jackson 20, hotel monaco, 480 king street, old town alexandria

jackson 20, an american tavern. walking through the king street entrance i'm greeted by a life-size bronze pig (perhaps the most charming thing about this place), said to be president andrew jackson's favorite animal, and a symbol of hospitality and abundance. i like pigs. and i know, i've dated a few. kidding. i do like pigs and all pork products.

i don't know how long it's been open - a year or maybe two? whenever holiday inn transformed into hotel monaco (thank the lord for signs of coolness coming to old town). i've been wanting to check it out, hoping that old town would start its resurrection of hipness and and stop being so bleeping old.

sadly old town alexandria is not so charming as it used to be. back in the day you could wander in and out of endless shops packed with art, furniture, italian, french gifts and antiques and whatnots. you could pop into one of many pubs to grab a beer or a bloody mary on a saturday afternoon and just enjoy relaxation and old town-iness. now old town is empty, closed down, bankrupted businesses and lame restaurants (with the exception of a couple, like restaurant eve, union street - not for their food - or maybe even vermilion).

just this past summer (as i continue to digress), 6 gorgeous ladies were walking around in the heat of summer longing to sit at one of the charming resto's lining king street for a bite to cure their horrendous hangovers - on the patio. well we happened upon landini brothers (a great place to go in the winter months - speaking of charm), whose patio was completely empty. we asked to be seated on the patio and were refused. yes, refused. but why? the patio's empty. we're told they don't have a table for 6. can you please push two together? nope, nada, not happnin. what in the world? who would rather have $0 than push two tables together - or at least offer up a 4 top and a 2 top. sorry - that shoulda been a story of it's own - perhaps i'll do a blog titled "buffoons running businesses without customer service: how do they survive in this economy?"

back to ye olde towne. it's called old town becaue it's 250-something years old and boring and dying. perhaps if you're a tourist it's doesn't seem so boring (it's rampant with tourists and browsers aimlessly meandering the streets all summer long). i can't blame them. i too bring guests down to visit charming old town. or i used to. what do you people in your cute, historic townhomes do???? what a perfect town for walking, shopping, eating, drinking. geez, i swear if i lived in the heart of old town i'd never drive anywhere; or at least i wouldn't have when all the businesses were open.

{off the subject but of important note, hotel monaco hosts doggy happy hours from 5-8 pm on tuesdays and thursdays april through october in their courtyard. i've been wanting to go to that too (in hopes of meeting a cute boy). evidently my dog philippe went once last summer when i was out of town. i hear he had a great time but he did not mention whether there were any hotties for me.}

so i met a couple of girlfriends and a guyfriend for a couple of cocktails and hors d'oeuvres president's day night; how apropos i now think, president's day, having a drink at a bar named after a former president. they wanted to start drinkin' early since everyone had had the day off (except for me, i just started nightly cooking for a family this very day so i had to meet up later, ugh, sigh, i knew this new gig would be a commitment that i didn't want to keep for fear of it cramping my social life). anyhoo, they'd gotten well into a bottle of penfold's bin # something. old reliable. jackson 20 has 20 bottles of wine for $20. way cool considering everyone's in the poorhouse now. pourhouse?

the appetizer fool that i am is always excited to see what's on the menu. what's on the appetizer menu here is disappointing though. crabcakes, fried green tomatoes and a bunch of rabbit food. nothing good for sharing. if you want some things to share - peruse the "sides" section of the menu for more options. we opted for the fried green tomatoes, a side of macaroni and cheese, asparagus - for something green and not fried and cheese fries (ok, so no one's on a diet here - but there were 4 of us - and we were sharing. besides - isn't the pig at the door supposed to give you an idea of how you're supposed to eat?). also of note - the regular dinner menu looks fantastic with lots to choose from.

the fried green tomatoes were really good actually. they needed salt, but they had a tangy little salad of arugula on the side and a buttermilk blue crab dressing which went nicely. the cheese fries were nothing to write home about (especially for me - i couldn't write anybody at home about these because it's in stillwater, oklahoma that the best cheese fries in the world are made at eskimo joes, once famously mentioned in a speech by none other than President Bush I) - clearly not homemade fries and WHERE'S the godforsaken cheese, people? how lame, how sad. what would old hickory say about these cheese fries? not much. i've already said too much. don't get 'em, they're not worth the calories.

