Washington D.C. On a Budget or a Bankroll

Andrew Collins
-
0
Washington D.C. On a Budget or a Bankroll

Some of the best places in Washington to eat, sightsee, stay, and socialize

The nation’s capital brims with fancy restaurants and classy cocktail bars – where else would you expect politicos and dignitaries to broker secret alliances and schmooze into the wee hours? But Washington is not solely the domain of high-end hangouts. The city teems with students, interns, and low-level government employees with barely enough cash to buy a Big Mac – you’ll find budget-oriented eateries throughout the District. And Washington’s two most gay-popular neighborhoods, Capitol Hill and Dupont Circle, have inviting hotels occupying both ends of the expense spectrum.

Here are some of the best places in Washington to eat, sightsee, stay, and socialize, whether you’re traveling on a tight budget or you’ve got money to burn.

On a Budget
A surprising number of visitors don’t realize it until they arrive, but the dozen or so first-rate Washington venues that make up the world’s largest museum complex, the Smithsonian, charge no admission. You could spend days exploring every floor of these repositories of art and artifacts and never have to shell out a dime. See the actual kitchen of Julia Child, transported here from her former home in Cambridge, Mass., at the National Museum of American History. Or drop by the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden to view works by Georgia O’Keeffe and Andy Warhol.

When it’s an affordable meal you’re seeking, look no further than Hamburger Mary’s, the queer-as-a-three-dollar-bill West Coast restaurant chain that opened its first East Coast branch in D.C. a couple of years ago. This kicky burger joint a few blocks from Dupont Circle is popular both for cocktails and inexpensive pub grub. Among the many gay eateries along nearby 17th Street, the 24-hour Annie’s Paramount Steak House serves up some of the tastiest American chow in town. Weekend breakfast here is a long-standing post-clubbing tradition. Soho Tea and Coffee is a queer cyber cafe and java house on the ground floor of a bland apartment complex near the P Street bar action; it has art exhibits, live music, and a sexy crowd.

Although it’s not cheap as pizza parlors go, Dupont Circle’s Pizzeria Paradiso still offers an excellent value – and the pies here are simply to die for. It can take forever to get a seat, but for serious pizza lovers, the wait is no big deal. Just north in the funky Adams Morgan neighborhood, you can count on delicious Middle Eastern fare at Mama Ayesha’s and hearty, authentic Ethiopian cooking at the long-running Fasika’s, where meals center around a spicy stew called watt.

Popular for its upstairs piano bar, Banana Cafe and Piano Bar is one of the most festive gay haunts on Capitol Hill. Reasonably priced steaks, lime-garlic chicken, and plantain soup are among the Latin American specialties – save rooms for one of the exotic flans (maybe passion fruit or coconut). Mr. Henry’s, a Capitol Hill pub with one of the best (antique) jukeboxes in town, has long been a friend to Washington’s lesbian and gay community. The place is famous for its hefty burgers. Upstairs is a smoke-free cabaret with a mix of piano, jazz, and folk acts – it’s where Roberta Flack got her start.

One of the best budget lodging options in D.C., the William Lewis House comprises a pair of neighboring Victorian town houses in an up-and-coming historic neighborhood not far from Dupont Circle. There are gracious common rooms, off-street parking, and a pleasant yard with a deck, hot tub, and fruit trees – it’s a wonderful value. Also reasonably priced and even nearer to Dupont Circle, the art deco Kimpton Carlyle Hotel Dupont Circle is one of the District’s long-time gay faves. Rooms have a slightly dated appearance but contain fully equipped kitchens and sitting areas, and there’s a popular lounge and restaurant on the ground floor.

Occupying three adjacent Victorian town houses, the eccentric Tabard Inn, just south of Dupont Circle, has been around since the 1920s. Rooms suggest the setting of a Gothic mystery novel, complete with one-of-a-kind antiques, dark-wood paneling, charming bathroom fixtures, tile fireplaces, and other quirky pieces. The equally old-fashioned and very romantic restaurant serves inventive Continental cuisine.

On Capitol Hill, an 1893 mansion was converted into the European-style Capitol Hill B&B in the late ’80s. The location is charming and convenient, a short walk from Union Station, Capitol Hill’s many attractions, and a handful of gay bars. Rooms are simple but exude character; each contains at least one furnishing from the house’s days as a residence of congressional pages – if only these walls could talk.

On a Bankroll
Of course, you’ll find plenty of deluxe hotels in Washington, where it’s easy to spend a princely sum. Traditionalists often opt for one of the capital’s famous grandes dames, such as the 1925 Mayflower Hotel, which has hosted a steady stream of presidents and foreign dignitaries. Or, just off Dupont Circle, occupying the former apartment building in which Al Gore spent his childhood, the 1927 Fairfax at Embassy Row could not be more inviting, with its lavish guest rooms decked in brocade draperies and French country reproduction antiques.

