Slate Wine Bar holds a Summer Saturday dinner series with several paellas, wine, and stories from the Spanish Riviera. (Photo by Slate Wine Bar)
It’s a busy food week in D.C., in no small part because some of the best of the city’s dining world will be crowned at an awards ceremony Sunday night. While that’s a pretty big ticket, there are many affordable deals this week, like a Spanish summer Saturday supper series, pop-up parties, and new brunches and aperitivo hours to try.
This Week’s Food Events
RAMMY Sunday
It’s RAMMY weekend. The black tie gala recognizing the best of the Restaurant Association of Metropolitan Washington members is Sunday evening, July 30. Over 2,000 industry professionals, who must be members of the association to qualify, will gather to see who is the city’s top chef, top casual brunch restaurant, top formal fine dining restaurant, manager, employee, pastry chef, and more. It’s largely a corporate buying of tables affair, but tickets are available to the general public at $325, all inclusive. This year’s gala coincides with the Citi Open and is thus also the site of the tennis tournament’s Player Party. So don’t be surprised to see D.C.’s restaurant industry class mixed with international tennis pros.
Dreaming of Dénia
A Glover Park wine bar is hosting a good value weekly chef’s table dinner—and on weekend nights no less. Danny Lledó of Slate Wine Bar and Bistro (2404 Wisconsin Ave. NW) has been seating 12 guests at a time on summer Saturdays for an interactive dinner session, serving stories and dishes from his coastal Spain hometown of Denia. Lledó demonstrates and serves two paella dishes along with a crab and cuttlefish cake, lemon-ginger granita, and dessert. The dinner is $45 with an optional $25 wine pairing. Reservations can be made by calling 202-333-4303 or emailing contact@slatewinebar.com for 6 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. for seatings on Saturday, July 29 and Saturday, August 5.
Chop Bar
Dine Diaspora is hosting a Chop Bar on Sunday, July 30 featuring a tasting menu from the Smithsonian’s Jerome Grant, executive chef at Sweet Home Café at the African American History Museum. The pop-up experience takes its name from a West African phrase for “makeshift small restaurants where people gather over food, music, and positive vibes.” This menu at this party, held at Big Chief (2002 Fenwick St. NE), looks heavily influenced by time Grant spent cooking in the Virgin Islands.
Drift to the beach
It may not be the infamous “Suicide Sunday” party at The Starboard in Dewey beach, but Drift on 7th (1819 7th St. NW) will do its best beach party impression in Shaw this Sunday, July 30 from 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Fishy food and beachy libations will be accompanied by beach games and a DJ to make guests glad they skipped the trip over the Bay Bridge.
Pig meets goat [cheese]
The Pig (1320 14th St. NW) is teaming up with a Pennsylvania goat farm to offer a five-course tasting menu from July 31 through August 6. Executive Chef Nuvee Netayavichitr will pair his food with French-style goat cheese from Pipe Dreams Dairy. Things start off with an creative amuse bouche of goat cheese and pig brain panna cotta with a whipped goat cheese polenta making an appearance in the hot appetizer round served with smoked pork sausage. The menu is $40 a person and accessible by making a normal reservation at the restaurant.
A new weekend Bethesda brunch
Brunch prices are a lot cheaper when you get a little out of town. Stella Barra Pizzeria, in North Bethesda’s still fresh Pike & Rose development, starts a new weekend brunch buffet this Saturday and Sunday. The $16.95 spread includes morning time goodies like roasted corn and poblano egg enchiladas, warm brioche cinnamon roll bread pudding, and caramelized french toasts. There’s an extra enticement for parents, too. Along with $3 Bloody Marys, mimosas, and bellinis, kids under 10 eat from a special pancake bar for free.
Rosario kicks off aperitivo hour
Adams Morgan bar Rosario (2435 18th St. NW) launched a new aperitivo hour last week. Classic Italian drinks like Aperol spritzes and Americanos, as well as other cocktails, are $4 to $6. Peroni beers are $4 (glasses of happy hour wine are $8, though, which is really not very happy). Chef Logan McGear also throws several snacks into the mix including arancini bolognese, speck potato croquettes, fried goat cheese, and vegan meatballs—all for under $5. It runs Monday through Friday from 5 to 7 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday from 3 to 7 p.m.
Openings
For Spike Mendelsohn, it’s out with his steak frites bistro and in with more creative counter service within his Capitol Hill mini empire. The Top Chef alum has been honing Santa Rosa Taqueria (313 Pennsylvania Ave. SE) this month in the space that used to be Bernaise. Nine chef-composed tacos are at the center of a menu that also includes customizable bowls and a few salad, mini quesadilla, nacho, and tamale options. Mendelsohn also operates Good Stuff Eatery and We,The Pizza on the block.
You can go Across the Pond (1732 Connecticut Ave. NW) north of Dupont Circle. The name of the new neighborhood watering hole may suggest that it is British Isles-themed. But more than going for stereotypical U.K. kitsch, the owners describe a desire to just “create a place for locals and visitors alike to enjoy good food and drink and welcoming service…whether you’re from across the street or across the pond.” Both the food and the drink menu are fairly sports bar generic, and the beers start at $3 during happy hour.
