D.C. Battles It Out In The Kitchen
One of Washington’s best food events, the Capital Food Fight, is a little over a week away, and I expect there is wanton smack-talking between the competition’s 10 food-fighters. Bebo’s Roberto Donna, Mie n Yu’s Tim Elliot, Kinkead’s Bob Kinkead, last year’s winner Ris Lacoste, Jamie Leeds of Hank’s Oyster Bar, Taberna del Alabardero’s Santi Zabaleta, John Wabeck of Firefly, IndeBleu’s Vikram Garg, Anthony Chittum from Notti Bianche, and Boston’s Ken Oringer — a pilgrim from that city’s Clio — will take to the International Trade Center for the third-annual benefit for D.C. Central Kitchen, and it promises to be smoking hot!
Granted, much of the hotness will be emanating from the event’s co-host Dave Lieberman, and from the frothing saltiness of one of its judges, Anthony Bourdain, but the actual competition promises to be more than mere eye candy for attendees. A live-action “Iron Chef” competition, the Food Fight is a 10-minute free-for-all wherein chefs use a secret ingredient to create something delicious and beautiful for the attendees and celebrity judges (who are Bourdain and WAMU’s Kojo Nnamdi this year). Plus, attendees get to hobnob with both chefs and Washington’s foodie community. More than the food and networking, however, it’s a great fundraiser for the Central Kitchen, which helps Washington’s homeless community by providing both fresh food and job training for work in the food industry.
I know Lacoste has been cooking up a storm (judging by her unfailing appearance at the Dupont farmers’ market), but she’s not my pick for winner this year. I’m making a prediction that Garg will wow the judges with his subcontinental fusion, and Leeds will be a sleeper with a close second-place finish.
Tickets are on sale now, and run $125 a pop. Block out 6:30 to 9:30 on Wednesday the 15th. Skip lunch and wear something nice.
Sticky Fingers in Columbia Heights
Look, I’m a pretty committed meat eater, and delight even more in animal products like cheese and eggs. As such, I’m a little skeptical of vegan cooking, especially following misadventures with “mock duck” and pancakes that resembled petrified wood. However, I’ll soon travel to Sticky Fingers Bakery’s Columbia Heights’ shop — a second for the company — with an open mind and empty tummy. Recently profiled by the Washington Business Journal, Sticky Fingers is expanding its current menu from cookies and cakes to things like mac ‘n’ cheese and chili dogs. Having resisted putting scare quotes around those items, I wholeheartedly welcome a new vegan shop to Washington. The herbivores among us have entirely too few options to get quality goods, and they definitely deserve a sweet respite after trekking to Whole Foods to find them sold out of Quorn.
