7 College Park: Plato's Diner

We planned another adventure outside of the District, this time to College Park to see Gesel Mason's amazing dance performance “Women, Sex, and Desire: Sometimes You Feel Like a Ho, Sometimes You Don’t” at UMD’s Kogod Theatre. The decision to go was last moment, so I didn't have time to do my research on good eats in the area. But a couple of UMD kids (including JR) suggested Plato's Diner so Plato's Diner it was!


As I was taking pictures of the banner outside, a guy came up to me and said that what I was doing was inappropriate since I haven't gotten any permission from the restaurant to take pictures. We later saw him inside the diner and he voluntarily added that if this were his house he would've shoot both us. There was a short silence after which he started laughing and said that we can take all the pictures we wanted. He then walked into the back kitchen of the diner. What a welcoming. We then pursued our way into the diner, passing some fake, tacky Greek columns and frescos. I know that a diner is not a place to expect high-end taste, but the potentially cute and funky concept of a ‘Greek Diner’ went the wrong way… for me at least.


I didn't feel like getting something heavy so I settled for the Greek Salad with the Greek Sausage. The salad greens were nothing special. The dressing that came on the side had pieces of salmon in them, which looked out of place and suspicious, so I decided not to add it on the salad. The sausage was the only ingredient that could've redeemed the salad but a plastic-y taste overwhelmed my taste buds as I took the first bite. I didn't want to give up but the second and third bites had that same awful taste of plastic :(


JR got the Baked Hellenic Moussaka (stuffed eggplant) with a side of salad (normal… actually, better than my salad) and soup (fine). The eggplant was actually good. I appreciated the rice and meat stuffing - it made the dish substantial. I gave up eating my salad so JR was kind enough to share his dish with me. I think that I might have actually eaten most of it :)


I believe in an ideal that all restaurants are good at the end of the day. Even though what we've ordered were mediocre and didn't make me want to come back to Plato's, I give the diner kudos for their complementary bread. They were really good! The soft and fluffy rolls were amazing with butter.

So in conclusion, we left College Park with two good things; a great dance performance and good bread. Sorry about the generally negative review… but to quote Gesel: Sometimes you feel like a ho, sometimes you don't.

7 College Park: Women, Sex & Desire

Actually, the full title of the piece is "Women, Sex and Desire: Sometimes You Feel Like a Ho, Sometimes You Don't."

You can check out more info for the piece and its process at Gesel Mason Performance Projects' site.

Anyway, although the majority of the audience was set up facing the stage, there were a select number of seats set up on the side giving the performance space a bit of a thrust feeling (no pun intended).

In addition to the dancers, there was a live singer/narrator giving voice to the piece. Dancers at times also interjected bits of dialogue among the movement. At one point a dancer took her seat on my lap, but that was as interactive as it got.

The two acts were separated into "The Show", and then "Home" (I believe...I'll have to check the program). It was a bit of a reflection on the front that women, and people in general, put up, and then that side of ourselves we show when we're in our element.

There was nudity which Gesel, herself, opened the piece with. Although, at first, the way the light hit her, you couldn't tell whether she was clothed or not, as she face upstage. It wasn't until she moved and the contours of her body shifted the shadows which might have hid the trace of fabric that you realized she was indeed naked.

Gesel's presence flits in and out of various other sections, becoming what I interpreted as a kind of Eve/all-woman figure.

A very interesting piece, I think it's essence was efficiently touched upon in the post-show dialogue. I'm going to botch the actual exchanged (which probably means I should right these a little more immediately after viewing a piece), but it equated to this. One question was asked about whether a woman could refer to herself as a ho, and Gesel responded in the affirmative. The questioner (a middle-aged, white haired, Caucasian man) then asked, if it would be permissible for him to call her a ho.

In a somewhat assertive, but not aggressive, manner, Gesel said something like, "We'd have to talk about that."

Forgive me my pun but, it isn't so simple as to simply say, "A ho is in the eye of the beholder".

Even just to have a conversation about being a ho, you have to dissect exactly what a ho means, and to whom.

An awesome piece and one whose growth I look forward to following!!

6 Logan Circle: The Commissary

I've gone out to eat at the trendy Logan Circle area a few times but never off 14th Street. Although P Street also has its good share of food establishments, I haven't made it to any (The huge Whole Foods in the middle of the block might have overshadowed the restaurants surrounding it). JR and I planned on catching a show at Studio Theatre one day so I thought that it would be a good opportunity to explore where's good to eat on P Street. We went for the Commissary.


As I stepped in, I wondered whether this place was a bar, a restaurant, or a café. The Commissary combined all three under one roof – Americana restaurant at its best. The crowd seemed diverse and the ambiance was cool. It's the kind of place where you can grab a beer with your friend then move to the sofas to plug in your laptops and chill. The menu was written on big boards that decorated the restaurant walls but we opted for checking out what the Commissary has to offer on their normal table menu.


