Cosmos on Erickson

The fair Heather, from Two Timing the Cosmos, has a really eloquent review of the current Bruce Erickson exhibition at our Fraser Gallery Georgetown farewell show.

Read it here.

By the way, Heather is a pretty good photographer on her own right. See her work here.

Yuan Fu and the Katzen opening

So last night I went to the multi-opening reception at the Katzen Arts Center (I love that building by the way! And about time that we have a place in the DC area where one can actually park for an opening - for free - in less than a minute). And it was packed to the rafters with everyone and anyone in the DC area remotely interested in DC visual arts.

I saw and talked to most DC gallery owners, collectors, bloggers and artists (I skipped the grubs), and while talking to the talented Mary Coble (represented locally by Conner Contemporary and who is soon heading to Costa Rica on vacation and has learned that if you spell S-O-C-K-S, it literally means (in Spanish) "That's what it is."), I discovered that she's a vegetarian and thus I told her about the recent epiphany that I had while visiting Yuan Fu Restaurant in Rockville.

I will have to return to the Katzen and spend more time looking at the great exhibitions currently on display there. More on that later.

But, as promised to Mary, more on Yuan Fu Restaurant now.

I am not, have never been, and will never be a vegetarian. I respect people who are, but I am not one of them/you.

So it was with somewhat of a slight trepidation that I allowed myself to be invited into Yuan Fu a few days ago.

It was amazing Chinese food!

I had a culinary epiphany!

Let me tell you about it: To start, there's a little explanation about the food on the cover of their menus. It almost apologizes because all the dishes are labeled as if they were actually chicken, pork, seafood, beef, etc. and it reassures the public that it is all 100% vegetarian (they use gluten, tofu, vegetables and tofu skin for their dishes) and no MSG is used. They also discuss that they use less oil that the average Chinese restaurant, and there is even a special Non-Fat section of the menu.

And then you open the menu, and see the photos of the dishes; and they all look like the "real thing."

In other words, the kitchen artists at Yuan Fu actually take the vegetarian ingridents and shape and mold and color them to look (and taste) just like the real thing; it's an amazing feat of culinary trompe l'oeil and trompe la bouche at the same time!

I first ordered an assorted plate of appetizers, and my eyes couldn't believe that I was not eating duck, sausages, spring rolls, etc. I also ordered the roasted duck and cilantro rolls (which came with plum sauce... yummy) and they were delicious as well!

Then for my main course, we ordered Moshu Pork and Mahi. The pork dish looked and tasted like pork, and that nicely crisped skin on the Mahi was actually seaweed!

And the staff was great! When I actually ordered in Chinese, I thought the entire kitchen staff was going to come out and chat. The Chinese lady who owns the place came out, and then started talking to me in Spanish, and we began to discuss the significant number of Cuban people of Chinese ancestry, and how Chinese Cuban food has evolved into an interesting branch of culinary rarity.

Anyway: I loved this place and will return many times. Go visit them often.

Yuan Fu is located at 798 Rockville Pike, in Rockville and it is open Sunday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. and Friday and Saturday from 11 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. A lunch special is available from opening to 1:30 p.m. Telephone: (301) 762-5937 or (301) 762-5938.

Congratulations

To Roanoke, Virginia- based artist Susan Jamison, who has has joined Irvine Contemporary.

Jamison's work came to the attention of Martin Irvine through the Seven exhibition last year. Her striking and provocative egg tempera portraits of women and large panel paintings have received extraordinary acclaim. The selection of her works that Irvine featured at Scope/Miami sold out in a few hours.

Susan's new body of work, including her egg tempera panel paintings and new drawings, will be on view in a solo show at Irvine in May.

Dawson on Interface

The WaPo's Jessica Dawson reviews Interface, currenty on exhibition at our Bethesda gallery.

Typical...

One of the things that I could always count after nine years in Georgetown is the fact that I would get 2-3 parking tickets a year.

And tonight I got the farewell parking ticket from the highly efficient Ubermetermaid Storm Troopers crack squad of Georgetown parking enforcers. It brought back memories of the day that parking meters went from expiring at 6:30PM to expiring at 10PM (no notice given) and the orgy of tickets that followed; or the two or three times that a massive truck would take a spot and a half of the space on 31st Street, just before the Canal, but I would get the ticket because my van's rear end would then stick out a foot past the "no parking" sign.

But tonight, when I arrived at the gallery, I found the primo Doris Day parking spot (so named because I always noticed how in the old Doris Day movies everyone always seems to find a parking spot in New York City or wherever the movie takes place, right in front of where they are going). And so I park, and feed the meter six quarters before I notice that it is blinking "fail."

So I tape a piece of paper over the meter, explaining what the issue is, and then proceed to unload the van. In between the time that it takes to carry a few bottles of wine from 31st Street to the Canal Square, on a return trip I find a shiny new ticket from Officer Johnson, and the note gone.

A ticket for $25 samolians as a farewell gift from Georgetown to me.

Metcalfe on Hopscotch

The City Paper's John Metcalfe was present at the Interface opening last Friday and he observed the Hopscotch performance by David Page and has written an excellent report here.

Opportunity for Artists

Deadline: February 24, 2006

Wilson Building Public Art Program Call for Artists: The DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities is currently accepting applications for the John A. Wilson Building Public Art Program. The works purchased through this call for artists are specifically designated for permanent installation in the Wilson Building.

For more information and an application, please visit the Commission's website to download the Call for Artists and application, or call 202-724-5613.