The chalkboard at Mockingbird Hill details the schedule for their one year anniversary.

Mockingbird Hill celebrated its one year anniversary last Thursday night with a DJ performance by Brendan Canty of Fugazi and a night filled with sherry. Chantal Tseng and Derek Brown opened the evening up just like any other. Yet unlike others, an assortment of characters and leaders in the industry came there specifically to wish the 2014 Tales of the Cocktail Best New American Bar nominee a happy anniversary.

My companion and I ordered a flight of sherry and witnessed a strong depth of knowledge by the staff. Our barman, Galen Odell-Smedley, broke down the characteristics of each glass with ease as we listened intently. The flavor profiles he pointed out were dead-on — from the honeysuckle in the Gutierrez Colosia ?Amerigo? to the brininess of the Barbadillo ?Solear.?

A bartender at Mockingbird Hill in the Shaw neighborhood of Washington, D.C. explains a sherry flight.

We didn?t stay long enough to witness the main event but we got our drinks in early. The choice of musical entertainment seemed unsurprising knowing Brown?s punk-rock roots. Fugazi is, of course, a band native to the District. From the beginning, Mockingbird Hill set out to carve its own path in the city?s food and drink scene. After a year, that path has proven to be one worth pursuing.

? DLDGLG (@DLDGLG) June 6, 2014