• Conspiracy on Top Chef? A commenter on Gawker claims that the crappy frozen scallops that brought down Spike Mendelsohn (sans fedora for once) were not part of guest judge Rick Tramonto’s restaurant kitchen, as Mendelsohn claimed, but were a plant by the show’s producers. Still, that doesn’t change the fact that Spike, who had first dibs on a walk-in fridge full of fresh ingredients, chose the bag o’ frozen critters anyway. Why are we on such heavy Spike watch? His family-owned burger joint, Good Stuff Eatery (303 Pennsylvania Ave., SE), is slated to open in the next few weeks on Capitol Hill. He tells Grub Street: “I’m really young, 27, and I didn’t want to open my fine-dining restaurant yet. All the critics would have been really on top of me, and I would have driven myself crazy. I’m giving it the branding of Starbucks; it’s a very well-branded store.”

• Alain Ducasse, the venerable French chef who holds three triple-Michelin-starred restaurants (plus 19 others) in his repertoire, is opening in Washington. The Washington Post’s Tom Sietsema reports that he’s planning Adour at the St. Regis (923 16th St., NW) in downtown DC’s newly regilded St. Regis Hotel this fall. Designed by starry New York architect David Rockwell—who’s also responsible for visuals at the much-lauded Manhattan branch of Adour—the space will include wine vaults, hand-blown glass lights, and a 40-seat bar.
 

For those of you who prefer pints to Pinots, sip on this: A rare 1997 vintage Hurlimann Samichlaus lager, the only keg of its kind left in the world, has made its way to Washington. Brasserie Beck beer sommelier Bill Catron scored the exclusive Swiss barrel and will pair it and other Samichlaus vintages from the last ten years with a five-course dinner at the Belgian restaurant on Tuesday, June 3.

Zurich-based Hurlimann brewery kegged its last annual Samichlaus (Santa Claus) beer in 1997 on December 6—St. Nicholas Day—and all but one keg has been tapped. Scientist and brewery founder Albert Hurlimann spent 20 years tinkering with yeast strains to create his signature end-of-the-year beer but shuttered his operation in 2000.

And so it all boils down to this: a set of sharp knives and a hunk of aged beef. As the penultimate episode of this season’s Top Chef begins, the chef contestants find themselves at Chicago’s famed Allen Brothers, which we discover is a nationally recognized meat purveyor. After donning heavy equipment, including something that resembles a breastplate and, to Richard’s horror, hairnets, the chefs are given a caveman-size hunk of beef and asked to cut individual, frenched chops in 20 minutes.

See our online-only Cheap Eats photo slideshow. 

Here’s how you can enjoy the cooking of some of the region’s most celebrated chefs without busting the budget.

At Restaurant Eve in Old Town, chef Cathal Armstrong offers a Lickity Split weekday menu that lets diners choose any two items for $13.50—including, say, a bowl of mussels and a glass of Petit Chenin Blanc or maybe an Irish BLT with chips and a miniature birthday cake for dessert.

Around the corner at Armstrong’s Majestic, the Royal Pick menu presents a similar deal—any item on the weekday lunch menu, plus a drink, for $12. That includes the Cod Niçoise, which normally goes for $21. Nana’s Sunday Dinner, which includes a meat, three sides, and dessert served family style, is $78 for four.

Poste Moderne Brasserie

Chef Robert Weland subscribes to the “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” philosophy. Rather than make wholesale changes each season, Weland tweaks his lineup. And why not? Old reliables include succulent roast chicken, finely chopped Wagyu tartare, and a delicate sashimi of Kona kampachi (farm-raised yellowtail from Hawaii) with frizzled shavings of ginger. A recent visit makes us hope he keeps two more dishes: a velvety, port-spiked chicken-liver mousse on toasted baguette and an appetizer of grilled pork sausages with delicate pierogi that’s as filling as an entrée. The only downer? A server who was by turns flighty and condescending.
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Photographs by Matthew Worden

The Washingtonian's annual guide to the area's 100 Best Bargain Restaurants just hit newsstands! We've got 27 new restaurants on the list, which you can read about in the June issue. For a preview, check out our online-only photo slideshow.  

>>Read our guide to gourmet dining on a budget—it tells you how to enjoy the cooking of some of the area’s most celebrated chefs without busting your bank account.

Top Chef's Spike Mendelsohn had his hat handed to him at New York's Mai House. Photograph courtesy of Bravo.

•In Washington-related Top Chef news . . . the kitchen reality show’s guest judge this week was none other than José Andrés, owner of Jaleo, Zaytinya, Oyamel, Café Atlántico, and Minibar. Padma Lakshmi’s introduction of the famed Spanish chef, though, made no mention of his DC mini-empire—just his new PBS series, Made in Spain.  
    Contestant Spike Mendelsohn—who’s in the process of opening Good Stuff Eatery, a burger spot on Capitol Hill—managed to survive this week’s episode and move on to the final five, but Eater reports that he’s left his chef post at New York’s Mai House. Lest you think the fedora-sporting contestant may have actually won the show, it turns out he was fired. According to Eater’s source, Mai House owner Drew Nieporent told Spike: “Please pack your knives and go to DC to grill hamburgers.”

•Assaggi brings a new Italian restaurant to the former Centro space in Bethesda but opens without its much-anticipated mozzarella bar. The Washington Post’s Tom Sietsema reassures cheese lovers that the six-foot-long bar, custom-designed for refrigerating and tasting cheeses, should arrive any day now.