A new item on the Seasons breakfast menu, smashed-chocolate-croissant French toast, is topped with raspberry compote. Photographs by Carol Ross Joynt.

If your favorite Beltway bigwig seems a little more relaxed this week, it may be thanks to the re-appearance of the grand tradition of breakfast confabs in the Seasons restaurant at the Four Seasons. As Capital Comment reported Tuesday, the restaurant reopened this week after a million-dollar remodel (during renovation, the morning meal was served upstairs at Bourbon Steak). The expansion added 800 square-feet to the dining room. Also new: banquettes, wool carpeting, and a small “living-room” area for guests looking for a quick coffee before heading out.

Sobel stuffs Yorkshire puddings with scallions and Brie for a rich v-day treat.

On Tuesday, we shared a couple of appetizers—one simple, one slightly more involved—from Cork Wine Bar chef Rob Weland. Today, we’re moving on to the main course with two flavor-packed dishes from Adam Sobel at Bourbon Steak. His simple-to-execute spicy Thai beef salad is an excellent pick for kitchen newbies looking to impress a loved one this February 14. And the prime rib cap, while slightly more involved, is sure to wow your favorite beef aficionado.  Be sure to read through the recipes before you begin, as some advance prep is required. 

Happy Thursday, food truck followers! There's lots of sunshine out there, so head to L'Enfant, West End, Farragut, and everywhere else your favorite trucks are gathering. 

Photograph courtesy of Flickr user quinn.anya.

Clam juice is an easy way to add a briny kick to seafood dishes, but the brands at supermarkets tend to be packed with preservatives and added salt. A better alternative: fresh clam juice from Virginia waterman Jimmy Hogge, who with his wife, Paige, runs Buster’s Seafood at local farmers markets.

Hogge has fished the Chesapeake for 54 years but only recently discovered he could sell the liquid that’s released when he cracks open the littlenecks he harvests in Mobjack Bay. The liquor—$5 a pint—is clear and lightly salty, with the flavor of just-shucked clams. The juice keeps only three to five days, but there are many ways to use it. We’ve added it to a garlicky pot of steamed mussels for extra dipping broth, mixed it in with white wine for Italian clam sauce and with cream for New England chowder, and even thrown it into a spicy Bloody Mary in place of Clamato.

Available October through March on Saturday at the Arlington Farmers Market (N. Courthouse Rd. and N. 14th St.) and Sunday at the Dupont Circle FreshFarm Market (20th St. and Massachusetts Ave., NW). May through October, it’s available Thursday at the FreshFarm market near the White House (Vermont Ave. between H and I sts., NW).

This article appears in the February 2012 issue of The Washingtonian.

Photograph by Erik Ueke.

If you work in a restaurant kitchen, the last thing you want to do when you get home is slave over another stove. I discovered Carr Valley Bread Cheese when I last cooked in a restaurant, and it was a godsend. All the firm, mozzarella-like cheese needs is a quick pan fry—or 30 seconds in the microwave—and you have a warm, melty block that tastes like a homey grilled cheese sandwich.

The Wisconsin cheese is a twist on a Finnish product, juustoleipä. Carr Valley bakes its version, giving it a nutty brown surface that crisps nicely in a skillet. The mild, sweet-salty flavor takes well to a dab of apricot jam, a drizzle of honey, or a dunk in fresh marinara. Or you could go the post-restaurant-shift route: Unwrap, zap, and enjoy with a cold brew.

Carr Valley Bread Cheese, $8.40 a pound, is available at Whole Foods and at carrvalleycheese.com.

This article appears in the February 2012 issue of The Washingtonian.

Happy humpday, food truck followers! It's DC Meat-Free Week, and many of your fave vendors are offering vegetarian and vegan specials, including mushroom drunken noodles from the Thai Fojol, $1 red pepper soup from Cap Mac, and  Tasty Kabob's $2 veggie platter. 

Stephen Starr is seeking "driven people" for his new Washington, DC project. Photograph courtesy of Starr Restaurants.

Philadelphia-based restaurateur Stephen Starr has been tight-lipped about his plans to open a French-bistro-style restaurant on 14th Street. For months there was a lot of back and forth as to whether the project was even happening. Then last fall, Washington Business Journal’s Missy Frederick confirmed that a lease had been signed at the corner of 14th and Q streets for a 7,000-square-foot space.

Now it seems plans are moving forward, because we just spotted this Craigslist ad from the Starr Restaurants seeking a general manager for the new Washington, DC, location. Team players, “driven people,” and those equipped with “satisfaction excellence”—whatever that is—get your résumés ready: It looks like we’ll have a Starr spot arriving in the not-too-distant future.