We know what you’re thinking: Washington needs another pan-Asian restaurant like it needs another cicada invasion. But that hasn’t stopped Asia Nine owners Nuthinepan “Natalie” Tantivejakul and her chef husband, Boonrod “Rod” Yotmanee, from expanding from their more casual Alexandria restaurant, Rice and Spice. And it hasn’t stopped them from turning out flavorful renditions of Asian favorites in a modern Penn Quarter setting that incorporates splashes of glass tiles, zigzaggy metal sculptures, and a different color on just about every wall.

It’s that time of year again to pause and appreciate Mom for giving you life and making it a little easier. What’s not so easy: Finding a a place to feed the hand that fed you on one of the most crowded restaurant days of the year. This Mother’s Day (May 11), there are plenty of brunch options to please her palate, from French-countryside-inspired feasts to elaborate buffets.

1789
1226 36th St. NW; 202-965-1789; 1789restaurant.com
This Georgetown institution is offering a brunch that’s equally as elegant as its decor. After a first course of canapés, choose from roasted Vidalia-onion soup with cheddar and country ham; house-cured Arctic char with caperberries, pickled onions, and rye toast; and braised rhubarb and strawberries with Greek yogurt and Marcona almonds. Main courses include brioche French toast with glazed bananas and peanut- and maple- butters; lobster quiche with parmesan, potatoes, and caramelized onions; and a Chinese-style slow-roasted halibut with broccoli, toasted garlic, crispy noodles, and black vinegar. Desserts include pineapple clafoutis with rosemary ice cream; and a chocolate-coffee glass with sorbet, granita, and cocoa-nib biscotti.
•Brunch is served from 10 AM to 2 PM. Entrees range from $24 to $38, and include the first two courses; desserts are $9 each.

2941
 2941 Fairview Park Dr., Falls Church; 703-270-1500; 2941.com
This glass-enclosed dining room overlooking a pond is prettiest in the daytime, and that’s when new chef Bertrand Chemel is offering a four- or six-course brunch menu.
For the four-course menu, choose from first course selections such as Peekytoe-crab salad; warm porcini-mushroom salad; chilled carrot soup; or shrimp-and-lobster ceviche. Next is handmade pasta with braised morsels. Main course options include halibut with peas and pommes boulangere; steamed sea-bass with asparagus and slow-cooked tomatoes; beef striploin with baby carrots and porcini sauce; or roasted rack of lamb with Romesco sauce. Dessert and mignardises follow.  
The six-course option is a set tasting menu. It’s comprised of yellowfin tuna tartar with caviar; Alaskan King salmon with fennel confit; veal sweetbreads with porcini salad; roasted veal loin with spring risotto; dry-aged beef striploin with sauteed arugula; and a tasting of desserts.
•Brunch is served from 11:30 AM to 8:30 PM. Four-course menu, $85 per person; six-course menu, $125 per person (wine pairing is $65 extra); a four-course children’s menu is $25 per child.

Photograph courtesy of Cirrus Vodka.

Think vodka and you may think Russia or Poland. But Virginia? Richmond-based Cirrus Vodka is bidding to make you think of the commonwealth, too. Frosted bottles of the small-batch spirit are popping up on store shelves and behind a few local bars. It has a slight vanilla aroma and a faint citrus finish. A Cirrus martini can be ordered at Equinox, Clyde’s Georgetown, Clyde’s Gallery Place, 1789 Restaurant, Old Ebbitt Grill, and Bar Louie. It can be bought by the fifth at a few shops, including Ace Beverage (3301 New Mexico Ave., NW) for $21.49.

• DC’s cupcake craze doesn’t seem to be fading anytime soon. Signs for Hello Cupcake are now up at 1351 Connecticut Avenue, south of Dupont Circle. It’s slated for a midsummer opening, according to the fancy Web site—which, puzzlingly, also announces a special Cherry Blossom cupcake “available every day in April.” Next April, we suppose?

Warm-weather brunch season is ramping up. And although many menus still offer pastry-chef-crafted doughnuts, haute huevos rancheros, and blue-crab Benedicts, we set out to find what’s new in late-morning eats. Here’s a look at what you’ll likely see on an umbrella-topped table this summer.

Rum Cocktails
Sugary morning drinks like Bellinis make us think of one thing: naptime. But alas, they persist. This year’s crop of morning cocktails is heavy on the tropical (translation: they’re socked with rum). At the swank Falls Church destination restaurant 2941, the Rainforest Iced Tea spikes green tea, pineapple juice, and lime juice with not only Bacardi but that melon-flavored, underage mixer of choice, Midori. Famous for its Latino dim sum brunch, Café Atlántico in DC’s Penn Quarter puts forth an even sweeter sip: a Piña Condensada made with mango and coconut rums, pineapple juice, and condensed milk. Dupont Circle hotel restaurant Firefly puts for the Miami, a mix of grapefruit, orange, and lime juices with Mount Gay rum. And the mango cocktail at Dupont Circle joint Luna Grill & Diner mixes mango rum with Champagne, pineapple and orange juices, and Godiva Liqueur . . . zzz.

Rum is also finding its way into a few more traditional morning drinks: There’s Bacardi O in the mimosa at Bar Pilar and spiced rum in the Bloody Mary at the Argonaut, Joe Engert’s nautical-themed tavern on H Street, Northeast.

Here’s an opportunity for wine lovers to support a great cause and taste some wonderful wine. Each May, the American Heart Association sponsors Heart’s Delight—the premier wine-auction event in the DC area—with the support of several leading Bordeaux châteaux and some top restaurants in Washington and from around the country. This year’s event, which runs Thursday, May 8, through Saturday, May 10, features the outstanding 2005 vintage, which has been heralded as one of the best in Bordeaux for several years.

Strangely enough, after watching this week’s episode of Top Chef, we feel compelled to go out and purchase Top Chef: The Cookbook, some Gladware plastic products, and . . . oh, hell, we might as well throw in a bottle of Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing. We’ll just head on over to our local Whole Foods and start shopping. . . .

But we digress. As another episode begins, not much has changed in the Top Chef house. Sure, pretty boy Ryan has packed his knives, but Andrew’s still wacky, Spike and Mark are still flirtatious, and Jenn’s still “doing this for Zoi.” Padma introduces the guest judge, award-winning Jean-Georges pastry chef Johnny Iuzzini, and reveals the Quickfire challenge: the chefs will have 30 minutes to create an original dessert. She then adds ominously, “If you don’t have one, improvise.”

A uniquely Top Chef combination of panic and complaining ensues as the chefs scramble about while bemoaning their lack of pastry skills. A whirl of sweet confections follows, and modest-but-not-really Richard wins immunity—and scores a recipe spot in the Top Chef cookbook—with his self-proclaimed “witty” banana scallops. Don’t they sound droll? Not really to us either, but we’ll let it slide because truthfully we still can’t get past Mark’s wattleseed pavlovas. Really, Mark? Wattleseed? A seed traditionally used by Australian Aborigines to make bush bread? Admittedly, we had to Google it—but does that really sound like a delicious ingredient to sprinkle on meringues?