The Week in Real Estate is a column from Mark Wellborn of UrbanTurf, a local blog and newsletter that covers the residential real estate scene in D.C., MD, and VA. Auctions usually bring to mind a motor-mouthed auctioneer, a frenetic bidding process, and such tight competition between bidders that the actual prize up for grabs can take a back seat to winning. Condo auctions, like the one held this past weekend in Rockville, veer slightly......

The closing of Colorado Kitchen is one of the more notable in local restaurant news. Chef Gillian Clark is well known in D.C. for her strong personality and her ability to persevere as one of the few female head chefs. Clark told Washingtonian's Todd Kliman that the closing was due to a space issue. Maybe it's all semantics, but that sounds like slightly different language on Rasmus, the auction site where the kitchen's equipment is......

By now you've all heard that Murky Coffee's Capitol Hill location has been shuttered after the city seized the coffee shop thanks to owner Nick Cho failing to pay more than $425,000 in sales tax to the city. The building's landlord has since evicted the coffee shop, so it won't be reopening. Today the Post's D.C. Wire blog brings word that the entire contents of the shop are being auctioned off by the D.C. government.......

In what was probably the last time Dr. Dremo’s Taphouse in Arlington would be open to the public, close to 100 spectators, friends and former patrons of Dr. Dremo’s Taphouse gathered around the indoor bar last night to give their last tributes to the staff and possibly take home a memento by which to remember the D.C.-area fixture. While a few came in search of a deal on a pool table, kitchen appliance, or set......

As of yet, we haven’t heard of any last minute reprieves for Dr. Dremo’s, which plans to close its doors in the early hours Sunday morning. So come 2 a.m, you’re done downing your last ale in your favorite chair or stool next to that weird kitschy decoration you’ve always liked. But you can come back one last time, on Monday night at 7 p.m., for a chance to take your own piece of Dr.......

Written by Buy Indie's Vince Wadhwani It's easy to justify going to an independent clothing boutique to find a unique outfit. After all, who wants to walk into a bar wearing the same thing as everyone else? But when it comes to our housewares and hardware, the equation often becomes a lot less complicated. Though you may not find a pink toolbelt over at the Home Depot, you also won't find too many people fretting......

Candidates in next Tuesday's special election to fill two open D.C. Council seats have collectively raised over $1 million in the course of the campaign. Voters will chose council members for Wards 4 and 7, after those positions were left empty by Mayor Adrian Fenty and at-large Council Chairman Vincent Gray. Voters in D.C. Public Schools' Second District will also elect a school board representative. In Ward 4, ANC Commissioner Muriel Bowser leads the pack......

> > Deadline worth noting! Anyone interested in participating in this year's DC Idiotarod has until tomorrow, Thursday March 1, at 11:59 p.m. to register your team for the big race on March 3. Don't miss out on this opportunity to bring wanton chaos to the streets of D.C. [DC Idiotarod] > > Fans of soccer, wine, photography, and philanthropy will descend upon the JW Marriott tonight for the Goals for Girls Auction & Wine......

Now's the time to get your ticket to the Third Annual Transformer Silent Auction and Benefit Party. Held on Saturday, November 4, at the Edison Place Gallery, the night promises to be an evening of creative company, great food, and a celebration of local talent. The five-year-old Transformer Gallery is hosting the event, which will start with a silent auction between 7 and 9:30 p.m. for original works from over eighty artists. Step up and......

Anthony Bourdain defines "food porn" as "the glorification of food as a substitute for sex." As with food porn, wine porn -- to paraphrase Bourdain -- describes certain mind-blowingly hedonistic and expensive wines for an audience that has little intention of actually drinking them. If Wine Spectator and Robert Parker's Wine Advocate are the respective Penthouse and Hustler of wine publications, then the 7th Annual Heart's Delight Wine Tasting and Auction -- running from Thursday,......

The District will have one fewer place for middle-aged letches to hit on dancing college girls drinking watered-down hurricanes, when Friday night fades into Saturday morning and Lulu's Club Mardi Gras packs up its multicolored awnings for good. Lulu's has long been a fixture at the changing corner of 22nd and M Streets NW. Longtime owner Ulysses "Blackie" Auger sold Lulu's years ago, and when he passed away in November 2004, his family opted to......

I recently received a bottle of wine that would normally be way, way out of my range as a gift. Are there are any recommended restaurants that will do a tasting menu based on the wine? The Caucus Room's Executive Chef Lisa Graves will create a menu to compliment your wine(s). Simply call Isabella at the resturant and she will talk you through the details, including food preferences and the number of courses you envision.......

Need some wheels? The District Department of Public Works has resumed the auctioning of cars after such municipal auctions were put on hold since last year. From dc.gov: The city has made one change to its auction parameters. Only vehicles 10 years and under will be auctioned. Those over 10 years old will be sold as scrap. In the past, cars as old as 15 and 20 years were routinely offered for auction, earning only......