We started off with the Guacamole & Salsa with Chips. They were just fine. They actually made me nostalgic for the excellent guacamole I had with some friends at Rosa Mexicano a few weeks ago (which so far, is the best guacamole I had in DC). The portion was also small and we were left with no more salsa nor guacamole for the extra tortilla chips early on throughout the appetizer :(


The Bowtie Pasta with Broccoli & Andouille Sausage looked really good but JR beat me to it – He decided the moment we walked into the restaurant :) It was really really good! The pasta was hot and moist, the sausage savory, and the broccoli on the side was buttery with just the right amount of salt. It was so good that the "one bite" I requested from JR ended up being two, three, four…you get the idea.


I am not a burger person and I don't usually order burgers unless someone recommends it, but I saw the Goat Cheese & Sun-Dried Tomato Burger and thought it might be delicious (see, I'm not a burger person). I actually thought that the burger was vegetarian but the beef patty was topped with goat cheese and sun-dried tomatoes (or more accurately, a small piece of one sun-dried tomato). As I took a big bite out of the burger I was able to taste all the ingredients but the sun-dried tomatoes. It wasn't till I reached the very center that I got a taste the tangy yummy-ness of the tomato. But to be honest, the combination of all ingredients did not do anything for me. It was anti-climactic.


JR was craving for something sweet so he got a piece of the Apple Pie with a Scoop of Vanilla Ice Cream. It seemed to satisfy his craving but the "one bite" that I promised to take didn't make it to the second. The pie was just fine.

I don't know whether I'll make it back to the Commissary or not. It's definitely a convenient place to grab dinner at before seeing a show at Studio Theatre (or grabbing a drink afterward) but I personally have had more memorable dining experiences at other places around Logan Circle.

6 Logan Circle: That Face

After eating at the Commissary on P St, Sam and I caught the closing performance of That Face at Studio Theatre.

A theatre friend of mine, Zehra, was in it and I always love seeing her perform. But even if she wasn't in it, the piece was compelling in and of itself. I was actually written by a young playwright, Polly Stenham, who dropped out of University to finish writing this particular play, when she was still a teenager.

The piece went and lived across the line of comfort for most people, and personally had me torn between feelings of pity to...well, from lack of a better word, "ickiness".

It's a bit of a tragedy that revolves around miscommunication or plain lack of communication.

And it just had a degree of rawness which was actually relieving to experience on stage. It was also performed in one of Studio Theatre's smaller spaces, to begin with. I don't believe it would've had a similar effect in a larger venue.

If you haven't seen a production at Studio, I recommend you do. It's also an interesting time for the organization, as its going through a transition this year; the Founding Artistic Director, Joy Zinoman, is passing on the torch after 30 years.

5 Hundred Twenty Five Thousand Miles Away From DC: Manoli Canoli

You can take me out of the Mediterranean but you can't take the Mediterranean out of me. You can take me out of DC but…well, I become totally helpless. I asked JR the other day where our next performance was and he replied "Chevy Chase, Maryland".

NOOOOO!!!

I got anxious since I'm clueless about restaurants beyond DC! Luckily, JR had a couple of suggestions, French and Italian/Greek/Mediterranean, and of course, I went for the Mediterranean option – Manoli Canoli.

I heard that the best eats exist outside of the District. Manoli Canoli did not disappoint. The place is small, cute, and homey. The decorations made up of family photos and Mediterranean products (which can also be purchased at the restaurant) are a charming touch to the diningroom-like setting. The friendliness of the staff also reinforces the homey feel of the restaurant – we caught a glimpse of the owner, Stavros Manolakos, introducing the menu to some customers and it seemed to be very natural and a normal part of what Manoli Canoli is.

The menu is a mixture of Italian and Greek. We started with a 1/2 carafe of a San Vito Chianti and an order of Spanakopita. I didn't recognize the name of the dish but when I looked at the description I automatically thought about the Spinach Fatayer (Spinach Pies) that I love so much from back home! The Spanakopita was slightly different: flaky dough with cheese in the filling – it was savory. I appreciated the subtle lemon taste in the spinach and the small block of white cheese that came on the salad garnish – so Mediterranean, so great!

We both ordered pasta as a main course. JR got the Spinach Agnolotti and I got the Fettuccine alla Genovese. JR liked the ravioli stuffed with spinach and cheese. He seemed to be enjoying the spinach cheese dish and kept on saying that it was really good :). I also liked the Fettuccine. It was meaty but it also had vegetables. I thought that it required a little bit of oomph but I couldn't pin down what was missing. After a while though, the Chianti began to work its magic and both wine and food started to assert one another, giving a sense of wholeness to the meal.

