Get To Know: NATASHA DIGGS (NYC) - Coming To The Lodge this Saturday

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Natasha spinning w/Ali Shaheed Muhammad (A Tribe Called Quest)

By Marcus K. Dowling

Of the many things for which New York City-based DJ Natasha Diggs is known, her skill at spinning 45 RPM records is one of those specialized disc jockey skills upon which the art of #realDJing is built. As a selector of those songs, she’s gifted too and brings that talent to The Lodge at Red Rocks on Saturday March 7th. Representing New York City’s Mobile Mondays crew (a top-tier group that includes the likes of Just Blaze and classic disco spinner Joey Carvello), she brings an encyclopedic musical knowledge and unique skill at blending genres to the decks this coming Saturday night.

World renowned, Diggs has DJ’ed alongside names like Erykah Badu in locales including Tokyo, Sydney, Beijing, Prague and Berlin. As well, the selector has also played on the same billings as DJ legends like Kenny Dope, DJ Spinna, Cut Chemist, Spinderella and DJ Scratch. With that list-as-resume, expect a soulful, funky and crowd-pleasing blend of everything from disco, rock, hip-hop, house and much more.

Joining alongside the well-respected Diggs is DC’s own (and Biz Markie-trained) 90s hip-hop specialist Miss H.E.R. The Hampton, VA-native brings a knowledgeable awareness to the turntables, naming not just Markie, but 9th Wonder and the crew at DC’s Beat Refinery as inspirations.

If that’s not enough, here are a few other tremendous reasons to check out Natasha Diggs and Miss H.E.R. as The Lodge at Red Rocks celebrates Women’s History Month. 

• Q-Tip has named Diggs a resident DJ at his Brooklyn-based (and Giant Step produced) party #OFFLINE at world-class nightclub, Output.
• With an eye towards presenting and developing future generations of talent, Natasha’s all girls jam "Us Girls" (which she co-founded) showcases and creates networking opportunities for NYC-based female DJs and artists.
• New York City’s Mobile Mondays crew (with which Diggs is affiliated) includes the likes of Just Blaze and classic disco spinner Joey Carvello
• Independent, underground and mainstream co-signs dot Diggs’ background. These include (but are not limited to) Triple J National Radio in Australia, one-time independent stalwart East Village Radio, DJ Evil Dee’s Beatminerz Radio and The Lord Sear All Out Show on Shade 45 (Sirius Radio).
• Award-winning pizza and Red Bull slushies highlight the Lodge at Red Rocks menu
• The Lodge’s large dance floor has a mezzanine that uniquely overlooks and wraps around the DJ booth and dance floor. As well, a heated rooftop provides a clear night-time view of the Capitol building and Washington Monument.
• And of course, the event has no cover!

Natasha Diggs will be playing alongside DJ Miss H.E.R. this Saturday at The Lodge at Red Rocks. Doors open at 9pm. No Cover. More event details HERE.

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Photo by Tim Blackwell (ShotsFired)

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OH SNAP! 4th of July at RFK w/FOO FIGHTERS & Special Guests

Saturday, July 4th, 2015 - 20th Anniversary Blowout!
Washington D.C. @ RFK Stadium 
All day extravaganza!!! 
All General Admission. Tickets on sale this Saturday at 10am
http://bit.ly/FOOJULY4

Frederik de Pue abruptly closes Menu MBK on Saturday

Less than a year after he transformed his struggling Penn Quarter seafood restaurant into an ambitious market and bistro called Menu MBK, Frederik de Pue closed the operation on Saturday, apparently at the demand of his partners who were looking for a higher return on investment.

Less than a year after he transformed his struggling Penn Quarter seafood restaurant into an ambitious market and bistro called Menu MBK, Frederik de Pue closed the operation on Saturday, apparently at the demand of his partners who were looking for a higher return on investment.

Frederik de Pue abruptly closed Menu MBK over the weekend after apparently failing to satisfy investors. (Photo courtesy of Greg Powers).