Just a short walk from the gay-bar action, the gay-friendly, San Francisco-based hotel chain Kimpton owns the super-trendy Topaz Hotel, a sleek boutique property with cushy, whimsically furnished rooms. New Age-y types love the “yoga rooms,” outfitted with meditation mats and yoga-conducive CDs and videotapes. Just try to adopt a Zen attitude when you’re presented with the bill. This is one several Kimpton properties in Washington, including the glam Hotel Rouge, the hipster-infested Hotel Madera, and the surreal Mason & Rook Hotel, all of which are near Dupont Circle.

Of the many high-ticket gay-friendly eateries around Dupont Circle, Obelisk, owned by the same folks who run Pizzeria Paradiso, may just be the best. The setting is sleek and austere, the beautifully prepared northern Italian fare mouthwatering. Also stellar is Vidalia, a contemporary take on down-home Southern cooking, where you might sample such delicacies as shrimp-and-grits with caramelized onions and fresh thyme. Not too far north, Palena is helmed by head chef Frank Ruta and pastry wizard Ann Amernick, two of the most heralded kitchen names in metro Washington. Book well ahead for a chance to sample Atlantic halibut pan-roasted with baby fennel-and-tomato confit, and save room for the chocolate-toffee torte with chocolate ganache.

Bill Clinton and the senior George Bush have one thing in common: they’ve both dined amid the barbed wire and lizards in the extravagantly decorated faux adobe restaurant Red Sage, the Capitol Hill home of Santa Fe chef Mark Miller. Grilled elk loin topped with dried fruit and served over a fricassee of mushrooms, turnips, and zucchini is a favorite dish here. Two Quail, occupying three romantic town houses in Capitol Hill, has long been one of the city’s better-regarded gay-friendly eateries, owing to its eclectic Continental and American cuisine – try the filet mignon stuffed with Maytag blue cheese and applewood-smoked bacon. It’s a wonderfully atmospheric place to celebrate that very special occasion.

Montreal: Canada’s Design City

Andrew Collins
-
0
Montreal: Canada’s Design City

Montreal’s stunning cityscape offers a feast for the senses

Cosmopolitan, French-speaking Montreal has long been admired for its warmth and tolerance, its vibrant Gay Village, and its scenic setting on the St. Lawrence River, nestled beneath 732-foot Mont Royal. But in recent years, this bustling metropolis of about 1.9 million people has become increasingly renowned as one of the world’s great design cities, with a dazzling collection of modish hotels, artful restaurants, eye-catching museums, and countless more examples of visionary architecture, some of it historic, some contemporary. Whether you’re a devout style maven or simply a traveler who appreciates beautifully designed buildings and interiors, Montreal’s stunning cityscape offers a feast for the senses.

Many of the city’s most alluring buildings rise over the distinctive skyline of this ancient neighborhood that’s morphed from quaintly anachronistic to smart and sophisticated in recent years. Start any tour of Vieux-Montreal with a visit to Place d’Armes, the dignified old town square, off of which you’ll find the mammoth, neo-Gothic Notre-Dame Basilica, which opened in 1829 and is notable for its imposing pair of 69-foot towers and its seating capacity of 3,800. Churches have stood on this site since 1642, the first having been little more than a bark-covered shanty. The Montreal Symphony frequently performs here, taking advantage of the cathedral’s 6,800-pipe organ, and Celine Dion was married here in 1994.

A must-see in this section of the city is the Pointe-a-Calliere Museum of Archaeology and History, which has been built around the excavated remains of structures more than 300 years old. The contemporary building pays homage to Montreal’s forward-thinking architectural sensibilities, while the fascinating exhibits inside trace the city’s history to its very earliest beginnings. Next, walk along Rue St-Paul, which is lined with antiques shops, art galleries, and diverting boutiques, and also note Bonsecours Market, one of the city’s most ambitious restoration projects. The 1847 former agricultural market with a striking neoclassical facade and tin-plated dome contains several boutiques and sidewalk restaurants.

Directly north of Vieux-Montreal, the commercial City Center exists on two main levels, literally. There’s the neighborhood at street level, with its skyscraping office towers and busy streets, and there’s Underground Montreal, a subterranean maze of shops, restaurants, and boutiques designed to keep pedestrians from the city’s harsh winter elements. Several City Center museums and cultural institutions celebrate Montreal’s design legacy. There’s the Canadian Centre for Architecture, one of the world’s foremost architectural collections, contained appropriately inside a visually memorable building. The museum here regularly stages provocative and thoughtful exhibits related not just to architecture but also urban planning and interior design.

