• A fire severely damaged the kitchen and private dining room at downtown DC restaurant Equinox early this morning. Co-owner Ellen Gray says of the place, “It looks like probably what goes on when there’s a car bomb or something.” And although the restaurant will be out of commission for at least two weeks, the busy holiday season is going on: Chef/owner Todd Gray is now cooking at Aria in the Ronald Reagan Building, and all reservations can be transferred there. Click here for photos of the scene.
• To counter all the burger joints slated to open in the next year, there’ll be plenty of salads to go around. Following word that Sweetgreen is setting up shop across from the Logan Circle Whole Foods comes news that the San Francisco chain Mixt Greens will open four outposts here. The eco-conscious shops, founded by Culinary Institute of America grad Andrew Swallow, will serve soups and chef-designed and make-your-own salads. The company is also touting its commitment to local produce: An “edible living wall” will provide herbs.
The first will open on 19th Street, Northwest, on January 26. Others will pop up near Metro Center, by the White House, and on the K Street corridor.
• The dates for Winter Restaurant Week are out: It’ll run January 11 through 17, with three-course lunches for $20.10 and three-course dinners for $35.10. Get booking now if you want to score prime tables (check out our suggestions). Head here for a complete list of restaurants taking part.
• Bryan Voltaggio, we always knew you were just waiting to bust out Beyonce-style.
• The pizza scene in Old Town is about to get a whole lot better: Both Pizzeria Paradiso and RedRocks are planning locations on King Street.
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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.
