Urban Butcher Adds Saturday Brunch
Next Saturday, Sept. 12, Urban Butcher, a restaurant, butcher shop and meat cellar at 8226 Georgia Ave., Silver Spring, will begin serving its Sunday Brunch on Saturdays from 11:30 a.m.-4 p.m. Also, beginning Sept. 14, the restaurant will be open on Mondays.
In addition to a number of dishes featured on Urban Butcher’s evening menu, its “urban rustic” brunch menu includes items such as country bread French toast topped with goat milk gelato and apples braised with maple syrup and dark spices for $12 and a grilled Amish chicken breast nicoise salad for $22. Omelets and scrambles include house-made bacon, chopped tomato and cheddar; broccolini, caramelized onions and goat cheese; and smoked trout, green onions, roasted garlic and brie. All are served with home fries and field greens for $14. The restaurant’s 60-day in-house dry-aged T-bone steaks are available for 20 percent off. Steak extras include foie gras torchon, white truffle butter and two eggs with home fries.
From the bar, guests may select from cocktails including Urban Butcher’s house-made Bloody Mary, hard cider mimosa and hibiscus mojito. Guests may also choose the restaurant’s signature lavender margarita for $6. It is also available by the pitcher, which serves five-six, for $25.
The full brunch menu is available online.
Cava Grill opens in Reagan National Airport
Cava Grill opened its newest location on Friday in Reagan National Airport’s B Terminal, which also introduced a breakfast program featuring a Greek yogurt bar, build-your-own breakfast bowls and freshly-brewed Compass Coffee for morning commuters.
Morning travelers can order from the Greek yogurt bar and add toppings such as granola, honey, hemp hearts, chia seeds and seasonal roasted fruits from the new breakfast menu, which is only available at the new airport location. Build-your-own breakfast bowls allow guests to put their unique spin on the healthy morning meal, featuring breakfast favorites in Cava Grill’s customizable bowl format. Diners will be able to pair their eggs with roasted potatoes, grains or baby spinach, and add proteins such as grilled meatballs, spicy lamb meatballs, falafel or Greek chicken sausage created exclusively by local Logan’s Sausage Co. The restaurant will also offer a variety of Mediterranean-inspired toppings like harissa, tomato/onion, organic arugula, crumbled feta, and Sriracha Greek yogurt.
Cava Grill’s opening in Terminal B is part of the recent overhaul of Reagan National Airport’s dining options, bringing in local and nationally-recognized chefs to offer gourmet food options for travelers.
Like with other recent Cava Grill openings, the new location will feature local beer and wine on tap; new menu items including seasonal vegetables roasted in Cava’s new stone-fired ovens and rotating seasonal soups, juices and teas made in-house daily. Relationships with local partners like Whisked!, Gordy’s Pickle Jar and RunningByrd Tea.
Graffiato, Kapnos Taverna offer fixed price platters for holiday
Graffiato, 707 Sixth St. NW, and Kapnos Taverna, 4000 Wilson Blvd., Arlington, are celebrating the symbolic end of summer with a pair of fixed-price seasonal feasts through Sunday, Sept. 6.
At Graffiato, Mike Isabella and chef de cuisine Jose Adorno are serving up an Italian barbeque dinner featuring beef brisket, Chinatown ribs, cacio e pepe, baked white beans, artichoke coleslaw and rotol for $25 a person.
At Kapnos Taverna, guests can feast on a crab roast platter, which comes with grilled king crab leg, crispy soft shell crab, Old Bay steamed Maryland blue crab, Maryland blue crab keftedes and lump crab imperial. The platter is served with assorted Greek sides and serves two-four people for $85. As an added bonus, guests can enjoy the crab roast platter on the restaurant’s brand new patio, opening this week.
Both restaurants are closed Monday for Labor Day.
Brookland’s Finest, Sloppy Mama’s team up for special menu
Beginning on Labor Day, Brookland’s Finest Bar & Kitchen, 3126 12th St. NE, will offer a week-long collaborative menu with Sloppy Mama’s Barbeque from Chantilly, Va., featuring sandwiches and smoked meat entrees.
