I had a great weekend taking in 5 really great DC destinations and events.
1) Tech Cocktail
Tech Cocktail is a meet up for tech folk to hang out and make connections in a fun venue. It was started by Eric Olson and Frank Gruber. I had the pleasure of meeting Eric. He told me the event was started in Chicago mainly because there was no event like it to have an excuse for the tech community gather. They also made the decision to let the event promote itself through blogs and word of mouth. That decision paid off well because the crowd there turned out to be a wonderful mix of designers, developers, strategists, and startup owners. Most I talked to were really on the cutting edge of new media. It was cool to see such a strong tech community turnout in DC.
2) Fogo De Chao
We had a birthday celebration for my friend, Eugene, at the infamous Fogo De Chao. This restaurant is a Brazilian style meat house. They give you a disc with a green and red side. When green us up you better make sure you are ready. A barrage of waiters carrying large swords with hunks of meat come at you ready to cut fresh pieces right onto your plate. I think I’m still digesting that dinner.
3) Artomatic
Artomatic is yearly event where hundreds of artists install their work in an old DC building. There are performances, too. The art was great. The few music acts I went to weren’t my cup of tea, but there was a great drama group.
4) Dupont Circle Farmers Market
I’m on a farmers market kick. I think buying locally is the way to go. Fortunately, the Dupont Circle Farmers Market has meats, cheeses, and produce galore. And, I ran into Giada De Laurentiis! You know how cooking shows always have the chef walk around checking out outdoor markets? Well I was walking behind Giada from Everyday Italian on the Food Network as she filmed her segment. I followed her around and tried to get some pictures, she probably thought I was pretty sketchy. Oh yea, I also bought at quart of lard from the pig guy! I’m gonna have some tasty veggies!
Oh yea, if you are freaked out by the lard, give this article a read first.
5) Taste of Arlington
Finally, Arlington has its annual Taste of Arlington celebration where all the local restaurants put up a stand and let you sample food. They have a great system where you buy a ticket book that lets you get 6 things at the food fair. I almost couldn’t finish all 6 because of how much food that was. It’s a great way to sample a lot of really different foods. The musical acts there were great, too. Bobby T and the Magic Voyagers, a great Jimi Hendrixish jam band and The Taylor Carson Band, a super fun acoustic rock group, were my favorites.
Thanks for coming out to TECH cocktail! I hope to see you at the next one too.
I ended up at 2 out of 5 of the places you mentioned above. ;)
Ditto on Frank’s comment. We were at the Taste of Arlington as well. DC is a great city. Another interesting note – we have a Fogo de Chao in Chicago too.
Thanks for coming out to TC DC Mike. It was great to meet you.
sounds like a full and fun weekend! Yay for Farmer’s Markets! Local is totally the best way to go…think of all the energy it takes to ship things from across the country…and then you lose a lot of the nutritional value as produce sits on the truck. Plus you have a better idea of where your food comes from and you are supporting the local farmers who are usually the little guys. And for you allergic types…I heard that eating locally grown foods (particularly honey) is good for your allergies.
We did a seminar on urban gardens in my year of service last year…there was a great article we read…if I can find it I’ll pass it along.
Frank,
I’ll definitely do my best to make it to the next TECH Cocktail. Thanks for bringing this great event to DC!
Eric,
Nice meeting you at TC, too. Thanks for all the hard work in setting it up here in DC. Too bad I missed ya at Taste of Arlington.
Tricia,
Thanks for listing out some more great benefits of eating local. All the more reason for me to stick with the farmers markets. Definitely post that article if you can find it.
Here’s a link to my blog about buying local:
http://pachickster.blogspot.com/2007/06/buy-fresh-buy-local.html
I think the article we read was in print form, but these are some great resources to start!
Found this article today:
Dupont Farmers Market Gets Some Competition
Apparently Whole Foods Fair Lakes has started a farmer’s market in their parking lot at the same time and with many of the same farmers as the Dupont Farmers Market.