Le Diplomate Offers Buche de Noel to Go
You can serve buche de noel from Le Diplomate, 1601 14th St. NW, at your Christmas dinner
Pastry chef Fabrice Bendano is offering the intricately decorated buche de noel in two flavors: Mont-Blanc with chestnut sponge cake, silk mousse and poached spiced pear; and chocolate-praline made with dark chocolate mousse, milk chocolate cream, hazelnut dacquoise and pralines. Both feature handmade meringue mushrooms, sugar evergreens and woodland creatures crafted from hand rolled fondant. The desserts serve 4-6 and are $40 each They must be ordered by Dec. 19 and will be available for pick-up on Dec. 23 at noon.
The restaurant is also serving two new warm cocktails: the Chartreuse Chocolat Chaud and the Vin Rouge Chaud. The Chartreuse Chocolat Chaud ($13) is made with green chartreuse, hot chocolate and marshmallow; while the Vin Rouge Chaud ($11) features Ventoux rouge, seasonal winter spices and citrus.
The cocktails are available throughout winter for guests to warm up under fleece blankets on Le Diplomate’s heated patio or to in the dining room, which is adorned with twinkling lights, fresh garland, and handsomely decorated Christmas trees.
Bourbon Steak continues its 12 days of cocktails
Bourbon Steak in the Four Seasons Hotel, 2800 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, continues its 12 days of cocktails this week. The restaurant’s bar and lounge will feature a different cocktail the 12 days leading up to Christmas. A portion of proceeds from any drink ordered during the 12 days will go to Four Seasons Washington’s Hands of Hospitality initiative to provide toys for local children in foster care.
Monday’s featured cocktail is Baja Hot Chocolate with Patrón XO Incendio, house cocoa, Arbol chile, Criollo chocolate and homemade dulce de leche cream; Tuesday is the Tequiila Hot Toddy with Avion Reposado tequila, Drambuie, black tea, cinnamon, fresh lemon and fresh orange. Wednesday’s drink special is the Vanilla Old Fashioned with Jos. A. Magnus bourbon, homemade vanilla syrup and spiced tincture served short with an orange peel. Thursday is Lost in Decadence with Ketel One vodka, house-made fudge, Galliano Ristretto and white chocolate espuma served neat in a Belgian glass with chocolate and cherry powder. Friday’s special is a Cognac Hot Toddy with Hennessy cognac, Drambuie, black tea, cinnamon, fresh lemon and fresh orange, And wrapping the week up on Saturday is a sparkling glass of Champagne to toast Christmas Eve.
Astro Doughnuts serves holiday doughnuts
This holiday season, Astro Doughnuts & Fried Chicken, 1308 G St. NW and 7511 Leesburg Pike, Falls Church, is offering special seasonal flavors, Christmas, Hanukkah and New Year’s boxes of mini doughnuts, as well as latkes and jelly doughnuts.
Holiday flavors include chocolate peppermint with crushed candy cane and chocolate peppermint glaze on a chocolate cake doughnut ($2.85 each); bourbon egg nog, a square doughnut filled with nutmeg pastry cream and topped with nutmeg vanilla glaze ($3.10); gingerbread pear with pear compote filling, gingerbread glaze, chopped ginger snap cookies and vanilla glaze drizzle ($3.10); and Christmas cookie with vanilla glaze, shortbread crumble, royal icing, Christmas sprinkles and a star shaped Christmas cookie ($3.10).
A box of Christmas mini doughnuts can be ordered Dec. 19-24 and or available in limited quantities at both stores on Dec. 23 and 24 for $22. A box of Hanukkah mini doughnuts can be ordered from Dec. 24 through Jan. 1 and will be available in limited quantities at the stores on Dec. 24 and 30 for $22. Additional items that will be available during Hanukkah from Dec. 24-Jan. 1 inlcude individual powdered sugar jelly doughnuts and Hanukkah decorated doughnuts for $3.10 each. Potato latkes are also available for preorder and in limited quantity at the Falls Church store on New Year’s Eve for $22.
Orders can be placed by emailing info@astrodoughnuts.com or calling 202-809-5565. Both stores will close at 4 p.m. on Christmas Eve and be closed Christmas day. On New Year’s Eve, the D.C. store will close at 4 p.m. and the Falls Church store at 6 p.m. D.C. will be closed on New Year’s Day, while Falls Church will be open 9 a.m.-6 p.m.
Jack Rose Dining Saloon introduces hot cocktails
Jack Rose Dining Saloon, 2007 18th St. NW, is now serving $10 hot cocktails on its heated rooftop terrace.
