Latest News

Ari Post • March 15, 2012

Mike Isabella, “Top Chef All-Stars” runner-up and local restaurateur, has his hungry eyes set on the District.

After a successful tenure commanding the kitchen at Zaytinia, José Andrés’s Mediterranean-inspired eatery, Isabella opened his flagship restaurant Graffiato in June of last year to rave reviews. The neo-Italian cuisine has been almost universally adored by critics and guests for its fresh take on old-world culinary traditions, with its salt-and-pepper tributes to the chef’s Jersey roots (The Jersey Shore pizza, from their wood-fired oven, is heaped with fried calamari, provolone and cherry pepper aioli).

Isabella is also on the cusp of opening his latest venture, Bandolero, a Mexican-themed restaurant in Georgetown in the space once occupied by Hook at 3241 M St., N.W.

Now, Isabella is upping the ante — and doubling the wager. He announced last week plans to open two new restaurants for 14th Street, N.W., next door to each other. This announcement comes at a time that would already be a full plate for any restaurateur.

If all goes to plan, the 7,000-square foot space at 1326 W St., N.W., will be up and running at double capacity in early 2013. The first restaurant, Kapnos (Greek for “smoke”), will be a Greek restaurant that Isabella has been conceptualizing for years — presumably inspired from his days at Zaytinya. Its sister restaurant, simply named G, will serve up sandwiches by day and four-course tasting menus in the evening. Not such simple ambitions.

Perhaps, the most mouthwatering bit of news released is Isabella’s intent to employ a spit roaster to use in the restaurants. Spit roasting is an ancient culinary practice, but one that has been largely phased out, mostly due to its sheer impracticality and inconvenience. But if you’ve ever had a bite of pork shoulder or grilled vegetables pulled right out of a crackling, wood-fired flame, it is nothing you ever forget. The Greeks are famous for their roasting of whole animals, particularly lamb (Does “My Big Fat Greek Wedding” ring any bells?), and Isabella plans to bring this communal tradition to Washington for the first time. While it sounds old fashioned — prehistoric, even — there’s no telling how Isabella plans to spin this technique for the modern epicure.

“I’ve been cooking Greek food for a large part of my career,” said Isabella in a statement. “So, opening my own place was only a matter of time. With Kapnos, I want to bring something totally unique to D.C.; daily whole animal spit-roasting is a side of Greek cuisine that no one else is doing in this city. G is a sister to Graffiato, but the menu will be more traditional Italian — a place to get a meatball hero for lunch and a four-course dinner.”

Once Kapnos and G open their doors, Isabella will have himself a culinary empire in the District. It looks like Andrés, Washington’s current epicurean kingpin, might have to start watching his back.

Gary Tischler •

“Game Change,” the HBO movie about the selection of then virtually unknown Alaska Governor Sarah Palin to be Republican presidential candidate John McCain’s vice-presidential running mate, has come if not gone, leaving behind a certain amount of controversy and some unsettling thoughts.

The movie, based on a much larger account of the 2008 presidential campaign by John Heilemann and Mark Halperin in which the McCain-Palin story was a smallish part. “Game Change” premiered in New York and at Washington’s Newseum, with red-carpet stars like Julianne Moore in attendance (actually, the carpet was blue at the Newseum’s March 8 reception), amid local rehashing of old Palin and McCain campaign tales.

Palin dismissed and trashed the movie without having seen it. That’s too bad, because in reality — if there is such a thing in politics — she comes off as much more of a whole person than one might expect from such efforts. McCain also attacked the filmmakers for their treatment of Palin, being ever the gentleman about his expressions of feeling toward Palin and his choice of Palin as running mate. This way, he also doesn’t have to take responsibility for unleashing Palin’s particular gift for creating disharmony in the body politic.

When all is said and done, however, you’re left with a film that has its own sort of power and manages to be a work that feels like a more-or-less truthful, if slightly fictional account of the Palin’s selection and her subsequent impact on the 2008 election campaign.

Movies about politics and government often don’t fare well. There are few that resonate through the years, although Robert Redford’s “The Candidate” Otto Preminger’s “Advice and Consent,” about a nominee for secretary of state, and Gore Vidal’s “The Best Man,” which is getting a Broadway revival, are terrific examples of the genre.

