Washington has opened its first parking garage for bicycles, an ultra-cool pavilion on the west side of Union Station near the Metro entrance.

Clad in steel and glass, the arcing structure injects a welcome dose of contemporary design into the space between architect Daniel Burnham's beaux-arts train ...
Publ.Date : Sun, 06 Dec 2009 05:45:00 -0500

D.C. museum wants to add rooftop 'bubble'

The Hirshhorn Museum in Washington, D.C., wants to add to the building a temporary, inflatable bubble that squeezes through its rooftop -- a modern concept in a city known worldwide for its classical architecture.

Officials for the contemporary-art museum, on the National Mall between Capitol Hill and ...
Publ.Date : Fri, 18 Dec 2009 15:43:48 -0500

Popular giant panda goes home to China

UPDATED:

The Smithsonian's National Zoo is returning beloved giant panda Tai Shan to China.

Zoo officials said Friday that Tai Shan will go in January or February for breeding.

The cuddly, black-and-white panda was born at the Washington zoo July 9, 2005, and ...
Publ.Date : Fri, 04 Dec 2009 09:13:26 -0500

DINING: Zentan a restaurant to watch

Zentan, the restaurant in the Donovan House hotel at Thomas Circle, is full of surprises, beginning with its name. The hotel, which replaces the Holiday Inn at the corner of 14th Street and Massachusetts Avenue Northwest, is named for William "Wild Bill" Donovan, the father of the Office of ...
Publ.Date : Wed, 30 Dec 2009 05:45:00 -0500

D.C. digs out from record snowstorm

Washington-area commuters returned to work Monday morning with few problems, following the weekend storm that brought roughly 16 inches of snow to the region.

Most roads were cleared by Sunday, and the region's Metro subway system -- the second largest in the country -- was fully operational, ...
Publ.Date : Mon, 21 Dec 2009 05:45:10 -0500

Newly dating or looking for a more laid-back night? Here’s where to eat on February 14.

You hear a lot about how Valentine’s Day is rough on singles, but it’s no picnic for new or casual couples, either. Fledgling partners can opt not to acknowledge it, but there’s a certain stage in a relationship—somewhere between “What’s your middle name again?” and “Should we get a dog?”—when ignoring Valentine’s Day is as awkward as recognizing it at some romance-on-steroids place with smooth jazz on the stereo.

It’s with these couples in mind that we created this list of relaxed restaurants where you can celebrate being in love (or being in like, whatever) without all the candlelit, rose-petal-strewn pressure.

1) Graffiato is too noisy for serious romance, and the classic-rock soundtrack makes it impossible to take anything seriously, anyway. Still, there’s Prosecco on tap in case you want to toast, and the food tends toward the swoon-worthy. A $60 special menu will be served on February 14 (the regular menu will be available on the first floor); be sure to reserve right away.

2) Granville Moore’s will turn the lights down a little lower than usual on February 14. Other than that, it’s business at usual at this skinny stretch of restaurant in the center of the H Street action. No special menu, no heart-shaped anything. Just mussels, fries, and lots of beer.

The Hamilton's sushi chef hopes to start serving fugu. Just how risky is the famous puffer fish?

Fried fugu. Photograph courtesy of Flickr user istolethetv.

There’s no more notorious food than fugu—a.k.a. puffer fish, a potentially deadly Japanese delicacy. So young sushi chef Jason Zheng caused a stir when he told the City Paper's Chris Shott that he hoped to offer puffer at the Hamilton, a new downtown DC 24-hour mega-eatery whose offerings include sashimi, nigiri, and maki rolls.

In Japan, sushi chefs-in-training test their skills by how well they can carve puffer. The fish contains a poison 20 times as lethal as cyanide. If the chef fails to remove the tetrodotoxin, diners are in danger. In Tokyo last November, a woman almost died after eating fugu liver at a two-Michelin-star establishment. The chef who prepared it was suspended for serving such a dangerous morsel.

Only one known Washington-area restaurant currently serves fugu: Kaz Sushi Bistro in DC’s Foggy Bottom. Kazuhiro “Kaz” Okochi orders the fish from Wako International Corp. in New York City, the only fugu importer approved by the Food and Drug Administration. Only a select group of restaurants are certified by Wako to buy the fish, and Wako lobbied for years to get approval; all of the company’s fish comes from Shimonoseki, Japan, home to an expert group of slicers trained to remove all traces of tetrodotoxin. The fish doesn’t come cheap: Okochi paid Wako $90 a pound for farm-raised fugu in 2011. The prices proved too steep for Terry Segawa, owner of Bethesda’s Tako Grill, who says he stopped serving fugu in 2010 due to rising costs.

When a twice-yearly shipment comes in, Okochi creates a $150 dinner featuring various preparations. He says he thinks his diners, most of them American, understand that fugu served stateside in legal restaurants is about as safe as any other sushi: “They don’t pay $150 to die from eating dinner.”

This article appears in the February 2012 issue of The Washingtonian.

Every morning, we'll let you know where to find lunch on wheels.

Happy Thursday, food truck followers! It may be dismal out there, but your favorite trucks are ready to serve you  delicious eats. Don't forget to place Super Bowl orders today with the likes of Cap Mac, Red Hook Lobster Truck, and more! 

“It’s like a divorce,” says the popular bartender.

Here’s sad news for anyone who loves posting up at PS 7’s bar and sipping a creative cocktail from Gina Chersevani: The self-dubbed “mixtress” left chef Peter Smith’s Penn Quarter eatery this week.

According to Chersevani, a disagreement with Smith led to the split. The duo—who’ve been a prominent team both in the restaurant and out on the event circuit—were developing a new concept together this year, but it's unclear whether or not that will go forward as planned.

“How do you leave a place after three years and separate yourself?” says Chersevani. “It’s like a divorce.”

Chersevani is currently weighing the prospects (a cuptail-ery, pretty please?). We’ll catch up with Smith as soon as possible to find out about his plans.

Every morning, we'll let you know where to find lunch on wheels.

Happy February, food truck followers! It feels more like May out there, so stop by your favorite trucks around Farragut, NOVA, L'Enfant, and more! And if you want to talk shop with your vendors today, do some advance reading here.