Eat Local: Join Think Local First for a week of farm-to-table menus and events celebrating Washington’s regional bounty. Tonight’s gathering is at Ris, a happy hour and salon dinner celebrating women who lead the local food movement. The full lineup is available on the website; it includes garden tours, cocktails, seminars, and street parties.
Restaurant-Hop in Maryland: Bethesda/Chevy Chase Restaurant Week runs Monday through Sunday. Participating restaurants like Food Wine & Co., Jaleo, and Assaggi offer two- or three-course lunches ($13 and $16, respectively) and $33 dinners.
Drink Like the Belgians: Mussels, frog’s legs, frites, and Belgian beers are to be found in plentiful supply for Belgian Restaurant Week—see our day-by-day run-down.
Picnic With Water Slides: Get an early look of one of the fall’s hottest culinary openings on Saturday during the Summer Picnic Spectacular at the yet-to-debut Union Market from noon to 6 PM. The family-friendly event includes eats from a mix of restaurants, chefs, and food trucks—everyone from the Source’s Scott Drewno to Taqueria Nacional and the Dangerously Delicious Pie truck—plus boozy snow cones, water slides, a giant moon bounce, and deejays spinning “BBQ funk.” Tickets are $5, or $7 if you purchase at the event.
Rooftop Competition: The P Street Whole Foods hosts a rooftop party on Saturday from 6 to 9 PM with live music, chef demos from Ris Lacoste and 701’s Ed Witt, local brews, and plentiful snacks. The cause for celebration is the Best Butcher Contest, in which the store’s meat experts compete to go on to Meatopia in New York City. Tickets ($20 per person) are available via Eventbrite, and all proceeds benefit DC Central Kitchen.
Drink Rum: There are not one but two excuses to sip the tropical liquor this week. First up, Cuba Libre celebrates National Daiquiri Day on Thursday with $5 El Floridita cocktails and daiquiris, plus the usual happy hour specials on caipirinhas, wine, and small plates from 4:30 to 6:30. Then on Saturday, Ceiba hosts a rum tasting of ten-plus spirits and lunch. There’s already a waiting list—get on it via e-mail.
Cook Healthy for Kids: Head to DC Chew, Ward 7’s first farmers market, on Saturday for cooking demos and cookbook giveaways with cheflebrity Rock Harper. The former Hell’s Kitchen winner shows market-goers how to cook healthy, kid-oriented meals with seasonal ingredients from noon to 1 PM and gives away ten autographed copies of his book, 44 Things Parents Should Know About Healthy Cooking for Kids.
Chesapeake Dreaming: Jackson 20, along with City Eats, throws a Bounty of the Bay patio party on Sunday at 6 PM with plenty of steamed Chesapeake crabs, stuffed and fresh-shucked oysters, fried clams, and slaw, all included in the $45 ticket. Purchase beers individually; costs range from $2 PBR to 16-ounce Star Hill drafts for $16. Go casual.
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.
