Anthony Bourdain and José Andrés after a visit to the Penn Quarter farmers market OK, he may not be Brad Pitt or George Clooney, but I'd bet $5 on Anthony Bourdain in a bare-knuckle boxing match. So, if you see him around town this weekend, filming segments for his Travel Channel show, No Reservations, best not tick him off. We spotted Bourdain yesterday afternoon at the weekly Penn Quarter FRESHFARM market, accompanied by new......

It was just a couple weeks ago that we told you about Olsson's plans to shutter its Penn Quarter location -- which it finally did, on Friday. In an email to customers, owner John Olsson had said that "The landlord has other plans for the space," and we confirmed that those plans were to bring in UK noodle shop Wagamama. But the Post reported on Saturday that it looks like there's a lot more to......

With the official news that the Olsson's in Penn Quarter is closing, there's some speculation in our comments as to what will be in the new space. According to a few sources, Wagamama, the http://dcist.com/2008/03/14/the_weekly_feed_36.php">British-owned ramen bar will be taking the space. Though it's a bit further south on 7th St., the spot is bound to butt heads with other casual high-end fast food joints like Chop't and the soon-to-be-opening Vapiano, as well as another......

Sad news for lovers of locally-owned bookstores: the Olsson's location in the Lansburgh building in Penn Quarter is shutting down. We had heard rumors this was in the works for a couple of weeks, especially after so many author events appeared to be moving to the Dupont Circle location. The email below was sent out to the Olsson's list on Monday. Dear Friends, After 15 years in The Lansburgh building on 7th Street NW, the......

Written by DCist contributor Whitney Satin The recent opening of Co Co. Sala in Penn Quarter marks another foray into D.C.’s emerging chocolate lounge scene. The new hangout spot provides dessert enthusiasts with a sleek and comfy atmosphere where pastry chefs reign supreme as they infuse chocolate into every element of the dining experience. Beginning with the drink order – stick to the basics with one of three hot chocolates ($8, flight of white, milk,......

>> One of two correctional officers assigned to guard the prison inmate who escaped from a Laurel hospital yesterday morning had taken a break and left his partner alone with the inmate. [WaPo] >> Del. Brian Moran (D-Alexandria) has announced he will run for governor of Virginia in 2009. [AP] >> Pest control downtown, revealed (and we'd have to agree about the band Ratt). [Penn Quarter Living] >> The N Street sidewalk by The......

THURSDAY: Happy New Year! Jerrold M. Post will be at Politics and Prose to read from his latest book, The Mind of the Terrorist. Is there a more depressing way to start the new year than discussing the psychology of terrorism? Only in Washington. 7 p.m. Cultural historian Jane Rhodes will be at the Olsson's in Penn Quarter to read from Framing the Black Panthers: The Spectacular Rise of a Black Power Icon. 7 p.m.......

>> Clinton Portis' performance in last week's game against the Vikings got him the NFC Offensive Player of the Week award. [Washington Redskins Official Site] >> Pepto Bismal threw up inside the Carville-Matalin home. [DC Metrocentric] >> Hosiery Warehouse finally gets the Cease and Desist order handed down as developers prepare to make way for condos. [City Paper] >> The Hirshhorn Museum's Chief Curator Kerry Brougher has been appointed acting Director until a permanent......

>> Jenna Bush has been named 'Person of the Year' by Reliable Source. [WaPo] >> The owner of Tunnel Fine Wines & Spirits, which recently opened at 3rd and H Streets NW, was robbed at gunpoint in the store and shot in the leg late last week. [Penn Quarter Living] >> An elderly couple died in a house fire on the 3100 block of Oliver Street NW this morning. [WTOP] >> Area charities are......

>> The Muppet Christmas Carol isn't nearly as awesome as A Muppet Family Christmas, but for those of you looking for a little fluffy holiday cheer this evening, the AFI Silver Theater is offering a screening of the musical adaptation of the Dickens classic at 5:10 p.m. >> Hop in the way back machine and set the dial to 1992: The Lemonheads are at the Black Cat tonight. With Racoon and The New Rivals.......

