Part II in a series of posts on Adams Morgans' burgeoning intimate French/Belgian bistros-with-sane-noise-levels scene

Besides the previously-blogged-about Napoleon, low-key places to grab a drink and engage in actual conversation are rare in my neighborhood. If you want to, I dunno, actually talk to your drinking companions, the overwhelming majority of joints along the 18th Street strip are just too damn noisy. That's why I was so pleased when my friend Dan introduced me to Cafe L'Enfant the other night.

With its well-conceived wine list and casually cozy atmosphere, Cafe L'Enfant has now joined Napoleon on my neighborhood shortlist of places to go for drinks and conversation. I finally got to try this year's Beaujolais Nouveau, whose youthful berry tones are a bit too fleeting on the tongue for my taste. Nonetheless, I'd been wanting to at least try it to know what the hype was about. For my second glass, I went with a glass of Cotes du Rhone, a heftier wine whose gravity I appreciated all the more in contrast with the Beaujolais. This particular Cotes du Rhone (an appellation sometimes derided for its vague provenance) was selected by Kermit Lynch, a prolific wine importer whose name I recognized from Jay McInerney's A Hedonist in the Cellar (which, by the way, is a great primer for the budding oenophile, and is the first in the series of books I plan to read to educate myself about wine. Well that, and, um, drinking lots of it.)

In addition to wine, Cafe L'Enfant boasts a well-rounded Bieres Menu, though so enamored was I with the wine list, I cannot for the life of me recall which two beers Dan ordered. Like Napoloeon, L'Enfant also serves bistro fare as well as sweet and savory crepes, which make for perfect post-drink snacking. Grab a seat at one of the tables by the window and look forward to an evening of not having to yell "WHAT DID YOU SAY? I CAN'T HEAR YOU!"

I'll drink to that.

Good to know:
Cafe L'Enfant is located at 2000 18th Street, NW. The closest Metro stop is Dupont Circle on the Red Line. Exit on the north side, then walk north on Connecticut to Florida Ave. Take a right on Florida, till you hit 18th. Cafe L'Enfant will be on the corner to the left. The atmosphere is decidedly casual.

Photo of Cafe L'Enfant by Flickr user robert takes pictures.

Loungin' around.

You've probably walked right past it without realizing it, perhaps on your way to one of the flashier establishments on that stretch of Connecticut Avenue, like 1223 or Sesto Senso. While the aforementioned certainly have their place and time (like, um, Saturday nights junior year of college, for example), I'll take the unassuming coziness of Eighteenth Street Lounge any day.

Owned by Eric Hilton and Rob Garza (better known as the DC-based production and DJ Duo, Thievery Corporation), Eighteenth Street Lounge (or ESL, as it's known to the DC's cognoscenti) boasts no clue of its existence from the exterior of its three-story townhouse-style building. Look, instead, for the neon blue Mattress Discounters sign, and take the door immediately to its left, which leads you up a creaky, dimly-lit staircase and into this renovated mansion-cum-lounge (Teddy Roosevelt once lived here), which is lushly decorated in warm tones, comfy couches, and working fireplaces. Move toward the front of the lounge, and you'll be hard-pressed to miss the stunning view of Connecticut Ave.

As one might expect, given the lounge's owners, ESL is known for its predilection for some pretty sweet tunes. A heady stream of lounge music wafts from a back room, and most of the time, there's a live DJ spinning beats. You'll also find the occasional jam session going on in the front room.

The actual libations are secondary to the atmosphere at ESL, but last time I went, I had a very good glass (or two, or three) of Pinot Grigio. The warmth of the plush decor and downtempo beats (and, ok, the wine) kept me warm even as Jason and I ventured out into the cold December night in search of Thai food. (Dupont's Thaiphoon post coming soon.)

Good to know:
ESL is located at 1212 18th Street, just off Connecticut Avenue. It is accessible via the South entrance of the Dupont Metro stop on the Red Line. Look for the blue Mattress Discounters sign, and take the door just to the left.

It's generally free before 10 p.m., but after that, you might run into a $10 cover. Things seem casual on weekdays (I showed up in jeans and my work blazer), but apparently a line forms on weekends, so on Friday and Saturday nights, you may want to don your bouncer-pleasing best.

Photo of ESL's interior taken from World's Best Bars website.'

Eat well, do good.

