The National Cherry Blossom Festival kicked off Wednesday, March 20. If you haven’t
yet consulted our first list of food and drink specials, you should go ahead and do so. In the meantime, here are 11 more local offerings.
Offers are available throughout the festival—which concludes April 14—unless otherwise
noted.
Acadiana, DC Coast, District Commons
The Deal: These downtown hotspots honor one DC icon (cherry blossoms) by serving another:
the gin rickey, Washington’s official cocktail, for $12. The mixture of gin, lime,
and a splash of soda will be served at the three Passion Food Group restaurants.
The Deal: Stay healthy, cherry-blossom style, with Bayou’s cherry and arugula salad.
Priced at $6.50, it includes chickpeas, toasted almonds, feta, honey, and whole organic
cherries hydrated with fresh-squeezed orange juice. It’s topped with yogurt dressing.
The Deal: Chef
Robert Wiedmaier’s cherry-centric menu features dishes such as grilled Gulf shrimp with baby arugula,
toasted hazelnuts, barrel-aged feta, and cherry balsamic vinaigrette for $17; a slow-roasted
pork tenderloin accompanied by sweet potato purée and sautéed mustard greens and topped
with a sour cherry demiglace for $29; and a decadent Black Forest chocolate cake with
cherries spiked with brandy and Chantilly cream for $10.
The Deal: Sweeten things up at this NYC import with a cherry blossom punch, made with
Absolut CherryKran and Mandarin vodkas with fresh lemon juice and a splash of cranberry—that’s
$11. Pair it with
zeppole, lemon-powdered Italian fritters filled with ricotta and served with cherry-preserve
dipping sauce. Those cost $9.95.
The Deal: Ceiba’s Cherry Blossom Combo includes the Cereza Bloom cocktail with Veev Açaí
spirit and Leopold’s cherry and sour mix ($10) and
albóndigas de pato—duck meatballs with cherry ranchero salsa for $9.
The Deal: All seven Chop’t locations in the Washington area will offer a house-made
batch dressing called the Cherry Blossomic Vinaigrette, made with balsamic vinegar,
Dijon mustard, and cherry preserves.
The Deal: Pastry chef
Tom Wellings has two cherry-blossom-inspired dishes at Fiola. The first is a $12 panna cotta made
with Tahitian vanilla beans, sugar, and cream and topped with brown-butter-toasted
Marcona almonds, black pepper, orange zest, and salt, and drizzled with raw cherry
blossom honey. That’s topped with a milk froth flavored with cherry blossom honey
and vanilla and sugared rose petals. A second dish featuring cherry blossom
macarons is also in the works—call the restaurant for updates on availability and pricing
details.
The Deal: Executive chef
Philippe Reininger is putting a creative twist on the classic Manhattan cocktail by turning it into
a boozy ice cream sundae using 515, an exclusive whiskey created just for J&G by local
distillery Catoctin Creek. For $9, the 515 Manhattan sundae features cherry sorbet,
515 Catoctin Creek whipped cream, orange bitter meringue, and orange chips. There
will also be a cherry-yuzu rickey cocktail ($12), made with sour cherry purée, fresh
yuzu juice, lime juice, seltzer, and 515. For non-drinkers, J&G will also offer
a mocktail: a house-made cherry-yuzu soda for $5 made with sour cherry purée, fresh
yuzu juice, simple syrup, and seltzer.
Jardenea at the Melrose Hotel
The Deal: The Melrose Hotel’s newish restaurant is offering a four-course dinner prix-fixe
dinner for $80 per person as well as a Japanese sake flight for an additional $42
per person. The lounge will also serve two cherry blossom martinis alongside the menu:
the Sake-Chaca-Tini, made with sake and fresh pineapple juice, and the Absolutely
Blossom, concocted from cherry brandy and a dash of grenadine. They are $12 each.
The deal is only available from April 8 through 14.
The Deal: To celebrate the festival’s finale on Sunday, April 14, Lincoln’s executive
chef,
Demetrio Zavala, will feature a cherry blossom brunch accompanied by cherry blossom bellinis with
house-made cherry sorbet. Dishes include a lamb chop served with minted spaetzle and
cherry tapenade and French toast jubilee with cognac cherry syrup and white chocolate
pudding. Prices range from $7 to $16.
Plume at The Jefferson Hotel
The Deal: The Jefferson Hotel’s fine-dining restaurant will offer a special dessert
of pistachio crème brûlée with Morello cherry compote and yuzu ice cream as part of
the $85 prix-fixe menu. You can order it à la carte for $16 at neighboring bar Quill, which will also
offer the Sparkling Sakura, made with sake, cherry purée, cherry blossom syrup (prepared
with cherry blossom tea infusion), and Prosecco, for $15.
