Washingtonian), DC Eater, etc. I suppose you can also follow the above restaurants on twitter too instead of the email lists (2013!).
Also http://dccharityevents.com/
Eater’s top 38 restaurants. A good start on that front:
You might have preconceptions about Virginia wine, but you’re going to be ~ one hour from some excellent local wine. I’d check it out. Worst case scenario you see some lovely countryside one saturday afternoon.
There’s a little wine nucleus of shops and restaurants along Connecticut Ave., with Calvert-Woodley, Dino, Weygandt, Ripple, Palena (more for the awesome burger than the wine but the list is decent too), and Lavandou. Eat or drink too much, and you can walk it off at the Zoo which is on the same strip.