Category Archives: Food and Drink

Food and Drink, Special Events, The Daily Feed
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Haidar Karoum of Proof/Estadio Wins DCCK’s Capital Food Fight

Photo courtesy of
‘Capital Food Fight Winner, Chef Haidar Karoum’
courtesy of ‘bonappetitfoodie’

Last night the battle between some of DC’s best chefs raged on for DC Central Kitchen’s 8th annual Capital Food Fight. In the final round, chefs Haidar Karoum of Proof and Estadio and Todd Gray of Equinox and Watershed worked with the secret ingredient: lamb. At the end, judges Ming Tsai, Joan Nathan and Ted Allen named Haidar as the champion (he’s the man with the boxing gloves in the above photo).

Chefs Brian McBride and Jeff Black also competed as featured DC chefs. One of the highlights of the night included a surprise battle round with former Top Chef contestants Mike Isabella, Carla Hall, Spike Mendelsohn and Jennifer Carroll working with Idaho russett potatoes as the secret ingredient.

The sold-out food fight raised $550,000 for DCCK’s programs, according to their website. You can check out more photos from last night’s Capital Food Fight here.

Food and Drink, The Daily Feed
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BlackSalt’s Oyster Tasting Fundraiser

Photo courtesy of
‘Oysters’
courtesy of ‘Jenn Larsen’

Seafood, and more specifically oysters, is the name of the game with BlackSalt. The restaurant group is hosting an oyster tasting event at BlackSalt Fish Market & Restaurant this Saturday, November 12th from 3 to 5 PM.

The tasting is part of chef and owners Barbara and Jeff Black’s efforts to raise money for a state-of-the-art kitchen at the Washington Nationals Diabetes Care Complex at Children’s National Medical Center. The kitchen will help educate diabetes patients and their families about healthy cooking and how to manage a nutritious diet with diabetes. To date, the restaurant group has raised nearly 70 percent of its $200,000 fundraising goal.

The Oyster Tasting will feature more than a dozen oyster varieties from North America served raw on the half-shell, grilled, fried and more, along with wine pairings. Tickets to the tasting are $85 in advance or $95 at the door.

Capital Chefs, Food and Drink, The Features
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Capital Chefs: Fall 2011 Comings and Goings of DC Chefs

Photo courtesy of
‘Grafiatto’
courtesy of ‘Plantains & Kimchi’

A lot has been happening in the DC chef community in the last month or so. Here’s a recap on the comings and goings of local chefs across the city.

First up, after 12 years Equinox’s chef and owner Todd Gray is passing the torch on to a new chef. Karen Nicolas, Equinox’s new executive chef, recently came from Simon Pearce restaurant in Philadelphia and Soul restaurant in Chicago. Nicolas also had a stint as executive sous chef at Tom Colicchio’s Gramercy Tavern in New York City. While Gray said in a press release that he will continue to work with Nicolas on dishes at Equinox, he added that her “culinary vision will be reflected in the menu.”
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Food and Drink, The Daily Feed
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Food & Friends Annual Slice of Life Pie Sale

Photo courtesy of
‘cherry pie’
courtesy of ‘ekelly80’

Rather than stress over dessert this Thanksgiving, you can leave the pie baking to someone else and help a good cause.

Food & Friends is hosting their annual Slice of Life pie sale to help feed their clients throughout the city. Food & Friends is a nonprofit organization in DC that provides meals, groceries and nutrition counseling to individuals living with life-challenging illnesses such as HIV/AIDS and cancer. Buy one pie and you’ll be providing a full day of meals to a Food & Friends client.

This year’s five flavors include pecan pie, sweet potato pie, pumpkin pie, apple crumb pie and a US Airways sky pie (a chocolate-covered cheesecake). All pies are $25, with the exception of the US Airways pie which is $40. And if you’re curious about how the pies taste, you can stop by downtown Silver Spring on November 9th from 11:30 AM til 1:30 PM or at Friendship Heights on November 12th from 12 PM til 2 PM to try free samples.

You can place your pie order any time before midnight on November 17th. You can pick up your pies from 26 different locations from 11 AM til 8 PM on November 22nd.

Food and Drink, The Daily Feed
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Friday Happy Hour: Old Gold

The other night, when it was particularly chilly, I demanded to swing by Big Bear Cafe for a hot toddy. It was, in fact, pretty much the thing around which I organized my whole evening. There are plenty of places that will make you a very good hot toddy, but ever since they featured their Jamaican version a few weeks ago, I have been hooked on getting them from Big Bear.

The thing about hot toddies is, though, no matter how hard you try to photograph them, they just look like tea. Also, I have not yet precisely isolated what I like so much about Big Bear’s, so I do not have much to report. What I can report on, however, is the other cocktail I sipped that night – one of the originals off their current cocktail menu – the Old Gold.
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Alexandria, Dupont Circle, Food and Drink, The Daily Feed, We Love Food
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Pizzeria Paradiso Celebrates 20 Years

Photo courtesy of
‘Pizzeria Paradiso’
courtesy of ‘afagen’

There’s an old friend in town who’s turning 20 next week: Pizzeria Paradiso.