The abrupt closing will have no effect on Table, de Pue's refined, neighborhood restaurant in Shaw, nor his 42° Catering company in Rockville, both of which will remain open.

"For me, it's a sour feeling," the Belgium-born chef said Sunday about Menu's quick demise. "I gave it everything."

Menu MBK — named for its multi-format concept of market, bistro and kitchen — was supposed to be de Pue's solution to the under-performing Azur, his seafood restaurant that closed after six months in the same space. Menu's revenues continued to grow each month, the chef said, but not fast enough to satisfy his investors, who also own the building leased to de Pue. The investors will apparently find a new, presumably more profitable tenant or sell the building.

In early September, de Pue hired Dave Hansen, a veteran restaurant rehabilitator, to manage operations and inject new ideas into Menu. Hansen said he accepted the position because he wanted a creative outlet, helping to grow de Pue's portfolio of restaurants. Hansen had grown tired of playing the heavy, the hired gun who goes into a restaurant group and closes a property. Terminating employees has taken a toll on him, he said.

But on Saturday at the end of service, Hansen found himself back in that familiar position: He rounded up Menu's 40-plus employees and told them the restaurant was closed for good.  Some staffers will be absorbed into de Pue's other projects, Hansen said.

Both de Pue and Hansen have theories on why Menu MBK didn't measure up to expectations. The chef said the massive, 6,000-square-foot building simply requires more staff than other restaurants, which in turn requires more diners every night. Hansen thought the problem could be traced to the design of the building. Many locals thought Menu MBK was a market only.

"You could poll everyone on Eighth Street," Hansen said, "and most would not know there was a restaurant above" the market.

If there's a silver lining in the storm cloud over de Pue's head, it's that Menu's closing will free him up to return full-time to the Table kitchen.

"That's really where I have fun," the chef said. "I just want to do what I actually love doing, which is cooking."

"Salad Days: The DC Punk Revolution" Documentary [Official Trailer]

New DC Restaurant to Charge For "Artisanal" Ice Cubes

New restaurant in Washington DC has declared they're going to charge for artisanal ice cubes. 

Second State, a restaurant that opens tomorrow in downtown DC,* is planning on charging $1 for their artisanal ice cubes. 

"It's worth it," says bar manager Phil Clark. "When it goes into a cocktail, it's crystal clear. It's purified water, so there's no minerally taste."

Second State is apparently Pennsylvania-themed (hence the name). 

Note: heavily edited for work safe read, better more entertaining NSFW post is sourced from Jezebel HERE

Here’s How Much It Costs to Rent an Apartment Next to a Metro Station

While the Urban Institute’s comprehensive study on DC housing costs on Tuesday stated what most of us already know—that DC rent is damn high and getting higher—the effects of a surging residential market are felt more on the blocks with the best public transportation access. Again, this isn’t a big shock: with nearly 40 percent of DC residents relying on public transportation to get to work, it’s logical that the housing closest to Metro stations comes at a premium.

The Urban Institute’s research found that citywide, 64 percent of rental units now cost more than $1,000 per month, while 35 percent go for at least $1,500 a month. However, when apartments sit on top of train stations, the typical rent for a one-bedroom unit often approaches $2,000 a month, according to RadPad, an online apartment-hunting service that combed listings around the Metro stations with the most rental activity.

The findings aren’t that startling for a metro area in which more than 50 percent of renters spend at least 30 percent of their monthy earnings on housing, but there is a bit of sticker shock to reinforce the fact that rental costs continue to surge. RadPad’s map tops out at the Foggy Bottom-GWU station, where nearby one-bedrooms average $2,723 per month. Dupont Circle, at $2,443, and Mount Vernon Square, at $2,402, are next.

The spiking rents extend beyond the urban core, but tend to drop as the Metro lines push out. A one-bedroom near the NoMa-Gallaudet station runs $2,238; the next station up, Brookland, runs $1,551 a month.

