Once you’ve gone goat, you’ll never go back: Alejandra’s Goat Cheese Cheesecake. (Alejandra Owens)
To close out the year, we thought we’d bring you a few more stories from Borderstan food writer Alejandra Owens.
Here are some of our favorites from the year, including her cookie-recipe swap… how to buy and give wine… that fabulous goat cheese cheesecake… and one of the year’s absolute-top-most-popular stories, DC Restaurant Week: Love It… or Hate It. Personal favorite: Jello: Classic Americana Plus a Recipe from Nigella.
With a few good tips, any novice can become a smart wine buyer. (Alejandra Owens)
And in case you missed it on Monday: Food & Drink 2010: Alejandra’s Restaurant Profiles.
Alejandra will be back next week with a new restaurant profile. And Happy New Year — remember to be safe tonight.
Click on the collage to view the slide show of Borderstan photos from 2010. (Luis Gomez Photos)
Cecile Oreste at danceDC covers the arts for Borderstan. Question or story idea for her? Send Cecile an email.
As we approach the New Year, let’s take a look back at 2010 through the photography of Luis Gomez. We all have Luis to thank for bringing our stories to life through his images.
For all of Luis’ 2010 slide shows, click on the Photos tab at the top of the Borderstan landing page.
February: Back to back snowstorms closed the government, shut down several Metro lines and created a ‘flurry’ of portmanteaus including snowpocalypse, snowmageddon and snowzilla. Borderstan readers contributed hundreds of photos to the Flickr pool, documenting the snowstorm in the neighborhood.
May: The Rolling Thunder parade takes place each year in DC on the Sunday before Memorial Day to honor prisoners of war and soldiers missing in action. While it doesn’t happen in Borderstan, it’s a great event (with great photos).
DC Department of Public Works will pick up Christmas Trees January 3-15. (Luis Gomez Photos)
Here’s the weekend holiday schedule in DC for trash/recycling collection and for parking enforcement:
- Trash: The Department of Public Works (DPW) will pick up trash and recyclables tomorrow, Friday, December 31.
- Parking: Regular parking enforcement will be suspended on December 31-January 1. You won’t have to feed the meters or move your car from rush-hour lanes. Also, DPW will not tow abandoned vehicles.
Christmas Tree Collection Starts January 3
DPW will collect holiday trees (please remove ornaments, lights, tinsel, etc.) between Monday, January 3, and Saturday, January 15. Place your trees in the treebox space in front of your home, or adjacent to the curb (but not in the street).
Please put your tree out for collection between Sunday, January 2, and Sunday, January 9. After January 15, you may put your tree where you put your trash and recycling and we will collect it from there, depending on the truck’s capacity.
Tom Hay covered a variety of business related topics in the area in 2010 plus stories on local government. (Luis Gomez Photos)
Last June Tom Hay began covering business in the Dupont-Logan-U Street area for Borderstan: real estate development, new businesses, profiles of store owners, and the regulatory process in which local business meets local government.
Special Agent Galactica (aka Jeffrey Johnson, above) will perform with Christopher Wingert in “The Only Gal in Town” on Friday at 8 pm at go mama go!, 1809 14th Street NW. Tickets available at ganymedearts.org for $10. Galactica is pictured here at the annual MidCity Business Association’s holiday party earlier this month at Local 16. (Luis Gomez Photos)
From Michelle Lancaster. Got a tip for Michelle? Send her an email.
Today is Dedicated to the Worker Bees Stuck in Offices
I know. Either you’re still off work and enjoying all that DC or the JFK terminal in New York has to offer, or you have just attempted to find the end of the Internet at work during the slowest week of the year. So if you notice that today’s issue is link-heavy, consider it our little present to our worker bees out there who are stuck in the office on the next to the last day of 2010.
BTW, we hope you enjoy the special Borderstan New Year banner at the top of the page, another creation of Neil MacLean. He was a U Street resident until he recently moved to Brooklyn (but still works with DC clients).
