Going Out Gurus

Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings perform for two nights at the 9:30 club, Wisconsin's favorite foods (and beer) come to U Street, local hip-hop artists and West African MCs make up a triple threat at Asylum, Japanese psych-rock heroes Ghost visit D.C. for the first time in seven years and the Finnish embassy takes a page from the House of Sweden's book with a late-night exhibition and DJ party.

Reality TV's "Hell's Kitchen" season three winner Rahman "Rock" Harper, has been hired away from Next Door on U Street to be the new executive chef at the Carlyle Club, the art deco-style restaurant that serves live music with its dinner menu.

Our local "cheftestants" will be showing off their skills at Marie Reed Elementary School this Saturday as Top Chef: The Tour comes to town. Spike Mendelsohn and Carla Hall will be the star attractions at the event, which includes chef demonstrations, tips and tastings. Sixty chairs are available under the tent for each of the four seatings: 10:30 a.m., noon, 1:30 p.m. and 3 p.m.

So, how do you snag one of the seats? Not easily. Bravo's free tickets have already been given away on through their Web site. Adams Morgan Main Street will be auctioning a handful of front row seats to raise money for the neighborhood group's programs. The auctions will be held at 7 p.m. tonight at Duplex Diner and 7 p.m. on Thursday at the Grill from Ipanema.

You don't necessarily need a ticket to see the event. There will be plasma screens set up outside the tent and, if seats inside aren't taken at showtime, Adams Morgan Main Street's Lisa Duperier tells me the Bravo folks will give them away to those standing outside. According to Duperier, only the seated folks get to taste the chef's creations, though.

-- Julia

Politico is reporting that Obama and Biden are grabbing an off-campus lunch at Ray's Hell-Burger today. Not that the commander in chief asked my advice, but I wholeheartedly recommend the Let's Get it On sandwich. So good.

It's been a busy dining week for Obama. He and Michelle visited Citronelle on Saturday night. My colleague Tom Sietsema has posed this question before, but what other restaurants do you think Obama should put on his to-try list?

-- Julia

Update: Our 44 blog has a report from what happened at Hell-Burger from Associated Press' Ben Feller.

Bars are popping up like flowers in D.C. this spring, with two opening their doors in the last week alone. If you're looking for a new happy hour spot or want to go out with your crew somewhere different this week, here's a brief rundown of the newcomers.

Public Bar
1814 18th St. NW
The Story: The former Five has gone from being the city's best mid-sized dance club (with a capacity of about 500 people) to a very cool loft-style sports bar. It opened early last week, and when I was in, former customers were marveling at what had been done with the space.

What You'll Like: What's remarkable about Public Bar is how spacious it is -- it feels like there's plenty of room to stand and watch the sport of your choice. The large U-shaped main bar is in the airy two-story room where Five's dance floor used to be. Video games and barstools are arranged in front of the extra-tall windows that overlook Connecticut Avenue, and several wide booths near the main entrance are outfitted with their own TVs so you can pick your own game to follow.

If you're not in one of those booths, you can watch on the numerous flatscreen TVs that climb the exposed brick walls. They're always tuned to different channels, so you can watch multiple games without having to turn your head.

The mezzanine level upstairs is more lounge-like, with leather couches and blocky tables. My bartender suggested that this might become a bottle service area on weekends. (Not surprising: The $6 glasses of Peroni indicate that this isn't a cheap-beer-and-wings sports bar.)

The kitchen isn't open yet -- and won't be ready for about two months -- so you can ask at the bar for delivery menus from nearby restaurants, or stop off to pick up burgers or pizza from somewhere else and bring them into the bar.

What You Won't: It's not Five, so the city has one fewer dance club. Also, the rooftop deck won't be open for at least another month.

(Brief reviews of three more after the jump.)