Of course, this map is skewed from sourcing only one company’s listings—that’s possibly why there’s a $998 difference between Anacostia and Congress Heights—but it does reinforce much of what the Urban Institue found in its report and hints that the chunk of people who spend upward of 30 percent of their incomes on rent will continue to expand.

Fitness Tax in DC

Over the past month, Shamika Bradley fell in love with the core-crunching workout that is Zumba. She recently joined one of the fastest-growing fitness classes in her neighborhood, one that city officials have heralded as a success.

“I’ve been so inspired by this class,” Bradley said. “My energy is up, I want to eat healthy. It’s helped so much.”

Far from the glitzy gyms that can cost $100 a month on the other side of the Anacostia River, Bradley’s Zumba class is held on an indoor basketball court at Fort Stanton Recreation Center in Ward 8.

Fewer than a dozen people show up. It is free. And it is the best option that Bradley, a 35-year-old project manager, has in this part of town, a river and a world away from a spirited debate about the “fitness tax.”

When a coalition of fitness buffs arrives at Tuesday’s council meeting to protest a proposed 5.75 percent sales tax on gyms and yoga studios in the District, it’s unlikely that any will be members of full-service private gyms east of the Anacostia. That’s because there are none.

On one side of the river are temples of fitness with tanning booths and rooftop pools, in a city where the number of gyms has grown by 11 percent since 2009. On the other side is a patchwork of boxing rings and workout classes at community centers and churches.

In other words, the debate about taxing yoga highlights yet another aspect of economic disparity in the city.

Over the past month, it has become impossible to walk downtown without seeing signs outside health clubs saying “#donttaxwellness.”

Last week, at least 60 people gathered on Freedom Plaza to protest. In the blazing sun, they performed a warrior yoga pose, physically illustrating their position against the proposed tax. They chanted, “Tax slurpees, not burpees!”

“There’s this illusion that yoga is for rich, white people. But a lot of people sacrifice to be able to afford classes,” said Greg Marzullo, 37, an instructor at Flow Yoga Center in Logan Circle, who attended the event.

Hawah Kasat, an artist and author who was host of the event, noted, “This is not a tax on the rich; it’s a tax on a virtue.”

Bradley is not without sympathy.

“That doesn’t make sense to try and punish people for being healthy,” she said, adding, “They don’t charge taxes for bike lanes.”

But in Bradley’s part of town, people don’t think of fitness as an entitlement. It’s a luxury that inspires appreciation.

“It’s a tremendous benefit to have someplace where I can work out in the area,” she said. “I’m grateful that there’s something here to do to stay in shape. I wish there was more.”

In Wards 7 and 8, the areas east of the Anacostia, the obesity rates are 35 percent and 44 percent, respectively, compared with 22.4 percent for the city as a whole. Residents and scholars alike attribute that to high poverty rates, the absence of grocery stores and a lack of access to gyms. In a city survey, one in three people in those wards reported that they work out less than once a month; in the city’s tonier neighborhoods, that number is closer to one in six.

Bradley’s Zumba class was a part of a city effort to increase wellness. The District’s parks department is installing outdoor fitness equipment as a part of a $35 million-plus initiative to reimagine the park system, with an emphasis on areas east of the river.

The proposed fitness tax came out of a local tax review commission that sought more money for the city coffers while cutting income taxes for the middle class.

Rather than increasing rates for services that already were taxed, the panel suggested that the city broaden its base, said Steven Rosenthal, a senior fellow at the Tax Policy Center. The revenue from taxing fitness clubs is projected to bring in $5 million.

The proposal has been supported by tax policy experts at the more conservative Cato Institute as well as the more liberal Fiscal Policy Institute. According to research from the International Health, Racquet & Sportsclub Association, 25 states tax health-club memberships. The group opposes the proposed fitness tax in the District.

Although the D.C. Council dismissed a plan to tax haircuts, Chairman Phil Mendelson (D) saw no issue with taxing gyms.

“We also have a sales tax on books,” he said. “That doesn’t mean we don’t want people to read.”

