Jaleo’s Tomatino Festival kicks off next week. (Photo courtesy of Jaleo)
By DCist contributor Meghan Dubyak
While Labor Day marks the unofficial end of summer, you can get every last drop of summery goodness this week through cracking crabs, popping pinot with pandas, and feasting on ripe tomatoes. Plus, help with Hurricane Harvey relief efforts by grabbing a drink or meal at one the many D.C. establishments donating sales proceeds.
This Week’s Food Events
Have a meal or drink for Harvey relief
Read our guide to D.C.-area establishments working to support relief for victims of Hurricane Harvey. On Saturday, approximately 50 breweries, restaurants, and bars are participating in an effort to raise $25,000 for Hurricane Harvey relief through the Red Cross. Led by DC Brau Brewing, Boundary Stone, New Columbia Distillers, and DC Reynolds, participating bars will donate between 10 and 100 percent of their sales. A full list of establishments can be found here.
Feast on crab without having to cross the Bay Bridge
If you live in the DMV and haven’t swung a mallet at a Maryland crab yet this season, has it really been summer? Fear not, as City Tap House in Penn Quarter (901 9th St. NW) has you covered with the third annual Crabfest on Monday, Sep. 4 starting at 11 a.m. A $50 ticket gets you unlimited Maryland blue crabs along with hushpuppies and jambalaya rice. The patio will turn into a beach with sand, live music, and frosé, and event partner Oskar Blues Brewery will celebrate the 15th anniversary of Dale’s Pale Ale with 19 oz cans of the namesake beer and of Mama’s Little Yella Pils for $8 each.
Dine in the spirit of Labor Day
While it’s often thought of as a bookend to summer, Labor Day honors workers and the American labor movement. Stand with workers by dining at one of the Restaurant Opportunities Center United’s “High Road” designated restaurants. Rated for their commitment to wages, paid sick leave, and upward mobility, D.C. restaurants on the High Road Dining Guide include Busboys and Poets (multiple locations), Florida Avenue Grill (1100 Florida Ave. NW, closed Mondays), and Mulebone (2121 14th St. NW).
More Monday fun
For those who seek comfort in denial, you can pretend like it’s Sunday at a number of restaurants offering brunch specials and cocktails through the day on the Monday holiday. El Centro’s (1819 14th St. NW) “Labor Day and Chill” features bottomless Mexican small plates and bottomless mimosas, michiladas, margaritas, Bloody Marias, and aqua frescas. Local 16’s (1602 U St. NW) brunch will include Afghan offerings and all pizzas, plus bottomless champagne cocktails mixed with lemonade, melon, and grapefruit juice. And that’s just the start of the options.
Merlot with Mei Xiang
Formerly Grapes with Apes, Zoo Uncorked brings wine tasting, live music, and after hours access to Smithsonian’s National Zoo (3001 Connecticut Ave. NW) on Thursday, Sep. 7 from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. General admission tickets ($70 for the general public and $55 for Friends of the National Zoo) get you unlimited tastings, a commemorative wine glass, event access, and food truck options available for purchase.
No rotten tomatoes here
Can’t make it to the “world’s biggest food fight,” held on the last Wednesday of August each year? Instead of traveling to Valenica, Spain, where more than one hundred metric tons of over-ripe tomatoes are thrown in the streets, make your way to your neighborhood Jaleo (locations in Penn Quarter, Bethesda, and Crystal City) to celebrate the Tomatina Festival, now through Sep. 10. Enjoy dishes that incorporate plump, juicy tomatoes with Spanish cheeses, hangar steak, and other fresh produce, and wash it all down with a variety of rosés.
Openings:
One pop-up makes way for another
The pop-up space inside Mount Vernon Triangle’s Alta Strada (465 K St NW) will switch from seafood-focused tasting restaurant Conosci to Calle Cinco, a casual Spanish tapas spot. The pop-up will feature classic tapas favorites like papas bravas and Medjool dates alongside modern interpretations of the small plated dishes. An all-Spanish wine list rounds out the experience. To bid farewell to Conosci as it prepares to relocate to a new location in the future, enjoy an extended restaurant week menu through Sep. 9, in addition to the restaurant’s $85, 9-course menu and $135, 13-course menu.
Same great rice bowls, 4x the seating
After the success of its 14-seat location in Adams Morgan, rice bowl joint Donburi has opened a two-story location south of Dupont Circle with four times the seating (1134 19th St. NW). The first floor features the open bar and kitchen, while you can snag seating upstairs.
Plan Ahead
Sour beers, full bellies, can’t lose
VIP tickets may be sold out, but there are plenty of general admission tickets ($60) to Denizens Brewing Co’s Make It Funky Wild Beer Festival, held on September 30 from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. at the Silver Spring brewery (1115 East West Highway). Attendees will be able to sample among the 100 funky “wild and sour brews” and over 35 offerings from craft breweries, cideries, and kombucha makers. The event will also feature the band Soul Stew in Denizens’ beer garden and a DJ set inside the brewery. Organizers also promise “all the TUMS you could hope for.”
