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…

MONDAY: >> We’ve been hearing an awful lot about certain journalists who’ve spent superfluous time in jail for ideals they supposedly believe in — but, before you make any contributions to that gravy train, why not hear from Marie-Helene Carleton, who’ll be in town discussing the travails of her filmmaker partner Micah Garen, who was taken hostage in Iraq in 2003. Even if you’re an avid news junkie, there’s still a lot you don’t know…