“Game Change” reminds us more than anything of Mike Nichols’s film version of “Primary Colors,” the thinly disguised, hugely entertaining tale of what it was like on Bill Clinton’s campaign trail in 1992, with John Travolta playing an exuberantly hungry Clintonian-like character with Emma Thompson in the Hillary role.

“Game Change” is about real folks — as real as politicians can be — and it sinks or swims with Moore’s portrait of Palin which is so eerily dead on the mark that she pushes Palin right through the clichés and ticks of her own caricature — some of it self created, some by a both fawning and aggressive press.

Woody Harrelson plays Steve Schmidt, a senior political strategist and adviser to McCain, who had been brought on board after the campaign appeared to be in absolute shambles. With McCain surviving early setbacks, he rolled to front-runner status and eventual winner. The selection of Palin, as indicated in the film and in other accounts, was something of an illusory, smoke-and-mirror process with hopes of finding “a game changer” to electrify McCain’s campaign. McCain himself appears to have wanted Joe Lieberman, the Democrat who supported his candidacy.

What’s scary in this film is how little Palin, a popular, dramatic, charismatic, conservative and political novice — not to mention policy-know-nothing — was vetted by McCain’s staff. Harrelson’s Schmidt, confronted about not asking her policy questions or testing her knowledge of foreign affairs, frustratingly says he didn’t ask her and instead wanted to make sure that she knew all that was about to drop on her media-wise.

Palin dove in with relish, and with very few doubt, despite of the fact she had a teenaged daughter that was about to become an unwed mother, that there was a scandal brewing that became her own state trooper problem and that she knew next to nothing about foreign affairs—including who was the political leader of Great Britain.

Moore manages to make you her feel for her, by showing the determination as well as the anguish and frustration she was going through as the campaign exposed her ignorance. The movie would have it that she came close to a breakdown, surrounded by McCain’s mostly male and not very friendly operatives. Watching her watch herself being ridiculed by Tina Fey on Saturday Night Live is a gem of acting.

What we see here are things we already knew in some ways — to dwell on Katie Couric’s interview on CBS News is to resurrect a nightmare. An even bigger nightmare is what happens when Palin came into her own and displayed her natural political gifts. Such were Palin’s ability to connect to the folks which would later become the core members of the Tea Party, her ability to rabble rouse, her considerable charm and charisma and her very naked ambition.

If “Game Change” isn’t entirely objective — the overall portrait of Palin is hardly flattering but also seems accurate — it provides a solid, fascinating portrait of the campaign mentality and political process in action. What we’re watching now with the Republican primary is an echo of that campaign, its by-products coming home like chickens roosting.

To see more images from the premiere of “Game Change” click here [gallery ids="100532,119974,119947,119967,119956,119964" nav="thumbs"]

Michelle Kingston •

With 47 million people suffering from sleep deprivation and 43 percent of American’s claiming they rarely get a good night’s sleep, according to a University of Minnesota study, it is no wonder there is now a National Sleep Awareness Week. The events, which ran March 5 through 11, focused on screenings and educating the public on how to get some proper shut eye. What may come as a shocker to most of us, however, is what follows NSAW: Daylight Saving Time (DST).

Why do we lose an hour of sleep after being told how beneficial it is to sleep well?

Daylight Saving Time began in World War I to conserve energy. Five years ago, the date in which we change the clocks moved to the second Sunday in March. Regardless of when we have to do it, we have to do it. And, boy, is it tough.

This year, from March 11 until November 4 (unless you’re in Arizona, Hawaii, American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, or the Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands), our clocks spring forward an hour and force us to lose an hour of sleep. Not only do we suffer a groggy Monday, but we are also putting ourselves at risk.

Charles Cziesler, M.D., Ph.D., who is the chief of the division of sleep medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston and professor and director of the division of sleep medicine at Harvard Medical School, says that cutting just one hour of sleep might not sound like a big deal but that springing forward increases the risk of car crashes and heart attacks significantly.

While driving statistics show only 1 percent of drivers crash because of drowsiness each year, this still totals 1.9 million drivers. A 1996 study found that the number of car accidents on the Monday after the beginning of Daylight Saving Time increase, the Huffington Post reported.

