At 201 Bar, Union Pub, You Can Drink to Support Frager’s Hardware

Drink for a cause!

Our good friends over at Cloture Club point out that 201 Bar and Union Pub are donating 15 percent of their sales Thursday night toward the Frager’s Fire Fund.

Get to work, Capitol Hill!

The Interns Are Coming! The Interns Are Coming!

It’s that time of year again. The start of those long, swampy months when true Washingtonians trudge into offices, swipe at mosquitoes and rely on interns to pick up their slack. That’s right, everyone. The interns are coming.

Don’t worry: We’re definitely not rewarding them for a few months of tedium with a livable wage, but they do get InternsRock and a whole week of appreciation through citywide discounts.

June 7-16, newly arrived interns can make their way to events across D.C. that will celebrate their arrival with several “meet and greets” and contests around the city. Interns should also register for a free key-tag, which will get them discounted Nationals baseball tickets, lower rate Vida Fitness gym memberships and discounts at more than 60 bars, shops and restaurants around D.C. for the entire summer.

Intern Appreciation Week will kick off with a June 7 “meet and greet” at BlackFinn DC and Town’s Tavern and a “Welcome to the Jungle” party at the Sign of the Whale. On June 10 there will be another gathering at McFadden’s Restaurant and Saloon. These drinking holes boast specials such as $3 brews and all-you-can-drink times. There will also be special intern nights in bars across the city.

Lord, help us: The interns may be arriving as a fresh-faced swarm, but they’ll be a drunken mob pretty dang quickly.

Toasting the U.N. Risk Takers

If you are planning to tie one one for Hump Day anyway, at least stumble over to the Thank a Peacekeeper reception happening in the Rayburn House Office Building and bend the elbow with a purpose Wednesday night.

“Please join us in raising a glass in honor of United Nations peacekeepers and leading troop contributing countries with drinks and special foods from around the world,” reads the invite to the third-annual reception, scheduled to take place 5:30-7 p.m. in Rayburn B-369.

An event organizer assured HOH that all are welcome, but requested that interested parties RSVP to unfevents@unfoundation.org all the same.

Democratic Reps. Karen Bass of California and Jim McDermott of Washington will join Edmond Mulet, U.N. assistant secretary general for peacekeeping operations, and Kathy Calvin, president and CEO of the United Nations Foundation, in saying a few words about ongoing humanitarian efforts. Full story

An Insourcing Sauce-Fest at Sonoma

Sonoma Restaurant and Wine Bar made for a fine setting for the Organization for International Investment’s annual Capitol Hill Insourcing Reception.

The staffers and business representatives who attended the Thursday night affair had the second floor lounge Sonoma Restaurant and Wine Bar largely to themselves.

The RSVP list broke down heavily on the side of congressional staffers, followed closely by dues-paying OFII members. Of the eight lawmakers on the list, only Reps. Charlie Dent, R-Pa., and Bill Foster, D-Ill., made it to the event — a bipartisan, if modest, showing.

Foster, center, chats with business advocates on Thursday evening. (Julie Ershadi/CQ Roll Call)

Reception attendee Carol Danko, press secretary for New York Republican Rep. Michael G. Grimm, told HOH that between votes and allergies, her boss was tied up. Meanwhile, a staffer for the absent Sen. Mark S. Kirk, R-Ill., topped off a fresh glass of white wine with the dregs of an old one between quips with her colleagues.

The OFII is a nonprofit business association that lobbies lawmakers on behalf of the U.S. operations of foreign companies that join its ranks. The organization provided every attendee at Thursday night’s gathering with a beer glass and mini bottle of spirits procured by Diageo, the social lubricants giant.

(Julie Ershadi/CQ Roll Call)

In addition to the party favor, an open bar kept the spirits flowing and a flotilla of heavy hors d’oeuvres, including grilled shrimp and mini crab cakes, filled bellies.

The star of the evening was Jonathan R. Otto, public affairs specialist for automotive giant Honda’s government relations office. Otto won the raffle prize, a weekend stay with deluxe accommodations at the Foggy Bottom Ritz-Carlton.

(Julie Ershadi/CQ Roll Call)

Craft Brewers Bring Beer Week to Congress

American Craft Beer Week is once again upon us.

(Chris Maddaloni/CQ Roll Call)

And a slew of artisan suds slingers will be pouring out their hearts and souls — and signature product lines (‘natch) — to lawmakers Wednesday night at a special Brewers Association-led reception on Capitol Hill.

The invitation-only happy hour is scheduled for 5:30-7:30 p.m. in the Rayburn House Office Building cafeteria (B-357).

