On the Town

Taste and See at Tallula

By Fritz Hahn
Special to The Washington Post
Friday, January 7, 2005; Page WE05
 
IF YOU LIKE WINE -- savoring a bottle with friends or exploring a long list of varieties and vintages -- then you need to make time to visit Tallula (2761 Washington Blvd., Arlington; 703-778-5051), the six-week-old restaurant, lounge and wine shop that has taken the place of the divey, 50-year-old Whitey's.
 
At Tallula's airy, zinc-topped bar and in the cozy, candlelit backroom, bartenders pour 70 wines by the glass or offer a textbook-size menu of 350 different bottles. The selection is, in a word, daunting. With so many choices, it would be nice to have more information than the producer and vintage -- maybe a country of origin, for starters.
 
That's where the staff comes in.  Over multiple visits, Tallula's bartenders have proved uniformly excellent, dispensing advice about wines (even steering me away from expensive selections they deemed "mediocre"), offering small tastes and providing speedy service.
 
Co-owner Michael Babin, who also owns Alexandria's Evening Star Cafe and Vermilion, says the staff began taking wine classes months before the grand opening. "If you're going to have the product, you have to have the knowledge," he says.
 
Tallula's employees seem glad -- almost proud -- to be able to show off their familiarity of the wine list. You may want to skip Tallula at peak weekend hours and visit on a Sunday evening or stop by after work on a Wednesday, when you can relax, chat with the bartenders and find a new favorite wine. One tip you won't find on the menu: Every wine by the glass is also available by the half glass for half the price. This is a better option if you don't want to flip a coin over the two pinot noirs or chenin blancs on the list, or are just curious about what a $27 glass of Stags' Leap Cabernet tastes like.
 
Of course, not everything is so expensive. While there are some pricey options for connoisseurs, most wines -- served in trendy stemless Riedel O tumblers -- cost about $7, and fully half of the 350 bottles cost $30 or less. "You hope people appreciate [the selection]," Babin says. "The casual wine drinker sees that $20 glass and wonders, 'What's so great about that?' That [$22 a glass] Chateauneuf du Pape is not something people are going to do every night. But we can put a really solid $5 glass of cabernet next to it."
 
That's why many customers seem to be having their own private cocktail parties, sampling a couple of different wines while snacking from the bite-size "Amuse Yourself" menu, which features delicious mini-burgers, taco-like duck mezzaluna and corn dogs made with spicy chorizo sausage.
 
Once opened, keeping bottles of wine fresh is a challenge, so Tallula employs four state-of-the-art Winekeeper units to slow the aging process. "The idea's simple: to avoid oxidating the wine," Babin says. In this system, oxygen is sucked out of the bottles and replaced with nitrogen, an inert gas that doesn't damage the structure of the wine.
 
"They say you can get about three weeks out of [a bottle, instead of a few days], but I don't think we've had anything [open] beyond a week anyway."
 
As with the Evening Star Cafe and its neighboring Planet Wine store, everything you sample at Tallula can be purchased at the adjoining shop. As I lingered at the bar one night last week, a bartender sent me a small glass of Malbec. "It's my favorite," he explained, "and I saw you trying a bunch of wines." It was good -- not mind-blowing, but pleasant enough. If I liked the Malbec, he pointed out, I could take a bottle home for under $20. Ah, synergy.
 
But Tallula is about more than wine, judging by the crowds. Stop by at happy hour and there are groups of women hanging out on low-slung couches, separated by gauzy scrims. Fanciful cocktails made with green tea or garnished with frozen grapes are popular on Saturday nights, as couples perch in intimate booths or relax on chaise longues that arch like Craftmatic adjustable beds. And on an otherwise leisurely Sunday night, guys with beers watch football on large flat-screen televisions mounted above the bar. "A number of Whitey's regulars from the neighborhood come in for brunch," says communications manager Melissa Gold. "Old habits die hard, I guess. They need a place to stop by on Sunday morning and read the paper."

