Faves and raves by Jamie Raskin
Maryland state senator, D-Silver Spring
PERSONAL STATS
AGE: 48
NUMBER OF YEARS IN D.C. AREA: 48
NEIGHBORHOOD: Takoma Park and Silver Spring
– Brian Hughes
1. FAVORITE NEIGHBORHOOD HANGOUT
It’s a tie between Jackie’s (8081 Georgia Ave.) and Middle Eastern Market (7006 Carroll Ave.). Jackie’s always reminds me how cool and cinematic Silver Spring is. There’s a lot of drama in that restaurant and a lot of beautiful people who surround Jackie herself. But Middle Eastern Market in Takoma Park is the perfect place to take the family out to dinner, especially in a blizzard, an earthquake, a hurricane or just the random summer power outage — so, as you can see, we spend a lot of time there. It’s a family-owned, family-oriented restaurant and I can feel rich at Middle Eastern Market because it’s so cheap. My son Tommy takes Arabic at Blair High School and he’s been ordering his food in Arabic.
2. BEST MODE OF TRANSPORTATION
Walking. It’s clearly the best way to get around downtown Silver Spring and you can meet a lot of people by walking. Takoma Park was just rated the No. 1 walking city in Maryland. I love watching people carry their tomatoes and peaches back to their homes from the Farmer’s Market on Sunday. My general rule is: if I can walk there, I should walk there. If I can’t walk, I still find the Metro fast and charming if I have to go downtown. I remember when they first built it, and it totally changed my social life. But we really need the Purple Line to get across Montgomery County and over to Prince George’s on the weekend without spending all day in traffic.
3. FAVORITE LOCAL SPORTS EVENT
It used to be the Redskins-Giants game but I can’t handle the traffic anymore ever since I entered middle age. Now I love going to Blair High School football and Blair High School girls’ soccer games — high school sports are exciting, and I get to see all the kids I coached in Takoma Park Youth Soccer when they were little. The soccer being played now by teenagers is remarkable.
4. BEST PLACE FOR OUT-OF-TOWN VISITORS
I love the FDR Memorial followed up by a night out in downtown Silver Spring, where all the action is. Sometimes people want to see the “Exorcist” stairs so we’ll take people to Georgetown to see them. I also like taking visitors to big demonstrations if there happen to be any going on when they’re in town.
5. BEST PLACE FOR LIVE MUSIC
I love going to see Dar Williams play the 9:30 Club when she comes to town. It’s intimate and when it rocks, it really rocks. I haven’t been to the Fillmore yet but am psyched to get there; [Silver Spring Regional Center Director] Reemberto Rodriguez told me that he saw the Bruce Springsteen cover band play the Fillmore and it was amazing. When I was a kid, we used to go to Merriweather Post Pavilion where I saw Jackson Browne and Bonnie Raitt and Nils Lofgren, who grew up here; that’s a lot of fun but I may have outgrown sitting on the grass for three hours. When I’m in the mood for jazz, I head to downtown Silver Spring to check out the awesome Ernest Bland and Dual Rhythm or else John Guernsey at the New Deal Cafe — he’s our blues piano teacher and is a really exciting musician. But, you know, at my last big fundraiser in downtown Silver Spring, I had a student band from Blair High School called Bad Sauce play, and they totally rocked out, so I guess my favorite place for live music is my own fundraisers. Yeah, that’s where everyone should go to see the best live music!
6. FAVORITE MUSEUM
I love the Newseum. Very interactive and engaging for kids. When they started it, newspapers were big and strong, but now we really need the Newseum just so people don’t forget what newspapers once were and how important they still are. The Spy Museum is awesome too.
7. MOST ROMANTIC SPOT
The Corcoran Gallery is romantic. Annapolis is seriously romantic and enchanting. Check out Reynold’s Tavern.
8. FAVORITE WAY TO SPEND A LAZY SUNDAY
Here’s my perfect lazy Sunday: Go do a Sweep-the-Creek cleanup with the Friends of Sligo Creek at Northwest Branch; then play chess with kids in All the Right Moves, our local chess movement at the Civic Center in Silver Spring; work out at the Silver Spring YMCA; then go home and read the Silver Spring-Takoma Voice and take a nap; then go grocery shopping at the Takoma Park-Silver Spring Co-Op; then go to Video Americain with my kids and find a movie; and then fall asleep before watching it.
9. BEN’S CHILI BOWL, OLD EBBITT GRILL OR CAFE MILANO?
Ben’s Chili Bowl. This is not even close. I grew up with the Ali family, and Kamal Ali, who was in my class, used to bring the best lunches to school and he would share them with me because mine were a bit, shall we say, uneven. But that restaurant is outstanding.
10. BEST RETREAT OUTSIDE THE BELTWAY
My sister Erika lives with her family in Charlottesville, an endlessly charming and relaxing weekend destination. A great retreat is also Echo Hill Camp on the Chesapeake Bay, which generations of kids in my family have gone to. It’s absurdly rustic but so beautiful and there are a million things to do. My wife and I once went to the Inn at Perry’s Cabin in St. Michael’s Island, which is lovely and the perfect place for Anglophiles because they have tea all day long. I think that’s where they filmed the Maryland scenes in “Wedding Crashers.”
11. BEST RETREAT INSIDE THE BELTWAY
The best retreat inside the Beltway is going to see a Lumina Studio production, which would be a Shakespeare play in my district with teen and pre-teen actors. These plays will blow your mind, remind you of the greatness of theater, and make you forget about petty Washington politics. I’m co-adapting “Measure for Measure” this fall with Lumina’s brilliant director, David Minton, and it’s going to be really good.
12. BEST PLACE FOR LATE-NIGHT EATS
I have to go with Rocco’s in Takoma Park, which makes awesome pizza and salads. It’s a very cool place.
13. PROUDEST PART OF LIVING IN D.C.
My community in Silver Spring and Takoma Park makes me proud because it is multicultural in a deep and authentic way, and it actually believes in culture: literature, music, theater, art, folk life, politics, storytelling, dance and celebration. And the people in this area are the smartest and most educated people in America. It’s incredible the talent we have here. I’m proud to represent George Pelecanos, another native who is to this community what Faulkner was to Mississippi. I’m proud to represent Mike Tidwell, who is working hard to reverse the brutal dynamics of climate change. I’m very proud to know Kojo Nnamdi and Mark Plotkin; some cities have no great local radio talk show hosts, and we have two of them. I’m proud that my kids and nieces and nephews love it here and plan to stay; it’s become an extremely cool place to live.
14. EMBARRASSING PART OF LIVING IN D.C.
People who live in Washington aren’t represented by voting members in Congress, and that’s really disgraceful and embarrassing to everyone. Also, people sometimes say we don’t dress very well but I’m not sure I believe that.
