This will soon be on offer in Penn Quarter. Photograph by Kyle Gustafson.
For months now we have been bugging the good people at Shake Shack to tell us when its new location at 800 F Street would open—and it finally happened. A rep confirmed to Best Bites today that the third Washington restaurant will mark its grand debut on Tuesday, June 25.
The burger chain, owned by New York restaurateur Danny Meyer, made its Washington debut in 2011 at 1218 18th Street, Northwest, just south of Dupont Circle. Meyer’s Union Square Hospitality Group also maintains a Shake Shack stall at Nationals Park, along with three other concepts: Blue Smoke, El Verano Taqueria, and Box Frites.
NoPa, the sprawling new bistro from restaurateur Ashok Bajaj, along with Frederik de Pue’s seafood spot Azur, are among the new Shake Shack’s neighbors.
See also:
Everything You Need to Know About Burger Chains in Washington
Happy Wednesday, food truck followers! Get outside for some fresh air and lunch specials such as green goddess chicken wraps from Cirque Cuisine, lobster salad rolls at Ducky's Grub, and fish tacos aboard Go Fish.
Which chefs and bartenders will slim down the most? Image via Shutterstock.
Chefs and bartenders aren’t always known for their healthy lifestyles, but that’s about to change for the 15 toques and mixologists vying to shed the most pounds for the American Cancer Society’s Fit for Hope challenge. The 12-week weight-loss challenge is meant to raise awareness about the connection between cancer and obesity, poor diet, and lack of exercise; roughly one-third of cancer fatalities in the United States have been associated with those factors. The three competitors who lose the largest percentage of bodyweight get a Bloomingdale’s makeover at the Taste of Hope gala on September 24. So who’ll get the swank new duds? To the poll!
UPDATE: We received word Tuesday that celebrity chef Art “I Love Speedos” Smith (of Art and Soul) joined the race this afternoon as the 16th competitor. Think he’ll win? Let us know in the comments!
Cozy up to the bar at The Majestic for a martini. Photograph by Chris Campbell.
Wednesday, June 19, is National Martini Day, and I vote we skip the customary preamble about how it’s always national something day and just revel in the fact that we live in the world’s best city for drinking martinis.
I’m not claiming our bars make the best martinis—that would be a highly contestable statement. What I’m saying is, no drink says “Washington” like a martini. It’s what you drink when you’re a fat-cat lobbyist about to close a power deal. What lawyers and consultants order when wooing deep-pocketed clients. When you’re an elected official about to initiate an ill-advised affair with an intern, what cocktail do you buy that intern? That’s right: a martini. Without further ado, here are five places to get one.
Happy Tuesday, food truck followers! Wonder what all the trucks are atwitter about this morning? The DC City Council votes today on a revised set of food truck regulations. Learn more about it and what you can do to help in our earlier post.
Drop into Oyamel's new bar/lounge during their annual Tequila and Mezcal Festival, starting Monday. Photograph by Andrew Propp.
Tequila!: Now that Oyamel has opened its snazzy new lounge, it’s time for its annual Tequila and Mezcal Festival. Stop by Monday through June 30 for $10 tastings and seminars, special dishes and cocktails, and pairing dinners guided by experts and distillers. The full lineup of festivities can be found on the restaurant’s event page.
Talk and feast: Elissa Altman, writer of the James Beard Award-winning blog Poor Mans Feast, joins a discussion at the Sixth & I Synagogue on Tuesday at 7. The conversation will focus around her recently published memoir-cookbook. Tickets are $12, or receive two for free with the purchase of her book ($27.50).
Beer tasting: Sample brews from Cleveland’s Great Lakes Brewing Company at Woodward Table, which hosts a tasting on Wednesday from 6 to 9. You’ll learn about the brewery, sample a few suds, and munch on beer-friendly snacks ($10 inclusive). Call 202-347-5353 for reservations.
Wednesday, June 19 marks the grand opening of the new Mexican restaurant from celebrity chef Todd English, the man behind defunct Olives at 1600 K Street, Northwest. (Olives outposts live on in Las Vegas, Mexico City, and Boston, among other places).
MXDC takes over the Metro Center property that was once home to Galileo III at 600 14th Street, Northwest. It will debut with dinner only, and reps aren't spilling much as far as dish details go. Billed as “modern Mexican,” the menu is made up of small plates and family-style dishes. English has appointed J.C. Pavlovich to helm the kitchen. Iron Chef America fans may recognize Pavlovich from his reoccurring role as a sous chef on the show—he has supported both Julian Medina and Bobby Flay.
English has also amassed a collection of more than 100 tequilas for the bar. Flights featuring sensory-augmenting condiments and aromas will be on offer in the two-level space.
Washington’s dining scene has never been strong on Mexican food, but MXDC joins a number of new spots. Fourteenth street recently became home to a new iteration of Taqueria Nacional, while Chupacabra brought another late night option to H Street. Nearby Sol Mexican Grill debuted in April. And Chevy Chase recently welcomed Dallas Tex-Mex chain Mi Cocina. Monday, June 17 marks the long-awaited debut of Taco Bamba, the Falls Church counter-service spot from Del Campo chef Victor Albisu. That's at 2190 Pimmit Drive.
Happy Monday, food truck followers! Start the week out on a high note with lunch specials like BLT mac n' cheese with caramelized onions from Cap Mac, spicy potato and chickpea curry (vegan or with chicken) at Seoul Food, and fish tacos aboard District Taco.
You may not like the idea of microscopic mites crawling around on your cheese rind, but they are essential to the ripening processes in fromages like the orange-fleshed Mimolette.
The popular French cheese has been getting a lot of press lately thanks to a Food and Drug Administration order that has held up a shipment of the stuff after finding what it considered too many mites on the rinds—the worry is that the itty-bitty bugs will trigger allergies. The cheese has been sequestered in a New Jersey warehouse since March, and supplies are dwindling all across the country.
As Ann Limpert mentioned in our Eating & Reading roundup on Thursday, Jill Erber, owner of Cheesetique in Del Ray and Shirlington, is protesting the FDA order by giving away free quarter-pound pieces of Mimolette to fromage fans who post a frowny photo on Facebook.
Erber says she has access to a stash of the cheese, imported before the blocked shipment. The vendor has about 100 pounds left, says Erber, and Cheesetique has reserved “a huge amount” of that. Once it has been sold, Erber anticipates being completely out of the stuff until further notice.
While the FDA has not banned the import of Mimolette, mongers worry that the block signals further access issues down the line and wonder what other products may be sequestered on an ad-hoc basis. Erber points out that mites have been an integral part of Mimolette making for hundreds of years, and it has been imported here for decades. (Popular German Milbenkäse is another example of a mite cheese.) The blocked shipment has prompted a national protest; you can learn more about that on the Save the Mimolette Facebook page. To learn more about the Cheesetique promotion, head to its FB home.
Happy Friday, food truck followers! Truckeroo is today, so take the entire hour for lunch and hop on the Green Line to Navy Yard, where you'll find a solid lineup of vendors. You'll find specials like a slice of Hawaiian pizza from DC Slices, Neat Meat's turkey and cranberry sauce joe sandwich, and old favorites like frozen custard from Goodie's Frozen Custard.
