The National Christmas Tree in Washington, DC

We braved the crowds this weekend and went down to see the national tree. One of the two zillion people packed in to see it described it as a giant, deformed Hershey kiss. Seems about right to me.

Whatever you do, do not drive to (or anywhere near) the national tree. The traffic on the surrounding roads was absurd. Just take the subway to Metro Center and trek the few blocks. It won't kill you. (I can't imagine what we are going to do when the inauguration comes.)

When not snapping pics for myself, I snapped group shots for other tourists. Chris once had the, I think, hilarious, idea of trying to get in as many tourist photos as possible. We would have our mugs in peoples vacation albums all over the world. Eventually, we would surely run into someone during our travels who had our smiling faces in the back of one of their travel photos.

Carousel on the National Mall in Washington, DC

There has been a carousel on the National Mall since 1967. This one was built in 1947, but didn't arrive in DC until 1981. Before that it had been up at a park in Baltimore.

The merry-go-round is, undoubtedly, a welcome break for kids whose parents are dragging them from museum to museum all day.

Don't get me wrong, I'm sure kids are digging the airplanes at the Air and Space Museum and the animals at the Museum of Natural History. But I don't think kids burst through the museum doors like they do through the carousel gates. (Gotta get the best horse you know.)

Review of Julia's Empanadas

Julia's is another local chain selling, you guessed it, empanadas. Julia's is probably the cheapest lunch in town. You can get a very filling empanada for about three bucks.

Julia's doesn't stick with your typical empanada flavors. One of my favorites is the Jamaican style with ground beef, onion, potato, and curry. You can also have more Latin flavors like chorizo with rice and black beans.

While I like Julia's, I have to say that I prefer my empanadas with a lighter and flakier crust. These are quite dense. It's also a shame that there is nowhere to eat in Julia's. It's a takeout exclusive. Still, if you want a cheap meal, Julia's is a good bet.

Arthur M. Sackler Gallery in Washington, DC

Yesterday's adventure was at the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery. The Sackler and Freer (two attached museums) have extensive collections of Asian art.

In one of the first exhibits were a couple films of children shot in Afghanistan. One was of children selling bricks they retrieved from a ruin, the other children playing with a shot down fighter plane.

It was the fighter plane film that was fascinating and surreal. The bullet holes had exposed the plane's insulation. The children had stretched it out so it was like ropes attached to the plane.

Dozens of children holding dozens of ropes walked and ran and played around the plane, as if trying to control it. The film was shot sometimes normally, sometimes in slow motion, sometimes with sound, sometimes with none. The filmmaker (Lida Abdul) subtitled occasional thoughts, like poetry, at the bottom of the screen.

I shot through the Hindu and Buddhist statues fairly quickly. Although they were beautiful, I was a little short on time. The Chinese section was filled with everyday and ceremonial objects, everything from wardrobes to pots. I particularly liked the ceremonial wine casks, made in the shape of animals. I totally want one of those.

One of the more interesting items was a piece of cave art. It had two Bodhisattvas, one white and one black. We are always given the impression that humanity was separated until very recent history. I love when a historical artifact reminds us that there have been many diverse places in history, that some sort of ethnic isolation or (worse) purity never existed.

Finally, I reached the exhibit I really arrived for, Garden and Cosmos: the Royal Paintings of Jodhpur. Jodhpur is in Northwest India. It is a favorite stop on India's tourist trail. As you might have divined from the title, the paintings were often of gardens or of religious stories or philosophical messages.

They were as colorful as a million saris, with gold and silver details everywhere. The paintings were all about detail. They actually had magnifying glasses available. My favorite paintings, although not the most beautiful, were a series done of one particular raja (king). In every painting he was the only man surrounded by hundreds of scantily clad women. In one, he was bathing with them. In another, he was dancing with them (and feeling one up).

"It's good to be the king."

Review of Sette Osteria

If you're in Dupont Circle on a nice day and want a place to sit outside and enjoy a glass of wine and some pizza from a wood-burning oven, Sette is your spot.

That said, there are many places in DC for pizza, particularly wood-fired pizza, and Sette is not even close to the best of them. I went once and won't likely go again. Pizzeria Paradiso and Coppi's are just so much better.

I'm not saying the food is bad, it's fine. The service is fine. The restaurant is fine. Just nothing special.

Review of Firehook Bakery

Washington, DC has surprisingly few bakeries. Firehook is one of them. They have several locations in town (and in Virginia).

They are coffee shops and lunch spots in addition to bakeries. The locations are generally comfortable, although not quite cozy, places to read or chat.

The sandwiches and pre-made salads are pretty good. I had an especially delicious orzo pasta salad in a lemon vinaigrette, at a bargain price to boot.

Mostly though, I go for the sugary goodies. The decadent, gooey, chocolate raspberry cake is one of my favorites. Although it can be inconsistent at times, it's one of the only bakeries in town and definitely beats a Safeway cake (although maybe not a Whole Foods one).

