Dine Out for Eastern Market on Monday
The outpouring of support for Eastern Market continues. On Monday, May 21, several restaurants on Capitol Hill will participate in Dining Out for Eastern Market, a "Dining Out for Life" style charity event where the restaurants will donate a portion of their proceeds to the Capitol Hill Community Foundation's Eastern Market fund, which has raised $238,000 so far to assist the South Hall merchants while a temporary market is built.

There are several restaurants participating in the event, but not all Hill eateries; you should check the list before you make reservations. The list will be updated throughout the weekend, so check back often. We'll see you at the market this weekend!

Much Closer than Yountville
Carol, a local Maryland girl, has a thing for Thomas Keller, the chef at Yountville, CA's French Laundry. She yearns for him and his delicious food creations. She wants to poach him in butter, like so much lobster. Well maybe not, but she is certainly following his lead to make all the recipes in the French Laundry Cookbook, a book Carol describes as "shiny," which is all we really look for when we're buying things, let's be honest. So, Carol gives us French Laundry at Home, her bloggy adventure in trying out the recipes from the famous eatery.

Not only do the recipes look delicious (Spotted Skate Wing with braised Red Cabbage and Mustard Sauce; Perail de Brebis with Frisee aux Lardons), but it's clear that Carol is both a proficient chef and a great writer. She's also hilariously self-deprecating, calling herself out for being lazy for not making everything from scratch, like brioche, or being not that great at fancy techniques like slicing super thin for carpaccios. Her blog is definitely worth a visit, especially if you're looking for haikus like the following from the post Blinipalooza:

More than Britney loves
Heroin, crack and Xanax
J'adore ma confit

So, for more poetry, pee jokes, and soon-to-be-dead Canadian lobsters named Celine, give French Laundry at Home a good look.

Photo of Eastern Market from Hoffmann.

Small Bites
Cloud's Finally Dissipating
Metrocurean gives us the scoop on the going's on at Cloud, the cursed location at 1 Dupont Circle, that used to be Savino's Lounge. According to the Dupont Current, an Irish pub has applied for a liquor license at the location. If things go through, it won't be long until we have Gangs of New York style battles between the new pub, James Hoban's, and cross-circle neighbor Biddy Mulligan's.

Northwest Passing?
Tom gives us the news that David Greggory's Restau Lounge is soon to make a change. Alan Popovsky, the owner of Adams Morgan's Felix, is going to take over the restaurant, turn it into a "modern American brasserie," and rename it Hudson, after Henry Hudson, the explorer who tried to find the Northwest Passage but died a cold death in what is now Hudson Bay after his crew mutinied. The place will get a makeover, and focus will shift to the patio and to all-day dining. Fans of Greggory's cooking shouldn't worry, though, as he's staying on as toque.

Keeping Cinco de Mayo Going
If you're looking to get an early start to your evening tonight, swing by the Wine Specialist at 2115 M St., NW tonight at 5 p.m. for a high-end tequila tasting. You'll get a chance to try several Patron tequilas for free, but with a $5 donation to the Children's Cancer Foundation, you'll be able to try Gran Patron Platinum ($225 a bottle) and Pyrat's Cask 23 Rum ($290 a bottle). Sounds like a good pre-party to me!