Food.Fun.Stuff: The District Food Scene

On the scene…

>>>Jaleo kicks of the 8th Annual Paella Festival on June 7, 2010. José Andrés leads this two-week event honoring the acclaimed Spanish dish with specials based on the recipes of special guest Chef María José San Román of Restaurante Monastrell and La Taberna del Gourmet in Alicante, Spain. During the Paella Festival, guests will have the opportunity to enjoy a variety of paella specials during both lunch and dinner service. The rotating paella specials will be available all day at each Jaleo location and are priced between $34 and $48. In anticipation of the big event, Jaleo will begin the festivities on Sunday, May 30th at the Dupont Circle FRESHFARM Market at 11 a.m. with samples of the paella for those that stop by and on Tuesday, June 1st at 4:30 p.m. they will have the giant paella at the Crystal City FRESHFARM Market.

>>>Deal of the Week- 701 Restaurant is offering a 2-course lunch for $15 and a 2-course dinner for $35 with a glass of wine. For lunch guests can look forward to goat cheese cavatelli with fresh artichokes, broccoli and oyster mushrooms and the crispy calamari salad with shrimp, scallop, capers, and an olive vinaigrette amongst other dishes. For dinner, guests can look forward to the seared scallops with cauliflower puree, pine nuts and a balsamic reduction; Roasted Cod with lentils, haricot verts, roasted peppers and a verjus emulsion and fried chicken with creamy grits, collard greens, scallions and gravy amongst other dishes.

>>>Tom Sietsema’s Spring Dining Guide is out. In the new dining guide, “Then & Again” he revisits 20 local restaurants — old favorites and recent flops — to measure how they stand now. It’s interesting to see some of the changes in the area including how Restaurant Eve was once so casual and now has suave service and ingredients.

>>>World Cup Time. Beginning June 11, 2010, the entire world (*not just the U.S.) will be glued to their TV screens watching the 19th World Cup. On Saturday, June 12, 2010, Againn will be filled with fans of the U.S. and United Kingdom teams as they battle in their first round of play. The restaurant is hosting “friendly competition” between the fans with Bangers vs. Burgers 2010. At 2:30 pm, guests can watch the game on 3 flat screens in the 19 seat bar while ordering Bangers and Mash or Burgers and Chips (*both dishes are $15) along with a choice of six different beer shandies. Bartenders will keep track of the sales for both dishes, and the team with the most sales at the end of the match wins bragging rights until the next FIFA tournament. Patrons are encouraged to wear their teams jersey. Go U.S.!!

>>>Beach Blanky time- EatBar will host its annual beach-themed wine tasting party allowing guests to try 25 hand picked wines by Neighborhood Restaurant Group Wine Director Juliana Santos for $25 per person. Executive Chef Barry Koslow will complement the wine selections with small bites of calamari ceviche with mango and chilies, caramelized onion and olive focaccia and crab fritters with remoulade.

The When: June 5, 2010, 1 pm-4 pm

The Where: Tallula & EatBar, 2761 Washington Blvd., Arlington, VA, (703) 778-5051

>>>Calling All Bakers!! And All Non-Bakers!! On June 5, 2010, Hello Cupcake and Kitchen Aid will host “Design Your DC” which encourages participants to create a cupcake that reflects their city inspiration. The Grand Prize is the Artisan Series KitchenAid Stand Mixer. Eligible cupcakes must be dropped off on competition day from 10 am until Noon. It is a $12 registration fee per cupcake and additional rules and regulations can be found here.

The Where: Hello Cupcake, 1361 Connecticut Avenue, NW Washington, DC

>>>Lauren DeSantis book release party was a success! We still cannot seem to get those pulled pork sandwiches off our mind but lucky for us, all of this is in the cookbook. The Capital Cooking Cookbook features everything from the mini burgers found at Matchbox to the fried chicken at Art and Soul. The book can be purchased here (*or on Amazon) and retails for $29.99.

>>>Cheese and wine…a couple of my favorite things. Lucky for us the DMV houses a couple of The Melting Pot’s when we are in the mood to indulge in both simultaneously. The fondue restaurant is holding two new events featuring wine, beer and cheese. The first event is a Ravenswood Sip and Dip dinner at their Reston location (*11400 Commerce Park Drive, Reston, VA) on Thursday, June 3 @ 7 pm. It features 4-courses + Ravenswood wine pairings for $75.00 per person, plus tax and gratuity. The second event is a Magic Hat beer dinner at our DC location (1220 19th St. NW in DC) on Friday, June 11 at 7pm. It’s 4-courses + 4 Magic Hat pairings for $58 per person, plus tax and gratuity.

Category: Announcements, Food.Fun.Stuff., Washington D.C.