Posts Tagged ‘Jackson 20’
DC Restaurant Week Spill-overs
Posted by The Editorial Desk / Monday, August 16th, 2010
Welcome to DC Restaurant Week! For those new to the occasion (like me!), this means guests have the opportunity to taste a multi-course menu from participating restaurants for a discount price – usually $20.10 for lunch or $35.10 for dinner. Let the feasting begin! As for me, I’ll be highlighting the specials in NoVa.
- The Grille at Morrison House
- 703-838-8000
- 116 S. Alfred Street, Alexandria
Come for dinner with a tasting menu to feature all the house favorites: heirloom tomato gazpacho, salade du Marché, braised Kurobuta pork cheek, braised boneless beef short rib, braised veal breast, mussel frites, and for dessert a warm peach cake or milk chocolate pot de crème.
- Jackson 20
- 703-842-2790
- 480 King Street, Alexandria
Chef Marron has prepared a menu for lunch and dinner with multiple savory and sweet options: barbecued pork ribs, Trout Marguery (grilled and served with shrimp and lemon oyster sauce), and including the whole-shebang of a dessert list – pineapple upside-down cake, a peach turnover with sweetened crème fraiche and blueberry compote – just to name a few.
- Trummer’s on Main
- 703-266-1623
- 7134 Main Street, in historic Clifton
Trummer’s will be making its debut to RW week with a three course dinner menu offering options of Goat Cheese Agnolotti (pickled rhubarb, black pepper shortbread, fried capers), Chilled Mulligatawny Soup (laughing bird shrimp, yuzu sorbet, apple crisp), North Carolina Tilefish, Grilled Lamb Brisket, Berry Cobbler (brown sugar streusel, vanilla sherbet, basil meringue), The Chocolate Cake and more.
- 2941 Restaurant
- 703-270-1500
- 2941 Fairview Park Drive, Falls Church
Participating with its three course lunch menu of Red Beet Salad, Beef Teres Major and Hazelnut Paris-Brest.
- Bastille Restaurant
- 703-519-3776
- 1201 N. Royal Street, Alexandria
With this dinner menu, you can also add a cheese course for an additional $9 or indulge with wines paired especially for each course ($25 pp). The three course meal provides a variety of choices including a beignet of oysters, Bastille Caesar salad (with romaine and radicchio sprinkled with Parmesan and white anchovy Panacotta), pan-roasted skate filet, roasted Pennsylvania leg of lamb and Merguez sausage, roasted corn risotto and more. Then for dessert, delight in the raspberry crème brûlée, the Valrhona chocolate cake, orange cardamom flan – just to name a few.
- Harry’s Tap Room in Clarendon
- 703-778-7788
- 2800 Clarendon Blvd, Arlington
Offering a menu for both lunch and dinner with multiple options like Baked Brie or Lemongrass Chicken Bon bons; Grilled Hangar Steak, Chicken Pesto Panini (lunch) or Horseradish North Pacific Salmon (dinner); Raspberry Sorbet, Chocolate Chip Bread Pudding, and more.
- Willow Restaurant
- 703-465-8800
- 4301 N. Fairfax Drive, Arlington
- Participating for lunch and dinner with a three course menu to sample Cucumber and Avocado Gazpacho, Liberty Town Flat Bread, or Crispy-Fried Soft Shell Crab(dinner); Parmesan crusted Swordfish Medallions (lunch), Bacon-wrapped Monkfish filet (dinner) or Ratatouille and Ricotta Stuffed Squash Blossoms; Passionfruit Meringue Tart or a Flourless Chocolate Torte and much more.
I’m hungry now – actually I’m borderline ravenous and it isn’t even noon yet.
(Photo: I Know U Can)
For a full listing, or if you care to go the extra mile into DC for your discount bites, check the official DC Restaurant Week Page.
-Jamel Daugherty
NoVA Chefs Heed White House’s Call
Posted by The Editorial Desk / Friday, June 4th, 2010
(Image: James Beard Foundation)
The South Lawn was flooded with a sea of toques this afternoon as chefs from every state descended on the White House to show their solidarity for Michelle Obama’s “Chefs Move to Schools” campaign.
The program aims to enrich school lunch programs by encouraging trained chefs/food service professionals to “adopt” a public learning institution and then work towards improving the quality of meals served to students.
“You can teach kids to cook something that tastes good and is good for them; and share your passion for food in a way that’s truly contagious,” Mrs. Obama told the assembled chefs. She also stressed that participating chefs would hardly be going it alone.
“When you go into the schools … work closely with our food service professionals to support the work that they do every day. They’re looking forward to getting some extra help–they need it–doing everything from teaching basic cooking skills in the cafeteria to encouraging healthy choices in the lunch line. But it’s got to be a collaboration,” Obama counseled.
Early reports from the White House suggest that roughly 1,000 chefs and 500 schools have signed on to the nascent program.
