From French cuisine at Culinaerie to butchering half a pig to creating truffles.

Local cheftestant Carla Hall’s bid to be named Top Chef in the hit TV show’s fifth season came to an end late Wednesday evening. Despite a rally through recent challenges, Carla faltered and Hosea—unexpectedly but convincingly—edged out a snooty Stefan for the win. DCist joined Carla, several dozen of her closest culinary partners and friends, and several students from the CulinAerie cooking class she taught just prior to the finale’s airing. Check out our gallery…

Dish of the Week: Mascarpone-stuffed dates with sea salt Where: Komi Congratulations to Komi, which received a fourth star in the 2008 Washington Post Dining Guide. A definite splurge for most diners, most visitors to Komi find themselves wowed by the clean, simple flavors of the dishes and great technique. More than just fine dining, it is a place to take pleasure in really good, simple things. One of Komi’s signature dishes is the mascarpone-stuffed…

Susan Holt and Susan Watterson are hoping that you and your officemates might enjoy throwing down Iron Chef-style at their new Thomas Circle cooking school. They will be opening CulinAerie this fall and that will offer “recreational” (not accredited or professional) cooking classes and special events. CulinAerie’s demonstration and participation-style classes will cover a broad range of topics, from basic cooking techniques to French pastries, wine tastings, kitchen design, and even food writing. But their…