Alexandria Restaurant Week: ’Tis the season for specially priced lunches and dinners. Eateries in Alexandria offer
$35 set dinner menus as well as $35 dinners for two through
Sunday during Restaurant Week.
Many menus are available online for participating restaurants, like Virtue Feed & Grain, A La Lucia, and Trademark.
Bethesda Restaurant Week: Over in Maryland, Bethesda starts its Restaurant Week on
Wednesday. You’ll find two- and three-course lunches for $12 and $16 respectively, and $33
set dinners. Participating restaurants include Black’s Bar and Kitchen,
Assaggi,
and Freddy’s Lobster.
Ramen craze continues: Whole Foods gets into the Japanese ramen game with a new line of miso-tonkotsu ramen bowls topped
with either shrimp tempura or roasted pork. You can get two for the price of one on
Wednesday from 6 to 8 at the Whole Foods Arlington at the Genji sushi counter. Bonus: If you’re
at a store in DC or Virginia, chances are you can slurp your noodles alongside a cold
beer.
Wine festival debut: The 2013 Capital Wine Festival debuts with
a (what else?) wine-filled reception at the
Fairfax Hotel on
Friday, starting at 7. Begin with passed hors d’oeuvres and vino, and then move on to buffet
stations with more sips and dishes like pistachio-crusted lamb from chef Chris Ferrier.
Tickets are $65 per person. Don’t forget
to browse the calendar for the full
lineup of events, which are spread out over the next few months.
Distilling workshop: Local distillery Catoctin Creek leads an educational seminar on
Saturday from 3 to 5 at the
Park Hyatt Washington as part of the hotel’s ongoing Masters of Food and Wine series. Catoctin co-owner Scott Harris leads the course, which will cover the foundations
of opening a craft distillery, tastings, and bites from Blue Duck Tavern chef Sebastien Archambault. The class is $55 per person, and reservations/inquiries
can be made by calling 202-419-6625 or e-mailing renee.sharrow@hyatt.com.
Sips & Suppers: José Andrés, Joan Nathan, and Alice Waters host the annual benefit for DC Central
Kitchen and Martha’s Table on
Saturday and Sunday, and are joined by a roster of all-star chefs and mixologists. If you’re looking
to indulge, check out the many Sunday suppers at which a team of chefs prepares an intimate dinner at a private home. Not ready
to drop $400-plus on an evening? Tickets are still
available for the Saturday night Sips cocktail
party ($95 per person), which starts at 7 in the Newseum.
Anna Spiegel covers the dining and drinking scene in her native DC. Prior to joining Washingtonian in 2010, she attended the French Culinary Institute and Columbia University’s MFA program in New York, and held various cooking and writing positions in NYC and in St. John, US Virgin Islands.
