D.C. gets compared to New York City in many ways, for better or worse. It’s almost like the Cowboys/Redskins rivalry, always wanting one another to somehow fail. There was always a shortage of good deli’s in the DC area and when one did open it was shuttered a few months later. Here’s hoping that DGS Delicatessen thrives. The shining beacon of deli hope in Dupont Circle.

“We’re respectful of the tradition and food of a New York deli but try to incorporate D.C. style,” says DGS partner and former Tallula chef Barry Koslow. “To us, the Jewish experience started in Eastern Europe, through Western Europe. There are North African influences on the food from there to New York and finally to D.C. There are a lot of classic recipes but we want to make it accessible.”

Offering a menu full of the deli standbys, the menu sports classics like potato latkes and corned beef sandwiches as well as variations on New York Jewish-deli themes, like the Grilled Eggplant Reuben (emmenthaler, sauerkraut, Russian dressing on double-baked Rye) or the Salmon Pastrami, (with labneh, pickled mustard seeds and cucumber salad on a Montreal bagel).

Will they offer cheesecake? Of course, though it won’t be New York style. In fact, it’s “DC Style,” a playful stab at everyone’s proclivity to adopt the recipe from our neighbors to the north. DGS’s take, the “DC Style” take, is less dense, a bit fluffier. Their other dessert options are less playful but just as mouthwatering, like the Sweet Noodle Kugel with salted caramel ice cream.

DGS  opens tonight for dinner starting at 5:30 pm.  They’ll eventually offer a deli brunch on both Saturday and Sunday. Guests can enjoy a range of items from pastrami hash with fried duck eggs, roasted peppers and mustard sauce to a plate of Challah french toast with toasted almonds and Virginia maple syrup.

All their pickled items are prepared in-house, from their fish to the eggs to the vegetables, and their mustard–tangy, sweet and sour–is also made under the DGS roof. All their meats are smoked and cured there too, some preparation requiring days for just a few slices of tender goods.

What could compliment their bright, playful menu further? The bar, of course, with cocktails and beer and wine options all  hand-selected by beverage director Brian Zipin to pair well with every food option available. Wines are approachable and fairly priced, while the four beer options on draft offer a fun, ever changing line-up for customers.

 If this is how DC does delis, bring it on! Below are a few drool-worthy photos provided by BYT.

Peace, Love and Deli’s!

-The Chosen

Mendelsohn’s rep Jordyn Lazar confirmed that they signed the lease in mid-July and will be a steak-frites concept. Bearnaise will serve lunch and dinner and it’ll be another sit-down option for the Hill:

Peace, Love and Beef!

-The Chosen

If it’s one thing we like here at The Chosen, it’s music. Once we learned about the Jewish Music Festival taking place in May we couldn’t pass up the chance to give you the details. Presented by the Washington DC Jewish Community Center’s Morris Cafritz Center for the Arts. The Howard and Geraldine Polinger Family Foundation is the major sponsor of the Washington Jewish Music Festival. Taking place May 3-21, the festival serves the entire region as one of the top Jewish music festivals in the country.

The acts below will be performing at different venues around town. To find out more visit here.

5/3    Abraham, Inc.
5/10  Hadag Nahash
5/11  Shabbat in Song
5/12  Balagan Boogaloo with Diwon and DeScribe
5/14  Roberto Rodriguez and the Cuban Jewish All Stars
5/15  Basya Schechter: Songs of Wonder
5/16  Yael Meyer
5/17  DeLeon
5/18  ShirLaLa
5/19  Moshav
5/20  Peter Himmelman
Schmekel
5/21  The Yellow Ticket with Alicia Svigals

One of the acts that we’re pleasantly surprised to see is Yael Meyer. Yael is a Chilean singer-songwriter who creates unpretentious songs of incredible complexity and depth. Her unique blend of indie folk and lounge electronica beg comparisons to Jose Gonzalez, Jack Johnson, and Feist.

At age 18, Meyer set her sights on Berklee College of Music in Boston, and won a scholarship to attend, completing her studies in just 3 ½ years. It was there that she wrote, produced and recorded her debut album Common Ground, a blend of indie folk and lounge electronica which became a smash hit in her home country.  It was hailed as one of the top 50 albums of the year by Rolling Stone Chile, and jump-started a career that would include tours of the U.S, Europe and South America.

