My lease ends next month, and I have to move. Sigh. Hopefully it will be for the best.
But my bar is, well, rather large:
So anyways, while there’s no way I can drink it ALL before I move, I’m going to work on drinking some of it. Last night I got a bottle of wine out of it. Yay.
In the DC area? Want to help? Let me know!
And I’ll keep y’all up to date about cool stuff I might actually find in it.
To hazard a guess, Last Exit, is an unknown outpost for libations to the DC cocktail cognoscenti. However, if given proper room to grow and a steady clientele, I think Last Exit will be a sure-fire stop on the cocktail tour.
Last Exit is a speakeasy-esque cocktail bar located next to Tonic in the Mount Pleasant neighborhood of DC. The entrance is an unmarked door to the left of the entrance to Tonic, though you can enter through Tonic as well.
The bar is fairly short, only accommodating about six guests. But there are plenty of other seats in the form of couches and lounge chairs. The eclectic furniture, exposed brick walls and concrete floor underscore the ambiance that you are in a clandestine speakeasy hidden from the patrons of Tonic.
Of course you really want to know how the drinks are right? Before answering that question, I need to give a little caveat. Tonic itself is not a cocktail bar. The cocktails at Last Exit are not the prime focus of the establishment. With that said, Matt the bar manager is very enthusiastic about the cocktails at Last Exit and from my observation is working hard for Last Exit to succeed.
So about those drinks . . . delicious! Our tour guide for the evening was Anthony Rivera and the lovely Ashley. Both bartenders were beyond friendly and hospitable and more so they enjoyed talking and debating the finer points of mixellany.
Their winter menu contains several hot drinks such as a gl?gg and a Root Toddy. Both were delicious and perfect to warm the cockles. Anthony made me a Martinez which was just about perfect. My final drink was my standard La Louisiane and I’m happy to report it was made just the way I like them.
I’m looking forward to more trips to Last Exit. The staff are making a big push to become another cocktail destination in DC and I see good things in their future. I don’t believe they will be an unknown outpost for very long.
Last Exit
3155 Mount Pleasant Street, NW
Washington, DC. 20010
(202) 986-7661
Cheers!
Hey folks! Happy holidays from the Den! I wanted to give all y’all out there some updates on things happening here – both upcoming and stuff you might have missed.
First off: congrats to my co-blogger, Marshall! He got engaged to his lovely and fun girlfriend, Sylvie, earlier this week. I couldn’t be happier for them!
Second: We’ll be updating our DNS records soon. Thanks to GoDaddy’s support for SOPA, and general embarrassment I’ve had with them as a hosting company in general (especially every time one of their ads come on) we’ll be moving registrars. If you have any problems reaching the site, try using an alternate name – put a dash between “scofflaws” and “den” (i.e. scofflaws-den.com) or use .org as well. I’ll be moving the domains over in batches.
Third: If you missed Drink.Write 2011, you really missed out. We had a fantastic meal at PS7 on Thursday night, a fun tasting group at Jack Rose on Friday, multiple trips to The Passenger, a heck of a great time at the Repeal Day Ball, and then ended it hanging out at the Speed Rack competition at Jack Rose on Sunday after brunch at Bourbon. It was FANTASTIC.
Fourth: Some events coming up. PS7 is doing a Feast of the Seven Fishes tomorrow (Christmas Eve) if you’re into that kind of thing, and a “Gangster to Gangsta” event (check LivingSocial) for New Year’s Eve. And on January 17th, the Museum of the American Cocktail is doing a seminar about George Washington’s whiskey. You can register here.
That’s it for now – after the new year we’ll have more stuff for you! HAVE A GREAT HOLIDAY SEASON!
So now that I’m certain I survived New Orleans during Tales, I figured I’d share where I drank and ate over the week.
Ya know, so you can criticize me for what I missed or maybe check out some place you haven’t been to before. Whatevah!
(In chronological order!)
Marigny Brassiere: Went here to watch the World Cup and had a very fine po’ boy. Also some good beer on tap.
d.b.a. New Orleans: No food – just good beers and a large whiskey selection. Also, great music. Also, don’t order Campari and Red Bull or you will get hit by your companions.
CURE: Fantastic cocktail bar. Great bartenders. Good food. A must-visit.
12 Mile Limit: I want a bar like this near my house. An amazingly fantastic dive bar with a very interesting (and cheap) menu, including pulled beef brisket from a Weber out back and $6 cocktails. And a pool table. Yay.
Bar Tonique: Finally made it there, and one of my drinks was made by a bartender from CURE. Que sera sera. Had tons of fun, though I never did get my copy of the book I saw there…
Antoine’s: A classic New Orleans joint. $.25 martinis at lunch are worth every penny (take that as you will). Fantastic food.
Napoleon House: Look, I went here a lot. Muffalata is fine – not the best in New Orleans, but not bad by any means. Solid Pimm’s Cups.
Sylvain: Amazing food, great cocktail program, friendly staff.
Adolfo’s: Order the local fish, from what I understand.
Cochon Butcher: HOLY CRAP that was good. Boudin, head cheese, pork belly sandwiches, mac & cheese, hot dogs…not to mention the cocktails.
The Carousel Bar: It is what it is. For Tales, it’s a must visit almost every day. If not Tales – you should go once, at least.
The Rib Room: Overpriced. Not bad, not good.
Coop’s Place: FANTASTIC. Smoked duck quesadillas, fried chicken, jambalaya, crabmeat stuffed jalapenos, just … damn good eatin’.
Cafe Beignet: Not as good as Cafe Du Monde and nowhere near as crowded. Worth it, IMHO, to fix that beignet craving without fighting the hordes.
Felix’s: I like this place. Not hard to get into most of the time, blackened alligator, oysters…
Original Pierre Maspero’s: Tourist trap, but wasn’t awful.
NOLA: An Emeril restaurant. Wasn’t bad, but – eh.
Curious for more details? Let me know.