Each of the three rooms has a different feel, and it sometimes seems like the restaurant is trying to be as unlike Whitey's as possible -- you can't get much further from broasted chicken and Pabst Blue Ribbon than mini steak tartare sandwiches and the pink Wimbledon cocktail, made with champagne, fresh strawberry puree, a dollop of honey and dusted with pink Pop Rocks, or having a burbling fountain in the middle of the dining room. "We didn't want people to be able to categorize us," says co-owner Peter Pflug, who also owns the neighborhood's Clarendon Grill and Clarendon Ballroom. "We didn't want to be just a wine bar, because we want to be a fine dining establishment . . . and we want to be a neighborhood place."

THE KING AND I

When it comes to Elvis-themed parties, there are really only two options: an homage to the King in all his youthful, brooding, snake-hipped glory, or the more predictable (and camp) gathering that remembers the Vegas-era Elvis of white satin jumpsuits and fried peanut-butter-and-banana sandwiches.

Saturday would have been Elvis Presley's 70th birthday, and four Virginia venues are covering the entire spectrum of his life, from rave-ups to "Rock-A-Hula."

J.P. McDermott and Western Bop play traditional rockabilly, roots rock and classic country as well as any band in town, if not better. On the menu at the out-of-the-way Neighbors Restaurant (262-D Cedar Lane SE, Vienna; 703-698-8010) are early Elvis songs played with plenty of moxie and slapped acoustic bass. There's no cover, and the music begins at 9.

The Elvettes, if you can't tell by the name, are an all-female group dedicated to the King. But don't let the novelty fool you -- among the Elvettes are musicians from better-known bands like Honky Tonk Confidential, the Fabulettes and the Outskirts of Town. The Elvettes open for Wicked Jezebel at JV's (6666 Arlington Blvd., Falls Church; 703-241-9504), a wonderful honky-tonk bar that opened its doors before Elvis ever ventured into a recording studio. Music begins at 9:30, and admission is free.

At Dr. Dremo's Taphouse (2001 Clarendon Blvd., Arlington; 703-528-4660), meanwhile, "It's going to be a huge extravaganza," says general manager Brandt Fletcher. "Seven to 10 professional Elvis impersonators" take the stage beginning at 8, representing a mix of young, leather-clad Elvises and older, scarf-throwing Vegas performers. Between sets, audience members can participate in an Elvis karaoke contest or partake of a special Elvis menu that includes peanut-butter-and-banana sandwiches and burnt-bacon-and-mustard sandwiches -- "all those crazy things the King ate," Fletcher laughs.

Older bargoers may remember that Dr. Dremo's was once a popular brewpub called Bardo Rodeo. In honor of Elvis's birthday, Dr. Dremo's is bringing back Bardo's popular, award-winning Graceland Imperial Stout -- a strong, dark, hoppy beer now crafted by Alexandria's Shenandoah Brewing Company. Again, there's no cover charge to join in the fun.

The final Elvis tribute comes from the Del Ray Artisans (2704 Mount Vernon Ave., Alexandria; 703-838-4827), an Alexandria-based community arts group. Through Jan. 30, the exhibit "Aloha Elvis" features works inspired by the King and his music -- portraits, landscapes of "Blue Hawaii" and mixed-media installations. On Saturday night, though, the Del Ray Artisans Gallery is the site of a special birthday party with swinging surf music by the Hula Monsters, dancing, food and tropical cocktails. It's the last that has me most excited.

Of all the nightspots that disappeared in 2003, the one I'll miss the most is (or was) Honolulu, an Alexandria tiki bar that offered pupu platters, Don Ho music and the area's best mai tais for more than 25 years. The restaurant was displaced when the Wilson Bridge project necessitated enlarging an interchange, and owners David and Anna Chan decided to retire. Saturday night, though, former Trader Vic bartender David and Anna will be back behind a bar, mixing exotic cocktails and donating some of the proceeds to the Del Ray Artisans.

The $15 admission includes food, but drinks are extra. Hawaiian and Elvis attire is requested. Doors open at 8.