An EP in late 2009 entitled Heartbeat followed, bringing with it wider global recognition. Tracks from the EP were licensed in the U.S. for the TV shows Life Unexpected, Drop Dead Diva, MTV’s Awkward andPrivate Practice. Prominent KCRW DJ and tastemaker Nic Harcourt handpicked Meyer’s song “Shed Their Fear” for airplay.  MTV selected Meyer as a “Needle in the Haystack” artist, and her music has been used in Ralph Lauren runway shows. Chilean film director Nicolas Lopez selected three of her songs for his 2010 comedy feature Que Pena Tu Vida (F*** My Life).

Nothing inspires her more than Radiohead, Jeff Buckley, and Jesca Hoop. Although, if you catch her live at the festival be sure to request from her a Shakira impersonation.

Check out her latest music video:  Fire

Young Diplomats Reception 2012:The Arab Awakening: The Changing Face of the Middle East

March 13, 2012
1777 F St., NW

Reception at 6:30PM; Program at 7:15PM

$15 FOR ACCESS SUPPORTERS; $20 FOR GENERAL REGISTRATION

If you are not yet an ACCESS Supporter, click HERE and select ACCESS Supporter to sign up!

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER OR VISIT WWW.AJCWASHINGTON.ORG/YOUNGDIPLOMATS2012

The Young Diplomats Reception is the hallmark event of AJC’s New Generation Program, ACCESS DC. This annual reception provides an opportunity for young Jewish professionals to interact with members of the diplomatic community while hearing from, and engaging with, leading thinkers on a topic of relevance to AJC.

Khairi Abaza is a Senior Fellow at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies. His research focuses on democratic reform in the Arab world, the spread of terrorism, and the influence of the media on politics. Before joining FDD, Mr. Abaza was a visiting fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, focusing on Egyptian politics and democratic reform. Before coming to Washington, Mr. Abaza worked for ten years in Egyptian politics. To read a full bio, click here.

Ammar Abdulhamid is the the founder and director of the Tharwa Foundation, a grassroots organization that works to break the Assad government’s information blockade by enlisting a cadre of local activists and citizen journalists to report on sociopolitical issues in Syria. Prior to founding the Tharwa Foundation, Mr. Abdulhamid served as a fellow with the Saban Center for Middle East Policy at the Brookings Institute, and he was a co-founder of Hands Across the Mideast Support Alliance (HAMSA), an initiative to mobilize international grassroots support for democracy activists in the Middle East. To read a full bio, click here.

Toby Dershowitz is the President of the Dershowitz Group, where she provides expert counsel to corporations, governments, and associations on high-end strategic communications, media and public relations, legislative strategy, crisis preparedness and crisis management. Her experience has been gained through working for more than 25 years in Washington on domestic and foreign policy issues, corporate communications, grassroots organizing and event management. To read a full bio, click here.

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IF YOU HAVE AN QUESTIONS FOR OUR PANELISTS, TWEET THEM @AJCWASHINGTON WITH THE HASHTAG #YOUNGDIPS2012

For more information, contact:
Jamie Kamlet
accessdc@ajc.org

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About ACCESS
ACCESS is AJC’s new generation program empowers young professionals to engage today’s critical domestic and international issues. At the nexus between the Jewish community and the world, ACCESS reaches out to diplomats, policy makers and young leaders of diverse religious and ethnic backgrounds.

FIND YOUR VOICE: Make it Matter

Chef Barry Koslow (formerly of Tallula and Mendocino Grille) is partnering with David and Nick Wiseman (Roadside Food Projects) to open DGS Delicatessen at 1317 Connecticut Avenue NW in summer 2012. Joan Nathan, the doyenne of Jewish cooking in America, has been an unofficial adviser on the project, and the trio’s friends and family have been inundating them with cookbooks and family recipes.

The DGS name is a nod to the mom-and-pop Jewish grocery stores — District Grocery Stores — that banded together into a cooperative in the early 1900’s in DC. Nick and David Wiseman are 4th generation Washingtonians and have long yearned to bring an authentic delicatessen to the city; David Wiseman’s grandparents owned one of the original District Grocery Stores.

According to Nick Wiseman, they hope to evoke the feeling of a classic deli like Katz’s, but avoid the inherent kitschiness with an interior he describes as “Brooklyn industrial.” (Mile End Deli in Brooklyn is one of their inspirations.) DGS will have 80 seats plus a patio and a take-out counter. As for decor, the high-ceilinged space will have a lot of exposed brick walls and reclaimed wood. Nick calls it modern Brooklyn industrial meets Old World Eastern Europe.