Though perhaps the inclination when it starts to dip past the point of freezing is to stay inside with a blanket and a cup of something steaming, there are so many things to do and see outside -- whether it's the White House or Capitol Christmas trees or one of the many holiday fairs -- that it's almost a shame to spend all of December on your couch. Flickr user sintixerr caught this scene......

Is everyone already leaving town for the holidays? Our calendar here at Reader, Meet Author is looking a little lonely right now. If you have any tips or complaints that we're not posting all the awesome poetry readings, feel free to email us. MONDAY: Caroline Kennedy will be at Politics and Prose to share the Christmas prose most dear to her. It's all in her latest book, A Family Christmas, which includes tributes to Irving......

Last year we were blown away by how many folks participated in our very first DCist Exposed Photography Show. What we hoped would be a fun event for our faithful photography contributors turned into a full-blown gallery event packed to the gills with supporters. Many of the selected 2007 photographers -- most of whom had never even framed their work prior to the show -- have continued to sell their prints and some even......

>> It's the first night of Hanukkah, so if you're not celebrating with family and friends at home, consider catching the Sinai Mountain Boys, a Maryland combo that melds the speedy strumming and twanging of bluegrass with Orthodox Jewish melodies. They'll be offering an hour of unique sounds for free beginning at 6 p.m. at the Kennedy Center Millennium Stage. >> The Washington Jewish Film Festival presents Diane Crespo and Stefan Schaefer's Arranged, the......

MONDAY: Cass R. Sunstein will be at Politics and Prose to discuss the book Worst-Case Scenarios. No, it's not one of those books that gives you tips on how to survive if you wake up next to someone whose name you don’t remember or how to retrieve a candy bar stuck in the lunchroom vending machine. It's actually about scary stuff, like nuclear bombs in suitcases or avian flu. We prefer learning how to jump......

>> Starting in January, the so-called Humpback Bridge on the George Washington Parkway will be revamped to be hump free and more pedestrian friendly. [WTOP] >> Mayor Fenty's administration tripled the number of employees making $175,000 or more from this time last year. Five of those employees, including the mayor himself, make over $200,000. [Examiner] >> Last night's fatal shooting of a man in the Barnaby Terrace neighborhood brings D.C.'s 2007 homicide total for......

MONDAY: Peter J. Gomes, pastor of Harvard’s Memorial Church, will be at Politics and Prose to read from his book The Scandalous Gospel of Jesus. Gomes believes Christians should be heeding the messages of Jesus, not objectifying the man. 7 p.m. TUESDAY: Washington Post literary critic Michael Dirda wants you to know it's OK to love Fowler's Modern English Usage. How else would you learn that the "n" in damning, when it means "fatally conclusive,"......

Salad days are usually something we look back on with a mix of nostalgia and embarrassment, but the folks at Chop't Salad are embracing them from the get go and celebrating them as soon as they kick off. How? Free salad. Penn QuarterChinatown's newest resident is throwing the doors of their first Washington location wide open today with free salad for all who stop by. The idea behind Chop't is customization. With a bevy of......

MONDAY: Makes Me Wanna Holler and What's Going On author Nathan McCall will be at the Olsson's in Penn Quarter to read from his new novel, Them. It might sound more like science-fiction than a Marvin Gaye song, but it's about the complex relationship that develops between two neighbors in downtown Atlanta. 7 p.m. Robert Kuttner, founder and editor of the American Prospect, will be at Politics and Prose to discuss his new book, The......

Pour Out a Forty for the Childe Harold The pilgrimage is at its end. After 40 years nestled on 20th street NW in Dupont Circle, the Childe Harold has closed its doors for good. A victim of increasing rents and lessors unwilling to negotiate, the Harold is one more example of how the face of Dupont Circle is ever-changing. The venerable institution held a lot of history, partly because of its ties to the music......

