GQ Agrees: D.C.’s Little Serow Is A Big Deal

Photo by Darrow Montgomery
Photo by Darrow Montgomery

Last year, in my capacity as food editor and Young & Hungry columnist at Washington City Paper, I crowned Little Serow as D.C.’s Best New Restaurant, calling it “otherworldly…the most important and definitive D.C. dining destination of the moment.” GQ’s food critic Alan Richman, whose purview obviously extends well beyond the Beltway, just took things a step farther, praising chef Johnny Monis‘ subterranean Thai eatery as “my finest eating experience of 2012.” Continue readingGQ Agrees: D.C.’s Little Serow Is A Big Deal”

Designer John Varvatos Remakes the Chrysler 300 In His Own Titanium Image

Designer John Varvatos and Chrysler Brand President and CEO Saad Chehab introduce the 2013 Chrysler 300C John Varvatos Limited and Luxury Edition VehiclesYou might recognize the distinctive hand-stitching inside this limited-production Chrysler 300C. “It’s something that we’ve done in leather jackets before,” said fashion designer John Varvatos. The high-end men’s clothier insists on this sort of artisan detailing, in everything from suede boots to wool suits. Now, he’s sewing the same aesthetic into an elite fleet of shadowy custom-designed cruisers, outfitted with fine Italian leather, shiny black bezels and a glossy phantom black tri-coat paint job that’s as reflective as Varvatos’s own shaved dome. Continue reading “Designer John Varvatos Remakes the Chrysler 300 In His Own Titanium Image”

Battle of the Star Cars: Original ‘Batmobile’ vs. Clark Gable’s Gullwing

Batmobile 1 - Photo Credit Jana DeHartNot all winged things are exactly alike, but George Barris’s original “Batmobile” has a lot in common with Clark Gable’s 1955 Mercedes-Benz 300SL Gullwing Coupe. Both classic cars come from the same era. Like Gable’s purdy-bird Benz, Barris’s tricked-out Lincoln Futura concept car, famously driven to points of absurdity by caped crusader Adam West in the campy ’60s TV series, carries the same model year: 1955. Both cars come loaded with star-power: one is made exclusively for Hollywood, the other is made exclusively of Hollywood. And last week both sold for millions of dollars. Here’s how the two star cars stacked up…. Continue reading “Battle of the Star Cars: Original ‘Batmobile’ vs. Clark Gable’s Gullwing”

R.I.P. Lounge 47 (2004 – 2013) : A Casualty of the War on Noise

PatioIsClosedFor bar food, it didn’t suck. Lounge 47, my favorite place in the neighborhood for a plate of wasabi deviled eggs and a lip-biting good bloody Mary, among other savory things, shuttered its doors with a raucous goodbye party on Jan. 15. Among the many toasts that bleary-eyed evening, the entire room raised its collective middle finger in the direction of the lounge’s next-door neighbor, whose longstanding and litigious spat with management over noise and other alleged nuisances ultimately resulted in the court-ordered closure of the joint’s best asset, its airy backyard garden. With revenue down and rent rising, the lounge’s owners decided to call it quits. Some scattered staffers still work in the neighborhood, though the storefront remains empty. Continue reading “R.I.P. Lounge 47 (2004 – 2013) : A Casualty of the War on Noise”

Rear View: Tesla’s Sexy Model S Looks Even Better From the Back

TeslaModelSFor an electric car, Tesla Model S gets a lot of juice….“It’s wide, long, low, and looks great – especially from the rear,” said Motor Trend Editor-in-Chief Edward Loh, drawing chuckles from assembled gawkers, during a videotaped presentation at Manhattan’s Skylight West Studios, where the stylish plug-in was crowned Motor Trend Car of the Year.  (“I’m an ass man,” Loh later joked.) Crouching behind the taillights of a cherry red showroom model parked on stage, the head of the nation’s top hot-rod read went into graphic detail about the sexy sedan’s more striking backside attributes. Continue reading “Rear View: Tesla’s Sexy Model S Looks Even Better From the Back”

Reflections On a Big Mac In D.C.’s Franklin Square

Big-Mac-300x258It was a day a bit like today—mostly sunny, bright, albeit at least 10 degrees warmer—only a decade ago. I was taking a stroll through D.C.’s Franklin Square. It must have been around lunchtime, or thereabouts. A few scattered park benches were occupied with folks taking their midday meal al fresco. Back then, the park was a much different place. It was not the mecca of mobile vendors you see parked along the periphery today. The food truck thing was still years away. Continue reading “Reflections On a Big Mac In D.C.’s Franklin Square”

Anatomy of a Sandwich: Fast Gourmet’s $13 Chivito

ChivitoFor gas-station fare, it’s tough to beat the chivito at Fast  Gourmet, the fancy sandwich shop at Lowest Best Price Gas on 14th Street  NW. The cost of regular unleaded now exceeds $4 per gallon, but the  South American-style grinder, which earned City Paper‘s pick for  “Best Uruguayan Sandwich” in 2011, is still a flat $13 (plus tax). It’s worth the  three-gallon-plus price tag. What makes it so tasty? Well, a lot of things.   Continue reading “Anatomy of a Sandwich: Fast Gourmet’s $13 Chivito”

Blast From The Past: Blowtorched Sushi Is Back at Uni

SushiTorchBack in 2004, Y&H alum Todd Kliman wrote about the scintillating fare at Uni: A Sushi Place, former Sushi-Ko chef James Tan‘s then-new restaurant near Dupont Circle. At the time, Kliman, now the restaurant critic at Washingtonian, seemed particularly taken with Tan’s use of the blowtorch….Ironically, a fire in the building forced Uni to close for the greater part of 2011 and, thus, most of my return to D.C. over the past year. But the place on P Street has since reopened. I stopped by last night for old time’s sake. Sure enough, the joint is still firing up its signature seared salmon ($5.50 for two pieces), which tasted just as soft, smoky and luscious as I remembered. Continue reading “Blast From The Past: Blowtorched Sushi Is Back at Uni”