Washington DC Foodies and Drinkers Will Be Taking a Bite Out of Breast Cancer in October

In the month of October, DLDGLG will be proudly participating in the Take a Bite Out of Breast Cancer campaign.

Take a Bite partners with Washington D.C. area restaurants and bars to help raise money for Pink Jams! - a DC-based non-profit that helps bring awareness and advocates early detection for both women and men.

Individual restaurants and bars will take a day, week or more and donate a portion of their sales to the campaign. 

Lisa Shapiro of Dining in DC is the chairwoman for Take a Bite and has been working tirelessly to organize the month-long effort.

She's gathered her fellow food bloggers to help spread the word. In doing so, each blogger will be tethered to a participating establishment acting as an “ambassador."

When Lisa approached me, there was no question I had to get involved.

Two of my aunts, Liz and Annie, as well as my grandmother, Mary, had been diagnosed with breast cancer. My grandmother was a twenty-year survivor but not without having gone through life-altering surgery.

In September 2008, my aunt Annie went through surgery, chemotherapy and radiation treatments. In 2009, her doctors discovered that both of her BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes tested positive. With this knowledge she elected to undergo major surgery.

Since then, she's had numerous operations between March 2010 and June 2011, and is still undergoing reconstructive procedures.

My aunt Liz was diagnosed in 2008 and underwent chemotherapy, radiation and surgery that year. In August 2011, the cancer returned and she underwent major surgery again this past September. She too will be enduring major reconstructive procedures like her sister.

Despite it all, both Liz and Annie have remained steadfast and courageous.

As you can see, there was no question that I had to contribute to the Take a Bite campaign. 

Like my aunts, countless individuals around the country must interupt their lives in order to save it. I believe participating in this charity can help others beat this cancer.

And if Take a Bite accomplishes it's mission with only one person, without a question it would be worth it.

As an ambassador, I will be bringing my own readers’ attention to the contributions that both Tonic locations are making (Foggy Bottom on October 11 and Mount Pleasant on October 18).

Friends and acquaintances are encouraged to visit the other restaurant locations that are participating as well.

View Take a Bite Out of Breast Cancer in a larger map

So next month, please help drive up sales and, thus, increase the amount that particular eatery or saloon will be donating. It's a worthwhile cause.

Note: This post has been revised since its original publication

Next Song for the Jukebox

Apparently, California Wasn't So Infusiastic About a Craft-Cocktail Trend, Until Last Wednesday

New York Times Diner's Journal writer, Robert Simonson, has been on the case. I call this "Jacob Grier bait":

"On Wednesday, Gov. Jerry Brown of California announced that he had signed Senate Bill 32, which overturns a legal vestige of Prohibition that made it unlawful to infuse alcohol with fruits, vegetables, herbs or spices. Such infusions have been popular in the country’s best cocktail bars for several years, and the old rule became a nuisance early last year when State Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control agents started warning bars like San Francisco’s Bourbon & Branch that they were breaking California law with their house-made tinctures and bitters.

To bartenders, the sudden enforcement of the obscure rule was alarming."

Obviously, cracking down on liquor infusions is just asinine.

“More than anything else, it’s similar to developments around the country where cocktail culture has outpaced the legacy of Prohibition laws that exist,” observed Frank Coleman, senior vice president of The Distilled Spirits Council of the U.S., a trade organization representing distillers that spends a lot of its time trying to strike down obsolete, antiliquor laws."

Libertarianism and mixology collide.

(h/t: MixCo)

Note: This post has been revised since its original publication

MxMo - Local Colors: The Vermouth Cooler with Sloop Betty

For Alcohol Alchemy's Mixology Monday theme, "Local Colors," I chose a Maryland-based distillery which produces Sloop Betty vodka. This theme made for great timing because Sloop Betty will be visiting my bar, Last Exit, for a tasting on Thursday, October 13th. And I am currently thinking of ways to utilize this local spirit.

When I drink Sloop Betty I get a ethanol nose but the taste and texture is very smooth. I even get a very slight creaminess.

According to the website:

"Sloop Betty was an historic ship that sailed the Chesapeake Bay. The name appealed to us because of our love of Maryland's history, as well as her amazing location right on the ocean and Bay."

The cocktail I chose to mix is called the Vermouth Cooler. I concocted this little ditty based on the recipe I found on CocktailDB. I couldn't find anything bad to say about this tasty sipper and so I submit it to my favorite monthly cocktail party, MxMo.

The Vermouth Cooler

- 2 oz Dolin Rouge vermouth

- 1 oz Sloop Betty vodka

- 1/2 oz fresh lemon juice

- tspn simple syrup

- splash of soda water

Glassware: Collins glass

Add vermouth, vodka, lemon juice and simple syrup into shaker with ice. Shake. Strain into a Collins glass with fresh ice. Top with a splash of soda water. Garnish with a lemon twist. Enjoy.

BTW - If you are in the Mount Pleasant area on Thursday, October 13 and would like to taste the Vermouth Cooler for yourself (or another drink with Sloop Betty), pay a visit Last Exit. And if I'm there, make sure you let me know you read about it here.

Note: This post has been revised since its original publication

“Tucked away on a quiet stretch of Mt. Pleasant, is a cocktail lounge which looks like the inside of Al Capone’s private jet...”

Girl Meets Food meets Last Exit. Mary Kong, the distinguished DC food blogger, visited my bar a few weeks ago and provides her readers a glimpse of our little cocktail lounge.

"When Boccato co-founded [Dutch Kills] in 2009... he wanted the place to be self-sufficient in ice production... This past spring, however, Boccato, 35, made good on that dream when he co-founded Hundredweight"

Richard Boccato is getting some attention from Forbes Magazine:

“'Economists call what Boccato did 'backward integration,'” says Susan Clark Muntean, assistant professor of entrepreneurship and management at Ball State University, in Muncie, Indiana. Clark Muntean defines it as going back one step in the production process and claiming control over it. For example, she says, instead of buying tires from a supplier, an automobile manufacturer might decide to buy a factory that makes the tires."

They say Boccato is clearly a serial entrepreneur and an astute one in the craft cocktail world:

“'Although all entrepreneurs should constantly be on the outlook for increasing their revenue streams, it’s often serial entrepreneurs who can spot opportunities because they’ve had more experience,' says Joel Shulman, a professor of entrepreneurship at Babson College, in Wellesley, Massachusetts, who also owns and manages EntrepreneurShares, a publicly traded mutual fund.”

“'Serial entrepreneurs get better at cutting costs, such as buying refurbished, rather than new equipment, and exploring new ways to make a profit,' he says.”

Mixology Continues to Revive History with Soda Fountain Cocktails

I first heard about Darcy O'Neil's book Fix the Pumps in the Columbia Room about a year ago. At the time, I had a sense for where some of this stuff was going even without having read the book. 

This past week, NPR had an interesting piece focusing on this trend that's been emerging in D.C. mixology. America Eats bartender, Owen Thomson, and PS7's mixtress, Gina Chersevani, are featured in the report. Keep your eyes peeled for this stuff.

 

"'Why do bartenders drink Fernet?' Her interlocutor ventured that 'in terms of shots, it's not as harsh on your throat as whiskey...'"

"adding, in a whiskey-stained voice, 'and it really does settle your stomach.' The fact of the popularity of Fernet Branca among professional drinkspeople was, to Sophie's mind, a proof of the cult-inspiring nature of amari in general."