Derek Brown of the Columbia Room for the Wall Street Journal
Just wanted to let you DMVers and visitors to our nation’s capital aware that if you are in need of more than the middle-of-the-road libation you must thither yourself to the Columbia Room, it only seats 17, and is a secret garden of delights! Brothers Brown opened the Columbia Room inside the Passenger which is right across from the Convention Center and it is based a bit on the speak-easy model. You don’t need a password, but you do need a reservation before 10 pm. It’s only open Thurs-Saturday. Having had the chance to watch the master mixologist Derek Brown himself prepare drinks for the shoot, I was reminded of a quote from the Robert Olen Butler story, “A Good Scent from a Strange Mountain.” I paraphrase and mangle here:
His kitchen was full of such smells that he knew he had to understand them all or be incomplete forever.
I sampled a bit of a Manhattanesque beverage and gin gimlet, and both were club top-drawer. As Doogie MacArthur would say: “I shall return!” Here are a few others from the shoot that I liked, and will give you a feel for the Columbia Room.
Always Start with a Handsome Subject © Susana Raab 2010
Clean Implements are Also Helpful © Susana Raab 2010
Crazy Aromatic Ingredients © Susana Raab 2010
A Classy Joint © Susana Raab 2010
