amanda mcclements

At a press dinner last night at the new Indigo Landing , I got to sample some of the low-country cooking that chef Bryan Moscatello (pictured) has created for the revamped restaurant . But to start, let me say that if you've never been to the marina where Indigo Landing is located, you should go. The view, especially as the setting sun turns the skyline pink, may be one of the most tranquil in the area (between the rumble of jets departing National Airport that is). The fact that there's now a worthwhile restaurant on the premises as well makes it even easier to justify a trip. Whether you're parking your sailboat in the free slips or coming out for a special occasion, here are just a few of the things you have to look forward to: a rich and creamy she crab soup topped with sherry crema, fluffy hush puppies studded with foie gras and perfectly grilled black grouper with vidalia onion rings and a mussel barbecue sauce. A few preview-sized portions of other dishes also indic...

Please allow me to turn your already off-task attention to FreeRide , the freshly launched local blog from Express , The Washington Post 's free daily. Metrocurean friend and DCist co-founder Michael Grass is a primary force behind the new site, and for those who know his affinity for all things transportation-related, you'll see his influence throughout, including in the nifty Metro Links feature, which allows you to click on a Metro stop and find surrounding venues like restaurants and theaters and relevant blog posts. You'll also find regular food and dining coverage from yours truly, as well as other coverage from Grammar.police .

UPDATE: Duffy's grand opening is now slated for the weekend of May 12. Back in September I wrote about Duffy's Irish Restaurant and Pub , which was struggling to get a liquor license for its Vermont Avenue location, just across from the 9:30 Club and around the corner from The Rhapsody, a new luxury condo building. The owner's campaign for a liquor license finally proved successful, and the restaurant's Web site is heralding an April opening. That leaves only six days for the new spot to open its doors (that is if it hasn't already), but restaurant openings are practically impossible to predict, so keep an eye out in the coming weeks. The Web site also shows a few interior shots (below) of the construction. On the menu are some Irish classics like fish and chips, lamb stew, shepherd's pie and corned beef and cabbage, along with Americanized pub grub like buffalo wings, chicken tenders, potato skins and burgers. Give Metrocurean a holler if you check it out.

It hasn't been the most exciting of weeks in restaurant buzz land. No celebrity chefs staking their claim on the food frontier, no juicy rumors to drool over and now comes news that Balducci's has backed out of its plans to open a store in Penn Quarter. I was clicking around on their Web site earlier this week, hoping to find out when the new store would be opening, but I noticed the Seventh Street location was no longer listed in their store locator. I just thought it was a mistake. But the Washington Business Journal reports that the plans are off the table. It could have been such a great addition to downtown. *sigh* As we head off into the weekend, here's hoping next week will bring better news.

A while back I wrote about the fabulous and locally made Uncle Brutha's gourmet hot sauce , which was previously most easily acquired from the company's stand at Eastern Market. Now comes word that they've opened a shop--no, better yet, a "hot sauce emporium"--at 323 Seventh St. SE on Capitol Hill. The store offers more than 300 varieties of hot sauce, marinades, barbecue sauce and spice rubs, in addition to the award-winning Uncle Brutha's sauces. The store, which has been open a few weeks, will hold a grand opening celebration May 7. You can read about DCist Scott's adventures with the stuff here . My bottle of Fire Sauce No. 10 was recently emptied, so I'm looking forward to stopping in. Let me know if you've been.

A celebration of the Thai new year, or Songkran, is under way at Bangkok Joe's through the end of April, giving guests both a taste of traditional dishes that are thought to promote longevity and a chance to flush away negative energy with a water throwing ritual. Sprinkle a little scented water on the Buddha statue near the entrance of the restaurant to cleanse yourself of misfortune, and then shake a "Ziem-Zee," a container full of Thai fortune sticks, to find out what the new year has in store for you. Traditional dishes being served at Bangkok Joe's include Meang-Kum (pictured), made with shrimp, toasted coconut, ginger, shallots, roasted peanuts, lime and Thai pepper on collared green bites with lemongrass-coconut-palm sugar sauce; and Thai New Year Spaghetti, which combines wok-fried lobster with spaghetti, Thai anchovies, oven-roasted tomatoes, basil, sweet peppers, onions and scallions in a roasted chili and garlic sauce. Bangkok Joe's 3000 K Street 202.3...

What's been on local foodies' minds this week ... ... Wolfgang Puck and the Newseum announce a new restaurant concept, The Source by Wolfgang Puck , set to open in the fall of 2007. ... ... The Chicago Tribune , by way of DCist , points out that we have Rev. Sun Myung Moon to thank for that piece of fatty toro. ... ... Hundreds of food lovers gathered on Tuesday for Taste of the Nation , where the area's best chefs put on a great show. Highlights included a hearty sausage and duck confit cassoulet from Restaurant Eve , a decadent chocolate peanut butter torte with a milkshake shooter from Colvin Run Tavern , and the flurry of cocktail activity at the "Boom Boom Bar," where Sebastian Zutant of Rasika was pouring chocolate tequila shooters and Todd Thrasher from Eve was decked out in a lab coat behind a display of bubbling technicolor beakers. If you missed out this year, be sure to watch out next spring for the next go-round. ... ... Dino gets a new executive c...

