Booze, Food, and Rooftops: Another Weekend in DC

Thank goodness for friends in high places. Or at least those with rooftop pools…

Charlie and I recently headed north for another weekend in DC to eat, drink, and spend time with his sister and her boyfriend. Despite fighting horrendous traffic on the way in and out, I love hanging out in the big city and we instantly feel welcome in their 14th Street apartment on our air mattress away from home.

Meals planned ahead of time, we were greeted with handmade cocktails and a spread of goat cheese, figs, and crackers. They know me well. Shortly thereafter we had to head out for our first stop on the weekend’s itinerary, but not before I talked everyone into taking a shot. Had to kick the evening off right, ya know?

For the first time in what felt like forever, we arrived in DC to sunny, warm weather. Our most recent trips had been during the winter, and they’d frequently involved wind, snow, and rain. We were able to stroll to dinner through Dupont Circle and into Adams Morgan, a fun, college-y part of town.

The city in all its summertime glory was colorful and quirky and we passed lots of hip, trendy stuff that I’d missed out on while I was bundled up in scarves… or scurrying around during my only other (drunken, New Year’s Eve) jaunt through Adams Morgan… when we smoked late night hookah and I took off my heels in a desperate search for a cab.

Drinks and Dinner #1

I slowed down the whole crew for photo ops of the brightly colored old buildings until we finally arrived at Donburi where people waiting spilled out onto the sidewalk. We were aware of this restaurant’s trendiness beforehand and just put in our names and headed next door, up several flights of stairs to Roofer’s Union.

Oh yeah, this is exactly what I had in mind for pre-dinner drinks. Covered rooftop patio, views of the city, and solid draft beers.

Of course, the company wasn’t half bad either.

After sending Jordan down (and back up those stairs) to check on our spots at Donburi, we were informed it would be a while longer. Fine! More drinks!

We headed just a quick step down the street and into a mystery dive bar – no really, we had no idea where we were going, all we knew was that there was a big dude at the door checking IDs and the place was empty and dark, aside from the neon lights, of course.

Though from the signage we can safely assume it’s called Millie & Al’s

This is where I’m gonna say the night started to get out of hand. Or at least it was the moment that I realized things were going to get out of hand eventually. The cheap draft beers were flowing, I was ordering Stella for some reason, and Jordan wanted to take my camera to the bathrooms to take pictures.

Our table still wasn’t ready… Uh oh.

Another round!

Shortly thereafter (thank goodness), we were seated at the bar at Donburi. As the name suggests, this place serves up bowls of things Japanese style. From fresh sashimi to Japanese curries, to shredded marinated beef and fried chicken, pork, and shrimp. You casually order at the cash register, grab your beers and/or sake and sit at the bar or bar tables. It’s a very small joint, but it’s gotten quite the publicity recently.

The food is prepared right in front of you and served super quick. We grabbed Asian beers and, unfortunately, the only sake that was left. In our haste, we didn’t realize it was lime-flavored (and definitely the reason it was the only thing left).

Craig and I each had the chef’s assortment of sashimi and therefore I forced Charlie to order something cooked – he got the mix katsudon with fried pork and chicken. Jordan had the beef gyudon.

All of my raw fish was fantastically fresh. And I loved the tobiko. But I was a little nervous about one portion of the dish. There was uni. While it had always been my dream to try uni and possibly become a connoisseur and then maybe even take a trip to Japan to eat tons of it like that guy who wrote for Bon Appetit, if you remember the last time I tried uni, um, it wasn’t so good.

Oh! How very different this time was! And thank God! I finally see what people are talking about when they say “OHHH it tastes like the OCEAN! It’s SO umami!” It is still a very weird taste, but at least now I can appreciate it.

And yeah, it probably helped that I was several drinks in at this point.

…I even sucked out the shrimp’s head.