The nation’s oldest museum (opened in 1860), the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts is another great cultural institution, with its fine collections of everything from Canadian paintings to contemporary works to ancient Egyptian, Chinese, and Persian antiquities. Foodies shouldn’t miss fabulous Faubourg Ste-Catherine, in the western end of the City Center, a stunning market building with dozens of unusual food outlets, trendy clothiers, and crafts boutiques.

Up the hill from the City Center, many student- and hipster-infested restaurants, coffeehouses, and shops line the streets of the Plateau. Do not pass up a chance to dine at L’Express, one of the most hallowed restaurants in the country, with the ambience, design, and cuisine of a classic Parisian brasserie. Rue St-Denis is the heart of the city’s collegiate Latin Quarter, and as you follow it down from the Plateau you’ll reach the city’s spectacular new main library (La Grande Bibliotheque du Quebec), which is sheathed in translucent green glass. With well more than 1,000 armchairs and hundreds more study carrels and computer stations, it’s a great place to read or relax on a cold or rainy day.

Related: Exploring Vancouver

Just a few blocks east, the Gay Village contains one of the world’s larger concentrations of bars, restaurants, and shops frequented primarily by gays and lesbians. The somewhat gentrified main commercial spine, Rue Ste-Catherine, nevertheless wears a slightly gritty veneer that recalls its history as an honest, working-class, francophone neighborhood. It’s truly a something-for-everyone district, with hard-core leather bars, unabashedly steamy strip clubs and bathhouses, see-and-be-seen bistros, romantic cafes, sassy club-wear boutiques, festive video bars, throbbing warehouse discos – you name it.

Among the dozens of inviting dining options in the Village, a few stand out: Kilo is a great bet for decadent pies and pastries, designer coffees, and sandwiches and salads. The long-running Saloon Cafe is a trendy spot for burgers, Tex-Mex fare, salads, and the like – it’s more about people-watching than fine cuisine, but you’re bound to have a good time here. Le Club-Sandwich, attached to the gay Hotel Bourbon complex, is open 24 hours and is always a favorite for a meal before or after clubbing. And Mozza is an affordable, BYOB Italian restaurant that’s perfect for a romantic meal – the tiny candlelit dining room seats perhaps 30 patrons and exudes charm.

For nightlife, options are again many, but there are a few highlights. Fans of leather and Levi’s have been frequenting Aigle Noir (Black Eagle) Bar for years. Cabaret Mado is a raucous and spirited drag and sing-along bar. You could spend the whole day exploring Le Drugstore, a multilevel complex with numerous bars, some guy-oriented and others catering more to women, as well as a restaurant, newsstand, and pool hall. And the handsomely furnished Sky Pub Club is the city’s most popular gay club – there are several spaces here, from a disco to a male strip bar to a cabaret.

The Antonopoulos family operates three of the city’s coolest design hotels, all of them within walking distance of one another in Vieux-Montreal, and all with superb restaurants. The 135-room Place d’Armes Hotel opened in 2000 and received a major restoration in 2005, but it’s fashioned out of three meticulously restored vintage buildings. Many of the spacious, smartly furnished rooms reveal ornate original woodwork and have Jacuzzi tubs or huge walk-in showers with “rain” showerheads. The hotel’s AIX Cuisine du Terrior specializes in Canadian game and produce, such as honey-glazed Quebec duck breast with parsnip puree, lemon confit, and cranberries, and Nunavut caribou tartare with mustard and raisins and a port-wine reduction. In the hotel’s Rainspa, schedule a Dead Sea-salt exfoliation or soak in a traditional hammam (a Middle Eastern bath). And in the swank lounge, Suite 701, you can enjoy cocktails while mingling with the sexy crowd.

The same family runs the highly romantic Auberge du Vieux-Port, set inside a beautiful 1882 warehouse, whose 27 rooms have stone and brick walls, hardwood floors, soaring windows, and brass beds. On warm days, relax on the hotel’s rooftop terrace, with its sweeping views of the St. Lawrence River. Here, you can dine on superb seasonal French fare and sip wines from the impressive wine list at Les Ramparts, a cozy space in the hotel’s basement. The third jewel in the group is the charming Hotel Nelligan, with its warmly decorated accommodations – try to book one of the Loft Suites, which have fireplaces and large living areas. On the ground floor, Verses Restaurant serves similar outstanding contemporary fare.

If an ultra-mod property is more to your liking, book a room at the W Montreal, a high-tech retreat on the edge of Vieux-Montreal with an electric-blue color scheme and rooms with DVD players and flat-screen TVs and beds with 350-count linens and goose-down duvets. The restaurant, Otto, is one of the hottest tables in town, and the four lounges at the W are always packed with intriguing, fashionable sorts.

