This Sunday night, small plates king Jose Andres battles it out with Bobby Flay on Iron Chef America. He's the fourth DC toque to take on the speed-cooking challenge (Bebo Trattoria's Roberto Donna lost to Masaharu Morimoto, then beat him in a rematch; former White House chef Walter Scheib won against Cat Cora; and Farrah Olivia's Morou Ouattara made a valiant effort in Battle: Frozen Peas, but didn't best Flay). In a Food Network interview, Andres says his ideal secret ingredient would be lobster, and his ideal judge would be Ferran Adria (he'll have to settle for Jeffrey Steingarten). The show will air at 9 PM on the Food Network, but all of the fast-talking Spaniard’s biggest fans will be watching from the sold-out viewing party that begins at 8 PM at the Crystal City Jaleo...

...The Cherry Blossom Festival kicks off this weekend, which means that for better or worse, local chefs are going crazy with the sours and bings. So you’ll see shad roe with sweet and sour cherries (1789), miso duck with cherry gyoza and cherry cola barbecue sauce (Mie N Yu), and a five-course all-cherry tasting menu that kicks off with sour cherry veloute, cherry blossom-infused honey candy and seared foie gras (PS7’s)...

Georgetown culinary traditions are always associated with special times and places. Chicken Finger Thursdays at the "Leo's" cafeteria. GUGS burgers every Friday near Copley Lawn. Philly Pizza every weekend night-turned-early morning. And the infamous Chicken Madness, eaten at all hours, everyday.

Chicken Madness from "Wisey's"
This sandwich has sparked a Hoya cult following across generations. Ordered about 100 times per day, the Chicken Madness sandwich is a cheap white hoagie-style roll—the lack of gourmet bread is part of the magic—and eight crucial ingredients. As the menu promises, it's loaded with "mounds of" chicken breast, provolone cheese, bacon, lettuce, tomatoes, mayo, sweet and hot peppers, and onions, all chopped and mashed up on the grill. The mayo offers a crucial moisture element, bringing all the flavors together (it's too dry without it). For just $5.45, the meal also includes UTZ potato chips and a canned soda from the fridge. The sandwich is so worshipped that Hoyas even vote for it on student election ballots each year. The Burger Madness, a deli kin, is similarly prepared, but with chopped beef patties instead of chicken breast (it's not as popular). For game day, you can special order sandwich trays from either of the two Wisemiller's locations in Georgetown. Or try whipping up a homemade version.
 
Wisemiller's Deli, 1236 36th Street, NW; 202-333-8254.
Wisey's Deli, 1440 Wisconsin Avenue NW; 202-333-4122.

DNC chairman Howard Dean was seen dining in a private room at Olives this past Tuesday...

...Bill and Hillary Clinton hit up Lebanese Taverna in Woodley Park following a campaign fundraiser at the Marriott Wardman Park...

...The L Word's Cybill Shepherd escorted Tennessee congressman Steve Cohen to Tuesday night’s Gourmet Gala at the National Building Museum. The pals dished up grits and “cornmeal BBQ tasties” to the crowd...

Courtesy of Andrew Evans.

Better known for his envelope-pushing Australian dinner fare — think kangaroo tenderloin and Moreton Bay Bugs — Andrew Evans, chef-owner of the Inn at Easton on the Eastern Shore, does a bang-up job with breakfast too. The spread served in the Aboriginal art-filled dining room includes such gems as Greek yogurt parfaits, lemon crunch muffins, donuts, and sausage rolls. All are made in-house by Evans himself.

Though sausage rolls aren't an American staple, in Australia they are as ubiquitous as an Egg McMuffin. Evans grew fond of them while living and cooking in Australia. But make no mistake. This is no pedestrian pig in blanket. Evans chooses his ingredients with care. And it shows in the eating: for a morsel groaning with pork and butterfat, they are surprisingly light.

The plush, colorful couches at Rockville's Mem Sahib.

Walk in to Mem Sahib, and the Rockville restaurant’s rather dreary strip mall location is quickly forgotten. The dining room is dimly-lit and inviting, filled with couches covered in colorful Indian tapestries that surround low tables. It’s not the place for a quick weeknight meal—there’s a lunch buffet during the day, but dinner brings just one option: a six-course feast for $22 per person. We lingered on those comfy couches for two and a half hours without glancing at our watches.

The meal begins when a sari-clad waitress arrives with a silver pitcher and bowl to perform a hand-washing ceremony, because everything is eaten with your hands (and naan). 

Courtesy of equinoxrestaurant.com

You rarely see either shad or shad roe on restaurant menus, despite a lot of well-meaning talk from chefs about their fondness for market-based cooking. Make the case for shad and shad roe. Why should we care?

Certain things become available at certain times of the year. As a chef, you want to capture the moment, and celebrate the season. I think shad is indicative of Spring. It’s sort of the rite of passage with Springtime – on the West Coast, they have the running of the wild salmon, and here you have the running of the shad. It’s something we should be proud of, and take advantage of when we can.  Virginia is the leading shad fishing state in the Mid-Atlantic. Jefferson was a huge fan of shad. He had the largest fleet of shad boats known to man at that time. These things amaze me. I feel a tremendous sense of responsibility. My cooking is the cooking of the mid-Atlantic region, more specifically the Virginia Piedmont. I want my customers to be biting into the region. And there’s no better way to do that than by biting into shad.

There seems to be a big generation gap when it comes to shad. Those raised in the shadow of the Depression know and maybe love it. But very few younger people have any allegiance to it. Many have never heard of it. Who’s still eating shad?

It does tend to be somebody from this region, it does tend to be somebody over 40. Typically, it’s the second generation of families who have been here in Washington. It’s a generation that knew shad in another time.

Pennsylvania farmer Mark Toigo is a familiar face at DC restaurants and markets.

Pennsylvania farmer Mark Toigo, 43, is on the radar screen of Washington chefs and locals on a weekly basis—they’re all after his berries, plums, apples, and 22 varieties of peaches (his down-to-earth charisma doesn’t hurt either).

The man behind Shippensburg-based Toigo Orchards isn’t a farmer in the barefoot Steinbeck-ian sense, but a business man who regularly drops off apples and tomatoes at DC restaurants like Vidalia, Agraria, Buck’s Fishing & Camping, and Blue Duck Tavern. With his team frequenting nine area farmers markets every week, families know to gather around his booth for fresh-cut produce samples and cups of cider. He even supplies Georgetown University’s first student-run community supported agriculture group with truckloads of fruit, plus jarred soups, jams and honey.

Toigo is currently in Toronto checking out greenhouses, but we caught up with him for a few minutes. We wanted to know what he likes on his pizza. And whether he really enjoys every vegetable.