D.C.-area nightlife, events and dining

Kojo Nnamdi will chat with the Going Out Guide’s Fritz Hahn about the city’s top rooftop bars Wednesday between noon and 2 p.m. (Sarah L. Voisin/The Washington Post) Public service announcement: the Going Out Guide’s bars and clubs editor Fritz Hahn will be among the guests on the Kojo Nnamdi Show’s Food Wednesday program May 16 at noon to talk about the city’s best rooftop drink spots. And with temperatures pegged for the mid-70s through the weekend, this would be a good time to tune in if you’re interested in such affairs.

Wed. @ 12: The tactics, etiquette and pleasures of eating outside - where are your favorite "al fresco" gems in our area?

— The Kojo Nnamdi Show (@kojoshow) May 15, 2012

Take a look at our Editors’ Picks list of best rooftop bars, and listen to a live stream of the Kojo Show on WAMU 88.5 FM.

For all things bar and beverage, follow Fritz on Twitter at @FritzHahn.

Read more from the Going Out Guide:

• Editors’ Picks: Best rooftop bars

• Tips from some D.C. tastemakers: Kojo Nnamdi

Robyn will be behind the decks at U Street Music Hall on July 7. (Kyle Gustafson/FTWP)Swedish pop superstar Robyn is a dynamo on stage, but how about behind the turntables? You’ll get a chance to find out when she performs an intimate DJ set at U Street Music Hall on Saturday, July 7.

She’ll be in D.C. the following two nights opening for Coldplay at Verizon Center, but this intimate DJ gig gives fans an opportunity for a much more up-close-and-personal experience. Robyn will be joined by DJ Rokk, whose London club night Body Talk served as inspiration for Robyn’s sensational 2010 album of the same name. Tickets for the 18-and-over event go on sale Wednesday at 10 a.m. are $25 in advance or $30 at the door.

The Pietasters were one of the musical acts who performed during the 2011 Sound Bites festival at hte 9:30 Club. (Ezra Gregg) When Casey Patten, a Philadelphia native and co-founder of Taylor Gourmet, first moved to Washington 10 years ago, he said he shared what was a “pretty common” perspective on Washington’s food scene: there wasn’t one. “It was Ben’s Chili Bowl or Maryland crab cakes, really,” he said. “That was our food identity.”

“We’ve got so much more than that now,” he added.

On Sunday, Taylor Gourmet will be one of about 25 restaurants participating in the third annual Sound Bites, a music and food street festival hosted and run by the 9:30 Club and D.C. Central Kitchen, that highlights the D.C. area’s changing appetite.

“We had been trying to figure out how to reach the 20- to 40-year-olds for a while,” said Brian MacNair, chief development officer for D.C. Central Kitchen, an organization that works to fight poverty and hunger through partnerships with local restaurants and job training. MacNair said the Central Kitchen — which hosts Capital Food Fight, an annual fundraiser that invariably sells out despite $200 tickets — wanted to speak to more casual chefs, hip foodies and local twentysomethings. “This event, with a $40 all-inclusive ticket, has been a huge hit,” he said. All proceeds from ticket sales benefit the organization.

Katy Goodman has traded the Vivian Girls for mellow pop music with her new band La Sera. Take a listen at the Red Palace on Friday. (Courtesy of Hardly Art)Every Tuesday, the Going Out Gurus highlight the week’s best DJs, bands, dance nights and parties. Here are our picks for upcoming can’t-miss events:

Tuesday-Friday: Bars across the country are celebrating American Craft Beer Week with tapping parties and happy hours, including a good number in the Washington area. Smith Commons doesn’t have as many taps or rare brews as some other spots, but it’s hosting a series of parties that should be among the most fun in town. Every night will feature three or four special beers from a different brewer along with an appearance by top area DJs, performance art, fashion by local designers and a menu of $5 snacks, such as veggie samosas and sliders. On Tuesday, Dogfish Head brews are paired with hip-hop beats by DJ Dirty Hands; Wednesday brings bomber bottles of Brewery Ommegang while Champion Superior Soundsystem drops deep reggae tunes; and on Thursday, DJ Jerome Baker III of the Rock Creek Social Club provides the rhythms for a night of D.C. Brau beers. Everything wraps up Friday with DJ Cuzzin B, a founder of the golden-age hip-hop night Tru Skool, and Flying Dog beers.

