Five Things I Liked This Week: March 29
"It plays on my mind, how the time passing"
I can’t believe we’re already (basically) in April. March felt like it lasted forever, though.
I took on a little too much this month — especially for a month where I was looking forward to, well, not doing too much. I think (keyword: think) I’ve scaled back for April, so we’ll see how it all shakes out.
This week’s picks, below!
Wythe Spring/Summer ‘24
I was otherwise unaware of Wythe dropping a new collection when I wrote about their flannels last week. But when a brand is on fire like Wythe is, well, it’s hard to pass up the chance. Released today, the first few items from Spring/Summer ‘24 continue the upward trend Wythe’s found itself on over the last few years. Sure, staple pieces like the half-zip sweatshirt are back (also, half-zips are cool if you don’t make them look like dadcore) alongside new executions of their beloved pearl snaps (like this indigo stunner). But the standout is the insane chain-stitched Baseball jersey (happy opening day!) that plays homage to the Barnstorming plane shows from the 1920s. Crafted from the same cozy fleece I’ve come to love in my half-zip, this is a show-stopper that I had to stop myself from pulling the trigger on.
I don’t think westernwear will go anywhere anytime soon — especially if Beyonce is about to tour a whole country album. Wythe is poised to make a lot of people looking to lasso up some yee-haw very happy with their purchases.
Cooking
When I first moved to DC, I would typically come home after commuting back and forth from Virginia and actually do some legit cooking (i.e., not throwing stuff in the oven). Nowadays (even jobless!) I don’t know how I found the time and effort to do it all those years ago. The shift comes from increased priorities — I’m much more focused on eating clean and exercising — than I was back then.
Throwing stuff on the grill or smoker feels a little easier, even though it’s fundamentally the same process, whereas cutting veggies or searing pancetta for shrimp & grits takes a bit more time. I’d forgotten how nice it is to fire up a beloved recipe and walk away with something tangible you’ve made more or less from scratch. Might need to break out my old cookbooks and give something new a go here soon. Probably on a weekend, though.
Athletic Beer
Doing a dry-ish January is something I’ve participated in the last couple of years but outside of going out for dinners (more on that shortly), I’m making more of an intentional effort to curb my weekday drinking. This means reaching for something like Athletic Beer is a better all-around choice.
Kudos to Benti here, who, a few months ago, knew I was opting out and brought over some of the brewery’s IPAs — which taste pretty much exactly like an IPA? It’s refreshing to be a point — and you see this a little bit with stuff like Impossible burgers, too — where the alcohol-free stuff does a pretty good job mimicking the real thing. It’s nice to have the sensation of drinking a beer — the can, the taste — without any downsides.
The Paper Plane at Dear Sushi
I’m going to start promoting it a bit more in the newsletters, but I also do a fair amount of (SEO-friendly) food writing for the DC area, which means that I sometimes get to go and check places out to consider for coverage. I do want to start spotlighting these spots a bit more where it makes sense. Throat clearing aside, the Paper Plane I had at Dear Sushi this week really stood out amongst an extremely tasty omakase experience. The component that makes the cocktail soar is the passion fruit and the Kabosu in place of lemon; the effect is a natural brightening of the citrus notes without being too overwhelming and pairs nicely with the various handrolls.
Bandit Running Footie Kit
I’m unsure where we are in the larger lifecycle of the Blokecore movement. The fact that Rowing Blazers just dropped a Princess Diana Sheep Kit for AFC Wimbledon leads me to believe that it’s still got some good staying power. Bandit Running certainly thinks so, too, having dropped a whole soccer-inspired running collection this week. It’s Bandit at its finest; maybe a little too serious despite being very cheeky in its inherent ideation, yet an excellently executed idea all the same. Drawing elements from traditional football kits — the collar and cuffs in particular — it’s still inherently made for running. The thing that sends it over the top is the white/ivory/black colorway that’ll pop so well during a run.
Odds & Ends
On the subject of local food coverage, here’s some recent work, including the best burgers in town, best Georgetown brunches, best date night restaurants, best hotel bars, and the best Italian restaurants.
Tag-teamed a Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire review with Julian. Yes the story is clunky and takes a while to setup, but I enjoyed myself in spite of all of those issues. Sometimes, all you want to see is Godzilla suplex King Kong, you know?
Finally, did a deep dive into how X-Men ‘97 has rehabilitated Cyclops after the original animated series and Bryan Singer’s X-Men movies made him second fiddle. Had a lot of fun with this one. (Fun fact: the URL for this one is x-men-97-badass-cyclops. Lol)
I do just want to give a gentle nudge towards the buttons below, especially the share and subscribe buttons. If you think someone you know would appreciate this, well, send it along. Maybe I’ll do a mailbag here soon, as I always enjoy a little Q&A.
Otherwise, have a relaxing weekend and see you next time.
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Always enjoy these!