Tag Archives: Dino

The Daily Feed
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Local Chefs Raise Money for Tsunami Relief

Photo courtesy of
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courtesy of ‘Jing a Ling’
Get your credit cards out. Starting today, a series of donations will be auctioned off on eBay by more than 20 DC businesses. The money raised will support disaster relief in Japan. 

Earlier this week, KAZ Sushi Bistro Chef Kaz Okochi, who was born and raised in Nagoya, Japan, reached out to the DC Chefs’ Club for help. The result? Chefs are auctioning off brunch, dinners, tastings, classes, and more on eBay. The auctions will last for one to two weeks, and the winning bids will be donated to the American Red Cross.

Starting off the auction is KAZ, offering a tasting menu for two people as well as KAZ private brand sake or beer. The bidding starts at $50. To bid go here.

Restaurants participating include:

The Tabard Inn
Restaurant Nora
Perry’s
Equinox
Bourbon
Four Seasons
Masa14
KAZ Sushi Bistro
BLT
Peacock Cafe
Ris
Food & Wine Co.
Dino
DC Coast/TenPenh/Ceiba/Acadiana/PassionFish
Jaleo/Zaytinya/Oyamel/Cafe Atlantico
Marcels/Brasserie Beck/Mussel Bar
Hilton Garden Inn, Downtown

The Features
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A DC Halcyon Day

Photo courtesy of
‘Smithsonian Castle 2’
courtesy of ‘tbridge’

Sunday was just about as incredible a day as we get here in DC. Perfect temperatures, brilliant jewel-toned sky with wisps of high clouds, and colors that popped. I went out with some friends to participate in a Ravenchase Adventure, starting at Presidents Park just north of the White House. With a package full of clues and DC-specific hints and puzzles, we took off around the National Mall, from John Paul Jones to the Enid Haupt garden and the Hirshhorn Sculpture Garden. Running from statue to statue, sculpture to exhibit, Mall to Penn Quarter, we gathered seven worksheets full of codes and clues, all to realize we were carrying the solution in our bag all along.

We ended with a late lunch at Matchbox. We walked tired back to the Metro and car, having covered 4.5mi of ground in the middle of the city; it was the part of DC we usually reserve for tourism, doing our own tourguide duty for friends from out of town. It was nice to get down to the Mall to get to some of the out-of-the-ordinary places like the Enid Haupt Garden where the views are so lovely. Seeing Jim Sanborn’s Antipodes, a very similar work to his Kryptos which is at CIA-Langley and remains unsolved, was a real treat. I had somehow missed it on previous visits, and it is absolutely amazing in person. Our clues lead us to a code for Ian’s wooden chest, but lead us into parts of the Mall we’d otherwise missed. Our day, though, was not quite yet half-done. Continue reading →

Food and Drink, We Love Food
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We Love Food: Dino (II)

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Dino Sinage by Shawn.L on flickr

Last August, Tom and Tiff checked out Dino for Restaurant Week. I was jealous. It sounded delicious, and the menu changes seasonally, so a group of girlfriends and I chose Dino as our big Restaurant Week pick this go-round. We certainly weren’t disappointed. Dino, unlike most other places, was offering their entire menu for RW diners, along with crostini and a complimentary glass of grappa, limincello or muscato. It was a truly thrifty deal, and cheesy tasty to boot! Plus I love it when places embrace Restaurant Week for what it is, and make it worth the diners time by allowing us to try anything we want off the main menu. It enables a place to show off, and I always think it’s admirable when a restaurant  decides it can handle whatever the crowds throw at it.

We sat down at Dino and were immediately impressed- the menu is huge, and the choices can be overwhelming. There’s antipasti, oggi, pasta, formaggi, secondi, and plentiful options for dessert. The menu is rustic Italian featuring the flavors of Venice and Southern Tuscany – we were in for a treat. Continue reading →