Texan singer/songwriter Lyle Lovett lunched at Chef Geoff's...

...Wizards star Gilbert Arenas celebrated the opening of Mount Pleasant restaurant/bar Tonic's new location in Foggy Bottom...

...First daughter and soon-to-debut author Jenna Bush noshed on tuna tartare and white pizza with prosciutto (what, no mini-burgers?) at Matchbox in Penn Quarter...

...Singer Stevie Wonder, whose fashion designer wife is from DC, was spotted not once but twice last week at Cafe Milano. One night he had chicken, the next he had seabass... 

...Senator Hillary Clinton took a quick campaign break to  drop in  to Cafe Milano. She had seabass (just like Stevie), plus a plate of buffalo mozzarella...

...Presidential hopeful John McCain was seen at--surprise--the Monocle...

...New York City restaurateur Jeffrey Chodorow (aka, the guy who tangled with Rocco DiSpirito on The Restaurant...or the guy who threw a temper tantrum in a New York Times ad after a recent bad review) was (hmmm) spotted walking through Central with chef/owner Michel Richard...

...Actor Gary Sinise stopped at Au Bon Pain at Union Station.

 

Dreaming of strawberries, for cereal or champagne? Now through June, you can ditch the watery, white-fleshed giants available in supermarkets and pick your own. The fruit grown at local PYO patches is smaller and sweeter than those imported berries, and is guaranteed to send sun-sweet red juice dribbling down your chin.  For a trek in the fields, farmers recommend wearing old clothes and bug spray. And bring an appetite—buttery farm-made shortcakes and jam-slathered treats will sate even the hungriest pickers.

Call ahead for crop updates and field conditions at the farms.

Memorial Day is the unofficial start of summer, and Buzz pastry chef Lisa Scruggs is celebrating with a new addition to her sweets lineup--ice cream.

The best part? Through the end of today (Thursday), Buzz is offering Best Bites Blog readers a free small cone of her housemade vanilla, strawberry, or chocolate chocolate-chip flavors. All you have to do is mention you saw this post.

Scruggs plans to introduce new flavors all summer and is experimenting with sorbets, too. She'll rotate them and offer at least three flavors a day, so stop by today and try one of the first!

Buzz, 901 Slaters Lane, Alexandria; 703-600-2899; Buzzonslaters.com.

The potato knish at Kosher Sports is some of the best ballpark fare at RFK. Photograph by Sara Levine.

Everyone complains about the sub-par food at Nationals games, and after several soggy sandwiches and dry chicken tenders, I can’t say I blame them. But I have found one diamond in the rough: the potato knishes sold at Kosher Sports, just outside section 321 on the ground level.

At $4.50 a piece, they’re overpriced (like everything else in the ballpark). But you get a generous, burger-sized pastry, with a nice crispy-chewy crust and plenty of mashed potato filling. A testament to their authenticity? My dad’s a native New Yorker, and he knows a good knish. He’s abandoned the Yankees and Mets and is a big Nats fan, but I think he looks forward to these knishes about as much as watching the games.

RFK Stadium, 2400 E. Capitol St., SE.  

Come summer, thoughts turn to things pickled. But if you’d rather be sipping a Lime Rickey by the pool than brining vegetables, Rick’s Picks can help with the guilt.   

This NYC-based company makes a line of very edible pickled vegetables that are perfect for eating now--and reliving the taste of summer the rest of the year. Rick Field started his pickling business after spending two years experimenting with family pickling recipes in his tiny Lower East Side Kitchen. It was a dramatic change in gears for Field, a former TV producer/director who turned out music and humor spots for VH1 and Comedy Central, and culture and technology segments for NOW with Bill Moyers.

Butcher Mike Smollen has plenty in store for Memorial Day grilling. Photograph by Clay McLachlan.

Memorial Day is the classic harbinger of grilling season. Propane and sacks of charcoal fly out of grocery stores nationwide. But what to grill? Back in October, we profiled Mike Smollen of My Butcher and More, the old-school butcher shop (complete with blood-flecked smocks and a mother-in-law behind the counter) hiding in a strip mall off  Defense Highway in Gambrills. We just spoke to Smollen, and though he's already got people lined up out the door, he spared us a few seconds to tell us what's in store for the holiday weekend.

Smollen promises that he's prepared for the onslaught (pun intended) of customers. His prime rib, Kobe, flatirons and choice Angus steaks are well-stocked and waiting in the back. He notes that strip steaks and dry-aged Roseda Black Angus have been flying out of glass cases. So too the prime steak burgers, which he just began selling a few weeks back. For those, Smollen takes the trimmings of USDA prime rib-eyes and grinds the meat himself. With such good marbling, the meat doesn't need seasoning. This weekend only, he's selling them for a bargain--$4.99 a pound. "They definitely won't be that cheap next week.," he says. 

Washington Nats Ryan Zimmerman and Felipe Lopez hung out at Mate, near the Georgetown waterfront, then moved on to prepster dive Smith Point...

...Also spotted in G-town: first twins Jenna and Barbara Bush, who reunited last weekend at the newly opened seafood restuarant Hook. Chef Barton Seaver did double-duty as waiter, delivering plates of calamari, beet salad, country ham, and bluefish to their table. Also in the dining room: former Wizard Jared Jeffries...

...Scooter Libby lunched at the Four Seasons last week...

...Former CIA director George Tenet was spotted ordering coffee at Dunkin’ Donuts in Bethesda...

...Actress Elisabeth Shue (Adventures in Babysitting, Leaving Las Vegas), her brother Andrew Shue (he was once on Melrose Place) and her documentary-directing husband David Guggenheim followed an appearance at AFI Silver with a stop at Silver Spring’s Latin-seafood restaurant Ceviche...

...Former CBS anchor Dan Rather filled up on salad at the AU law school cafeteria...

...and lest we forget, Food Network hottie Giada de Laurentiis was seen all over the place.