A wonderful value, the bargain-priced 40-room Hotel de L’Institut occupies the top three floors of a hospitality college, where the staff, which is made up of students and faculty, works hard and does a great job keeping rooms clean and attractive – they have their grades to think about, after all. The formerly hideous building was redesigned with a dashing semi-transparent glass exterior in 2005. It overlooks Carre St-Louis, a leafy square on the Plateau, within walking distance of the Gay Village, and L’Institut also has a fine restaurant. Smack dab in the Gay Village, there’s the regal Alexandre Logan B&B, which occupies a grand redbrick 1870 townhouse whose airy rooms have original crown molding, polished-wood floors, and tasteful yet unfussy furnishings. Some of the five guest rooms have private balconies, and everyone has access to the plant-filled outdoor terrace. It’s the perfect roost if you want to get a sense of the city’s style and elegance while also enjoying easy access to all the excitement of one of North America’s liveliest gay dining and nightlife districts. What better way to appreciate Montreal?

Cambridge

Andrew Collins
-
0
Cambridge

Cambridge cultivates a great sense of diversity and great value to gay visitors

You might think that Cambridge is simply a neighborhood of Boston, but this city of about 100,000 that’s famous for its esteemed schools of higher learning is very much its own entity. And despite the somewhat conservative common perceptions of Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Cambridge cultivates a great sense of diversity and has much to offer lesbian and gay visitors. The Cambridge Office of Tourism puts it wonderfully well with its slogan: “A little funkier. A little spunkier. Definitely spicier.”

Of course, Cambridge lies just across the Charles River from less funky, spunky, and spicy Boston, so it’s easy to get back and forth between the two cities, by car or taxi, bus or metro, or even on foot. Cambridge has no shortage of first-rate, gay-friendly accommodations, so you can always overnight here, but its proximity to Boston makes it great as a day trip from the latter, too.

Puritans settled Cambridge in 1630 and six years later founded America’s first university, Harvard, which remains a top tourist draw – walking tours of campus are given daily. Dozens of shops and eateries line the streets around Harvard Square (where Massachusetts Avenue and John F. Kennedy Street intersect). Within steps of it are such vaunted cultural institutions as the Widener Library, with the country’s second-largest book collection; the Fogg Art Museum, whose 80,000 holdings concentrate mostly on European and American painting; the Arthur M. Sackler Museum, which emphasizes Asiatic, ancient Greek and Roman, and Egyptian, Buddhist, and Islamic art; and the mammoth Harvard University Museums of Cultural and Natural History.

To the southeast, MIT’s campus fringes the Charles River near Kendall Square, a bustling hub of dining and shopping. Although not as exhilarating to tour as Harvard, MIT’s 135-acre campus does have a few museums as well as some noteworthy modern architecture by I. M. Pei, Alvar Aalto, Eero Saarinen, and other design luminaries of the past century.

You’ll find plenty of great bookstores in Cambridge, but the iconic feminist one, New Words, closed in 2002. Fortunately, the same owners have created a space with a similar mission, the Center for New Words. This nonprofit literary and cultural center holds readings, sponsors events and workshops, and offers women an inviting space to meet and network.

Cambridge has some of the best restaurants in New England, from affordable and quirky student-oriented hangouts to high-caliber places with national reputations. One of the most celebrated restaurants in the area, the Blue Room is hip, funky, informal, smart, and international, with creatively prepared foods from Latin America, Europe, and Asia. The Sunday brunch buffet is always a huge hit, doling out buttermilk pancakes, octopus salad, sweet plantains with chipotle ketchup, and about 25 more sweet and savory treats. “Equatorial cuisine” has long drawn crowds to East Coast Grill and Raw Bar, where you might try pinot noir-braised short ribs or spice-crusted mahimahi. It’s a low-key but lively space, great for a date. An artsy neighborhood bistro in nearby Somerville, Gargoyles on the Square is worth the trip for such well-priced, innovative delights as braised lamb shank with broccoli rabe, white yams, dried fruit, sour cream, and pecan relish. Hipsters and funksters jam the snappy dining room.

Just off Harvard Square you’ll find dozens of notable ethnic restaurants, with Penang among the stars. This slick, postmodern space turns out delicious Malaysian food, such as pineapple-fried rice with shrimp and squid, and tasty duck with bean curd, scallion, and ginger. Although some complain the slick local chain Legal Sea Foods lacks the authentically down-home ambience of a true wharf-side seafood shanty, you can’t beat the quality and freshness here. The clam chowder and the smoked bluefish pate make for outstanding starters, and wood-grilled scallops, cioppino, and the traditional New England clambake are tempting main dishes. There are two locations in Cambridge.

