Daily dispatches on the Washington, DC area's food, restaurant and dining scene.

Recession Specials: Restaurants Roll Out the Dining Deals

By Ann Limpert

The recently opened Art and Soul is offering a $24 three-course lunch and $35 dinner this week.

This week, restaurant-reservations Web site Opentable.com is spearheading a promotion to get all you cash-strapped diners back into the city’s banquettes: Now until Friday, over 150 restaurants (click here for the full list) are offering $24 three-course lunches and $35 dinners. So if you’ve been jonesing for a meal at Poste, PS7’s, Rasika, or Corduroy or are looking to try new spots such as Art and Soul or Passionfish, here’s your chance. If you can’t make it out this week, plenty of other restaurant deals are going strong.

$19.90 lunch at Vidalia
This airy new-Southern downtown dining room is known for generous Restaurant Week specials. Its latest offering is a three-course lunch that lets you choose any appetizer, main course, and dessert from its regular menu. The portions are “tasting-sized” (Read: shrunken), but it’s still a deal.
 

Read More

R.I.P. Brasserie Les Halles

By Todd Kliman

Brasserie Les Halles has served its last onglet. The Gallic-inspired chain is shutting down its DC branch after 15 years, effective immediately.

Philippe Lajaunie, the charming, permanently tanned owner, told me last night, "I tried using my option but the new rent conditions were just unbearable. It has been swell."

Read More

Chew On This: What’s Your Favorite Dirt-Cheap Eat?

By Kate Nerenberg

We always give you our thoughts on eating around town, but we want to hear yours, too! Every week, we’ll ask you to weigh in on a question about the local dining scene.

When our December issue hits the stands next week, you’ll be able to read about 61 of our favorite Dirt Cheap Eats in the Washington area—everything from fabulous streetcart pizza to a West Coast-worthy coffeehouse to crab cakes that are just as satisfying (and half as expensive) as the ones at Johnny’s Half Shell.

So we want to know: What’s your go-to spot for a meal for $15 or less? Give us your insider tips in the comments!

Related:
Chew on This: How Much Do You Tip?
Chew on This: Where Should Barack Obama Eat?
Dirt Cheap Eats 2007

The Frugal Foodie: Vermilion's Anthony Chittum

By Kelly DiNardo

A Thanksgiving spread doesn’t have to gobble up an entire paycheck. One local chef proves it, dishing up a feast for four for less than $25.

“I can’t afford green beans,” says Anthony Chittum, looking a bit lost. The chef at Alexandria’s Vermilion is known for hosting farm dinners with Washington growers and typically feels right at home at a farmers market. But constrained by a tight $25 Thanksgiving budget, he wanders through the Penn Quarter FreshFarm Market adrift.

Chittum studies his list. He looks at a selection of apples—too expensive. He jokes about collecting enough samples for his recipe but moves on. He does another lap up and down the market, then chooses a head of cauliflower and swaps green beans for kale.

Read More

Table to Table: This Week in Food Events

By Matt Carr

Every week we fill you in on our favorite wine and food events.

Monday, November 17

Drink organic tonight at the Reef in Adams Morgan. A five-course dinner will be paired with beers from the Peak Organic Brewing Company. Brewmaster John Cadoux and local representative Tim Adams will be on hand to introduce each pairing, including a seared duck breast with sauteed arugula, duck cracklings, and pomegranate molasses, with a glass of pomegranate-wheat beer with açai juice. The dinner starts at 7 and costs $65 per person. Call 202-518-3800 for reservations.

Tuesday, November 18
Is your sweet tooth lightening your wallet? No problem. ACKC (2003-A Mt. Vernon Ave., Alexandria) in Del Ray is hosting a free chocolate tasting and open house featuring J. Chocolatier’s fall collection. Stop by from 6:30 to 8:30 to sample the goods. RSVP required: call 703-635-7917.