Find out what’s on exhibit in the Logan-Shaw-U Street area. (Luis Gomez Photos)
Four of 10 galleries in the neighborhood have exhibitions:
- Victoria F. Gaitan & Cecilia Paredes: “Foto Baroque” is at The Curator’s Office through Saturday, January 8 (at 1515 14th Street NW).
- At the Hamiltonian Gallery through Saturday, January 15: Magnolia Laurie: “holding up” and Jon Bobby Benjamin: “going home” (at 1353 U Street NW).
- “New Work” by Paula Craford is at the Long View through Thursday, January 6 (at 1234 9th Street NW).
- “ALPTRAUM!” is at the Transformer through Saturday, January 15 (at 1404 P Street NW).
Plus, find out what’s opening in January. Check out the listings for exhibitions at 10 galleries in the Logan-Shaw-U Street area below.
Where is Danny going this weekend for live music? (Luis Gomez Photos)
From Danny Shapiro
Happy New Year, fellow music lovers! I hope you’re all reflecting on a great year of unforgettable concerts, stellar new bands, and standout albums to keep your iPods chugging along well into 2011.
In case you’re still searching for the perfect way to spend the upcoming weekend, here are some brilliant events happening right here in the Borderstan neighborhood! See you all at the gigs in the New Year!
Friday, January 31 @ the Black Cat
Black Cat New Years Party (Doors 8 pm, $25)
Come celebrate the turn of 2011 with Peaches O’Dell and her Orchestra, offering a smorgasbord of dance tunes from the past: swing dance music, 30s-40s romance, Latin rhumbas and tangos, “jump swing,” and a stop through hits of the 1950s.
For the same entrance fee, you can also check out a second DJ dance party in the backroom with DJ Dredd and Grap Luva. Two parties in one equals a great way to count down to midnight! Twentieth century period costumes optional.
Check out our profile: Music 2010: The Passion of Danny Shapiro. Question for Danny? Send him an email.
Friday, January 31 @ 9:30 Club
Spend New Years Eve with Gogol Bordello
This show is sold out, unfortunately, but if you can find an extra ticket, grab it faster than one can say “Gogol Bordello.”
Four shows are closing this weekend: at the Source, Theater J and two at the Studio Theatre. (Luis Gomez Photos)
You have four last chances this week at neighborhood theaters:
For Washington Improv Theater‘s Seasonal Disorder, only Thursday-night (December 30) tickets are available; Friday is sold out (it ends Friday). More info below the fold.
Two performances of Oy Vey in a Manger at Theater J (DC Jewish Community Center) have been added. The show, which runs through this Sunday, January 2, is a production of The Kinsey Sicks. Details below.
At the Studio Theatre, it’s the final week for Superior Donuts and Mojo. Both shows close this Sunday, January 2 (there are no performances on January 1). Details below.
The full list of live theater in the Dupont-Logan-U Street area is below the fold.
Cecile Oreste writes about the arts for Borderstan with a special focus on artist profiles. She also does feature stories and occasional profiles of entrepreneurs.
When Cecile Oreste approached me last March at Social Media Club DC breakfast and said she wanted to write about artists in the neighborhood, I gladly said, yes.
The Dupont-Logan-U Street area has long been an enclave for artists — we knew that artist profiles and feature stories would be popular with readers. Moreover, we wanted to bring more attention to the artists and galleries in the area.
With Borderstan Co-Editor Luis Gomez in tow as photographer, Cecile has profiled 25 artists in the Borderstan area since March (the list is below, a number are members of Mid City Artists). In addition, she has written numerous feature stories and even found time to profile several local businesses (see the list below).
DC’s Top Tweeps 2010: We need YOUR votes for Best DC Area Blogger and Favorite Foodie!
Follow Borderstan on Twitter for Dupont-Logan-U Street news? Love Alejandra Owens’ tweets on food and restaurants? Can you show us a little end-of-the-year ballot love?