The owner came up to us to inquire about our meal. He explained that the secret of the food at Manoli Canoli was the extra virgin olive oil and the olives that they get directly from their family orchard in Elos, Greece. He was kind enough to bring out a bottle, and it made me wish that he had done so earlier during our meal. The olive oil was so good and it went better with the complimentary bread that was brought out with butter. The combination of bread and olive oil felt like home and I wanted to purchase a bottle of my own. But we were running late for our next performance and we had to drive to the venue so I didn't have time to get the olive oil and browse through their products section. We promised the manager that we'll be back, and he recommended trying out more of the Greek side of the menu the next time we're there. I thought that it was definitely a worthwhile cause to leave the District.

525,600 miles from DC: RENT

So we weren't really that far out of DC. We were just in Kensington, MD (right outside the beltway) catching Kensington Arts Theatre's production of RENT.

Now RENT's dear to me. I specifically have memories of my junior year being the Sound Board Op for my high school's winter play, The Misanthrope. If you're familiar with the show, as you might imagine there weren't too many sound cues. The running time was also just a little longer than the soundtrack of RENT. However it came about, I ended up listening to the full soundtrack on my headphones (without missing my 5 sound cues from my Stage Manager)*.

*Let me add a bit of a disclaimer as well...this was a good 12 years ago. Operating boards now, I would not be listening to anything but the production AND my stage manager...but I digress.

Anyway, this is actually the first Kensington Arts Theatre mainstage production I've seen, and they presented the work wonderfully. I definitely saw why KAT is one of the better known community theatres in the DMV area.

There's really not much else to say about the production. It was just a fun evening with a full house with high energy performances all around, directed well and with great choreography. While outside of La Vie Boheme, there's not much "dance" dance, there's a lot of musical blocking.

RENT definitely is one of those shows you either love or you don't. However, particularly with recent studies regarding the above average rate of HIV infection, issues regarding affordable housing, same-sex relationships, class issues, life purpose...it's story and context are just as relevant (if not more so) today, than ever.

4 Culture Kids: Souk

It was my first night out on H Street so I wanted to go to somewhere multi-culti and edgy, and Sticky Rice seemed like the perfect place. It was a Friday night and we found out that Sticky Rice was full so we played it cool (and told Sticky Rice to stick their famous Sticky Balls up their Sticky $@&)* and went down the road to find Souk.

Souk (meaning “market” in Arabic) offered the edgy multi-culti element that we were looking for. The hole-in-the-wall place reminded me of the low-key Hummus and Falafel places back home, but a little bit more hip with the colorful lanterns and cushions. I also appreciated that the kitchen was open (just right over the ceramic tile counter), adding a sense of intimacy and allowing yummy smells to fill up the restaurant.

Of course, we started our meal with small plates of Hummus and Baba Ghannuoge. The Hummus we got (Hummus b'Shawarma) came topped with Shawarma style chicken. I liked the chicken, but I wasn’t crazy about the Hummus. The Baba Ghannuoge was also fine. The bread seemed to be the generic pita that you got from the super market so our appetizers were boarding towards unmemorable. But our group was still hungry and JR suggested ordering the Hummus Special.

Coming from the Middle East, "Hummus Special" translated to "Made Up Crap" but the dish surprised me – it was delicious. The Hummus topped with spiced ground meat worked. It actually reminded me of the Fatteh that my Syrian grandma used to prepare…and being compared to Teta's cooking means that you're way up there!

It was time for the main entrée. The Mahshi caught my attention. One usually doesn’t find Mahshi (stuffed vegetables, usually zucchini) at Middle Eastern restaurants here so I was very glad to see it featured on Souk's menu. The rice stuffing in the zucchini and red bell pepper was flavored with delicious Middle Eastern spices. The dish was so substantial that I forgot it didn't come with meat in the stuffing (which it usually does). JR ordered the Kotlet (lamb with couscous), which I thought could've been juicer and less dry (both with the lamb and couscous). JR liked it though and he enjoyed the dish to the last bite :). We came with a couple of friends, one also ordered the Kotlet, and the other the Moroccan Salad - both reported “really good!”

The food was fine but one of the best aspects of Souk was the atmosphere. As I said before, I really liked the hole-in-the-wall setting, edged-up low-key style, and most of all, the open kitchen. The openness of the place made it easy to strike a conversation with the owner, who was cooking away while smiling at the customers every now and then. The owner is Moroccan so I talked to him in Arabic. I like talking to restaurant staff in their native language whenever I have the chance to do so – not only for the special treatment that one could possibly receive, but also for fostering the support that we immigrants have for one another in this foreign country. This was a great way to end our meal at Souk before heading to Atlas for a performance that discussed the different experiences of immigrant life and families in America.

* I still really want to go Sticky Rice so please excuse my Japanese – I take back what I said :)