Greetings and welcome to the first post on the DC Culture Club blog, sure to be the most popular blog in the United States in a few weeks. Shhhhhhhh. Leave your skepticism at the door.
First, a quick note about the DC Culture Club. This little group was formed by a bunch of interesting Washingtonians with diverse backgrounds and careers to go out and try all of the cool bars and restaurants in Washington. We unapologetically love this city and its hangouts so we want to hang out at as many of them as we can.
Spot #1: PS 7
Here we go:
Bombay Martini ($11): "Good, cold, dry" said DC Culture Club member Bill. "Well-served, although not the kind of twist I would do." Bill added that the drink tasted like Mexico at Christmas time. To me, the Bombay Martini looked awesome and I hate Martinis. The idea of olive juice in alcohol is stupid. Hey everybody, I mixed ketchup with gin...greatest drink on Earth. NOT!
Across the Pond ($10): Made of Bulleit/Six Grapes Port/Lemon. This was my drink. One word: underwhelmed. I wrote down "not bad" for this drink. The name was amazing, which is why I think I was disappointed. I put a lot into names. Fact. Which is why I bought both blu-ray DVDs of Afro-Samurai without knowing anything. Let me say this: greatest anime film...ever. And I thought this was an impossibility after Ninja Scroll.
Hibiscus Margarita ($7): I thought this was the least impressive name/drink combo. But I did not try it. DC Culture Club member Quinn loved it. He claimed the drink tasted like his $600 Cowboy Boots, which apparently taste really great.
Scorched Milk ($10): Made of Woodford Reserve/Sauternes. "Glorious" said DC Culture Club member Don after his first sip. After a while, though, he claimed maybe it was too sweet. The group concluded that Scorched Milk is a superior dessert drink after dinner, but less tight as a pre-dinner drink. I would like to add that I LOVE Sauterne wine. It's a dessert wine. It is delicious like a Redskins Super Bowl that I'll never see again. And we're going to move on.
Impervious Heart ($10): Quite simply, a masterpiece. It was beautiful and it tasted beautiful. It's topped off with a painting of a heart that is made up of like ground cinnamon and it breaks apart as you drink it. Sort of like when Megatron kills Optimus Prime in the first Transformer cartoon movie that I watched in the theater and cried as a child. We're going to move on.
Easy as Sunday ($10): Made of Plymouth Gin/Kumquat/Cactus Honey. Okay, so Impervious Heart is a masterpiece. You really only order one of these. Easy as Sunday is the best drink drink, which you could have multiple ones of. It's made of kumquats and gin. Tastes like you got home from a lousy day at work, watched Sports Center or Reality Housewives Atlanta depending on your gender, going to bed and waking up the next day on the beach of St. Tropez as a billionaire.
The Situation Rum ($10): Made of Mount Gay XO/Cointreau/Hibiscus Tea. This was fine. You know? Like it was fine. But I am just not a fan of Cointreau. I don't even know what that is. It also comes in an awkward and pretentious annoying short bottle. It's just weird.
Vanilla Sidecar ($10): Made of Brandy/Lime/House-made Vanilla syrup. Incredible. Simply incredible. Blown away by the house-made vanilla syrup (huge fan of vanilla syrup). I asked for extra syrup and my request was met, and one-upped. Well played, PS 7, well played.
The Flatbreads ($10-$12): Okay, all of the flatbreads were amazing. You know how you go to nice restaurants and you get appetizers and they're delicious, but you wish there was more? Well, PS 7 has perfected the art of more appetizer. There was prosciutto, goat cheese, duck etc. Just all delicious and heated up. It was like watching Andre Agassi return a Pete Sampras serve that was just in on the corner baseline at Wimbledon.
Charcuterie ($21 for 3 people): A solid order. Dried sausage, genoa salami-like meats, smoked duck breast and these premium breadsticks. Felt great about this and could have eaten nine more orders.
Dauphine Bars ($5): These were like fried sliced potato and cheese bars with sprinkled dried veal on top. Okay, everyone thought these were average--except me. SPECTACULAR! DELICIOUS! PS 7 could charge double for these. Very awesome. It tasted like when I crossed my cousin Sam up over at Madison Park in Arlington and I touched him so bad, his knees buckled and he missed work for a week. Is that a true story? Yes, it's a true story. He is 36 now. He called me the other day and goes: "My knee still isn't right." It's been 14 years.
To the X Factors: The bartender and the bathroom. First a word, one of the side missions of the DC Culture Club is to find the greatest bathroom at a bar/restaurant in all of DC. This award will be handed out at the end of our journey, whenever that is. We are fed up with the damn lousy bathrooms in this city and all cities that make us want to throw up when we walk in. ENOUGH!
The men's room at PS 7 was "solid" as member Quinn said. And that is right on. Our big two issues: 1) there is one stall and a two-seater urinal (not enough for the size of the place) and 2) it was just sort of unkept. Paper towels on the floor etc. The decor was exquisite with awesome sinks and ambiance, though. So "solid". I'm told the women's room was about the same but just nicer.
Okay, bartender/server Gina Chersevani is a city treasure. It was a busy night. She was making drinks and serving them. She was soooooo nice. Phenomenal personality and made us want to stay longer than we originally wanted. Put simply, she is the reason to go to PS 7 over any other bar.
Overall rating: 8.5
Gina was a 10. The drinks were a 10. The food was a 9.5. There was just something missing with the atmosphere to get it over the 9 mark. We couldn't really put our finger on it. We loved the food and drinks and Gina, but it was something about the overall atmosphere and we think it may have been the crowd. We went on a Friday night and maybe the crowd just didn't bring their A game. If they had, I could easily have seen this overall rating as a 9.5.
If you want to see our pictures from the night, click here.
Okay, one bar down, so many more to come. Next up, The Gibson. Aw yeaaaah. We said it. The Gibson.
What was sadly not mentioned are the tuna sliders. After ordering an order of 6 delicious, tuna sashimi with a divine sauce on little, just tiny buns, the girls decided to order 6 more. I would have ordered another round but needed to leave room for more of the Kumquats. See photo for details. For tuna lovers, this is a must-order.
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