Happy Funtime Friend Service

If you’ve got a craving for fried things - noodles, rice, and funnels - then make a note to chug on out to the Adams Morgan Day Festival on Sunday, September 9 from noon to 7 p.m. Just be sure to put on some sunblock so you don’t fry your face (still waiting for Lisa to write her memoir My Life in the Shade. Hello? Did you not know the sun lurks just waiting for an opportunity to burninate you?)
Right in my beloved ‘hood, Adams Morgan Day features fest food and two (maybe three?) stages with local performers entertaining drunkards all day. You can catch anything from Chinese dragon dancers to African drummers to bluegrass musicians. Belmont Street is usually dedicated to local artists and craftspeople hawking their cool, but sometimes pricey wares. If the weather’s warm, walk the street, grab a lemonade and some doro wat from an Ethiopian vendor, find a shady spot and dig in.

Everything’s better with sour cream (I actually made this into a bumper sticker). But you know what’s especially good with sour cream? Pierogis. And say what you like, Mrs T’s frozen pierogis will never come close to those pinched by the hands of little old Ukranian ladies (god bless them). This is why you must attend the Baltimore Ukrainian Festival running September 8 and 9th.

Four dance groups, Ukrainian Easter Eggs demonstrations, musicians, pierogi/pyohy eating contest, traditional crafts, Ukrainian beer garden and children’s activities. I’m totally in it for the food.
Saturday noon-10 p.m. and Sunday 10 a.m.- 9 p.m.
Patterson Park at Linwood and Eastern Avenues
FREE (I’m wagering the food and beer isn’t free)

Speaking of good local restaurants (especially my favorite - non-chain restaurants), Vermillion in Alexandria is hosting Justin Trawick on July 25th.  The food at Vermillion is just great, the staff and atmosphere are welcoming, and Justin sings a good song so get there early and enjoy.  (Unfortunately I’ll be out of town otherwise I’d be there.)

If you’re not good at making friends, trying a new restaurant together is a great way to get a conversation going. And Restaurant Week (August 6 - 12) is designed for trying new places - it’s a promotion designed to bring in business during their slow times. Participating restaurants offer 3 course lunches for $20.07 and dinner for $30.07. Many (but not all restaurants) use Open Table for easy reservations. In the past we’ve tried and really enjoyed Agraria, TenPenh, Rasika and Cafe MoZu. Invite someone out for lunch or dinner - it’s easy. “Hey, it’s Restaurant Week - any place you’ve been wanting to try?”

If you’re like me, you grew up with three kinds of cheese in the house - balls, logs, and maybe processed cheese food slices. I still have a special place in my heart for a good old-fashioned ball of wine cheese rolled up in some stale almond slivers. Nothing says happy holidays more than a heart-arresting cheese marbleized with neon red “wine” flavoring. Num num num. Pass the Triskets!

Of course, the elitist foodie types may disagree with me, which is why I’m only friends with blue-collar foodies and also why I’m posting about the Cowgirl Creamery’s cheese classes for May. This Thursday’s class (May 17) is all about the blue (bleu) and I’m sure it’s already booked up. However, the next class is billed as “An Evening with Everona.” For $35, you can get some special learning right from the uhm… head cheese. Sorry… couldn’t resist.
An Evening with Everona
Pat Elliott from Everona Dairy
Thursday May 31, 5:00-6:30 PM

The Cowgirl Creamery
919 F Street NW
Penn Quarter
Washington, D.C. 20004
(202)393-6880

I won’t bore you with the details of the plague, the job change, and the computer that blew up, but suffice it to say that Las Vegas + Pogues + birthday celebrations = many days on antibiotics. I love my new job as a producer at an interactive creative agency in Washington, DC even though it keeps me very busy. And now I have a spiffy new Mac mini.

Spring has sprung in DC and there’s plenty going on. This Saturday you can find the Happy Funtime crew enjoying ice cream at Hawaiian Scoop in Ashburn (I want some Dole Whip to remind me of my Hawaiian vacation and my trip aboard the Pineapple Express).

Saturday evening we’ll be at The State Theatre in Falls Church to see Honor by August along with Will Hoge. I haven’t seen Will before but I’ve heard his songs and I’m looking forward to the show. Come on out and say hi.

I don’t know why, but lately I’ve been more interested in cider than beer, so this announcement from Dave the Beer Guy was of particular interest to me. I made my reservations today, so give a call and make yours - it sounds like it should be fun. Apparently this is the first cider tasting they’ve ever done.

On October 18th at RFD the Ciders of Autumn!

C’mon down and meet Bret Williams and Greg Failing of Vermont’s great Woodchuck Cidery. We’ll taste their ciders, some famous English ciders and we’ll even try some cider ice cream! Tickets for this event are only $30.00 and can be reserved by calling 202-289-2030. Doors open at 6, we never start at 7.

RFD Washington at 810 7th St NW (202-289-2030) is the first restaurant is the city to feature cuisine a la biere, has about 300 of the Bricks best beers in bottles plus 30 more on tap in the front room and 10 more taps in the back room which is available for special occasions.

RFD is one block north of the Verizon Center, 1½ blocks south of the Convention Center and about 50 yards from the multi-line Gallery Place Chinatown Metro on 7th St between H and I - just up from the Starbucks.

If you didn’t get enough sour cream and pierogis at the St. Andrew’s Ukrainian Festival, mark your calendars for St. John the Baptist’s Annual Russian Bazaar on September 30 & October 1st. The food’s a smidge different with more pirozhki, no pierogi (ack!), and a heavy hand with the kasha (buckwheat - mmmm), but you can find similar staples like stuffed cabbage and borscht. St. Andrew’s festival is definitely larger with an impressive assortment of Ukrainian dancers, singers and even folk violinist, but at St. John’s you can do shots of herb-infused vodka with the priest for a buck. I’m saving my dollar bills.

The Russian Orthodox Cathedral of St. John the Baptist
Annual Russian Bazaar
http://www.russianbazaar.org/

You know it’s definitely fall when the beer tasting season is upon us. If you’ve never been to a beer tasting, it’s exactly what it sounds like - either a brewmaster comes to talk you through tasting a variety of beers from one brewery or several brewmasters come and you try many different beers sometimes focused around a region or a theme (hoppy beers, holiday beers). We’re lucky in DC to have two of the premier beer bars and restauarants in the country - the Brickskellar and RFD (which stands for Regional Food and Drink).

They have two immediately upcoming events - one on 16 September (seems to be a popular beer date) in conjuction with the Smithsonian Resident Associates program for Oktoberfest. If tickets are still available, you’d discover that here:
http://residentassociates.org/ticketing/tickets/reserve.aspx?performanceNumber=55007

The other is a first time visitor to RFD, Belgium’s Saint Bernardus Brewery (hmm… also a Belgian theme) on 20 September. They’ll talk, you’ll taste. Tickets are $28 and can be reserved by calling 202.289.2030.

There’s a cider tasting in October, Hops in November and the ever popular Holiday Beer tasting in December. You might want to get on this list. Drop a note to Brickskeller@aol.com.

Go with a friend or two and meet new folks. Everyone’s chatty after a couple of beers. Just don’t be that guy. (You know who you are.)