Ingredient of the Week: Beef This week on Todd Kliman's Washingtonian chat, a reader asked about the difference between Kobe and Wagyu beef, and if they were the same thing. Kliman's response was: [T]hey are NOT the same. The restaurant industry would like you to think they are the same. A lot of menus are constantly referring to something called "American Kobe." There's a reason it's in quotation marks: There's no such thing. In most......

The recent Kobe for Gilbert trade rumors (shot down yesterday by Ernie Grunfeld — not that that means anything) should give you an indication that the Washington Wizards are at a crossroads season in regards to the franchise's future. Gilbert Arenas has gone on record saying he will opt out of his contract at the end of the season and Antawn Jamison is in the final year of his deal. Something's got to give......

Happy Father's Day! For those of you who have dads, are dads, or know dads, this one's for you, from all of us at the Gothamist network. It was a week of bizarre, embarassing headlines at DCist. The trial of the local administrative law judge who sued his cleaners for $54 million over a pair of missing pants left everyone shaking their heads. Then the capital city was nearly brought to its knees, twice, by......

Gilbert Arenas pulled a trick out of Kobe Bryant's PR playbook over the weekend, trying to worm his way back into the NBA spotlight (during the Finals no less) by informing everyone that he intends to exercise his player option after next season and look to sign a new, more lucrative contract extension. But don't worry folks, it's just business. "To me, it's just a smarter business decision to play next season, opt out......

Seattlest has a talk with the photographer from last week's "Segway Mom" and then experiences some dissension in the ranks over the question of wine vs. beer. It's not West Side Story, but about as close as they'll get. They're also still waiting on some inbox relief after a spammer is arrested. As Chicagoist counts down the days to its third anniversary party, they found all-organic pizza to be underwhelming amidst the hoopla, tried......

In honor of National Burger Heritage Awareness Month, our favorite Internet travel buddy Gridskipper opted to run a post lauding the awesomeness of Washington's hamburgers. We have no quarrel there; they are awesome, and we feel it completely appropriate to exalt their bovinity. Hmm. Bovinity. Where have we heard that word before? Bovinity, bovinity, bovinity, bovinity... But Gridskipper's list is certainly respectable — incorporating true burger all-stars like Colorado Kitchen and Tallula — even if......

We try to keep the Weekly Feed focused pretty intensely at food happenings here in Washington, but there is one item that is too good to pass up. We wanted to make sure we touched on the knockdown-dragout between New York Times critic Frank Bruni and restaurateur Jeffery Chodorow (who you might remember from NBC's The Restaurant with Rocco Dispirito). Here's the short version of the story: Bruni reviews Chodorow's Kobe Club, pans it with......

In retrospect, it was inevitable that Saturday's Wizards / Lakers matchup would be a bit of a letdown when it was all said and done. The game had a media build up more reminiscent of the weekend's other big game with the Post going as far to call it "Star Wars II" and the most "highly anticipated regular season game since Michael Jordan made his home debut for the Wizards in November 2001." Chuck......

By Amanda and Ben Page We were on a budget last time, but that got tiresome quickly. Besides, how could we resist the allure of Restaurant Week? So, we gathered up some friends and checked out crowd-favorite Mie N Yu in Georgetown. Of course, the great thing about dining out with multiple people is that we're able to try a number of items off the menu. Hands down, our favorite protein item was the Miso......

The Wizards absolutely crushed the Memphis Grizzlies last night at the Verizon Center in the most one-sided NBA game we've witnessed in a while. D.C. exploded to a 45-18 lead in the first quarter, and set a new Verizon Center record by scoring 77 in the first half. Gilbert Arenas took his new Kobe-inspired mantra of "quality shots" seriously, scoring his 31 points on just 13 field goal attempts in 33 minutes. Thanks to injuries......

Of all the rivalries in recent sports history, few have been as one-sided as the Wizards' struggles against their Southeast Division antagonists, the Miami Heat. Indeed, it's not clear you can even call it a rivalry, since in actual rivalries both sides sometimes win. D.C.'s hoopsters, by contrast, have been losing for a long time now. Sixteen straight games, including a four-game sweep in the 2006 Eastern Conference Semifinals, and sweeps of the regular season......

Last Call. . . Take advantage of the final days of summer by treating yourself to a pork sandwich and side of broccoli rabe at the Galileo Grill this Tuesday and Wednesday between 11:45 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. Chef Roberto Donna will also feature pork sausage or chicken sandwiches, cold carrot and tomato soup, and an onion, pancetta, and cheese quiche. As fall nears and the restaurant prepares to close for renovations, this may be......

Food incites emotion. Ask a guy to recall his mother’s most delicious dessert or his favorite meal on his last trip to Italy, and he’ll likely have plenty to say. Perhaps because they're food-related, shows on the Food Network conjure similar passions—just read any blog comment on perky Rachael Ray, sultry Giada DeLaurentiis or exuberant Emeril Lagasse. It seems that even when we’re not eating their meals, we often respond to the processes and presentations......

The Washington Wizards went out on a limb and selected two Eastern Europeans in last night's draft. As basketball continues to become a more international sport, teams have been more willing to use draft picks on relatively unproven talents overseas. With the 18th pick overall, the Wizards selected forward Oleksiy Pecherov, a 7-foot Ukranian. It was the first time that they had used a first round pick on an international player. With their second pick,......

When we last checked in on them, the Washington Wizards were 8-11 and facing a tough five game road trip that would go a long way in deciding the outcome of their season. After losing their first three in L.A. (to the Lakers), Portland and Seattle, the team pulled out the last two games in Denver and Phoenix, giving them some much needed momentum when they returned home to face the Lakers last night.......

The Wizards and Nationals made a pair of deals last night, attempting to plug big holes in their respective rosters. That Nats picked up center fielder Preston Wilson in exchange for right hander Zach Day, outfielder J.J. Davis and future considerations. Wilson led the majors in RBI's in 2003 and should supply some power to the lowest scoring team in the league. Hopefully this will bring an end to the experiment that was Carlos......

Need some counter-programming to the barrage of election coverage sure to inundate the airwaves tonight? How about the opening of the 2004/2005 NBA season? TNT will broadcast a doubleheader tonight showcasing Houston traveling to Detroit to take on the reigning NBA champs followed by Team Kobe taking on the Denver Nuggets in La La land. Coverage begins at 8 p.m. And what of the Washington Wizards you ask? Well, count on them getting off to......