Back in November 1991, the pizzeria opened its first location in Dupont Circle and over its history has not only revamped the original spot, but expanded to Georgetown and Old Town Alexandria. Not too shabby of an accomplishment for a local small business, right?

“When Pizzeria Paradiso was created, the things motivating it were community, laughter and tasty food,” said chef and owner Ruth Gresser in a news release. “We were all so excited when our first customers entered the restaurant a few minutes after we unlocked the front door. And now, we’re so happy to reach our ’20 Something’ anniversary so we can celebrate by eating and laughing with our family of customers and staff.”

In honor of its 20th birthday, the restaurant is hosting a week of events as part of their “20 Something” Celebration:

  • Monday, November 7th – Get one large and one small pizza for $20 on take-out orders only.
  • Tuesday, November 8th – Receive a 20th anniversary beer glass when you purchase a beer with your meal. The 8th is the restaurant’s official birthday.
  • Wednesday, November 9th – Pay $20 for all you can eat pizza and beer (note: you can eat all the pizza you want, but there’s 2 beer maximum).
  • Thursday, November 10th – Pay $20 for a small special pizza and an anniversary beer.
  • Friday, November 11th – Your first beer is just 20 cents.
  • Saturday, November 12th – Dine in at a location and pay just 20 cents for toppings (note: 3 toppings maximum)
  • Sunday, November 13th – Round out the week with “20 Free Pizzas” Family/Kids Day from 1-4 PM. Kids can be part of a make your own pizza demonstration with owner/chef Ruth Gresser and the first 20 kid’s pizzas are free (note: Old Town location only).

Plus, Pizzeria Paradiso will be hosting a trivia contest on their Facebook pages (Georgetown, Old Town, Dupont) with $20 gift certificate prizes twice per day. And their lucky 2,000th Twitter follower will receive three $20 gift certificates, one for each location.

Congratulations and happy birthday to Pizzeria Paradiso for serving up tasty slices to DC for 20 years!

Capital Chefs, Food and Drink, The Features
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Capital Chefs: Todd Gray of Equinox and Watershed (Part 2)

Shrimp and grits at Watershed
‘Shrimp and grits at Watershed’
courtesy of ‘bonappetitfoodie’

With winter approaching, I’m feeling more in the mood to spend time in the kitchen cooking up warm meals. Chef Todd Gray’s recipe for shrimp and grits is one of those that you can spend a little extra time preparing and will hit the spot when you’re cozy inside on a chilly winter’s day. You can find the dish on the menu at Watershed Restaurant or make it at home with the recipe after the jump.
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Capital Chefs, Food and Drink, The Features
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Capital Chefs: Todd Gray of Equinox and Watershed (Part 1)

Todd Gray at Watershed
‘Todd Gray at Watershed’
courtesy of ‘bonappetitfoodie’

Juggling multiple restaurants and two catering companies, along with a recent RAMMY award win for 2011 Chef of the Year and several James Beard Foundation Award nominations, you could call Todd Gray a powerhouse of sorts. This year alone, the chef and his wife and business partner, Ellen Kassoff Gray, have expanded their hospitality group to include Todd Gray’s Watershed and Todd Gray’s Muse at the Corcoran just this year. So where did the chef start all of this?

For Gray, who grew up outside of Washington, DC, he knew he wanted to own a restaurant before he knew he wanted to be a chef. While he was studying at the University of Richmond and was working in the front of the house at a local restaurant, he found that he fell in love with the kitchen. “The culinary bus came and I jumped on,” he says.

Flash forward to years of building a successful career, it’s certain that the chef has far more planned for the future. Gray and his wife are working on a book due out in September 2012 with the working title, “Kitchen Conversations: Blending Jewish and American Flavors for Delicious, Easy Meals.” The chef slyly adds that there may be a few more restaurants for him on the horizon, but plays off any specific plans by saying simply, “I’m just going to keep on cooking and having fun.”
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Food and Drink, The Daily Feed
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Tune Inn Re-Opens on Capitol Hill Nov. 4th

Photo courtesy of
‘3679-23Crop’
courtesy of ‘furcafe’

After months of being closed after a fire damaged the restaurant, the Tune Inn will re-open its doors this week. According to The Washington Post, the restaurant and bar will re-open at 8 AM on Friday, November 4th.

We Love DC had reported earlier that a grease fire in the kitchen was the cause of the blaze. While staff at the Tune Inn originally anticipated the bar and restaurant to reopen in a few weeks, repairs ended up taking several months.

On behalf of all of us at WLDC, we welcome back the classic institution on Capitol Hill.