DGS Delicatessen’s signature sandwich will be, of course, pastrami. The meat will be prepared in a wet brine for five days, rubbed with coriander and black pepper, smoked and steamed. You’ll be able to get your half and full sours, or one of the other seasonal pickles that will be made in-house.

Breads (and bagels and bialys) won’t be baked in-house, but provided by Mark Furstenburg, founder of Marvelous Market and the Breadline and the city’s foremost bread baker. They’ve got fans of a good bagel with a schmear and lox covered too! Koslow and the Wisemans have brunch service in their sights. Koslow said there will be “lots of smoking” for their selection of smoked fish that will include sturgeon, salmon, sable and whitefish.

Koslow will also be integrating other Jewish-American classics in to the menu such as matzo ball soup, blintzes and bialys. As for keeping Kosher? They won’t be serving anything containing pork or shellfish, but they will mix meat and dairy so you can get a reuben done right with cheese.

I don’t know about you but I could really go for a pastrami on rye and a Cel-Ray right about now…

Peace, Love and Delis

-The Chosen

We hope you’ve been enjoying this unusually pleasant DC summer! AJC Access DC has some very exciting programs coming up over the summer, and we’d like to share them with you:

Sport Summerfest at the Austrian Embassy

Wednesday, July 13, *6:30pm*

ACCESS DC is co-hosting a “Sport Summerfest” with the Embassy of Austria! The event will celebrate Vienna’s first time hosting the Maccabi Europe games(July 5-13, 2011). Diplomats from participating countries will attend, along with State Department representatives and special guests from the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame and Maccabi USA. Dinner and drinks will be served; $10 to attend.

To register, please visit www.ajcwashington.org/summerfest.

Collective Memory: German-Jewish Relations Today at the DCJCC

Tuesday, July 19, 6-8pm

Join AJC, the Friedrich Ebert Foundation and DCJCC’s Theater J for a provocative panel discussion on German-Jewish relations more than 60 years after the Holocaust. Panelists include: Rabbi Andrew Baker, AJC; Dietmar Nietan, Member of German Parliament; Magdalena Scharf, Action Reconciliation Service for Peace; and Ari Roth, Theater J.

To RSVP, please contact Knut Panknin at k.panknin@fesdc.org or (202) 408-5444.

Reception for young Jewish- and Indian-American Leaders at the Embassy of India

Thursday, July 21, 6:30-8:30pm

AJC and Ambassador Arun Singh, Deputy Chief of Mission of the Embassy of India (and former Indian Ambassador to Israel) invite you to a reception for Indian- and Jewish-American Young Leaders. Free of charge; vegetarian buffet dinner will be served.

To register, please click here.

Happy Hour at Bar Pilar and “The Ramayana” at Source Theater

Thursday, August 4, Happy hour: 6pm, Performance: 8pm

ACCESS DC is teaming up with our Indian-American partners to host a happy hour at Bar Pilar, followed by a performance of “The Ramayana”, an ancient Hindu epic. Please buy your tickets online now, and please let Jorie (sapirj@ajc.org) know if you’ve bought tickets and/or would like to attend the happy hour. To get a taste of what the play will be like, check out this cool, contemporary treatment of it here.

Check out the invitations below for more info about these events!

The Embassy of Austria and ACCESS DC present:

Sport Summerfest
in celebration of the 13th Annual European Maccabi Games in Vienna, July 5-13 2011

Join ACCESS DC and diplomats from participating countries to celebrate this historic event at the Austrian Embassy featuring special guests from Maccabi USA and the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame!

Light food and drinks provided (vegetarian options will be available).

Hosted by H.E. Dr. Christian Prosl, Ambassador of the Republic of Austria to the United States

Wednesday, July 13th, 6:30pm

Embassy of Austria

3524 International Court NW (right off the Van Ness metro)

$10 admission/Register at www.ajcwashington.org/summerfest

Please RSVP by July 11.

“The food is all completely kosher, but it seemed to come down to the ownership of the truck,” said Sixth & I director Esther Safran Foer. “We rent the truck from somebody who is not Jewish,” who will use it to serve non-kosher food the rest of the week. The Vaad was “concerned that he not be in the truck while we are serving. But he has to be. He owns the truck and holds the license.”

