amanda mcclements

You too can be a bar chef in your very own kitchen thanks to a slew of mixology products entering the market. I recently noticed these sugar cane swizzle sticks at the P Street Whole Foods. They're vacuum-packed to seal in the juice. They'd obviously look and taste great in a tall mojito, but as the package suggests, you can chew on them for a simple snack or freeze them and use them as kebab skewers. Sun-Pro Sugar Cane Swizzle Sticks $4.99 per pack Spotted at P Street Whole Foods

Now that it's officially fall and our warm days are numbered, the Freshfarm Markets are celebrating their annual Johnny Appleseed Festival this week with several events of note. On Thursday at 5 p.m., Teaism executive chef Arpad Lengyel will be at the Penn Quarter market demonstrating how to make "the world’s best apple pie" using his grandmother’s recipe. And the Bread Ovens at Quail Creek will be selling apple-based products, including peanut-apple soup, apple cookies, apple-pumpkin spice muffins, baked whole apples, apple roulade and apple-almond tarts. The Penn Quarter market is located on Eighth Street NW between D and E streets. On Saturday, the Silver Spring market will host a Whole Foods demo at 1 p.m. with chef Tania Hayek-Mercer, who will cook apple recipes and treats for kids. Chef Eric Cohen of Lifestyle Cooking will hold a demonstration at 11 a.m. The market is located on Fenton Drive between Ellsworth and Wayne streets. Also on Saturday, the H Street marke...

From Erin Killian of the Washington Business Journal comes news (via a helpful Metrocurean reader) that Vapiano , an Italian restaurant chain out of Germany, will open three restaurants in the D.C. area, with eventual plans for 20 outposts. According to the story, the three locations are 1800 M St. NW, 623-625 H St. NW (also known as the Orange for Mayor headquarters), and 4401 Wilson Blvd. A Gallery Place Living blog reader offers a review of one of the German locations, summing up the place with this: "This restaurant chain can best be described with just one word: Lame!" Too bad. Meanwhile, a more promising new restaurant, Montsouris , gets a first look from Erin Hartigan on the GOG Blog. And finally, Daily Candy has the goods on Silver Spring's new Piratz Tavern , which appears to take the swashbuckling theme and beat it over your head like a sack of gold coins. Not that that's a bad thing. There's even a swordswallowing bartender.

As reported in my Roll Call dining column today (subscription required), a new restaurant is slated to take over the space formerly occupied by Meyhané on Capitol Hill. Aykan Demiroglu, a former Le Paradou manager, plans to open Locanda sometime this fall at 633 Pennsylvania Ave. SE. The new spot will offer a menu of Italian cooking with Mediterranean influences, specifically those from Demiroglu’s native Turkey. The wine list will feature boutique selections from Italy. Demiroglu plans to completely remodel the space and the kitchen — a smart move considering Meyhané's tired appearance. In an interview for Roll Call , Demiroglu said he's always been interested in the Capitol Hill neighborhood and its potential for growth. “I want to give great food and wine for a very reasonable price,” he said.

It's like watching the restaurant cycle of life come full circle . La Colline passes on, Johnny's Half Shell opens in its place Monday, and the new French-flavored Montsouris fills Johnny's space just days later. Assuming a few loose ends are tied up by dinner time, Montsouris is planning to open its doors tonight. On the menu: butcher steak with mashed potatoes, pâté served in its own jar, steak tartar, steamed mussels, veal t-bone, pork chops, duck confit, and, bien sur , frites. For dessert, there's pistachio custard, apple tatin and rice pudding. First courses, like frisée salad with bacon, range in price from about $6.50 to $11. Entrées run $17 to $23.50. The wine list features small vineyards from France, as well as selections from Italy and the United States. Also check out Daily Candy's take here . Montsouris 2002 P St. NW 202.833.4180

Sustainable seafood will be the topic of the evening when some of the area's top chefs join forces at Agraria on Sept. 25 for the Slow Food Sustainable Seafood Gala. At $250 a ticket, the event is pricey but considering the roster of chefs, it could be money well spent. Chef Barton Seaver of Café Saint-Ex and Bar Pilar will lead the event, joined by Cathal Armstrong ( Restaurant Eve and Eamonn's ), Todd Gray ( Equinox ), Ris Lacoste (formerly of 1789 ), Ricky Moore and pastry chef Robert Underwood (Agraria), and Robert Wiedmaier ( Marcel's ). Each chef will prepare one course, and Cowgirl Creamery will provide the cheese course. The ticket price includes a multi-course meal, cocktails, hors d'oeuvres and wine pairings. Philippe Cousteau, founder of EarthEcho International and grandson of Jacques Cousteau, will be the guest speaker for the evening. Click here for tickets and more information. Proceeds from this event will support Slow Food's sustainable seafoo...

The move from Dupont Circle to Capitol Hill is finally complete for Johnny's Half Shell . The seafood restaurant opened its doors at 400 North Capitol St. today. The restaurant will be closed tomorrow for a private party, but will open again Wednesday for lunch and dinner. The new number is 202.737.0400.

