Perhaps the biggest news of the week comes from Tom Sietsema, who announced Monday on the Washington Post’s Going Out Gurus blog that Michel Richard will open a third restaurant, this time in the Ritz-Carlton Tysons Corner. There have been rumors swirling around recently that he was going to move the fancy Citronelle to the space, but he told Sietsema his French flagship is staying put in Georgetown. The Virginia restaurant, formerly the home of Maestro, will be called Michel and have 110 seats as well as food such as steak and fries and cinnamon-spiced duck.
Prince of Petworth noticed that an empty storefront at 14th Street and Florida Avenue, Northwest, is set to become Du Vin Osteria, a wine-and-tapas bar, according to the business’s Facebook page. There are plans for outdoor seating and a retail market.
The iconic Ben’s Chili Bowl, which opened in 1958, is proving that it can cut it in the 21st century: Co-owner Nizam Ali announced that he’s working with Apple to launch an iPhone application. According to Ali, he’s going to use the public as a sounding board for designing the app, a process that starts April 5.
The expansion of Northeast DC’s H Street corridor continues with the Queen Vic, a British gastropub from Ryan Gordon, who’s a partial owner of the Pug, a nearby bar. The planned menu includes fish and chips, meat pies, and house-made sausage. Gordon hopes to start flying his British flag by mid-June.
The James Beard Foundation announced the finalists for its awards, the most venerated in the food world. Washington got lots of love; click here to see which local personalities were nominated. The Restaurant Association Metropolitan Washington also announced the nominees for its annual awards, to be presented in June. We’ve got the full list here.
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