H St. Country Club - Quick First Look

Despite my lack of posting over the last couple of months, somehow I was graced with an invite to tonight's preview of the H St. Country Club. I guess it makes sense because I do talk about eating a lot, but it caught me off guard. I try not to take myself, or this occasionally asinine blog, too seriously; so the idea that I might be credentialed to something as a media member is kind of flattering.

Anyway, I bounced down to the Country Club about 8pm to soak up my share of the free food and drink being provided. When I walked in I was given a press packet filled with boilerplate about the Country Club and its chefs, owners, and management and a drink ticket. Oh yeah, that's what I'm talking about.

My first drink was an excellent frozen guava margarita that was suggested to me by Joe the bartender. I can just imagine the brain freeze I'll get this Summer when I suck one of those down after walking the half a dozen sweaty blocks between my crib and the Country Club. Then with drink in hand, I took a stroll around the place.

I had been to the Phish Tea Cafe, the restaurant that previously inhabited 1335 H St. NE, and they had only used a fraction of the space and not nearly as well. Big Joe knows what he's doing, is well capitalized, and it shows in the final product he's put together here. The H St. Country Club (HSCC) has a unique concept that has been executed very, very well.

I'll spare you a lot of blather about sumptuous wood tones and all the decorative flourishes that you'll see throughout the bar. The mini golf course upstairs is what much of the buzz about HSCC has centered on and it lives up to the hype. Even with the shitty camera in my iPhone, I managed to get a couple of half-decent pix of the mini golf course.





I know a lot of foodies are hyped up for Ann Cashion's new joint, but it looked like they were only serving selections from the bar menu tonight. Everything I tasted was good, but there's only so much you can do to nachos and quesadillas to dress them up. I missed out on the empenadas (which looked great) but consoled myself with the hot lima bean dip which is much, much better than it sounds.

The only disappointment of the night was my second drink, the Hot Tamale; a Ketel One Martini with jalapeno stuffed olives. The olives were a little mushy and not nearly salty enough and the jalapenos should have been hotter and lacked the vinegary tang that I was looking for.

Read More...

Summary only...

jimmy valentine's lonely hearts club - Weekend of March 6-8

this friday, 3/6, Sinister Intelligence Agency sorts through their tastemaker's grab bag ranging from indie to industrial, AND AND AND they're bringing Digit216 down from NYC to blast out a gravity-bending d&b set, word is your face might melt

this saturray, 3/7, doors open at 9 for the THE BOOSHIE BALL (flier below). we're white-knuckled in anticipation for what purports to be quite the sensory overload as local designer Ginger Bray shows off her latest line in fabulous women's fashion while DJ's Sammy K & Hanik, Ray Casil, John Michael, & Dan Soda throw down slamming house and techno (some of you may (or may not!) remember john & dan's block-shaking 6 hour set at our last Johnson & Johnson party (the monday before inauguration)). we've been told to expect champagne & models, professional video stimulus, a raffle for one of Ginger's custom designs... apparently all we're missing is scooby & the mystery machine, though perhaps mr. guiness will make one of his pet-me-i'm-needy appearances. great dance music guaranteed, this will definitely be a blast

and of course every sunday y'all can battle D Thrett on the old skool nintendo (she got a refurbished one w/ the original controls), 2 player games like Mario Bros., Dick Tracy, Milon's Secret Castle, Hudsons Adventure Island, Friday the 13th... it's, like... culture

you been warned

jvlhc krewe

(Click for full-sized image)

Read More...

Summary only...

Freestyle About Gambling in Fargo

Here it is, a freestyle blog post. I've got no agenda, nothing in particular to write about in mind, and self-imposed 500 word space to fill so I'm letting it fly and seeing if I can bang this out in one sitting.

Did y'all know there is mad gambling out here in the Fargo-Moorhead area? Aside from the usual lotto nonsense, in Minnesota and North Dakota they sell these things call "pull tabs" in many of the bars. Not being much of gambler myself, I find these pull tab things to be unspeakably dopey and total waste of gambling dollars. Seriously, WTF? Just sit there and rip these things open and hope you win a prize? At least with a slot machine you can choose when the reels stop or pull the lever or have some kind of "control" over the game.