Need a new cookbook? At the National Press Club’s Book Fair, stroll by the chefs’ tables for free food tastings and book signings. Local chef José Andrés will be there with his new book, Made in Spain, as will Bon Appétit editor-in-chief Barbara Fairchild and former Kennedy family chef Neil Connolly. Cookbook authors and chefs Karen Page and Andrew Dornenburg, Laurie Forster, Jose Garces, Domenica Marchetti, Matthew Mead, and Suvir Saran will also be there. The event costs $5, with proceeds to benefit the Eric Friedheim National Journalism Library. 5:30 to 8:30 at the National Press Building (529 14th St., NW). For more information, visit press.org.

 

Read More

The Wrap-Up: The Week in Food

By Kate Nerenberg

Every Friday, we fill you in on what’s been happening in the local restaurant world.

• The first two post-election weeks have been filled with politicos predicting who’ll be in Barack Obama’s cabinet, but at Best Bites we’ve been trying to figure out whom the president-elect might put in charge of the White House kitchen. A report in the New York Daily News reveals that there are three chefs in the running: Chicago-based Art Smith, chef of the new Art and Soul on Capital Hill; Rick Bayless, whose Chicago restaurant, Topolobampo, is rumored to be an Obama favorite; and Daniel Young, who cooked for Obama at the Democratic convention and currently feeds Denver Nuggets star Carmelo Anthony.

Read More

What's New

By Rina Rapuano , Kate Nerenberg

Farm food, Southern comfort, and more.

The new Founding Farmers, three blocks from the White House, is owned by a cooperative of 40,000 farmers who are part of the growing farm-to-table movement. Photograph by Chris Leaman.

Founding Farmers (1924 Pennsylvania Ave., NW; 202-822-8783) is owned by a co-op of 40,000 domestic farmers, whose food translates into portions as big as the restaurant’s two-story concrete interior.

Art Smith is an Oprah pal and a James Beard Award winner, and his Southern comfort menu at Art and Soul (415 New Jersey Ave., NW; 202-393-7777) on Capitol Hill is full of big, buttery dishes that stick to your ribs. Order a pork chop and you’ll get two.

Washington has never been a town of big, fat, messy sandwiches. Jackson’s Roasting & Carving Co. (933 N. Quincy St., Arlington; 703-312-1073) is bidding to fill that void; the meatloaf is a step in the right direction.

Read More
Find A ...
Find A Restaurant







  1. Only show Delivery
    Only show Kid Friendly
    Only show Late Night
    Only show Party Space
    Only show Weekend Brunch
Find Events




Find A Happy Hour





  1. search_finda.gif
Find A Spa




  1. search_finda.gif
Find a Home





  1. search_finda.gif
  2. Powered by  
Find A Hotel


  1.   


  2. Reviewed by Washingtonian
  3. Kid Friendly     Valet Parking
    Handicap Accessible    

  4. Childcare
    WiFi
    Pet Friendly
    Bar/Lounge/Dining
    Airport Shuttle
    Salon/Spa
    Swimming Pool
    Fitness Room
    On-site Drycleaning
    Meeting Rooms
    Golf
    Tennis Courts
    Game Room
  5. search_finda.gif
Newsletter Signup
  1. Where & When
  2. Shop Around
  3. Dining Out
  4. Bridal Party
  5. Kliman Online
  6. Learn more sign_up.gif
 

Breaking News: Jamie Stachowski Is Out at Thirsty Bernie

Master of meat Jamie Stachowski is no longer in the kitchen at the Arlington Sports pub where he was making nearly everything by hand. more

Vacancy: Hotel Rooms Still Available for Inauguration

More than 1,400 hotel rooms are still unbooked in the Washington area for the inauguration. more

  1. Cooking at Home (36 Entries)
  1. Eating in Other Cities (13 Entries)
  1. Events (110 Entries)
  1. Feedback (31 Entries)
  1. First Looks (94 Entries)
  1. Food Media (30 Entries)
  1. Food & Restaurant News (158 Entries)
  1. Food Trends (45 Entries)
  1. From the Magazine (84 Entries)
  1. Frugal Foodie (4 Entries)
  1. Hidden Eats (15 Entries)
  1. Holiday Eats (53 Entries)
  1. Interviews (65 Entries)
  1. In the Magazine (8 Entries)
  1. Our Favorite Things (47 Entries)
  1. Recipes (33 Entries)