Gluten-free folk, take note: There’s a dinner especially for you at
Birch & Barley tonight at 7.
Beer director
Greg Engert has been delving into the world of naturally gluten-free alcoholic ciders, and will pour nine from around the world during
the five-course dinner. Chefs
Kyle Bailey and
Tiffany MacIsaac are concocting
Spanish-influenced items such as corn pasta with braised tripe and
chickpeas and grilled flank steak with
poached quail eggs and red peppers. The dinner is $73 per
person, and reservations should be made by calling 202-567-2576.
Welcome to Tuesday! Please enjoy a whole animal. Chef
Rob Weland, who’s won awards for his sustainably minded
cooking in the past, is bringing a “whole animal grill-out series” to
Cork starting
Tuesday. On the second
Tuesday of every month, Weland will serve a family-style menu
based on a whole animal or fish that will be wood-grilled and
served in Cork Market’s upstairs dining space. This week’s
lineup includes a wood-roasted suckling pig with sides like macaroni
and cheese, house-made sauerkraut, and baked apples ($50 per
person, $75 with wine pairings). E-mail roasts@corkDC.com for
reservations.
A Taste of Iceland returns to Washington from April 12 through 15 with a series of
food events, free concerts, and screenings. Reykjavik-based chef
Thrainn Freyr, also a World Culinary Cup Winner and Bocuse d’Or competitor, will be at
Ris throughout the festival, offering
a four-course menu ($65 per person) using slow-cooked Icelandic Arctic char with pickled cucumber and ground-dried
söl (seaweed); wood-roasted Icelandic lamb with glazed artichokes and dried grapes; and Skyr yogurt tiramisu. Call 202-730-2500
for reservations.
This is a cool opportunity for anyone interested in the nose-to-tail eating craze: There’s a pig butchering and processing
class on Saturday at certified organic
Mountain View Farm
in Neersville, Virginia (about an hour outside Washington). Two of the
farm’s heritage pigs will be harvested in the morning, followed
by hands-on demos throughout the day–learn how to break down
the animals to make bacon, sausages, pâtés, and terrines. The
all-day course runs from 9 to 5, and is limited to 12 people
(meaning call now for reservations: 571-271-2136).
Rice & Curry cookbook author Skiz Fernando (You may have caught the Sri Lankan native touring his home country with Anthony Bourdain on No Reservations) is leading a course on the basics of Sri Lankan cookery at the Hill Center this Saturday from 11 to 2. The menu includes yellow rice, chicken curry, lentils, sautéed greens, deviled potatoes, and caramel pudding. The best news: That’s what you’ll also have for lunch, which is included in the cost ($75 per person). Register online.
Who says you can’t drink hard booze in the middle of the day? DC Coast hosts a vodka and gin tasting class on Saturday from 1 to 3, during which you’ll do just that. Wine and beverage director Scott Clime leads the class through 14 varieties that range from bottles you may come across in the liquor store to rare finds. There’s also lunch to pad the belly with items such as grilled salmon, fried chicken, potato salad, macaroni and cheese, and more. Call 202-408-0201 for reservations ($75 per person).
This Sunday, Doron Petersan collaborates with Equinox chef-owner Todd Gray on a vegan brunch at Muse in the Corcoran Gallery of Art. Think bananas foster pancakes, roasted mushroom-and-black-walnut pâté, and smoked tempeh and roasted garlic cassoulet, as well as one of the Artini cocktails from bartender Ronald Flores of Art and Soul. Need more incentive? Petersan will be signing copies of her book, Sticky Fingers’ Sweets: 100 Super-Secret Vegan Recipes. The cost is $35 for adults, $12 for children 12 and under. Reservations can be made by e-mail.
If crawfish and Abita beer sound like a stellar combination, then head over to Pearl Dive Oyster Palace on Saturday for a crawfish boil with unlimited quantities of both alongside suckling pig and various sides. The second seating is already sold out, so it’s best to order tickets online for the noon to 2 slot ASAP.
You’ve probably sampled vino from Napa and Sonoma, but there’re plenty of opportunities today through Friday to explore wines from California’s Paso Robles wine country. The lineup of activities includes winemaker dinners at America Eats Tavern, Adour, and Founding Farmers (Tuesday), and tastings at liquor stores like Bell Wine & Spirits (Thursday). If the goal is to sample as many as possible, head to the grand tasting event on Wednesday at the Hotel Palomar from 7 to 9:30 PM, where more than 150 wines from 30-plus producers will be on offer. Call the individual restaurants for reservations, and purchase tickets for the tasting ($60 per person) here.
So now that Easter is officially over, it’s time for extended Easter! Zaytinya is offering its Greek Easter menu through Sunday, April 22. Dishes such as spit-roasted lamb with pea skordalia or asparagus salad with pistachios and lemon can be ordered as part of a ten-course tasting menu, or à la carte. For those looking for an even quicker meal, the patio will open this week, and you can grab roasted lamb sandwiches to go (the event page says it’s open today, but high-wind conditions have delayed the process). Call 202-638-0800 for reservations and to check the availability of to-go options.
Anna Spiegel covers the dining and drinking scene in her native DC. Prior to joining Washingtonian in 2010, she attended the French Culinary Institute and Columbia University’s MFA program in New York, and held various cooking and writing positions in NYC and in St. John, US Virgin Islands.