For regular readers of this blog, it will come as no surprise to hear that I believe enjoying good food is one of life's great pleasures. However, not everyone in this country shares that same privilege. Because I believe that everyone should have access to good food, I’m also committed to helping those less fortunate than myself: those who many not have access to nourishing meals.
For that reason, I'm penciling into my calendar (and circling, and underlining) the upcoming Nation's Capital Chef's Association (NCCA) Gala Dinner, to be held on Sunday, January 13th at the Washington Court Hotel. The annual Gala Dinner celebrates the professional accomplishments of NCCA’s membership, made up of local chefs and restaurant management professionals. The event will combine great food and a great cause; Proceeds from the $135 seat donation will benefit both DC Central Kitchen and the American Culinary Federation's Chef & Child Foundation.
Founded in 1989, the Florida-based Chef & Child Foundation is an organization that fosters, promotes, and stimulates an awareness of proper nutrition in preschool and elementary school children. Even closer to home, the DC Central Kitchen recovers unused food to deliver meals to residents at risk for hunger. As part of its holistic approach to combating poverty, the Kitchen employs and provides culinary skills training to homeless men and women.
Your donation will also secure your ticket to what promises to be a wonderful dining experience. Prepared by various area chefs, the seven-course menu includes wine pairings, and will feature the following:

Appetizer of seared quail and foie gras, herb spatzle, dried cherries and port wine
A few amuses bouche
Porcini mushroom consommé with polenta quenelles and micro greens
Duck breast with wild mushroom duck confit, couscous and vegetables
A deconstructed cheese course
An intermezzo of cranberry cabernet sorbet with Bosc pear slivers infused in grappa
An upright salad
And two other courses in development

The Gala Dinner will also feature a silent auction, as well as an awards ceremony for members of the Nation’s Capital Chef’s Association. Attendees will have the chance to rub shoulders with some of the most notable figures within DC’s food and hospitality world. More importantly, if you’re passionate about enjoying good food, you’ll be helping to make sure others can do the same. Seating is limited, so don't delay.

For more information or to make reservations, visit NCCA's website at nccachefs.org.

Pop to the rescue

I was on a mission. My objective? To find a dress for my office holiday party. But as anyone who's ever shopped for an OHPD (Office Holiday Party Dress) knows, it is not an occasion for just any old dress, or even any old cocktail dress.

An OHPD must meet the following fairly specific requirements: festive, but not cloyingly so; dressy, but not over-the-top; body-conscious, but not overtly sexy; and versatile enough to make the leap from OHPD to other future occasions.

Sure, I had a LBD (that's Little Black Dress) tucked away in my closet that would've made a perfectly adequate OHPD. But, I thought to myself, scanning my closet for other contenders, my co-workers see me in a basic black suit (the office equivalent of the LBD) pretty much, like, um...every day. It was time to branch out.

So the Sunday before the holiday party, the mission began. After browsing through a bevy of trendy boutique-y places in the U Street area, I found my winning OHPD at the last place I visited. However, I could've skipped the other places, because I should have known it would be at Pop.

Pop is a place I keep coming back to (and not just because it's located right next to hip plant shop Garden District and directly on top of funky independently owned gift store Pulp, though that certainly doesn't hurt.) Stepping into the tiny upstairs space always makes me feel like I'm about to raid the closet of my coolest friend. You know, the one who always looks casually flawless. That seems to be the ethos at Pop, whose racks - well rack, actually - brims with a perfectly-edited selection of playful, trendy, yet wholly accessible styles. (Also, the sales associates are super-friendly, helpful, and completely devoid of that more-fashionable-than-thou attitude sometimes found at these trendy little places.)

It was love at first sight with my OHPD. Made by 213 Industry, she's taupe with a subtle peach shimmer, a suggestive, but not too revealing neckline, ruffled bust with loose cap sleeves, and a sweet a-line silhouette. And the look on Jason's face when I emerged from my closet after getting dressed in my dress and heels was worth way more than the $88 I spent on it. Next year, I'll just go straight to Pop.

Good to know:
Pop is located at 1803a 14th St., NW, at the intersection of 14th and S, a few blocks from the U Street Exit on Metro's green line. The shop is open Monday through Saturday from 11am-7pm, and Sunday from 12pm-5pm.

Photo of Pulp/Pop by Flickr user Ronnie R (who, by the way, is taking some of the more beautiful photos of DC I've ever seen).

A Veritable Wine Bar

Really, is there anything better than wine and cheese? Well, actually there may be. Try three wines paired with sumptuous cheeses and some well-chosen charcuterie, served in a cozy, dimly-lit bar with the casual strains of Jimmy Buffett and Van Morrison playing in the background. Thus is the winning formula at Dupont's new wine bar, Veritas, where Jason and I found ourselves warming up after our Saturday expedition.