In North Dakota, under the guise of charitable gaming, you will also find blackjack tables in bars. I'm talking a real live table with chips, the eye in the sky, and the whole deal. It's kind of phat. The first time I saw a blackjack table in a bar the only thing I could think of was what kind of outrageous scams would be going down if they had that shit in New Jersey.

As a general rule I have pretty atrocious gambling luck, anytime I've walked out of a casino a winner I usually gave the money back in the next few days and then some. Back in the day I used to do a bit of sports gambling, but after a fine run during basketball season I managed to give back a season's worth of winnings in less than three weeks of betting on baseball. So as much as I like to gamble, I had to realize pretty much suck at it and allow it to remain one of the few vices I don't indulge in with any regularity. Aside from the occasional parlay card, and I do mean occasional I don't think I've played one in at least two years, I don't really gamble. Which is what makes it so weird that while I was out chilling and watching the game last night and spotted a blackjack table at Dempsey's I decided to try my luck.

I have more than a few friends who are pretty hardcore gamblers and one of the few tips I've gleaned from them over the years is that if you're going to play blackjack you have to vary your bets if you want to win money. With that in mind I got $40 worth of chips, a bottle of PBR, and went to work at this blackjack table.

When you learn how to gamble in the casinos in Atlantic City, there are certain rules that you follow 'cause you don't want some jamoke following you out to your car because you pulled the dealers bust card. Those rules are not followed in Fargo. The first time I was ever in a casino I got cussed the fuck out by a table full of people for taking a hit when the dealer had a six showing. The two dudes sitting at the table with me however, were splitting hands and doubling down against 5s & 6s like there was no tomorrow.

I ended up having a pretty decent night on the table. After buying a beer and making numerous tip bets on behalf of both dealers I managed to leave the bar with $20 more dollars than I came in with, you have to love that shit.

Read More...

Summary only...

New Harris Teeter

WifeRat was bitter following late night escapades after rugby this week so I decided to check out the new Harris Teeter on Kalorama. I didn't get there until almost 2200hrs so the parking garage was pretty much deserted, but I was still greeted by cheerful employee when I walked into the elevator lobby.

As expected, the store was clean and well-stocked even considering the late hour. I basically walked around the outside edge of the store getting produce, milk, and all the rest of the stuff that keeps Swiss Family Rat well fed. Only one register was open and when I attempted to use the self-checkout a cheerful and (attempting to be) helpful employee directed me to an Express checkout station that was temporarily abandoned. About 90 seconds and a cart full of apologies later, the staff member showed up and whipped me through the checkout process while directing me to a newspaper coupon for $5 off.

Seeing the quantity of stuff I purchased and the short amount of time it took me to get done, one of the guys down in the garage commented that I hit the store, ". . . bank robbery style, quick!"

On the way home I stopped in for a short one with SOS at Ulah. I was curious to check it out again after getting an anonymous comment that the food sucked. I neglected to mention this to SOS 'cause he's just bubbling over talking about the place that he and Girlfriend of Hateration (GOH) are buying. Some random guy also bought me a shot of Patron in the course of trying to make a point to the bartender next door.

Read More...

Summary only...

Ulah Bistro

A close friend of HillRat, a guy nicknamed SOS, helped open Ulah Bistro. Things are still in a state of flux at Ulah with an obligatory chef walk out two weeks after the restaurant opened. The recommendation I got from SOS's lady friend was to stick with the pizzas and burgers, but she heard the tuna tartar was good.

I was happy because I hadn't had tartar of any type in a while and it had caught my eye when I looked over the menu. My only minor complaint would be that the salad served on top was a little overdressed, still is was tasty and complimented the tuna nicely. The wasabi cream painted on the plate wasn't just there for decoration, it had a healthy kick and added zing to whatever you dragged through it.

Early looks seem to be pretty neutral so far.

Read More...

Summary only...

Argonaut Closes Early?

I stopped by the Argonaut at a little before midnight and all outside lights were off. There were a couple of people inside, but the door was locked when I pulled on it and I was waved off by the guy behind the bar.

Anyone know what's up?

Read More...

Summary only...

Union Pub

Ya know, the Union Pub used to be a cool place to hang out back in the day when it was still affectionately known as the "Dead Liver Grill". Now it's just a tool box except for Larry the bartender.

Read More...

Summary only...