The Fractured Prune's French toast donut comes topped with maple glaze, cinnamon, and sugar.

Dupont Circle’s new outpost of the Fractured Prune, an Ocean City, Maryland-based donut chain, is sure to give the nearby Krispy Kreme a run for its money. No need to wait for a “hot” sign to light up—these yellow cake donuts are fried to order and topped with your choice of glaze and toppings. The shop officially opens on Saturday, but on Friday from 4 to 8 pm, they’re holding an "open house" with free coffee and donuts—any kind you want. 

Cooking Indian food can be intimidating. Just trying to track down all the right spices at the grocery store often proves futile. But at least once a week—with ingredients purchased from the meager offerings of the “Soviet” Safeway at 17th and Corcoran—I manage to prepare delicious dinners of chicken rogan josh or tikka masala in my teeny apartment kitchen.

In the November issue of the magazine, Blue Duck Tavern chef and roasting master Brian McBride gave us his tips on cooking a turkey (Click here to read the article). But how does he stuff the bird? Turns out, he doesn’t. For safety reasons, he bakes this terrific chanterelle mushroom and pear stuffing in a gratin dish alongside the turkey. It’s made with torn croissants instead of bread, and has a creamy, eggy decadence. Let the carbo-loading begin!

Don’t be confused—Fast Food Nation, the cinematic adaptation of Eric Schlosser's bestselling fast food expose, is not a sequel to Super Size Me, Morgan Spurlock's documentary that revealed what an all-McDonald's diet did to his insides. With similar-sounding titles and dark references to the Double Arches, this may feel like a repeat performance, just another big-screen jab at “fries with that” and American obesity. But Fast Food Nation is way more than a documentarian shoving fries down his throat.  

For starters, it’s not a documentary. Wilmer Valderrama and Greg Kinnear star in this fictional take on Schlosser's 1999 book. And with Schlosser’s name attached to the film—in theaters now —some accidentally overlook the cinematic genius who plays producer. That would be Richard Linklater, the writer/director/actor responsible for such cult classics like Dazed and Confused, Slackers, Before Sunrise, and its sequel, Before Sunset. Linklater's is not a body of work that sticks to any genre, but this serious political film--full of racial tension, agri-business corruption, and economic depravity--is a definite departure for him.

Two weeks ago, I and other area reporters gathered at the Georgetown Ritz-Carlton to talk with Linklater and Schlosser about the film.

Thanks comes in many forms. Thanks for the memories. Thanks for the help. Thanks for... nothing? This Thanksgiving, you can be thankful you don’t have to lift a finger--the dining out options are plentiful. Here’s what’s going on around town. All events listed are on Thursday, November 23.

Ten chefs. One stage. One cause. The third annual Capitol Food Fight, a fundraiser for DC Central Kitchen, held last night at the Reagan Building, pitted local chefs against each other in an Iron Chef-style cooking battle, complete with secret ingredients. In the end, after a feisty final round featuring the obscure vegetable romanesco--a pale green cousin of cauliflower--two-year reigning champ Ris Lacoste, formerly of 1789, handed over her crown to Bebo Trattoria's Roberto Donna, who's incidentally the only DC toque to win the actual Iron Chef.