MONDAY: Jerome Groopman — a New Yorker staff writer, best-selling author and professor at Harvard Medical School — will be at the Historic Sixth & I Synagogue to discuss his latest collection of essays, How Doctors Think. If they're like our favorite television doctor, it's probably "What's the best way to humiliate my employees today?" 7 p.m. $6 TUESDAY: Min Jin Lee will be at the Johns Hopkins University-SAIS Bernstein-Offit Building to read from her......

MONDAY: Peter Behrens will be at Politics and Prose to discuss his latest book, The Law of Dreams. Maybe Behrens can analyze our reoccurring dream where we keep getting lost while driving down some featureless freeway. Wait ... His book is about a young man roaming the Irish countryside in 1847? Good thing we read that before we asked about the part where we're naked. 7:30 p.m. TUESDAY: The one and only Dave Eggers will......

MONDAY: We apparently didn't pay enough attention in history class, because we never knew Alice Roosevelt Longworth was such a bad girl. The daughter of President Theodore Roosevelt, Alice married then Speaker of the House Nicholas Longworth and had a child by Sen. William Borah of Idaho. Stacy A. Cordery will be at Politics and Prose with all the juicy details found in her latest book Alice . 7 p.m. TUESDAY: New York Times columnist......

>> The 1900s are playing the Rock and Roll Hotel, not to be confused with the 1990s. Three Stars alum Shortstack will join them on the bill, along with The Dead Trees and Kitty Hawk. $10, 8:30 p.m. >> Tonight at Blues Alley one of the area's finest jazz drummers, Nasar Abadey, takes the stage with SuperNova, featuring Allyn Johnson on piano, Gary Thomas, Jazz Studies Chair at Peabody, altoist Joe Ford, and bassist......

>> A police officer from the Seventh District is claiming his commander ordered him to give special treatment to a member of Mayor Fenty's staff who was caught talking on her cell phone while driving. [Examiner] >> "District Fire and Emergency Medical Services officials are investigating the death this morning of a recruit who became ill during training exercises yesterday." [WaPo] >> AOL plans to cut 2,000 more jobs, including 750 from their Dulles offices.......

MONDAY: We will never understand why some people dislike Garrison Keillor. Personally we enjoy his folksy manner and dry sense of humor, even if A Prairie Home Companion is at times a bit hokey. Keillor will be at GW's Lisner Auditorium to read from and discuss his latest book Pontoon: A Novel of Lake Wobegon. Books will be sold by Olsson's. 7 p.m. Psychotherapist and author Amy Bloom will be at Politics and Prose to......

Once again Penn Quarter Living is on the ball with a newsworthy neighborhood post. They link to a Downtown Neighborhood Association announcement that Douglas Development has been negotiating with Whole Foods Market to lease them store space on 7th Street between E and D Streets NW. This is the same space that Balducci's was briefly considering before deciding against the move last year. Balducci's retreat from the location was met with a lot of desperate......

>> Looking to practice your Spanish comprehension? The Permanent Mission of Guatemala to the OAS is hosting an interesting free movie screening tonight at the Art Museum of the Americas -- but be warned, the film does not have English subtitles. Donde Acaban Los Caminos is based on the autobiographical novel by Mario Monteforte Toledo, about a young man who arrives in San Pedro La Laguna during the military dictatorship in the first decades of......

TUESDAY: Tomorrow is a treasure trove for science and sci-fi junkies. Our reviewer raved about The Dead Travel Fast: Stalking Vampires from Nosferatu to Count Chocula. Hear author Eric Nuzum muse on the undead at Wonderland Ballroom, 1101 Kenyon St. NW, which will offer drink specials, while Olsson's will have books for sale at the bar. Fangs and capes encouraged. 7 p.m. Over at Politics and Prose, author Ira Flatow will discuss his lengthily titled......

We noted awhile ago that the owners of the Birchmere had been in talks to open another venue in Silver Spring — while that has fallen by the wayside, it looks like Live Nation will be moving in instead. The Clear Channel spinoff, which produces concerts and owns music venues around the country, including Nissan Pavilion, various Fillmores, and the House of Blues chain, signed a letter of intent to build in an old J.C.......