With the requisite amount of flat screen TVs and local flavor, Vetnor Sports Bar in Adams Morgan definitely makes the short list of good bars in DC to catch a game. I am always partial to neighborhood spots because naturally, they tend to have more of a friendly and laid back vibe. Some of the bigger venues in DC are also frequented by locals, but also seem to attract a fair amount of the non-metro DC crowd. That isn’t necessarily a bad thing or a knock at non-locals, but the feel at those places sometimes is a bit diffuse for my taste.

Cost – $$

Food – B
The menu offers an abundance of choices so there seems to be something for everyone. Overall, Vetnor food is better than the typical bar which is a big plus in my book since I like to gorge myself when watching sports. In short, the wings are tasty, the burgers have thick patties, but best of all, you can choose tater tots as a side. Enough said – just kidding but not really – tater tots are awesome. They also have little baggies of popcorn which makes you thirsty for more beer lol.

Service – A-
Like most other popular places, you have to be a little patient during big games but overall, the service has always been solid. Also worth noting is that they offer all you can drink Mimosas and Bloody Marys during Sunday brunch and they are very quick on the refills.

Décor – C+
Vetnor’s has the typical amount of sports memorabilia and nothing really stands out, except that it is less of a dive than some of the other AM bars. What I am trying to say is that it’s cleaner and more put together than some of it’s neighbors.

Feel – B
Back to the neighborhoody theme I touched on earlier, the feel is comfortable and genuine. During football season, there are always fans pulling for their home teams which makes for lively afternoons on Saturdays and Sundays. The space in the downstairs area isn’t that wide so it can get crowded quickly for popular games and at night, but the upstairs is much roomier and can accommodate larger groups.

Vetnor Sports Cafe is located at 2411 18th St NW.  They can be reached at (202) 234-3070 or on the Web at www.ventnorsportscafe.com.

Once the Cherry Blossom trees start blooming, the waterfront view at Farmers & Fishers is unbeatable. The restaurant, known for bringing the best from the farm and the sea, is featuring two specialties including Farmhouse Crispy-Skin Duck Breast with Cherry Demi-glace ($16) and Sour Blossom Mousse Cocktail ($13). Farmers & Fishers is located at 3000 K Street, NW, on the fountain level of the Washington Harbour complex. Convenient parking provides direct access to the restaurant. For reservations or more information please call 202.298.0003 or visit farmersandfishers.com

Saloon-style restaurant J. Pauls will feature special additions to their menu like Brie en Croute with Cherry Marmalade and Fig Jam ($12) and Double Chocolate Profiterole Stuffed with House-Made French Vanilla Cherry ($7). J.Pauls is located at 3218 M Street, NW. Information and reservations can be obtained by calling 202.333.3450 or visiting j-pauls.capitalrestaurants.com

Mixologist Chris Kelley is going full force with spring spirits at Mie N Yu. The restaurant’s signature Cherry Blossom Cocktail ($9) is infused with Emperor Vodka, Hiram Walker Cherry Brandy and Red Bull all-natural cola. Mie N Yu, located at 3125 M Street, NW, combines contemporary American cuisine with flavors from the Silk Road. For more information please call 202.333.6122 or visit mienyu.com

Neyla, DC’s authority on authentic Mediterranean cuisine, is serving Arabic Cherry Lemonade, a mixture of limeade with mint and Bing cherries ($6), along with your choice of vodka ($9). Neyla is located at 3206 N Street, NW. For more information or reservations please call 202.333.6353 or visit neyla.com

Georgetown’s bona fide BBQ joint, Old Glory, is adding Cherry-Wheat Beer Battered Onion Rings served with a sweet and sour kiln-dried cherry pepper dip ($8) that pair perfectly with an order of their famous ribs. Old Glory is located at 3139 M Street NW. For more information please call 202.337.3406 or visit oldglorybbq.com

Paolo’s Ristorante adds sweet libations like a Cherry Campari “Crush” and Cherry Mimosa to the menu. The Cherry Campari “Crush” is a blend of Campari, cherry brandy, Cinzano sweet vermouth, ginger ale sours, Bing cherries and mint ($10). Paolo’s Ristorante merges traditional Italian with fresh Californian cuisine in a lively atmosphere in the heart of Georgetown. Paolo’s Ristorante is located at 1303 Wisconsin Ave NW. For more information or reservations please call 202.333.7353 or visit paolosristorante.com

Known for its seafood and outstanding waterfront views, Tony & Joe’s beckons those excited for spring in DC. The restaurant is offering Balsamic Cherry Glazed Salmon with Dried Cherry Saffron Rice ($26) throughout the cherry blossom festivities. Tony & Joe’s Seafood Place, 3000 K Street NW, is located at Washington Harbour. For more information or reservations please call 202.944.4545 or visit dcseafood.com

The 2010 National Cherry Blossom Festival runs from March 27 to April 11, 2010.