The special menu will be available Sept. 7-13, and will feature dishes with Kansas City and Georgia Gold sauces such as smoked chicken muffuletta panini with olive tapenade, smoked mozzarella cheese, Olli prosciutto, sundried tomato dipping sauce and hand-cut chips for $13; beef brisket sandwich with cole slaw, choice of Kansas City or Georgia Gold sauce, brioche bread and hand-cut fries for $14; pork ribs with bacon mac and cheese, spicy greens and cole slaw for $20; beef brisket with buttery mashed potatoes, sauteed spinach and cole slaw for $22. Dessert rounds out the menu with a s’mores rice crispy bar with graham cracker ice cream for $8.
In addition to the special menu, the restaurant will also serve its weekend brunch menu on Labor Day.
Tickets for Old Ebbitt’s Oyster Riot go on sale Tuesday
Tickets go on sale Sept. 8 for Old Ebbitt Grill’s 21st annual Oyster Riot. The restaurant, located at 675 15th St. NW, will hold its annual oyster party on Nov. 20 and 21.
Oyster Riot is held annually the Friday and Saturday before Thanksgiving. Each night, nearly 1,000 people devour tens of thousands of oysters while enjoying the gold medal winners of the International Wines for Oysters Competition. The party will be held from 7-10 p.m. on Nov. 20 and 1-4 p.m. and 7-10 p.m. on Nov. 21. In addition to 25 kinds of oysters from both coasts, the menu includes fruit and cheese, shrimp, crab claws and oyster hors d’oeuvres. Music for both evening sessions includes Cool John Ferguson, Ironing Board Same, Pat “Mother Blues” Cohen, Big Ron Hunter, Robert Lee Coleman, Lil Joe, Harvey Dalton Arnold, Bubba Norwood and Sol Roots. Bad Influence Band headlines the Saturday matinee session.
Tickets for each session is $140 per ticket with a maximum of 20 tickets for each session. Tickets go on sale Tuesday at the restaurant, 675 15th St. NW, between 7:30-8:30 a.m. The remaining tickets will be available online beginning at 10 a.m.
Slate Wine Bar + Bistro celebrates third anniversary Wednesday
September marks three years of business for Slate Wine Bar + Bistro, 2404 Wisconsin Ave. NW. Since the modern-day traditional third anniversary gift is crystal or glass, Slate will celebrate by giving each dinner guest a free glass of Cava from 4-11 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 9.
Guests will also have the dining option of a special third year anniversary three-course dinner menu for $33 and half-priced bottles of wine.
Blue Duck Lounge offers interactive cheese tour in September
Blue Duck Tavern cheese specialist Sophie Slesinger will debut Sophie’s Cheese Table, an interactive cheese tour available exclusively at Blue Duck Lounge from Thursday through Saturday between 7-9 p.m. beginning Sept. 10.
Those sharing a passion for cheese are encouraged to book the private class, which is available for small groups up to eight guests. Classes are $65 per person and include three pre-selected American farmstead cheeses along with a charcuterie course and three drink pairings.
Throughout the two-hour class Slesinger will provide detailed background on the different cheeses, their origins and which wines and beers pair best. Her customized cheese plate will be paired with bread, house-made jelly and marmalade, dried fruit, quince paste and pickles.
Slesinger has been nationally recognized for her knowledge and creativity with cheese. She was appointed cheese specialist of Blue Duck Tavern and Blue Duck Lounge at the Park Hyatt Washingon, corner of 24th and M Streets NW, in October 2014. She began learning the art of cheese in New York while working as the program director at Saxelby Cheese from 2011-2013. After her two-year stint in New York, she accepted a position as cheesemonger at GCDC in Washington, D.C., where she selected the restaurant’s featured cheeses, crafted the evening menu and developed a weekly program focused exclusively on cheese education until she moved to Blue Duck.
For reservations email Marvina Tribbey-Williams or call 202-419-6620.
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.