U Street Martini Bar Faces $1,000 Fine After ABRA Inspector Nitpicks Cookie Menu

The Dirty Goose, the U Street NW gay bar that pours a variety of martinis, faces a $1,000 fine after an Alcoholic Beverage Regulation Administration inspector made the controversial decision that the business’s five flavors of freshly baked cookies did not meet the city’s reopening requirement for bars and restaurants to offer at least three prepared food items in order to serve hard drinks. Washington City Paper reports that attorney Richard Bianco has taken the case pro bono and submitted a request for an ABRA hearing. Bianco tells WCP that ABRA “turned on a dime” after visiting the Dirty Goose multiple times without taking issue with the menu. According to co-owner Justin Parker, the inspector suggested the bar should add popcorn and brownies. Since the beginning of the policy, bars have offered bare-minimum prepared foot items including mayonnaise sandwiches and snack cakes. On Twitter, the owner of taqueria El Rey nearby offered to provide tacos and nachos “at cost” for Dirty Goose to sell to its customers. [WCP]

In other news...

• Thamee, the acclaimed Burmese restaurant on H Street NE that has experimented with a variety of takeout pop-ups throughout the pandemic, is running a special menu this week as part of a Resy at Home Specials program. Chef Jocelyn Law-Yone is filling each night’s menu with dishes influenced by China’s Yunnan province, a southwestern region on he Burma border where her grandfather lived. Examples of the specials include wok fried duck with ginger, Thai chiles, and garlic broth, or twice-cooked tofu in chili paste stuffed with ham and cheese. Each menu comes with a playlist from Shmoody (Marcus Moody), the restaurant’s music director and founder of the DMV Hip-Hop Orchestra. Tickets are $75 for two ($125 with drinks) before tax and tip. Tickets for Monday are already sold out.
• Mélange, the Mt. Vernon Triangle burger shop where Elias Taddesse weaves in Ethiopian flavors and French technique, has started offering pints of ultra-premium ice cream that calls back to the desserts the chef served at Michelin-starred Caviar Russe in New York. Based on an Eater taste test, the highlights are a toast flavor that deeply caramelized flavor that comes from soaking actual toast and a milk flavor with reduced, concentrated dairy. There’s also coffee ice cream with cardamom swirls and a Shahi flavor that shows off spice-infused black tea. Preorder here for pickups starting December 10.
• Call Your Mother investor and former Obama economic advisor Jeff Zients has been appointed COVID “czar” for the Biden administration. [W]
• In a grim op-ed for Bon Appétit, Succotash chef Edward Lee writes, “This is the end of the independent restaurant era.” [BA]
• Don’t be this Yelper complaining about outdoor dining at restaurants who are struggling to get by.