According to an event promoter, members from both the House and Senate Small Brewers caucuses are expected to attend, although the invites appear to have been distributed to a much wider audience. (“Show 113^th Congress staff ID and proof of age at the door,” the email reads.)

Full story

Hipsters to Celebrate Derby Day on Capitol Hill

Derby days are upon us, and all of you Capitol Hill denizens won’t have to look far to take part in a derby-themed festivity.

In honor of Saturday’s Kentucky Derby, Brightest Young Things, our favorite hipster party planner, is hosting “Prancin’ – A Derby Day Party” at the Hill Center near the Eastern Market Metro. Full story

Artichoke Week Proceeds Apace

Count HOH among the skeptical about how delicious an artichoke-based or artichoke-inspired cocktail could be.

But we have to hand it to the folks at Boundary Road (414 H St. NE). They can mix it with the best of them.

The Cynar Spritzer is a cocktail of Cynar, maraschino and grapefruit. (Jason Dick/CQ Roll Call)

Full story

Mini-Golf Returning to National Building Museum, With Barbecue

The National Building Museum is bringing back one of its most popular exhibits, air-conditioned mini-golf courses, from Memorial Day, May 27, to Labor Day, Sept. 2. And it’s bringing along some smoked meat and beer.

This year, the exhibit has been expanded to two nine-hole courses and will again be designed by leading architects. This year’s theme will be “Building the Future” and draws inspiration from things such as green urban planning, the reality of our office space, pinball and others. Full story

Church & State Wants to Help You Sin

Our friends over at H Street cocktail hub Church & State are releasing their new Seven Deadly Sin Menu.

We are happy to see not just the seven deadly sins — greed, envy, wrath, lust, gluttony, sloth and pride — represented, but also the basic spirit food groups: gin, vodka, bourbon and rye.

And we heartily applaud the names that go along with these sins/boozies. Under Greed, you’ll drink the Boss Tweed, a concoction of Earl Grey-infused Bulleit Rye with Michigan tart cherry liqueur and lemon. Feeling lazy? Go with Sloth’s Bessie Smith, which consists of lavender-infused George Dickel Bourbon with maple, mint and lemon. Want some clear liquor to go with your shenanigans? How about Gluttony’s Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, which provides you with sparkling wine, blueberry vodka, cardamom bitters and more blueberry.

Not listed? What they have in store for Pride. For that, perhaps we’ll investigate. Church & State, 1236 H St. NE, above Atlas Arcade.

We couldn’t help but wonder whether there’ll be some kind of David Fincher tie-in.

The Cold War Gets a Warm-Up

(Jeff Watts/American University)

Ahead of negotiations between their countries’ heads of state, former Rep. James W. Symington, D-Mo., and Sergei N. Khrushchev, son of the late Soviet leader, provided some context on the Cold War and the relationship between the United States and Russia.

President Barack Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier this week scheduled two rounds of talks for September, hoping to thaw relations between the two increasingly distant nations.

Those discussions are likely to center on the range of issues separating U.S. and Russian policy, including human rights concerns, missile defense systems and the crises in Syria and North Korea.

The April 13 conversation between the former congressman and the son of the man who succeeded Joseph Stalin as the Soviet premier was as much a walk down memory lane as a detailed policy discussion.

“There are many anecdotes about Soviet life and it shows the difference between the democracy, where you have the rule of law, and the authoritarian state where you have the rule of personality,” the younger Khrushchev said in an interview at the symposium.

“My father — Nikita Khrushchev, the leader of the Soviet Union at the time, he wanted to be recognized as equal, and you know that the United States doesn’t want to recognize anyone as equal,” he said during his remarks. “And if you are not recognized as equal, you are challenged at opposite sides.”

“We have to understand that the Cold War is a natural transition in the global history from the period where we resolve our problem between superpowers,” he said.

Symington, an old foreign policy hand, presented a slide show of photographs from time he spent as a youth traveling in Soviet Russia. “There I am, standing around, looking important,” he said to laughter from the audience.

“The youngsters I met at Moscow University and others, they were ready to go. And they were curious about America,” he told HOH. “They were a downtrodden bunch of folks, but full of spirit.”

American University’s Initiative for Russian Culture hosted the symposium in honor of John F. Kennedy’s 1963 commencement address in which he called for peace between the superpowers.

An ice sculpture and Russian and American music from the 1960s welcomed attendees as they entered the Katzen Art Center, where the university hosted a reception after the panel. Caterers served hors d’oeuvres inspired by Russian cuisine, such as non-alcoholic Moscow mules, pickled vegetables two different types of pirozhki.

