On Tap Magazine // Winter 2018

Drink. Dine. Do. Winter 2018

WOMEN’S VOICES THEATER FESTIVAL

BØRNS & KIMBRA PLAY DC

FULL SERVICE RADIO’S LUNCH AGENDA

BARLEY WINE SEASON

DC Eats

Himitsu ’s Dynamic Duo / Top 20 Spots of 2017

on the scene

For more photos from these And other events, visit the online gallery at www.ontaponline.com.

Photos: Kayla Marsh

The Wharf was packed with Nog Fest guests enjoying their favorite seasonal drinks and tasty winter beverages at the Waterfront Beer and Wine Garden. The games on District Pier included a mechanical reindeer, snowman bowling and the reindeer toss. Live music from White Ford Bronco kept guests dancing and singing all afternoon.

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Table of Contents who is on tap

Winter 2018: Vol 20 No 3 dc eats We’re kicking off 2018 with our DC Eats issue, featuring our picks for the best spots of 2017 with staying power. We are also thrilled to have Himitsu’s Carlie Steiner and Kevin Tien as our cover story; Lani Furbank picked the duo’s brains about their overwhelming success and what it’s like to run a restaurant as millennials. We also wrote about one of Full Service Radio’s brand new food-centric podcasts, Lunch Agenda, caught up with local brewers about their barley wine, interviewed the owner of The Bruery about his new location in Union Market and chatted with Korean spots about what cocktails they’d serve to 2018 Winter Olympians. Plus, interviews with some of the talented playwrights participating in the Women’s Voices Theater Festival, local actress Megan Graves, BØRNS, Kimbra, and the creative mind behind the world’s biggest Cure vs. Smiths dance party. And a special thanks to Farrah Skeiky for our amazing cover photo!

Drink. Dine. Do. Winter 2018

BØRNS & KIMBRA PLAY DC

WOMEN’S VOICES

THEATRE FESTIVAL FULL SERVICE RADIO’S LUNCH AGENDA

BARLEY WINE SEASON

DC Eats

Himitsu ’s Dynamic Duo / Top 20 Spots of 2017

Cover models: Carlie Steiner & Kevin Tien

Photography: Farrah Skeiky Design: Alanna Sheppard

Founder James Currie Publisher Jennifer Currie

jennifer@ontaponline.com

Managing Editor Monica Alford

monica@ontaponline.com

Assistant Editor Trent Johnson trent@ontaponline.com

Print & Digital Design Alanna Sheppard alanna@ontaponline.com

Nick Caracciolo KEY ACCOUNT MANAGER Tom Roth tomroth@ontaponline.com

Digital & Advertising coordinator Kayla Marsh

In this Issue

kayla@ontaponline.com

n Stage & Screen Stage & Screen Events........................... 4 Playwright Heather Raffo on Noura... 6 Women’s Voices Theater Festival. . ....... 8 Dragon Boat Racing............................. 11

38

8 Women’s Voices Theatre Festival

DC Eats

Challenges the Status Quo

Top 20 Spots of 2017

n Sports Ladies Dish on Dreamy Athletes....... 14

n WINTER Roundup A Day in the Life: Megan Graves.. ...... 12 Drink, Dine, Do...................................... 18 Did You Know? Winter Olympics....... 28

n Drinks

42

44

Himitsu’s Secret Sauce

Full Service Radio’s

Owners Carlie Steiner & Kevin Tien

Lunch Agenda

Behind the Bar....................................... 30 The Bruery Brings Their Beer to DC.. 32 What’s On Tap........................................ 34 Barley Wine Season.............................. 36

n Dining DC Eats: Top 20 Spots of 2017.. .......... 38 Himitsu’s Secret Sauce.. ....................... 42 Full Service Radio’s Lunch Agenda... 44

Events & promotions manager Shannon Darling shannon@ontaponline.com

Events & promotions ASSISTANT Katie Seaman katies@ontaponline.com

OUTREACH COORDINATOR Kelcie Glass kelcie@ontaponline.com

Contributing Writers

Lani Fubank, Joel Goldberg, Jon Kaplan, Natalia Kolenko, Michael Loria, Vanessa Mallory Kotz, Kayla Marsh, Travis Mitchell

Contributing Photographers

Gevar Bonham, Shannon Darling, Krystina Gabrielle Photography, John Gervasi, Michelle Goldchain, Kayla Marsh, Devin Overbey, Katie Seaman, Farrah Skeiky On Tap Magazine is published 11 times per year. ©2018 by Five O’Clock Publishing, LLC. All rights reserved. Use or reproduction of any materials contained herein is strictly prohibited without express prior written consent. www.ontaponline.com for more information.

Office

n Music Inside FYM Productions’ Cryfest.............46 BØRNS Finds Magic on the Road...........48 Kimbra Learns via Rediscovery...............50 Music Picks....................................................52

48

50

BØRNS

Kimbra

Finds Magic on the Road

Learns via Rediscovery

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25 Dove St. Alexandria, VA 22314 Tel: 703-465-0500 Fax: 703-465-0400 www.ontaponline.com Calendar Submissions www.ontaponline.com/calendar Due by 15th of the month for print issue

on the scene

For more photos from these And other events, visit the online gallery at www.ontaponline.com.

Photos: Michelle Goldchain

The fourth Ice Yards! in Capitol Riverfront took place on The Yards boardwalk this year. DC’s adult-friendly winter wonderland featured ice carving, live music, and cocktails and brews.

www.ontaponline.com | Winter 2018 | On Tap

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Stage & Screen Events Some Stage & Screen listings are provided by the venues hosting them.

By On Tap staff

THROUGH SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 4

is now Georgia to its current home in Oklahoma. Arena Stage’s production is part of the Women’s Voices Theater Festival, celebrating new works written by women and produced in DC. Arena Stage’s Kreeger Theater: 1101 6th St. SW, DC; www.arenastage.org

THROUGH SUNDAY, MARCH 4

Tartuffe Moliere’s classic comedy of the conman Tartuffe comes to Logan Fringe Arts Space. Tartuffe the Hypocrite, as it is sometimes known, follows the story of a 17th-century grifter in which Tartuffe tries to insert himself into an aristocratic family by way of his feigned piety.

Though the play was first performed in 1664, it remains current for its universal wit and themes. Thursdays through Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. Tickets are $25. Logan Fringe Arts Space: 1358 Florida Ave. NE, DC; www.capitalfringe.org

THROUGH SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 10

Hamlet Shakespeare Theatre Company’s latest production of Hamlet features Michael Urie in the titular role, known for his acting range and role on Ugly Betty, and actor Robert Joy of CSI: NY as Polonius.

Director Michael Kahn is at the helm of this reinterpretation of one of the Bard’s most famous tragedies, transforming Polonius the “bumbling old man” into Polonius the spymaster, in addition to other subtle creative changes in this story of the Danish prince’s descent into madness. Shakespeare Theatre Company’s Sidney Harman Hall: 610 F St. NW, DC; www.shakespearetheatre.org

THROUGH SUNDAY, MARCH 4

Unnecessary Farce The Keegan Theatre presents the first DC run of Unnecessary Farce, a comedy that follows a sting operation gone awry. In what seems an almost too on-the-nose plot for DC, the cops try to catch an embezzling mayor in the act. However, they also can’t quite seem to get themselves in order, and hilarity and undressing ensue. Showtimes vary. Tickets start at $35. The Keegan Theatre: 1742 Church St. NW, DC; www. keegantheatre.com

THROUGH SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 18 Sovereignty Sovereignty tells the story of Sarah Ridge Polson, a young Cherokee lawyer fighting to restore her nation’s jurisdiction. She must confront the ever-present ghosts of her grandfathers in this play covering the Cherokee Nation’s roots from the 1830s in what

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On Tap | Winter 2018 | www.ontaponline.com

The Wolves Over quad stretches and squats, a team of young women in an indoor soccer league known as The Wolves prepare to defend their undefeated record. With an ear for the bravado and empathy of teenage years, the banter moves from tampons to genocide to the pressures of preparing for adult life. Writer Sarah DeLappe explores the violence and teamwork of sports and adolescence in following these 16-year-olds who turn into wolves on the pitch. Write-up provided by venue website. Studio Theatre: 1501 14th St. NW, DC; www.studiotheatre.org

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 6 - SUNDAY, MARCH 4 Light Years Robbie Schaefer of Northern Virginia-based folk/rock/ indie band Eddie from Ohio writes and stars in this world premiere musical coming to Signature Theatre. Light Years chronicles Robbie’s journey from his childhood in India to his days of pursuing music and raising a family, juxtaposed with glimpses into his father’s dark past. Signature favorite and Helen Hayes Award winner Bobby Smith will take the stage with Schaefer and a handful of other talented actors. Showtimes vary. Tickets start at $40. Signature Theatre: 4200 Campbell Ave. Arlington, VA; www.sigtheatre.org

Now playing!

Closes Feb. 8

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 14 - SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 18 Chess This love triangle rock opera comes to the Kennedy Center Valentine’s Day weekend, a new realization of Tim Rice and ABBA’s collaboration.

The musical takes place during the height of Cold War tensions and therein is born the love triangle between the American chess star, the Soviet champion and the assistant torn between the two. Look to the performance for its innovative rock opera scoring. Shows times are at 8 p.m., with additional performances at 2 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. Tickets start at $69. The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts: 2700 F St. NW, DC; www.kennedy-center.org

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 17 - SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 18

by Timberlake Wertenbaker; directed by Nataki Garrett

Under 35 Night! Jan. 26 at 7:30 p.m.

Get $20 tickets with code* UNDER3518 Join us for complimentary drinks after the show.

Virginia Opera: A Midsummer Night’s Dream Shakespeare’s comedy about errant lovers caught in a fairy dreamscape comes to George Mason’s Center for the Arts in operatic form. Audiences can expect a vivid retelling of the Bard’s play from the Virginia Opera, written by mid-century British composer Benjamin Britten, whose music has notably been featured in a few Wes Anderson films. And don’t miss out on the Valentine’s Day package, which includes champagne and chocolate. Performances are on Saturday at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. Tickets start at $54. George Mason University’s Center for the Performing Arts: 4400 University Dr. Fairfax, VA; http://cfa.gmu.edu

Event Media Partner: Discount code also good for Tue.-Fri. and Sun. performances throughout run.

*

www.fords.org

Tickets: (888) 616-0270 Photo of Felicia Curry as Susannah by Christopher Mueller.

www.ontaponline.com | Winter 2018 | On Tap

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Playwright Heather Raffo on

Noura , Immigration and Being a Woman in 2018

By Natalia Kolenko t’s no surprise that in times of hardship and division, some of the most compelling art is born. When feelings of repression and frustration bubble to the surface, artists and writers often create – if not to find answers than to express their complex emotions, escape from reality for awhile or spark vital dialogue. Noura is one such piece of art looking to start a conversation.

Written by award-winning playwright and actress Heather Raffo, Noura is a play exploring modern marriage and motherhood through the lens of Iraqi immigrants. At Shakespeare Theatre Company’s Lansburgh Theatre starting February 6, Raffo’s play follows the titular character and her husband as they get ready for their first Christmas in New York as U.S. citizens. But a visit from a young Iraqi refugee upheaves the couple’s life together, and they must put a mirror up to their own experiences.

Noura first began to take shape through the playwright’s personal narrative initiative, Places of Pilgrimage. During three years of workshops, Raffo talked with Arab American women living in New York City, exploring themes of identity and belonging in their conversations. After listening to the women’s harrowing stories of leaving home, Raffo decided to show the women A Doll’s House.

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On Tap | Winter 2018 | www.ontaponline.com

Henrik Ibsen’s play opened up the group’s ongoing dialogue about the struggles of being a modern woman with ties to both the Middle East and America.

Raffo says her main inspiration for Noura came from having an Iraqi parent. In 2014, Mosul – the Iraqi city where Raffo’s father was born – was seized by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and panic caused the city’s inhabitants to flee. Things worsened in 2016 when the city became a battle ground between ISIL and the Iraqi government, which was backed by the U.S. The city was eventually liberated, but the damage was already done.

Raffo says much of what she poured into Noura came from the feelings she and her family had watching the turmoil happen from afar. Immigration is not new to Raffo’s family, though. Throughout her family’s history, there have been many waves of immigration, and the playwright says that different waves see things differently, which she highlights in Noura.

Beyond immigration, her play is also about being a female – a mother and wife in a new country; a young, female refugee; and a woman in the 21st century. These themes, in addition to being written by a woman and featuring female leads, makes Noura a natural fit for DC’s second Women’s Voices Theater Festival, which puts a spotlight on the works of female playwrights.

The festival, which runs through March 14, is designed not only to share the stories these playwrights are telling at local venues, but also to start conversations around what role women play in the theatre world. Dahlia Azama, who plays the young refugee, Maryam, says she often notices that most female Middle Eastern roles in plays and TV are weak characters.

“It drives me crazy because there’s so many strong, [Middle Eastern] women,” Azama says during a joint interview with Raffo about why she was drawn to her character.

Raffo expresses excitement in being part of the festival, especially since the conversations created around these plays will be a larger, more collective dialogue than if these productions stood on their own.

“This festival is different from all others because it’s happening in the early months of 2018, hot on the tails of #MeToo and a woman losing in a run for president. This moment in time has never, ever happened before in America.”

Raffo continues, saying what makes this festival so unique is that it’s happening in DC, our country’s political hub where many major institutions have joined together to premiere female playwrights in the midst of a major upheaval surrounding women. Raffo’s question is whether the American theatre will be as brave as this moment in history.

“Women writers have always been brave, so will the theatre pick up on it?”

“I think they’ll have to,” Azama answers, suggesting that otherwise they’ll get called out.

“I think it’s true, but will they challenge their audiences?” Raffo asks.

“Yes, we want to get the predators out, and maybe we want equal numbers, but are we going to challenge them with challenging plays?

Or are we going to go back to another sleepy state until the next uprising?”

These complicated questions don’t have simple answers, and plays like Noura may not be able to offer the necessary solutions. But they get people asking questions, and starting the conversation is half the battle.

Noura will play at Shakespeare Theatre Company’s Lansburgh Theatre from February 6 to March 11. Tickets start at $44, but check www.shakespearetheatre.org for Under 35 deals and don’t miss Young Prose Nights (YPN) on Wednesday, February 21 at 7:30 p.m. and Friday, March 2 at 8 p.m.

Shakespeare Theatre Company’s Lansburgh Theatre: 450 7th St. NW, DC; 202-547-1122; www.shakespearetheatre.org

on the scene

For more photos from these And other events, visit the online gallery at www.ontaponline.com.

YOUNG PROSE NIGHT 35 OR UNDER? Tickets are JUST $25.

FREE DRINK with the cast after the performance!

NEXT UP: February 21 and March 2

NOURA

by Heather Raffo | directed by Joanna Settle

February 6–March 11

ORDER TODAY! ShakespeareTheatre.org 202.547.1122 Photos: Devin Overbey

Lansburgh Theatre | 450 7th St NW Washington, DC 20004

Guests under 35 enjoyed a social reception with beer and wine at a recent Young Prose Night following a performance of Shakespeare Theatre’s production of Twelfth Night.

Noura wine sponsor: Beer Sponsors:

Photo of Heather Raffo by Diana Zeyneb Alhindawi.

Patrons must be 21 years or older. Valid ID required. Some restrictions apply. Subject to availability and cannot be combined with other offers or previously purchased tickets.

www.ontaponline.com | Winter 2018 | On Tap

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challenges the

status quo

By Monica Alford A PTSD-ridden marine plans her wedding. A man is held without charge in Guantanamo for 12 years. A reimagined Shakespeare play gives minorities the chance to be heard. A series of one-act plays follow the hard-luck stories of everyday people struggling to find their place in the world.

Though the plots and themes of these plays are unique, each shed light on critical issues and give a voice to those that need it most. The female playwrights behind these original works are creating a safe space for audiences to explore these ideas, and perhaps spark their own dialogue after leaving the theater. And their plays, along with 20 others, are the featured productions in the 2018 Women’s Voices Theater Festival, in the nation’s capital through March 14.

The buzz around this homegrown festival, back for the second time after its debut in 2015, has been overwhelming. Not only is actress Allison Janney on board this year as honorary chair, but the sheer volume of local talent and prestigious theaters involved is truly remarkable. It speaks volumes that our community views this celebration of new plays written by women and produced by local companies as an exciting opportunity, one worth embracing and promoting throughout the city.

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On Tap | Winter 2018 | www.ontaponline.com

And while this local support is encouraging, the statistics are quite the opposite. A 2015 Lilly Awards/Dramatists Guild study found that 22 percent of all productions in U.S. theaters were written by women, a percentage that sadly has hardly changed in the past three years.

“It’s an exciting time to be a playwright living in DC.” Annalisa Dias, whose play 4,380 Nights is running at Signature Theatre in Shirlington through February 18, says the statistics speak for themselves as to why the festival is needed.

“I think the spotlight that’s getting shined

on female playwrights right now in this city is pretty outstanding, and we’re the only city doing it,” she says. “It’s an exciting time to be a playwright living in DC.” Dias wrote 4,380 Nights after reading a three-sentence blurb in The Washington Post about two Algerian detainees who had been released from Guantanamo Bay the day before. She was taken aback by how little space the news received and had the realization that a lot of us had forgotten that the center was very much still in operation – or worse, we were turning a blind eye to it.

To her, presenting her work at Signature is an opportunity to engage audiences and ask questions like, “How can we look at each other as citizens of this country knowing that Guantanamo exists and that our government allows it to exist?” and, “How can we imagine a future together where a place like Guantanamo couldn’t exist?”

“I’m interested in sitting with people and thinking about big questions about how our system works,” she says. “I don’t have answers. I just have a lot of questions.”

Hope Villanueva also has questions.

In her Nu Sass-produced play The Veils, at Anacostia Arts Center from February 15 through March 4, she breaks an incredibly common stereotype. When you think of someone in the military with PTSD,

who pops into your head first: a man or a woman?

The playwright doesn’t hold that against anyone; in fact, she was in a serious relationship with a marine who had a terrible time transitioning back into civilian life and actually partially inspired The Veils. And she says it makes sense, after years of the arts – whether it be film and TV or theatre – portraying women as onedimensional: the girlfriend, the wife, the mother, the hot/slutty chick.

So Villaneuva’s heroine is a marine with PTSD, and she’s also about to get married.

“Why can’t she be competent with a rifle in her hand and be able to handle that and war, and still want to feel feminine on her wedding day?” she asks. “Why can’t it be both?”

It can be, and in some ways her play taps directly into the festival initiative. She read about and met female marines whose stories have mirrored the one she wrote for the stage, and it was empowering to know that she had created something powerful enough to speak to their experiences.

When it comes to giving women more opportunities to create and lead in theatre, Villaneuva says there has to be someone or something – maybe even this festival – that kicks open the door first and says,

“Look, we’re missing this whole swarth of people and opportunities,” so that we can get to the place where talent really is all that matters.

