February’s round-table with three bartenders and last week’s Chinese food chat with author Jennifer 8. Lee were such hits that we’re bringing in more food-world folks for Q&As. On Thursday, April 3, at 11 AM, three of the area’s top pastry chefs—all 2008 Rammy Award nominees—will chat live on Washingtonian.com. Want to know their take on the current cupcake craze? Or how to avoid home baking disasters? Submit a question in advance for our pastry panel here:

This week kicked off the annual foodie awards season—known more for chef’s coats than ball gowns. Washington has a strong showing among the nominees for the James Beard Awards, the Oscars for restauranteurs nationally: Central Michel Richard for Best New Restaurant, Jose Andres for Outstanding Chef, and Johnny Monis of Komi for Rising Star Chef. Local restaurants also got nods in the Best Chef Mid-Atlantic category. The Restaurant Association Metropolitan Washington announced nominees for its Rammy awards a few days later at a fete at the DC Ritz . . . .

Belga Cafe's duck breast in a kriek-lambic/cherry sauce

Cherry-blossom season is finally here, announcing spring with delicate pink flowers. And beginning this Saturday, 450,000 visitors will descend on Washington for the annual National Cherry Blossom Festival.

So how are local restaurants making themselves stand out during the two-week festivities? We caught a sneak peek at some of the cherry-blossom-inspired cuisine (and drinks) on the menus of 54 eateries. Some chefs are offering tasting menus based entirely on cherries and their blossoms, while others created a single dish inspired by the fruit.

Taste of the Nation—the annual benefit for Share Our Strength in which scores of restaurants serve one-bite samples of their cooking—helps raise money and awareness to end childhood hunger. But this past Monday at the Hilton Washington, it was impossible not to stuff yourself—if you didn’t leave the party wishing you had worn something a bit more stretchy, you did something wrong. (Does anyone else appreciate the irony?)

Still, it’s a great cause filled with offerings from DC’s most celebrated restaurants and chefs. Beverages abounded too: Several wineries showed up, and there was an Iron Chef-like cocktail contest featuring four local bartending whizzes (Justin Guthrie of Central Michel Richard reigned supreme). But really, the highlight was the food. Here’s our take on how the restaurants stacked up.

The foodie awards season continued last night with a small party at the Ritz-Carlton, Washington D.C., to announce this year’s Rammy Award nominees. If the nationally recognized James Beard Awards are seen as the Oscars of the food world, these regional accolades, handed out each year by the Restaurant Association Metropolitan Washington, could be deemed the Golden Globes. Winners will be announced June 29 at a raucous, themed gala—last year’s event paid homage to old Hollywood—at DC’s Marriott Wardman Park.

They may not have the star wattage of the Academy Awards, but the James Beard Foundation Awards are the Oscars of the culinary world. Local chefs made a healthy showing in several categories of nominees announced today.

They include: José Andrés of Minibar (and Jaleo, Zaytinya, Cafe Atlantico, and Oyamel) for Outstanding Chef of the Year; Johnny Monis of Komi for Rising Star Chef of the Year; Cathal Armstrong of Restaurant Eve (and Majestic, PX, and Eamonn's) in Alexandria, Cindy Wolf of Baltimore's Charleston, and Eric Ziebold of CityZen for Best Chef Mid-Atlantic; and Terry Theise of Terry Theise Estate Selections in Silver Spring for Outstanding Wine & Spirits Professional. Michel Richard's Central is also nominated in the Best New Restaurant category — a nomination that comes on the heels of Richard's win in the Outstanding Chef category last year.

Winners will be announced June 8th at the annual awards ceremony and gala reception at Lincoln Center's Avery Fisher Hall in New York City.

Med Lahlou, owner of Tunnicliff’s Tavern on Capitol Hill and Stoney’s Bar in Logan Circle, recently opened his newest venture, Ulah Bistro. (The name is a combination of its U Street location and the first three letters of the owner’s last name.) The pizza-and-beer purveyor is aiming to create a more upscale version of his other two happy-hour-friendly spots.
 
Lahlou spent more than a year transforming an abandoned shell into the two-level, 140-seat bistro. On the first floor, a dining room with candlelit brick walls and dark wood furniture is set in front of an open kitchen. The upper level, black and red with low couches and a granite bar, has a loungier feel.

As at Stoney’s and Tunnicliff’s, the kitchen puts out pizza. Ulah’s pies are baked in a wood-fired oven and sport crisp crusts. There’s a basic Margherita or more creative options such as the Ulah, topped with crabmeat, cherry tomatoes, and basil.