Take Me Out to Truckeroo

(Courtesy Two DC)

It’s been an unbelievably taxing week.

If you, like us, could use some serious decompressing, the first Truckeroo of 2013 may be just the respite we’ve all been waiting for.

The monthly food truck jamboree kicks off today opposite Nationals Park. (The team is up in New York tonight to challenge the Mets.)

No charge to hang (cornhole, live music), but pay-as-you-go in terms of the various vendors  (you-name-it cuisines, cold beers).

The festivities kick off at 11 a.m. and, weather permitting, will keep rolling until just before midnight.

Get your weekend on, y’all!

Booze and a Boat Breed Bipartisanship

Nothing brings Democratic and Republican senators together like some time alone on a yacht, says Sen. Mark S. Kirk.

Speaking to reporters about his work on firearm background checks and other gun-related legislation, the Illinois Republican told a gaggle of reporters that credit for bipartisan efforts in the Senate are in part thanks to visits to the Black Tie, a vessel that is partially owned by Sen. Joe Manchin III, D-W.Va.

“You guys really ought to go out to National Harbor and see the Black Tie, which has been much of the reason for much of the bipartisan cooperation around here,” Kirk said.

Kirk said Sens. Kay Hagan, a North Carolina Democrat and Lisa Murkowski, an Alaska Republican, are frequent visitors. Asked about the menu at the gatherings, Kirk didn’t say much, though he indicated some booze might be consumed.

“Sometimes alcoholic beverages might be served and ties might … get loosened,” Kirk said.

Manchin and Kirk are best of friends in the Senate, in both their work and personal lives. Manchin flew to Chicago to visit Kirk in January 2012, not long after the junior Illinois senator suffered a stroke that kept him away from the chamber for a year.

As HOH has previously reported, Kirk has called the West Virginian “My Main Man Manch;” while Manchin’s called his pal an “Energizer Bunny.”

D.C. Budget Pint Fight!

Local activists trying to win budget autonomy for the District plan to raise funds — along with plenty of pints of DC Brau — Tuesday night during their inaugural DC Budget Freedom Happy Hour at Meridian Pint (3400 11th St. NW).

Bartenders at the Columbia Heights craft-beer mecca will pour $4 DC Brau Public Ale drafts from 5 to 8 p.m., with 100 percent of proceeds from the first three kegs going directly to the campaign for a referendum to untangle the city’s budget from the congressional appropriations process.

With seven weeks remaining before the April 23 special election, DC Vote is working to spread support for Home Rule Charter Amendment Referendum 8. If passed, it would allow the city to spend its approximately $6 billion a year in locally raised tax dollars and avoid the anxiety that shrouds city government officials each time Capitol Hill nears a spending standoff.

Full story

Lanny Davis’ Reading Is Scandalous

Professional scandal mopper-upper Lanny J. Davis is throwing a big party at The Hamilton on Tuesday night in anticipation of his new book, “Crisis Tales: Five Rules for Coping With Crises in Business, Politics, and Life.”

We were told to get there early because it is going to be packed with Davis’ friends, associates and former clients. Expected guests include the crème de la crème of political Washington, including former Clinton White House Communications Director Mike McCurry, Americans for Tax Reform President Grover Norquist, former Pennsylvania Govs. Edward G. Rendell and Tom Ridge, former head of the Republican National Committee Michael Steele, Supreme Court litigator Ted Olson and ABC “This Week” host George Stephanopoulos and many others, including a powerful woman or two. Full story

Boundary Road Celebrates One Year on H Street

The folks over at Boundary Road are whooping it up Wednesday night to celebrate the restaurant’s one-year anniversary, complete with a cocktail version of the Wayback Machine, wherein the quaff-and-nosh establishment will bring back favorite recipes from their opening days along with many, many other bar specials.

Jason Dick/CQ Roll Call

Among those deals are the $5 “late night special” — a can of Natty Boh and a shot of Old Overholt Rye — as well as $5 shots of Becherovka, a Czech herbal liqueur.

“We tried to basically make it our house liquor when we opened,” said one Boundary Road staffer. “But we ended up drinking too much of it.”

Becherovka is back on the menu for Wednesday’s soiree, so get it while it’s still available.

The old-school cocktails the Boundary Road gang will mix include the Praha City Represent (they seem to love all things Czech — Praha is how the natives spell Prague) and the Five & Dime.

The staff also promises giveaways for regulars and neighbors, although they’re keeping it quiet what those giveaways are. Perhaps the recipe for Becherovka?