“I don’t think we’re on the other side of that door yet, but that’s the dream.”

This sentiment seems to be shared by the four playwrights I spoke with, but some challenge what makes the festival successful more than others. Charlie Marie McGrath says she has mixed emotions about the concept.

She raises the point that if a participating theater chose to be in the festival, they may feel they have met their quota for the season by having one female director or playwright.

“We need to take the spirit of the Women’s Voices Theater Festival and make that the norm.”

McGrath’s original adaptation of Shakespeare’s Cymbeline incorporates shadow puppetry and other stylized elements, re-contextualizing the Bard’s characters for modern day audiences.

Imogen is produced by Pointless Theatre and housed by DanceLoft on 14th through February 11 – marking one of the space’s first forays into the world of theatre – and as each scene unfolds, the actors drop more and more of their Renaissance garb and

“We need to take the spirit of the Women’s Voices Theater Festival and make that the norm.”

Father. Son. And the space in between.

light years Photo of Robbie Schaefer by Christopher Mueller

A new musical by Robbie Schaefer from the acclaimed folk/rock/indie band Eddie from Ohio Four weeks only!

February 6 – March 4

Free parking 16 area restaurants www.ontaponline.com | Winter 2018 | On Tap

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YOUNG PROSE NIGHT 35 OR UNDER? Tickets are JUST $25.

FREE DRINK with the cast after the performance!

NEXT UP: January 31 and February 9

HAMLET

by William Shakespeare | directed by Michael Kahn featuring MICHAEL URIE as HAMLET

Now playing through March 4

Photo of Michael Urie by Tony Powell

ORDER TODAY! ShakespeareTheatre.org 202.547.1122 Sidney Harman Hall | 610 F Street NW Washington, DC 20004

Hamlet wine sponsor: Beer Sponsors:

Patrons must be 21 years or older. Valid ID required. Some restrictions apply. Subject to availability and cannot be combined with other offers or previously purchased tickets.

10

On Tap | Winter 2018 | www.ontaponline.com

“I think we’ve always had incredibly gorgeous, vibrant, female voices in our midst. But they don’t always get a place at the table.” begin to resemble 21st-century versions of their characters. She says everybody living outside of the court – outside of the mainstream, basically – turn out to be the nicest guys in the play.

“I think it [gives] a little social context. It’s about young black men who think that the law won’t protect them. It’s about women who think they’ll never be in power. It’s about people who think they have no options in life, and I think that that feels like the situation of a lot of young people today.”

Another common thread among the playwrights is the idea of relatability, that what one of their characters is going through can tangibly mirror what is happening in an audience member’s life. Yes, theatre has come a long way from the very misconceived notions of being designed for a silver-haired, affluent crowd decked out in their evening best; but even still, having in-depth conversations with four women who are creating art meant to reach those of us in our 20s or 30s or 40s who are still trying to figure it out is pretty amazing.

The format of Audrey Cefaly’s Love Is A Blue Tick Hound – four one-act plays at 20 minutes each – may diverge from the others, but the human element remains intact. She says her work, coming to the Logan Fringe Arts Space from February 9-17 via Rapid Lemon Productions, is a collection of stories that are universal to all ages, shapes, sizes, colors and languages.

“You have everything from scrappy, young, female mill workers to an immigrant dishwasher who has a crush on a waitress,” she says. “It’s not one of these plays that you have to have any kind of education to understand and to feel its heartbeat. It’s really just a collection of love stories that are told simply with characters that are just like all of us.”

The playwright invites audiences to hear her stories and maybe contribute their own voices to the narrative.

“There’s plenty of silence and subtext, so that an audience hopefully can relax into the stories and maybe see themselves. Because ultimately, I think we’re in a lot of pain in this world and we all need these stories of light and healing, so we don’t feel so alone.”

Cefaly’s earnestness extends to the festival as a whole, and she credits projects like this one with raising awareness about the creative teams in theatre – not just the playwrights, she adds – who are chalk full of incredible female talent.

“I think we’ve always had incredibly gorgeous, vibrant, female voices in our midst. [But] they don’t always get a place at the table.”

And while she says she wants to see good theatre, whether it’s written by a male or female playwright, she won’t have access to the latter unless women get the same opportunities as their male colleagues.

What admittedly started in my mind as a piece featuring vignettes of each playwright’s upcoming production instead has taken shape as my own “light bulb” moment that I hope resonates with our readers.

How do we take the mission of the Women’s Voices Theater Festival and give it actionable meaning year-round, and how do we make sure that women in theatre are given a seat at the table? After speaking with these playwrights, I’m pretty sure they deserve to be at its head.

Learn more about all participating productions and theaters, including dates, locations and ticket prices, at www.womensvoicestheaterfestival.org.

By Natalia Kolenko

Photo: Courtesy of the China Arts and Entertainment Group

et in 1930s China against the backdrop of the Japanese occupation, Dragon Boat Racing tells the story of how one of the most famous pieces of Cantonese music blossomed from a forbidden love. The Chinese dancedrama first premiered in China in 2014 and gained such popularity throughout the country that it was considered a cultural phenomenon. Now DC residents will get the chance to experience the buzzworthy production with performances by the Guangdong Song & Dance Ensemble at the Kennedy Center on February 2-4.

After gaining much success in China, the performance was brought to the U.S. by the China Arts and Entertainment Group (CAEG), where it premiered in New York. The performance then returned to China where it won a Wenhua Award, an award presented only every three years by the Chinese government to recognize

the highest level of performing arts in the country.

Han Zhen and Zhou Liya, the two young women who directed and choreographed the dance-drama, were inspired to tell the story of Cantonese music when they visited a small city near Guangzhou just north of Hong Kong, says CAEG Deputy Director Winston Wang. The pair was inspired to tell the story of this music by blending Cantonese history with state-of-the-art visuals.

Cantonese music holds a special place in the hearts of the Chinese – not just because it is historical, but because of its unique characteristics. Wang says that what makes Cantonese music, also referred to as Guangdong music, so unique is its happy, lively quality that is not always commonplace in traditional music from other regions of China.

These qualities made Dragon Boat Racing a perfect contender for CAEG’s Image China cultural exchange initiative, which aims to share Chinese culture with the world. Wang

says this piece of culture is a great way for Americans to see a small sliver of Chinese history told through the eyes of the Chinese themselves.

“Through this dance-drama, Americans could learn how the Chinese people in the 1930s treated their marriages and how they reacted to the invasion of the Japanese,” he says.

With its dramatic plot told through music and dance and its high-tech, visual elements, Dragon Boat Racing is a show not to miss. And as Wang mentioned, it’s not something that we Americans get to see every day.

Dragon Boat Racing runs for 120 minutes with one intermission at the Kennedy Center from February 2-4. Tickets start at $30. Learn more at www.kennedy-center.org.

The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts: 2700 F St. NW, DC 202-467-4600; www.kennedy-center.org www.ontaponline.com | WINTER 2018 | ON TAP

11

A Day in the

Life Helen Hayes-Nominated Actress

MEGAN GRAVES Photo: Courtesy of Arena Stage

By Vanessa Mallory Kotz

elen Hayes Award nominee Megan Graves is a rising star in the DC theatre community, with much-talked-about performances under her belt including a growing list of TV and film credits. The talented actress has strong ties to the DC area; she moved to Alexandria, Virginia with her family when she was in middle school and received her BFA from Shenandoah Conservatory before building her career in the nation’s capital. Most notably, she earned an Outstanding Supporting Actress nomination for the 2017 Helen Hayes Awards with her role in Redder Blood at The Hub Theatre in summer 2016, and then transfixed audiences later that fall with a standout performance as Alexandra in Lillian Hellman’s The Little Foxes at Arena Stage. This winter, Graves returns to Arena Stage as Pat Nixon in The Great Society. The sequel to Robert Schenkkan’s Tony Award-winning play All the Way follows Lyndon B. Johnson as he tackles presidential issues like the Vietnam War, massive protests in the fight for civil rights and an aggressive agenda during a time of extreme political unrest. We caught up with Graves before The Great Society opens on February 2.

On Tap: How do you think the events and ideas in The Great Society are relevant to today’s political climate?

Megan Graves: It goes without saying that there are incredible parallels to be drawn between the events depicted in the play and our current political climate. I think it’s Lawrence O’Donnell who mentions in his book “Playing with Fire” that during the 1968 election cycle, it felt like anything could happen. The future was arguably more unpredictable than ever before, [which] feels pretty familiar.

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ON TAP | WINTER 2018 | www.ontaponline.com

OT: How do you prepare for a part?

MG: I try to be as familiar as possible with the text, which usually includes covering my script with notes and questions. I’ll also dive into some historical/topical research and, depending on the demands of the piece, dialect prep.

OT: Is your method different when playing a real-life figure like Pat Nixon?

MG: Of course. It’s all about the Internet.

There’s a wealth of info – visual and otherwise – about the First Ladies, especially those who came into the public eye during the age of mass media, like Nixon.

CAN’T LIVE WITHOUT Coffee Yoga Chocolate Her Google calendar A good book (currently “Adnan’s Story” by Rabia Chaudry)

on the scene

For more photos from these And other events, visit the online gallery at www.ontaponline.com.

Graves in The Little Foxes at Arena Stage

Photo: C. Stanley Photography

OT: Do you get nervous before a performance? What do you do to prepare for the moment when the curtain rises?

MG: I’m always at least a little nervous. It’s rare that I feel completely at ease before a performance. I try to channel that anxious energy by eating a healthy meal, so I’m not adding hunger to the mix, and doing yoga before the show.

ACTING MUST-HAVES Water bottle Granola bars Photo: Aaron Sutten

Mechanical pencils iPhone Lip balm

Graves in Peter and the Starcatcher at Virginia Repertory Theatre

OT: Who are your acting mentors, and what did they say that has stuck with you the most so far?

MG: I’ve been fortunate to have had great learning opportunities with every piece I’ve worked on. The level of professionalism and creative chutzpah in this town is off the charts. One of the best pieces of advice I’ve received is be kind and know your sh-t. I’d say that about sums it all up.

OT: How would you describe the theatre community in DC? MG: The theatre community here in DC is very tightly knit, and the talent pool is incredibly strong. In particular, the cohort of young female actors I’ve come up with is fantastically driven and gifted. It’s one of the things I particularly love about this market.

Don’t miss Megan Graves in The Great Society from February 2 to March 11 on Arena Stage’s Fichandler Stage. Tickets start at $56, but check www.arenastage.org for information about student and other discounts.

Arena Stage: 1101 6th St. SW, DC; 202-488-3300; www.arenastage.org

Photos: John Gervasi

OT: When you’re not performing, where do you like to spend time in the city?

MG: In the summertime, I love to sit out on the back patio at Republic in Takoma Park. It’s a relaxing atmosphere, the shrub cocktails are delish and there are succulents everywhere. Hipster heaven.

It was a fun evening around the tree on Rosslyn’s Central Place Plaza! Guests enjoyed music from The Woodshedders and carolers while sipping on a glass of wine or hot chocolate with schnapps.

www.ontaponline.com | Winter 2018 | On Tap

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Leading Ladies of the Airwaves Dish on Dreamy Athletes

By Natalia Kolenko and Kayla Marsh Valentine’s Day is just around the corner, and while you may not have a SO in your life at the moment, you can always put on a Caps game and pretend you’re dating Braden Holtby. Or maybe you do that even if you are in a relationship... Either way, you are not alone in admiring some of today’s most talented – and attractive – professional athletes. Five fierce females in the world of local TV and radio gushed to On Tap about their favorite sports stars, and what makes each of them so crushworthy.

Ashley Iaconetti

Julie Wright

Reporter/podcast host Access Hollywood, Almost Famous and I Don’t Get It

Photo: Courtesy of Ashley Iaconetti

Anchor Good Morning Washington and NewsChannel8’s Let’s Talk Live Photo: Courtesy of Julie Wright

Crushing on: 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo

Crushing on: Washington Capitals right wing T.J. Oshie

Best traits: Strong leader and hard-working

Why she’s crushing: I’ve had the pleasure of interviewing T.J. a couple of times, and he’s always so easy to talk to. To say that he’s friendly is an understatement. He’s a humble guy, and he really lights up when talking about his family.

Why she’s crushing: He’s so commanding and encouraging with teammates. He can carry a team. Also, that face…

Perfect date with Jimmy: I’m pretty classic: good food, wine and conversation, ideally somewhere warm and by the water.

Best Valentine’s Day spot in the DMV: Ever since I was a little kid, I’ve wanted to go ice skating at Reston Town Center with a crush and stroll around with hot chocolate.

Where she’d shop for him: Odds are I’d be hitting up some of the athletic wear stores at Tysons Mall.

Find Iaconetti dating and competing on The Bachelor Winter Games this February on ABC, reporting every Tuesday on Access Hollywood on NBC, hosting the Almost Famous and the I Don’t Get It podcasts, and writing for www.cosmopolitan.com. Learn more at www.byashleyi.com.

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On his “it” factor: The thing that makes T.J. so dreamy is that he’s tough on the ice but so smooth in person, [and I] love that about him. He handles his business on the ice but during interviews, he really is just a guy who’s psyched about playing hockey!

What she’s dying to ask him: If I could ask T.J. a personal question, I would ask, “Do you wish for your girls to play hockey?”

Watch Wright on ABC7/WJLA-TV’s Good Morning Washington and NewsChannel8’s Let’s Talk Live, and follow her on Twitter at @thejuliewright.

What she’s dying to ask him: My first very important question would be: Team NSYNC or Team BSB? If I’m only getting one question, we’ve got to figure out the real deal breaker issues.

DC date night spot: I’d want to go to whatever his favorite spot is so that I can get to know him, and so I don’t have to make the decision. Then we can finish up the night with alcoholic milkshakes at Ted’s Bulletin because I’m not sure there’s anything else I need on any given night.

Elizabethany Host HOT 99.5 Photo: Courtesy of Elizabethany

Crushing on: Redskins safety D.J. Swearinger Best traits: My crush is totally on his personality. He’s fun to watch on the field. He always seems amped up, and the energy spreads to the fans and teammates. [It] doesn’t hurt that he makes some big plays.

What she’d buy him for Valentine’s Day: It’d be fun to do one of the Smithsonian’s scavenger hunts together or get tickets to zipline, kayak, paddle board or any other outdoor activities to do once it’s warm again.

Why they’re a good match: We’d make a good match on the days he brings home the “W.” My heart is already so affected by Redskins games; it might be dangerous to get that much closer to it all. What if he breaks my heart in all of the ways?!

Catch Elizabethany on HOT 99.5 from 2-7 p.m. every day, and on Mondays with the station’s new “Monday Motivation Mix.” Follow Elizabethany online at @luvelizabethany.

Aly Jacobs

Media personality & former radio host 98.7 WMZQ and Mix107.3

Kelly Collis Co-host 94.7 Fresh FM’s The Tommy Show

Photo: Stacy Zarin Goldberg Makeup: Valerie Hammer Makeup Artistry Hair: Anna Fazio

Athlete crush: Washington Wizards point guard John Wall Why she’s crushing: He’s got swag and confidence. Oh, and he’s not bad to look at either.

Best traits: He’s fearless on the court and has a lot of heart. It’s admirable to see all [of his] charitable work – from his Light the Night Walk to the John Wall Foundation, he’s always giving back to the community.

Why he’s a star athlete: His speed and his vision on the court Perfect date night: Well, it would have to be a date that my husband is invited to since he is just as much of a fan as I am. Bowling with John Wall would be pretty awesome.

Where she’d shop for him: I know he’s a fashion guy, so I would say Tysons for a custom suit.

Follow Jacobs on Twitter at @alyjacobs727 and Instagram at @alyjacobs.

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ON TAP | WINTER 2018 | www.ontaponline.com

Photo: Courtesy of Kelly Collis

Athlete crush: Washington Nationals Why the team love: I have an interesting love affair with the team. I have raised my kids since they were in diapers to love baseball and now that they are teenagers, it is one of our favorite activities to do as a family. There is nothing better than a Saturday night game in the middle of the summer!

Best traits: Their ability to have games that make you proud to be a fan. I was there for Zimmermann’s no-hitter and Scherzer’s 20 strikeouts. I was there when they clinched the playoffs in 2017. Those memories are the best.

On who stands out the most on the team: Ryan Zimmerman, the heart and the unofficial captain of the team. He has been with the team since the beginning, he had an incredible season in 2017 and [he’s] one of the few players to really put his roots into the DC community.

What she’d give the team for Valentine’s Day: An extension in Bryce Harper’s contract

Find Collis every weekday morning with Tommy McFly and Jen Richer on The Tommy Show from 5-10 a.m. on 94.7 Fresh FM, and follow her on Twitter at @cityshopgirl.

All Drink, Dine, Do event listings are provided by the venues hosting them.

Mardi Gras Events

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On Tap | Winter 2018 | www.ontaponline.com

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 3

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 10

The Sweet Spot DC: Mardi Gras Edition Get ready to experience the world’s best performance poets, live body art models, sultry burlesque dancers, live music, fashion, comedy and the most electrified host you have ever seen. All this mixed in with a Mardi Gras theme. If you have never partied from your seat, let this be the first time.

7 p.m. $20-$60. The Howard Theatre: 620 T St. NW, DC; www.howardtheatre.com

ACM 50th Anniversary Mardi Gras Family Day In celebration of the museum’s 50th anniversary, the Smithsonian’s Anacostia Community Museum is pulling out all the stops. For the first time ever, the museum will hold its annual Mardi Gras event in the ACM’s own 2,500 square foot main gallery. That means more space for exciting art workshops, clowns, magicians, living statues, fortune tellers, face painting, balloon art, Marie

Laveau (a storyteller), live New Orleans jazz, a family-style second-line parade down Bourbon Street’s red carpet, arts and crafts vendors and more. Last year 1,500 people attended this popular annual event. Don’t miss out. It might be cold outside, but the heat will be on all day inside the Anacostia Community Museum.

11 a.m. - 4 p.m. Smithsonian’s Anacostia Community Museum: 1901 Fort Pl. SE, DC; www.anacostia.si.edu Cooking Up History: Carnival and Haitian Food Traditions For lovers of food and history, the National Museum of American History will team up with the Embassy of Haiti and the National Museum of African American History and Culture for a Carnival celebration at their free monthly cooking demonstration. The event will explore the history of Carnival and how communities in the Caribbean and the United States celebrate this holiday through food. 1-2 p.m. Free to attend. National Museum of American History: 14th St. and Constitution Ave. NW, DC; www.americanhistory.si.edu DC Jags Mardi Gras Ball The Southern University Alumni Federation, Washington, DC chapter, will hold its annual Mardi Gras ball at the Bethesda Jazz & Blues Club. Join for an evening of dinner, dancing and entertainment. The attire for the event is formal. 8 p.m. - 1 a.m.