Heart attacks are more common because of the effects of sleep deprivation. Less sleep equals more buildup in arteries that leads to heart attacks. Also, people who get less sleep are often overweight and are at risk for heart problems even before the time change.

The good news: Sam J. Sugar, M.D., director of sleep services at the Pritikin Longevity Center and Spa, said that, although it can take up to a week to adjust to the hour lost, for most people it will only take a few days to be back on track. “Our brains are incredibly good at adjusting to anything we throw at them,” she said. “For almost everybody, it isn’t a problem.”

Also try to get some sun if you are feeling the time change. Robert Oexman, M.D., director of the Sleep to Live Institute said, “Sunlight helps us ‘retrain’ our circadian clocks and allows us to get back on the right time.”

If that isn’t enough, we can always catch up on our sleep in November, which is just a short eight months away.

Jody Kurash • March 12, 2012

On Friday, Feb. 24, 2012, the world lost a bit of its sparkle, and the sun shone a little less brilliantly. Glenn Sorvisto lost his battle of more than two years with cancer. He passed peacefully in my arms, his suffering put to an end.

As someone who has written hundreds of stories — most recently, for the Georgetowner — I still cannot begin to piece together the words to describe the beautiful, gentle psyche and the magical person that made up Glenn.

Truly a national treasure, Glenn was a special being who loved all, a drummer and performer whose true genius reached beyond music. He had the passion of a madman, and the unbridled and uncompromising spirit to always do things his own way with a sense of style and flair unlike any other. His heart was a precious jewel.

I cherish every moment we had together, our adventures, explorations, the fun times, the good stories, the laughs, the smiles and tears of joy. Glenn’s time on this earth was short, but he touched so many.

Some say he marched to the beat of a different drummer, but Glenn did more than that. He was his own drummer, who wrote his own song, always staying true to himself, always an individual, unfettered by others.

Glenn will always be a part of all of us. I remember my solo travels, when Glenn would hide notes and gifts in my bag. I would venture with a basket, collecting experiences, photos and stories we could share together when I came home. I would eagerly anticipate Glenn waiting for me at the airport, wearing a goofy outfit, holding a funny sign or bearing a silly gift. I hope Glenn received an equally marvelous greeting when he arrived at his new destination: an existence free of pain, in a Willy Wonka-like place filled with drums, flowers, plaid pants and birds. I hope he found the paradise that we both dreamed about — a beachside cantina with perfect bodysurfing waves, ice-cold beers, ten-cent tacos and Glenn headlining the entertainment every night.

Glenn will live on through his music. He was a talented drummer and singer appearing on dozens of CDs. His first band, the Hates from Houston, were on the cutting edge of the punk movement in the late 1970s. In San Francisco in the early 1980s, his band Arkansas Man was a critical favorite, touring with Johnny Lydon’s post-Sex Pistol project, Public Image Limited. Their band posters are featured in “The Art of Rock” by Paul Griushkin, and their debut album was recently released on CD and iTunes.
Later in New York, he toured nationally and throughout Europe with the groups WOO and Happy New Year. His musical talents are featured on albums from the Molecules, The Three Terrors and Rev.99. His most recent collaboration was with the Baltimore-based Pleasant Livers, which was named by the Baltimore City Paper as “the Best Band to See Live.”

Born in Arizona, Glenn, 51, spent his childhood in Vancouver, Canada, Australia and Colorado. A traveler throughout his life, he ventured throughout Europe, Latin America and the South Pacific. He travels still.

Jody Kurash, a writer for The Georgetowner, is part-owner of a Georgetown business and a retired Associated Press photojournalist.

Georgetowner •

ArtJamz Opens First Retail Location

March 9th, 2012 at 10:00 AM | $65 | Event Website

Come enjoy beer, wine, vitaminwater zero, Fuel Pizza, a canvas to paint and keep, unlimited acrylic paints, brushes, art materials and tips from ArtJamz Creative Enablers

Address

1742 Connecticut Ave NW 20009

Book Signing With Kristi Yamaguchi

March 10th, 2012 at 10:00 AM

Olympic gold medalist, Dancing with the Stars champion and New York Times best selling author of her debut children’s book, Dream Big, Little Pig! will be signing her 2nd book, It’s A Big World, Little Pig!

