Brad Pitt Has Your Secret Shit: Rolling DC

so this

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-wnYHPHs8_6A/T38jtAQUGTI/AAAAAAAAAQ4/rDAQ7CUs6JU/s490/2012-04-06

i don't know what name you post under, but just thought i'd say it was neat to hang out at your place last night, Seth!

/SpontaneousILXorMeetings

I met ilxor Pinefox over the weekend but did not get to meet ilxor M. Jones whose significant other was performing onstage at the Chickfactor fest

Northern VA food blogger (and annoying libertarian economist) Tyler Cowen in the NY Times. I went to this place once!:

So where did Professor Cowen, who lives in Northern Virginia, choose to have lunch to discuss his book? An Ethiopian restaurant in a strip mall wedged between Falls Church and Alexandria, a place that illustrates his belief that anybody can use simple economic analysis to improve their odds of getting a good meal. Professor Cowen said that some of the best food in America can be found in such immigrant restaurants in malls like the ones along El Camino Real in Silicon Valley in California or on Main Street and Northern Boulevard in Flushing, Queens. The best food is not the most expensive and is rarely found in Midtown Manhattan, he said.

This restaurant, Eyo’s, is off Interstate 395, near apartment towers populated by affluent Ethiopians. It is one of six restaurants in the tiny mall with a 7-Eleven sitting on one end. That’s not all, Professor Cowen said: “There are six more in the back. I’ve tried them all.” His point being, of course, that a restaurant facing competition has a better chance of being good.

It’s a sports bar, which seems like an unlikely choice, but not to Professor Cowen’s way of thinking. He chose it precisely because it was an unlikely choice. An American sports bar might mean Buffalo wings and cheeseburgers, but an Ethiopian sports bar? “They are making no attempt to appeal to non-Ethiopians,” he said.

How does he know it is good? Ethiopians eat there. It’s crowded. People look prosperous. But the two-page menu offers more clues. A few American items are tucked down in a corner, but other than that it is all Ethiopian. It has Ethiopian breakfast items. The descriptions are sparse, because why would they need explaining to its core audience? There are dishes on the menu that he doesn’t recognize. “That’s always a good sign,” he said.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/11/dining/an-economists-theories-plot-a-course-for-good-food.html?_r=1&emc=eta1

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/11/books/an-economist-gets-lunch-by-tyler-cowen.html?ref=books

The NYT book review absolutely teed off on his book on Sunday:

The quality of Mr. Cowen’s prose varies wildly. Many of his sentences read as if he composed them before entirely waking from a nap. Here’s an example: “The more fundamental problem is that labels do not encompass the same economywide information that is communicated by the price system in its assessment of competing uses for resources.”

Word-goo of this sort creeps in everywhere. One of his favorite books is assessed this way: “I found his writing compelling and the photos full of striking colors.” Items on one’s plate are “foodstuffs.”

You sense in almost every chapter that he’s stretching thin material. Thus the ponderous detours into much-trampled areas like the history of barbecue, the varieties of Chinese food and how to choose kitchen equipment. Truisms are sprinkled like whatever the opposite of salt is. “Barbecue restaurants often have idiosyncratic names,” he announces, to aliens I suppose. “Like Bubba’s.”

Just listened to that guy on the Kojo Show. Sounded like kind of a bore and definitely not someone I would want to break bread with.

hate cowen many times

I still look at his restaurant list despite the issues I have with him, just because he writes about some places that the other restaurant critics in the area do not cover. I recently went to a good place in Eden Center that he liked.

Todd Kliman (former City Paper restaurant critic years ago, with the Washingtonian for some time now) was asked in his food chat to list fave places for $5 to $10. Here's his list from the email-

Mangialardo’s, DC, for the G-Man.

Bayou Bakery, Arlington, for the Arm-Drip or the gumbo.

Zorba’s Cafe, DC, for gyros.

Fishnet, College Park, for the fish tacos.

