Friday, May 7
Zola Wine & Kitchen is pairing up with Yoga & Chocolate cofounder David Romanelli for a food-and-flex night. The night begins at 6:30 with an hour of relaxing stretches and yoga moves with Romanelli. Then, you and Mom get to indulge in a three-course meal with wine pairings, prepared by Stir Food Group’s executive chef Bryan Moscatello. The menu includes a Rappahannock River oyster salad with shaved local garden vegetables, mache, arugula, and cucumber-ranch dressing; and a choice between English-pea-and-Brie ravioli with morel mushrooms, pea shoots, and fennel fronds; or sockeye-salmon confit with salsify ravioli, dandelion greens, and green-garlic froth. Dessert is a strawberry-and-rhubarb gratin served with black-pepper sabayon and poundcake streusel. Wines are served with the meal. The event is $70 per person. For more information and to sign up, click here.
Saturday, May 8
Writer and cooking teacher Domenica Marchetti stops by La Cuisine (323 Cameron St., Alexandria; 703-836-4435) to prepare recipes from her latest book, Big Night In. Sample some food, snag an autograph, then plan a meal for Mom. Marchetti will be on hand to answer questions about her recipes. The event goes from noon to 4. Go here for more information.
Take your mother to the Butcher’s Block, A Market by RW for a complimentary Rosé tasting from 2 to 4. The store’s manager, Salena Zellers, and Brabo wine-and-beverage manager Leah Dedmon will lead the event and offer tips on methods for making Rosés. You can purchase Mom’s favorite blend as a Mother’s Day gift. Find out more about the event here.
Thank your mom for all those years of bag lunches at L’Academie de Cuisine’s (16006 Industrial Dr., Gaithersburg; 301-670-8670) “Take Mom to Dinner” cooking demonstration. The menu, which you’ll both get to try, includes spring-pea soup with mint and lemon cream; blue-cheese ravioli with pine nuts and golden raisins; spring greens with shaved fennel and Parmesan curls; and mini pavlovas with passionfruit. The class is $95 and goes from 7 to 10. Click here for details and registration information.
Chef Jacques Haeringer is giving a cooking demonstration at L’Auberge Chez François (332 Springvale Rd., Great Falls; 703-759-3800). The menu includes English-pea potage with spring vegetables, a spring salad, lime sorbet, a free-range chicken breast with morel mushrooms, and caramel tart with ice cream. The event is $100 per person and starts at 11. Go here for information.
Is your mom a history lover? Take her to Gadsby’s Tavern Museum (134 N. Royal St., Alexandria; 703-746-4242), which is offering free tours on Mother’s Day from 1 to 5. The museum is made up of two buildings: a tavern from the late 1700s—where George Washington used to hang out—and a 1792 hotel. Pricing is $4 for all other adults—heck, treat Dad, too—and $2 for children ages 11 to 17. Go here for information.
Take part in Tudor Place’s (1644 31st St., NW; 202-965-0400) Mother’s Day tea-party tradition. This year, the celebration features period teas, finger sandwiches, and desserts in the Tudor Place garden. Costumed interpreters will be on hand for etiquette lessons, and guests can make a sunbonnet to take home. The tea party starts at 1 and costs $20 for members and $25 for nonmembers. Go here for information.
On May 8 and 9, have tea for two at the Ritz-Carlton, Tysons Corner’s Mother’s Day Weekend Afternoon Tea. You’ll get all the class of a traditional tea party plus modern twists, such as an assortment of gourmet cupcakes from the Pastry Shop. Seating is available from noon to 5 both days. To make a reservation, call 703-744-924 or go here.
Throughout the weekend, Cookology (21100 Dulles Town Cir., Sterling; 703-433-1909) is hosting events dedicated to helping young kids make and bake gifts for their moms. On Saturday, May 8, there are three classes: At 10, there’s a Daddy & Me workshop for children ages three to five, where kids and dads can bake treats such as sugar cookies. The cost is $30 per child, but adults are free. At 11, there’s a chance for young chefs over age nine to make breakfast for Mom. They’ll learn how to cook eggs, make maple-glazed bacon, and stuffed French toast. The class is $49. At 2, take six- to nine-year-olds to the Homemade Cookies for Mom session, where they’ll bake and decorate cookies. The class is $40. On Saturday, May 9, Mom can take her children to Cupcake Decorating for Moms & Kids. Students will learn how to make homemade frosting and use piped-icing techniques. The class is $45, and children must be seven and up. Find out more here.
Sunday, May 9
Mom works hard, so why not give her a chance to work out all the kinks at the Spa at Mandarin Oriental? She’ll start off the day in the gym with a personal-training session, then move to spa for an 80-minute treatment of her choice. Choices include aromatherapy treatments, Thai massages, or purifying treatments. The Mother’s Day package is $270. Call 202-787-6100 to book.
Take a trip to Fox Meadow Winery (3310 Freezeland Rd., Linden, Va.; 540-636-6777), where you’ll get to sample six wines with four food pairings, which include a Pinot Grigio with local sundried-tomato-and-French-derby cheese, and Cabernet with horseradish cheese. Moms and daughters get complimentary roses and a sweet “surprise.” The event is $6 per person, and the winery is open from 11 to 6. For more information, go here.
Leesburg’s Tarara Winery (13648 Tarara Ln.; 703-771-7100) can help you pull off a memorable Mother’s Day picnic. For $120, you can reserve a picnic table for four with a menu that includes Cherry Glen Farm’s Monocacy Ash goat cheese; Oak Springs Dairy derby cheese; thinly sliced Italian meats; roasted-pepper hummus; rosemary flatbreads; ciabatta; grapes and berries; Swiss chocolates; and a choice between a 2008 Charval or Long Bomb bottle of wine. For $200, the food serves eight, and for an additional $50, you can get sandwiches, including house-roasted turkey with shallot mayonnaise; house-roasted beef with Swiss and dijon; almond chicken salad with grapes; and ham, salami, and provolone cheese on Italian bread. Go here to reserve a table.
Learn about women who took care of sick Alexandr
ians in 1792 at the Stabler-Leadbeater Apothecary Museum (105 S. Fairfax St., Alexandria; 703-746-3852). Moms can get in free from 1 to 5; for other adults, it’s $5, and for children, it’s $3. Go here for more information.
