FRIDAY: >> The 18th Street Lounge’s regular Wednesday night reggae stars SEE-I are at the Rock and Roll Hotel to celebrate the holidays with some friends who are sure to get you dancing too — DJ Mat the Alien and remix artists Fort Knox Five. Tickets for the Happy FKX-XMas are $10. >> Rufus Wainwright begins a two-night stint at the 9:30 Club tonight with his sister, Lucy Wainwright Roche. Tickets are still available for…

RAMMY’s All Around! Sunday was the Restaurant Area of Metropolitan Washington’s 25th annual RAMMY awards, the local dining scene’s big gala event. 1,500 people packed the Marriott in Woodley Park, listened to speeches, clapped for the winners, danced like teenage hooligans, and probably drank more booze than they wanted to/were happy about the next day. But, why else would so many people get together in one place? Oh, the awards? Yeah, I’ll get to them….

We recently visited the Crystal City Jaleo, to not only partake in watching the now famous “Iron Chef: America – Andrés vs. Flay in battle Goat” but also to support one of Andrés favorite charities, D.C. Central Kitchen. We certainly enjoyed watching José Andrés pummel Bobby Flay, but we got even more satisfaction from eating a couple (okay, more than a couple) of Jaleo’s delectable offerings. This left us with the difficult task of choosing…

What is it about historic D.C. firehouses that spark culinary ambition? A pair of in-the-works restaurants aim to address this burning question. As Express recently reported, a pre-World War II firehouse in the Bloomingdale neighborhood is slated to become an eatery called EC-12, whose name references the old Engine Company 12 that used to occupy the building. Architects are currently working on building plans, after which developers will be able to apply for a building…

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,…

Summertime in D.C. brings three things: heat, interns, and outdoor movies. The First Baptist Church at 17th and O Streets NW is providing one of those, sponsoring Movies by Moonlight, a free movie series benefitting local charities. Tonight’s movie is Spiderman, starting at 8:30 p.m., with donations going to First Helping, a D.C. Central Kitchen program that feeds the homeless. There will also be free popcorn and drinks, so bring a few dollars and help…

Closed! Did anyone along Pennsylvania Avenue hear a door slamming loudly Wednesday night? If you did and are perplexed about it, let us fill you in. Signatures, the “lobbyist hangout” next to the Navy Memorial, closed its doors. And closed them abruptly, at that. It turns out that when you’re being investigated by the Senate, the Department of Justice, and the Ft. Lauderdale Police for connections to a murder, people aren’t clamoring to frequent the…

Best selling author of How to Cook Everything and the Minimalist cookbook series, Mark Bittman arrives in the District today to compete in D.C. Central Kitchen’s Capital Food Fight and to promote his most recent book, The Best Recipes in the World: More Than 1001 International Dishes to Cook at Home at Best Cellars in Dupont Circle on Wednesday. Also the creator of the New York Times’ column, “The Minimalist,” Bittman is the author of…

Kinkead Signs New Book in Dupont Cookbook fanatic? Kinkead’s fanatic? Simply a food lover? Head to Best Cellars Dupont this Saturday for the 2 p.m. signing of Kinkead’s Cookbook: Recipes from Washington D. C.’s Premier Seafood Restaurant by Chef Bob Kinkead himself. The book offers more than 120 recipes from his Kinkead’s repertoire. We are eager to try our hand at some of these. Recreating Kinkead’s cuisine at home will definitely make the dinner guests…

Krispy Kreme Doughnuts’ first location in the District will be opening this week at 1350 Connecticut Ave. We all knew Krispy Kreme wasn’t your average doughnut shop, but this week-long extravaganza is far exceeding our expectations! For more details click “read more” below. August 24th – at 5:30 a.m. first 100 customers get prizes, free hot glazed doughnuts and at 9 a.m. ribbon cutting with “Dancing Doughnuts”. August 25th – Coffee Day – sample frozen…