Taste of the Nation: Share Our Strength’s annual fundraiser to end childhood hunger in America returns to the National Building Museum on Monday. While tickets are no longer available online, passes for the all-star culinary event can be purchased at the door for $125 (general admission) or $165 (VIP).
Free cocktails: Yep, sounds good. Bar Pilar teams up with Brightest Young Things and Tanqueray gin for a Tonight We Tanqueray spring cocktail tasting on Tuesday from 5:30 to 7. Make sure to RSVP (and show up early) for access.
Oysters on the half (off) shell: The week just gets better for deals. P.J. Clarke’s debuts its patio on Tuesday from 5 to 8 with 50-cent oysters and $4 Port City brews. You’ll find the same deal throughout the summer on Tuesdays from 2:45 to 7, because come August, 3 is a perfectly acceptable time to start drinking.
Wine and seafood dinner: Oregon’s Big Table Farm winery comes to BlackSalt on Tuesday for a four-course dinner at 7. Dishes including wild Alaskan sablefish with house noodles and pho broth will be paired with 5 varietals, including new releases and sold-out vintages. Reservations are $90.
Barkers are back: Bring your four-legged friend to Jackson 20 on Thursday between 5 and 8 for the return of doggie happy hour. Humans can sip discount drinks and snack on deviled eggs, ham-and-corn fritters, barbecue sliders, and more. The event continues on Thursdays throughout the summer.
Dinner (party!): Richard Sandoval’s newest restaurant, Toro Toro, officially debuts on Saturday with a party featuring internationally known deejay Robbie Rivera. Fill up on pan-Latin steakhouse fare and then dance from 10 to 3 in the eatery’s subterranean lounge. Tickets are $30; dinner reservations can be booked separately.
Ewes and brews: Say hello to spring on Saturday at Art and Soul by feasting on Colorado lamb and beer. The event starts at 7 with snacks and drinks from Great Divide Brewing Company, followed by a three-course family-style meal starring oysters, lobster salad, various lamb preparations, and more. Tickets are $75.
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.