Having found Veritas intimate (read: tiny) space completely packed the previous evening by 8 p.m., we decided to try again on Saturday at 5 p.m. Sure enough, we snagged a seat with ease on Saturday but by the time we left at 6:30, it was already filling up, so eager vinos should be prepared to come early or wait for a table. Indeed, Veritas' exposed brick setting measures only 800 square feet, but, rest assured, some very good things come in this small package.

Veritas serves wines by the glass or bottle, but perhaps the best way to sample a few varietals is to order one of the flights - three half-glasses grouped together by theme or region. With playful monikers like "Allied Powers," (a trio of red blends, two from France, and one Californian), Veritas doesn't take itself too seriously, in spite of its sophisticated premise.

I started with the "Three Blancs" flight, a smart trio of whites, including a Chenin Blanc from Washington state, a Pinot Blanc of Alsatian provenance, and a Californian Sauvignon Blanc, each one smoother than the last. Jason, meanwhile, ordered the "Underrated" flight, composed of three earthy reds, all Californian, including one Merlot, and two Cabernet Sauvignon varietals.

The wines were wonderful. But what's wine without some cheese? we asked ourselves. Thankfully, Veritas offers non-wine samplings as well. Our cheese flight consisted of a smooth-as-butter Brillat-Savarin, a creamy Humboldt Fog goat cheese, and a semi-hard Manchego-like Spanish Idiazabel. I think I died and went to heaven, and that was before the charcuterie, which consisted of a chicken pate, spiked with champagne and a spicy Italian salumi. The cheese and charcuterie come with crusty sourdough bread, as well as marinated olives, pickled gherkins, and rasberry jam. Now that's what I call a snack.

Good to know:
Veritas is located at 2031 Florida Avenue, a short walk from the Dupont North Metro stop. After exiting the Metro on the North side, walk up Connecticut Ave. Veritas is located on the left side of Connecticut Ave. at Florida Ave.

Wine flights will run you betwen $14-$23 for three half glasses. You can order three cheeses or two charcuterie selections of your choice for $11.

Atmosphere is casual chic.

Image taken from Veritas' website.

How to have a perfect Saturday in DC

Sleep in. Wake up slowly. Run across the street for a copy of the Washington Post, and coffee creamer. Brew six cups of coffee (three for you, and three for your equally undercaffienated boyfriend). Enjoy said coffee and newspaper. Make it about halfway through the crossword puzzle before giving up and moving onto the comics.

Shower and get dressed in your coziest sweater, favorite jeans, and Pumas (or other equally comfortable pair of shoes). Consider going out for brunch, but decide on Chipotle instead. (Who says a chicken burrito isn't brunch food, anyway?)

Take the Metro to Judiciary Square, which deposits you within a couple blocks of your favorite Smithsonian museum, the Hirschhorn. Start with the recent acquisitions in the ground floor gallery, where you'll find works of John Baldessari and Andy Warhol, among others. Move on to the second floor, where the intoxicatingly colorful works of Color Field painter Morris Louis are on display until January 6. (Louis, who lived in DC from 1952 until his death in 1962, is also considered a primary member of the Washington Color School, an influential group of DC-area abstract artists who displayed works in several seminal exhibits during the 1960's.) Stop and look in awe at the massive "Para III" (pictured above). If you can pull yourself away, take the escalator to the third floor to see whimsical sculpures by Alexander Calder, as well as the museum's extensive collections of moody paintings by abstract impressionist Willem de Kooning. Leave the Hirschhorn with a renewed love for its extensive and smartly displayed collection.

Take the Metro to Dupont Circle. Duck into Kramerbooks to browse, and swoon over the scent of freshly-baked pie wafting from the adjoining Afterwords Cafe. Flip through Chuck Palahniuk's Stranger than Fiction, and Roger Housden's Ten Poems to Change Your Life. Gravitate (as always seems to happen) to the food and wine section, where you find A Hedonist in the Cellar: Adventures in Wine, Jay McInerney's cheeky chronicling of his forays as House & Garden's wine writer, which reminds you of your yearning to try Dupont's new wine bar, Veritas.

Find your boyfriend in the film section, thoroughly (and adorably) engrossed in I'm a Lebowski, You're a Lebowski. Gently (so as not to break his intense, Coen Brothers-induced concentration) ask if he's ready to go. Walk the couple blocks up Connecticut Avenue to Veritas, and have an experience so thoroughly delicious it deserves it deserves its own post (coming soon!).

Walk the few blocks back to your apartment in Adams Morgan, warm and happy from the wine despite the chill in the air. Wish that every day could be this perfect. Remember that there's always another Saturday adventure to be had, and that the next is a mere seven days away. Remember -again - why you love living in DC.

Photo of Kramerbooks by Flickr user Eye Captain.
Morris Louis' "Where" (1960) image taken from Wikipedia.