Bethesda Row is putting on its Spring Restaurant Week today though Sunday, with participating restaurants such as Redwood and Jaleo offering three-course lunches and dinners for $15 and $30, respectively.
Tax Day is nobody’s favorite cause for celebration, but there are a slew of specials designed to lift your spirits today. Those looking for liquid comfort can head to Casa Nonna or BLT Steak, where all cocktails, wines, and beers are half off all day long. EatBar in Arlington is featuring a mix of low-end specials ($2 Miller High Life, $4 DC Brau Corruption IPA) and splurge-worthy items like a $14 Mutual Fund cocktail with Macallan 12, Luxardo maraschino liqueur, and orange. McCormick & Schmick’s is throwing some food into the mix with an extended happy hour at the bar from 3:30 to 11 with $3 to $6 bar snacks; you’ll also be able to eat and drink for less at Jackson 20, where the restaurant is covering all sales tax. If you need a sweet pick-me-up, you’ll find free frozen yogurt at MaggieMoo’s from 4 to 7.
Cafe Saint-Ex is partnering with Colorado beermaker New Belgium Brewing for a dinner tonight at 7. Chef Billy Klein’s four-course menu includes items like bison pâté with smoked mushrooms, pork belly over udon noodles in lobster broth, and cocoa mole with mocha truffles, all paired with the brews. Spots are $45 per person, and can be reserved by e-mail.
Wednesday, chef Peter Smith is teaming up with Sonoma winemaker Stew Lauterbach at PS 7’s for a five-course meal paired with wines from Lauterbach Cellars. The menu is broken down into various preparations such as “cured” (house-made coppa), “fried” (oysters with shallot aioli), and “roasted” (Kobe beef filet with matsutake mushrooms and garlic bread pudding), with wines to match. Tickets ($77 per person) can be purchased by calling 202-742-8550.
Clarendon’s 3 Bar & Grill brings back its Patio Pig Roast every third Thursday of the month beginning at 5. Picture a whole smoked pig with lots of sides, plus drink specials like $3 drafts and cans of Pork Slap beer. Partial proceeds will benefit the Southern Foodways Alliance. Call 703-524-4440 for more details.
Saturday marks the fifth year of Hank’s Oyster Bar’s oyster fest, and there are tickets available at both the Dupont and Old Town locations for $80 per person. Grab some friends and head to either seafood joint from 11 to 3, where you’ll find all-you-can-eat oysters of the freshly shucked, fried, and barbecued varieties, and a selection of brews from Lagunitas, Tröegs, Victory, and North Coast. Regular dinner service starts at 5:30 for anyone who’s still miraculously hungry.
The big pork event of the year, Cochon 555, is headed to the Liaison this Sunday with five chefs, five pigs, five winemakers, and about 500 chances to overindulge in all the above. Scott Drewno (the Source), Ed Witt (701), Nicholas Stefanelli (Bibiana), Mike Isabella (Graffiato), and Wes Morton (Art and Soul) are cooking up porky dishes from their heritage pigs to win the title of Prince of Porc, and the winner will compete at the Grand Cochon event at the Food & Wine Classic in Aspen. Side attractions include wines from the likes of Elk Cove Vineyards and Sokol Blosser, a butchering demo, bourbon and tequila tastings, and more. Tickets range from $125 to $250 with varying degrees of access.
Anna Spiegel covers the dining and drinking scene in her native DC. Prior to joining Washingtonian in 2010, she attended the French Culinary Institute and Columbia University’s MFA program in New York, and held various cooking and writing positions in NYC and in St. John, US Virgin Islands.