Tickets start at $100. Bethesda Blues & Jazz Supper Club: 7719 Wisconsin Ave. Bethesda, MD; www.bethesdabluesjazz.com DC Mardi Party The DC Mardi Party is your chance to experience Mardi Gras, New Orleans-style, without leaving DC. Chinatown’s favorite bars are teaming up to offer you: $3 Abita beers, $4 Rum cocktails and food specials all day; as well as Mardi Gras beads, masks, party gear and prizes.

Check in for a general admission ticket is from 1-4 p.m. Tickets are $25. 10 Tavern: 707 G St. NW, DC; www.10tavern.com RISQUÉ Mardi Gras at the Crucible Mardi Gras is a time for celebration, a time for revelry and, of course, a time for sin and decadence. For generations, people have celebrated excess and indulgence every year for Mardi Gras, and now, the celebration is coming to RISQUÉ as they throw their very own masquerade ball to celebrate Carnival. Don your disguise and discretely mingle amongst the party-goers masked in mystery and draped in decadence.

Revel in the anonymity of the masquerade, indulge in hidden affairs and secret submissions in a night of overwhelming beauty and imagination. RISQUÉ is more than just a party this month, they’re celebrating the magic and vice of the masquerade. 9 p.m.-3 a.m. Tickets are $20 for members and $30 for guests.

The Crucible: 412 V St. NE, DC; www.the-crucible.com

Join us for

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 11 Mardi Gras 101 You don’t have to enroll at Tulane to learn how to party like a ragin’ cajun. Let Kim Stryker, an independent folklorist and ethnographic researcher who teaches about folklore and folklife at George Mason University, give you a deep understanding of Mardi Gras and other Carnival traditions.

You’ll learn the scholarly theories surrounding such festivals, the basics of Mardi Gras parade etiquette, the origins of the Mardi Gras Indians, just why you’ll find a baby in the King Cake and the exact meaning of terms such as “second line” and “krewe.” 6-9 p.m. $10. Bier Baron Tavern: 1523 22nd St. NW, DC; www.facebook.com/ profsandpints

Saturday & Sunday 11AM - 3PM

Check us out at

sineirishpub.com for the full brunch and regular menus. Come enjoy our brunch inside when you want to watch your favorite game on our large projection screens!

www.ontaponline.com | Winter 2018 | On Tap

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Tuesday, February 13

Bar Louie Bead Bash For Fat Tuesday, all Bar Louie locations in the DMV will be serving up celebratory drink specials to get you in the Mardi Gras mindset. So head out to all participating locations in the area and bask in the boozy goodness that is $5.50 Hurricanes and Blue Bayous, and $10 Voodoo chicken, pasta and sandwiches. These amazing deals last all day. Various Bar Louie locations; www.barlouie.com

Clarendon Mardi Gras Ball The 2018 edition of the Clarendon-Courthouse Mardi Gras Parade and Ball is right around the corner! There will be great music, great food in the Fat Tuesday tradition and beer from Heritage Brewing, and the CA’s popular “Fat Tuesday Punch.” The Mardi Gras Ball is a ticketed event, which along with parade entry fees helps them defray their substantial parade expenses. Everybody who participates loves it. Dogs, horses, floats, decorated vehicles, music, dancers and marching groups…it’s a Clarendon tradition. $20-$50.

Clarendon Ballroom: 3185 Wilson Blvd. Arlington, VA; www.clarendon.org/mardi-gras

Hot N Juicy Crawfish Eating Contest Enjoy the Annual Mardi Gras Celebration and Crawfish eating contest at 6:30 p.m.

Buy one pound and get the second half off and enjoy beer specials all day in DC and Virginia locations.

There are various prizes available for the hungriest competitors, and beer specials all day. Exact times and ticket prices TBA. Hot N Juicy: 2650 Connecticut Ave. NW, DC and 116 W. Broad Church St. Falls Church, VA; www.hotnjuicycrawfish.com

Mardi Gras Extravaganza Save the Date. Coming to Union Market’s Dock 5 on Fat Tuesday, the Mardi Gras Extravaganza will bring together over 20 of the DC area’s best Southerninspired restaurants, top mixologists, bar and breweries, and rotating bands for a night of N’awlins fun. The event will benefit DC Central Kitchen and The Roots of Music. There will also be Hurricane cocktail competitions and partygoers will compete for the best costume award. 6-10 p.m. Tickets are $65. Dock 5: 1309 5th St. NE, DC; www. mardigrasextravaganza.com

FEBRUARY 13TH 2018 CORONA GIRLS FROM 6-7PM

FIREBALL GIRLS FROM 7-8PM

JACK DANIELS GIRLS FROM 8-9PM

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On Tap | Winter 2018 | www.ontaponline.com

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 13

Wharf DC Mardi Gras Parade & Celebration Let the good times roll and get ready to catch some beads, dance in the streets, feast on festive food and toast to Fat Tuesday. The parade will be set to the sounds of classic NOLA brass band music and feature custom-designed floats from our Wharf friends, restaurants and retailers, along with high-flying balloons and, of course, bead tossing. Join in for an inaugural Mardi Gras celebration with a NOLAinspired parade down Wharf Street, dance party at District Pier and a fireworks finale that will light up the night in purple, green and gold. 6-8 p.m. Wharf DC: 700 Water St. SW, DC; www.wharfdc.com Mardi Gras Party with Cris Jacobs Band at Union Stage Union Stage is hosting a party for Mardi Gras. Come and see the Cris Jacobs band play live.

The night will include craft beer and food specials. The tap room will open at 5 p.m. But the Cris Jacobs band will go on at 7:30 p.m. Union Stage: 740 Water St. SW, DC; www.unionstage.com The Park at Fourteenth Mardi Gras Celebration Join as Park at Fourteenth transforms into The Park at Bourbon Street. Chef Lois Spencer will draw from her Caribbean roots as she transports you to New Orleans.

Enjoy dinner and then turn on the party with beads, masks and live music! Book early and enjoy a Hurricane or two as everyone turns it up on Bourbon Street!

Must register to attend. 5 p.m. 2 a.m. Free to register. The Park at Fourteenth: 920 14th St. NW, DC; www.park14.com

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SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 17 Mardi Gras & 10th CD Straw Poll Come to Mount Vernon Unitarian Church for a night of music, dancing, buffet and an open bar with beer and wine.

Also, make sure to come in and vote for your candidate in the first straw poll for the 10th CD Democratic Primary.

Party with Rep. Don Beyer, local democratic leaders, official and candidates. 6-9 p.m. Tickets are $55 in advance and $65 at the door. Mount Vernon Unitarian Church: 1909 Windmill Ln. Alexandria, VA; www.mvuc.org

curling or simply enjoy some of Pun DMV the winter cocktails. Sign up on Come out and take part in site. Come with a partner or be some wordplay. All are invited matched with one when you to watch or compete in Pun YOUNG NIGHT DMV, a pun contest. The night arrive.

BeginnersPROSE are welcomed and encouraged. Must wear features two events, based on soft-soled tennis shoes. 7:30the O. Henry Pun-Off World 35PROSE OR 9:30 YOUNG p.m. Wharf DC:UNDER? 700 Water Championship: the Freestyle, NIGHT St. SW, DC; www.wharfdc.com in which contestants prepare Tickets are JUST $25. short pun-filled speeches; 35 OR UNDER? FREE DRINK with the cast and the Tournament, in which WEDNESDAY, after the performance!

Tickets are JUST $25. contestants engage in on-theJANUARY 31 and FREE DRINK with the cast NEXTafter UP:the January 31 and February 9 spot pun battles. 7:30-9:15 performance!

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 9 p.m. Tickets are $6. The DC NEXT UP: January 31 and February 9 Improv Comedy Club: 1140

by William Shakespeare | directed by Michael KahnConnecticut Ave. NW, DC; featuring MICHAEL URIE as HAMLET www.dcimprov.com

HAMLET HAMLET

by William Shakespeare | directed by Michael Kahn featuring MICHAEL URIE as HAMLET

Now playing throughthrough March 4 Now playing

March 4

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 1 Drink and Draw at Fantom Comics Fantom Comics now has its ORDER TODAY! own tavern license and they ShakespeareTheatre.org Shakespeare Theatre’s 202.547.1122 are inviting all to help break it Hamlet: Young Prose Night ORDER TODAY! in. Fantom is a great hangout In the wake of his father’s ShakespeareTheatre.org space for comic book fans and abrupt death,202.547.1122 Hamlet returns nerds of all stripes. Come for a Sidney Harman Hall | 610 F Street NW Washington, DC 20004 home from university night of drinking, drawing and to Hamlet find wine his sponsor: personal and comics, all of which add up to political world changed as Beer Sponsors: make happiness. 6:30-8:30 p.m. he never imagined it could No admission charge. Fantom — his mother remarried, Comics: 2010 P St. NW, DC; his uncle on the throne and www.fantomcomics.com a world seemingly gone insane. A ticket to Young Phillips After 5: Two Bars, Prose Night (YPN) includes Three Stars a post-show reception Did you know that the District with a complimentary of Columbia’s flag was inspired beer or wine. Show starts

by George Washington’s coat at 7:30 p.m. on January 31 of arms? Come celebrate all and 8 p.m. on February things DC with local artists, 9. $25. Sidney Harman entrepreneurs and musicians.

Hall: 610 F St. NW, DC; Hear local artists talk about www.shaekspearetheatre.org other DC artists featured in the permanent collection and enjoy a performance by DC composer and singer Lulu Fall. In WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 31 partnership with Shop Made in The Inauguration Barrel No. 5 DC, enjoy discussions with Shop Release Party Made in DC co-founder Stacey Join Teddy and the Bully Bar Price, as well as spotlight talks as they release their new with local makers Cherie Lester Barrel No. 5 aged for 26 days, and Eva Calonder. 5-8:30 p.m. along with two craft cocktails, Tickets are $12; $10 for visitors featuring Jos A. Magnus & 62 and over and students.

Co. spirits. There will be live Members always admitted music from the Satin Doll Trio, free, no reservation needed. complimentary bar bites, barrel The Phillips Collections: and cocktail tastings, and finally 1600 21st St. NW, DC; Magnus tastings. 6-9 p.m. Free www.phillipscollection.org admission. Teddy & the Bully Bar: 1200 19th St. NW, DC; www.teddyandthebullybar.com Photo of Michael Urie by Tony Powell

Photo of Michael Urie by Tony Powell

Sidney Harman Hall | 610 F Street NW Washington, DC 20004

Hamlet wine sponsor:

Beer Sponsors:

Patrons must be 21 years or older. Valid ID required. Some restrictions apply. Subject to availability and cannot be combined with other offers or previously purchased tickets.

THROUGH SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 4 Alexandria Restaurant Week Through February 4, more than 60 Alexandria restaurants will feature a $35 three-course dinner for one or a $35 dinner for two during Alexandria Winter Restaurant Week. More than 30 restaurants will also offer lunch menus at $10, $15 or $20 per person in addition to the dinner specials. Alexandria Winter Restaurant Week showcases the inventiveness of local chefs in neighborhoods throughout the city, including Old Town, Del Ray and the West End. For participating restaurants and menus visit Alexandria Restaurant Week: Various Locations; www. alexandriarestaurantweek.com

MONDAY, JANUARY 29 Curling & Cocktails Enliven your Monday with curling and cocktails. At the Wharf there will be a free, friendly game of curling on the ice rink. Warm with a round of

ON TAP | WINTER 2018 | www.ontaponline.com

Patrons must be 21 years or older. Valid ID required. Some restrictions apply. Subject to availability and cannot be combined with other offers or previously purchased tickets.

Premiering soon

in dc!

Drink responsibly. Corona PremierŠ Beer, Imported by Crown Imports, Chicago IL 12 FL. OZ. Serving Average Analysis: Calories 90, Carbs 2.6 Grams, Protein 0.7 Grams, Fat 0.0 Grams

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 3

Brunch Fest Like brunch? Well, of course you do, everyone does, but do you like it enough to enjoy an all-you-can eat extravaganza? If yes, join for Brunch Fest which features a plethora of different local restaurants offering up their unique takes on fare between breakfast and lunch.

Drinks will also be available, including the Almost Famous Bloody Mary Bar and The Fresh Mimosa Bar. 11 a.m. - 3 p.m. $89. Dock 5: 1309 5th St. SE, DC; www.drinkeatbrunch. com

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 5 Seeing Deeper: Space, Light and Sound Experience the darkened interior of the Washington National Cathedral bathed in moving lights and sounds.

This is a single night event and space is limited, but there are three different sessions which you can RSVP for: 6:30-7:15 p.m., 7:15-8 p.m. and 8-8:45 p.m. Washington National Cathedral: 3101 Wisconsin Ave. NW, DC; www.cathedral.org

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 6 Joe Biden: American Promise Tour Joe Biden has always believed that when given a chance, ordinary people can do extraordinary things. As a scrappy kid from Scranton

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SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 3

Rosé After Hours Wear your Pink Chic outfit and join DC’s first festival exclusively dedicated to rosé wine. Rosé After Hours is a blend of the best rosé wines from all over the world served with food delights and music. Be inspired by the world-wide range of wines.

More than 50 different rosés, champagnes, sparklings and sauternes from the best producers. Sample fantastic foods at amazing bars.

International Cheese Bar, Build Your Own Taco Station, The Mediterranean Bar, Italian Favorites Buffet and the Build Your Own Crostini Bar. 4:30-7 p.m. $59. Dock 5: 1309 5th St. SE, DC; www. roseafterhours.com who rose to the Office of Vice President, he is no exception. In 2018, Vice President Biden will extend his American Promise Tour, a series of conversations that will go beyond the 24-hour news cycle and 280-character arguments to connect friends and neighbors around the topics that matter most. Each ticket includes a copy of Vice President Joe Biden’s #1 New York Times bestselling memoir “Promise Me, Dad: A Year of Hope, Hardship, and Purpose” (a $27 value, published by Flatiron Books). 6:30-10 p.m.

Tickets start at $95. The Anthem: 901 Wharf St. SW, DC; www.theanthem.com

On Tap | Winter 2018 | www.ontaponline.com

Whiskey School DC: Finishing Whiskey Join in the Whiskey School’s first class of 2018. The Whiskey Library is thrilled to be launching this program in the new year with Virginia Distillery Co. and their amazing whiskies.

They will be hosting a terrific seminar titled “Finishing Whisky,” wherein the ways in which whiskey makers are finishing their whiskey in something other than just bourbon barrels will be discussed. As part of the class, try a selection of great whiskies from Virginia Distillery Co. 6:30-8 p.m. Tickets are $25.

Rebellion: 1836 18th St. NW, DC; www.whiskeylibrarydc.com

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 7 The Pancakes & Booze Art Show This is an art show, but it’s not your typical art gallery. Since 2009, the best venues have been filled in over 30 cities around the world with favorite local artists, photographers, bands and DJs. Each show usually features between 50-150 local artisans, a unique lineup of live musicians and/ or DJs, live painting, body painting and more. Oh, and of course PANCAKES! It’s the art community and those outside the community coming together by creating an upbeat art show that appeals to the masses. 7 p.m. - 2 a.m. Tickets $15-$18.

Penn Social: 801 E St. NW, DC; www.pancakesandbooze.com

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 8 Target Gallery: “Passages” Opening Reception Target Gallery, a contemporary exhibition space of the Torpedo Factory Art Center, presents “Passages,” a group exhibition that explores the lasting effect

migration has on cultural identity from the perspective of immigrants and immigrant families across the global diaspora. This exhibition gives an intimate look into their individual experiences and how these experiences have shaped who they are today. The juror for this exhibition is Adriana Ospina, Curator of the Permanent Collection and Education at the Art Museum of the Americas.

6-8 p.m. Target Gallery: 105 N Union St. Alexandria, VA; www.torpedofactory.org Nerd Nite at DC9 Nerd Nite is an informal gathering at which nerds get together for nerdery of all sorts, but mostly presentations and drinking.

Nerds and non-nerds alike gather to meet, drink and learn something new. Each evening, three nerds will give short, fun presentations where they can nerd out about sperm transfer, string theory, Aztec mythology or some similarly nerdilicious topic. While they talk, you drink, thereby increasing their wittiness, and your IQ. 6:30-9 p.m. DC9 Nightclub: 1940 9th St. NW, DC; www.dcnine.com Sportrock Grand Opening Party Come to Sportrock Alexandria for the grand opening of the expansions and renovations, which have been in the works for several years. The expansions and renovations include new bouldering areas, fitness areas and more padding. There will be music, games, raffles, competitions, food, classes, yoga and more. Note, is it all absolutely free, including the yoga classes and use of the gym. 2-8 p.m.

Sportrock Climbing Centers: 5308 Eisenhower Ave. Alexandria, VA; www.sportrock.com

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 12 TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 13 Science Fiction vs. Science Comedy Show We love science and science fiction, and Fantom Comics will be combining the two for a special comedy event.

Comedians Kasha Patel and Robert Mac will entertain you with science comedy while headliner Mike Capozzola will take you on a comedic journey through his love of science fiction from childhood.

7:30-8:45 p.m. Fantom Comics: 2010 P St. NW, DC; www.fantomcomics.com

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 12 Show Tunes & Cocktails February 2018 Spend an evening at the Beacon Bar & Grill, sipping on cocktails and singing your favorite tunes at theatreWashington’s monthly Show Tunes & Cocktails.

Featuring Maestro Glenn Pearson at the piano and guest artist, Helen Hayes Award nominee (Adventure Theatre MTC’s Garfield, The Musical with Cattitude), John Sygar, recently seen in Nextstop Theatre Company’s Assassins and next performing at Signature Theatre in the world premiere of Robbie Schaefer’s Light Years starting March 6. Enjoy selections from the Beacon’s happy hour menu and a chance to win some great theatre ticket giveaways. 7-10 p.m. Beacon Bar & Grill: 1615 Rhode Island Ave. NW, DC; www.bbgwdc.com

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 14 Clean Slate DC: A New Kind of Valentine’s Party If you don’t have a Valentine, that’s not a problem for Lost Society. At Clean Slate DC, it’s a new year and Three Day Rule matchmakers want to be your personal cupid as they take over the roof of Lost Society for a massive Valentine’s Day bash. Bring your favorite wingman or wingwoman, grab

a cocktail and meet someone new. If you really want to wipe your slate clean, there will be a ‘Burning Cauldron of Love’ in which to toss a picture of an ex.

6-9 p.m. Tickets are $15. Lost Society: 2001 14th St. NW, DC; www.lostsociety-dc.com DC Champagne Masterclass with Champagne Lanson Prepare for an evening of luxury when signing up for this masterclass. Champagne is expensive, which makes tasting the entire premier range of Champagnes from Maison Lanson without buying all the bottles even more appealing.

