2012 in Review: DC Dining and Entertainment

Welcome 2013. The beginning of a new year is always a great time for reflecting on the year that just concluded.  So here we present some highlights and choices in entertainment and dining from 2012.

Favorite Dinner Spot (big bucks)

• Judy - BLT (steak)
• Me - Vidalia (southern)

Favorite Dinner Spot (on the cheap)

• Judy - Florida Avenue Grill (soul food)
• Me - same

Favorite Lunch Spot

• Judy - Yo Sushi (at Union Station)
• me - SUN-de-VITCH (ethnic sandwiches in the Shaw District)

Favorite Iconic DC Eatery

• Judy - Busboys and Poets  (U Street)
• Me - Ben's Chili Bowl (U Street)

Favorite Ethnic Restaurant

• Judy - Rice (Thai)
• Me - Rasika West End (Indian)

Favorite Restaurant Where the Obamas Dined

• Judy - Eatonville (soul food) 
• Me - Art and Soul (southern) 

Favorite Crystal City Neighborhood Dining (attached to our apartment complex)

• Judy - Neramitra (Thai)
• Me - King Street Blues (barbeque)

Favorite Hamburger

• Judy - 5 Guys
• Me - Ray's Helburger

Favorite Pizza

• Judy - Comet Ping Pong
• Me - We, The Pizza

Favorite Concert (large venue)

• Judy - The Beach Boys (Meriweather Post Pavilion)
• Me - Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band (Verizon Center)

Favorite show (small venue)

• Judy - CTA with Danny Seraphine (original drummer for Chicago at the Hamilton)
• Me - Joan Osborne (with her band at The Birchmere and with Trigger Hippy at the Hamilton)

Favorite Theater Production (drama)

• Judy - War Horse (Kennedy Center)
• Me - Mr. Burns, a Post Electric Play (Wooly Mammoth)

Favorite Musical

• Judy - The Addams Family (Kennedy Center)
• Me - This Land is Your Land: A Woody Guthrie Centennial Celebration Concert

Favorite Free Millennium Stage Show at the Kennedy Center

• Judy - Merry Tuba Christmas
• Me - The Tone Rangers

Favorite Synetic Theater Production

• Judy - Jekyll and Hyde
• Me - Home of the Soldier

Favorite Movie with DC Political Setting

• Judy - Argo
• Me - Lincoln

Favorite Documentary Film with DC Political Setting

• Judy - Electoral Dysfunction (America's broken voting system)
• Me - The House I Live In (America's failed war on drugs)

Favorite TV Series with DC Political Setting 

• Judy - The Newsroom
• Me - Homeland

Favorite DC Holiday Experience

• Judy - Zoolights at the National Zoo
• Me - Ronnic Spector's Best Christmas Party Ever (at the Howard Theater)

Tales, Tidbits, and Tips

Obviously, one of the great things about living in the DC area is the chance to see interesting creative people perform. Many times you get a chance to talk personally with them before or after their presentation. Here, in no particular order, are a half-dozen of my favorites that I got a chance to talk with privately in 2012.

• Jonathan Kozol (author,writes about education, poverty, social issues)
• Bobby Keys (sax player for The Rolling Stones)
• Ed Rendell (politician and author)
• George Pelecanos (writer of DC crime noir fiction)
• Douglas Brinkley (historian and author)
• Trevor Potter (political attorney and legal adviser for Stephen Colbert)