Ravi Kabob I and II, Arlington, for the bone-in chicken with rice and chana masala.

China Bistro, Rockville, for the shrimp-chive and beef-celery DUMPLINGS!.

La Limeña, Rockville, for the tiradito, anticuchos, or ceviche.

Mama Chuy, DC, for the pork sopes.

A&J, Rockville and Falls Church, for noodle bowls and chili-oil wontons.

Saint Michel Bakery, Rockville, for everything.

Taqueria la Placita, Bladensburg, for pork leg tacos and al pastor tacos.

Pho 88, Beltsville, for a regular bowl.

Bon Fresco, Columbia, for the Brie sandwich and London broil sandwich.

Ren’s Ramen, Wheaton, for the miso ramen.

Woodlands, Langley Park, for the masala dosa.

Pimento Grill, DC, for the goat curry roti

Carbon, Rockville, for the asado de tira with black beans and rice.

R&R Taqueria, Elkridge, Md., for the cochinita tacos or the chilaquiles.

Sidebar, Silver Spring, for the Chicago dog.

Mount of Lebanon, Falls Church, for the chicken shawarma.

Shawafel, DC, for the chicken shawarma platter.

Ruan Thai, Wheaton, for the yum watercress.

Sardi’s, Beltsville, for the Pollo Ever—a marinated, chargrilled, spatchcocked chicken.

China Bistro sadly shut down by the health department; I was a frequent customer :(

I 've heard negative comments about Bayou Bakery in Arlington but have not tried it yet mself

not one place on that list in alexandria. i feel overlooked.

Just had my first Ravi kabob experience. Tasty!

Ravi Kabob is great.

Just tried Bayou Bakery over the weekend. The gumbo was just ok--not bad but not great. The beignets were tasty though. It turns out that the arm-drip sandwich is only available for lunch

plz explain this arm-drip sandwich

I think it is a creamy gravy on roast beef sub and the gravy drips down your arm as you eat it

SPACE SHUTTLE DAY BITCHES

Before it settles down, though, you'll have the chance to step outside and wave at the shuttle. It'll fly low over local landmarks -- the National Mall, Reagan National Airport, National Harbor and the Smithsonian's Udvar-Hazy Center -- between 9:30 a.m. and 11 a.m. before touching down at Dulles International Airport.

I will likely be stuck in my office though

Woo hoo! Now that I have a window I was able to see it. Cool.

uuuuugh, just missed it by a few minutes while stuck in an all hands meeting where management laid out their "leadership principles" in a way that spelled out V I R T U E. the whole time i'm thinking "SPACE SHUTTLE DAY, C'MON"

Missed it, darn!

My husband and his office-mates went to Hayne's Point to watch. I, on the other hand, am stuck on bedrest (actually floor rest, bed too soft) for stupid back. Better be goddamn fixed for my upcoming trip to WOO-HOO FT LAUDERDALE WOO

Hanging out in ZS's local

whaaaaa? where?

Big Bear

I can't not surreptitiously read the to-do list of the woman next to me, which includes 'Whole Foods/Safeway' with 'Safeway' crossed out, 'Personal development', and 'Tweets'.

lololol

Berger cookies from Baltimore are yummy

http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/magazine/baltimore-storied-berger-cookies-come-to-washington/2012/04/17/gIQAVMpbTT_allComments.html?ctab=all_&#comments

By Andrew Reiner, Published: April 19

My wife, Liz, and I had been living near Silver Spring a few months when we attended one of her good friend’s dinner parties last summer in Dupont Circle. Like many of Liz’s friends who live in or near Washington, this woman slams pretty much anything — music, people, stores — that smacks of mainstream American culture. Especially food.