A quick scan of chefs who had signed on to “Chefs Move” through Share Our Strength showed approaching 40 hospitality vets from all around Virginia, including several do-gooders that should be very familiar to our readers:
* Cathal Armstrong/Restaurant Eve
* Will Artley/Evening Star Cafe
* Chris Ford and Clayton Miller/Trummer’s on Main
* Justus Frank and Miles Vaden/Eventide
* David Guas/DamGoodSweet
* Steve Mannino/Rustico
* Dennis Marron/Grille at Morrison House, Jackson 20
* James Watson and Robert Wiedmaier/BRABO
Most of the chefs we spoke to were still in the process of selecting their adoptive school. But all seemed enthused about the possibility of giving back in a whole new way.
–Warren
Posted by The Editorial Desk / Wednesday, May 19th, 2010
Never mind holding out hope for any kind of economic turnaround.
Alexandria restaurant folks have recently been forced to recover signature items that have taken to wandering off.
The latest business owner waylaid by sticky fingers is BGR founder Mark Bucher, whose double-sided burger placard (usually parked right at the corner of King and North Washington Streets) vanished late Monday night.
Though Bucher is clearing having fun with his cyber-dragnet, Jackson 20 executive chef Dennis Marron was obviously distressed after learning that late-night revelers had shoved restaurant mascot “Bessie” into a cab and sped off into the darkness about a month ago.
Luckily for Marron (and all the Bessie lovers out there), the iconic pig was returned the following morning–presumably after the offending party sobered up/figured out the bronze figurine wouldn’t net him one thin dime on Cash4Gold.
–Warren
Earth Day Edibles and Reusables
Posted by The Editorial Desk / Thursday, April 22nd, 2010
Image: Treehugger
A few weeks ago I wrote about restaurants holding Earth Day events around Northern Virginia. For some Earth Day is a marketing tool, for others it’s a good way to spark conversation and encourage involvement. Well, there are a few more events worth checking out to spark that conversation.
The Butcher’s Block in Alexandria will host a complimentary wine tasting from a certified biodynamic and organic winery, Quivira Vineyards and Winery. Jenalyn Johnson of The Country Vintner will lead the tasting of four Quivira wines. In addition, Anne Amie Winery wines, a certified LIVE winery, will be available. The tasting will occur between 6-8pm.
The Grille at Morrison House will offer a four course, 100-mile candlelight dinner with the majority of the ingredients being sourced from local farms within a 100 mile radius. The dinner is $55 per person. Call 703-838-8000 or visit the website to make a reservation.
Jackson 20 will unveil its “J20 Eco Hour” where a large selection of canned beers and boxed wines will be available. Cans are easier to recycle as it is more readily available than glass recycling. The new program will feature $2 “working man’s canned beer” and $5 “craft canned beer.” Eco Hour will start April 22nd and occur daily from 3-7p.m.
Jackson 20 will also unveil its new “late night blackout happy hour” on Earth Day. Every Thursday, Friday, and Saturday from 11pm to close the restaurant will turn off the lights and instead use candlelight, turn up the music, and serve their Eco Hour beer and wine specials. Expect the event to last during the spring and summer.
Firefly will recycle wine corks from the 22nd until the end of April. For every cork you bring in, $1 will be taken off your bill (up to $22) in honor of the day Earth Day is celebrated. You could also use corks to make wreaths, bulletin boards, and business card holders.
Several companies will offer Earth Day freebies; however it seems you have to print off a coupon for some places, which seems to defeat the purpose of Earth Day. Hopefully these places are recycling the paper used for coupons.
On Saturday, April 24 from 11am-3pm all Wegmans stores will trade you a reusable bag for a bag of tightly packed Wegmans plastic bags, which they will then recycle.
DC also has a plethora of Earth Day activities this weekend.
Lastly, if you missed some films during the Environmental Film Festival, here is your chance to catch some free films on Sunday, April 25th at the Carnegie Institution for Science.
Other Earth Day notables:
SunChips will donate $1 for every Facebook fan it receives today (up to $100,000) to environmental education programs. SunChips is also debuting its new 100% compostable bag today. Visit the Biodegradable Products Institute to get your own compostable trash bags, food service items, and packaging materials.
Video: SunChips
- Chef Jaime Oliver and Edible Communities publishers and editors, Brian Halweil and Stephen Munshin, are two of The Daily Green’s 2010 Heart of Green Award recipients.
- Treehugger has a list of funny SomeeCard’s to send to your friends.
- Bon Appetit Magazine has lots of information about how to celebrate Earth Day. Anything from turning old t-shirts into grocery bags to eco-friendly gadgets and how to throw Earth-Friendly dinner parties.
The Daily Green also has some handy tips on how to reuse products you’re considering throwing away or don’t know what to do with. Highlights include egg shells, plastic bottles, and mason jars. You could even build your own house out of plastic bottles. The world’s first plastic bottle building was unveiled in Taiwan recently.
Happy Earth Day!
–Aisha Salazar