About the Georgetown Business Improvement District

The Georgetown Business Improvement District (BID) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting and enhancing the accessibility, attractiveness and overall appeal of Georgetown. Established in 1999 by its property owners and merchants, the Georgetown BID has more than 1,000 members. The organization is located in the heart of Georgetown in Washington, D.C and sets a standard of excellence in preserving historic charm while meeting contemporary needs. From marketing and special events, to transportation and streetscape, the Georgetown BID contributes to the vitality and quality of life in Georgetown. For more information please visit georgetowndc.com.

The Kushi experience begins when guests pass underneath large linen noren to the soul of the restaurant, a 30 seat robata bar featuring an open charcoal fire pit. A meal at the robata bar begins with a steaming hot towel to cleanse the hands, followed by a seasonal amuse. True to the nature of an authentic Izakaya, the kushiyaki and robata menus are designed to offer mid-sized plates which can be ordered throughout the meal and pair well with Kushi’s beer, shochu and sake selections. Dishes such as Heritage Breed Chicken with Plum Paste, American Wagyu Short Ribs and Miso Marinated Octopus are prepared directly in front of diners. In the nearby sushi bar, delicate, fresh fish such as sea urchin, fresh horse mackerel and toro are expertly crafted. Kushi’s fish is sourced locally, as well as flown in twice per week from the Tokyo fish market. Diners looking to take home some of Kushi’s unique fish selections or observe the culinary team preparing the fish may do so in the open fish market, which will open in April 2010.

True to the nature of an authentic Izakaya, Kushi’s beverage program is comprehensive and features an extensive selection of sake and Japanese beers. Four Japanese beers are always available on draught and an additional selection of over eight Japanese and other beers rounds out the menu. The sake program is equally comprehensive with over 60 selections of hot and cold sake featuring filtered or unfiltered sake and small batch labels by the glass or bottle. Continuing the Izakaya authenticity is a vast selection of shochu as well as well-developed wine list. Kushi offers guests a lively, Tokyo influenced bar area well-stocked with welcoming experts to help navigate through the beverage selections.

Kushi is led by husband and wife team Darren Lee Norris and Ari Kushimoto Norris and incorporates the talents of several excellent chefs. Chef Norris was most recently the Executive Chef of Bethesda, MD based Ridgewells Caterers and previously held the position of Executive Chef at NYC’s China Grille. Ari is the previous Art Director for AOL and as an accomplished graphic artist will be managing Kushi’s interior design and marketing. Behind the sushi bar, diners will enjoy the talents of Sushi Chef Yoshihisa Ota. Ota is chef /owner of the highly-acclaimed Tokyo restaurant, Ginza Gakyu, and is a rising star on the Tokyo sushi scene. The Kushi/Ginza Gakyu partnership is the first and only edition of the Tokyo restaurant in the United States. Chef Ota aspires to bring a fresh new approach to sushi to Washington DC. Also hailing from Japan are washoku chefs Hironobu Higashijima and Munehiro Yonemoto. Enhancing the Kushi experience are Executive Sous Chef Peter Laufer, who most recently served as Executive Sous Chef at Ridgewells Caterers and has over 15 years of experience in global food services and artist Tom Flynn, Kushi’s Bar Manager.

Kushi is located in the new City Vista building 465 K Street, NW in Washington DC’s Mt. Vernon Neighborhood. “Most family-run Izakaya in Japan rely on neighborhood customers who dine two to three times per week. It was important to us to open in a tight-knit neighborhood,” notes Chef Norris. The 4,000 square foot space was designed by Bethesda, MD based Heiserman Group, a renowned architecture and branding firm. The design is Tokyo influenced and features reclaimed wood bar tops, large paper lanterns imported from Japan and 18-foot ceilings. Kushi’s website is www.eatkushi.com.

We walked out of the car in Fur’s parking lot and were greeted by the methodical thudding of the bass emanating from the club’s speakers. A sense of nostalgia washed over me, intermingled with excitement that we would be seeing the legendary David Guetta performing.

Lines of people surrounded the old, historical brick building on Patterson street in the cold February night. Fortunately we were fast-tracked into the club, the first time I had set foot in Fur in years.  As we walked in, we were greeted by a gust of warm air, made moist by the sweat from ravers and a blast of sound as the club was buzzing with the same anticipation we were feeling at the prospect of experiencing Guetta.

The opening act was Will.i.am from the Black Eyed Peas and he rocked it for several hours although admittedly people seemed to be itching for Guetta, who finally took the stage well after midnight, joining Will.i.am to the delight of the crowd.