After dinner, the night generally devolved into nonsense… and a massive reunion of Jordan and Craig’s friends at a bar called Rebellion in Dupont Circle. I basically tried to conceal my intoxication the whole evening and definitively failed when I spilled a whole beer on my white linen pants (rendering them see-through), and forced Charlie to get massive quantities of some rather expensive late night food before heading home. (Perhaps it wasn’t even late night, probably more like 11 ish. I’m telling you, I just can’t stay up late anymore.)

(Bottomless) Brunch

The next morning, nursing a hangover and a bad mood, we headed off to yet another bottomless brunch. What? Like you expected anything else? When in Rome!

Bar Charley is touted as one of the best bottomless deals in the city. For only $25, you can get an entree and all you can drink mimosas, bloodys, or Narragansett beers. So normally that would be awesome, right? Well, I’m sure it would be if you’re not hungover.

Too bad I was packed at our loud, communal table, sweating (it was incredibly hot and muggy Saturday morning) and trying to recover from the night before… while deciding which breakfast foods to order and yelling over everybody else in the place. Like really, I thought I was going to have to step away for a moment.

I opted for the “Hangover Burger” (I always go savory) while my friend Mary Ann who joined us went for the omelet with pork confit. Charlie got the chicken and waffles. My food was pretty good (even if I didn’t have much of an appetite) and I especially liked the runny egg on top and the surprise jalapeños on the bottom. I purposefully didn’t tell Charlie about those jalapeños before he took a bite… I’m so mean.

Mary Ann’s omelet, before she spilled mimosa in it and then refused to eat anymore.

Charlie wasn’t a fan of the bones in his chicken – they really do make it hard to get the perfect bite.

I had all but resigned myself to a nap on the couch immediately following brunch, but Mary Ann insisted that she had had this exact post-brunch feeling before and she knew the cure:

Afternoon Cocktails at Pearl Dive

As we made our way back to 14th Street, I wasn’t so sure… I was focusing on deep breaths, the fact that I was hanging out with good friends, and the hope that there was good air conditioning in this Pearl Dive place.

There was. And Mary Ann was right about those cocktails.

About halfway through my C’est Si Bon – vodka with lemon and lime – I started to feel its revitalizing effects. Charlie’s Pearl Cup – gin, cucumbers, and mint – was also really well-made and delicious. Both drinks were just SO refreshing. I mean they were $12 but they saved my life so who’s going to argue about the price?

After two cocktails each, we decided to head to where the beers were free (well, already paid for at least). Back up 14th we went… man, it’s such a cool area.

TO THE ROOFTOP POOL!

The views from the roof of Jordan and Craig’s apartment building are amazing. You can see the Washington Monument and even the planes flying into Reagan.

But the real pinnacle of their building is the rooftop pool. I mean is this DC or South Beach?

No, you won’t be playing any cross-pool tag and a game of Marco Polo would be way too easy, but this little sliver of a pool makes you feel super fancy. And the ornate, white plastic chairs in the water? I love them.

We chatted and hung out in and around the pool, relishing the scenery and our general feelings of fanciness, until we ran out of beers Charlie and I realized we should get ready for dinner.

A Note on Dinner #2:  We had dinner plans with some impressive customers of Charlie’s business. For once in his life Charlie was forced to decide on the location of a meal, and he picked Le Diplomate, a pretty famous French restaurant just down 14th Street. I was too ashamed to break out the camera in front of these new friends, so I will just say that it was the best foie gras mousse I’ve ever had and that the rosé was flowing. And my mussels were very good… and the steak tartare was tasty… but Charlie’s duck dish won the entree round.

(And when we got home I put myself to sleep because my stomach so full that I was in actual pain. Ah, the problems of weekending in DC.)

I always feel like the more I do on weekends, the longer they feel. And this was a very eventful and successful weekend indeed, full of many meals, good company, and daytime activities. It’s like that scene in Eat, Pray, Love in the Italian barber shop. We really shouldn’t spend our precious free time on the couch watching TV… we should spend it boozing with friends and lingering over great food. Or something like that.

Do you guys like DC? Anybody else have an eventful weekend? Or a rooftop pool they wanna invite me to?