Review of Larry's Ice Cream

As much as I love to eat Larry's ice cream, I think I would go there just for the service. The staff are officially known around town as the "scoop nazis." It's like a piece of Brooklyn (or Seinfeld) in DC.

When asked if he was going to vote for Obama, my favorite scoop nazi said something to the effect of "What the f*&^ choice do we have. The other guys f%$#ing a hundred years old."

As for the ice cream, it is creamy and delicious. My personal favorite is the cinnamon cookie, which has big chewy chunks of oatmeal cookie immersed in cinnamon fabulousness. Truth be told, I haven't tried many other flavors. I'm too addicted to that one.

Larry's Ice Cream, 1633 Connecticut Ave. NW

Review of Banana Leaves

Banana Leaves is one of our favorite neighborhood hangouts. It is about twenty steps out our front door. It's very small and very red.

Amazingly, it is hardly ever crowded. I think this may be because people tend to order takeout. It definitely is not because the food is bad, because it is great.

We often go there for their super fresh sushi. Another favorite dish is their Asian crunchy salad with lettuce, cabbage, carrots, peanuts, and an amazing peanut dressing.

The chef at Banana Leaves has a sweet tooth and you can depend on everything from peanut dressing to chicken basil to won ton soup having a bit of sweetness to it. That's all just fine by me.

Oh, and did I mention the staff is friendly and the prices are reasonable? It's pretty much the perfect neighborhood restaurant.

Eastern Market in Washington, DC

The brick building in the background of this photo is the historic Eastern Market built in 1873. Sadly, the building was gutted by a fire back in 2007 and the rebuilding process has been slow. Until then, it had been in continuous operation as a market since it opened 134 years earlier.

You can still buy food at the market. They erected a temporary tentlike building to house the meat, fish, pastry, and produce vendors that used to be in the main building. Market lunch (reviewed a few posts ago) is also located inside.

It's dreamland for foodies. The fish selection is incredible. There are three different meat vendors, one of whom has an incredible array of handmade sausages. We had a lamb sausage that was absolutely perfect. If you are looking to stock up for a gourmet meal, this is the place.

Outside, on the weekends, is an art market and a flea market. Lots of local painters, jewelry makers, and other artisans display their goods. There is a rug dealer and a few furniture sellers. There is a woman who makes retro crotchet hats and someone who makes statues out of old soda cans. They pretty much cover all the bases.

If food is your thing, Eastern Market is a must-do DC stop.

Eastern Market, 7th Street & North Carolina Avenue, SE, Washington, DC

Review of Etete

DC cab drivers say that you must go to U Street for good Ethiopian food. Zagat reviewers insist that Etete is one of the best in town. Chris and I finally headed down to see for ourselves.

Etete is a small, date friendly restaurant with rich wood and low lighting. The servers were friendly and fast. We were there at an off hour, so it wasn't too crowded.

We ordered the spicy chicken (Doro Wat) and the lamb marinated in onion, garlic and jalapeño(Yebeg Alicha). It was all served on top of, and with a side of, the requisite Ethiopian spongy bread.

The spicy chicken was tasty and had a nice kick. It came with one small drumstick and a few pieces of chicken floating in the sauce. It also, oddly, came with a hard boiled egg. The lamb dish was more generous with meat, but less generous with flavor. The sweet, but light honey wine was probably my favorite thing about the whole meal.

Etete had a nice ambiance and service and the food was good, but I didn't feel like it was a great value for the money (the above cost us just under $50 with tip). Still, I'll be going back to try what our neighbors were eating (a whole fish and some incredible smelling charcoal broiled beef).

Etete, 1942 9th St NW, Washington, DC 20001

Code Pink Shoe Protest

That's Medea Benjamin and some other Code Pink people outside the Whitehouse yesterday. They are standing in front of a bunch of shoes they put out in solidarity with the Iraqi shoe thrower.

The ladies were putting on their usual show and they were surrounded by ridiculous amounts of secret service. The signs say we should "Drop Bush not Bombs" and that the shoes are in solidarity with all the women and children killed in Iraq.

If you have been in a sealed chamber underground for the last few days, an Iraqi journalist threw a show at President Bush during a press conference. Here's the video for your viewing pleasure.



Man, I could watch that video over and over. It's really quite impressive how fast Bush's reflexes were. It's like he practices his speeches with someone throwing oranges at him.

And just in case you are looking for something to kill the time at work. May I suggest playing the hottest new internet game - Sock and Awe. Bush has been hit in the face by more than 47 million shoes. It's fabulous.

Review of Five Guys

Another local chain, Five Guys is a burger joint and constant temptation on my way home from the gym.

Unlike most fast food places, here your food is made to order. And they don't distract themselves with a diverse menu. They just focus on making thin, flavorful, and perfect patties.

Getting the extra crispy bacon on top is a must. I also usually have my burger drowned in bbq sauce, mushrooms, and sauteed onions.