i would like to mention, however, that the mac and cheese was heavenly!!! angels were singing. and i am not normally on the mac & cheese bandwagon like everyone else in this town. the cheese sauce had lots of earthy oregano infused in it and was just perfectly cooked - not overcooked like most mac & cheese. yum and i will use that idea - just lovely. white and creamy - i didn't think it was going to be good - the breadcrumbs on top were not properly gratineed (they weren't browned at all). surprisingly i was surprised. we were actually still hungry so we got some pretty decent little rolls with butter brought to us.

what i noticed most about this place - for somewhere that's supposed to be named after andrew jackson, in a town with lots and lots of presidential history, it was actually pretty nondescript inside. the photos online make it look pretty hip but it didn't come across in person. the service was good yet it was nondescript too.

the other thing i noticed and this is a doozy for a single girl like me (or for people who like to go where there's good people-watching) - jackson 20 drew an amazingly unattractive group of people. rarely do you look around you and find that not one person in the place is nice to look at. what gives? i asked my friend. he says to me, "well today is the equivalent of a sunday night since it was a holiday." ah, true dat. i forget from my restaurant days of not so long ago that sundays are for early birds, non-appetizer eating eaters who like to get in/get out and not fuss with the rest of the world who eat out all of the other nights of the week. rude? perhaps it is. it's a generalization! don't get angry at me. after all, we were out and we are really attractive people. i had to go look at myself in the restroom just to remember that attractive people are out and about on a holiday.

i will give jackson 20 another chance because it's so darn easy to get to from my place. plus, my friends promise that normally there's a better crowd. plus that dinner menu had a few things calling my name - and that's unusual for appetizer girl.

for all the negative things i said about old town. i'm just sad about it and venting. i'm actually a hopeless romantic for old town alexandria, praying it makes a comeback soon.

more to come this spring from doggy happy hour at hotel monaco. cheers, people!

co co sala 9th & f streets, dc

i've been known to sit in front of my tv eating chocolate chips out of the bag while sipping a glass of cabernet...for dinner.


laugh all you want but for those who haven't tried it, well i recommend it - with caution. you see, when you eat a chocolate chip, then have a sip of your wine (assuming it's one that goes well with the chocolate), well all bets are off, my friend. the wine tastes better with the chocolate and the chocolate tastes better with the wine and so on and so forth. each brings out the flavor of the other.


one can plow through the entire bag of chocolate chips and the bottle of wine. you have to be careful with such an enterprise. no one likes a big fat drunk.

now that you know i love chocolate and wine together, you can understand my excitement over a new spot in dc that specializes in chocolates and wine. co co sala is uber-chic. music from underworld (or some other such group) fills the rooms, the red, the black, dark colors, glass, everything is very modular. mini fireplaces seem to pop up magically throughout the restaurant, and they're at eye-level. random, but cool. perfect on this rainy, chilly evening in the early fall.



i have to say i missed the food. due to the lack of blinking parking on this street and all streets around, and a full-on lack of parking garages, and no valet (at 8 pm - though the valet showed up around 9 - what gives?!), the girls had ordered and gobbled up the appetizers they ordered by the time i finally arrived (in a stressed out frenzy but still looking fabulous due to the illegal, right-up-front park job i finally decided to make since it was raining and i was late). what i can tell you is this: they shared shrimp mac & cheese, swordfish sliders and aztec cheese course - a mini enchilada with some accoutrements. they raved about the yummy little plates - all about $7 each. sorry i missed them - right up my alley.



we sat at the back bar - oh my, though they don't look it, these must be the most comfortable bar stools ever. they are square, brown soft leather and so cushy. we had a spectacular view of the open kitchen back here so i could see the efforts of the chefs as they work. shiny burger buns brushed with butter before being whisked off to their tables by well-endowed, red wrap-dressed ladies. (yes, i marveled at how good these ladies looked in their wrap dresses - boobies everywhere.) the final details being perched upon each plate. (not the boobies, you gutter brains - back to the food - the final details of the food were perched upon the plates!)


a portion of the bar is glass, showcasing the chocolates and bon bons you can purchase and take with you in their shiny little boxes with gold letters. the crowd is sophisticated, smart young professionals in designer suits - not the boring capitol hill staffer suits. like the chocolates, the crowd is complex and refined. a gentleman kindly sent us a round of "shots". these shots were a varied and heavenly composition of chocolate mousses (meese? mice?). a tiny spoon for each of us to taste. holy hazelnuts these were enchanting for this chocoholic. color me in love.


