WTD DC User Blog

Hey you there, WTD Blog reader.  Have you checked out one of our fun free happy hours over the course of the past 5 months?  We’ve been all over town throwing parties, setting up free open bars, and feeding our deal hungry users at some of the funnnnnnest spots around the city.  Check out some of the highlights from our Happy Hours at the Reserve, H Street Country Club, Chief Ike’s,  the Bottom Line, Old Glory, and others. We hope you’ll join us at a Happy Hour soon.

I recently visited Ping Pong Dim Sum in Chinatown with my wife Laurie to enjoy a variety of dishes and to write this idiotic blog entry for WTD.  We went in with open minds; we were both up for trying anything, though I did think that “Ping Pong Dim Sum” was kind of a stupid name.  But presumably the successful London-based purveyor of “little steamed parcels of deliciousness” knows more about the restaurant business than I do.

The restaurant itself claims to be modeled after a traditional Chinese tea house, and it is completely accurate in its details.  Of course, I am assuming that traditional tea houses are spacious and fashionably modern, with big bar areas and tons of tables occupied by overwhelmingly young, fashionable, and loud-talking diners.  We visited on a weeknight, but I couldn’t help notice that many women were dressed in their finest and tartiest clothes.  One young lady was wearing jeans that were so tight that she had to lean sideways and use a railing to get down three stairs because couldn’t bend her legs.  Laurie insisted that the girl had a knee injury underneath her straining denim and that’s why she was walking like Frankenstein, but I remain unconvinced.

We immediately ordered drinks from the fancy-pants cocktail menu, and we were both happy with what we got:  I had an Asian Manhattan, which substituted plum wine for the traditional sweet vermouth,  and Laurie had the Lychee and Roses, a sweet and tasty drink that proved difficult to drink slowly.  “Make sure to write that there is an actual rose in the drink,” she insisted, kicking off my evening of tasty food from Ping Pong and explicit instructions from Laurie.

We ordered a sampling of dishes from all over the menu, and also followed some of the advice of our attentive and helpful server.  During the meal Laurie acted the part of a living restaurant review, and made sure that I took note of what she was saying so that this blog entry didn’t end up like my write-up of the Bottom Line (where I just made jokes about how cheap the beers are and never really mentioned the food).  Now if for some strange reason you get your restaurant reviews from the blog section of WTD, then my wife has this for you:

• “Write that the pork puff is fluffy, buttery, melt-in-your-mouth”
• “Make sure to say that the scallop and shiitake dumpling is delicious”
• “Write ‘if you like calamari, you’ll love the satay squid’”
• “Say that there is a nice contrast between the sweet dressing and the salty duck in the duck salad”
• “It would be funny if you wrote that the bok choy was tasty, but that you need sharpened vampire-like teeth to bite through it”
• Etc. etc. etc.

I was also scolded for ordering a beer instead of another fancy cocktail, because no one wants to read about me drinking a beer.  A true enough statement, though I’m not sure anyone really wants to read about me drinking a cocktail either.

Despite bickering over what to write in this blog, the wife and I both agree that you’ll like Ping Pong Dim Sum – there is something delicious for everyone.  Even if I still think the name is kind of stupid.

-Dug E., WTD User and Reluctant Blogger

Chocolate Chocolate features a wide variety of chocolate, and has the best selection of chocolate while not being snobby. The store has a wide spectrum of brands—ranging from small organic artisanal chocolates such as organic Lake Champlain and Lillie Belle Farms to fine European chocolates such as Belgian Neuhaus and Laderach of Switzerland. The selection is fantastic, as they have everything from pay by the pound candies to wrapped chocolate to fine truffles. I opted to try a few of the Lillie Belle Farms chocolates because they have a line of chocolates including a Maker’s Mark cup with whiskey ganache, a gin martini truffle, and a margarita truffle, as well as fruit fresh (including boysenberries and lemon buttercups) from their farm mixed into their chocolate. They were absolutely fantastic, the ganache was fresh and the flavors were sharp.