Finish up with a scoop of the amazingly thick and delicious ice cream served at Herrell’s, the original of which you’ll find in Northampton. Flavors like malted vanilla, chocolate pudding, cookie-dough peanut-butter swirl, and cinnamon nutmeg will delight sweet-tooths. There’s a reason USA Today named Herrell’s one of the nation’s top 10 ice cream parlors. If you expect more than snacks and light lunches from a coffeehouse, check out Club Passim, a nonprofit folk music and cultural center selling funky cards, gifts, and jewelry; booking terrific folk and acoustic entertainment throughout the week; holding provocative exhibitions in its gallery; and serving wonderful food in its restaurant, Veggie Planet. Nosh on creatively rendered meatless treats, like grilled Vermont cheddar and tomato sandwiches, organic mac-and-cheese, peanut-udon noodle bowls, and leafy salads.

ManRay, Cambridge’s rockin’ pansexual dance club, closed in summer 2005 after a wonderful 20-year run, but its famous retro-glam New Wave-meets-punk bash, held on Saturday nights, lives on at Toast, a swish lounge in Somerville. The party, called “Heroes,” continues to draw a mixed-gender crowd of all leanings. In fact, this handsome space has become quite the toast of the town for Boston’s gay community, holding a well-attended “Dyke Night” on Fridays (it’s preceded by the mellower after-work fete, “Dykotomy”), and the goth-industrial “Crypt” on Wednesdays (that, too, was a favorite event at ManRay).

The one gay bar that still calls Cambridge home is the lovably raffish and unabashedly cruisy Paradise. On the main level you’ll find a dimly lit spare area with porn on video screens over the bar, reflecting what’s on the minds of most of the guys in here. Head downstairs to the basement to find a dance floor that’s dark, grunty, and palpably sexual; go-go boys in G-strings slink around purring at customers every night of the week. It’s loads of fun, and Paradise has something you won’t find in Boston: plenty of free parking.

Cambridge has several major chain hotels, most of them near Harvard and MIT, but you’ll find some considerably more distinctive accommodations as well. The gay-popular Kimpton chain runs the snazzy Hotel Marlowe, whose 268 handsomely furnished rooms have animal-print carpets and opulent velvet fabrics, plus such handy amenities as CD stereos and free WiFi. Guests can check out bikes and kayaks (to use on the Charles River, just outside the door) for free. If you get a chance, grab dinner at the fabulous Bambara restaurant, which serves superb regional American fare to a sexy, see-and-be-seen crowd.

If it’s a good value you’re after, check into the Holiday Inn Express, a perfectly pleasant member of the reliable chain with rates starting at under $100 nightly. For this you get free high-speed Internet, microwaves and mini-refrigerators, and a substantial buffet breakfast. And with the money you save, you can spend a little cash as you saunter around Harvard Square’s oodles of great boutiques and terrific restaurants.

Eat and Play in Nashville

Andrew Collins
-
0
Eat and Play in Nashville

Nashville buzzes with several energetic gay nightspots

The most progressive city in the so-called Bible Belt, Nashville has developed into one of the South’s gay-friendliest destinations. The country music industry, with which the city is famously identified, does have a fairly conservative reputation, but in fact the city’s legendary music business and fast-growing theater and visual-arts scenes have compelled quite a few gays and lesbians to move here. Nashville now buzzes with offbeat retail and entertainment districts, several energetic gay nightspots, and a wealth of attractions related to music and the arts.

Downtown Nashville is set around the courtly Greek Revival-style Capitol, which is perched atop the highest hill in the city. Behind it, the dignified Bicentennial Mall State Park contains elegant fountains and a 200-foot granite map of the state. You can learn a thing or two about the state’s history at the nearby Tennessee State Museum. History buffs should also note the Beaux Arts-style Hermitage Hotel, where, in 1920, suffragists from around the country and their opponents encamped while debating the ratification of the 19th Amendment (which granted women the right to vote).

A block over, 5th Avenue was the site throughout the ’60s of Civil Rights demonstrations, the success of which inspired similar protests throughout the South. These days, 5th Avenue has become rather artsy – it’s the site of several excellent galleries and the nearby Frist Center for the Visual Arts, which occupies a handsomely restored, art deco post office building and hosts world-class art exhibitions and traveling shows.

A few blocks east, toward the Cumberland River, you’ll come to Nashville’s old Market Street, now 2nd Avenue, where a long row of redbrick Victorian warehouses was rescued from neglect in the 1980s and converted into restaurants, music clubs, brew pubs, and specialty shops. First Avenue runs along Riverfront Park, a long brick promenade with views across the river. Here you can tour a reproduction of the settlement’s first outpost, Fort Nashborough.

