3-HourWeekend SHOULD YOU GO?
Our quick guide to Post critics’ takes on new movies, exhibits and restaurants in the area.
Movie MAYBE
“Flipped” is a syrupy, ham-fisted paean to puppy love. — Michael O’Sullivan Review, Page 24
Music GO! PHOTOS BY DAYNA SMITH FOR THE WASHINGTON POST
Clockwise from left: guide Ted Nilsson, right, leads a tour of Old Town Alexandria; Bob Ault of Springfield samples wine at the Virginia Shop; a stop at Columbia Firehouse includes small helpings of dishes such as scallops and couscous.
D.C. METRO FOOD TOURS Eating your way through history
Broken Social Scene, playing Monday at the Warner Theatre, doesn’t play music for lo-fi fans of minimal arrangements. — Benjamin Opipari Review, Page 9
Restaurant GO!
Yes, we know the routine: You run out of time to cook dinner and make a last-minute dash to your go-to restaurant. Go ahead, or- der the same dish at the same place over and over if you’d like. But if you’re feeling ambi- tious this weekend, you can discover a hand- ful of new, just-as-reliable places on a food tour, which adds sampling local restaurants to the usual history-as-you-walk routine. Jeff Swedarsky was inspired to start D.C.
Metro Food Tours three years ago, when he realized how much you can learn about a place by tasting the local cuisine. “One thing I really try to do when I travel is
Mosaic Cuisine and Cafe is an unexpected treasure on Rockville Pike: an 85-seat temple to the waffle.
— Justin Rude Review, Page 16
Exhibit GO!
experience different cultures, different places, their history, architecture — but espe- cially their cuisine,” he said. “That way you can be part of it; instead looking into it, you’re with everybody else. When I came to D.C., [a food tour] seemed like a natural fit.” The company started with a tour of Old
Town Alexandria that focused not only on seeing its history but also on tasting it through sample dishes at local eateries. The group is kept to about a dozen to lessen what Swedarsky calls the “classroom feel” of most guided tours. The tour starts at City Hall and
To watch a video of the Old Town food tour, go to
goingoutguide.com.
ends about two miles later near the water- front, with six stops in between. On the way to the first stop, Bilbo Baggins Global Wine Cafe and Restaurant, visitors pass by the home of John Carlyle, one of Alex- andria’s founders. You’ll learn about the ar- chitecture of local homes, such as how the high cost of glass resulted in grand windows on lower floors and smaller ones as you go up. There are similar stops between each of the restaurants, allowing you to take in the history and let the food sink in. Avisit to Bilbo Baggins highlights the fam- ily-run businesses that make Alexandria such a special place — and the restaurant’s brie- topped portobello mushroom and micro- brew start the tour on the right foot. The next stop, the Virginia Shop, greets food tourists with a medicine-cup-size sample of a local wine and Hubs Virginia peanuts, while two of the other stops, the Columbia Firehouse and Union Street Public House, let you sam- ple the Chesapeake with scallops and crab cakes. The area’s international diversity is showcased at the Pita House, a Lebanese res- taurant serving plates of falafel, hummus, ba- ba ghanouj, cinnamon rice and shawarma, served family-style to the group. The tour ends with a sample of history: Alexandria jel- ly cake, a layered pound cake that has been served in the area for 125 years, at Old Town
Coffee, Tea and Spice. While there was much debate over which was the best restaurant, everyone agreed that the tour was a tasty one. “I thought it was a great linear experience,” said Amber Lazorwitz of New Jersey. “It was really interesting to be hearing all the history and about the restaurants and then to taste the food. It was really delicious.”
While some members of the tour group were out-of-towners looking to get as much out of one day as possible, many were locals looking to find new places to eat. Either way, everyone was satisfied (and satiated) by their taste of Alexandria — and left with a few more restaurants on their go-to list. —Kristen Boghosian
WHERE IS IT? The reservation-only tour departs from Old Town’s Market Square, on King and Fairfax streets, Alexandria. Tours are also offered in Georgetown, Capitol Hill, D.C.’s Little Ethiopia and Baltimore, with U Street, Dupont Circle and Adams Morgan coming soon.
WHEN IS IT? Thursday-Sunday at 1 p.m. from March to January.
HOW MUCH DOES IT COST? $55 (other tours $50-$60), plus a $2 reservation fee.
FOR MORE INFORMATION Visit www.
dcmetrofoodtours.com or call 202-683-8847.
5
WEEKEND STAFF Editors Debra Leithauser, Amy Joyce, Anne Kenderdine, Amy Hitt
“Flooded McDonald’s” is weirdly beautiful and calm — a sci-fi thril- ler about the end of the world as we know it.
— Michael O’Sullivan Review, Page 39
Writers Alex Baldinger, Kristen Boghosian, Fritz Hahn, David Malitz, Stephanie Merry, Amy Orndorff, Michael O’Sullivan, Lavanya Ramanathan, Justin Rude Art Director Lisa Schreiber • Layout Editor Twila Waddy • Advertising Shawn McKenna-Deane
Get Listed Weekend lists events as space permits. Send notices, with date, time, addresses, cost and phone number to
weekendlistings@washpost.com. Please include appropriate heading, Concerts, Stage, etc., in the subject field. Notices can also be mailed to Weekend, The Washington Post, 1150 15th St. NW, Washington, D.C. 20071-5650. Deadline is 10 days before publication.
Editorial Content/Free Listings 202-334-5292 or 202-334-5477 • Paid Advertising/Display Ads: 202-334-5750
THE WASHINGTON POST • FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2010
PHOTOS, FROM TOP: BEN GLASS; ASTRID STAWIARZ/GETTY IMAGES; JAMES M. THRESHER/THE WASHINGTON POST; KATHERINE FREY/THE WASHINGTON POST
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