Mendelson said the sales tax would affect a base that can withstand the blow, saying, “I do think that people who have memberships are probably better able to pay this sales tax.”

The proposal quickly caught the attention of gyms.

A coalition of gym owners has been trying to persuade council members to vote against the proposal. Ori Gorfine, the chief operating officer of the 4,000-member Balance Gym, noted that the inability to afford a membership was given as a reason in 11 percent of his gym’s cancellations.

Gorfine said the city could be shooting itself in the foot by discouraging health clubs from opening up in poorer neighborhoods.

“At the end of the day, gyms anchor development,” he said, adding: “Developers all the time call to ask if we want to start new businesses in different neighborhoods in the city. This [tax] makes us question whether it’s truly worth it.”

VIA Washington Post

D.C. Will Declare Snow Emergency This Evening

This is it, you guys. The snow storm to end all snow storms (except for the other snow storms).

And with a certain snowy doom set to begin this evening, the D.C. government plans to declare a snow emergency at 6:30 p.m. this evening. What does that mean, exactly? Well, when a snow emergency for the District of Columbia has been declared, parking along snow emergency routes (mostly main roads) will be restricted to allow for better plowing. Parking along one of the snow emergency routes could mean a hefty ($250) fine along with towing and impoundment fees.

To get ready for tonight's storm, which could see as much as 12 inches of snow in D.C., the District Snow Team (a task force established between the Department of Public Works and the Department of Transportation) will be in full deployment by 9 p.m. tonight, with 287 plows on the streets. “If the forecast holds, this will be our first chance this season to tackle a heavy snowfall,” DPW Director William O. Howland, Jr said in a release. “We are ready, our equipment is ready and we have plenty of salt. Of course, if enough snow accumulates, we will plow the streets.”

Right now, the latest forecast predicts about five to ten inches of accumulation in the "immediate metro region," with a little bit more predicted in places west of the city. Capital Weather Gang says the storm will start between 7 and 10 p.m. tonight, and there's a high probability it'll change to sleet and/or freezing rain sometime tomorrow morning.

In addition to the snowy conditions, temperatures are expected to drop into the low 20s and teens. But because of the large amount of snow expected, there will be no warming buses operating for D.C.'s homeless population. But the Metropolitan Police Department says they're doing "extra outreach" to help bring homeless residents to warm and safe shelters. There will be staff at former warming bus locations to redirect people to different locations. Here's where they're going to be set up:

• Judiciary Square Area (5th and C Streets, NW)


• Union Station (2 Massachusetts Avenue, NE)


• Farragut Square Area (17th and H Streets, NW)


• West End Library Parking Lot (24th and L Streets, NW)


• Old DC Council Chamber (441 4th Street, NW)

Via DCist

Eaters Look Inside Doi Moi DC, Opening Tonight

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Here's a glimpse of what diners can expect when Doi Moi opens tonight on 14th Street: all white everything with pops of color from imported Vietnamese tiles, a monk mural, iced Vietnamese coffee brewed with Blue Bottle Coffee, and Thai fried bananas.

This is the third restaurant from proprietor Mark Kuller and chef/partnerHaidar Karoum, the team behind Proof and Estadio. Kuller and Karoum traveled extensively across Thailand and Vietnam to research the regional dishes for Doi Moi's menu, including bun ho hue, a spicy lemongrass, beef and pork noodle soup; ga roti, a Vietnamese-style lemongrass and spice-roasted chicken; and khao soi gai, a Chiang Mai chicken and noodle curry. See the rest of Eaters look HERE.

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Complex Magazine's Best and Worst Bars of DC

Congratulations to Marvin for being number 1 on Complex Magazines 25 Best bars in DC list. Its really hard to argue this one. And the staff is just as much responsible for that number 1 spot as anything else. Go high five someone from there today. Cheers!

And congratulations to McFadden's for continually holding down Complex Magazine's yearly top spot for the 25 Douchiest Bars in DC. You guys are really doing your thing over there and making it easy for everyone else to stand tall. For that, I thank you.