Join the evening’s host, Thibault Marronier of Maison Lanson, as he takes participants through the Champagne-making process, explains the unique beauty of the Champagne region and opens bottle after bottle for all to enjoy. 7:30-9 p.m. Tickets are $65. Cork & Fork DC: 1522 14th St. NW, DC; www.corkandfork.co

MARK YOUR CALENDAR: SATURDAY, MARCH 3

Brewer’s Ball This is one of the best craft beer events of the season, hosting over 40 of the best breweries and 30 popular restaurants. Guests enjoy unlimited samplings of handcrafted beers and tastes of the best local cuisine.

Dance the night away with live entertainment, or bid on unique silent and live auction items and experiences. 7 p.m. $150. National Building Museum: 401 F St. NW, DC; www.dcbrewersball.org www.ontaponline.com | Winter 2018 | On Tap

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Tickets are JUST $25.

FREE DRINK with the cast

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 15 Brown Bag Lecture at the Wilson Center: History of Place This presentation is about an African American settlement that originated in Washington, DC right after the Civil War in 1867. Approximately 40,000 African American refugees came into Washington DC during the Civil War. They were destitute when they arrived, and most them had to settle first on the streets and later on makeshift housing built from discarded materials. The Freedmen’s Bureau decided to create a settlement in the Southeast side of Washington DC to help the newly arrived immigrants of the city to build their homes. 12-1 p.m. Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars: 1300 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, DC; www.wilsoncenter.org Curator’s Perspective: Ten Americans Elsa Smithgall, curator of Ten Americans: After Paul Klee, the Phillip’s collection ongoing exhibit, will lead a discussion on the impact of Paul Klee on the American artists featured in the exhibit and Klee’s importance within the history of the Phillips Collection. 6:30-7:30 p.m. The Phillips Collection: 1600 21st St. NW, DC; www.phillipscollection.org

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 16 SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 17

50 Shades of Rosé Irresistible couplings of oysters, chocolate and crisp rosé make for the perfect Valentine’s or Gal-entine’s pregame that will bring pleasure to both couples and singles alike. Shimmy on the dance floor and shop the artisan market. Before leaving,

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stop by the retail store to grab a bottle to keep the party going.

Friday, 6-9 p.m. Saturday, 1-4 p.m. and 6-9 p.m. Tickets start at $69. La Maison Française at the French Embassy: 4101 Reservoir Rd. NW, DC; www.franceintheus.org

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 16 SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 18 Long, Long Way: Race & Film 1968-2018 Co-sponsored by Baylor University and the Austin Film Festival, this threeday conference held at the Washington National Cathedral will consider how film has been both a divisive and unifying medium, and how it offers unique opportunities to launch substantial conversations about race and prejudice. Through film screenings, discussions, keynote speakers, teaching sessions on race and film and preaching on race and racial reconciliation, attendees will both participate in a national celebration of the life and work of Dr. Martin Luther King during Black History Month, and elevate a national conversation on what divides us — and how we are meant to toil together. Washington National Cathedral: 3101 Wisconsin Ave. NW, DC; www.cathedral.org

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 17 DC Horror Nights Come and join in a night filled with horror and metal and free gifts for the first 100 guests.

There will be a film screening of Night of the Creep and live music

by Sangre Inédita, Sickdeer and I Against Eye. Starts at 7 p.m.

The Pinch: 3548 14th St. NW, DC; www.thepinchdc.com

Winter White Out Day Party Join hundreds of winter day drinkers in Dupont Circle for a day of DJs, drinking and

ON TAP | WINTER 2018 | www.ontaponline.com

partying. The annual Winter White Out Day Party will include DJs, multiple bars, theme rooms and drink specials.

Dress in your best “All White Out” attire. Tickets include seven hours of drink specials and access to the event. Drink specials are $2 beers, $3 rails, $4 winter shots. 2-9 p.m. Tickets are $15. The Front Page Restaurant and Grille: 1333 New Hampshire Ave. NW, DC; www.frontpagedc.com

after the performance!

WEDNESDAY ,FEBRUARY NEXT UP: February 21 and March 2 21

NOURA

by Heather Raffo | directed by Joanna Settle

February 6–March 11 Shakespeare Theatre’s Noura: ORDER Young Prose Night TODAY! NouraShakespeareTheatre.org challenges our notions of modern202.547.1122 marriage and motherhood through a portrait of Iraqi immigrants living in New York. As Noura and her husband Tareq prepare to celebrate their first Christmas as American citizens, she looks forward to welcoming a special guest — Maryam, a young Iraqi refugee. A ticket to Young Prose Night (YPN) includes a post-show reception with a complimentary beer or wine. Show starts at 7:30 p.m. $25. Lansburgh Theatre: 450 7th St. NW, DC; www.shakespearetheatre.org Lansburgh Theatre | 450 7th St NW Washington, DC 20004

Noura wine sponsor: Beer Sponsors:

Photo of Heather Raffo by Diana Zeyneb Alhindawi.

Patrons must be 21 years or older. Valid ID required. Some restrictions apply. Subject to availability and cannot be combined with other offers or previously purchased tickets.

Yoga + Baby Goats at the Animal Welfare League of Arlington Join in the happiest event in all the land: Goat Yoga. This event is a one-hour, mellow, mostly seated yoga practice. The small, friendly goats visiting from the Little Goat Farm at the Lake in Nokesville, VA will roam among participants as they practice.

BYO yoga mat. No children under 10, please. There will be a 12 p.m. session and a 1:30 p.m. session. Tickets are $35. Animal Welfare League of Arlington: 2650 S Arlington Mill Dr. Arlington, VA; www.awla.org

Squad with games, treats and more. There will be two hours of snow tubing action while warming up in between runs with s’mores around the fire.

Tickets include pregame happy hour at Kelly’s Irish Times starting at 4:30 p.m. The bus departs at 6:30 p.m. and returns to Kelly’s at 1 a.m. 4:30 p.m. - 1 a.m. Tickets are $69. DC Fray: 951 V St. NE, DC; www.dcfray.com

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 19

Late Night Snow Tubing Grab your friends and join in a night of high speed fun, skidding across the floodlit slopes at Avalanche Express. Kicking things off with a pregame at Kelly’s Irish Times at 4:30 p.m. before hopping aboard the #Fraylife Bus (BYOB). You’ll be entertained all the way to the slopes by the legendary Events

Grape Expectations Wine Book Club: “The Widow Clicquot” The February book selection for the Grape Expectations book club is “The Widow Clicquot: The Story of a Champagne Empire and the Woman Who Ruled It.” Read the book, or not, and share in the world of French Champagne, nibbles and great conversation with friends at the Book Club gathering. 7-9 p.m.

Tickets are $30. Sonoma Cellar: 207 King St. Alexandria, VA; www.mysonomacellar.com

Whiskey Brothers: The Best of Barrel Proof Bourbon This one is for the bourbon diehards out there. The Whiskey Bros are back in February for a class on barrel proof, or cask-strength, bourbon. This means the whiskey is bottled straight from the barrel. The resulting dram is extremely flavorful, with a much higher proof, typically in the 120 to 130 proof range. Most whiskeys are watered down out of the barrel to reach the more typical 80 to 100 proof range. Not so at the Best of Barrel Proof Bourbon. Come for the purest drinking experience you can have. 7-9 p.m. Tickets are $47.50.

Petworth Citizen & Reading Room: 829 Upshur St. NW, DC; www.petworthcitizen.com

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 23

31st Anniversary YMCA Chocolates Galore & More The evening will feature tastings of hors d’oeuvre and dessert specialties from the area’s most talented chefs and bakers. You can dance the night away while enjoying freeflowing champagne, music, dancing, and an auction. 7-11 p.m. $50. Lansdowne Resort and Spa: 44050 Woodridge Pkwy. Leesburg, VA; www. loudounchocolates.com

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 24 DC Distillers Fest Prepare for a trip back to pre-Prohibition DC at the DC Distillers Festival. Over 20 specially curated craft distillers will join a 1920s jazz band at Long View Gallery and serve

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 24

on the scene

FOR MORE PHOTOS FROM THESE AND OTHER EVENTS, VISIT THE ONLINE GALLERY AT WWW.ONTAPONLINE.COM.

Fire & Ice Festival Some like it hot, some like it cold – and The Wharf has an exciting event for all. Come out to the inaugural Fire & Ice Festival, and warm yourself at the blazing bonfires while you admire the glistening ice sculptures on the piers. Live performances will include fire spinning and ice sculpting, as well as live music. Treat yourself to an amazing meal at the waterfront restaurants and enjoy hot or cool drinks at the bars and taverns. 7-9 p.m. Free to attend. The Wharf: 700 Water St. SW; www.wharfdc.com

patrons tastings over a threesession, all-day, all-night speakeasy experience. The speakeasy showcases over 60 specially selected, premium craft spirits from craft distilleries.

VIP admission means you will gain access an hour before the crowd, so you will have more time to sample and meet distillers face-to-face. 12-10 p.m.

Tickets start at $85. Long View Gallery: 1234 9th St. NW, DC; www.dcdistillersfest.com

Photos: Kayla Marsh

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 21

Friends of On Tap met up at Crafthouse Fairfax for a free winter beer sampling on Thursday evening. Guests enjoyed appetizers, six sample pours and entered a raffle.

www.ontaponline.com | WINTER 2018 | ON TAP

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Winter Olympics Edition

By Michael Loria

The 2018 Olympic Winter Games will be held from February 9-25 in Pyeongchang, South Korea. To avoid confusion with Pyongyang, the capital of North Korea, the PyeongChang games are being referred to with a capital “C.”

3

Don’t look for the Caps’ Ovie in PyeongChang, as the NHL will bar its athletes from competing for the first time since 1988.

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4

Four new disciplines have been added to the PyeongChang games including mass start speed skating, where 16 skaters start at once. Helmets and cut-proof suits and gloves are mandatory, as collisions are more common and high-speed skates can cut like a Wüsthoff.

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The recent development of high-speed rails has cut the trip from Seoul to PyeongChang in half, helping secure the Olympic bid, which the city failed to get in 2010 and 2014.

5

Big air snowboarding is another one of the four new disciplines at the games, and the ramp at PyeongChang is the largest in the world at 160 feet.

Due to doping in Rio 2016, no Russian government officials, flags or even the country’s anthem will be allowed at the games.

Russian athletes will have to participate under the IOC-designed Olympic Athlete from Russia banner.

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The other two new disciplines are mixed doubles curling and mixed team Alpine skiing.

These additions are part of an International Olympic Committee (IOC) initiative to promote gender equality at the games.

8 Just two athletes from North Korea will cross the demilitarized zone to compete in the games. Look for figure skaters Ryom Tae-ok and Kim Ju-sik at the opening ceremony on February 9.

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South Korea is 13 hours ahead of U.S. Eastern time, so look forward to watching these games live.

10 If you have grand plans to travel to the games, FYI that South Korea, like New Orleans, has no open container laws.

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Facts courtesy of the following articles: #1, 2: www.cnn.com/2017/12/08/world/2018-pyeongchang-winter-olympics-fast-facts #3, 10: www.pacificholidaysinc.com/blog/8-fun-facts-about-the-winter-olympics-2018-in-pyeong-chang #4: www.sports.yahoo.com/2018-pyeongchang-winter-olympics-fun #5: www.globalnews.ca/news/3962592/new-winter-olympics-events-2018 #6: www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/06/09/532256014/olympics-shift-ioc-doubles-number-of-mixed-gender-events-adds-5-sports #7: www.nytimes.com/2017/12/05/sports/olympics/ioc-russia-winter-olympics #8: www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-42600550 #9: www.si.com/olympics/2017/10/12/2018-winter-olympics-details

BUY YOUR TICKETS NOW! WWW.DCBREWERSBALL.ORG PROUD SUPPORTER OF CYSTIC FIBROSIS FOUNDATION

14thannual

Served Up by THE BEER INSTITUTE and Presented by BAKER TILLY

SATURDAY, MARCH 3, 2018

7:00 PM – 12:00 AM | National Building Museum | Washington, D.C. (All guests must be 21+) For more information, please contact Erin Leahey at 301-657-8444 or eleahey@cff.org

BREWERIES (As of 1/22/18)

RESTAURANTS: Belga Café & B Too • BJ’s Restaurants • China Chilcano • Daikaya • Dino’s Grotto • Hill Country Barbeque Market The Tavern at Ivy City Smokehouse • Matchbox • Mussel Bar • Penn Commons • Pete’s New Haven Style Apizza Richard Sandoval Restaurant Group • Stella Barra Pizzeria • Summer House Santa Monica • Tiger Fork Important Note on Attendance at Foundation Events: To reduce the risk of getting and spreading germs at CF Foundation-sponsored events, we ask that everyone follow basic best practices by regularly cleaning your hands with soap and water or with an alcohol-based hand gel, covering your cough or sneeze with a tissue or your inner elbow and maintaining a safe 6-foot distance from anyone with a cold or infection.

Medical evidence shows that germs may spread among people with CF through direct and indirect contact, as well as through droplets that travel short distances when a person coughs or sneezes. These germs can lead to worsening symptoms and speed decline in lung function. To further help reduce the risk of cross-infection, the Foundation’s attendance policy recommends inviting only one person with CF to an indoor Foundation-sponsored event at a specific time.

BEHIND THE BAR

By Trent Johnson

Sometimes being on the nose is appropriate. We’re on a Korean-inspired drinks kick this month, helping us get into the spirit for the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea. Luckily, the DMV offers a handful of fun options for people who want to try Korean libations, and we picked a few to highlight before the Olympics kick off on February 9.

Photos: Trent Johnson

Sophie Shin General Manager, BUL

Beverage Manager, Mandu

On Tap: BUL specializes in comfort Korean foods, but what about Korean comfort drinks?

Sophie Shin: We always recommend certain beers with our fried chicken, and certain stuff like our spicy soups go well with our soju, a rice liquor. Anything grilled also goes well with soju.

OT: What are some popular Korean cocktails?

SS: Korean cocktails are very simple, and most of them have a base of soju. A lot of the times, for us, the most popular thing is mixing it with beer. It’s called somek, and it’s the most common drink here. Some of the other trendy things we have here is mixing soju with certain juices and fruits.

OT: What’s your favorite cocktail to make?

SS: For winter, we sell a lot of hot sake, because it’s warm and easy to drink. Flavored sojus are also always very popular, and we have apple, peach and citron.

OT: What would you serve to winning Olympians? What about the losing athletes?

SS: I think a somek bomb. Basically, you line up a row of beer and you drop the soju glasses inside the beers like dominoes. I think it’s fun and showy. For the athletes who lose, I would say go with a stronger soju.

Sophie’s Pick

SOMEK BOMB Korean beer Shot of soju

BUL: 2431 18 St. NW, DC www.buldc.com

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Philip Anova

On Tap | Winter 2018 | www.ontaponline.com

On Tap: Tell me a little bit about your sojutinis. Is this a strict group of cocktails inspired by Korean fare, or is it a combination of Korean and American drink cultures?

Philip Anova: For the sojutinis, that’s pretty much all Korean. In Korea, they have these juices – basically things you grow up drinking as a kid – and we thought it would be a great idea to make cocktails with them.

OT: Tell us about one of your most popular cocktails.

PA: One of our bestsellers is the Smokey Korean; it’s a cocktail made with gochugaru pepper flakes, and I made simple syrup out of those.

OT: What’s your creative process when concocting these formulas?

PA: When I get a chance to mess around with some of the ingredients we’re using on our menu, I can have a field day. It’s really the tiny differences that give it a different cultural touch.

OT: What Korean drink would you recommend for winning athletes at the Olympics? And those trying to cope with their loss?

PA: We have a drink on our menu called a No Way Rosé, and we made our sour mix based off of Korean tea. For winners, you want a little bubbly, which is what this drink entails. For the losers, I think a straight shot of soju.

Philip’s Pick

SMOKEY KOREAN El Silencio mezcal Gochugaru simple syrup Yzaguirre sweet vermouth

Mandu: 453 K St. NW, DC www.mandudc.com

WEST CORK DISTILLERS

Steeped in long tradition, our authentic whiskeys represent Irish Whiskey-making at its finest.

10 Year Single Malt: A non-chill filtered whiskey matured in first-fill, flame charred bourbon barrels for ten years, with an additional 100 days aging in sherry butts for added complexity.

JOOHYUN GIL & JAE KIM

(PICTURED)

Co-Owners, DAK! Chicken

On Tap: Tell us about your rice wine cocktail, and the different styles of sojus you have.

Jae Kim: When customers come into a Korean restaurant, we want to give them an authentic experience, so that’s why we came up with several of our cocktails. The rice wine drinks are rare in Korea, because of the naturally bitter taste of the wine, but when you mix it with bitters and other flavors, it can taste fun.

OT: What drinks best complement your chicken?

Joohyun Gil: We have two types of Korean beers, and they’re probably our best sellers. You want a light beer with the fried food, and those two are perfect.

Bourbon Cask: A delicate blend of grain and malt whiskey matured in bourbon casks, delivering a smooth and approachable whiskey with a soft vanilla finish.

Irish Owned and Hand Crafted Triple Pot Distilled Prepared with locally sourced spring water Only Distillery to Malt Its Own Irish Grown Barley

OT: What’s current favorite on the drink menu?

JK: My favorite is the rice wine variant with peach in it. I’m not usually a sweet drinker, but the drink has vodka in it as well, so it gives a good buzz. Rice wine is pretty light, but when you add in the vodka, it gets stronger.

OT: What do you think the Olympic winners and losers should drink in Pyeongchang?

JK: I think for a winner, probably a somek bomb. It’s a common celebratory drink. For the losers, you have to get something strong, but they should celebrate too; it’s a tremendous honor to make it there. I’ll have to come up with something for them.

Joohyun and Jae’s Pick

RICE WINE COCKTAIL Rice wine Peach rice wine Vodka Sprite Cordials

DAK! Chicken: 4040 Campbell Ave. Arlington, VA www.dakchicken.com

Produced, Distilled and Bottled in Ireland by West Cork Distillers, LLC. Imported by M.S. Walker, Inc. Boston, MA. 40% Alc/Vol. www.westcorkdistillers.com PLEASE ENJOY RESPONSIBLY

www.ontaponline.com | WINTER 2018 | ON TAP

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The Bruery’s Patrick Rue

Photo: www.thebruery.com

By Trent Johnson For local beer lovers who didn’t get the memo in late January, you might have missed the grand opening of DC’s latest beer store: The Bruery.

Along with crafted concoctions, including beers with higher-than-normal ABVs, the new beer retailer brings a robust reputation to its Union Market space.

Though the brewery is firmly anchored in California, Patrick Rue’s company operates with a subscription service so that consumers can get their fix no matter where they’re located. Because of its strong customer base in DC, Rue figured the District would provide a fantastic opportunity to expand and venture into a new location.

