Confusion Surrounds Report of Person Hit by Train
Map It:
Braddock Road Franconia-Springfield
King Street Van Dorn Street
EVENING COMMUTERS on the Blue and Yellow lines faced big delays in Alexandria and Fairfax County yesterday as Metro investigated reports of a person being hit by a Blue Line train at the Van Dorn Street station around 5:45 p.m. A search for the victim lasted for about two hours but personnel could not locate the individual. Metro Transit Police asks that any witnesses to the alleged incident call 202-962-1792.
Blue Line trains heading to and from the Franconia-Springfield terminal had to share the same track between the Braddock Road station in Alexandria and Franconia-Springfield in Fairfax County — a stretch that boasts Metrorail's longest sections of track between stations. Because the single-track zone started at the Braddock Road and included the King Street station, Yellow Line trains were also impacted by the Blue Line delays.
Metro set up shuttle buses to ferry passengers around the mess. The situation was resolved by 7:45 p.m.
Map courtesy WMATA
QUESTION: What is your favorite seafood dish for winter?
ANSWER: Bouillabaisse is my favorite. It's light yet hearty ... [has] many complex flavors, takes culinary talent and know-how to make a great one, [and has] all my favorite seafood in one dish. I happen to love food in a bowl.
» Hank's Oyster Bar, 1624 Q St. NW; 202-462-8888 (Dupont Circle)
» Hank's Oyster Bar, 1026 King St, Alexandria; 703-739-4265 (King Street)
Out & About: Eating Cheap, Surrounded by Luxury
Map It: Archives-Navy Mem'l Cleveland Park King Street Smithsonian
MAYBE YOU MADE a New Year's resolution to save money. Or perhaps you're less than excited about dropping a couple hundred dollars on one meal. Whatever the reason, your wanting to save a few bucks doesn't mean resigning yourself to frugal dining when you're craving fancy food and service. It's all in the strategy.
START WITH AN END GOAL: Check out menupages.com or restaurant Web sites for prices and come up with a budget for the evening's meal. And be realistic: Set a drink minimum and plan for the cost of drinks and tip.
LEARN WHERE TO GO WHEN: You don't have to wait for Restaurant Week to score a deal. Head to Restaurant Eve (see map, No. 1) for the weekday Lickety Split lunch, meaning you can taste Cathal Armstrong's cuisine for less than $20. Plan on Sunday dinner at The Majestic (see map, No. 2) — $78 for a family-style dinner for four. Ask for the upstairs menu in the lounge at The Source (see map, No. 3). If you're dying to try lacquered Chinese duckling or anything else on the fancy menu, the entire thing is available in the downstairs casual environs. Sit at the bar of CityZen (pictured above; see map, No. 4), where a three-course tasting menu at one of the top restaurants in town is $45. Hit up Dino (see map, No. 5) on Sundays and Mondays, when wines over $50 are 33 percent off. There are deals like this all over the city; it's just a matter of keeping an ear to the ground.
Continue Reading "Out & About: Eating Cheap, Surrounded by Luxury" »
On Alexandria's Wish List: 2 New Metro Stations
Map It: Braddock Road Eisenhower Avenue King Street Van Dorn Street
METRORAIL RIDERS who head through Alexandria might someday have to stop at two new stations being proposed for the Blue and Yellow lines at Potomac Yard and in the Eisenhower Avenue corridor. The city council has given approval to a plan that would have developers near the proposed sites help finance the construction of the two stations, as the Examiner reported on Monday:
City Council members have instructed staff to add language to Alexandria's draft master transportation plan that would bar the city from approving development ... unless the development clearly contributes to the funding and building of a Metro station.Blue and Yellow Line trains run through stretches of track where stations can be miles apart, as is the case with Eisenhower Avenue, King Street, Braddock Road and Reagan National Airport.
But don't expect stations to materialize in the near term: They cost about $100 million a piece and would take years of planning to make a reality.
Continue Reading "On Alexandria's Wish List: 2 New Metro Stations" »
A FEAST FEATURING seven types of seafood may seem excessive. Yet in the final days before Christmas, the Feast of the Seven Fishes is exactly what's featured at several area restaurants in celebration of the holiday, Italian-style.
All across the Old Country, eschewing meat before Christmas Day means savoring dishes such as anchovy lasagna in Piedmont, cod ravioli in Parma and fried eel in Naples.
Though eel and anchovy may not be centerpieces on local holiday menus, D.C. chefs offer opportunities to embrace tradition for the faithful and the excuse for non-Catholics to indulge in the day's catch.
All month long, chef Enzo Fabbraro at D'Acqua is preparing dishes from his Italian childhood, an eight-course tasting menu — seven fish dishes and a dessert — for $75, including ostrica al tartufo (pan- fried oysters and black truffles with a prosecco-flavored sauvignon), strozzapreti (seafood ragout in a lobster-cream reduction) and black-fin tuna salad with cannallini bean and red onion.
Continue Reading "Eating Around: Fishing for Christmas Cheer" »
TO WATCH TODD THRASHER of Alexandria's Restaurant Eve and PX make a drink cultivates a sense of possibility — whatever he's making will be intensely relaxing and surprisingly delightful, whether it's minimalist liquor on the rocks or a multi-ingredient cocktail.
