DC residents have long lamented their regions' lack of a specialty food. Philadelphia has cheese steak, New York and Chicago have pizza, Baltimore has crabs (pun intended), and I guess LA has whatever hippy dippy vegan food is popular right now. But DC? We got nothing. Until now.
Because DC has become the city of cupcakes. I could probably rattle off the name of 5 different cupcake providers (including Curbside Cupcakes...who come by my office once a week in their pink van selling cupcakes from the curb), but the place that started the trend is Georgetown Cupcakes in, obviously, Georgetown. It seems word is getting out about DC and our cupcakes, and TLC has been airing a reality show centered around Georgetown Cupcakes, titled DC Cupcake.
The show just got picked up for a second season right when it's abbreviated first season is finishing up its six episode run. Being a cupcake fan, I of course had to give it a try and here's my review in brief: it's hit or miss.
The show is fun to look at; it features lots of filler shots of cupcakes being baked, cupcakes being iced, cupcakes being bought, just cupcakes in general. Which, hello, I am definitely a fan. Georgetown Cupcake is run by two sisters, and each episode features some kind of cupcake creation that is being made by the gals (think ala Ace of Cakes). The problem is that some of the episodes are just kind of boring. Many "scenes" are clearly deliberately staged and it's painfully obvious that the "dialogue" is not coming naturally, but is instead for the sole benefit of the audience. The most recent episode, following the sisters as they make wedding cupcakes and detailing an employee's first day in the shop, was the most egregious example of this.
But when the show flows naturally, it's actually really fun and even kind of interesting. Who doesn't want to see who cupcake creations are made? Communists, that's who. The second episode, which had the ladies making a huge creation for their church's Greek Festival, was a good example of how cute and fun the show is when things just happen. Hopefully, the "cast" will get more comfortable in front of the camera and the next season will feel more natural and less staged. But in any event, I'll keep watching if just for the cupcakes.And just for funsies, here's a pic of me and my friends getting our first cupcakes from the Curbside Cupcakes van at work this past winter:
Mmmm...cupcakes!
2 comments:
DC totally has a local food! The half-smoke?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Half-smoke
I think the half-smoke is definitely a local specialty, but I was talking more about a universally known association between a region and food. I've lived here my entire life and I've never even heard of the half-smoke, but you can bet I will be getting my ass to Ben's Chili Bowl ASAP!
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