When I build up my courage, I’m going to try their Smokey Blue Cheese chocolate as well! I also tried a few of the Laderach truffles, with the rich milk chocolate that blends perfectly with hazelnut. The workers there are very knowledgeable and friendly and strive to explain their selection and help you understand which chocolates you might enjoy the most.  I’ll be back!

-WTD Dan

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When Rob called me and said,”Hey,  do you want to be my man-date and go eat tons of delicious food, drink as much beer and wine as you want, and hang out with the best chef’s in Washington DC?” How could I possibly say no? I swear, I am not friends with Rob just because he brings me along to events like this and WTD offers unbelievable discounts to the best restaurants, spa’s, and events in Washington DC, but it doesn’t hurt.  I would also argue, that it could not be a Best of Washington party without the both of  us being there.

Rob is smiling, but he is actually terrified of clowns

The Best of Washington – Washingtonian 2010 Party is like going to the greatest wedding cocktail hour of your life. However, instead of talking to awkward distant relatives, you get to play with clowns, compete in carnival games, and marvel at sword swallowers.  It doesn’t hurt that the food is far better than any food you have ever had at a wedding, (well, except if you went to Time Columnist Josh Ozersky’s wedding).

I have been to many “Taste of” events, and the problem is usually that they sell too many tickets and the samples are usually meager. The Washingtonian did it right. The event wasn’t too crowded, I never had to wait in a long line for anything, and the portions, were well…gluttonous. Whole slices of pie from Baked & Wired, Crabcakes from Tacklebox, Sliders from BGR Joint, needless to say we ate a lot.

The restaurants really brought out their A game for this event. Last week, I enjoyed the tasting menu at Trummer’s on Main, and at the Washingtonian event, they served a seared wahoo dish that was a course on their tasting menu. The Palm was the clear winner in extravagance this year. THEY WERE GIVING OUT LOBSTER!!! Are you kidding me? Not just a little lobster, A LOT of lobster. In addition to shrimp and filet sandwiches.  Potenza was giving out huge lamb meatballs that were out of this world delicious. Our props go out to California Tortilla  for the most innovative marketing with their cocktail plates. This should be a standard at every cocktail hour you ever go to.

Amazing cocktail plates provided by California Tortilla

As far as drinking is concerned, there was plenty of it. When Rob and I were not stuffing our faces, we were sampling local brews, as well as imports. I even tried a Czech beer that had been in business for over 700 years. Sadly, Rob did not try the Czech beer because he only drinks beer that has been brewed for 800 years and this Czech beer didn’t make the cut.

If you are a food nerd like I am (Read my blog, EatMore Drinkmore), you would have loved this event because you got  to socialize with your favorite DC chef’s. Mike Isabella of Zatinya and Top Chef Fame was there plating dishes, Nicholas Stefanelli of Bibiana could not have been more friendly, and Liam LaCivita of Liberty Tavern, Northside Social, and Lyon Hall shared cooking tips with me.  I was a bit disappointed to not see Jose Andres bubbling personality at the event, but according to Twitter, he was in China, so I guess he gets a pass.

All in all it was a fantastic event, and I like many of you, am very excited about the partnership between What’s the Deal and The Washingtonian, I think it will result in many more awesome deals and events in the future.

Chad, WTD4Life’r

And then like Eades’ Speyside whisky, it takes you on a roller coaster. Its brother, the Islay whisky, was previewed to us as what it would be like to kiss Sean Connery, open mouth. These were just some of the lessons Dan taught us as he guided us through the taste sensations of Eades’ whisky, the United States’ only authentically distilled double malt.

As a scotch aficionado, I frequent the various scotch tastings in the area, typically looking for a nice Macallan 12 year or perhaps a Mortlach single malt. With the crowds I run in, we usually tumble out of the event only slightly aware of our surroundings.

Being a Monday, I was a bit better behaved at Eventide and was able to restrain from finishing each glass before letting Dan tell us about what we were about to enjoy. I actually picked up a few things.

