From Gerald:

Our beloved Sweet Pea has gone missing. Pea went missing yesterday evening in the Fort Dupont park neighborhood in southeast Washington in the vicinity of Massachusetts Avenue. Pea’s wearing a tag but is not microchipped. Any prayers/help from readers is very much appreciated!

Anyone with information is encouraged to contact me at Mideighties7(at)gmail.com or (202) 729-2232

Last night @DCPoliceDept tweeted:

“Shooting_2000 hours_1000 Bladensburg Rd NE_LOF a B/M, 5’11″, 20 yoa, med complex, dreads, green jacket”

The Post reports that the women was eight months pregnant and taken to the hospital.

More info as it becomes available.

Have a great long weekend everyone!

Going to the Movies is written by Mount Vernon Triangle resident Catherine Taegel.

Ever since the creation of Instagram, when I watch an indie movie I’m often reminded of a #nofilter picture. There tends to be a lot of nature – trees, fields, and water – all with the sun artfully peering through and reflecting off of various objects. There also tends to be young love and friendships explained through those classic close ups that create tension.

There’s a reason Instagram was bought for $1 billion by Facebook and why the independent movies who can do it right immediately become a beautiful picture you can’t, and don’t want to, stop watching. Set and filmed in Chagrin Falls, Ohio, “The Kings of Summer” manages to hit all the right notes. It’s a beautiful cinematic experience that manages to stay relatable by never taking itself too seriously.

The film is a broad cast of characters that effortlessly revolves around Joe Toy (Nick Robinson), a sixteen-year-old boy whose home life is less than ideal. His family is clearly still grieving from the loss of Joe’s mother and with his sister living away from home, he’s left with just his dad (Nick Offerman) whose general demeanor is cloudy on a good day. He constantly pushes the boundaries, desperate for independence and to be seen as a man.

Continues after the jump.

His best friend, Patrick, has issues of his own. Patrick’s overbearing parents (Megan Mullally and Marc Evan Jackson) are causing him to break out in a rash all over his body. When Joe proposes building a house deep in the woods and running away Patrick initially resists but inevitably agrees. Joined by Biaggio, an oddball loner, they begin their summer adventure by thieving and scheming. While deep in the woods, their friendships are inevitably tested by girls, nature, and that youthful longing of being able to make it on your own.

The movie is a journey of self-discovery, not just for the teenage boys at the center but for the broad cast of characters who come to terms with their own flaws. Robinson plays Joe perfectly – confident, insecure and incredibly charismatic. He hit sixteen-years-old on the head and his ability to lead without being overbearing allowed the other characters in the movie to also have their moments. In particular, Offerman’s performance nearly stole the movie. You can see the “Parks and Recreation” star invoking Ron Swanson with his dry, sarcastic nature and it works.

Purposefully or not, I was immediately reminded of Wes Anderson’s “Moonrise Kingdom”, but “The Kings of Summer” held its ground. While I loved Moonrise Kingdom, each scene was planned to an artistic tee. It was brilliant and sweet but it was so perfectly pieced together. The greatness of “The Kings of Summer” is that it doesn’t try to be a perfect indie movie but just a good story that is held up by great actors. A 2013 Sundance nominee, “The Kings of Summer” makes you feel good and movies like that are worth going to see.

“The Kings of Summer” can be seen in limited release starting May 31, 2013.

This house is located at 1019 Florida Avenue, NE:

View Larger Map

The listing says:

“Centered staircase creates serpentine effect; a smooth stretch that coils up in one pocket, extends to the next in one fluid movement.. Tempting in Eden. A winding road worth the trip w/scenic overlooks along the way. Curl up, cat-nap, in a sun-beamed bay…maybe indoor fetch? (bottle of red & 4 glasses please!) Warm wood, cool stone, industrial-strength systems + ultimate feature? Price silly!”

You can see more photos here.

This 4 bed/3.5 bath is going for $638,500.