Back in my native Baltimore, where I’ve lived for much of my life, Berger cookies top the guest list at dinner gatherings, ranging from picnic table crab feasts to white-linen fetes. The groom’s cake at my wedding? Berger cookies. But no one at this dinner party featuring crepes drizzled in truffle oil had ever seen a Berger, with its trademark Himalayan mound of chocolate frosting. In all fairness, until very recently, the Berger had been practically synonymous with Baltimore.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/magazine/baltimore-storied-berger-cookies-come-to-washington/2012/04/17/gIQAVMpbTT_story.html

Other link was to the comments

haha I think truffle oil is more of a "mainstream American culture" food item than Berger cookies

To a city where blue-collar culture and ethos mesh with a thriving underground music scene, this “chocolate helmet” means a cookie with little patience for restraint for restraint’s sake.

oh my god, worst Post culture writer since Monica Hesse

hahaha

i hate impatient cookies

He's a guest writer:

Andrew Reiner teaches freshmen writing at Towson University and is presently
teaching creative writing and literature, as well, in the Honors College

Berger cookies are not mainstream because of lack of distribution while truffle oil is still mainly at gourmet shops. [does google search for truffle oil and walmart and comes up with hits]. Oops, maybe you're right

“What they’re doing with their money is not necessarily buying a $40,000 Vuitton bag,” said Aba Bonney Kwawu, president of the Aba Agency, a public relations firm that specializes in high-end retailers. “They’re spending their money on private school tuition and taking the whole family to Greece.’’

That's a relief. That's from the article in the Washington Post the other day on DC area 1 %ers.

spending their money on boring suits and tickets to the Kennedy Center Honors

the private school only approach sadly helps them isolate themselves from others who may never be able to take advantage of the tax breaks and deductions and such that help rich Washingtonians maintain their status

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/crime/lanier-three-violent-attacks-in-northwest-potentially-linked/2012/04/26/gIQAM4w9jT_story.html

Possible link between three random assaults (one fatal) in Petworth this week; police advising residents not to walk around alone. The neighborhood (where I live) is completely crawling with cops tonight.

Friend near petworth asked me to walk her from bus stop first time ever, had wondered what that was abt.

Cynthia Connolly photo opening at Civilian Arts Friday 7 to 9 and this at the Hirshhorn:

ilxor Geeta on a panel at the the Hirshhorn friday: A symposium inside the museum Friday will feature Aitken, David Allin, Aaron Betsky, Geeta Dayal, Sasha Frere-Jones, Dean Kuipers, and Zabet Patterson.

Outside will be: this Friday's "Happening"—for which the museum will turn off the soundtrack to the massive installation and allow a handful of Pitchfork and Wired-approved acts to perform—now has a full lineup. Geologist and the pair of Tim McAfee Lewis and Leo Gallo will perform along with High Places, No Age, Oneohtrix Point Never, and Nico Jaar.

http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/artsdesk/visual-arts/2012/05/08/song-1-extended-at-the-hirshhorn-and-geologist-added-to-this-fridays-happening/

― curmudgeon, Tuesday, May 8, 2012 2:59

x-post-sadly does not look like any police updates re those Petworth incidents

huh? they arrested a guy pretty quickly. I haven't heard anything since then, so I presume he hasn't been let go.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/crime/michael-davis-held-without-bond-in-petworth-hammer-attacks-5th-victim-comes-forward/2012/04/28/gIQAhFGFoT_story.html

Oh, missed that. Thanks

Are Taylor's Gourmet's hoagies any good? Obama went there yesterday as part of a small business initiative

Chuck Brown news disccussed on other dc music and gogo and obit threads

yeah, taylor's real great - get there early before they inevitably run out of bread a couple hours before closing

new mural up already

http://www.princeofpetworth.com/2012/05/chuck-brown-remembered-in-petworth/

Sietsema's spring dining guide(he returns to and looks again at 15 fave places of his) is out in the Washington Post magazine
http://www.washingtonpost.com/gog/best-bets/dining-guide/dining-guide-spring-2012,102675.html

I heard a radio ad for the Washingtonian June Cheap Eats issue on WTOP radio (do not think it is online yet)

The Cubanos at Fast Gourmet aren't bad, but I do not think I will race back there quickly for another

have you had the chivito?