Washington Restaurant Week: The Restaurant Association of Metropolitan Washington launches winter Restaurant Week on Monday. More than 200 eateries in the area offer special menus for $20.14 at lunch and $35.14 at dinner through January 19 (and some beyond). Having a hard time choosing? Check out our list of participants who also appear on our recent 100 Very Best Restaurant list to help you narrow down the possibilities.
Vietnamese new year: Get in the holiday mood once again at Sprig & Sprout, which hosts a weeklong supper club in honor of Tet, the Vietnamese new year celebration. Starting Monday, guests can reserve an eight-course meal for $50 per person, featuring traditional dishes such as white-asparagus-and-crab soup and twice-cooked crispy chicken.
Fiola goes regional: On Monday, Fiola launches three regional menus that will be served in the restaurant for the next three weeks. You’ll find four-course dinner menus with wine pairings ($60 per person) focusing on dishes from the Piemonte, Veneto, and Toscana regions. If indulgent white truffles are more your calling, you can also order a white-truffle menu—or have the pricey mushrooms shaved onto various dishes—until the supply runs out.
More classes at Enoversity: Eno Wine Room recently launched a series of classes dubbed “Enoversity,” and it’s hosting the second installment on Tuesday. Go for flights and glasses from Virginia’s Tarara Winery between 6 and 8, and learn more about local wine production.
Soup for you: Looking for a way to stave off the winter chill? Legal Sea Foods celebrates National Soup Month with $1 cups of classic New England clam chowder on Wednesday. You’ll find the deal offered with the purchase of an entrée in the Tysons Corner, Crystal City, and Penn Quarter locations.
Beer fun: You’ll find a continuation of the Red Rocks “beer tender” series at the pizzeria chainlet this week. Wednesday brings an Anchor Steam release party at the Arlington location, and on Thursday you’ll find representatives from Sam Adams at the H Street outpost.
Tokifact take two: Missed the Toki Underground pop-up at Baltimore’s Artifact Coffee last week? Your chopsticks can take a second stab at ramen Thursday through Saturday, during the second and last installation of Erik Bruner-Yang and Spike Gjerde’s collaboration. Order bowls from 6:30 until they’re sold out.
Alexandria Restaurant Week: There’re no scarcity of specially priced meals this week. In addition to the RAMW-sponsored Restaurant Week above, Alexandria hosts its own version starting Friday and running through Sunday, January 26. The model is a little different: Most participants offer a three-course menu or a meal for two, both priced at $35 during dinner.
Channeling the Amalfi: It may still feel like winter, but Ripple evokes warmer Mediterranean climes on Saturday with Don Ciccio & Figli founder Francesco Amodeo from 2 to 4. You’ll sample tastes of his locally made Italian liqueurs, cocktails made from the spirits, and bites from chef Marjorie Meek-Bradley. Reservations ($35 per person) can be made by calling the restaurant.
Looking ahead: Happening January 25 and 26 is Sips & Suppers, which returns for its sixth year, bigger than ever. You’ll find plenty of star-studded events, including new features like a book-signing and wine reception with Alice Waters and Eric Asimov and a Chinese New Year dinner from Scott Drewno and Peter Chang. The weekend-long festival is mainly divided between the more wallet-friendly Sips at the Newseum on Saturday, and $600-per-person Suppers—prepared by a roster of celebrated chefs including Austin’s Paul Qi and Mourad Lahlou of San Francisco’s Aziza—on Sunday.
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.
