Fieri, Flay Headline Metro Cooking Show
Food Network’s Bobby Flay and Guy Fieri return to D.C. this weekend as Metro Cooking DC comes back for its ninth year to the Walter E. Washington Convention Center, 801 Mount Vernon Place NW. This year’s show includes television chefs, the James Beard Foundation cooking stage, hundreds of specialty food exhibitors selling their products, cooking demonstrations, cookbook authors, a beer, wine and spirits pavilion and workshops.
This year’s show will have many special features including the Grand Tasting Pavilion with dozens of local restaurants and chefs sharing samples of their signature fare, L’Academie de Cuisine cooking classes and an area dedicated to children’s cooking activities.
Fieri headlines two Saturday shows plus a Guy’s on Fire cookbook signing session. Known as a “culinary rock star,” Fieri hosts Diners, Drive-ins & Dives and Rachel vs. Guy Celebrity Cook-off. Highlighting Sunday’s line-up, Flay, the chef, restaurateur, cookbook author and star of Iron Chef America and Throwdown with Bobby Flay, will take the stage for two shows and will also be available to sign his new cookbook Bobby’s Barbecue Addiction.
More than 300 vendors will be offering samples and selling their wares. Sample favorites from a wide variety of DMV restaurants, chefs, caterers, food trucks and specialty manufacturers on Sunday from 13:30-3:30 p.m. for $65, which also includes general admission.
General admission tickets are $24.50, children ages 4-12 are $12.50 and children ages 4 and younger are free. General admission tickets allow entrance to demonstrations, presentations and vendor booths on the exhibit hall floor. Admission to celebrity theater is additional.
The show is open Saturday from 10 a.m.-6 p.m. and Sunday from 10 a.m.-5 p.m.
Guest chefs offer late night dinner at Daikaya
Daikaya will host a late-night guest chef event at the izakaya tonight from 11 p.m.-1 a.m. Fans of the Japanese restaurant will have a chance to sample creations form executive chef/partner Katsuya Fukushima as well as dishes from guest chefs Jonah Kim and Jesse Miller of Bar Pilar and Café Saint-Ex, Danny Lee of Mandu and Will Morris of Vermilion.
The special menu includes charred octopus with shiso, preserved lemon curd and potato; simmered chicken and miso meatballs with cabbage; cup-o-pancit, a cup of noodles with palabok sauce, ground chicharon, fried salted shrimp, scallions, chopped hard-boiled egg and calamansi; tokwat baboy, pork belly, pig ears, tofu, soy sauce, vinegar, garlic, onion, scallion and chili; kinilaw, mackerel, vinegar, chili, garlic, ginger, shaved red onions, calamansi, and chayote; ojinguh gang hwae, chilled boiled squid, scallion ribbon with a gochujang vinegar dressing; udon bok ki, steamed bean sprouts, spicy dashi and fish cake; lamb belly and guanciale hayashi stew over rice with daikon style; mixed mushroom salad with chilled miso consommé and lemongrass ponzu; mandu fried chicken, double fried with spicy soy glaze; eastern hash, egg and nori omelet, spam hash with a spicy gochujang sauce; and bungeoppang soft serve.
City Tap House hold fundraiser for Foundation 4 Heroes
City Tap House, 901 9th St. NW, is partnering with The Washington Capitals to host a fundraiser benefiting Foundation 4 Heroes. Hockey fans are encouraged to stop by Sunday, Nov. 9, from 5-7 p.m. to meet John Carlson, Karl Alzner and Troy Brouwer of The Washington Capitals who will be guest bartending during the two-hour event.
The $20 entrance fee entitles guests to a complimentary beverage, and a $10 fee for all autographs with 100 percent of the proceeds benefiting Foundation 4 Heroes, a non-profit organization which inspires and supports children battling diseases to discover the Superhero inside of them and overcome challenges they face.
Also, a silent auction with items such as hockey paraphernalia and Fender guitars signed by Alice Cooper, Dierks Bentley and Steve Lukather will be available to the highest bidder. Tickets can be purchased online.
