Recipes from one Washingtonian’s local foods-themed Friendsgiving.

Nizam Ali, one of Ben’s three sons, told DCist Mayor Vincent Gray and other politicians are also scheduled to speak.

D.C. United has been game planning for tomorrow’s season opening match against the Columbus Crew for a few weeks now. But yesterday, head coach Ben Olsen, striker Charlie Davies and midfielder Dax McCarty were forced to hone their tactics for another furious opponent: the seemingly never-ending dinner rush at Ben’s Chili Bowl.

Ben’s Chili Bowl stands on its own. It needs no promotion, it doesn’t need to cater to anything other than its own interests, and it has more than earned the right to dictate who and what it supports, if anything. So when the half-smoke slinger does engage in a promotion with a local group, you know it’s something to get excited about — which is why we have no reservations about lending our full support to this evening’s event at the venerable eatery, in which D.C. United head coach Ben Olsen and a group of his players will transform the space into “Ben Olsen’s Chili Bowl” for an hour. (Okay, the free half-smokes might have made our decision to give our blessing to the promotion the decision a little bit easier.)