Address

4:30 pm- Washington DC Public Library
901 G Street NW
Washington, DC 20001

Claire Healy and Sean Cordeiro: Are We There Yet?

March 11th, 2012 at 11:00 AM | Tel: (202) 639- 1700 | Event Website

A debut exhibition by Australian duo Claire Healy and Sean Cordeiro

Address

Corcoran Gallery of Art

500 17th Street

Washington, D.C. 2000

United States Marine Band

March 12th, 2012 at 07:30 PM | FREE | Event Website

“The President’s Own” United States Marine Band presents a Gala Concert with Guest Conductor, Gerard Schwarz

The Music Center at Strathmore

5301 Tuckerman Lane

North Bethesda, MD 20852

Pink Tie Party

March 20th, 2012 at 07:00 PM | $200 | Event Website

The National Cherry Blossom Festival’s signature Pink Tie Party fundraiser kicks off the blossom season at The Mayflower Renaissance Hotel. The party features delicious spring- and cherry-inspired cuisine and cocktails from chef hosts José Andrés and Roy Yamaguchi as well as more than 35 of Washington’s top chefs. A silent auction contributes to the fundraising, with everything from weekend getaways to dining, sporting, theater and concert experiences. 7 to 11 p.m.; $200 per person.

Address

The Mayflower® Renaissance Washington, DC Hotel

1127 Connecticut Avenue, NW

Washington, DC 20036

Marit Fosso •

March 8 is officially International Women’s Day and is celebrated with events all around the world. The celebrations range from acknowledging women’s achievements to general appreciation and love for women. It was begun in 1909 by the Socialist Party of America. This was a time when women could not vote and suffered sex discrimination in their jobs and elsewhere. It has since evolved beyond political and economic goals and earned itself a Google doodle this year.

No matter what your reasons for wanting to celebrate women, International Women’s Day presents a great opportunity to spoil a special lady or two with a night out. Whether it’s a mother, sister, daughter, wife or girlfriend who deserves to be celebrated, Georgetown holds a number of lovely eateries to enjoy.

Get organic chocolate-covered strawberries from Godiva, and go for a stroll along the Potomac. Take her to Mie n Yu for Silk Road-inspired regional American cuisine, or enjoy the seasonal and fresh rustic Italian food at Piccolo. Enjoy a bubbly toast for women at one of Georgetown’s many bars or lounges, such as Cafe Bonaparte, Peacock Cafe, Das Ethiopian Restaurant, Clyde’s or 1789 Restaurant.

If you don’t have the time to take your women out tonight, flowers can be a nice compensation as they are a symbol of International Women’s Day. Another nice gesture is to donate money to women’s causes. The United Nations’ theme for the International Women’s Day 2012 is “Empower Women – End Hunger and Poverty.” That could be a good place to start.

Patrick G. Ryan • March 8, 2012

On February 22,2012, President Obama speaks at the groundbreaking ceremony for the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African and American History & Culture on Wednesday morning. Just like the Air and Space Museum challenges us to set our sights higher, or the Natural History Museum encourages us to look closer, or the Holocaust Museum calls us to fight persecution wherever we find it, this museum should inspire us as well. It should stand as proof that the most important things in life rarely come quickly or easily. It should remind us that although we have yet to reach the mountaintop, we cannot stop climbing.

To read more visit snarkinfested.com [gallery ids="102434,121491,121486,121498" nav="thumbs"]

Georgetowner •

Arthur Phillips: The Tragedy of Arthur

February 24th, 2012 at 07:00 PM | FREE | Event Website

Phillips discusses The Tragedy of Arthur, his novel about about a newly discovered — and fictional — play by Shakespeare.

Address

Folger Shakespeare Library

201 East Capitol Street SE

Washington, DC

20003

Free Computer Tune-Up

February 24th, 2012 at 07:00 PM | FREE | Event Website

Bring your computer in for a Free Tune-UP.