From the Petworth Jazz Project:

Season 3 of the Petworth Jazz Project kicks off in true holiday weekend style this Saturday evening with The Bohemian Caverns Jazz Orchestra, a 17 piece big band, opening kids set featuring Baba Ras D of Bloombars, and The Tender Rib BBQ Truck!

As always the shows are free and on the lawn at the Petworth Recreation Center at 8th and Taylor St NW, blankets are provided!

6pm – 6:45pm: Baba Ras D
7pm -9pm: Bohemian Caverns Jazz Orchestra
DJ Sets featuring Rich “The Unknown” Patterson

See you on the lawn!

Following in the footsteps of Bloomingdale’s Big Bear Cafe comes an epic ANC/Neighborhood fight over the proposed liquor license for Brookland’s Finest. This is the new spot from the owners of The Pug (H St, NE), Solly’s (U St, NW) and Sova (formerly of H St, NE). On the Brookland listserv a huge debate has started over the decision of ANC 5B to protest the liquor license for Brookland’s Finest:

An fyi that during last night’s ANC 5B regular monthly meeting, ANC 5B voted in support of a resolution to protest of the alcoholic application of Brookland’s Finest Bar & Kitchen.

Individual persons wishing to formally testify or comment about this alcohol license application may do so at the 4PM August 14, 2013 ABRA Protest Hearing wherein all comments & protestants will be formally heard by the ABC Board.

For those who are unfamiliar their liquor license application, it says:

“Tavern serving American food with a seating capacity of 75 and total occupancy load of 99. Summer garden with 40 seats.”

We looked at their proposed menu here.

A change.org petition has already been started to support the restaurant:

The Brookland neighborhood is sorely underserved with regards to sit-down, family friendly restaurants. The restaurant Brookland’s Finest will fill this need, and take over a blighted property that has been an eye-sore for some time. In addition, the business will create jobs, and serve as a gathering place to further establish a sense of community. Without a liquor license, it will be very difficult for the business to operate profitably.

Brookland’s Finest partner Tony T writes the Brookland listserv:

I’m Tony, one of the proprietors of Brookland’s Finest. I want to first extend a huge thank you to those of you who have reached out with your support and encouragement. For those of you who haven’t seen any of my previous emails, or received a flier from me, I have lived at 1016 Kearny St for over 10 years with my wife, and we now have three children ages 6, 4, and 2. We have done our best to reach out to the immediate neighbors on Kearny, Jackson, Irving, and 12th streets. On all those fliers, I’ve included my phone number and email adress. Except for basic letters of encouragement, I believe I’ve responded to all questions I received. I am more than happy to meet with any individual or group who has concerns.

After the BNCA meeting, at which I addressed many of the questions being posed here, a group of 12th street residents decided to get together to create a concise list of concerns we can respond to. The ANC protest has unfortunately brought lawyers into the equation so now a lot of our communication will have to be sent to the law office. Hopefully next week we will meet with the group from 12th street. We have tried to be as open and available as possible. We did go door to door to those households on 12th, Kearny, Jackson, and Irving and distributed fliers about the BNCA meeting as well as an introductory flier about our business.

I will freely admit that i’m not the most tech savvy person so I sometimes am not sure which list serv my messages come from . If I missed an email from you, my apologies, but please get in touch again and we can arrange a time to sit down and talk.

I want to stress that I am pursuing this business as a fellow resident of Brookland and father of three young kids. I love this neighborhood and would like to bring a nice establishment here where we can eat and socialize with our neighbors. I live one block from the location and understand the concerns many of you have.

Thanks for your time.

Updates as the process moves forward.

Ed. Note: For those who are frustrated – remember, Big Bear ended up getting their liquor license.

This edition of Eating Around Town was written by Abbey Becker. Abbey previously wrote about El Chucho. She lives near Eastern Market.