With his long, illustrious body of work, Guetta has worked with artists including Akon, Ne-yo, Estelle and a long list of other A-listers. Most should be familiar with the Black Eyed Peas’ “I Got a Feeling,” the longest running Hot 100 #1 of all time.

Even though it was late as hell and most people had to work the next day, responsibility became an afterthought as Guetta’s infectious beats made the speakers ooze with energy and made me regret I had worn more comfortable shoes. He played well into the night and we left with a temporary (I hope) loss of hearing and an immense sense of satisfaction.

Washington, DC – February 16 – The Georgetown University Art Aficionados (GUAA) organization has announced that it will host an evening at warehouse art exhibition G-40: The Summit on Friday March 26, 2010 from 7 p.m – midnight. The event, GTOWN @ G40, will feature art, Eighteenth Street Lounge band See-I (which includes six members of Thievery Corporation), an art installation, food and drinks. Georgetown students, DC-area students and the general public are invited. Tickets are $15 in advance, $20 at the door.

GTOWN @ G40 seizes on the unprecedented art event G-40: The Summit, which will take place throughout the month of March 2010. G-40: The Summit will be held at a warehouse in the Crystal City district of Arlington, VA, showcasing the works of over 500 international artists. The event aims to bring together artists from the burgeoning New Brow or underground art movement in a 75,000 square foot space with four floors of art. Each floor will be dedicated to a hub of the movement – one featuring New York artists, one featuring California artists, one featuring DC artists and one featuring international and regional artists.

With GTOWN @ G40, GUAA wants to offer DC area university students and beyond a night of cutting edge art and great entertainment. For more information on G-40: The Summit, visit http://artwhino.com/g40/.

About Glow

Glow is held every Thursday Night at Lima (starting 2/18) and every Saturday at Fur Nightclub, with additional special events on different nights of the week!  Glow is Washington DC’s home to Electronic Dance Music, featuring the biggest names in electronic music in the world.

Josephine’s – Josephine’s is relatively new to the K Street corridor and with it’s uber-exclusive door policy and emphasis on table service it has certainly drawn a mixture of opinions. It has also attracted a pretty consistent and loyal following and is typically packed on weekend evenings.

Lima Restaurant and Lounge - Lima is a mainstay on K Street and has created an extremely loyal following that ensures a packed house on most evenings.  They mix top-tier design with incredible DJ’s and an exclusivity that is substantiated through Lima’s large Persian following.

Current Lounge – One of the more popular venues in the mid-Dupont area, Current has differentiated itself with it’s chic, modern design and patio deck.

District Club – A newcomer to this list, District brings an element of exclusivity and a high-end social atmosphere to Adams Morgan.  The question is can it sustain the early momentum it has created.

Ultrabar – No club on this list hosts more people on a given night than Ultrabar.  Despite the mob of clubbers it attracts, Ultrabar maintains a fairly laid-back door policy.  It is also the only venue on this list that is 18-and-up.

Midtown Lounge – Since launching in 2009, Midtown has quickly become entrenched in the mid-Dupont circuit of clubs.  It draws a young, hip international crowd and has fantastic service inside the venue.

Fly Lounge – Fly has been going strong for years now.  It is a tight, intimate space that seems for some reason or another, to draw the most aggressive women I’ve seen in DC.

Café Citron – Citron is a staple in the DC nightlife scene for several years. It is probably the least exclusive on this list but that doesn’t mean least entertaining – on the contrary, Citron consistently delivers a fun and unpretentious experience.

Ultrabar is aptly named.  The “Ultra” in “Ultrabar” can be taken to mean a number of things.  For example, “ultra” could be used to reference the venue itself: five floors that contain a chaotic blend of sounds, aesthetics and experiences.  Or “ultra” could mean the horde of clubbers (a head count that tops 1000 heads on many nights) that fills the club and stretches down the block, a truly heterogeneous blend of ages, races and ethnicities. “Ultra” might also refer to the international mix of events that work their way through Ultrabar.

Or it could refer to the synthesis of all these different things, which results in a slightly overwhelming, Cancun-ish vibe that extends itself throughout a wide breadth of sensibilities.

It has been more than a while since I visited the establishment.  It caters to the 18-25 crowd (and I unfortunately am a few years removed from their demographic) but Ultrabar Owner Antonis Karagounis’ birthday provided us with a good reason to drop in and see how the venue has come along and Karagounis was cool enough to take a few moments to chat with us about the venue that has become a landmark in the DC nightlife scene.

Cost – $$$

Service – A-
When most people think of large club venues, they assume they’ll be manhandled at the door and receive rude service at the bar (if they ever get served).  According to Karagounis, “The front door staff is comprised of nightlife veterans who have worked in many clubs and lounges and understand the importance of customer service.”  True to form, the service at the door was professional and polite.  Inside, the wait staff was prompt and friendly in spite of the chaos that surrounded the bar.  The service – both inside and out – was far better than what we have experienced at some of the other multi-floor clubs in DC.

