Help Food & Friends Deliver Food

An very important call for help from Food & Friends:

On Thursday, Feb. 11, Food & Friends needs 20 volunteers to deliver meals, especially those with 4-wheel-drive vehicles. Those without cars would be very much appreciated in the kitchen, and it would be great if they could come between 8 a.m. and 10 a.m. Volunteers may sign up to chenderson@foodandfriends.org. This information is also available on our website at www.foodandfriends.org/winterstorm2010. Without Food & Friends, our clients likely will not eat, so the help of the community is vital. Meals may be picked up from Food & Friends (219 Riggs Road, NE/Washington, DC) between 10 a.m. and noon, we will provide detailed delivery directions, and routes should take no more than 3 hours. For more information, prospective volunteers may call 202.841.5347.

Chef Five Bites: Adam Lippe

Adam Lippe, executive chef at The Light Horse, has worked about every job in a restaurant, from waiter to management. The graduate of Johnson and Wales University-Charlotte was the opening chef at Logan at the Heights in Columbia Heights. From there, he moved to The Majestic to work as a sous chef under chefs Cathal Armstrong and Shannon Overmiller. When The Light Horse opened in October 2008, he took over the kitchen as head chef. These are his Five Bites:

1. St. Pierre Veronique (John Dory) at Bistro Bis

2. Chicken bites with hot chili sauce at Eamonn's a Dublin Chipper

3. Fish tacos (their mole is the bomb) at Guajillo

4. Crispy whole duck at XO Taste

5. General Tso's chicken (actually, anything on the menu) at Mr. Ho's Carry-out

Previous Chef Five Bites: Cathal Armstrong, Dani Arana, David Guas, Josh Short, Michel Richard, Haidar Karoum, Ryan Morgan, Shannon Overmiller, Anthony Chittum, Jonathan Krinn & Jon Mathieson, Victor Albisu, Vatche Benguian, John Snedden, Nicholas Stefanelli, Travis Olson, Brian Robinson, Cliff Wharton, Alex Bollinger, Massimo Fabbri, Daniel Bortnick, Rob Weland, Olivier Perret, Dennis Marron, Dean Gold, Mike Isabella, Bryan Voltaggio, Geoff Tracy, Bart Vandaele, Rodney Scruggs, Clayton Miller, Alex McCoy, Steve Mannino, Will Artley, Kyle Bailey & Tiffany MacIsaac, Santosh Tiptur, Barton Seaver, Glenn Babcock, Antonio Burrell, Claudio Pirollo and Mickael Cornu, Wesley Morton, Scott Drewno, Ellen and Todd Gray, Philippe Reininger, Tom Wellings

Five Bites On Friday

William Pendzuk works at Tim Force CPA, a firm that works with lots of DC restaurants, including Busboys and Poets, CakeLove, Corduroy and Dino.

1. Pork in the garden at Anothai

2. Ma Tu's signature black pepper chicken at Taste of Saigon

3. HUGE house green salad at Thai Tanium

4. Wild boar basil at Thai Noy

5. Peanut butter blossom cupcake at Hello Cupcake

Five Bites is a place for Metrocurean readers — and DC's top chefs — to share all the delicious things they've been eating and drinking. E-mail five of your favorites and whether you'd like your name and a picture included to metrocurean AT gmail.com.

Here's To Pisco Sour Day

Marcelo Lazaro, head bartender at the Embassy of Peru, cracks an egg while demonstrating how to make a traditional Pisco sour.
metrocurean photos

Despite the icy sidewalks and chilly temps on Monday night, the whir of a blender and the smell of fresh lime juice inside the Embassy of Peru had me daydreaming about balmy tropical locales.

The embassy's bartender, Marcelo Lazaro, was whipping up a batch of Pisco sours for a crowd of onlookers. The event, co-hosted by Macchu Pisco, was in honor of Peru's National Pisco Sour Day, coming up Feb. 6.

After Lazaro demonstrated the classic recipe — a 3:1:1 ratio of Pisco, lime juice and sugar, plus egg whites and Angostura bitters — eight DC bartenders showed off their twists on the cocktail.

Jen Fitzsimmons of Café Atlantico made the bite-size version pictured above: an egg white meringue topped with spherified Pisco and lime zest. Alex Bautista of Ceiba showed off a passion fruit Pisco sour, and Jon Arroyo (Founding Farmers, Farmers and Fishers) added jalapeno, strawberries and cracked pepper to his.

With this weekend's snow storm set to blanket DC (again), I highly recommend mixing up a batch for your own toast to Peru's National Pisco Sour Day. I swear it'll make you feel warmer.

The Winner Of Wine & Food Fest Tickets ...

Lucky number 11 stole random.org's heart for the pair of Valentine's Day tickets to the International Wine and Food Festival's Grand Tasting:

Meg said...