The seriously addictive fries come regular or spicy. The large size is as big as my head. It has about as many calories as a normal sized human should eat in an entire day. And it's worth every hour on the treadmill.

Review of Teaism

Teaism is a local mini-chain of restaurants/tea shops. In their gargantuan menu of teas available for purchase, they refer to it as an "Asian style tea house."

Only a sampling of their teas are available to buy and drink on site, but they come in your own personal teapot, so all is forgiven.

The restaurant is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner. It has a somewhat limited, but decent menu. I find the breakfast french toast to be quite delicious.

Lunch and dinner options include sandwiches, bento boxes, soups, and kabobs. They have plenty of vegetarian options (tofu and tempeh galore) and some pretty tasty tea cookies and other sugary things.

The food is all a bit on the granola side - by which I mean that you will see lots of brown rice and grainy things in your bread. But they do the granola thing really well and even health food haters can find something to like here.

It's reasonably priced and reasonably healthy, which makes it a popular spot in town.

Review of Market Lunch

The Market Lunch is a hole in the wall restaurant located in the Eastern Market. Despite the name, it is famous for its breakfasts.

It is also famous for the huge line you have to wait on in order to get your food. Once you have your food, there is one long counter where you can scarf it down and move on.

The place is not particularly atmospheric, at least not until they rebuild the historic Eastern Market building. On weekends, it is jam packed with families trying to get an inexpensive breakfast out.

They are famous for their blueberry pancakes, but I just had to try the eggnog french toast with the apple cider syrup. Chris had a crab and mushroom omelet with potatoes. The overzealously, charming proprietor also talked Chris into getting the grits.

The French toast was made with super soft homemade white bread and, while it was good, it was almost too gooey. The apple cider syrup was like sweet, syrupy apple sauce and definitely improved the situation.

Chris's omelet was cooked perfectly, filled to the brim with fresh mushrooms and real crab, and seasoned well. It was delicious, with the exception of a small bit of crab shell I had to pick out of my teeth. The potatoes were nothing special, but the grits were as good as promised - creamy and buttery, but with some texture and seasoning.

All the food we had was generously laden with butter. This is definitely not the place to come on a diet. The whole thing cost us $20 exactly.

If you can stand the kids, and getting your feet run over with strollers - and if you don't mind being shoveled along as soon as your done eating - you can get some very good food at prices about as reasonable as DC has to offer.

Review of Mykonos Grill

Mykonos Grill is in Rockville, Maryland. It's an easy hop off the DC metro to get there.

Oddly situated at the bottom of an office building, and decorated to look like it could be the subject of one of the Thomas McKnight prints inside, I was a little wary. It didn't help that the place was nearly empty (although it was early).

I needn't have worried. This may have been the best Greek food I have ever had. The feta and olive plate was fresh, flavorful, and perfect. The spanakopita had the lightest, flakiest crust - no oily mess here.

The lamb kabob was cooked well and seasoned just right, but it was the filet mignon kabob that really sold me - perfectly seared, melted like butter. The service was good, if a little formal for the situation. The prices were reasonable, although you could definitely add up a bill on the small plates. All in all, Mykonos is worth a trip out to Rockville.

Mykonos Grill, 121 Congressional Lane, Rockville, Maryland

Review of McCormick & Schmick's

Since we were foregoing the family drudgery on Thanksgiving, Chris and I had to find someplace to eat. Unfortunately, my top choices were either closed or booked up. I made us a reservation at McCormick & Schmick's.

McCormick & Schmick's is a chain seafood restaurant, a slightly more upscale version of Red Lobster, as it turns out. The restaurant is wood paneled in an attempt to look elegant. The large slash in one of our leather booth seats ruined that a bit.

We were seated right away, but our waitress took her time in the beginning. She was a bit more attentive as the night wore on and the restaurant began to empty out. We figured we should cut her some slack, being that it was Thanksgiving and they were undoubtedly short staffed.

We started off with a shrimp and artichoke dip with pita chips. It sounded delicious. It was barely edible. In fact, I didn't eat any of it. The pita chips were soaked in grease and topped with cheese. The dip was watery, with faux baby shrimp, and not much flavor.

The main course was an improvement. My rare yellowfin tuna was perfectly seared, although was obviously not brought straight from the stove to my table. The tuna was fresh and the spicy soy dipping sauce was delicious. The pickley asian salad that accompanied the dish wasn't too bad either.

Chris ordered their Thanksgiving meal. It was a smorgasbord of carbohydrates, all of which were standard. The turkey was moist, almost too moist. It seemed overly processed, like something from a cafeteria.

The highlight of the meal was undoubtedly the cinnamon apple martini I had for dessert. I could have sucked down about a hundred of those. It was sweet, tart, refreshing, and light.

We received a hefty bill, padded by several cocktails each, but still overpriced for the quality of the food, service, and ambiance. While I would recommend going by for one of those cinnamon apple martinis, I wouldn't recommend staying for dinner.