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Tell me a restaurant that is a challenge to get into and I am up for it! After all, month after month, I book at reservation at the 25-seat Maude Restaurant in Beverly Hills. I was in San Francisco and lined up in the early afternoon to get into State Bird Provisions. So when a friend in DC mentioned Rose's Luxury to me, I made it a point to eat there on my last visit to DC. Rose's Luxury Rose's Luxury is a neighborhood restaurant. But to get a seat to eat here, it is based on a first-come, first-served basis.There is no pretension to it. It is a cozy, energetic restaurant that has an inviting manner and delivers on the food. They maintain a first-come, first-served policy because their priority it to remain a neighborhood restaurant and make it possible to anyone to dine there without advance planning. Rose's Luxury But, this means that there is a line that forms around 4pm each day with people hoping to get in that night. And, I was one of them. It was towards the end of winter when I was last in DC so it was a bit crisp and cold outside. But, I arrived at 4pm and was the second person in line. I did not think there would be a big line due to the cold but within a few minutes, the line was inching its way down the street. As we all stood out in the cold, everyone was chatting, making the time pass but also setting the tone for the friendly neighborhood spot.
As I have been working with some Greek wines of recent, I took note when I read an article in the Wall Street Journal about Greek wines. What surprised me all the more was that two of the restaurants quoted (Iron Gate and Zaytinya) were Washington DC restaurants. So, when work took me to DC, I made a point of checking out Iron Gate and headed there for dinner with a couple friends. Iron Gate Opened in 1923 by the General Federation of Women's Clubs, Iron Gate held the title of the oldest continuously open restaurant in Washington DC until it closed in 2010. Then, in 2013, the Neighborhood Restaurant Group and Executive Chef Anthony Chittum reopened Iron Gate, featuring a Mediterranean menu inspired by Greece and Italy.
December 5th may not mean anything special to most people. But this day between Thanksgiving and Christmas is a day that should mean something to anyone who enjoys a glass of wine or a cocktail. After all, December 5, 1933 is the day that Prohibition was ended by the signing of the 21st Amendment to the Constitution and when beer trucks rolled into Washington DC and President Franklin D. Roosevelt poured himself a Plymouth gin martini. This year, December 5, 2013 marked the 80th anniversary of the end of Prohibition, otherwise known as Repeal Day, and the D.C. Craft Bartenders Guild organized their annual Repeal Day Ball to celebrate the occasion on Dec. 7.
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