Optimize your hard drive

Remove unnecessary start-up programs

Clean up junk files

Provide free upgrade recommendations

Blow the dust out of your computer and clean the screen

Address

2010 P St NW,

Washington, DC

2012 DC Design House Bare Bones Tour

February 25th, 2012 at 10:00 AM | Event Website

From 10-3PM, DC Design House Bare Bones Tour benefits the Children’s National Medical Center. $5 (can be applied to the purchase of a $20 ticket for the DC Design House, April 14-May 13).
Last chance to see the 5th Annual DC Design House spaces BEFORE the 23 designers begin transforming the rooms. In 37 days, the spaces will be stunning, reflective of the top DC design talent in the DC area.

Address

4951 Rockwood Parkway, NW,

Washington DC (in Spring Valley)

FREE Puppy Playtime!

February 25th, 2012 at 10:00 AM | Event Website

FREE puppy socialization class with our Certified Dog Trainer. Please bring proof of vaccination (first round of puppy shots required.)

Address

855 Wisconsin Ave NW,

Washington, DC 20007

Blast at Bibiana

February 27th, 2012 at 06:30 PM | Event Website

Join Washington Women and Wine at Bibiana Osteria- Enoteca with NBC 4 Anchor, Angie Goff for dinner

Address

Bibiana Osteria- Enoteca

1100 New York Avenue NW

Hardy PTA Fundraiser at Town Hall

February 27th, 2012 at 05:00 PM |

Join the Hardy PTA for a fundraiser, Monday, Feb. 27 at Town Hall Restaurant.

Town Hall Restaurant – located at 2340 Wisconsin Avenue, just up the hill from Hardy – will donate 15 percent of the night’s proceeds to the PTA. Bring your friends and neighbors, meet other Hardy parents, enjoy a great meal, and support the Hardy PTA! Come anytime between 5 p.m. and 10:30 p.m.

Address

2340 Wisconsin Ave NW,

Washington, DC 20007

Gary Tischler •

The Georgetowner just previewed what the Washington theater scene is bringing us in its upcoming spring season, but here are a few plays and shows running in the here and now that are worth a look:

Red

If you have a passion for art and the mind of the artist, this is the play for you. “Red,” at Arena Stage through March 11, stars Edward Gero, a local star who seems to be just hitting his peak, as the troubled, intense abstract expressionist painter Mark Rothko as he struggles with a series of murals while taking on a new assistant. Smart and powerful, the play, written by John Logan and directed by Robert Falls of Chicago’s Goodman Theater, is a must-see.

ArenaStage.org

Peter Pan, the Boy Who Whated Mothers

Just by the title alone, you know you’re not quite in Disney’s Never Never Land. Adapted and directed by Michael Lluberes from J. M. Barrie’s original play, it is being called “a dark re-telling,” another edgy piece from the No Rules Theater Company now at H Street Playhouse at 1365 H Street NE through March 3.

HStreetPlayhouse.com

The Gaming Table

Written by Susanna Centivre with additional material by David Grimm, this Folger Theater offering centers around elegant long-ago English ladies at the gambling and card tables. It also features an all female design team and is directed by Elizabeth Holdridge in the Folger’s Elizabethan Theatre through March 4.

Folger.edu

The Water Engine

Spooky Action Theatre is bringing us David Mamet’s play about an inventor who created an engine that runs exclusively on water. The play is set during Chicago’s 1933 – 1934 World’s Fair and Century of Progress Exhibition, with veteran character actor Ian LeValley playing inventor Charles Lang. The play is being performed through March 11 at the Universalist National Memorial Church 1810 16th St NW.

SpookyActionTheatre.org

Civilization (All You Can Eat)

Woolly Mammoth Theatre is continuing its apocalyptic season with this new play by Jason Grote, which follows the trail of six ambitious and very hungry city dwellers. With a play described as a vaudevillian romp of corruption, consumption and enterprise at the dawn of the Obama age, and featuring Sarah Marshall (as a character named Big Hog), as well as Danny Escobar and Naomi Jacobson, you know you’re in Woolly territory. Through March 11.

WoollyMammoth.net

Astro Boy and the God of Comics

Good words have gotten out about this new show, created and directed by Natsu Onoda Power, receiving its intergalactic premiere at the Studio Theater, now through March 11, kicking off Studio’s 2nd Stage Season. The show is based on the 1960s animation series “Astros Boy” and the life of its creator Osamu Tezuka. Director Power also helmed last season’s haunting “Songs of The Dragons Flying to Heaven.”