Before the doors opened, we got a chance to speak with the former law student turned brewery owner, and we touched on what this expansion means for him, the positives of his subscription service, and the differences between his brewery and others in the craft market.

On Tap: Congratulations on opening your new location. Did you envision this level of expansion when you decided to forgo the bar exam and open a brewery?

Patrick Rue: Yeah, it’s surprising. My intent when we opened was to make interesting beers at a small place. I never expected to have more than 10 employees; it’s pretty crazy. Rather than setting myself with a large objective, I’ve tried to look at it year by year and take the opportunities as they come.

OT: What’s a boutique brewery?

PR: We focus on making a whole lot of different beers in small amounts. Most are in 750 or 375 milliliters, and we see ourselves on the higher end of the craft beer market. We do more time-extensive

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ON TAP | WINTER 2018 | www.ontaponline.com

practices. The general aftermarket has been all about flagships, regarding seasonals and stuff like that; we’ve never wanted to be beholden to a flagship. It becomes 70-80 percent of what you’re doing, because you’re focusing on one brand and it’s hard to stand out amongst the crowd.

OT: How long did it take you to brew a good beer?

PR: The first step was finding [the] efficiency of the brewhouse.

Instead of screwing up a bunch of our own beer, we did a homebrew contest and that really became our first batch of beer. Our third batch of beer won a bunch of awards, including gold medals in [a] competition. We made good ones and bad ones early on.

on the scene

For more photos from these And other events, visit the online gallery at www.ontaponline.com.

Photo: Katie Seaman

OT: What inspires you to make more alternative beers, such as the ones with ABVs nearing 20 percent?

PR: When I was a home brewer, I remember another home brewer telling me he liked the practice because he could make beers that aren’t commercially viable. You can use whatever ingredients you want, when the commercial market goes for what is financially feasible. That challenged me to think of why and how we could make those kinds of beers viable. I knew that Sierra Nevada and Stone had already locked themselves in place, so why compete with those traditional IPA and pale ale styles?

OT: How do your subscription services work?

PR: We have our memberships, which allow us to sell beers directly to the consumer. When you’re able to do that, the cost of ingredients isn’t as important, but when you’re in distribution, that’s harder. We’ll use wine grapes that make hybrids, and we’ll use fruits that go in $200 bottles of wine, whereas our beer is about $50.

OT: Where did you get the idea to adopt this practice?

PR: In 2009, Lost Abbey had a membership program called Saints and Sinners, and I thought it was a great way to get beer directly to your main customers. This is what led to our foray into those heavier beers.

We were a brewery that was barely a year old, and we had a line of 700 people, and we didn’t like them going through that pain to get our product. We wanted to identify who our core customers are, and then figure out an easier way to get them our beer.

OT: Why is DC a strong market for your new store?

PR: It’s a great craft beer culture, and it’s our best market outside of California. People have different ideas of what beers can be, and they’re very experimental; that’s just our style.

Photos: Shannon Darling and Katie Seaman

OT: Do you have any plans to open a brewery on the East Coast?

PR: Just a store right now. We still have room to grow in our California facility, and while shipping beers is expensive, it’s not as expensive as opening up a new brewery.

OT: Do you have any plans to do collaborations with some of the local breweries in the DMV? PR: At this point, we’re [still] getting to know everyone in the area, but we’d love to.

Learn more about The Bruery’s DC location at www.thebruery.com

The Bruery: 513 Morse St. NE, DC; 202-730-3600 www.thebruery.com/the-bruery-dc.

The Bruery Store at Union Market held its grand opening in January, and Bruery Founder Patrick Rue was there to chat with customers about the array of unique beers on offer.

www.ontaponline.com | Winter 2018 | On Tap

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All What’s On Tap listings are provided by the venues hosting them.

By Michael Loria Greetings, beer nerds! As you likely know, there are a number of fantastic spots in the DMV where you can grab a pint, and their menus are always evolving and adapting to your tastes. If you’d rather avoid the guessing game, check out what’s coming up at a few of these fine establishments.

TUESDAY, JANUARY 30

WEDNESDAY, FEBURARY 7

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 16

Aslin Beer Company Tap Takeover ChurchKey will showcase 25 different beers from Aslin Beer Company in Herndon, Virignia. The tap takeover is in anticipation of Aslin’s opening of their own tasting room in DC. Highlights include Cocoa Mapalm, an imperial stout finished with cocoa nibs, maple syrup and vanilla, and Sorbet, a juicy IPA infused with peach and mango.

There will also be a giveaway of Aslin and ChurchKey glassware. 4-11 p.m. Free admission. ChurchKey: 1337 14th St. NW, DC; www.churchkey.com

Perennial Takes Over ChurchKey ChurchKey will pour 20 different beers from the St. Louis-based Perennial Artisan Ales, including multiple versions of Abraxas and Sump. Abraxas is one of ChurchKey’s favorite releases of the year: a sweet imperial stout finished with cocoa nibs, vanilla beans and ancho chili peppers. They will also pour three versions of Sump, their coffee-infused imperial stout. Check it out during ChurchKey’s regular dinner service from 5-10 p.m. ChurchKey: 1337 14th St. NW, DC; www.churchkeydc.com

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 31

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 10

Love Thy Beer: Winter Warmer Showcase In the true spirit of FeBREWary, Love Thy Beer attendees will have the opportunity to chat with the experts behind Maryland beer in an intimate setting over seasonal ales. Think stouts, porters, winter seasonals, sours and anything out of the barrel. Tickets include access to light fare, live garage-folk music performed by Skribe, and all-youcare-to-sample tastings from a selection of specialty brews, including winter ales, cask ales, sours and small batch anything. 6-10 p.m. Tickets start at $55. Silver Spring Civic Building: 1 Veterans Pl. Silver Spring, MD; www.marylandbeer.org

Devils Backbone Tap Takeover It’s Wednesday wingsday and tap takeover at DC Tap House. Warm up at happy hour and after with Devils Backbone’s awardwinning brews and wings. Plus, there will be giveaways for everyone and a drawing at 7 p.m. for big Devils Backbone beer prizes.

Featured beers include Devils Backbone’s Vienna Lager, 16 Point Imperial IPA, CranGose and more. 4-7 p.m. Free admission.

DC Tap House: 1825 M St. NW, DC; www. taphousedc.com

Balaclavas, Baklava and Beer 2018 Bike Arlington will host this event at Shirlington’s New District Brewing Company. Learn to make your own balaclava and attend the workshop portion to learn how to make your own winter bike accessory, whether that’s an ear cover or a full-head balaclava. 12-4 p.m. The workshop is free, though tickets are required.

Or just come and hang out, no tickets required. There will be beer on tap as well as dessert treats. New District Brewing Company: 2709 S Oakland St. Arlington, VA; www.newdistrictbrewing.com

The Jester King Rare & Obscure Showcase at the Sovereign Join the Sovereign for a very special evening with Austin, Texas-based Jester King Brewery. The folks at Jester King have sent a lineup of 15 different beers for this event. Headlining the list are the rarely seen kegs of Montmorency Vs. Balaton, a barrel-aged, sour red ale refermented on Michigan cherries, and Super Ultramega Hyperforce, a farmhouse ale brewed with ginger, salt, tarragon and Texas-grown cantaloupes. 5-11 p.m. Free admission. The Sovereign: 1206 Wisconsin Ave. NW, DC; www.thesovereigndc.com

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Beer & Cupcake Pairing At BadWolf Brewing Company, there’s one best way to drink beer, and that is to pair it with some amazing cupcakes. Join BadWolf for a Valentine’s Day-themed cupcake and beer flight pairing. Tickets include a set beer flight and mini-cupcakes from Shameless Bakery. 2-6 p.m. Tickets are $15 in advance; $20 day of. BadWolf Brewing Company: 8420 Kao Circle, Manassas, VA; www.badwolfbrewingcompany.com

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 18 Paint & Brew Come and enjoy the vast selection of beer at Forge Brew Works and paint a flight paddle. Watch some sports while you paint. In each ticket, a flight of four brews, a paddle and paint supplies will be included. 1-3 p.m. Tickets are $29. Forge Brew Works: 8532 Terminal Rd. Lorton, VA; www.uncorkandcolor.com

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 19 SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 25 The Partisan & Red Apron Present Sours Week, Vol. 6 When it comes to their preferred pints, the Partisan and Red Apron tend to slant sour – and for good reason. These tantalizingly tart beers are the perfect complement to Chef Nate Anda and Red Apron’s inimitable charcuterie and meaty fare. And what better way to celebrate their love of funky ales than the return of The Partisan’s Sours Week? A menu of 10 tart and funky beers handpicked by their beer director, Greg Engert, will be on draft at The Partisan.

Standouts like Hill Farmstead Florence, Grimm Super Spruce and Tilquin Stout

Rullquin will be featured. Starting daily at 5 p.m. Flights range from $25-$35. The Partisan: 709 D St. NW, DC; www.thepartisandc.com

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 22 Flying Dog Beer & Sake Pairing Dinner Join Masa 14 and Flying Dog Brewery for a four-course dinner of Masa 14’s Asian fusion cuisine paired with sake and beer from Flying Dog. As an added bonus, finish out the night with a sake bomb toast. 7 p.m.

Tickets are $79.20. Masa 14: 1825 14th St. NW, DC; www.eatmasa14.com

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 24

Photo: Courtesy of Mad Fox Brewing Company

Winter Cask Classic 2018 Stick it to Old Man Winter by getting out and having a ball – or a puck – at the Denizens Brewing Co. Winter Cask Classic. They will be pouring Denizens casks, as well as casks from Atlas Brew Works, Bluejacket, Brewer’s Art, DC Brau, District Chophouse, Manor Hill, Oliver Brewing, Pub Dog and Union Craft. It wouldn’t be a Winter Classic without some hockey, so there will also be a (friendly) shoot-out competition outside. 12-5 p.m. Tickets are $35. Denizens Brewing Co.: 1115 East West Hwy. Silver Spring, MD; www.denizensbrewingco.com

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 24 - SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 25 8th Annual Barleywine Festival at Mad Fox Join Mad Fox for their eighth annual Barleywine Festival. This is hands down the largest barley wine festival in the Mid-Atlantic. Mad Fox will be showcasing over 30 barley wines from around the region and across the country. For parties larger than six, please call the restaurant for accommodations ahead of time. Starts at 11 a.m. on Saturday.

Mad Fox Brewing Company: 444 W. Broad St. Falls Church, VA; www.madfoxbrewing.com

Barley Wine Edition with

Adroit Theory Brewing Company

Mark Osborne, Owner On Tap: What barley wines will you be offering this winter? Any new releases sold locally?

Mark Osborne: Tenebris, a rum raisin barley wine, was brewed earlier in 2017, but can still be found at some retailers including Wegmans, Total Wine and Costco. It is a classic, English-style, barley wine brewed with rum-soaked raisins. It’s aromatically complex with notes of dried fruit and rum, and flavors of caramel, figs, dates, brown sugar and sweet malt [giving] way to a sticky finish. At the tasting room, we have AutoTrepanation. This is a more contemporary take on the barley wine style, albeit with less hop character than some American-style barley wines. It’s a delightful balance of malt and hops, semi-sweet molasses and caramel flavors, with a semi-dry finish.

OT: How long have you been making barley wines?

MO: Since early 2014. We are a brewery that does not have flagships, and we constantly brew new beers. We have brewed over 600 distinct beers in the last four years. Tenebris, at least an earlier iteration of our current release, was the fourteenth beer we ever brewed.

hop bite – at least initially. Hops fade with time, and I think an overly bitter barley wine is nice to sample [on] day one, but also over a several-year period. [I like] to see how the hops mellow and the malt blends together.

OT: What inspired you to make them in the first place?

MO: We are known for making big and boozy beers in general, so a barley wine is a natural fit. We also do quite a bit of barrelaging, and a barley wine is clearly a style to benefit from some extended aging.

OT: Any other new releases at Adroit?

MO: We release two to three new beers every week at the tap room, [and] these never leave the tap room. Plus, we do a new beer about every two weeks that we send out [for] distribution in Virginia, Maryland and elsewhere. In the next two months, we are releasing at least 12 new beers.

For more information on barley wines and beers from Adroit Theory Brewing Company, visit www.adroit-theory.com.

OT: What do you look for in a barley wine?

MO: While we appreciate the classic sticky malt, caramel and dried fruit flavors of a classic style, I personally prefer an assertive

Adroit Theory Brewing Company: 404 Browning Ct. Unit C, Purcellville, VA 703-722-3144; www.adroit-theory.com www.ontaponline.com | Winter 2018 | On Tap

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By Joel Goldberg veryone has a favorite way of keeping warm this time of year – sitting by the fireplace, cozying up next to a favorite furry friend, or crawling under the covers and cranking up the space heater. When out on the town, though, it’s often most convenient to warm your innards with something in the form of liquid.

Enter barley wine.

“Most people’s palates tend to gravitate toward darker, richer beers and drinks,” says Bill Madden, chief executive officer and executive brewer at Mad Fox Brewing Company in Falls Church. “Barley wine is a super-strength beer, created back in the day when kings and queens of the royalty in the UK were looking for a replacement product for their wine.”

Madden adds that barley wine is roughly the same strength as wine, which tends to be 11 to 15 percent alcohol by volume (ABV). Britishstyle barley wines run from about seven to nine percent ABV, whereas a midrange, American-style barley wine is typically 10 to 12 percent.

Mad Fox’s Sobberknocker will be one of 35 barley wines served at the brewery’s barley wine festival, the largest of its kind in the Mid-Atlantic, at the Falls Church location on February 24-25.

“We’ve been doing [the festival] for the last eight years,” Madden says, pointing out that there is no entrance fee for the festivities.

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Photos: Courtesy of Mad Fox Brewing Company

“It’s a packed house. The goal for the aficionado is to make it through the day. We usually have two sessions, [and] at a minimum, we’ll have 16 barley wines at each session. Everybody tries to sample them, so they’ll be sharing samples with their friends and trying to get through all of them in one sitting.”

Madden says people are pretty happy after the first session, adding, “You can guess why.”

Lovers of the local beer scene should be especially happy about the brands on the festival taps; Madden worked his magic on some local brewers who agreed to serve some of their barley wines. For example, Mad Fox will be the only spot outside of DC Brau where locals can try the craft brewery’s Sleeping Standing Up, according to co-owner Jeff Hancock.

“Every year since our inception, [Madden’s] been asking me to brew a barley wine more or less specifically for the fest,” Hancock says. “We’re going to give [Mad Fox] our first couple of sixtels of barley wine.”

Hancock explains that his brewery riffed on the first of two barrels in order to reduce the amount of roast seed it contained.

“We had a strong beer sitting around that we definitely weren’t going to get rid of by any stretch of the imagination,” he continues.

“We just figured out a way to get creative with it.”

Your Award-Winning Gastro Brewpub

8th Annual Barleywine Festival Saturday-Sunday, February 24-25, 2018

Join Us For the Mid-Atlantic’s Largest Barleywine Festival!

30+ Barleywines from Around the Region and Across the Country. Indoor, Two Day Event with Some Rare Tappings!

The festival offers a great way for beermakers like Hancock and Madden to come together. Charlie Buettner, now head brewer at Fair Winds Brewing Company in Lorton, used to work with Madden at Mad Fox; he even helped organize its first barley wine festival back in 2011.

This year, Buettner will make Fair Winds’ presence felt by supplying the festival with the brewery’s All Hands Anniversary Ale. Fair Winds makes its Anniversary Ale available in-house every March, and select barrels occasionally surface at bars like Meridian Pint in Columbia Heights and Crafthouse in Ballston.

“We maintain a thing called ‘Beer Finder’ on our website,” Buettner says. “We keep all of our customers and fans up-to-date on all the places that carry our product, and update that on a monthly basis.”

Buettner says he’s noticed a growing demand for barley wine as more people have become craft beer consumers, and agrees that high alcohol content is a major reason for barley wine’s winter popularity.

He also credits its rich malt characters, such as the caramel flavors that Buettner incorporates in Fair Winds’ barley wine, which help mask its super potent nature. “[It’s] definitely the season for [barley wine],” agrees Pizzeria Paradiso Executive Beverage Director Drew McCormick. “You feel it warm you from the inside out.”

Pizzeria Paradiso held a barley wine festival over President’s Day weekend last year, serving up 15 different barley wines between all of its locations.

Although the festival is on hold this year, McCormick says all locations are planning to serve J.W. Lees barley wines. Other potential 2018 barley wine appearances include Dogfish Head’s Horn Dog, Firestone Walker’s Helldorado and Bell’s Wheat Love.

Barley wine abounds in DC and Northern Virginia this winter; with pipes freezing and bursting left and right, it could be worthwhile to coat your own with these local options.

Mad Fox’s barley wine festival runs Saturday, February 24 and Sunday, February 25 with free admission both days. Learn more at www.madfoxbrewing.com.

Check Our Website For More Information 444 WEST BROAD STREET, FALLS CHURCH, VA 22046 703.942.6840 | madfoxbrewing.com | follow us on FREE PARKING GARAGE | METRO ACCESSIBLE

Mad Fox Brewing Company: 444 West Broad St. Suite I, Falls Church, VA; 703-942-6840; www.madfoxbrewing.com

www.ontaponline.com | WINTER 2018 | ON TAP

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Bresca’s sea urchin linguini

Photo: Rey Lopez

By Lani Furbank The continued growth of the DC food scene in 2017 was studded with expanded global influences, boundarypushing trends, game-changing construction projects and buzzy new restaurants that turned into instant classics. Chefs brought fresh flavors from Africa, Cuba, China, Korea, the Caribbean, Southeast Asia, the Middle East, India, Switzerland, Georgia, Hong Kong and more. “Fine casual” became a commonly used phrase. The longawaited District Wharf finally came to fruition, bringing with it a handful of scenic waterfront eateries. Across the region, hot spots like a modern Parisian bistro, a sumptuous Spanish palace and a hip Asian food hall captured our fascination. While it seemed like there were new restaurants and wine bars cropping up every week, these 20 are the ones that cut through the noise and should continue to impress in 2018.