Downtown’s most impressive attraction is the Country Music Hall of Fame, a handsome and huge modern structure whose exhibits not only honor dozens of legendary musicians (Patsy Cline, Johnny Cash, and Dolly Parton among them) but also give an impressive overview of folk, bluegrass, rockabilly, and many other genres with close ties to Nashville. The nearby Ryman Auditorium is one of the grand music icons of downtown, often hosting Grand Ole Opry shows. Seating is in old wooden pews, and behind-the-scenes tours are given during the day.

It’s a short drive from downtown to reach the hub of the city’s recording industry, Music Row. You can tour Studio B, where everyone from Elvis to Dolly Parton has recorded, as well as a few other music-related museums. Follow Broadway beyond Music Row to reach Midtown and its main drag, West End Avenue – you’ll pass several of the city’s schools and medical facilities, including Vanderbilt University, as well as an art-filled, full-scale replica of the Parthenon.

West End Avenue eventually leads into ritzy Belle Meade, where many music celebrities and politicians reside. There are a couple of notable museums in this area, including the Greek Revival Belle Meade Plantation, once the site of a 5,300-acre Thoroughbred breeding farm, and Cheekwood, a 1925 Georgian-style house on whose grounds you’ll find the Tennessee Botanical Gardens & Museum.

Dining in Nashville has become increasingly sophisticated of late. In a railway and warehouse neighborhood on the edge of downtown, you can dine at one of the city’s current stars, Radius10, a snazzy, white-on-white restaurant with exposed air vents and an unfinished cement floor. Top dishes here include Kobe beef short ribs with black-truffle grits, and halibut with andouille sausage, dirty rice, and crawfish. A more traditional option is long-running Merchants, which is set inside a masterfully restored 1892 brick building downtown and serves tasty American fare.

Two neighborhoods that have developed increasingly gay followings in Nashville in recent years are East Nashville and 12th Avenue South, and both have a slew of great restaurants, too. Along 12th Avenue South, sexy and sophisticated Mirror restaurant serves Mediterranean-inspired tapas, such as smoked-lamb gyros with cumin sauce, and saffron ravioli stuffed with shrimp, mushrooms, and brie. Nearby Rumours Wine and Art Bar is fun for dinner or just to snack and sip wine – there’s a popular branch of Rumours in East Nashville, too. For an unusual and refreshing dessert, pick up one of the oddly flavored popsicles (chai tea, cucumber-pepper, chocolate-wasabi) sold at Las Paletas.

East Nashville eateries with superb food include lesbian-owned Margot, which turns out delicious French bistro fare. This is the place in town for Sunday brunch (reservations are a good idea). The same owners run the nearby coffeehouse and bakery, Marche, which serves up all sorts of tasty snacks. For sweets, check out Pied Piper Creamery, whose playfully named and concocted ice cream flavors are a big hit – order a scoop of “Trailer Trash” (packed with assorted candy parts), or tuck into a dish of “The Professor” (toasted coconut, almonds, pecans, and cashews).

Additional worthwhile dining and shopping opportunities await in funky Hillsboro Village, near Vanderbilt University, which offers an intriguing selection of stylish boutiques and distinctive restaurants. Here you’ll find Cabana, which serves crispy and delectable fried chicken, along with several inventive takes on down-home Southern food. Caffeine addicts get their fix at Bongo Java, in a turn-of-the-century house filled with local art. Bongo Java earned international infamy as the home of the “nun bun,” a cinnamon roll that bears an amazing likeness to Mother Teresa. The same owners also operate a cool coffeehouse and restaurant in Hillsboro called Fido.

For gay nightlife, head to Church Street in the West End. Arguably the neighborhood’s hottest gay bar, Tribe is a hip spot with a cute and diverse crowd and a full restaurant, an open-air deck, a decent-size dance floor, and a lounge area with plenty of comfy chairs. If you’re seeking a more high-energy experience, venture next door to Play, a sprawling dance club that packs in huge crowds on weekends. Although it’s a LGBT establishment, plenty of straights party here, too. Other gay hangouts in the same area include Blue Gene’s, a relaxed neighborhood joint, and Blu Bar and Nightclub, which is especially popular with Nashville’s African-American gay community. Nearby you can shop for books and Pride items at OutLoud, which also has a pleasant little cafe open for breakfast and lunch.