The warm drinks include cinnamon bun-topped chai cocktails, Mexican hot chocolate with chartreuse and spiked apple cider served on the glass-enclosed rooftop bar, which has overhead heat lamps, while the Balcony Room has become a wood-lined winter escape with a wood-burning fireplace and leather couch seating.
The Chai My Buns, a combination of Captain Morgan Spiced Rum, chai tea, soy milk and simple syrup comes topped with a warm, iced cinnamon bun. For the boozy Chocolate Without Borders, the restaurant stirs neighbor Pleasant Pops’ Mexican Chocolate Pop into a hot mixture of Ilegal mezcal and green chartreuse, topping it with a skewer of toasted marshmallows. And guests can choose to spike the hot apple cider mad with cinnamon, allspice and clove, with either bourbon or rum.
Cold cocktails featuring warm flavors and spices such as clove, cinnamon, hazelnut and pumpkin, are also available on the rooftop, such as the Hazed and Infused with hazelnut coffee-infused Bulleit bourbon, Giffards vanille de Madagascar and orange bitters; the How Ya Like Dem Apples with Clyde May’s Alabama whiskey, tea, cinnamon syrup and lemon; the Headless Scotsman with Laphroaig 10-year scotch, pumpkin brown sugar, lemon, orange and black walnut bitters; and Absolutly Sauced with Absolut vodka, cranberry sauce, clove honey syrup and Jerry Thomas bitters.
Jardenea Lounge launches new happy hour specials
Jardenea Lounge at the Melrose Georgetown Hotel, 2430 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, has a new happy hour menu from 5-7p m. Sunday through Thursday.
The menu features $7 appetizers, $7 cocktails and $7 valet parking. The happy hour menu consists of samplings of current appetizers from Jardenea, the hotel’s farm-to-fork restaurant, including kettle seared Duroc pork belly, steamed Little Neck clams, Chesapeake Bay crab bisque, jumbo blue crab cake, an Angus beef burger and margherita flat bread. Drinks include martinis, wines and beer. Additionally, parties of seven or more receive an additional 7 percent off dinner at Jardenea.
14K Restaurant offers two weekly specials
The 14K Restaurant in the Hamilton Crown Plaza, 1001 14th St. NW, has introduced two new specials.
On Treasure Tuesdays, the restaurant is offering tax-free dining from 6-9 p.m. with the restaurant and lounge picking up the tax while guest enjoy live music by James Stevens.
On Fridays, the restaurant is offering specially-priced sampler flights of wine, Champagne, bourbon, tequila and hand-crafted martinis from 5-10 p.m. The Friday Night Flights menu include a choice of three wines for $15 including Meiomi Pinot Noir, Franciscan Oakville Cabernet, 19 Crimes Red Blend, Placido Chianti, Bonterra Chardonnay, Chalone Chardonnay, Brancott Sauv. Blan and Cotes De Provence Rosé; a flight of three Champagnes for $15 including Champagne Cobblers, Peach Bellini, Kir Royale, Rosé and Champagne Mojitos; a flight of three bourbons for $20 including Maker’s 46, Basil Hayden’s, Bulleit Rye, Woodford Reserve and Knob Creek; a flight of three tequilas for $20 including Patrón Silver, Hornitos Añejo, Milagro Añejo and Hornitos Reposado; or a flight of three martinis for $20 including Pineapple Upside-Down, Apple, Pear Martini and Cherry Blossom Martini.
Commissary hosts Latke-Palooza on Monday
Commissary, 1443 P St. NW, will hold its third annual Latke-Palooza Hannukah happy hour from 6-8 p.m. on Monday, Dec. 19.
Tickets are $22 per person and include bottomless access to traditional, sweet potato and zucchini latkes as well as a deep-fried donut bar. Tickets can be purchased online or at the door. There is also a $38 ticket option online only, which includes two drinks from a selection of holiday specialty cocktails or house wine and draft beer. Drinks can also be ordered a la carte.
Tyler Stout takes over Macon Bistro’s kitchen
Tyler Stout was recently named executive sous chef at Macon Bistro & Larder, 5520 Connecticut Ave. NW. He replaces Ryan Hackney, who started at the beginning of the year.
Stout, who attended L’Academie de Cuisine, has been the restaurant’s sous chef since November 2015. After graduation, Stout, who grew up in Raleigh, N.C., on his family’s farm, worked at Newton’s Table in Bethesda where he climbed from line cook to junior sous chef. Then he worked as the opening sous chef at Barrel and Crow before moving to Macon Bistro.
