A month ago, our restaurant critic Todd Kliman told his Twitter followers he had heard a rumor that Monterey Bay Fish Grotto and Inox, both in Tysons Corner, were going to close. Monday, Missy Frederick of the Washington Business Journal confirmed the sad news about Monterey Bay with a call to the restaurant’s Pittsburgh location. No word on Inox.

Chef Laurent Tourondel and business partner Jimmy Haber, the duo behind the BLT group—which includes BLT Steak in downtown DC—split up. According to New York Times reporter Florence Fabricant, Haber will keep control of the steakhouse in DC, where chef de cuisine Victor Albisu will get a bump to executive chef. The group has two forthcoming projects, both near Dupont Circle: BLT Burger, which will open with a different name, and the Italian restaurant Casa Nonna.

On Thursday, March 11, some of Washington’s best restaurants will join together to take part in the annual Dining Out for Life fundraising event. All you need to bring is a big heart and an empty stomach.

Eat at one of 150 participating restaurants, and they’ll donate a percentage of your check (up to 110 percent!) to Food & Friends, a local organization that delivers meals to those living with HIV/AIDS, cancer, and other serious illnesses. So, the more you eat, the more those in need eat, too.

A few restaurants, such as Annie’s Paramount Steakhouse, Tosca, and Posto, are among those contributing 100 percent of the day’s sales. Bistrot du Coin, Little Fountain Cafe, and Level One will give half, while Againn, CommonWealth, and BlackMarket Bistro are among the many donating 25 percent.

• This week brought a litany of restaurant closings, starting with Prince of Petworth’s news Monday that Polly’s Cafe on U Street, Northwest, shuttered. Less than 15 minutes later, Nycci Nellis wrote on Twitter that Posh Restaurant & Supper Club in DC’s Penn Quarter was also quiet as of Monday. While both restaurants’ Web sites announce the sad news, neither gives a reason. We’re guessing Snowpocalypse and a banged-up economy had something to do with it.  

• Tuesday, a DonRockwell.com reader reported that Tap & Vine, a wine bar from the owners of nearby Restaurant Vero in Arlington, said in a newsletter Tuesday that it’s going out of business.

In a few weeks, the team behind Clarendon’s Liberty Tavern will open two new eateries in the same neighborhood: first they’ll debut Northside Social, a coffeehouse and wine bar, and later, Lyon Hall, a European-style brasserie. While Liberty Tavern executive chef Liam LaCivita will oversee both projects, owner Stephen Fedorchak tells us that he’s tapped Andy Bennett as chef de cuisine of Lyon Hall. Bennett worked with Manhattan-based chef Daniel Boulud for five years at the famed chef’s eponymous restaurant and as executive chef at the Inn at LW12. He also has experience at a two-Michelin-star restaurant, Le Manoir Aux Quat’ Saisons, in his native England.

• We’ve been waiting a while for Top Chef contestant and Good Stuff Eatery owner Spike Mendelsohn to open the pizza joint he promised us months ago. NBC Washington tells us that the restaurant—called We, the Pizza and located next door to Good Stuff—should start turning out pies (sold whole or by the slice) in mid-April. The menu also includes house-made gelato, Italian soda, and sandwiches.

• In unrelated Spike Mendelsohn news, Grub Street tells us he’ll take on Cleveland-based chef Michael Symon in the next new episode of Iron Chef America. Turn your TV dials to the Food Network on Sunday, March 7, at 9 PM to catch the fedora-topped Mendelsohn.

Every spring, the food world comes together in New York to celebrate its brightest stars at the James Beard Awards. This year’s ceremony will happen May 3 at Avery Fisher Hall, and finalists will be announced on March 22. But who’s in the early running for a medal? Here are the Washington folks who have made the semi-final cut.

>> See a slideshow of photos of Screwtop here 

If you don’t already know Wendy Buckley when you step in to Screwtop, her Clarendon wine bar and shop, you soon will. As you enter, an encyclopedia of wine—from Armagnac to Zinfandel—hangs sideways, each entry accompanied by Buckley’s handwritten index-card notes. One reads, “My momma’s favorite wine,” pointing to a Lodali Moscato. Another proclaims, “You’ll want to dance after a couple of glasses of this sparkler!” referring to a Torrentes/Chardonnay blend called the Striptease. Across the sleek, hardwood floor, a selection of imported meats cool in a display case, with messages declaring prosciutto di Parma as “thinly-sliced heaven,” and bresaola as “the best thing to come out of Italy since Sophia Loren.”