>> To see more photos of the Reserve, visit our photo slideshow 

It’s easy to walk past the Reserve and not even realize it. Its two nine-foot-tall, unmarked castle doors are fringed by the scruffy Post Pub and a makeshift sign advertising “$5 palm readings by Ms. Alexis.”

Pushing past the doors and onto the lounge’s mahogany floor, patrons will find black leather love seats surrounding candlelit tables and an oak-paneled bar topped with marble. A carpeted staircase leads to the upstairs wine room, where some 250 bottles of reds are stacked in a floor-to-ceiling cantina and another 250 bottles of whites chill in a refrigerator.

Monday, November 2
Hobnob with Redskins, Capitals, and more than 30 of the city’s top chefs at the March of Dimes’ Signature Chefs Auction at 6:30. The evening, emceed by WJLA anchor Leon Harris, features a series of live and silent auctions, food and wine tastings, and hotel and weekend giveaways inside the Ritz-Carlton in DC’s West End (1150 22nd St., NW). To reserve tickets, click here.

Tuesday, November 3
Join food writer Gail Forman at Blue Ridge for the first installment in a three-part series, “What’s for Lunch? Sustainable Foods That Sustain You at Lunch.” Over lunch, she’ll discuss sustainability with a focus on pigs and pork. The following session, at Zola on November 10, features a trip to a nearby historic “eco-gastro” restaurant. The final lunch, on November 17 at Sonoma, has a focus on Alaskan fisheries. Tickets for the three dates are $135 for Resident Associates members and $170 for nonmembers. Reservations can be made here.

President Obama romanced first lady Michelle Obama at Blue Duck Tavern in DC’s West End. The couple was celebrating their 17th wedding anniversary . . .

. . . Actress Natalie Portman invaded Westend Bistro at the downtown Ritz-Carlton in DC with a gang of more than 20 people. She was later spotted breakfasting at Commissary near Logan Circle.

. . . Who’s the man eating a cheeseburger and sipping Chardonnay at Trio in DC’s Dupont Circle? Shaft (a.k.a. Richard Roundtree)! You’re damn right . . .

. . . Los Angeles Dodgers legend Tommy Lasorda celebrated his 82nd birthday at the upscale Italian chain Il Mulino in downtown DC. Joining the party were Major League Baseball commissioner Bud Selig, Dodgers manager Joe Torre, and Nationals owner Mark Lerner . . .

Top Chef is down one Washingtonian. In a surprise twist, perennial bottom-three-er Robin escaped elimination on this week’s episode and Zaytinya chef Mike Isabella was asked to pack his knives and go. His offense? A poorly executed (and oddly protein-free) leek dish for vegetarian actress Natalie Portman. On a Washingtonpost.com chat yesterday, Isabella made clear he’s hasn’t gained any affection for Robin (a.k.a. Grandma). “That woman could not cook her way out of a paper bag,” noted a commenter. “That’s totally true,” replied Isabella. “She can’t cook.” He went on to tell E! Online that though they’ve talked since the show, “she’s crazy and she’s annoying.”

Jack Evans saves the day! After it looked like the 40-year-old downtown DC dive the Black Rooster was headed for extinction, it now seems it’ll stay open after all. Owner Jody Taylor credits the DC Council member with the rescue. What happened? “I don’t really know, to be honest with you,” Taylor tells the Washington City Paper. “Once I talked to the landlord, he was extremely gracious. Everybody came to terms. It’s good all around.”

Gary Vaynerchuk, host of the video blog Wine Library TV, was at American University last week promoting his new book, Crush It! Why Now Is the Time to Cash In on Your Passion. Considering the entrepreneur’s background, the title couldn’t be any more appropriate.

After immigrating from the former USSR to New Jersey, Vaynerchuk honed his wine skills at his family’s liquor store—also called Wine Library—and used social-media networks to catapult the bodega into a $60-million brand. Yet it wasn’t until Vaynerchuk launched his daily Web cast three years ago that his buzz propelled him onto Decanter magazine’s 2009 Power List. Today, Vaynerchuk’s straightforward—and often hyperactive—online reviews (he recently broadcast that one varietal “reminds me of Skittles” and that another “tastes like asparagus pee-pee”) has led him to become a wine guru for some 350,000 followers on Twitter and more than 90,000 “Vayniacs” who tune in to his Web cast each day.

This layer cake gets an extra kick of flavor from coconut milk. Photograph by Chris Leaman.

Until two years ago, the makings of the Majestic’s layer cake changed daily. Chef Shannon Overmiller decided, however, that she wanted to “do one cake and do it well.” Employees from the Majestic and its sister properties—Restaurant Eve, Eamonn’s, and PX—held a bake-off to determine which cake would be a menu mainstay. Overmiller’s coconut cake—she tweaked a recipe from the Internet—triumphed over approximately 15 other entries.

The dessert is a tall, fluffy creation that gets an extra kick of coconut flavor from the fruit’s milk—Overmiller suggests using Chaokoh brand—in the cake batter and brushed between the layers. Because the filling needs to chill overnight, be sure to start the cake the day before you’re going to serve it.

Have a restaurant recipe you'd like sniffed out? E-mail recipesleuth@washingtonian.com. 

Even if your Halloween treats tend to come in the form of frosty beer mugs instead of fun-size Snickers, don’t try to tell us that you don’t love tearing into chocolate bars, candy corn, and boxes of Mike & Ike (does anyone actually like those?) this time of year. When you dip your hand into a plastic pumpkin bucket of candy, what do you go for? Let us know in the comments. And make sure to check out our full Halloween guide.