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Photo: Courtesy of Arroz

Photo: Courtesy of The Block

Arroz

The Block

Chef Mike Isabella’s restaurant empire grew by leaps and bounds in 2017 with the opening of Isabella Eatery at Tysons Galleria and Requin at The Wharf, but perhaps the most enticing addition is his Spanish and Moroccan restaurant, Arroz, in the Marriott Marquis Hotel. The namesake ingredient takes center stage on the menu, with massive bomba rice pans decorated with seasonal vegetables, succulent meats and fresh seafood. To drink, there are cocktails flavored with piquant spices, three sangrias and sidra. The geometric patterns, gold gilding and deep colors are visually stunning, and the in-wall booths are elegant and inviting. 901 Massachusetts Ave. NW, DC; www.arrozbymic.com

This Asian food hall quietly opened in Annandale in late 2016, but has since become one of the buzziest hangouts in the DMV. The expansive space is home to six concepts: Pokéworks, which slings bowls and burritos with the wildly popular Hawaiian, marinated raw fish salad; Snocream Company, which spins avalanches of Taiwanese shaved ice; Munch, which sandwiches exotic ice cream flavors between donuts; Balo Kitchen, and its supply of Asian comfort food; Roots, with a focus on Thai street food; and The Block Bar, which offers bar snacks and booze. Instead of choosing one, try something from each and picnic at one of the large communal tables. 4221 John Marr Dr. Annandale, VA; www.facebook.com/theblockva

Photo: Rey Lopez

Photo: Courtesy of ChiKo

Photo: Brian Oh

Bresca

ChiKo

Colada Shop

Rising star Ryan Ratino burst onto the 14th Street scene with a restaurant of his own last fall, just months after Ripple – his former home – closed. Bresca is billed as a modern bistro, inspired by the Parisian movement of “bistronomy” (a blend of the words bistro and gastronomy), which marries upscale French gastronomic cooking and the more vibrant, casual atmosphere of a bistro. Both the cuisine and the decor are as quirky as Ratino’s personality, with instantly popular dishes like truffle-kissed sea urchin linguini.

Bresca means honeycomb in Spanish, so the motif is present throughout. 1906 14th St. NW, DC; www.brescadc.com

Chefs Scott Drewno (formerly of The Source) and Danny Lee (of Mandu) combined their areas of culinary expertise – Chinese and Korean cuisines, respectively – to create a fine casual concept that’s serving some of the most innovative and delicious food in the city, but at a surprisingly affordable price tag. The pair, along with their third partner, Drew Kim (of Matchbox Food Group), wanted ChiKo to be a place where they could let their creative fantasies run free. No reservations are needed to order a la carte, but there’s also a chef’s counter where you can sample most of the menu for just $50. 423 8th St. SE, DC; www.chikodc.com

After the debut of this Cuban café and bar in Sterling, Virginia, the team opened a second outpost in the District, at the buzzy intersection of the U and 14th Street corridors. Those looking for a reminder of home or a taste of adventure can enjoy pastelitos, empanadas, croquetas, warm sandwiches, plantain chips, traditional sweets, strong coffee and wallet-friendly rum cocktails from minibar alum and Colada Shop partner Juan Coronado. The petite shop has a cozy space in the back to take a coffee break, and the counter in the front opens to a patio in the warm weather.

1405 T St. NW, DC; www.coladashop.com

Photo: Rey Lopez

Photo: Courtesy of Del Mar

Photo: Rey Lopez

Del Mar de Fabio Trabocchi

Kith and Kin

Kōbō

Fabio and Maria Trabocchi have added coastal Spanish fare to their previously all-Italian portfolio. The luxurious waterfront restaurant at The Wharf is dedicated to Maria, who has roots in Spain, and showcases the Trabocchi family’s culinary traditions from their home on the island of Mallorca. Meals often open with stunning seafood towers and jamón ibéricoaccompanied by crispy pan de cristal.

Paella is a focus, and large pans of bomba rice are served tableside. The cocktail program puts an emphasis on gin and tonics, while the wine list features bottles from the major wine regions of Spain. 791 Wharf St. SW, DC; www.delmardc.com

Chef Kwame Onwuachi swallowed a bitter pill with the closure of the Shaw Bijou, but he made a triumphant return in less than a year with a new outlook and a fresh view – of the Potomac River – from his Afro-Caribbean restaurant inside the InterContinental at The Wharf. At Kith and Kin, Onwuachi is just doing what he loves: sharing his heritage by cooking authentic food. Several of the dishes are infused with family stories, like the peel-and-eat shrimp made with his mother’s spice blend. At the bar, many of the offerings are riffs on Caribbean, rum-based drinks. 801 Wharf St. SW, DC; www.kithandkindc.com

Sushiko in Chevy Chase upped their game at the end of 2016 with the addition of Kōbō, an eight-seat counter where intricate and artistic kappo tasting menus unfold.

This restaurant-within-a-restaurant is helmed by co-executive chefs and brothers Piter and Handry Tjan, who hail from Indonesia but have an undeniable talent for Japanese cooking. Their meals are 12-15 course affairs that delight the palate with surprising dishes like spheres of flavored liquid and wagyu katsu sandwiches. The kappo menu also has a vegan alias on certain evenings, when the chefs recreate the flavors and textures of caviar, nigiri and meats using plants. 5455 Wisconsin Ave. Chevy Chase, MD; www.kobo-sushiko.com

www.ontaponline.com | Winter 2018 | On Tap

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Photo: Anna Meyer

Photo: Courtesy of Chef Alex McCoy

Photo: Courtesy of Mason Dixie

Little Pearl

Lucky Buns

Mason Dixie Biscuit Co.

Pretty much anything Chef Aaron Silverman touches turns to gold, and his new coffee shop and wine bar continues that trend – literally – with shiny metallic accents flecking the chic, minimalist space. Little Pearl starts the day as a café, similar to the former daytime alter ego of Pineapple & Pearls. The menu includes sandwiches, salads, house-made pastries and gelato, espresso drinks, drip coffee, a few glasses of wine and caffeinated cocktails. After a quick set change, the wine bar opens for business, with a succinct selection of posh snacks like a crispy potato with spiced cod hollandaise and anchovy toast, plus two dozen or so wines by the glass.

921 Pennsylvania Ave. SE, DC; www.littlepearldc.com

Globetrotting Chef Alex McCoy has set up shop slinging internationally inspired burgers in Adams Morgan. The menu at Lucky Buns is just 12 burgers – six beef and six chicken – plus a few iterations of British-style chips and side salads. Each stack can be ordered with one patty or two, on a bun or over a green salad with farro. Many of the burgers take after cuisine from McCoy’s former ventures, like the Alfie’s Bun with pineapple, pickled beetroot and lucky sauce, and the hot fried chicken sandwiches. The rest pull flavors from Southeast Asia, Australia, the UK and beyond. 2000 18th St. NW, DC; www.luckybunsdc.com

This growing local biscuit company traded in their Union Market stall for a brick-andmortar, drive-thru location. They renovated a former fast food spot and turned it into a space reminiscent of an old-fashioned diner or ice cream parlor, with vintage furniture and a retro color scheme. Chef and owner Jason Gehring expanded the menu to include biscuit sandwiches for breakfast and lunch, as well as fried chicken by the box or bucket. The entire menu breaks the fast food mold by eschewing preservatives and hormones in favor of fresh, local ingredients. 2301 Bladensburg Rd. NE, DC; www.masondixiebiscuits.com

Maxwell Park

Photo: Marissa Bialecki

One of DC’s favorite sommeliers struck out on his own with a playful and unpretentious wine bar. Brent Kroll recruited two young somm friends, Daniel Runnerstrom and Niki Lang, to be his partners at Maxwell. There’s an informality about the chalkboard bar where guests can doodle or write notes about their wine, but the wine list is taken very seriously. The 50 by-the-glass selections are divided into two categories: a monthly theme and a rotating list of the partners’ favorites.

Kroll and his team are eager to please, so guests can always ask for a custom flight based on their preferences. 1336 9th St. NW, DC; www.maxwelldcwine.com

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Maydan

Photo: Jennifer Chase

The single step through the arched gateway of Maydan seems more like a journey of thousands of miles. Owner Rose Previte’s two-story town square – a maydan – transports you to the bustling streets of Beirut, Tangier and Tehran. If it feels authentic, that’s because Previte and her team, including Chefs Gerald Addison and Chris Morgan, followed the path of the Silk Road through Morocco, Tunisia, Lebanon, Georgia and Turkey for more than a month to bring the recipes, culture and spirit of these countries back to DC. The centerpiece of the space and the menu is a towering, copper-hooded hearth where kebabs, vegetables, seafood and whole cuts of meat are kissed by flames before heading to the table to be swaddled with clay-oven, baked bread and tantalizing spreads. 1346 Florida Ave. NW. DC; www.maydandc.com

Primrose

Photo: Scott Suchman

The power couple behind this French wine bar have impressive and complementary résumés. Sebastian Zutant was formerly a partner and the beverage director of Red Hen and All Purpose, while Lauren Winter is one of the design minds behind Edit Lab. Together, they’ve created a place that injects the essence of Paris into Brookland. The classy French décor in the bar pairs perfectly with wine curated by Zutant and hearty bistro fare from Chef Nathan Beauchamp. The wine list focuses on glasses and bottles from small and natural producers in France and Virginia, including Zutant’s own wine, which he makes at Early Mountain Vineyards. 2000 12th St. NE, DC; www.primrosedc.com

Photo: Rey Lopez

Photo: Greg Powers

Photo: Scott Suchman

Rasa

The Salt Line

Siren

Rasa has been a long time in the making, but the friendship on which it’s founded has been growing for even longer. Rahul Vinod and Sahil Rahman are the sons of longtime hospitality veterans Chef K.N. Vinod and Surfy Rahman, who are behind Indique and Bombay Bistro. The sons’ upbringing in the restaurant industry inspired them to create their own eatery, a fine casual spot intended to make Indian flavors modern, accessible and portable.

Rasa serves up flavor-packed bowls piled high with tender proteins, spice-laden sauces, fresh veggies and unlimited odds and ends, over a bed of rice, noodles or greens. 1247 1st St. SE, DC; www.rasagrill.com

This New England-style oyster and ale house is the latest from Chef Kyle Bailey and Long Shot Hospitality. The menu has all the expected seafood classics, like lobster rolls, clam chowder, Johnny cakes and clam stuffies, but there are a few breaks from tradition as well. Bailey is dedicated to sustainability in the kitchen, so he became the area’s founding member of Dock to Dish, which connects fishermen and chefs in a supply-driven sourcing system that often highlights underutilized fish. The nautical motif runs through the dining room, and outside, there’s a sprawling patio with a dedicated bar. 79 Potomac Ave. SE, DC; www.thesaltline.com

This luxurious shrine to seafood calls diners like the song of its mythical namesake.

Robert Wiedmaier and his partner Brian McBride tapped a nautical-minded chef, John Critchley, to helm the kitchen. The menu casts a wide net, from raw seafood platters and caviar to crudo, filets and whole fish. Though many of the marine delicacies sit high on the ocean food chain, sustainability is top of mind for the team.

They keep the menu small and flexible to accommodate shifts in availability of product from around the world, and from the waters in our backyard. 1515 Rhode Island Ave. NW, DC; www.sirenbyrw.com

Stable

Photo: Courtesy of Stable

After cooking in kitchens around the world, two native Swiss hospitality pros decided it was time to bring a taste of their home to DC. Swiss cuisine is a melting pot of flavors from France, Germany, Austria and Italy and Chef David Fritsche’s menu reflects this diversity, with a blend of bona fide Swiss dishes and European classics. Of course, the iconic raclette is offered year-round.

The space is also an amalgam, as industrial accents are juxtaposed with marks of a chalet or farmhouse. The beverage menu from general manager Silvan Kraemer features Swiss schnapps, European wines and cocktails inspired by Switzerland.

1324 H St. NE, DC; www.stabledc.com

Supra

Photo: Andrew Propp

Supra is DC’s first Georgian restaurant from husband and wife team Jonathan and Laura Nelms. Though neither has roots in the Caucasus, Jonathan has a long-held fascination with Georgia that began when he made friends with a Georgian exchange student in high school.

Jonathan’s knowledge of Georgian wine, food and heritage is on display at Supra, along with the culinary talent of Executive Chef Malkhaz Maisashvili, who worked at acclaimed restaurants in Georgia before coming to the U.S. to cook at the Embassy of Georgia. Since the name of the restaurant means “celebratory feast,” meals include a multitude of courses, like a traditional supra.

1205 11th St. NW, DC; www.supradc.com

Tiger Fork

Photo: Scott Suchman

Despite its petite size, Blagden Alley saw a lot of action with openings last year, and Tiger Fork is still one of the buzziest.

This Hong Kong hideaway combines oldschool culinary traditions with flavors from Asia, Europe and the Middle East. Chef Irvin Van Oordt serves up modern street food, dim sum, Chinese BBQ and other classics in a setting that invites sharing.

The dining room features an 18-seat communal table, which is ideal for the kitchen’s family-style dishes. The cocktail program takes a page out of traditional Chinese medicine’s book, with herbal teas and tonics that are meant to cure everything from a hangover to heartache.

922 N St. NW, DC; www.tigerforkdc.com

www.ontaponline.com | Winter 2018 | On Tap

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Himitsu's Secret Sauce

By Lani Furbank Himitsu’s Carlie Steiner and Kevin Tien

Himitsu has racked up more than a dozen national and local awards, nominations and recognitions in their first year of business, from a James Beard nomination and a spoton Bon Appetit’s Best New Restaurants list to multiple 30 under 30 and 40 under 40 nods for co-owners Carlie Steiner and Chef Kevin Tien. All of it has left many wondering: what’s the secret sauce? If you ask Steiner and Tien, they’ll tell you that it might literally be sauce.

“I’d say it’s probably about 80 percent Kevin’s sauce, and 20 percent everything else we do,” Steiner says with a laugh. “Really though.”

Whether it’s a sharp vinaigrette on a crudo or a rich XO cream on a “gnocchi,” Tien is constantly hearing customers rave about his sauce.

Photos: Farrah Skeiky

“We say the sauce is boss here,” he explains.

“I’m a sauce guy, I guess.”

Of course, that’s just the sauce on the plate.

The backbone of the 24-seat restaurant in Petworth is the inventive, Japanese-inspired food from Tien and Steiner’s esoteric yet approachable beverage menu that jumps from fino sherry to nori-infused daiquiris.

As first-time restaurant owners, Tien and Steiner have been open to growth and change.

“In the first year, I think it was mostly about finding who we are as a restaurant and then really solidifying that identity,” Tien says.

For instance, Tien’s menu used to feature nigiri and maki rolls, but he quickly dropped those in favor of more unusual crudo creations.

“There’s a lot of really good sushi restaurants in DC,” he says. “We should really just focus on ourselves and how we’re going to be different.”

Steiner sees the changes they’ve made as drastic, but she takes heart in the feedback she’s received from regular diners who make up about 50 percent of the restaurant’s clientele.

“A lot of them say while we have grown and perhaps gotten better throughout the year, they feel like our integrity is the same.

They feel like it’s still been us from day one. It helps that we’re kind of a bunch of weirdos,” Steiner says of their quirky characters and unexpected pairings.

“We’re not an American restaurant; we’re not just an Asian restaurant,” Tien adds.

“This restaurant is Carlie’s personality; it’s my personality.”

To focus on making food that expressed that personality, Tien removed header labels from his menu to avoid pigeonholing dishes into expected categories. As a result, he often turns out plates that may sound uninspiring on the surface, but end up blowing diners away, like humble charred carrots or a wedge salad.

“Pro tip: if you would never order this in another restaurant, you should order it at our restaurant,” Tien says.

When the standouts get a little too popular – like the karaage fried chicken – Tien tends to take them off the menu.

“I don’t want our restaurant to be known for one single item. I want our restaurant to be known for multiple items, and for overall really awesome food [and] really awesome beverages. Someone made a missing flyer for the fried chicken and hung it around the

“Pro tip: if you would never order this in another restaurant, you should order it at our restaurant.”

Himitsu’s Duck Duck Mousse and “Gnocchi”

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ON TAP | WINTER 2018 | www.ontaponline.com

“People kind of dig the whole, ‘Look at these weirdos doing this weird thing.’ We might not follow all the same rules and we might not play the same games as everybody else, and maybe that’s refreshing.”

Himitsu’s Kevin Tien plates Duck Duck Mousse

neighborhood – that’s how much they missed it. But I’ll never bring it back.”

Even without the beloved chicken, people are still willing to stand in line for Tien’s food and Steiner’s drinks. With only 24 seats, Steiner explains that they simply can’t take reservations.

“It will not work with this space. We’ve run the numbers. We know it won’t. Our system allows us to have people in the seats from the second that we open until we close, and if we don’t have people in the seats from the second that we open until we close, we don’t make enough money.”

She’s this frank when she explains the situation to guests who wonder about the no-reservations policy.

“It’d be different if we had a larger restaurant,” Tien adds. “If we were a 70 to 100 seat restaurant, then yes, of course we would love to take reservations.”

“We actually had a guy come in here the other day, and he was interested in doing a collaboration of sorts, and then he’s like, ‘Oh, can I talk to the chef?’ and I came out [and] talked to him,” Tien says. “And he’s like, ‘Man, this place really is run by a bunch of kids.’ I was so taken aback.”

Steiner says they’ve made a few minor changes – like removing the emojis from their menu – to compensate.

“We’re really trying to stay true to ourselves, because we are millennials [and] we are young, but that’s not what we want to be known for. We want to be known for being a badass restaurant, not for being a restaurant run by kids.”

True to millennial form, Steiner and Tien are also determined to use their restaurant’s acclaim for good.

“We have a voice […] that we’re obligated now to use,” Steiner says.

“We come to work.

We focus on what we could do better. We never try to think about the accolades.”

But don’t get your hopes up – Himitsu isn’t expanding.

“It’s loveable the way it is,” Steiner says.

So, your best shot at snagging a table is showing up at 5 p.m. on a Tuesday or Wednesday.

“You’ll just walk right in and dine,” she says.

Despite the lines and the praise, Steiner and Tien haven’t let the success get to their heads.

“You never get used to it,” Tien says. “But we try not to think about it.

We come to work. We focus on what we could do better. We never try to think about the accolades.”

For Steiner, the real test is what she overhears around town.

“I’m so excited when […] some random conversation is happening and they’re like, ‘Oh, I went to Himitsu and had the best time.’ That’s an accolade,” she says. “[We’re] trying to not get too ahead of ourselves and realize that we’ve only been open for a year, and we have a lot more to learn and a lot more to grow. I think the more that a restaurant receives, the higher the expectations [and] the more we have to then put into not being stagnant.”

In many cases, they feel the weight of expectations even more because of their age.

Himitsu’s Finding Nori cocktail and 2015 Our Wine Rkatsiteli from Kakheti, Georgia

In 2017, they gave back to causes like Planned Parenthood, Chefs for Equality, relief efforts for Hurricanes Harvey and Maria, and more.

“It’s kind of amazing how much we’ve raised for a small restaurant for all these different things,” Tien says.

They plan to double down on that commitment to give back to causes they care about in 2018.

“If it’s the right thing to do, we will do it,” Tien says. “It doesn’t matter what it is, as long as it’s the right thing.”

At the heart of it, they haven’t let public perception change who they are as a restaurant.

“People kind of dig the whole, ‘Look at these weirdos doing this weird thing,’” Steiner says. “We might not follow all the same rules and we might not play the same games as everybody else, and maybe that’s refreshing.”

Learn more about Himitsu at www.himitsudc.com.