Monday night is burger night at Nage Bistro
Nage Bistro, 1600 Rhode Island Ave. NW, is firing up the grill and turning Monday night dinner service into gourmet burger night. Guests can enjoy a rotating selection of made-to-order burgers paired with hand-cut fries.
Under new executive chef Dwayne Motley, the new burger offerings change weekly. The featured burgers will be available exclusively during Monday night dinner service, from 5-10 p.m. Nage Bistro’s eight-ounce burgers are made with a blend of ground beef (chuck, short rib and steak) and cooked to order over an open flame. All burgers are served on a fresh, toasted roll.
Motley’s creations will include burgers such as the lamb burger with feta cheese red onion cumin aioli; the French onion burger with blue cheese, gruyere cheese, arugula, caramelized onions and bacon jam; the Greek burger with avocado, feta, tomato and cucumbers served on pita bread; the Nola burger seasoned with the chef’s own blackening spice and topped with pepper jack cheese and grilled peppers; the Caribbean burger topped with grilled pineapple and spicy Caribbean jerk sauce. Non-traditional varieties are also available including the Oaxaca burger with Hass avocado, manchego cheese and mole xico sauce; the banzi burger with Asian slaw, crispy pork belly and kimchi ketchup; the smoked beet burger with feta, cucumber, tomato and butter lettuce; and the turkey burger with goat cheese, sautéed onions and sun dried tomato aioli. Additionally, guests can choose from four varieties of hand-cut fries. Options include Nage frites; garlic fries; ghost chili fries and duck fat fries.
Burger prices range from $13-$18.
Vinoteca launches vermouth hour on Mondays
D.C. restaurant and wine bar Vinoteca, 1940 11th St. NW, will host a “Vermouth Hour” on Monday evenings beginning Nov. 10. The hour-long tutorial on all-things-vermouth offers guests special pricing on all vermouths, served in several different ways including neat, in flights, in classic and signature cocktail creations and even by the bottle.
From 7-8 p.m. each Monday, bar manager Horus Alvarez will lead an hour-long discussion from behind Vinoteca’s indoor bar, chatting with guests about all-things-vermouth including history and origin, types and flavor profiles, use in classic and modern cocktails, and more.
And all night from 5 p.m.-close during “Vermouth Hour” Mondays, guests can enjoy specials on the five vermouths including Dolin Dry, Dolin Blanc, Dolin Rouge, Cocchi Americano and Carpano Antica. The aperitifs can be served neat or on the rocks for $5; in a choose-your-own flight of three for $10; in five classic and signature cocktails created by Alvarez, such as a classic Manhattan, Martini, Boulevardier, Negroni, and his own take on the Martinez, the Alvarez with mezcal, vermouth, maraschino liqueur, chocolate bitters and orange bitters; or by the bottle for $25 served with a recommended mixer and garnish for each different aperitif, such as soda or juice.
Zaika offers veterans a 40 percent discount
Zaika, the modern Indian restaurant at 2800 Clarendon Blvd., Clarendon is offering 40 percent discount for individuals with a military ID on Tuesday for Veterans Day. The discount applies only to food and cannot be combined with any other promotion during lunch and dinner service.
For the remainder of the year, Zaika will give a 10 percent discount daily for lunch, dinner and brunch service to individuals with a military ID. This offer also applies to food only, and cannot be combined with other promotions.
Zaika will be open Tuesday from 11:30 a.m.-2 :30 p.m. for lunch and from 5-10 p.m. for dinner.
BLT Steak offers Veterans Day specials
BLT Steak, 1625 I St. NW, is offering veterans or active military members at 50 percent discount for parties of two or less or a 25 percent discount for parties of three or more off of the total check on Veterans Day, Nov. 11.
Proper military identification is required to receive the discount. On Veterans Day, lunch will be served from 11:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. and dinner from 5:30-10:30 p.m.
Editor-in-Chief Mark Heckathorn is a journalist, movie buff and foodie. He oversees DC on Heels editorial operations as well as strategic planning and staff development. Reach him with story ideas or suggestions at dcoheditor (at) gmail (dot) com.