StudioTheatre.org

Gary Tischler •

The Music of Budapest, Prague and Vienna Festival at the Kennedy Center

This umbrella festival is a little like taking a musical cruise on the Danube River, which runs through three of Europe’s major capitals of romantic and classical music. The Festival runs from February 25-March 29

First stop: Budapest, headquarters of the eastern part of the old Hapsburg Austro-Hungarian empire and the source of a host of musical creativity. The National Symphony Orchestra is slated to perform Bela Bartok’s “Romanian Folk Dances” and the one-act opera “Bluebeard’s Castle,” as well as music by Franz Liszt and Zoltan Kodaly and his lively waltzes. There is also a chamber performance by Budapest’s Takacs Quartet as well as a performance of “Gypsies,” a play with music from the Hungarian theatre company “Katona Jozsef Theatre.”

From Prague, we’ll get the NSO performing Antonin Dvorak’s cantata “Stabat Mater.” The Prague Philharmonica will be on hand to perform Leos Janacek’s Suite For String Orchestra. And the Eben Trio will perform chamber works by Peter Fiala, Bedfich Smetana and Dvorak.

From Vienna, there will be programs by the NSO, the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, (by way of the Washington Performing Arts Society), the NSO’s Christoph Eschenbach on piano with violinist Dan Zhu, and Matthias Goerne singing Schubert’s “Winterreise.” The WNO”s performances of Mozart’s “Cosi Fan Tutte” is also part of the festival.

For a complete breakdown of the festival and dates visit Kennedy-Center.org.

WPAS

The Washington Performing Arts Society will present the Choral Arts Society and the National Symphony Orchestra performing Brahms’ “A German Requiem.” The piece is a personal favorite of Norman Scribner, the Choral Arts conductor, who will be conducting his final concert in a remarkable 47-year-career. April 22 at the Kennedy Center’s Concert Hall.

Looking much further ahead—but it’s worth doing so—is a performance by master violinist Itzhak Perlman with Rohan de Silva on Piano May 14, also at the Concert Hall.

And let’s not forget, March means St. Patrick’s Day, so we’ll be having a listen to the great, six-time Grammy award winning Chieftains, headed by founder Paddy Moloney, on a 50th Anniversary Tour also at the Concert Hall on March 16.

For more information visit WPAS.org.

Strathmore

At the Music Center at Strathmore, Max Raabe Und Das Palast Orchestra will present its own style of music from the Roaring 20s and 30s. As you might guess, Raabe and his ensemble and cohorts bring a dusky, European Berlin-ish flavor to the proceedings March 1.

Jazz and pop vocalists John Pizzarelli and Kurt Elling will pay tribute to Sinatra and Ellington with riffs on the great American Songbook May 10.

Joshua Bell and the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields come to the Music Center April 13 in an already sold out program in an all-Beethoven Program April 13.

And its bluegrass and fiddle time April 17, with “The Music of Bill Monroe,” featuring Peter Rowan, Tony Rice and the Traveling McCourts.

And did you know Kevin Costner was in a band? Well, he is and its his own group called Modern West—and he’ll be at Strathmore April 5.

For more information visit Strathmore.org.

The Embassy Series

The Embassy Series, the most unique and original musical entity in the Washington area, continues another season offering top-notch classical and international music in the city’s embassies, ambassador’s residences and international cultural centers.

Coming up for founder Jerome Barry’s institution is a performance by violinist Bella Hristova, First Prize Winner in the 2008-2009 Young Concert Artists International Auditions, at the Embassy of Bulgaria March 23.

Next it’s the Mendelssohn Piano Trio at the Embassy of Austria, with Peter Sirotin on violin, Ya-Ting Chang on Piano and Fiona Thompson on cello with guest artists Michael Stepnia on viola playing a program of Austrian chamber music, including works by Haydn, Mahler and Schubert. (April 20)

April 27 brings pianist Paulius Andersson, the winner of the “Music Without Limits” competition in Lithuania playing works by Mozart, Liszt, Scarlatti, Beethoven and other at the Embassy of Lithuania.

EmbassySeries.org