As he begins, Thrasher unveils his gear from a travel tool case — which, by the way, holds seven knives, a juicer, a microplane, scissors, arm bands, string, a mini-spatula and a swizzle.
On a blustery afternoon, Thrasher makes Express an Elixir, a labor-intensive concoction for which he simmers water with nutmeg, allspice, star anise, cardamom, cloves, brown sugar, apples and orange peels. Then he strains the reduction, adds simple syrup, sparkling water and a tablespoon of vitamin C powder, which he pours into a soda siphon for carbonation.
"It adds creaminess to the cocktail," said Thrasher. "I like playing with texture. We do it for food; why wouldn't we want to add texture to drinks?"
Continue Reading "Mixologist Crafts 2 Cocktails to Ward Off Winter" »
ALTHOUGH IT'S BEING BUILT ACROSS the river in Prince George's County, the city of Alexandria is getting ready for the massive National Harbor project. Why? Because the new convention and entertainment complex will be linked to Old Town via regular ferry service next year. That brings the great promise of more tourist dollars to Old Town, but also a pressing question: what happens when those National Harbor folks step off the boat?
On Tuesday, the Alexandria City Council unanimously approved a $1.3 million plan for improvements to the city's marina, pictured at left, along with a marketing initiative to promote the city's attractions that aren't immediately accessible to the waterfront. According to council dockets, the guiding principles of the effort are to "Attract, Welcome, Orient and Disperse."
The National Harbor push includes everything from new lighting at the marina to improved illumination along the King Street corridor to fresh signs and maps, in addition to historical interpreters who will point visitors to museums and attractions farther afield.
» "Alexandria City Council Unanimously Approves Funding for National Harbor Preparation" [City of Alexandria]
» "Arlington Focuses on Business Development; Alexandria Works on Boosting Tourism" [WaPo]
Rendering courtesy City of Alexandria
IF YOU NORMALLY use the Eisenhower Avenue or Huntington stations on the Yellow Line during the weekend, take note. This weekend, there will be no Metrorail service between those two stations and the King Street station. Instead, Yellow Line trains from the District will run to the Blue Line's Franconia-Springfield terminus via King Street. Shuttle bus service will operate between Huntington and King Street, with a stop at Eisenhower Avenue.
The work will start Friday at 9 p.m. and wrap up at closing on Monday, which is Veterans Day.
Map image courtesy WMATA
KING STREET, the primary east-street commercial corridor in Old Town Alexandria, is seeing renewed investment by business owners. It has scored another new eatery and is in the process of making some minor streetscaping improvements to the buzzing retail and restaurant strip.
This week, it was announced that Hank's Oyster Bar, the popular Dupont Circle neighborhood restaurant, will be opening a location on King Street near Patrick Street, about halfway between the Potomac waterfront and the King Street station on the Blue and Yellow lines. With it, expect a robust oyster selection and the popular lobster rolls from chef and owner Jamie Leeds.
According to Hank's announcement, the restaurant, scheduled to open in mid-September, will have 50 seats and 10 additional seats outdoors. That's a smart move, since Old Town's 18th and 19th century streetscapes are popular places to enjoy a meal or drink.
Writes The Post's Kirstin Downey:
More than 36 restaurants have opened outdoor seating in the past three years, adding to the area's foot traffic on warm evenings. Street-side dining has become so popular that city officials had to tighten limitations on where tables and chairs can be placed to ensure sidewalks don't fall victim to pedestrian gridlock.One block of King Street has new wooden planters and new street banners will make their debut in the near future as well.
Down closer to the waterfront, the large storefront vacated by the Discovery Channel Store is available for a new tenant, and the Holiday Inn near Market Square is being transformed into a Hotel Monaco outpost to be run by the Kimpton Hotel and Restaurant Group.
» "A New Look Of Prosperity In Old Town" [WaPo]
» EARLIER: "A Few Hours ... Along King Street" [Free Ride/Express]
Photo by Susan Biddle/The Washington Post
PICKLED MARTINIS, PISCO SOURS and a bourbon-tobacco concoction called "Smoker's Delight" are among the cool drinks coming from the mind (and cocktail shaker) of Todd Thrasher. The liquid savant/sommelier at Restaurant Eve, Eamonn's and the speakeasy PX recently helped reopen The Majestic (911 King St., Alexandria; 703-837-9117).
» EXPRESS: What was your first cocktail?
» THRASHER: I was 20 years old and in college at VCU. I'd never, ever had a drink before, and the RA and I bought bottles of RC Cola and Captain Morgan rum and a lime and mixed a drink. I had way too many.
» EXPRESS: How did you go from that to being a nationally known mixologist?
» THRASHER: I fell in love with the restaurant business while working at Cafe Atlantico. I got a book on Havana cocktails and started making pisco sours there, and that's when the light went on for me.
» EXPRESS: How does a cocktail differ from a mere drink?
» THRASHER: A cocktail has balance; a drink doesn't. You don't want it to burn on the way down.
» EXPRESS: So, what's the secret to a balanced cocktail, then?
» THRASHER: Measuring correctly is really important. Use a jigger.
» EXPRESS: What's the biggest mistake people make when stirring up a highball?
» THRASHER: Using too much alcohol. Most people pour way too much in. And bartenders think they're doing you a favor pouring in an extra shot, but they're not.
Continue Reading "Q&A: Todd Thrasher of Restaurant Eve, Eamonn's" »
Addison Road