But first, the Columbia Room. In a bit of kismet, last month, as we were making our plans for our trip to DC the latest edition of Imbibe magazine showed up with an article about the DC cocktail scene. In it we found The Columbia Room, a speakeasy style bar hidden in another bar called The Passenger. It is an eighteen seat reservation only prix fix bar. I'm not sure how it could possibly be more pretentious but, there it is. We had reservations for eight thirty and after getting to DC and doing some shopping we had completely run out of time to find food. This, my friends, I assure you is not a mistake I will ever make again. We arrive at The Passenger a few minutes early and get a drink there since they too have an excellent bar staff. I went for an Old Fashion and The Mrs. got for a variation on the Moscow Mule that I forget the name of. With drinks in hand we check the place out and look for the entrance to our destination. Finding the door that looks like a coat closet with the doormat in front of it we slurp down our drinks pay our tab and move on to our final destination. Behind the nondescript door is a coat room and hostess station. We are quickly greeted by a lovely young woman in prohibition-esque attire who shows us to our seats. The bar is located in what used to be the dressing room for the now defunct theater adjacent to The Passenger, itself a former hardware store. So, it is a small room with a bar along the long wall, a row of seating at the bar, and then a small walk way that separates that seating from a row of theater style seats. We were seated in the theater seating, which give you a birds eye view of the bar allowing us to do a play by play commentary of the action. After being seated we were brought a warm towel scented with rosemary and lemon along with a glass of cucumber infused water. Both meant to wash away the day and open the senses. The way it works is you get three drinks. The first two being the prix fix drinks along with small plates designed to accompany the drinks and then an off the cuff drink from Derek, owner and bartender, after a quick chat about your likes and dislikes, the drink menu relies heavily on the Dr. Cocktail book "Vintage Spirits and Forgotten Cocktails". Our first drink was the Fish House Punch a citrus-y punch that slid down way too easy. After finishing our first drink a group at the bar left and we were invited down to the bar level to get a ring side seat. Sadly, our interaction with Derek was still limited due to his attention being sucked up by a self important writer from The Post who couldn't shut up with a sock in her mouth. But our second drink was fantastic; a house creation, Sitting Alone on an Autumn Afternoon. The base for the drink was the Hibiki 12 year blended Scotch style whisky, which matched beautifully with the Apricot Eau de Vie and sage. This drink came with a cauliflower soup topped with croutons and a beet chip. The soup was heavenly but it may have just been that I was starving. For round three Derek came over and we discussed our drinking habits. I wanted something with Jenever so he cheated a little and made The Mrs. and I the same drink, a variation of the Genever Cocktail that included some citrus and gum arabic syrup and this was accompanied by a basket of truffle oil popcorn. Now, my friends, we could have been done here but since the bar was thinning out we were asked if we wanted another round. Being that I had not yet tried to stand, therefore finding out how unstable I was, "Yes I would, perhaps something Rye based" and on comes a Vieux Carre Cocktail, a New Orleans staple. And to finish the night out GQ magazines "best dry martini in the country". As you can imagine when trying to stand after all this I did so with some difficulty. Luckily, we did not drive and the Metro stop was only a block from the restaurant and the corresponding one was only a block from the hotel. Making it back to the hotel in one piece we basically blacked out for the night.
The next morning started with a little return to sender action and a nice hot shower. Then some more fit full sleep. Eventually trying to rise around nine thirty knowing if we were going to make it to the rally we had to make our move. I willed on some clothing and shuffled down to the commissary for some Pepto and ginger ale. With those in the tummy and a renewed sense of purpose we set out for the mall. It was quite brisk out which quickly set us in better spirits and smiles were restored. The walk was a dozen blocks or so and as we got closer the enormity of it truly started to sink in. I have since seen the estimates at two hundred and fifteen thousand but honestly when you are in the middle of that kind of crowd it feels like the whole world is there. We arrived on the mall minutes before it started and got close enough to see and hear one of the jumbotrons. I don't know what the people behind us did all day but we were amongst the last bit of people able to hear or see anything and there was still half the crowd behind us. So if you watched the rally or read anything about it you know what it was about. For us everyone was in high spirits and a cooperative mood we all watched out for each other and joked with strangers. It was a little difficult when an ambulance needed to get through; we all got a little closer that anyone was comfortable with. And we had one run in with the super dick mounted police. All in all, it was a memorable day that only served to fuel my delusion that the Democrats would not get pasted the following Tuesday. I was sorely disappointed.
Dinner that evening was supposed to be equally uplifting at Founding Farmers, owing to the fact that we were tired and still not feeling totally centered I will have to wait to do a proper review. The highlights included bacon lollies and my chicken and waffles. The lowlights were the uncooked "roasted veggies", barbecue popcorn, and lack of attentiveness of the staff, we had to ask for silverware after our meals had arrived. We will give them another shot next time in DC since it may have just been an off day and they came very highly recommended.
Sunday morning came with it a ritual visit to Teaism for breakfast before leaving town. Unfortunately, leaving town proved harder than planned as there was a marathon being run between us and the highway but eventually we made our way out and cruised home.
A Sia Saide
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