I must admit that when I first heard about Agraria , the forthcoming waterfront restaurant from a farmers union in North Dakota, I wasn't quite sure what to think. The whole thing seemed kind of, well, random. The union partnered with a lobbying and financial group in the new venture , which made things a little clearer: Bring a farmer-owned restaurant to the nation's capital to put the issues American farmers face right under Congress' nose. OK, fine, but we've all seen what happens to restaurants tied too closely to lobbying . But would the food be good? Tucked in the tourist trap of the Washington Harbour, where no one bats an eye at laying down $28 for a plate of terribly mediocre crabcakes, Agraria would have to overcome the reputation of its location to earn the respect of locals. Then came the announcement that they brought on D.C.'s most well-known restaurant designers, Adamstein and Demetriou, to overhaul the space that was formerly the shortlived Harbour ...

It was only a matter of time before the acai drumbeat got loud enough to become a bona fide trend, and as the Express mentioned the other day, now that Oprah's on it, it's offically going mainstream. In case you've been living under a foodie trend rock (the pomegranate was so 2004, by the way), the acai berry is the antioxidant-packed fruit of a rainforest palm with a flavor similar to blueberries with a bit of chocolate mixed in. It's been popping up in juices at grocery stores and is making its way into the repetoires of bar mixologists. You can try free samples of drinks made with the juice at the Z Lounge in the Sports Club/LA (1170 22nd St. NW) tonight from 6 to 8 p.m. Or you can try hitting the bar at Cafe Atlantico (which you should do sometime anyway), and ordering their new acai mango martini, made with fresh mango juice, mango rum and acai juice. Any other acai sightings to report?

Details about the forthcoming Wolfgang Puck restaurant , Source by Wolfgang Puck , in the new Newseum were released today, and it looks like it will have a little something for everyone. On the street level will be a "bar and grill" style dining space with a casual menu. Upstairs will be devoted to a more upscale dining experience, with food that "will evoke signature menus from Spago , Chinois and Postrio restaurants," according to a release. "I am thrilled to bring the best in California cuisine to the most newsworthy spot in Washington, D.C.," Puck said in a release. "The menu will offer some of my signatures dishes, as well as new creations inspired from fresh Maryland, Virginia, and East Coast ingredients and flavors. This combination will surely make our newest restaurant the Source for lunch and dinner in the District of Columbia." The new restaurant is part of a larger trend of chefs looking to museums as the next fine dining frontier....

What people are talking about locally ... ... There have been several restaurant openings to note, including Indique Heights , Sala Thai in Court House and A Taste of Carolina (grand opening today ), as well as the re-opening of Rays the Steaks , which no longer takes reservations. ... ... Chef Cathal Armstrong of Restaurant Eve snags a spot on Food & Wine 's Best New Chefs of 2006 list. ... ... Johnny's Half Shell finally comes clean about its big move to the Hill. Plans include a taqueria take-out in the former La Colline Express space. And no, Montmartre isn't closing, but branching out into Johnny's Dupont Circle space. ... ... DCist takes a look at Passover meals . ... ... And Tom Sietsema goes drinking . (Photo by Metrocurean.)

Although the Thomas Keller rumor hasn't fleshed out yet (my fingers are still crossed), it appears that another celebrity chef is making plans to open a restaurant in Washington. The Newseum and Freedom Forum are planning to "announce a unique partnership" on Monday, and scheduled to be at the event is Wolfgang Puck . Will the Austrian-born chef bring us a fine dining destination, one of his Wolfgang Puck Cafes or simply a pizza take-out, Wolfgang Puck Express to feed museum-goers? We'll have to wait until Monday to find out. The new Newseum complex is scheduled to open in 2007 at Pennsylvania Avenue and Sixth Street N.W. In addition to the museum and a presumed Wolfgang restaurant, it will house more than 30,000 square feet of retail space and 135 housing units.

Congratulations are in order for chef Cathal Armstrong of Restaurant Eve , who was named one of Food & Wine 's Best New Chefs for 2006 on Tuesday. Armstrong and his wife, Meshelle, (pictured) co-own the delicious Restaurant Eve , which is named for their daughter. The Old Town restaurant regularly receives rave reviews , and it's certainly one of my top restaurant recommendations. The 10 chefs chosen by Food & Wine will be featured in the July issue. In 2005, CityZen executive chef Eric Ziebold was a member of the elite best new chefs group. In related news, Cathal (the "t" is silent) and Meshelle plan to open Eamonn's/A Dublin Chipper at 728 King St. The new restaurant, named for the couple's son and slated for a possible July opening, will be more casual than its older sibling and will feature fish and chips. (Photo from restauranteve.com.)

From the local foodie buzz , it sounds like the game of musical restaurant chairs set off by La Colline 's closing is more or less settled. And it seems, in a karmic twist, that what Capitol Hill taketh away from Dupont Circle, it giveth back in a new spot: Out of 400 North Capitol St.: La Colline In: Johnny's Half Shell , as covered in today's Roll Call (subs. required) . Out of 2002 P St. NW: Johnny's Half Shell In: A spin-off of the Hill's popular Montmartre Staying put 327 Seventh St. SE: Montmartre , according to reports from diners and despite a report to the contrary .

Today's Washington Post reports on the rapid expansion of homegrown chain Five Guys . There are now 87 locations of the burger joint with 1,000 more in the works, the Post reports. I was a little dismayed to walk into the food court at SouthPoint Mall in Durham, N.C., a year or so ago and see the bright red Five Guys sign glaring back at me. Its proximity to a Subway and Taco Bell seemed, in my mind, to knock it of the pedestal the chain enjoys locally. However, in the Post story, one franchise owner, Todd Stallings, sums up why Five Guys isn't like all the other burger chains out there: "At McDonald's, the food waits for you. Here you wait for the burger. By doing that, the burger is just coming off the grill. People just appreciate that kind of special quality." Do you think Five Guys' expansion makes it seem like less of a hometown treasure, or do you look forward to driving crosscountry and bragging every time you see one that it all started here?