Would *so* love to make it to the IFWF! Here's to winning tix!

Meg, please email me at metrocurean AT gmail.com to claim your tickets!

Didn't get lucky this time? For complete information on the festival's numerous events and tickets, check out wineandfooddc.com.

A Super Bowl Cupcake Battle

It's a sweet match-up of Colts vs. Saints at Hello Cupcake.

You can't influence the outcome of Sunday's Super Bowl match-up (unless you're some kind of shady, all-powerful game fixer), but you can determine the winner of what's sure to be a messy fondant face-off at Hello Cupcake.

Let the frosting fly.

Through Sunday, support your team by purchasing Colts or Saints cupcakes at the Dupont Circle shop. One cupcake equals one point for your team. Get 'em individually or by the dozen. Order by Saturday at noon if you plan on serving them at a Sunday party. The logos can go on any flavor you like. Three hours before kick-off on Sunday, Hello Cupcake staffers will announce a winner.

May the best cream win.

Wednesday's Delicious Deal: Tallula

Photo: tallula.com

The restaurant: Tallula

The deal: The restaurant's new “Neighborhood Nosh” menu offers three courses for $35, Monday through Thursday from 5:30-6:30 p.m.

The deets: Choose any appetizer, entrée and dessert from chef Barry Koslow’s menu, including choices like ahi tuna tartare with snow peas, sesame crackers and red pepper coulis, and slow-cooked lamb shank with white beans, kale and chorizo.

Good Causes: Brainfood & Bordeaux Wine Auction

Help support one of my favorite local charities by purchasing tickets to Brainfood and Bordeaux, a wine auction and cooking demonstration, coming up Monday, Feb. 22.

Brainfood uses food and cooking to teach life skills and healthy living to DC youth.

The event will take place at Zola Wine & Kitchen at 7 p.m. There'll be a cooking demo led by chef Bryan Moscatello (Zola, Zola Wine & Kitchen and Potenza), a wine auction led by ABC-7's Leon Harris, and of course, wine and food.

Tickets are $40. Auction paddles are an additional $10. Get your tickets here!

Win International Wine & Food Fest Tickets!

Get your comments ready, folks. It's another tasty giveaway!

The 11th annual International Wine and Food Festival is coming up Feb. 11-14, and Metrocurean is giving away a pair of tickets to Sunday's Grand Tasting. (Perfect Valentine's Day date, yes?)

Leave a comment on this post by Thursday at 10 a.m., and I'll choose one winner at random to receive the pair of tickets. (You must be 21 to attend.) Check back Thursday to see if you've won.

The festival is filled with all kinds of delicious happenings — from a kickoff party at PS 7's to brunch at Ris for DC Central Kitchen — but the main attraction will be Saturday and Sunday's Grand Tasting and Street-Fare Food Pavilion, from 2-6 p.m. at the Ronald Reagan Building. (The winner gets tickets to Sunday's tasting and pavilion.)

At the tasting, 100 international wineries will pour more than 600 wines. The International Food Pavilion will serve dishes from around the globe (Australian lamb, mini falafel, gelato) paired with wines.

For complete information and tickets, check out wineandfooddc.com.

Savory Style: Cliche Free Valentine's Gifts

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Chocolates, roses, jewelry. Yawn. Ditch the tired and predictable and opt for more distinctive gifts for your loved ones this Valentine's Day.

1. A little luxury for your favorite cook's kitchen, this soy candle smells amazingly like cilantro and orange, and it's not too perfumey. Lafco Cilantro Orange Kitchen candle, Timothy Paul Home (1529 14th St. NW), $58

2. Cupid has landed. With your morning coffee. Angel wings mug, Pylones, $25 (send an IOU — it's available in March)

3. For a sweet gift, pair this cheerful dipper with a jar of local honey from the Dupont FreshFarm Market). "Make my day" honey dipper, Pylones, $14

4. A serious splurge, this maté drinking gourd, made of engraved sterling silver and red leather in Argentina, has an exotic sex appeal. Motorcycle Diaries, anyone? Red maté gourd, Vivre, $695

5. For the beer lover in your life, a grinning Kabuki mask helps crack open a cold one. Kabuki bottle opener, Pulp (1803 14th St. NW) or CB2, $4.95

6. The latest offering from Fee Brothers, Aztec Chocolate Bitters blends cocoa flavors with heat and spice. Snag a bottle for a tongue-in-cheek gift for your favorite aspiring mixologist. Also spotted in cocktails at Bourbon Steak, Proof and Tryst. Aztec Chocolate Bitters, Ace Beverage (3301 New Mexico Ave. NW), about $7

Savory Style is an occasional weekend feature highlighting great style and cool products for your kitchen, tabletop and home.