Over in East Nashville you’ll find one of the liveliest lesbian bars in the South, Lipstick Lounge, set inside a brightly colored and attractively furnished old house. On the main level there’s a small dance bar, and live music is often featured. Upstairs there’s a lounge with darts, video games, and the like. One neighborhood hangout worth going out of your way for – if you’re up for a quirky scene and hanging out with a completely unpretentious crowd – is Trax, a hard-to-find little dive bar in a somewhat industrial neighborhood south of downtown. Amid the linoleum floors and a fun juke box playing everything from country tunes to The Cure, you’ll find a pool table, darts, and an all-ages, mostly male (but all-welcome) crowd sucking down cheap drinks.

Although not a gay establishment, the famed Bluebird Cafe does have something of a community following. This intimate spot serves passable comfort food, but you really come here to listen to outstanding live music in an intimate setting. There are two shows each night, the first more amateurish, the second generally featuring quite seasoned professionals.

Nashville’s once staid hotel selection got a nice boost with the opening of the Hotel Indigo, a gay-friendly, moderately priced, and sleekly designed mid-rise in the city’s West End – it’s a short walk from gay nightlife. Also near West End gay bars, the posh and refined Loews Vanderbilt Hotel has dark cherry furniture, a slick white lobby, and first-rate service. This is the top business hotel in the city, and also a favorite of music celebs.

Occupying a turn-of-the-century railroad terminal on the edge of downtown, the Union Station Hotel has a gorgeous lobby and warmly furnished rooms. Light sleepers should keep in mind that freight trains rumble softly by some rooms, so request a unit away from the tracks if this concerns you. Run by the same team behind Portland, Oregon’s swanky Lucia and deLuxe hotels, the Hotel Preston offers the hippest accommodations in Nashville. Alas, the location leaves a bit to be desired – it’s 10 miles southeast of downtown, by the airport.

About a 20-minute drive east of downtown, the giant Gaylord Opryland Resort comprises a huge hotel, spa, golf course, and the Grand Ole Opry performance center. If you’re hungry, keep in mind that the open-air buffet at the Water’s Edge Marketplace offers terrific food, at least as buffets go, and at fair prices. Although it’s largely the domain of conventioneers and tourists, Opryland is at least worth a quick visit to admire the acres of indoor gardens and courtyards, and partake of some of the most colorful people-watching in Nashville.

Touring the Napa-Sonoma Wine Country

Andrew Collins
-
0
Touring the Napa-Sonoma Wine Country

Appeals to lesbians and gays, both as a destination and as a place to live

The Russian River Valley may be best known as Northern California’s premier gay resort town, but this same lush woodland in western Sonoma County is also part of North America’s most famous wine-producing region. Wine-touring is a favorite hobby of visitors to Sonoma and neighboring Napa counties, two areas that have also long appealed to lesbians and gays, both as destinations and as places to live.

There are a few different ways to approach a wine-tasting adventure in the Napa-Sonoma Wine Country. If you’re primarily interested in the Russian River queer scene, and perhaps incidentally the nearby wineries, base yourself in Guerneville, where gay accommodations and bars abound. From here it’s at least an hour’s drive east to Sonoma’s and Napa’s wine-making hubs. But in Guerneville itself you can tour Korbel Champagne Cellars, which is headquartered in a century-old, creeper-covered brick building. An adjoining deli and microbrewery serves excellent salads and sandwiches (try the one with salami, Brie, tapenade, roasted peppers, and greens) on a tree-shaded deck.

There are several more fine wineries nearby, including the first-rate Mark West Estate, which like so many Russian River wineries, produces an outstanding pinot noir – the tasting room is at the Blackstone Winery, in the quaint village of Graton; Blackstone also produces its own excellent wines. Also try the intimate and delightful Joseph Swan Vineyard in nearby Forestville.

Related: Exploring Russian River

Among greater Guerneville’s many gay-popular resorts and inns, Applewood Inn has 16 luxurious rooms split between a 1922 Mission Revival house and a newer building modeled after it. There’s a superb restaurant attached that’s open to nonguests on a space-available basis.

If you’re looking to balance extensive wine-touring with plenty of gay club- and restaurant-hopping, stay in the small but lovely city of Santa Rosa – an easy 60-mile shot up U.S. 101 from San Francisco. It’s midway between Guerneville and the Napa and Sonoma valleys. Although low-keyed, Santa Rosa does have a bit to see and do, and it also claims a visible queer community.

Shoppers should investigate the city’s Historic Railroad Square, and garden gurus can head to the verdant Luther Burbank Home and Gardens, the fascinating estate of the renowned horticulturist. A bit west of town, Zazu is worth the trip for outstanding California cuisine, such as orzo tossed with morel mushrooms, ricotta, and radicchio.

If you’re a die-hard wine-tasting aficionado, and especially if you and a significant other are seeking a quiet, romantic vacation together, skip the Russian River and even Santa Rosa and stay in the heart of either Napa County or eastern Sonoma County. There are several gay-friendly accommodations out this way, as well as some of the most acclaimed eateries in North America.

