Monday, March 2
The Columbia Heights gastropub CommonWealth hosts a Scotch dinner tonight. The menu includes a tasting of four courses paired with six single malts. Scotch expert John Heffernan will lead the tasting, which goes from 6:30 to 9. The cost is $60 per person; call 202-265-1400 for reservations.
Tuesday, March 3
The Washington Taster’s Guild hosts a 1999 vintage-Cabernet tasting at BLT Steak. The event includes an amuse-bouche and three-course dinner paired with ten Cabernets, including a Beaulieu Vineyard Private Reserve and Robert Craig Affinity. The event starts at 7 and costs $170 per person. Call the Washington Taster’s Guild at 202-223-1700 for reservations.
Wednesday, March 4 (through Sunday, March 15)
Chef Joe Raffa has created a special tequila-and-mezcal dinner in honor of Oyamel’s two-week festival celebrating the spirits. The menu, which costs $80, includes a ceviche of Hawaiian marlin marinated in tangerine and reposado tequila; chiltate salad with crusted Westfield Farm goat cheese and roasted-pumpkin-seed dressing, misted with mezcal; mushroom-nopal soup with blanco tequila; grilled calamari with tomato-mezcal molcajete sauce; pork belly al pastor with reposado tequila and cilantro sauce; and for dessert, a cajeta with añejo tequila, coconut sorbet, and passion fruit. Guests will also be treated to a flight of tequila or mezcal; the Mexican-Americano cocktail, which is a blend of añejo tequila, Campari, cherry Heering, and house-made orange soda; and the Black and Blue, which is a concoction of blackberries, blueberries, blanco tequila, and mezcal. The event starts at 5. For reservations, call 202-628-1005.
Thursday, March 5
Mio hosts “A Celebration of Pinot Noir and the Late Harvest” wine dinner. Executive chef Nicholas Stefanelli’s four-course meal, which includes plancha-seared skate with salsify and wild mushrooms, will be paired with Pinot Noirs from the Sonoma County Moshin Vineyards and Winery. Rick Moshin, owner of Moshin Vineyards, will be on hand to discuss the wines and sample a dessert wine that isn’t yet on sale to the public. The event begins at 7 and costs $75. For reservations, call 202-955-0075.
Friday, March 6
Interested in learning more about the green fairy that’s taking the United States by storm? Morton’s the Steakhouse in Reston (11956 Market St.) presents “Absinthe, The Green Hour.” Guests are invited to learn about the history of the drink, help make and taste absinthe cocktails, and sample hors d’oeuvres, including absinthe oysters Rockefeller, crab-stuffed mushrooms, sliced tenderloin on crostini, and miniature prime cheeseburgers. The tasting, which costs $45, starts at 6. Call 703-796-0128 for reservations.
Saturday, March 7
Taste DC hosts a Middle Eastern cooking class on the cuisine of Lebanon at Arlington’s new Me Jana Restaurant (2300 Wilson Blvd.). The class—which includes a cooking demonstration, technique instruction, recipes to take home, and a full lunch—goes from noon to 2:30. For reservations, call 202-244-3700 or visit TasteDC.com; $60.
Sunday, March 8
Winemaker Nicola Dal Maso of Dal Maso estate winery in Veneto, Italy, will lead a tasting of eight of his favorite wines at Alexandria’s Cheesetique. The wines will be paired with a selection of cheeses. The tasting goes from 7 to 9 and costs $55. For more information and reservations, call 703-706-5300.
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