Friday: Katy Goodman is best known as bassist for noisy indie-rock trio Vivian Girls. That band has slowed down the past couple of years while Goodman has stayed busy with La Sera, which is quickly becoming more than just a side project. Goodman sticks to providing melodic bass lines and vocal harmonies for Vivian Girls, but her songwriting talents are on display with La Sera. Her recent second album, “Sees the Light,” is filled with breezy-yet-sturdy pop confections. Her sweet voice brings a dreamlike quality to the material, but there are enough hooks and substance to make sure the songs don’t simply float away. Listen for yourself Friday at the Red Palace.

Saturday: Kid Congo Powers is a local music treasure, an artist with a storied history (he played in the Cramps and with Nick Cave in the Bad Seeds) who continues to make great music (check the happily deranged garage rock of last year’s “Gorilla Rose”) and has adopted Washington as his home. His concerts regularly turn into wild dance parties resembling a scene from some psychedelic 1960s movie. That’s guaranteed to be the case Friday at Comet Ping Pong when he leads a band of D.C.’s finest through a set of garage-rock classics from the ‘60s and ‘70s. The set list isn’t being divulged - maybe some “96 Tears,” maybe “I Had Too Much to Dream (Last Night)”? - but this is the type of music that courses through Congo’s veins and makes for a memorable evening.

Saturday: Memorial Day weekend may be the unofficial kickoff to summer, bathing-suit season and outdoor-party season, but you can get a jump on all that Saturday at the District’s newest (and only food-truck-centric) pool party. A collaboration of the Rock & Roll Hotel, Sticky Rice and Dangerously Delicious Pies, Mother Trucker will be held at the Capitol Skyline Hotel twice a month, with 20 food trucks, multiple DJs, poolside bars and entertainers (think fire-eaters and a “human car wash”). The formula sounds similar to the weekly parties that Brightest Young Things threw at the hotel two years ago, but either way, we’re glad someone is giving us an excuse to drink beer in the sun and dance in the pool, even if our beach bodies aren’t quite ready.

Monday: Reggie Watts is among the most recognizably hirsute performers in comedy these days, and his journey to prominence began way before the Funny or Die clips, producing the theme music for Louis CK’s television show or the Conan O’Brien co-sign. His improvised comedic and musical hybrid work is the intersection of multiple creative paths pursued over the years. Standing on stage with a microphone, an electronic looping device and no prepared material, Watts draws from jazz training, years fronting alternative, funk and hip-hop bands in the Pacific Northwest and immersion in the New York comedy and improv scenes. His shows often sell out, so cop 9:30 Club tickets quickly.

Need more ideas? You’ll find 10 after the jump.

Jesse Perez as Florindo at the Shakespeare Theatre Company's "The Servant of Two Masters.” (Photo by Linda Davidson/TWP)Every week, the Going Out Guide publishes an e-mail newsletter with our recommended events for the days ahead. If you don’t subscribe, here’s a peek at what you’re missing. If you’d like to sign up, go to washingtonpost.com’s Newsletters page; the Going Out Guide is listed under the “Local & Sports” header.

Monday

Snyder’s beats and rhymes

Beat poet and Pulitzer Prize winner Gary Snyder makes an appearance at the Folger Shakespeare Library to present the annual Folger Poetry Board Reading. A reception and book signing follow.

Opens Tuesday

Serving up laughs

Shakespeare Theatre Company opens “The Servant of Two Masters,” a high-energy commedia dell’arte farce about the hijinx that ensue when a man tries to double his earnings by juggling two employers.

Wednesday

Reggae’s mad genius

Lee “Scratch” Perry is one of the most vital architects of reggae’s sound and is responsible for some of the genre’s most mind-bending material. See the 76-year-old legend at the State Theatre.

Friday

Hear the Buzz

“Friday Night Lights” author, Daily Beast contributor and sportswriting gadfly Buzz Bissinger discusses his latest book, “Father's Day: A Journey into the Mind and Heart of My Extraordinary Son," at Politics & Prose.

Saturday

Kicking off with a splash

Food trucks, DJs, beers, fire-eaters and ... canonballs? The debut of the Mother Trucker pool party launches the Capitol Skyline Hotel’s summer season.