Sonoma’s main wine-growing region runs parallel to and west of Napa’s for about 30 miles, from the town of Sonoma north through charming Healdsburg – whose courtly Spanish-influenced green is shaded by palm and redwood trees – and on through Geyserville and Cloverdale. Sonoma itself is especially picturesque, also anchored by a historic plaza, in this case fringed by Spanish Mission-style buildings. You can eat at any of two dozen restaurants near the plaza, or drop by the Sonoma Cheese Factory to pick up a little of wine’s favorite companion.

Giving a definitive list of recommended wineries in the heart of the Napa-Sonoma Wine Country is nearly impossible – there are simply too many exceptional facilities to name. But here’s a sampling of stellar ones.

Many oenophiles focus on the 17-mile-long Valley of the Moon, from Sonoma north through Glen Ellen and Kenwood. Glen Ellen’s Benziger stands out among the many competitors by offering interactive tram tours, during which you’re regaled with the ins and outs of modern-day wine making. Count Agoston Haraszthy’s Buena Vista Carneros is steeped in history; the art-filled, ivy-covered visitors center is impressive. Kunde, where the genial staff explains the entire wine-making process, is ideal for first-timers. Noted for its rich and full-bodied zinfandels, Ravenswood serves wines in a rustic, airy space that’s warmed by a fireplace in cooler weather.

A star in the county’s northern reaches, Geyserville’s Clos du Bois can become crowded, but it makes a pleasant excuse to wander through this charming little town, and the views of the Alexander Valley are stunning. Famous for its award-winning fume blanc, Dry Creek has magnolia- and redwood-studded grounds.

Broad and flat, the Napa Valley has scenery that is pleasant if not quite as lush as Sonoma’s. The valley runs from the rather prosaic town of Napa north toward hippie-dippy Calistoga, which is famous for its several hot springs and spas, all of them quite gay-popular. Commercial wineries line traffic-clogged Highway 29; running parallel and just east, the delightful and less-crowded Silverado Trail skirts the eastern foothills.

Tasting highlights include the century-old Beaulieu Vineyard, set on Rutherford’s glorious town square. Beringer has been around for more than 120 years, having survived Prohibition by producing communion wines. Be sure to tour the 1883 Rhine-style mansion in which the winery is housed. Come to Clos Pegase as much to admire Michael Graves’ innovative postmodern architecture, the extensive sculpture garden, and the provocative modern-art collection as to sample the wines.

Despite its growing reputation, St. Supery remains a surprisingly friendly and low-keyed facility that puts on a very nice tour. Stag’s Leap produced the wine that put the Napa Valley on the enological map two decades ago, and it remains a star vintner. Its dashing grounds are set away from the hustle and bustle of Highway 29. An aerial tram sweeps visitors up to the main buildings of the area’s winery in the sky, Sterling Vineyards, which has one of the largest gift shops in the region.

Napa has several world-class restaurants. The distinguished fare of Terra spans several regions: Northern California, East Asia, and the South of France to name a few – it’s not every day that you find a menu with duck-liver wontons. The definitive Wine Country restaurant, Mustards Grill can be experienced without breaking the bank – sample the spicy grilled-pepper appetizer filled with tamales and topped with tomatillo stuffing, or an entree of roasted rabbit.

As for where to stay in the heart of the Wine Country, there are countless gay-friendly options. The choice of foreign dignitaries, San Fran yupsters, and other money’s-no-object sorts, Auberge du Soleil is a discreet 48-room retreat with a Tuscany-meets-the-Southwest sensibility – it’s in the Napa foothills, overlooking miles of vineyards and orchards below. Even if you don’t stay here, consider a meal at its heavenly restaurant. Sonoma’s posh MacArthur Place Inn & Spa, a few blocks from the historic plaza, has 64 spacious, high-ceilinged rooms and striking grounds comprising rose gardens, an inviting pool, and a sumptuous spa.

Finally, keep in mind a few general tips before setting out to visit wineries. The Sonoma and Napa valleys are no longer the land of free wine; count on paying a nominal fee to sample most vintages. Only a limited number of smaller wineries offer free tastings. Also, wineries sell their stock at retail, often for 10 to 20 percent more than what you’ll pay at some liquor stores back home. Wine-touring is for the fun of trying different vintages and seeing where and how they’re produced – it’s generally not a way to pick up wines at a discount. Finally, it’s always a good idea to call a winery ahead to learn of upcoming special events – from jazz concerts to food festivals – and to confirm tour times and whether reservations are necessary.

Related: Great Places to Stay in San Francisco

1...113114115...121Page 114 of 121