Himitsu: 828 Upshur St. NW, DC; www.himitsudc.com www.ontaponline.com | Winter 2018 | On Tap

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Full Service Radioʼs

Full Service Radio

Photo: Pierre Edwards

By Travis Mitchell The entryway of a boutique hotel seems like an unlikely location for conversations about food insecurity or advice on the benefits of eating more vegetables. But these are the issues being tackled each Monday during Lunch Agenda, a new online radio show broadcasting from the LINE Hotel in Adams Morgan.

The program debuted in early January as part of a lineup of food, music and culture shows on the newly-launched Full Service Radio. The independent station broadcasts live online, where each podcast can also be consumed and downloaded on-demand.

“Given the fact that we’re situated in the lobby of the LINE Hotel, we have a unique chance to interact with travelers, influencers and creatives from all around the world,” says Full Service Radio Founder and Executive Producer Jack Inslee.

Lunch Agenda is a food show, but it’s not a place to indulge in juicy scoops or gossip about Washington’s big-name chefs or restaurants. Rather, it’s about amplifying the lesserknown voices and stories of the region’s food environment.

This is a forum for people interested in pondering how produce is graded before arriving at grocery stores or debunking common myths surrounding hunger or food insecurity.

“Lunch Agenda is about learning,” says host Kirsten “Kiko” Bourne. “I'm going for education, not trends or star appeal.”

Bourne comes to the show armed with a broad background in the food world. She has worked in sustainable

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food in San Francisco and spent nearly four years leading the marketing team for the Capital Area Food Bank. She’s also done stints in restaurants and farmers markets, and is currently “Director of Breaducation” at the months-old Seylou Bakery in Shaw.

“I just feel like I’ve been afforded a really broad view of the food system,” she says.

That breadth of exposure helps shape and inform each of Lunch Agenda’s 30-minute episodes, which are live each Monday at noon. The program features a combination of interviews with all kinds of guests that are expected to range from policymakers to farmers.

“My goal with Lunch Agenda is giving the microphone to people who don’t as often have it in the food system so that others can learn about the behind the scenes,” Bourne says.

One of her first guests was Dominique Hazzard, an outreach specialist with DC Greens, an organization that supports food education, access and policy in DC. Future episodes will touch on things like tips for cooking on a budget or getting involved in local government.

Part of the show’s commitment to education is to provide listeners with a sense of agency around the weekly discussion topics. During each show, Bourne asks her guests for one piece of advice that can help improve the food system. The idea is to generate pragmatic action items that can be easily applied to daily life, such as working to eat more vegetables or resolving to cook at home three days per week.

Lunch Agenda's Kirsten Bourne (on the right)

Photo: Courtesy of Kirsten Bourne

“I’m hoping that what comes through in these conversations is the ability we all have to affect the environment,” Bourne says.

Lunch Agenda is one of a handful of food-focused programs at Full Service Radio, all broadcast from just inside the entrance at the LINE. It’s a diverse lineup that includes titles like Beer Me! – a show about all things beer – and Shift Drink, where local food industry professionals recount stories from their lives in the kitchen or behind the bar.

Most of the hosts, including Bourne, are first-timers at the gig. Her journey to become a Full Service Radio host started a couple years ago when she crossed paths with Inslee in Brooklyn, where he was working with Heritage Radio Network – a project he also helped launch.

Inslee tells On Tap he’s excited at the impact the station has made in such a short time.

“We’re still a baby – the best is yet to come – but we’ve already had some fun, powerful and diverse episodes including a cannabis tincture tasting, a conversation on sexual harassment in the restaurant industry and coverage of local food justice rallies,” he says.

For Bourne, it all comes down to exposing her audience to the events facing the local food scene – even if it’s for just 30 minutes a week.

“I really want to put faces to residents of DC that maybe my listeners aren’t in contact with as much, and humanize issues that are challenging in the food system.”

Tune in to Lunch Agenda every Monday from 12-12:30 p.m. at www. thelinehotel.com/full-service-radio/live-player/, or download episodes later at http://lunchagenda.fullserviceradio.org. And follow Bourne on Twitter at @kikobuff.

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Full Service Radio inside The LINE Hotel: 1770 Euclid St. NW, DC; 202-588-0525; www.thelinehotel.com/full-service-radio www.ontaponline.com | Winter 2018 | On Tap

45

Cryfest

By Monica Alford

(L to R: DJ Killa K, DJ Steve EP and DJ Missguided)

ou don’t just stumble upon a Cure/Smiths dance party, Stephen Petix tells me on a call that I’ve been dying to have with him since high school. The crowds he draws for his longstanding Cryfest dance night at the Black Cat are already diehard fans of the music, and he basically gets to geek out with them over the course of an evening.

“These are my people,” he says. “These are my nerds, you know?

‘Cause I’m one of them. I know all the words to all these songs as well.”

Our city’s fascination with Cryfest and Petix’s other 80s dance nights – Depeche Mode and Eighties Mayhem – has spanned nearly two decades. Petix (DJ Steve EP) founded FYM Productions in 2001, and now runs the parties with his wife Katie (DJ Killa K) and friend Michelle (DJ Missguided). The trio also collaborates with DJ Krasty McNasty, Petix’s oldest friend in the world, who he credits with getting him into Depeche Mode in the first place.

February 24 marks Cryfest’s 16th anniversary, and I’m quick to tell Petix that I remember going to the dance night in 2004 as a senior in high school and feeling right at home. I too felt that I was among my people, and have been going back nearly every year. I also tell him that I’ve been surprised he and his fellow DJs haven’t received more press about their nights, because they’re wildly popular and have become even more so in recent years. Turns out that’s part of the plan.

“We haven’t really gotten a lot of press because we never really sought it out,” he says. “It’s really grown and maintained organically, and we really like that. And in the past two years, it’s just forged forward even more. It’s been great.”

Petix says it blows his mind that the dance night has remained popular, and it’s exactly what he and the other DJs want.

“It’s not just about success. It’s about having a fun party that we enjoy as much as everybody else does because if we didn’t enjoy it, we wouldn’t be doing it.”

His roots in the DC music scene run deep. After moving to DC to play in ska band Eastern Standard Time, he started hanging out at a BYOR (bring your own records) night at an after-hours club on U Street where

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Photo: Trent Johnson

he learned how to DJ. He was also touring a lot with his band, and after sticking around in Germany at the tail end of a Europe tour, he was amazed by how many Depeche Mode dance parties were being thrown there.

“I was like you know, no one’s doing that here. I could totally do this.”

Back in the District, he was hanging out at Metro Café on 14th Street, which he says is where a lot of area DJs debuted their dance nights (DJ Mark Zimin’s Mousetrap nights, DJ Dredd’s Prince parties, U Street Music Hall Owner Will Eastman’s indie nights, among others). He asked one of Metro’s co-owners, Nick Nichols, if he could try out a Depeche Mode night; Nichols gave him the go ahead and the party was packed.

After Metro closed a year or so later, Petix approached Black Cat’s owner, Dante Ferrando, about hosting another DM party. Ferrando was apprehensive about playing only one band for the whole night, but he gave Petix a shot and nearly 700 people showed up. Petix started throwing the DM parties several times a year, and on April 14, he’ll celebrate the DM dance party’s 17th anniversary.

As those parties picked up, Petix started flirting with the idea of Cryfest. He’d head to dance parties where he’d hear a few mediocre songs, and then something by The Cure would come on and everyone would flip out; then there’d be another few “eh” songs, and then something by The Smiths would play and everyone would freak out.

“I was like, why don’t we cut out the middle men and just do a night of all Cure/Smiths? And that’s when we came up with Cryfest. We just thought it was really funny.”

Petix says some people take the “rivalry” a little too seriously.

“I’m like dude, I love both of these bands. There’s no beef or anything.

I’ve really enjoyed both of these bands since I was in high school.”

Cryfest has since become the largest Cure/Smiths dance party in the country. The third and final mainstay of FYM’s dance nights is Eighties Mayhem, and May 4 marks their first-ever Star Wars-themed Eighties Mayhem party – a play on “May the Fourth be with you.” Petix says they go all out with their themes, putting an impressive amount of effort into the visuals.

Last Halloween, they decked out Black Cat with a Ghostbusters theme upstairs – complete with a Stay Puft Marshmallow Man – and Beetlejuice downstairs, including a giant Beetlejuice snake head that breathed fog. It’s clear from speaking with Petix that he and the other DJs have so much fun putting these nights together, from detailed 80s pop culture visuals to carefully curated playlists; I tell him I’m sure it helps that he’s hosting them with his wife and best buds.

“It’s a very tight, tight family of people that we have,” he says. “We just keep it tight like that because it’s better.”

The theme of family extends beyond FYM though, to the venue they’ve chosen to work with exclusively for all of these years.

“Why would I go anywhere else? [Black Cat] is like family. They trust that we’re not going to do something subpar. They know if it’s one of our events, we’re going to come prepared, we’re going to do it right [and] it’s going to be a fun night. We’ve earned that trust and that relationship with them, and we value that. I love the space, and I love the people. It will [remain] our home.”

“These are my people. These are my nerds, you know? ‘Cause I’m one of them. I know all the words to all these songs as well.”

I’m curious about how he keeps the playlists fresh when he’s working with older music, and he says it has its challenges. For example, The Smiths only have five records and not all of the songs are prime dance floor material. He has to be careful not to run out of music early, which happened at one of the first DM nights when he was eager to get started.

“There has to be a strategy going into it to make sure the night flows well.”

But Petix says he can definitely get more creative with Eighties Mayhem nights.

“I remember there was one night where I didn’t even realize that the whole first set of mine was all female-fronted new wave bands. That was just what I was into at the time. It definitely fluctuates. I just go in [with] what I’m feeling and feel the crowd and go from there.”

Petix’s musical endeavors extend beyond FYM; he plays in metal band Dagger Moon, and has his own band with Katie called Technophobia.

“It’s like our baby,” he says of their dark electronic duo. “We’re like old, dark Depeche Mode [or] old, dark Ministry. Sonically, that’s our reference point.”

They put out an album in 2015, embarked on a five-week tour last summer and are now writing a new album, which they hope leads to a Europe tour. In the meantime, they play local shows regularly at Black Cat and other venues. The couple also owns nonprofit record label Working Order Records, a project they’re both quite passionate about.

“We are very ideological people. We’re vegan, we believe in animal rights. We’re all about making a positive impact. We came up with the idea of: why not donate all the money from our records to charity?”

After 45 minutes on the phone with Petix, I can tell that he is the type of person who puts great care into everything he does. He’s genuine, and that gives his dance nights, his band and his record label an authenticity often absent in today’s music industry. And at the end of the day, I finally know the story – and the tightknit family – behind my favorite dance night in the city.

Don’t miss FYM Productions’ 16th annual Cryfest on February 24, 17th annual Depeche Mode Dance Party on April 14 and Eighties Mayhem Strikes Back on May 4, all at the Black Cat. Follow FYM on Facebook at @FYMproductions.

Black Cat: 1811 14th St. NW, DC 202-667-4490; www.blackcatdc.com

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47

BØRNS: Finding Magic on the Road

By Jon Kaplan

Photos: Chuck Grant

n October 2015, Garrett Borns, better known as the singular BØRNS, released his debut album Dopamine, and his career went into overdrive. The memorable start to that phase of his musical journey began in our fair city, where hours before the album came out, he found himself in DC, onstage at the Rock & Roll Hotel.

“That was a good experience,” he tells On Tap in advance of his show at The Anthem on February 13. “My first album dropped at midnight, and I played the show at Rock & Roll Hotel, packed up the van and drove straight to New York to sound check for Jimmy Fallon. I played that show, and then stayed up until it aired, and then woke up the next day like, ‘What the hell just happened?’”

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On Tap | Winter 2018 | www.ontaponline.com

He laughs. “Yeah, that was interesting.”

BØRNS grew up in Michigan before moving to New York, and eventually L.A. He first played music under his real name, performing songs on ukulele at a TEDx event in 2011, which is still available on YouTube. Eventually signing to Interscope Records, he started releasing music as BØRNS in 2014 and his star began to rise, with TV appearances and opening slots for bands like MisterWives, Charli XCX and Bleachers. He hit the road, not knowing where it would lead.

“It was a crazy progression for the first record,” he says. “I think for someone that hasn’t toured before, there’s no way to explain it. It wasn’t like I just hopped on a tour bus for two years; I was in a van for a long time. And my band definitely was incredible on the road and worked five times as hard as they needed to, and I just had really special crews. [There was] a lot of working our way up to being able to finally get a bus by the last run. It was really nice, but it definitely had its challenges. I think I learned a lot from it.”

BØRNS’ music has been described as ethereal, indie alt-rock, and it certainly shows influences from the great rock bands of the 60s, 70s and 80s, with guitars, drums and synthesizers pulsing throughout. In his live show, he even does a spot-on cover of Elton John’s 1973 hit “Bennie and the Jets.” But it also has a sound that’s unmistakably his, and unmistakably new. And that’s what he’s going for.

“I’m never trying to sound throwback, or like Robert Plant or anything like that. But I’m inspired by those artists’ spirits and the way they performed, and their confidence or their boldness or their sensitivity. So that’s kind of how I use influences. Because at the end of the day, it’s my music and it comes from a place inside of me.”

“I’m never trying to sound throwback. But I’m inspired by those artists’ spirits and the way they performed, and their confidence or their boldness or their sensitivity.”

When he set out to write songs for his new album Blue Madonna, released on January 12, BØRNS had the benefit of knowing that he would be performing these songs in front of a lot of people – and for awhile, too. And that made it a very different experience from the first time around. He says that he specifically had his live show in mind when he wrote these songs, and was thinking about what would make the best experience for an audience. He also wanted to challenge himself in the process.

“I did a lot more experimenting with songwriting, and with my voice as an instrument,” he says. “And I just really wanted to make something that I knew I was going to be going on the road with for awhile,

FEB 9

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“I did a lot more experimenting with songwriting, and with my voice as an instrument.

I just really wanted to make something that I knew I was going to be going on the road with for awhile.” because I didn’t realize I was going to be playing the first album for so long. It was like, ‘Alright, I might need to make something with a little more sustenance maybe.’”

Beyond his music, BØRNS’ fashion sense is also something that has caused people to take notice. After he wore some Gucci clothes for his auspicious Jimmy Fallon debut, people from Gucci noticed, got in touch and BØRNS was flown to Milan for their fall menswear show. He continues to push himself to try new looks and styles.

“It keeps me entertained,” he says. “I love wearing different things to see what it does to my performance or my personality, and it’s an artistic expression. I’m always inspired by fashion.”

As he ventures out on tour again this month, BØRNS says it takes some time to get into the swing of things when heading out on the road. But when things get rolling, audiences might expect the sublime.

“Once you get into it, once you get into the flow, I feel like pretty magical things can happen.”

Catch BØRNS with Charlotte Cardin and Mikky Ekko at The Anthem on February 13. Doors open at 6:30 p.m., show starts at 8 p.m.

Tickets are $41-$56.

The Anthem: 901 Wharf St. SW, DC 202-888-0020; www.theanthemdc.com

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49

Though her parents were doctors, her father is an amazing photographer who toiled about in his darkroom for hours developing photos; she borrowed his method to cultivate her initial songs.

“That definitely rubbed off on me,” she says.

“He has an artistic eye in seeing beneath the surface.”

In digging beneath her own surface for her 2018 release, Kimbra wasn’t journeying within the jungle of her thoughts and emotions in search of the undiscovered.

Instead, the artist simply sought to find a forgotten sensation, even if she wasn’t intending to unearth it. This was a process of rediscovery rather than unearthing the sparkling “new.”

Kimbra Learns via Rediscovery for ‘Primal Heart’

“I think I’ve always explored emotion and longing – the looking outward from a state of confusion.”

By Trent Johnson Photos: Nick Spano

Kimbra has outgrown her claim to fame.

I’m sure you’ve heard it – the song was hard to escape in 2011 and cleaned up at nearly all the major award shows, including the Grammys. I’m talking about the tune “Somebody That I Used to Know” by Gotye.

Before that song, I had never heard of Gotye, and interestingly enough, I haven’t heard much about him since. Kimbra on the other hand...

“This is what it means to be human.”

This sentiment echoes throughout Kimbra’s latest album, Primal Heart. There’s only one slight hitch: apart from glimpses into the New Zealand native’s latest record, by way of singles, you won’t hear the complete work until April 20. In the meantime, fans of the burgeoning pop star must settle for seeing her live as she tours North America, including her January 30 stop at 9:30 Club, with a ferocious message and a thudding bass as her backdrop.

I’m working on the tour bus and backstage; it will be an exciting time for me.”

The words “primal” and “heart” carry tremendous weight in the English vocabulary.

On their own, they are distinct signifiers of what humans are as a species, but generally they are opposed. The “primal” side is an innate, animalistic calling, a force of nature outside the conscious control, while “heart” is meant to establish the very mechanism keeping that unhinged nature in check – the feelings and raw emotions individuals cope with when facing all choices, everyday or lifealtering.

“There was a bit of nervousness when I knew the title,” Kimbra says. “When I reflected on the record, it has something that relates to human nature, and ego and pride; and instinct and suffering; and even growth.

These things that work for me, and not my career. This move was for me and my heart, and about finding myself.”

“A lot of our learning is rediscovery. I think a lot of our journey is unlearning what we’ve been taught.”

“Yeah, a lot of the work is not even related to the album itself,” Kimbra says. “I just have some exciting projects I want to come out around it. I get really creative on the road, and

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Before she stood on the Grammy stage collecting awards, she was a little girl listening to 70s pop records, staring out of her treehouse, penning her first lyrics.

“A lot of our learning is rediscovery,” she counters. “I think a lot of our journey is unlearning what we’ve been taught. I think it’s also developing a relationship with pain.

When I was younger, I was sort of escaping, but now I’m more comfortable in sitting and absorbing and learning from it.”

Apart from sitting and sifting through her own recollection, she ventured to Ethiopia twice during the creative process for the record. There, she was able to separate herself from a culture so dependent on personal wealth and materialism.

“I learned so much from that culture,” Kimbra says. “It opens your eyes and you see what’s truly important. I think that helps you share yourself with other people, and I’m really excited to step into this place [with Primal Heart].

One single from the record, “Top of the World,” rings of spoken-word poetry, a stark departure from her more melodic tendencies.

She says the change of pace was simply provoked by encouragement.

“I did that beat with Skrillex, and he was shopping it around to rappers,” she explains.

“I don’t know, but I sort of thought I could do that, and I spent some time with Donald Glover [Childish Gambino], and he told me I could, and he gave me that confidence. I think a lot of my music is super rhythmic, and I’m kind of moving toward a monotonous sound; it’s how I lean anyways. It showed I can move to different sounds, but still be authentic.”