The truck will travel to various locations and, at first, will only operate on Fridays before expanding its hours.

Here is the current list of menu items:

SANDWICHES

SIGNATURE SMOKED CORNED BEEF SANDWICH

Cured and Smoked Beef Brisket on Rye with Original House Hot Mustard $9

SEASONAL GRILLED VEGGIE WRAP

with Arugula and Mache Greens, Hummus, and Balsamic Basil Dressing $7

KOSHER MEAL DEAL ON WHEELS

Signature Sandwich or Veggie Wrap, Slaw, Chips, or Pickle Soda or Water $12 meat / $10 veggie

SIDES

ISRAELI COUSCOUS SALAD $4

SIXTH & RYE SLAW

Red and White Cabbage, Celery Root and Carrots with Vinegar-Based Dressing $3

FRESH-CUT CHIPS

Yukon Gold Potatoes with Kosher Salt Spice Blend Deep-Fried in Peanut Oil $2

KOSHER DILL PICKLE $1

BAKERY

CLASSIC BLACK & WHITE COOKIE $2

BRAIDED SHABBAT CHALLAH $5

DRINKS

DR. BROWN’S BLACK CHERRY, CEL-RAY,

CREAM SODA $2

BOTTLED WATER $2

FRESH-SQUEEZED SELTZER LEMONADE $3

Want to know where to find them? Follow them on Twitter:@SIXTHANDRYE

Chocolate-Covered Caramelized Matzah Crunch
Makes approximately 30 pieces of candy

This recipe is adapted from Marcy Goldman of Betterbaking.com. It’s super-simple and requires no fancy thermometer, equipment, or ingredients.

For Passover or vegans, Marcy advises that it works well with margarine. And for our gluten-free friends, this would be superb made with any gluten-free cracker. I’d love to hear about any variations you might try with it.

Ingredients
4 to 6 sheets unsalted matzahs
1 cup (230g) unsalted butter, cut into chunks
1 cup (215g) firmly-packed light brown sugar
big pinch of sea salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup (160g) semisweet chocolate chips (or chopped bittersweet or semisweet chocolate)
1 cup (80g) toasted sliced almonds (optional)

Directions
1. Line a rimmed baking sheet (approximately 11 x 17″, 28 x 42cm) completely with foil, making sure the foil goes up and over the edges. Cover the foil with a sheet of parchment paper.

Preheat the oven to 375F (190C).

2. Line the bottom of the sheet with matzah, breaking extra pieces as necessary to fill in any spaces.

3. In a 3-4 quart (3-4l) heavy duty saucepan, melt the butter and brown sugar together, and cook over medium heat, stirring, until the butter is melted and the mixture is beginning to boil. Boil for 3 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat, add the salt and vanilla, and pour over matzah, spreading with a heatproof spatula.

4. Put the pan in the oven and reduce the heat to 350F (175C) degrees. Bake for 15 minutes. As it bakes, it will bubble up but make sure it’s not burning every once in a while. If it is in spots, remove from oven and reduce the heat to 325F (160C), then replace the pan.

5. Remove from oven and immediately cover with chocolate chips. Let stand 5 minutes, then spread with an offset spatula.

6. If you wish, sprinkle with toasted almonds (or another favorite nut, toasted and coarsely-chopped), a sprinkle of flaky sea salt, or roasted cocoa nibs.

Let cool completely, the break into pieces and store in an airtight container until ready to serve. It should keep well for about one week.

Note: If making for Passover, omit the vanilla extract or find a kosher brand.

Dana Moos, born and bred in Potomac, Maryland was involved in real estate and commercial property management before her and her husband decided to move to Maine to run a Bed and Breakfast.

 Dana always loved cooking and had dreams of owning her own restaurant but didn’t want to keep up with the frenetic pace of one. Her guests began asking her when she was going to write a cookbook. She never thought of writing one until Down East Magazine approached her to write one in May 2010. By November 7, 2010 she submitted her recipes and photos.

She currently runs a cooking blog on her website Art of Breakfast and sells Inns, B&B’s, and recreational facilities in Bar Harbor, Maine. You can purchase her book through Amazon. 

Now if you’ll excuse me I am going to go master the art of the perfect hollandaise. Until next week….

 Peace, Love and Breakfast
- The Chosen