Décor – B
The structure that houses Ultrabar is over 100 years old and has been a night club for the past twenty years.  Each floor has a slightly different visual sense to it and the age and history of the establishment – it feels like DC – pervades the venue (except for possibly the top floor, which felt a bit more modernized than the others).

Feel – A-
There are a lot of opinions about Ultrabar but you can’t argue with the following: First, that everyone has an opinion on the place…people have been talking about Ultrabar for years now.  Second, you can’t argue that Ultrabar has been drawing an enormous crowd for several years, based on a loyal following and a relatively simple formula.

The club doesn’t try to overstep into exclusivity; instead, it focuses on creating an open, fun environment that offers enough diversity to be a true “destination” venue.  With this winning formula, Ultrabar has become the “go to” destination for the 18-25 crowd in DC.  According to Karagounis, “We want to create a comfortable and welcoming venue without the crazy door policies.  Everyone is welcome as long as they make the effort.”

Ultrabar is located at 911 F Street Northwest.  They can be reached at (202) 638-4663 or on the Web at http://www.ultrabardc.com.

What’s the Buzz:

Ultrabar (Metromix) – For a place with a name like Ultrabar, they truly do have a superhuman line-up of events. Hosting a varied array of parties per week in the club’s four bars, there is no shortage of dance mayhem.  Full article…

Funds are raised through ticket sales which double as a donation to the Capital Breast Care Center and raffles prizes during the event. Tickets are $25 each and feature swag bags filled with favors from local businesses.  The night includes live music from hip New York/Maryland based group Electropoint.  Mrs. Fenty will be dressed in a one-of-a-kind piece made especially for Fête of Fashion by the talented young DC designer, Taimur Baig.

With a strong commitment to the community, Fashion Fix has called upon the district’s rich resources of restaurants and businesses. This event will be held at Rue 14 Boutique in Washington, DC. It features hors d’oeuvres from newly opened Masa 14 restaurant; located on the same block, Honest Tea; a Bethesda-based beverage company, and many more locally based organizations.

“This event will give us the vital exposure that we’ve needed. Through brand recognition we will be able to continue to attract more donors and volunteers to help us sustain our critical breast cancer screening services,” said Susannah Fox, Director of Development at the CBCC.

Capital Breast Care Center is the only community-based breast cancer screening clinic in the DC metropolitan area—perhaps the nation—that provides screening and navigation services to women, regardless of their ability to pay. DC has the highest breast cancer mortality rate in the nation, and researchers found that women from poor backgrounds are less likely to survive breast cancer due to genetic and lifestyle dispositions. Since its founding in 2004, the CBCC has served over 5,000 women, 80% of which are uninsured or on some form of public medical assistant program.  They have detected twice the national average of breast cancer among their patients.

To purchase tickets to Fete of Fashion, please make a $25 donation at www.alumnifidelity.com/feteoffashion.html.
All proceeds go directly to the CBCC.

For more information about the Capital Breast Care Center, please visit www.capitalbreastcare.org.

Andrea Bocelli, Catherine Deneuve, Larry King, Mary Tyler Moore and myself. The thread that binds us all is that we have all at one point or another walked into Okyo Salon, stayed for a little while, and then left looking a little (or a lot) easier on the eyes. Okyo’s walls are adorned with the pictures of celebrities who have come through over the past several decades, a period during which Okyo has maintained a reputation as one of the top salons in Washington, DC and possibly the best color salon in DC.

Cost – $$$

Service – A
The quality of experience throughout the entire process is what one would expect from a top-tier salon in DC. From entrance, to wash, to cut, I had a great time. My stylist was Kay and she did a fantastic job. With just a bit of guidance she was able to abstract exactly what I wanted and deliver with razor sharp precision – definitely one of the better cuts I’ve had in a while. I spent a few minutes chatting with a very energetic and interesting stylist named Pejman, who shared some of his thoughts about Asian hair styles.

Décor – B+
The front of Okyo has a warm, classical feel created through soft lighting, thick curtains, and a row of columns that create visual separation between the work spaces. In general, it has a well construed aesthetic that serves the establishment well. I would say the one component that could be tweaked is the interior design in the back room, which is where the washing and color stations are located.

Feel – A-
I spent about an hour there and loved every minute of the experience. The staff is energetic and fun, they do fantastic work and the space is warm and inviting. Their litany of accolades and A-list clientele are evidence of the talent that resides within the building as well as the general experience they are able to create. To fully understand the quality of the venue, I’d probably have to know more about their ability to color but as far as my overall experience was concerned I have nothing but good things to say about Okyo.

Okyo Salon is located at 2309 M Street, Northwest.  They can be reached at (202) 342-2675.