The Golden Beard cocktail at the upcoming Le Desales. (Photo by Travis Mitchell)
The incoming spring weather is ushering in a new crop of high-profile restaurant openings, including one from a Top Chef alum. This week’s food and drink picks also feature a D.C. distilling punch party and free gin tastings at Jaleo.
This week’s food events:
A Monday punch party
Maryland-themed Free State Atlantic Bar (501b G St. NW) is putting any geographic preference aside and hosting a D.C. distillers industry night punch party this Monday, March 27 from 7 p.m. to 2 a.m. Participants include Cotton & Reed, Don Ciccio & Figli, One Eight Distilling, Jos. A. Magnus & Co., Republic Restoratives, Capitoline Vermouth, and New Columbia Distillers. Come and raise a glass to the city’s talented spirits makers.
The envy of bourbon drinkers
If you love rye whiskey and cocktails, be at Beuchert’s Saloon (623 Pennsylvania Ave. SE) this Tuesday, March 28 for an Angel’s Envy tasting and dinner. The four-course dinner starts at 7 p.m. Tickets are $90 (plus tax and gratuity) and include cocktail pairings. Additional pours can be purchased in advance for $20.
Get fizzy at Jaleo
Area locations of Spanish restaurant Jaleo (Penn Quarter, Bethesda, Crystal City) are celebrating their annual Gin & Tonic Festival from March 27 through April 2. The special menu includes The Early Bird cocktail, made with Hendrick’s gin, strawberry tonic, cucumber ribbon, and orange peel. Beyond cocktails, try Rappahannock oysters with gin and tonic and even an gin and tonic sorbet. On select dates (beginning this Monday in D.C.) Hendrick’s and Bar Hill gin will be at restaurants from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. for tastings and complimentary bites.
The cheese is back at Ripple
When Ryan Ratino took over the kitchen at Ripple (3417 Connecticut Ave NW) in January, the restaurant’s grilled cheese happy hour got the ax in favor of focusing on the dining room menu. But fans of the special will be happy to know that grilled cheeses are back by popular demand, and not just for happy hour. The bar side of the restaurant is now serving a truffled cheese “presse” served with sottocenere cheese and garlic aioli ($10) as well as a morbier grilled cheese stuffed with short rib and horseradish cream ($11). The bar’s menu of snacks, cheeses, and meats has also been updated.
Wednesday jazz and cocktails on 14th Street
Classic cocktail bar Quarter+Glory (2017 14th St. NW) is introducing “Savoy Jazz Nights” every Wednesday from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. Bartenders will mix up drinks from the encyclopedic Savoy Cocktail Book to compliment the live music, and the band will rotate weekly too.
Openings:
French bistro Le Desales (1725 DeSales St. NW) is slated to open near Farragut North on March 29. Executive Chef Raphael Francois comes to D.C. having cooked in Michelin-starred kitchens in France, Belgium, and London. He most recently cooked at Le Cirque in New York City. The bar program was developed by Lukas B. Smith and JD L. Quioco. Expect a menu of elevated and reinvented classics like red snapper and cashew crudo ($15), quail with plums ($22), and lobster and fries for two ($55).
The chef and owner behind Smoke & Barrel barbecue are now cooking up Italian-American favorites at the now-open Rosario (2435 18th St. NW). The former Libertine space has been transformed into a cozy Italian dining room and bar with dishes like arancini ($8), Caesar salad ($8), fettuccine meatball bolognese ($16), veal and chicken marsala ($16-$19), rigatoni arrabiata ($15), and more. The drink menu features a wide selection of Italian wines, cocktails, and weekly specials.
Top Chef alum Mike Isabella (Kapnos, Graffiato) will open his Spanish concept Arroz on March 27 inside the Marriott Marquis hotel (901 Massachusetts Ave. NW). Isabella promises a menu that is more refined than his other ventures and more polished and less focused on rustic tapas than other Spanish restaurants in the city (don’t go looking for a patatas bravas on their own, for example). Arroz will also incorporate plenty of Moroccan flavors and vibes in the dishes as well as in the decor. The opening, Isabella’s ninth, has some wondering if he’s the next José Andrés.
Plan ahead:
Seafood eaters should look ahead to April 22 for the fifth-annual “Crawfish for Cancer” boil at Pinstripes (1064 Wisconsin Ave. NW). The event runs from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. and benefits the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation. There will be unlimited crawfish, corn, potatoes, an open bar including cocktails, and plenty of games. Tickets are $70 until April 1 and gradually increase until $100 if purchased the day of or at the event.
