Brian McPherson is focusing on local and sustainable at Jackson 20 (pictured here) and the Grill at Morrison House. Photograph by Stacy Zarin-Goldberg.

Late last year, Dennis Marron left his gig as top toque at Old Town Alexandria restaurants Jackson 20 and the Grille at Morrison House for a new post at Poste. All three restaurants are owned by the Kimpton hotel and restaurant chain, and Kimpton has picked Brian McPherson, an alum of New Heights, Butterfield 9, David Greggory, and—wouldn’t ya know it—Poste, to replace him.

FLOTUS in Texas: The first lady dined at a Fort Worth Olive Garden this week.

Being the First Lady isn’t all dry-aged New York strip and caramelized Brussels sprouts. Last night, Michelle Obama had dinner at an Olive Garden in Fort Worth, Texas. The meal was part of her "Let's Move!" campaign—Olive Garden's parent company, Darden, is introducing healthier kids’ menus across its eateries, which include Red Lobster and Longhorn Steakhouse.

Obama visited the Forth Worth restaurant with White House chef Sam Kass following an event in Little Rock, Arkansas, according to press traveling with the First Lady. Per the report, her motorcade from the airport “passed an Olive Garden on the way to the Olive Garden.”

Dining at a long table with eight parents, Obama reportedly ate salad, minestrone soup, and Venetian chicken, and had limoncello mousse with vanilla cookie crust for dessert. No word on whether she took advantage of the bottomless breadsticks.

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.

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.

Garret Fleming's pork ramen will likely be on the menu when the Pig opens this spring. Photograph courtesy of the Pig via Facebook.

Let’s get this out of the way. When the Pig opens this Spring on 14th Street, there will be vegetarian and vegan dishes on the menu. And according to chef Garret Fleming, they won’t be the token offerings. “I want them to be the most intriguing, delicious vegetarian items, so we can get a vegetarian to go to a restaurant called the Pig” he says.

The name—a reference to a Roald Dahl poem—is a bit of a misnomer anyway, says David Winer, partner in EatWell DC, the restaurant group behind the Pig as well as Logan Tavern, the Commissary, Grillfish, and the Heights. It “started as ‘nose to tail, farm to table,’” says Winer, “and that became cliché. So we just changed it to ‘handmade food and drink.’ Because that became more important, more overriding. We want the food we buy to be hand-raised as best as possible.”

Here’s how they hope to do that:

Want to win a very good guide to home barbecuing? Head over to Todd Kliman’s dining chat, which begins every Tuesday at 11 AM. The challenge today is designed to help you get something off your chest. Have you had it with a restaurant’s no-reservation policy or two-hour-long brunch lines? Did a mustachioed “mixologist” snub you for ordering a vodka tonic? Some know-nothing Yelp reviewer malign your beloved neighborhood pizza joint? A cherished dish get inexplicably 86ed from the menu of your favorite tapas spot? Tell the offender how you feel in an open letter, and submit it to the chat. Adopt whatever tone you feel suits the occasion—touching, sarcastic, sincere, enraged—just make sure it’s intelligent and thoughtful, too. This week's giveaway book: Steven Raichlen's The Barbecue Bible. Best of luck ...

Rosa Mexicano's Disney-fied dessert.

This week you can sample Disney-inspired dishes at Graffiato, Fiola, Rosa Mexicano, Meatballs, and Ping Pong Dim Sum. The five Penn Quarter chefs behind these eateries are competing to concoct the “ultimate Disney Dish” in preparation for Disney On Ice: 100 Years of Magic, opening at the Verizon Center on February 15. Minnie, Mickey, and some human judges will ultimately decide the winner, but you can try all of the lunchtime-only selections through February 15 and choose for yourself. Part of the proceeds go to DC Central Kitchen.

If you indulged in last week’s DC Meat Week, repent with DC Meat-Free Week, today through February 13. The lineup of vegetable-y fun includes some serious deals H Street on Tuesday; a vegan cocktail demo and book signing from The Tipsy Vegan author John Schlimm on Thursday; and a raw-food tasting dinner at Elizabeth’s Gone Raw on Friday.