Her sound has steadily evolved, but like she says, it’s been a subtle maturation. While the music is still drenched in 80s and 90s pop influences, the singles indicate this record will also take further inspiration from modern hip-hop and rap music. Multiple times during our conversation, Kimbra mentioned rappers such as Kendrick Lamar and Glover.

“I think there are elements from me that will always be there,” she says. “Even if I tried to make a different genre record, there are things I can’t really remove. I think I’ve always explored emotion and longing – the looking outward from a state of confusion. I think this album showcases more of that, but it’s not as collaborative.”

In the same single, she utters the phrase “Feel like a god,” and I immediately thought of another rap stalwart: Kanye West.

“I’m not comparing myself to Kanye, but I think the similarity lives in being bold enough to bring religious terminology into my music, to go there and just say that,” Kimbra says. “I think there’s something about ascension and growing out of your control, where you start to take on that space. It’s part of our human condition to feel like a god; we’re very much animals and we’re aware of our own decay, but we’re capable of transcendence because of these spiritual experiences.”

Ascension holds drastically divergent sentiments for people from different backgrounds, but I feel comfortable saying Kimbra has achieved some form of it. Like a young basketball player getting to talk trash over a game of one-on-one with Michael Jordan, Kimbra once stood shoulder to shoulder with the most notorious cookie connoisseur in the history of existence: the Cookie Monster. There, she allowed her primal instincts to take hold, devouring the biscuit without hesitation.

“I can’t believe you watched that,” Kimbra says in reference to her Sesame Street appearance from 2014. “I probably should get back to eating biscuits.”

Primal Heart is sure to unveil a dramatic exploration of Kimbra’s self. And though we are forced to patiently wait until April to hear her complete experience, I can say without hesitation I’m markedly more intrigued by the artist she’s becoming, rather than the one we “used to know.”

Catch Kimbra at 9:30 Club on January 30. Doors open at 7 p.m. Tickets are $30. For more information about Kimbra, visit www.kimbramusic.com.

on the scene

For more photos from these And other events, visit the online gallery at www.ontaponline.com.

Photos: Gevar Bonham

“It showed I can move to different sounds, but still be authentic.”

SOJA played The Anthem on New Year’s Eve weekend. The band has sold more than 200,000 albums and headlined shows in over 20 countries around the world.

9:30 Club: 815 V St. NW, DC; 202-265-0930; www.930.com www.ontaponline.com | Winter 2018 | On Tap

51

By Trent Johnson and Natalia Kolenko

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 3

Anna Meredith When someone’s music is described as “uncategorizable” and “genre-defying,” as Anna Meredith’s is on U Street Music Hall’s website, I’m already intrigued. It’s true that Meredith’s music is borderline all over the place as far as what she’s pulling from; at one moment, you’ll have horns and at another, you’ll feel like an alarm clock is going off in your ears. But these sounds intersect with a mission. Meredith’s goal seems to be to create organized chaos, and in an intimate venue like U Street, we’re excited to see how she directs bodies in such an enclosed space.

Doors at 7 p.m. $15. U Street Music Hall: 1115 U St. NW, DC; www.ustreetmusichall.com

Bob Marley’s B-Day Bash Ft. Giant Panda Guerilla Dub Squad Formed in 2001 in Rochester, New York, GPGDS first received praise for their live show, which combined world beats and reggae rhythms within jam band aesthetics. In recent years, the band’s studio recordings, which showcase their songwriting and musicianship across all genres of roots music, have further cemented their legend as master innovators and artists. Doors at 7 p.m., show at 8:30 p.m. $16-$18.

Write-up provided by venue.

Gypsy Sally’s: 3401 K St. NW, DC; www.gypsysallys.com

Lera Lynn Lera Lynn’s vocals set her apart from other singer-songwriters who also sport the ability to play instruments. Her voice is both

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ON TAP | WINTER 2018 | www.ontaponline.com

sorrowful yet powerful, and its super power is its penchant for touching your soul. On top of that, her folk style seemingly slow burns, building with great anticipation for her next belting chord. The music is dark, the singer is talented and Jammin Java always delivers.

Doors at 6:30 p.m., show at 8 p.m. $20. Jammin Java: 227 Maple Ave. E. Vienna, VA; www.jamminjava.com

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 7

Girlpool Girlpool is angry. They’re upset at their plight, and sonically upset about a past romance, but you can’t pick all of this up just from listening to their sound.

In a vacuum, Girlpool actually resembles a pleasant musical experience, but if you turn the volume up, and turn the real world down, you’ll get a heavy dose of lyrics that are neatly packaged beneath this folk exterior. Girlpool is much more than a dynamic duo playing acoustic guitars, so check them out at the newly renovated

Black Cat. Doors at 7:30 p.m. $18. Black Cat: 1811 14th St. NW, DC; www.blackcatdc.com

Tiny Moving Parts Transport yourself to the good ol’ days of Warped Tour with emo revival rockers Tiny Moving Parts, a self-described family band made up of brothers William (drums) and Matthew (bass) Chevalier, and their cousin Dylan Mattheisen (lead vocals, guitar). Catch the band on tour for their latest album Swell, released this January. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. $15. Rock & Roll Hotel: 1353 H St. NE, DC; www.rockandrollhoteldc.com

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 8

Joanna Teters Yet again, Songbyrd Record Cafe and Music House is booking a

future star: this time, the soulful Joanna Teters. Her sound is incredibly sultry, but it’s new wave R&B as the backdrop is full of synths and bass drops. The music often bounces from slow to fast to slow again, and this only works with her versatility as a singer. What more can we say?

She’s a natural in every sense of the word. Doors at 7 p.m., show at 8 p.m. $12. Songbyrd Record Cafe and Music House: 2477 18th St. NW, DC; www.songbyrddc.com

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 9

WHY? WHY? is a California indie rock band with a hip-hop twist.

What started as Yoni Wolf’s solo rap project in 1997 would later become a group effort in 2004 when Yoni recruited his older brother Josiah, as well as Doug McDiarmid and Matt Meldon. With whimsical, folksy arrangements layered with Yoni’s spoken-wordlike voice, WHY? draw you closer with cheeky lyrics and psychedelic sounds. Doors open at 7 p.m. $20. U Street Music Hall: 1115 U St. NW, DC; www.ustreetmusichall.com

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 10

COIN Nashville rockers COIN are behind the popular indie pop single “Talk Too Much.” On tour for their second album, How Will You Know If You Never Try, these guys have slowly gained a following with their infectious sound. Songs off their new album like “Boyfriend” and

“I Don’t Wanna Dance” will (ironically) make you want to dance while mellow songs like “Malibu 1992” will take you to sunny California beaches. Either way, you can’t go wrong. Doors open at 7 p.m. $20. 9:30 Club: 815 V St. NW, DC; www.930.com

Steve Aoki The EDM DJ popularly known for smashing cakes into his fans’ faces is on tour for his latest album Kolony, filled with lots of newcomers that made waves in 2017 like Lil Uzi Vert and Lil Yachty. Catch Aoki’s set with rapper Desiigner at Echostage, a venue that’s come to be known for hosting EDM heavy weights.

Doors open at 9 p.m. Tickets start at $30. Echostage: 2135 Queens Chapel Rd. NE, DC; www.echostage.com

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 11

Viniloversus Indie rockers Viniloversus, formed in Venezuela in 2004, are on tour for their fourth album Days of Exile. Singing in both English and Spanish, the Caracas-based musicians have proved themselves to be rock trailblazers in Latin American, with two albums nominated for Latin Grammys. Catch their grungy act reminiscent of mid 2000s alt-rockers like The Strokes and The White Stripes at Black Cat. Doors open at 7:30 p.m. $15. Black Cat: 1811 14th St. NW, DC; www.blackcatdc.com

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 13

The Academic Craig Fitzgerald, brothers Matt and Stephen Murtagh, and Dean Gavin are up-and-coming Irish indie rockers The Academic.

On tour for their debut album Tales from the Backseat, The Academic will rope you in with catchy hooks and amped up guitars and drums. Witty lyrics on songs like “Bear Claws” and “Fake ID” will have you singing along all night long. Doors open at 7:30 p.m. $12. DC9: 1940 9th St. NW, DC; www.dcnine.com

Carla Bruni Not only is she a model and married to former French president Nicolas Sarkozy, Carla Bruni is also an Italian-French singer-songwriter. Currently on tour for her fifth album French Touch, Bruni sings coffeehouseesque songs in French and English with beautiful, delicate vocals backed by piano and violins or acoustic guitar. Doors open at 7:30 p.m. $59.50.

The Birchmere: 3701 Mount Vernon Ave. Alexandria, VA; www.birchmere.com

loved the guy – raved about him even – but for the longest time, I didn’t understand the appeal of listening to music centrally focused on the guitar, until he played me his idol.

Ever since, I’ve developed a deep appreciation for this genre of music, and it never ceases to amaze me how creative people can be with the stringed instrument. A lot of the modern experimentations are influenced by Satriani, so we suggest you peep one of the best in the world. Doors at 7:30 p.m. $75. Warner Theatre: 513 13th St. NW, DC; www.warnertheatredc.com

Sleigh Bells It’s been 10 years since noisepop band Sleigh Bells came onto the music scene and made a name for themselves with the catchy song “Rill Rill.” A decade later, and the band just released their fifth album Kid Kruschev, a mini-album that still has their classic, dissonant noise spread across the tracks, but also sees the band experimenting with new sounds. Doors open at 7 p.m. $30. 9:30 Club: 815 V St. NW, DC; www.930.com

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 15

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 14

Joe Satriani If you’re in the market for life-altering, guitar-centric performances, you can’t do much better than Joe Satriani.

I had a friend in college who

Stooges Brass Band The Stooges Brass Band has gained notoriety across the U.S. and the world as a fullblown musical party, whether leading a second-line parade or performing their spirited stage show. The band is undeniably one of the hardest working bands out of New Orleans, and their dedication to their craft has made an impact. Doors at

www.ontaponline.com | Winter 2018 | On Tap

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SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 18

7 p.m., show at 8:30 p.m. $15.

Write-up provided by venue.

Gypsy Sally’s: 3401 K St. NW, DC; www.gypsysallys.com

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 17

The Prince and MJ Experience With both of these artists passing in the past decade, the two pop icons will largely be tied together because both made the majority of their music within the same time period. While Jackson offered album after album full of chart topping hits, Prince battled back with more nuanced lyrics aimed almost exclusively at a more mature audience. Both had strengths the other may have lacked, and both approached music in a different manner.

There will not be a day where people don’t have some form of a “Prince vs. MJ” debate, but today is not that day, because they both left behind splendid music to be revered – and danced to. Doors at 11 p.m. $15.

Songbyrd Record Cafe and Music House: 2477 18th St. NW, DC; www.songbyrddc.com

Starcrawler Looking for new music that’s a little more classic rock ‘n’ roll?

Check out Starcrawlers, a new L.A. rock band that channels the days of Alice Cooper and Joan Jett in both fashion and sound.

Lead singer Arrow de Wilde manages to make singing about “ants in my pants” sound cool.

Angst and stick-it-to-the-man vibes galore abound on their recently released, self-titled album. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. $12. DC9: 1940 9th St. NW, DC; www.dcnine.com

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Wylder Will McCarry, Lonnie Southall, Jackson Wright and Mike Pingley are DC’s own Wylder.

An indie band that combines anthem-style rock with the feet-stomping charm of a classic folk band, Wylder makes infectious music that will make you wish you were driving with the windows down in spring. With plenty of fiddle spread throughout their songs, they’ll remind of you of The Strumbellas or The Lumineers, but moments of solitary electric guitar remind you Wylder is still plenty rock. Check out their newest single “The Lake.” Doors open at 7 p.m. $15. U Street Music Hall: 1115 U St. NW, DC; www.ustreetmusichall.com

MAGIC GIANT All four members of L.A. indiefolk band MAGIC GIANT have a long list of instruments they can play, and they put that talent to use in their music.

Upbeat indie-pop songs are laced with trumpets, banjos and harmonicas for a unique twist. But just because violins and banjos are played doesn’t mean they are solely a folkrock band; there is still plenty of synthesizer to remind you that MAGIC GIANT is all about a big pop song. Doors open at 7:30 p.m. $20-$54. U Street Music Hall: 1115 U St. NW, DC; www.ustreetmusichall.com

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 17 - SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 25

Cher Cher is back at the MGM this winter, extending her residency into a part two. If you missed the icon’s last stop in Maryland, this is probably as good a chance as you’ll get to see her live in concert. With countless hits on her resume, it’s no wonder she’s experienced this seemingly endless lifespan into the music zeitgeist, and we likely still haven’t begun to approach the end of her talents. All six shows at 8 p.m.

Tickets start at $120. MGM National Harbor: 101 MGM National Ave. Oxon Hill, MD; www.mgmnationalharbor.com

On Tap | Winter 2018 | www.ontaponline.com

Two Feet Two Feet is New York-based solo artist Bill Dess. Originally a producer making music for other artists, Two Feet’s career was born from a drunken night where he made his song “Go F--k Yourself” public on SoundCloud. The next day, the song had blown up on the Internet. Fast forward to a little over a year later, and Two Feet has released his second EP Momentum and single “I Feel Like I’m Drowning,” both characterized by mellow beats with a punch of guitar backing Two Feet’s bluesy, attitude-laced sound. Doors open at 7 p.m. $15. Rock & Roll Hotel: 1353 H St. NE, DC; www.rockandrollhoteldc.com

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 20

Snarky Puppy The people in the office claim that I’m not a dog person, so I think it’s only fitting that I choose the venerable Snarky Puppy as a show people in DC should see. No, there are no sassy dogs onstage for the show, but you will have moody tunes, as trumpets and electric guitars interact and form music that always sounds drastically different from the preceding song. The band’s goal is always to go into the studio, a practice or even a show and come out with something they haven’t done before then. Basically, you’re going to get something new, but I wouldn’t get my hopes up for actually snarky animals on the Fillmore Stage; it’s probably against building code. Doors at 7 p.m., show at 8 p.m. $33.

Fillmore Silver Spring: 8656 Colesville Rd. Silver Spring, MD; www.fillmoresilverspring.com

Phoebe Bridgers Los Angeles singer-songwriter Phoebe Bridgers has quickly made a name for herself with her unique voice and unforgettable lyrics. Bridgers’ sweet voice is backed by beautiful strings and vulnerable lyrics in music that I can only describe as the kind of songs you have a good cry to. Catch Bridgers on tour for her first album release with Stranger in the Alps. Doors open at 7 p.m. $15. Rock & Roll Hotel: 1353 H St. NE, DC; www.rockandrollhoteldc.com

on the scene

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 21

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 24

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 25

When I learned that Martin Sexton is self-taught in the art of guitar, it was kind of an incredible realization. I’m sure his technicalities are up to snuff, but you can tell he operates on a freedom those classically trained guitarists might not enjoy because it’s all sound-driven. The music is unique, has a fun pace and is generally easy to listen to, whether you’re stuck in a rut or just want to dance in your kitchen while trying to make tilapia taste good (it’s basically impossible). In this case, you’ll be listening to his tunes at the legendary Wolf Trap. Doors at 8 p.m. $42$47. The Barns at Wolf Trap: 1635 Trap Rd. Vienna, VA; www.wolftrap.org

AWOLNATION

John Nolan

The Oh Hellos

Method Man and Redman

For more photos from these And other events, visit the Online gallery at www.ontaponline.com.

Martin Sexton

It seems like just yesterday people were putting up YouTube videos of their cats being, well, cats in perfect synchronization to the song “Sail.” Seven years later and alt-rock band Awolnation has just released a third album, Here Come the Runts.

With plenty of electropop sounds on the album, lead singer Aaron Bruno says he wanted to make a more pop-leaning album and was influenced by the coastal mountains near his home studio. Doors open at 7 p.m.

Tickets start at $34. Fillmore Silver Spring: 8656 Colesville Rd. Silver Spring, MD; www.fillmoresilverspring.com

Height is the latest album release from John Nolan, a solo project from Taking Back Sunday’s co-lead vocalist.

Less angsty than Taking Back Sunday, Nolan, who also was a founding member of Straylight Run, still brings moodiness and rock to his solo project. Catch him on his birthday tour, which kicks off the day before his birthday and which will feel like one big b-day celebration – balloons and streamers included. Doors open at 7:30 p.m. $15. DC9: 1940 9th St. NW, DC; www.dcnine.com

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 28

Jenny and the Mexicats

Cincinnati’s Walk The Moon has been captivating audiences with energetic live shows for the better part of a decade. The altrock/pop quartet played The Anthem in January.

Photos: Krystina Gabrielle Photography

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As a person from Texas, The Oh Hellos sound very modern-Texas. It’s fun to think of the state nestled above Mexico and below Oklahoma, among others, as a place where Cowboys roam on horseback, but the state really is a part of the modern world.

There are hints of that old West influence in barbecue and art, but I promise you don’t need a saddle to get around. The Oh Hellos are much like this, offering up music that straddles the line of old-school country and pop music you find on the radio. There’s violins and Southern twang, but there’s also a tempo that feels very 21st-century. Doors at 9 p.m. $25. 9:30 Club: 815 V St. NW, DC; www.930.com

On Tap | Winter 2018 | www.ontaponline.com

One of hip-hop’s most dynamic duos is set to perform at the Howard Theatre, which always seems to pay homage to the nostalgic days of the genre.

Method Man and Redman are giants in the industry; the former has one of hip-hop’s most distinguishable voices and the latter is known as one of its very best lyricists.

Though these two have largely stayed quiet – at least in producing new tracks – their past discography could ignite a fiercely fun evening you won’t want to miss. Doors at 7 p.m., show at 8 p.m. $49.50-$69.50. The Howard Theatre: 620 T St. NW, DC; www.thehowardtheatre.com

Whether it’s shifting from English to Spanish mid-song or switching from jazz to slow acoustic, Jenny and the Mexicats are variety incarnate. England’s Jenny Ball grew up playing trumpet in jazz and classical settings, but eventually yearned for adventure; from there, she moved to Spain and helped found this band with international flavor. There isn’t a sound the group can’t recreate with force – and grace – so we’re not sure what to expect other than tremendous fun. Doors at 7:30 p.m., show at 8 p.m. $10-$12. DC9 Nightclub: 1940 9th St. NW, DC; www.dcnine.com

on the scene

For more photos from these And other events, visit the online gallery at www.ontaponline.com.

Photos: Trent Johnson

The DC Tattoo Expo was held from January 12-14 at the Crystal Gateway Marriott in Arlington, Virginia, once again featuring a score of talented tattoo artists from around the country. Whether attendees were in the market for ink, prints or even some graphic street wear, the expo featured vendors for nearly any and all things tattoo.

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DCplaybill∑

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CPAA Productions Ltd. presents The Guangdong Song & Dance Ensemble Wenhua Award-Winning Chinese Dance Drama

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FEB 2 & 3 | 8:00 PM

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