Check out Food & Drink 2010: Alejandra’s Restaurant Profiles.
The Washington Post is running a DC’s Top Tweeps 2010 competition. The nominees are out and we’d like to ask for your support. Thanks to you, Borderstan was nominated as Favorite DC-area Blogger and our food writer, Alejandra Owens, was nominated for Favorite Foodie.
Voting ends at 11:59 pm on Friday, December 31, so there’s no time to waste! Winners will be announced on Monday, January 3. You can follow the fun on Twitter, naturally, at #dctweeps.
Following is a list of robberies, assaults, stolen autos and burglaries in the Dupont-Logan-U Street area over the past week. Crimes are from police reports for Police Service Areas 208, 307 and 305.
Robbery
- Friday, December 18, with Force and Violence, 1300 block of M Street NW.
- Monday, December 20, 7:10 pm, Florida Avenue and Q Street NW.
- Monday, December 20, 7:55 pm, 1100 block of T Street NW.
- Monday, December 20, 4:55 pm, 1800 block of 8th Street NW (alley).
- Saturday, December 25, 11:31 pm, with Force and Violence, 9th and R Streets NW.
Danny Shapiro covers live music in the neighbhorhood for Borderstan.
We met Danny Shapiro last August at the Dog Days Sidewalk Sale on 14th Street NW. He came by our table and asked whether we’d be interested in a music column for Borderstan. After his first review a week later we knew that Danny was really serious about music. He often attends several concerts/gigs a week and we are fortunate to have his reviews on our site, which are listed below.
Thank you, Danny — we look forward to more of your passionate writing about the local music scene in 2011.
A Sunday-night fire at 1731 S Street NW took the life of a woman who lived in this rear apartment on the second floor. (Luis Gomez Photos)
Woman Dies in Apartment Building Fire at 1731 Street NW
A Dupont Circle woman died Sunday night after a fire in her four-story apartment building at 1731 S Street NW. WUSA-Channel 9 reports that “Investigators believe the fire may have been caused by improperly discarded smoking materials.” In addition, “materials collected by a possible hoarder made it difficult for firefighters to reach the blaze and extinguish it,” according to Channel 9. The building is located between 17th and 18th Streets.
New Rules: Is Your Condo Building “Desirable” to Lenders?
WTOP has a story with a headline that’s probably a bit scary for the Borderstan area: New rules make condo buying trickier. WTOP-103.5 says “The Federal Housing Administration is requiring condos to be what they call “re-certified” in order to offer mortgages”and that “The FHA looks into things like renter-to-owner ratios, and delinquencies on condo fee payments to see if the building is eligible for one of their loans.” Builder has some easy-to-read specifics on the new rules.
Alejandra Owens writes about food for Borderstan and at her own site, One Bite At a Time.
Borderstan welcomed Alejandra Owens in April when she began writing about food and drink for us. She was already writing about food at her own site, One Bite At A Time, and were very very happy to snag her.
Since April, Alejandra has regularly contributed restaurant profiles of establishments in the Dupont-Logan-U Street area along with previews of local farmers’ markets and recipes. We’ve listed Alejandra’s 17 restaurant profiles below — just in case you missed one. Later this week we will run some of her recipes as well. Got a question for Alejandra? Send her an email.
Thanks, Alejandra!
Christmas is over: make sure your presents don’t leave home. (Luis Gomez Photos)
Nothing screams Rob My House! like empty computer, Xbox and TV boxes piled front your apartment building or house for trash collection. It’s particularly risky if you live in a single-family row house/building — with only three or four units in the building, a would-be burglar practically knows where to go. Throw in a dark apartment with less than optimum home security and it’s Christmas-time for a burglar.
So, it’s the week after Christmas and you’ve gone back to work or you’ve left town for a few days until after the New Year. What are some easy, common-sense things to remember when it comes to burglary-prevention?
The following tips are from the DC Metropolitan Police Department.