As we've discussed before, when it comes to big deal restaurants making big announcements, the official (read: able-to-be-publicized) word can be a long time coming. After plenty of speculation on the fates of Oyamel and Galileo , The Post's Tom Sietsema gets the on-the-record scoop and breaks the mold with a Friday Weekly Dish with all the juicy details. Yes, José Andrés (pictured) and team will move Oyamel to the former Andale space. And yes, Roberto Donna will take over the Oyamel space while Galileo is closed for renovations. The timing? Oyamel will close Saturday, Sietsema reports, with plans to reopen "early next year." Look for Donna's Bebo Trattoria in Oyamel's space by month's end, Sietsema says. Meanwhile, Galileo has sent out the humorously titled press release "Washington's Worst Kept Restaurant Secret Finally Revealed," with more details on Donna's plans. The renovations are expected to take about a year. "When I fo...

Penn Quarter's newest restaurant, PS 7's from chef Peter Smith, is expected to open its doors today. Metrocurean recently got a sneak peek of the space, designed by GrizForm Design (the next name to watch in the world of stylish restaurant interiors ). So what's in store? An attractive and contemporary space dominated by cocoa brown and punctuated by a wavy sea blue wall that turns a corner and becomes the ceiling. (Did that just blow your mind?) A spacious bar and lounge area thoughtfully separated from the main dining areas. A bright yellow lava rock bar top that was shipped in pieces and reassembled like a giant jigsaw puzzle. And then there's the food. Smith, who spent 11 years in the kitchen at Vidalia, about half as executive chef, has divided his new menu (check it out here ) into seven sections, with items in each section costing the same amount. There's warm foie gras custard, lamb loin with braised fennel puree, and octopus three ways (braised with red ...

We may not be getting a Balducci's downtown, but Metrocurean has learned that another gourmet market is on its way. Ellen and Todd Gray of Equinox are planning to open a Market Salamander right next door to their restaurant, Ellen tells Metrocurean. The original Market Salamander , located in Middleburg (above), offers freshly prepared hot and cold foods like bourbon pecan chicken salad and stout braised beef brisket, as well as wines, artisan cheeses, charcuterie and other gourmet goods. The new market will be a smaller version of Middleburg's popular destination. The Grays will be partners in the market with Sheila Johnson, who also co-owns the Washington Mystics and co-founded BET. Johnson called on Todd Gray several years ago to develop the culinary program for the flagship market. In related news, Equinox will be getting "a new black dress" in late winter, Ellen says. Stay tuned for updates on the makeover and the market. (Photo from market-salamander.com.)

While I'm sympathetic to bars and restaurants losing the freedom to decide for themselves whether to allow smoking, I'm certainly glad I won't wake up with anymore smoke hangovers once D.C.'s smoking ban takes full effect Jan. 1. 701 Restaurant is taking a playful stance on the issue by celebrating smoked dishes and smoky drinks. Through December, Chef Trent Conry will offer various smoked dishes on 701's lunch and dinner menus. A medallion of pork will be paired with a smoked orange reduction and a black-eye pea chipotle ragout, and baby octopus will be served with a smoked paprika sauce, roasted pineapple, asparagus, tasso ham and celery pesto. At lunch, the smoking fix comes in the form of house-smoked chicken salad served with Himalayan red rice, apples, pecans, red onion marmalade, arugula and cider vinaigrette, and asparagus and smoked potato salad with baby arugula, frisee and a tomato shallot vinaigrette. For smoke in a glass, Mo's Bar, named for barten...

To celebrate the old saying that oysters should only be consumed in months containing the letter "r" (not that I live by that rule, by any means), I slurped down a half dozen Malpeques and Blue Points at J.Paul's after an errand in Georgetown. Most of us ignore the summer oyster blackout, but where did the whole thing originate? The Internet seems to blame a certain William Butler ... or Richard Buttes ... or Henry Butts ... well, the Internet can't seem to agree on the guy's name. Let's just say someone wrote in Diet's (or was it Dyet's?) Dry Dinner in 1599 something along the lines of: The oyster is unseasonable and unwholesome in all months that have not the letter R in their name. Theories about this supposed unwholesomeness abound. Connoisseurs of taste claim that spawning oysters don't taste as good, and they spawn in the summer when the water warms up. Some say the claim dates from pre-refrigeration days. Another theory claims that the Euro...

That's sunny* Puerto Vallarta pictured above, a tantalizing image on this rainy, dreary morning. But you don't have to just daydream, because Rosa Mexicano is giving away a three-night trip to the Mexican resort town as part of its Puerto Vallarta Gourmet Getaway festival. Here's the deal: Head to the Penn Quarter restaurant from Sept. 7-16 and dine on chef James Muir's regional specialties from Puerto Vallarta, like huachinango Vallarta (red snapper with palm green herbs sauce, sautéed spinach and hoja santa) and CocoChoco (bittersweet chocolate covered coconut parfait). While you're there, fill out an entry form for the trip. If you're so lucky as to win, you'll get airfare and luxurious accommodations for three nights for two people and dinner for two at the celebrated Los Xitomates restaurant. *Nevermind that Puerto Vallarta has its very own hurricane passing through right now. I'm sure it will be gone by the time you win the trip. Rosa Mexicano 5...