He has begun adding new dishes to the menu including a caramelized onion tart with Roquefort cheese, spiced pine nuts, arugula, and bitter greens appetizer. He also plans to add duck breast and short rib bourguignon entrees. At brunch, he’ll introduce extra-fluffy pancakes made using a nitrous oxide cartridge, which aerates the pancake batter.
John Kerschensteiner is new chef at the Fainting Goat
John Kerschensteiner is the new chef de cuisine at The Fainting Goat, 1330 U St. NW.
Kerschensteiner takes over the kitchen from executive chef Nathan Beauchamp who is moving to the company’s new Tiger Fork Hong Kong-inspired restaurant slated to open next month at 922 N St. NW in the former Rogue 24 space in Blagden Alley.
A Silver Spring native, Kerschensteiner was most recently executive sous chef at Graffiato. His grandparents owned The Quarterdeck in Arlington where he started part-time in the front of house in high school. He then staged in some Michelin-starred restaurants in New York including Gramercy Tavern, Eleven Madison Park and The Modern while he attended the French Culinary Institute there. After graduating, he work under Chef Dan Giusti at Georgetown’s 1789. After Giusti’s departure, Kerchensteiner went on to work in the kitchen as sous chef at Rogue 24, after which he briefly left to hold a sous chef position at Table before returning to Rogue 24 as executive sous chef.
Kerschensteiner will work closely with Beauchamp to put his own stamp on Fainting Goat’s menu. New dishes will include octopus with spicy aji amarillo, potatoes, briny olives and fresh cilantro; roasted and raw vegetables such as shaved and raw beets, kholrabi, carrots, parsnips, rutabaga and radish served with green goddess dressing; drunken noodles with handmade egg noodles anise, cassia and chili-spiced pork sauce flecked with szechuan peppercorns and pan seared Elk served with cocoa, celeriac, hedgehog mushrooms, cherry bourbon and sage.
“My passion of cooking was shaped by my family – my father loved to grill all day on his days off, and I am always striving to cook as well as my grandmother did. I get inspiration from everywhere, as trite as that sounds,” Krechensteiner said in a press release. I was trained in French and American cuisine, but I love Asian and Latin flavors and my menus will always revolve around seasonal and local ingredients with a modern and international influence.”
Ryan Ratino will takeover kitchen at Ripple from Meek-Bradley
Ryan Ratino is the new executive chef at Ripple, 3417 Connecticut Ave. NW. The 26-year-old replaces Marjorie Meek-Bradley, who stepped down from both Ripple and Roofers Union to focus on her own pastrami shop, Smoked & Stacked.
Ratino, who will debut a new dinner menu at the Cleveland Park restaurant on Jan. 2, most recently was chef de cuisine at Masa 14 for about a year. Prior to that, he was executive chef at Virginia’s L’Auberge Provencale for nine months. He got his degree from Le Cordon Bleu in Orlando, Fla., and began his career in Florida where he worked as a junior sous chef for Shula’s Steak House at the Four-Diamond AAA award-winning Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin Resort. That’s also where he worked as executive chef for Todd English at Bluezoo. His resume includes stops at Micheln-starred Caviar Russe, WD-50 and Dovetails NYC all in New York, as well as locally at Minibar by Jose Andres.
Ratino’s seasonal American cuisine with European roots will maintain Meek-Bradley’s relationships with area farmers when he begins in January. He said he plans to introduce an affordable tasting menu in addition to the a la carte offerings. He hasn’t decided yet if it will be three, four or five courses, but hopes to keep the price at $60 or less.
Denny Lyon joins Bastille as general manager
Denny Lyon is the new general manager of Bastille, 606 N. Fayette St., Alexandria.
Lyon formerly serving was most recently director of operations at Nellie’s Sports Bar. Previously, he had been manager of the former Ten Penh and general manager of Ceiba, PassionFish and Teatro Goldoni. He had also been a manager at Bobby Van’s Grill.
“We’ve known Denny for many, many years, have first-hand knowledge of his professionalism and dedication,” says Bastille chef/owner Christophe Poteaux. “His success at Nellie’s, Bobby Van’s and the PassionFood Group convinced us that he would be a great team leader for Bastille Brasserie and Bar.”
Before entering the food service industry, Lyon spent four years in the Navy and then two years with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, assisting those displaced by hurricane Agnes. He then took a job at a club/restaurant in Southeast D.C. as a server. From there, he went to a corporate position with Marriott restaurants and then back to private restaurants.
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.