Little Serow (1511 17th St NW) is a sliver of a place, but its size doesn’t match its reputation. The basement restaurant seats 28 at a time, and if you want to sit on one of their bar stools, you have to get in line before the 5:30 opening time each night to put your name down.

As someone who gets off at work at 5:30 in Bethesda, making it here in time proved a challenge the first time. I got there at exactly 5:30 on a Friday (so I left work a little early…) and stood behind probably 15 people. While I was looking for a table for four, I figured, hey, 15 people in front of me? We’ll at least get a late reservation. Unfortunately, this was not to be the case–they couldn’t give us a table that night, though they might have been able to seat us at the bar around 10 or 10:30. I was not willing to wait five hours for a full meal that may or may not have happened.

The next time, I went on a Wednesday evening, and I sent my boyfriend on ahead of me to get in line before 5:30–he gets out of work much earlier. We tried for a table for two and ended up with a 7:15 reservation, which gave us time for a drink or two around the corner.

If you’re looking for cocktails or beer, you may want to drink them before you sit down for dinner. Little Serow doesn’t serve cocktails, and they offer 5-ounce pours of their beers from bottles at $5 each. Don’t get me wrong–a six-course meal for $45 is a great deal, especially when the food is as good as it is here, but that much for a small pour of beer is, to me, a little ridiculous. I wish they’d at least made it a deal to buy the bottle instead, but each large-format version of the pours was $24. Wine ranges from $10-$12 per glass, which isn’t outrageous, but when you’re a young, semi-poor diner and you’re already paying $45 for dinner before tax and tip, you start to consider using your credit card instead of your debit card.

That being said, we had a really excellent dining experience. Let me reiterate that it is an experience here, not just dinner. The service is like nothing I’ve experienced in DC–there were a few waitresses circulating throughout the restaurant, and we interacted with all of them. Each one served us at least one dish, refilled our water, or gave us more sticky rice or cucumbers. Each one offered a friendly suggestion of how she liked to eat that dish or mentioned that this dish was her favorite. They made us feel welcomed and not at all like we were guests–we could have been at a friend of a friend’s house for the first time.

Continues after the jump.

There’s no point in reviewing individual dishes, as the fixed menu changes weekly. It’s always six courses, it’s always $45, it’s always Thai food, but that’s where the commonalities stop. As someone who is a somewhat picky eater, let me give you a bit of advice: don’t read the menu. When I saw some of the ingredients included in that night’s dishes, my stomach turned a little. Snakehead fish? River weed? Salted fish? Yuck.

But seriously, none of these dishes tasted at all like what I imagined these ingredients to be. Maybe there was snakehead fish mixed with the bamboo shoots and rice powder, but to me, all I got was the crunch of the shoots and the hot-sour-salty-sweet combination typical of Thai food, plus a bit of smokiness. Little Serow is the kind of place where you make a point to try everything you’re served, whether or not you think you’ll like it, because you know that they are the masters of their craft. They are going to make these ingredients taste as good as they can possibly taste because they have that skill. Its chef-owner, Johnny Monis, just won a coveted James Beard award. He knows how to cook river weed properly.

I’m not sure I’d go back right away, or even in the next few months. This was a process from before the meal to its end. You’re not guaranteed a seat and you’re eating a six-course meal–this is the kind of dining experience that takes planning and patience, even on the part of the diner. I think I’d need a bit of time off to be willing to risk not getting a spot, and to truly appreciate what a good meal this was. I know I won’t be able to afford Komi anytime soon, so perhaps I’ll be back sooner than I think to try Monis’s cooking again.

“al Fresco. al Frisky. they’re both on the menu in Adams Morgan.”

Like the campaign?

El Limeno was located at 201 Upshur St, NW across the street from Hitching Post and closed in Sept. 2010 after some, uh, legal troubles… It had been vacant ever since. Thanks to @JustinTLogan for sending word that a sign has been posted for La Joya Steakhouse Restaurant. Could be awesome! Updates when they get closer to opening.