Dan, the Whisky Guy

The key points of the evening were:

1. Eventide’s pulled bison sliders are delicious and worth going back for
2. Whisky is a good drink for the long haul, because it may be the only drink that slows me down from racing to the bottom of the glass
3. Whisky is less likely to result in a hangover, because of the lower sugar content
4. It’s positively not scotch unless it’s from Scotland, but between you and me, Eades Highland and Speyside whiskies may as well be
5. Islay’s overtones of peat bog are an acquired taste
6. I love an event with party favors so I don’t have to steal the barware

I had never been to Eventide before and it was a laid back and classy atmosphere. Typically, closed on Mondays, Dave the owner and Steve, the bar manager, opened Eventide’s doors exclusive to an intimate gathering of What’s the Deal whisky enthusiasts. Good thing it was comfortable setting since my two friends left me sitting at the table waiting for them to arrive for a good 15 minutes.

The whisky tasting was introducing Nelson County’s own Eades second edition, brought to us in 3 flavors: Highland, Speyside and Islay. What makes Eades unique is that it distills two single malt whiskies that harken back to the same region in Scotland and then age the blend in wine casks. Other whisky companies blend many malts for the purpose of getting consistent taste. Eades boasts Jim McEwan as their master distiller who is gifted at bringing what we love about scotch and adding a local twist in Virginia. The crowd went wild!

The designated judges for the evening picked Islay as their favorite with some sophisticated commentary by Melissa, “simultaneous multi-sensory experience.” I am not that advanced. In my opinion, the whiskies in order of deliciousness were Speyside (Lohan), Highland (Meg Ryan – in the early days) and Islay (Connery). I would recommend tasting in reverse order to end on the best note. As a general rule, I prefer my cocktails cold.

We added a few drops of water to each whisky, but I will risk ‘watering down this 92 proof drink’ with a few ice cubes in the future. On your way to, from or in between the workday, you can pick your favorite Eades from the VA ABC stores or in any number of DC liquor stores, such as Schneider’s for all you interns on the Hill.

-Benjie Cruz, Fan of WTD and Drinking on Mondays

When Salsa Dancing Lessons popped up on WTD, I thought, ‘Hey why not?’. Hubby and I are always looking for something new to try and at $5 a person it sounded like a fun night.  At minimum we could cut a rug at a wedding. At best, when I become rich and famous, I’d at least have a leg up on Dancing with the Stars.

Last Thursday night, we headed to the Salsa Room on Columbia Pike in Arlington (this was after spending a while deciding what I should wear and waiting for my husband to drive home from Tennessee). We got there about ten minutes before the lesson started, just enough time to have a drink at the bar. The dance floor looked kind of bare and I was worried there wouldn’t be enough people to blend in and not look like a fool. When our instructor called us out to the floor, it was packed (thank goodness!) with couples, singles, people older and younger. We got into two lines and learned the basic salsa step, front, front middle. Left foot down. Back, back, middle. Right foot down. We did that about 1000 times, all the time repeating “Front, front , middle. Back, back, middle”.  After it looked like most of us had that down, we moved onto side steps and diagonal steps. Alright, woohoo, I’m a salsa dancer!! Umm, not quite, now onto partnering.

Luckily I came with a partner, but there were plenty of singles who paired up easily.  Our instructor, Orlando and his partner took us through some basic salsa-ing. We moved up to spins and turns. We switched partners a couple of time (my best partner was a tall lady who was partnering with other single ladies). I danced with one super sweaty guy and then back with my husband.  By the end of the lesson, we had a firm grasp of the basic salsa and I got my husband to stop swinging me around like a golf club. We stayed to watch the intermediate lesson. Wow, we need about 3 more beginner lessons to move up to intermediate.

We had a great time. It was a lot of fun. We will definitely go back for another lesson, in the meantime, I’ll have to find a Salsa station on Pandora and practice our lessons. And try not to embarrass the kids too much.

