Tuesday, June 9, through Sunday, June 21
Barcelona chef Quim Marquès is guest of honor at Jaleo’s annual Paella Festival. He’s teamed with the restaurant to create a handful of lunch and dinner paellas, including one with lobster and chicken; Catalan-style dirty rice with cuttlefish and squid; and arroz mediterraneo with green and black olives, shrimp, and peas. The sharable paellas range from $35 to $50 and are available at all three Jaleo locations (480 Seventh St., NW, 202-628-7949; 7271 Woodmont Ave., Bethesda, 301-913-0003; 2250-A Crystal Dr., Arlington, 703-413-8181). Click here for hours and more information.
Tuesday, June 9
15 Ria chef Janis McLean will lead a class on soft-shell crabs at L’Academie de Cuisine (5021 Wilson La., Bethesda). Participants will make a soft-shell-crab sandwich; soft-shell-crab tempura; stuffed soft shells; corn salad; potato salad; and five-spice slaw. The hands-on class, which costs $85 per person, runs from 7 to 10. Call 301-986-9490 to book a spot. Click here for more.
Wednesday, June 10
The “Cheap Eats to Beat the Heat” series of cooking classes at Zola Wine & Kitchen (505 Ninth St., NW) continues with an installment on “Backyard BBQ.” Anthony Acinapura will teach such recipes as halibut grill packets; slow-roasted pulled-pork sandwiches; coleslaw; corn on the cob; and cucumber-tomato-and-onion salad. The class, which begins at 6:30, costs $70 per person. Call 202-639-9463 or click here for reservations.
Thursday, June 11
Top Chef finalist Carla Hall teaches a class at CulinAerie (1131 14th St., NW) on creating an elegant dinner. She’ll demonstrate such dishes as chilled pea soup with crème fraîche; pan-roasted lobster with red-curry/coconut sauce; fennel-and-napa-cabbage slaw with ginger and lemongrass; and tropical fruit with honey mascarpone in almond meringue. The class, $145 per person, starts at 6:30 and includes dinner and wine. Call 202-587-5674 or click here for more.
Brainfood—a nonprofit that provides culinary-related after-school and summer activities for DC teens—hosts its annual Brainfood Grill-Off competition at the Stephen Decatur House (1610 H St., NW). Chefs such as Jonathan Krinn (Inox), Cedric Maupillier (Central Michel Richard), and Shannon Overmiller (the Majestic) will lead teams of Brainfood students and graduates in an Iron Chef-style competition—they get one hour to create a meal from a surprise pantry. The $75 ticket includes dinner and open bar. Click here for tickets and more.
Friday, June 12
Best-selling food writer and historian Mark Kurlansky (Salt) is at Politics and Prose (5015 Connecticut Ave., NW) to talk about his latest book, The Food of a Younger Land. The book explores American food before World War II, “before the national highway system, before chain restaurants, and before frozen food.” At its center is America Eats, an FDR-commissioned project in which writers such as Eudora Welty and Zora Neale Hurston traveled across the country to chronicle regional eating habits. Because of the war, the project was never finished and, until now, never published. The free reading begins at 7.
Gerard Pangaud, former chef/owner of Gerard’s Place, leads a “Lobster Extravaganza” class at CulinAerie (1131 14th St., NW). On the menu is lobster bisque with tarragon; lobster salad with tomato confit and ratatouille; sauté of lobster with spring vegetables; and Pangaud’s justifiably famous lobster with ginger, lime, and Sauternes. The class, $105 per person, begins at 7. Call 202-587-5674 or click here for reservations.
Saturday, June 13
Alice Waters, the California chef who spearheaded the organic movement in the ’70s, will sign her new book, Edible Schoolyard, at the National Museum of American History’s Stars and Stripes Cafe (14th St. and Constitution Ave., NW). Waters’s Edible Schoolyard program created a one-acre vegetable garden at a Berkeley public middle school that students tend, harvest, and eat from as part of the curriculum. The free signing runs from 1 to 4, and books will be available to buy.
Sunday, June 14
“Seafood BBQ” is the subject of a patio cooking class at 2941 (2941 Fairview Park Dr., Falls Church). The $110 demonstration class, which runs from noon to 2, includes lunch with wine and a baguette to take home. Call 703-270-1500 for reservations.
The DC Grill Masters Series outside Wagshal’s Market (4845 Massachusetts Ave., NW) continues with a grilling demonstration from Ardeo/Bardeo chef Alex McWilliams. A $10 minimum donation to Maryland’s Lions Camp Merrick—a camp for diabetic children—is required, and samples and recipes are included. The demo begins at 11:30. Call 202-363-0884 for reservations.
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Ann Limpert joined Washingtonian in late 2003. She was previously an editorial assistant at Entertainment Weekly and a cook in New York restaurant kitchens, and she is a graduate of the Institute of Culinary Education. She lives in Petworth.
