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We've
asked our international correspondents to create a perfect little adventure
in their respective towns and then tell us all about it. Liz Knee begins
our series in Washington, DC.
Mauricio Fraga-Rosenfeld refers to his establishment as a Latin American hacienda. Here you will find "modern Andean cuisine" served in a comfortable setting of velvet and velour overstuffed couches and club chairs. The menu consists of a variety of tapas-sized dishes ranging in price from $4-$8. I had the Tamal Vegetal - a tamale with a spin. They stuff a banana leaf with mashed corn, onions, bell peppers, potatoes and then steam it. You can get the tamale with chicken, too. It's just enough food to cure the after-work munchies or quell a small appetite until later in the evening. Another reason to go is for the Chi-Cha or homemade wine. Chi-Cha is a sweet fruity or spicy wine made with white rice, tropical fruit and alcohol. It's smooth and yummy with a hint of pineapple aftertaste. It's 10:00 on a Wednesday night at the lounge. A voluble crowd of smartly turned out twenty somethings packs the club's sofas and upholstered chairs like early-bird shoppers at a Pottery Barn clearance. Patrick and Richard, who have been performing at Chi-Cha for the past 18 months, are stationed in a niche just inside and slightly to the right of the club's open front door. One might assume from their names that they are Gaelic balladeers but this voice and guitar duo creates vibrant, virtuoso Brazilian music that would impress even the most discerning Rio natives. Performing at Chi-Cha can't be a dream gig. First of all, there's no special lighting for the musicians; patrons entering and exiting the club pass directly in front of the dim corner where musicians perform. Couples intermittently gyrate just a few feet away from the duo, attempting - with varying degrees of success - to emulate samba dancing. Folks don't keep the conversation down either. Nevertheless, the room pulsates with the music's energy, inspiring even those whose attention is focused elsewhere to applaud when each song ends.
Downstairs at Chief Ike's is a funky space that intersperses talented DJs with art events throughout the week. Provocative plays and free life drawing classes are scheduled on Tuesday and Wednesday nights. Fridays bring an eclectic mix of people who would otherwise not be standing in the same room at the same time without the common thread of a great music mix from DJ Broadway Aj. Saturday nights I seek refuge in the upstairs bar and pool hall, Cosmo Lite Lounge (75 cent pool, $1.50 drink specials), because downstairs all the suburban kids put on their best clothes and come lining up outside of Ike's for Top 40 dance music. All in all, Monday's are my favorite time to go to Ike's because it's usually empty. Monday's are the only night without a crowd-pleasing event planned. This is when the locals reclaim the former neighborhood bar and make it their own again. This is when you can catch a glimpse of the murals that cover the walls. The bar's mascot is former president Dwight Eisenhower and, in most cases at Ike's, he's painted wearing a large tribal Indian headpiece sitting on a bigass missile taking off toward space. Somehow it all makes sense.
Company owner and president Andrew Frank developed the theater with partners Jonathan Zuck, Andrew Mack and David Crowley. During the first week the theater is open, prices will be cut and audiences intentionally limited. They won't even identify the film the theater will show. On August 25th Visions commenced its intensive survey of recent films that got away, including The War Zone, Tim Roth's dark incest drama; Olivier Assayas' Late August, Early September; Ken Loach's Carla's Song; Lars Von Trier's controversial The Idiots; and Luc and Jean-Pierre Dardenne's Rosetta, which won a Golden Palm at Cannes in 1999. Visions won't be simply an art-film theater. It will offer a Mediterranean-fare café and a bar, as well as special events. Visions enlisted potential customers as investors through a membership program. Almost 300 people have signed up, some paying more than $1,000. Visions will also be available for corporate functions, with high-tech video-projection facilities and T-1 lines to download streaming video from the Internet. Hell, night on the town? I may never leave Visions. Reporting from DC, this has been Liz Knee. Chi-Cha
Lounge 1624 U Street, N.W. Washington, DC 202.234.8400 Chief
Ike's Mambo Room 1725 Columbia Road, NW 202.332.2211 Visions
Theater 1927 Florida Ave, N.W. Washington, DC 202.667.0090 |
So
inspired are we by Patrick and Richard that the evening turns to dance.
Chief Ike's Mamba Room is on its way to becoming a Washington tradition.
In a town with a steady stream of newcomers and regulars looking for
the next big thing, all too many fun nightclubs lose their customer
base and are forced to temporarily shutdown and reopen with a new concept
and name. The more savvy will spot the familiar sounding address in
the local paper and realize The Blue Room used to be 1001 Nights. Chief
Ike's, however, has lasted the tests of time and the transient. 
Dinner,
dancing, how 'bout a movie? Or how bout a Cinema/Bistro/Lounge? Strangely,
you can find all that together at
Visions. The
two-screen miniplex theater is Washington's sole independent art cinema
since the Key closed almost three years ago. August 25th began several
weeks of programming that Frank calls "the catch-up festival," mostly
recent foreign films that screened in local festivals but didn't get
commercial bookings. August 18th was the "soft opening," a restaurant-industry
term for a trial run.