make sure you visit the restrooms before over-imbibing or if you're directionally challenged like me. the windows and mirrors are deceiving and you might find yourself pushing on doors that aren't doors at all. i can't even explain what happened - you have to experience it for yourself. this was like being on the starship enterprise and i disappeared for a minute. well, whatever. looking like a buffoon momentarily is a small price you pay for being in such a trendy restaurant.

by the way, this place was a cool bargain, as well; i got out with a $25 tab. this is unheard of, but believe me, i'm not making this up.


i know i haven't offered too much information in the way of the food here but if you want to check out a trendy spot, different from most places i've found lately, try co co sala.

redwood restaurant and bar, bethesda

it's rare for me to take a trip to bethesda. let's face it, unless you live there, it's a daunting thought, that drive. i have a close friend there so i am happy to report i have and will continue to go more frequently in the future. the drive wasn't really that bad after all.

redwood restaurant and bar is open and i made my first visit wednesday evening. it spans what seems like over half of a charming, bustling new pedestrian walkway called bethesda avenue. first impression of redwood was positively positive. the lighting is splendid - dark, cozy, reds and ambers.

to the right is a lounge area with modern low-set tables and comfy looking chairs. attractive people. a long bar.

to the left, a long and wide corridor of dining room tables, adjacent to a wait station that is the best looking one i've ever seen - you don't mind watching them fill water, tea pitchers because it's lovely. granite. modular. clean.

behind the host stand (overheard - one hour long waits), a wall separating another bar - you step up to it. it's secluded from the rest of the restaurant - next time i'll explore it. perhaps one doesn't feel isolated up there, or would you?

to me, almost certainly the best feature is the procession of floor-to-ceiling windows that flank the dining room tables so you're only arms reach from the goings-on in the courtyard walkway. not just any windows - they fully open up like towering shutters, transporting your table to the outdoors. it's charming yet cosmopolitan here. it's european. it's freeing. it's downright cool.

the bathrooms are tidy and again, modern but warm (the lighting in here, however, not so complimentary). it's nice when you don't have to touch anything. of note, the automatic paper towel dispenser is set to deliver the perfect portion and with only one wave of your hand you have enough to dry your hands. it's the little things in life.

redwood's atmosphere is well-balanced, managing to be quite warm while maintaining clean, geometric lines, chocolate browns and crisp whites. clean, clean wine glasses. in the back (i'll call it the back but there really is no back to redwood - it's thoroughly horizontal), there's a fireplace (and was that a buck's head on the wall?). nice, nice, nice.

on to the food. it will come as no surprise to those who know me, that an entree was out of the question tonight. appetizers here aren't meant to share - the appetizer menu is composed of salads, mostly. but, and to my delight: amish chicken liver mousse with poached figs and arugula. simple, delicious. the figs were poached like you'd poach a winter pear - in plenty of red wine or port, perhaps, star anise, vanilla and cinnamon i suspect. sweet, spicy, yummy.

the bread for the table was perfection. crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside. i wished all bread was like this bread.

we shared a cheese board, nice selections of the usual and unusual. nice to see u.s.-made constant bliss. honeycomb was sticky and rich. the confit of apricots on the cheese board was flavorless and didn't add anything, really. my friend enjoyed a lovely beet salad (nicely diced and pretty), a vegetarian potatoes gratin was both interesting (i'll be stealing this idea - sorry - i loved that it was cut into a perfect rectangle and served on a rectangular plate) and tasty.

we also shared sides of cheesy grits, and macaroni and cheese, delivered in the tiniest le creuset daubes. so cute that if my balenciaga bag was bigger i might consider... well, i'm kidding, of course, i would never risk getting macaroni in my balenciaga. i digress. both needed a tiny bit of salt and the macaroni should've been al dente - in my opinion.

sadly, i can't report on dessert. there was a chocolate something rather that intrigued me and the waiter mentioned that the goat cheese (souffle, was it?) was "the bomb". yes, he used that word. oh and the service was well above average - attentive and helpful.

all around well done. i'll make that trip again - it was completely worth it.

did i mention that people in bethesda are particularly attractive?