-Tara Voigt, WTD Enthusiast

Today for lunch I took a little field trip over to H Street NE to try the new Star and Shamrock Deli. I have to admit I was intrigued by the concept which combines a Jewish deli with an Irish pub. I went with one thing on my mind… potato latkes. Come to find out that they actually don’t have the latkes prepped in time for lunch and only serve them for dinner. This was very disappointing as I don’t think I can fairly judge the Jewish aspect of this establishment without trying a latke, but I was able to get past it and embrace the other appealing options. The menu offers an excellent selection of specialty sandwiches that include the Latke Madness which consists of three potato pancakes, hot corned beef, grilled sauerkraut, swiss and russian dressing or The Star and the Shamrock with hot pastrami, corned beef, chopped chicken liver, swiss, russian, and a potato latke on rye bread. This is likely the quintessential item on the menu that really ties the Jewish and Irish influences together. Of all of the things I tried, the onion rings were my favorite part of the meal—the portion size was huge and they could not have been more perfectly fried. I had to ask for a doggie bag to bring the rest back to my office as I knew they would not disappoint.

In addition to the food, Star and Shamrock has an easygoing atmosphere that is likely to draw in a nice mix of people. I was impressed to see that the deli had a crowd drinking beers and watching golf by the TV’s at 1PM on a Thursday. It is clear that Star and Shamrock is the type of place that dishes up a mean corned beef sandwich and will draw in a fun late night crowd on the weekends. I hope to come back soon to try those potato latkes because as I overheard the waiter saying to the table next to mine: “there’s nothing like a Kosher drunk”, and I could not agree more.

Check out http://eatmoredrinkmore.com/ for further restaurant reviews, recipes, and local DC food news.

-Jenna Golden, WTD Lover

When I want to take my boyfriend out on a date, I first turn to the ongoing deals at WTD (he loves me for my thriftiness). And when I saw the deal for Il Canale in Georgetown, I was intrigued. We never really go out to eat Italian food, mostly because I’m an Italian food snob. And I’m not Italian. Don’t get me wrong, I loooooove the cuisine. But I have been privileged to eat Italian food made by a real life Italian grandma, and have not been able to go back since. Italian food is more than a greasy mound of noodles and meat and pre-dinner carb overload. And when I saw the refined, diverse menu of Il Canale online, and the fact that the chef and owner are both from the motherland, I decided to take my nose out of the air, and into the sauce.

Nestled in a side street in Georgetown, Il Canale’s modest storefront takes a bit of a time to recognize, but upon entering, you realize you are nowhere near Grandma’s kitchen. The place is sleek, chic, and shiny. Their two floors boast a number of cool, simple black and silver tables, spotted by bright, colorful art. Before even looking at the menu, we were greeted by a very friendly and informative server who was happy to explain the menu. Honestly, the menu wasn’t that confusing, but it was nice to have someone do a brief tour of the items with you. Also we were presented with a short list of nightly specials, including beef carpaccio, grilled octopus and a filet mignon. Since my man likes meat, we started out with the beef carpaccio. When the waiter brought it out, I thought “holy cannoli! I should have just ordered this as my meal! The large, thinly sliced beef was spread around an arugula salad and shaved parmesan… an Atkins Dieter’s dream!

Speaking of Atkins, I do have to mention the bread, because, well, it’s worth mentioning. Again, normally you are given huge mounds of bread to fill up on before your pasta/pizza comes out to re-stuff your belly. But Il Canale serves it in style, small thinly sliced pieces with a dish filled with a bit of olive oil and garlic cloves – a perfect punch of flavor to start your meal.

As a first time diner, I started out with a simple Margherita Pizza with homemade tomato sauce, basil and imported bufala mozzarella. My boyfriend predictably ordered large tubed pasta with meat sauce. The pizza was delicious – rather large for one person, but pizza is perfect leftover! The pasta was perfectly al dente and more moderately portioned. My waiter kindly paired my pizza with a “quarino” (8 oz.) of the Sangiovese. And after that, it was a belle note.

The meal wouldn’t be complete with a little espresso and a lemonjello flute. Our palates were complete.

