Monday, November 1
November is National Diabetes Month, and restaurateurs Jeff and Barbara Black (BlackSalt, Black Market Bistro, Black’s Bar and Kitchen, and Addie’s) are trying to raise $200,000 to build a new kitchen in the Diabetes Care Complex at Children’s National Medical Center. Through November 30, all proceeds from sales of Addie’s Mussels—the group’s signature dish, sold at all locations—go toward the project, and there are other promotions throughout the month, such as an oyster tasting at BlackSalt Saturday, November 6, from 3 to 5 ($55 in advance, $65 at the door). Click here for a full list of events.
Tuesday, November 2
The Women Chefs & Restaurateurs organization is teaming with Willow in Arlington for a five-course dinner and winetasting with Judy Fowler, the Virginia native who founded Puriri Hills Wines in New Zealand. Guests will sample a number of varietals—including the 2006 Puriri Hills Reserve, not yet released to the public—and hear about Fowler’s experience creating a hundred-acre vineyard that produces highly rated Bordeaux blends. The dinner ($45 for WCR members, $55 for nonmembers) begins at 7; click here for reservations.
Wednesday, November 3
Slow Food DC and Poste in DC’s Penn Quarter are hosting an animal roast in the restaurant’s courtyard. Poste chef Robert Weland, chef Drew Trautmann, and Tallula/EatBar chef Barry Koslow will prepare a pig, goat, and lamb. The event is the kickoff party for Slow Food DC’s Snail of Approval program, which identifies restaurants and producers that embody the organization’s mission of “good, clean, and fair food.” PS 7’s Gina Chersevani is providing cocktails, and Café Saint-Ex pastry chef Alison Reed is providing sweets. Tickets ($25 in advance or $30 at the door) can be purchased here. 5:30 to 8:30. Call 301-793-7856 for more information.
Legal Sea Foods in McLean is hosting a dinner with winemaker Juan Sabja and the award-winning Carménère wines from Concha y Toro Wine Estates in Chile. During the four-course meal, Sabja will talk about the six paired wines. Dishes include Atlantic salmon with gremolata and parsnip purée (for the full menu, click here). The dinner, $65 per person, begins at 6:30. Call 703-827-8900 for reservations.
Thursday, November 4
The nonprofits Bethesda Green, Gulf Savers, and Voice of the Wetlands are coming together for a First Thursday Happy Hour at Bethesda’s Louisiana Kitchen & Bayou Bar to promote awareness and raise funds for the Gulf Coast restoration efforts from 5 to 8. In addition to happy-hour-priced drinks, the restaurant is serving complimentary jambalaya and other New Orleans dishes. The $10 contribution at the door go toward efforts to restore native marsh grasses in Gulf waters and wetlands. Click here for more information.
Friday, November 5
The Lemelson Center’s annual New Perspectives on Invention and Innovation symposium is focused on food this year, with a two-day event called Food for Tomorrow. A collection of writers, farmers, historians, and scientists will use films, tastings, and discussions to show how modern innovations shape our approach to food. From 6:30 to 9 tonight, a screening of clips from Truck Farm!, a new documentary on urban farming, kicks off the lineup of events. Afterward, the filmmakers hold a discussion, and guests can sip garden-inspired cocktails and nosh on locally grown bites. Click here for tickets ($18 for Smithsonian Resident Associate members, $20 for nonmembers). Go here for a full schedule of symposium events.
L’Auberge Chez François chef Jacques Haeringer is holding an autumn-seafood cooking demonstration in his Great Falls restaurant at 11 AM. Guests will watch the chef prepare poached halibut with sea vegetables, lobster soufflé, and pumpkin Bavarian cake and then eat them at a seated lunch. The class ($94.50 per person including tax and gratuity) includes a copy of the recipes. For reservations, call 703-759-3800.
Saturday, November 6
Hollywood East Cafe owner Janet Yu, the organization Les Dames Escoffier, and visiting Chinese chefs are teaming up for a Hong Kong-style dim sum brunch. Dishes include scallop-and-duck dumplings, Chinese roast meats, and egg-custard tart. The tasting, which starts at 11:30, includes a discussion of the history and traditions behind the dishes. For tickets ($35 for Les Dames members and one guest, $40 nonmembers), which are required, click here.
Arcadia Center for Sustainable Food & Agriculture and the National Trust for Historic Preservation are putting on The Vices That Made Virginia: A Celebration of Bourbon, Oysters, & Cigars from 4 to 7 at Woodlawn in Alexandria. Chef Nathan Anda of Red Apron Butchery will roast a Virginia pig, and local oysters will be prepared a number of ways (fried, raw, and roasted), Virginia cheeses, a small-batch-bourbon tasting, a cigar exhibition, and live bluegrass. Tickets ($125) can be purchased here.
Sunday, November 7
Joan Nathan, the James Beard Award-winning author of several volumes on Jewish cookery, is signing and discussing her latest work, Quiches, Kugels, and Couscous: My Search for Jewish Cooking in France. Part narrative and part cookbook, Nathan delves into 2,000 years of French-Jewish history, illuminating the origins of cultural dishes and exploring the modern Jewish food that has been influenced by France’s former African colonies. The event, at Politics and Prose, begins at 5. Copies of the book will be available for $39.95.
The Alexandria Film Festival concludes with its Food & Film Day, sponsored by Healthy Food Alexandria. Chef demonstrations are at 4, followed by two film screenin
gs. The documentary Corner Plot begins at 5 and details the life of an 89-year-old farmer who tends a one-acre plot of land amid Beltway urban development. Next is Mad City Chickens, which tells the humorous story of urban chicken farming. Discussions and Q&A sessions with the filmmakers of both films follow. For tickets ($20), click here. The trio of events take place at the Duarant Arts Center (1605 Cameron St.).
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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.