All in all, Il Canale stands out as more of a modern atmosphere, but good homey Italian cuisine. From the warmth of the staff, to the flavor of the food, to the last drop of your wine, it is a lovely evening for a couple, family, or group of friends. And with a WTD certificate, you can splurge a little more for a meal worthwhile.

-Jackie Carl, WTD Fiz-an

SAY WHAAAT?!? I can go on urban adventures IN the city?!?!?! Surely not!

Ladies and gents, the answer to this dumfounding question is… drum roll please…. YES! Thanks to Urban Escapes for just starting up their DC Chapter two months ago – you can! And let me tell you, this particular adventure was simply amazeballs.

I’m sure that you’ve all heard of the other groups out there like Things To Do DC or Who Was That Smoking Hot (insert appropriate noun here) I Met Last Night? The new comer to the DC scene has taken it to a whole new level. Their motto “Get Out Of The Bubble” perfectly describes what they are bringing to the table for DC professionals.

Unlike the other organizations around this great utopia (which are also quite wonderful) that connect us awesomely awkward young professionals with other awesomely awkward professionals at happy hours, embassy social events, New Years Eve extravaganzas, speed dating drink-a-thons (no… I have not attended one of these… seriously… but we all know we’ve been curious at some point), Urban Escapes has created both the environment and activities to bring people together and do outdoorsy, adventurous and physically stimulating events. Think of Indiana Jones minus the whip, hat and snakes but keep the adventurous spirit and beautiful people… and maybe a monkey.

I attended the Sunset Kayaking Tour complete with a catered BBQ and beer last week that hosted by Jack’s Boathouse over in Georgetown and everything just felt right. Not only are the tour guides/coordinators Dan, Ben and Maggie full of energy, charisma and ear to ear smiles, they were all genuinely interested in getting to know everyone that was on the adventure and their job was to make sure that everyone was having a great time. From the second I hopped into my kayak to the sad moment that I finished my last beer and had to leave, I had a constant a smile on my face.  And I realized that because everyone was out in nature, being active and using the 800 other muscles in our bodies besides our fingers, the environment was extremely conducive to really getting to know my fellow adventurers. Instead of the “what do you do” bland conversations, it was more of the “wow this is awesome, what else have you done around here?” conversations.  Everyone had a cool story and by the end of the BBQ and 2 full cases of perfectly chilled Magic Hat and Dog Fish Ale, that we drank under the shelter of a beautifully lit private dock as the sun set behind the river, I really felt like I had made some very interesting and awesome new friends — and completely forgot that I was still in the District!

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I know that words are only so much, but if you are looking to do something completely different with some friends and want to meet some other really cool people – definitely give these guys a try. It might even show you a side of the city that you didn’t know existed before! Due to the awesomeness of Urban Escapes, the next date I take a girl on is absolutely going to be renting a kayak at Jack’s Boathouse… whenever that might be. YIKES! I should go get on that…

Happy Adventuring DC!!!!

-Ryland Greenhouse, WTD’ist

Hi, I’m Andy and I’m the new content writer for What’s the Deal.  My role is to write original content for the website, introduce our awesome customers to cool new Deals, and manage the WTD blog.  Basically make magic flow from my fingertips.  Much like Edward Scissorhands.  But without the whole “angsty teen goth” thing.

A little about me:  I come from the rough streets of Burke, VA, where a man’s car is at constant risk of getting dinged in a Costco parking lot.  I attended and somehow graduated from Haverford College with a B.A. in English focusing on Creative Writing, and have recently put that degree to use by co-authoring a book about the “Millennial” generation.  I’ve worked for a teacher’s union, an immigration law firm, VH1′s pop culture show “Best Week Ever”, and documentary filmmaker Morgan Spurlock.  Short of becoming a lion tamer or deep sea archeologist, I decided to work for WTD, helping bring awesome Deals to the fun-loving people of DC.  I’m honored to join the WTD team– their passion, positive attitude and tolerance for my corny jokes make them the best coworkers a guy could ask for.

Now if I “Andy up”, will you “Deal Me In”?  Hyuk hyuk.