amanda mcclements

Think you make the best salsa? Head to the H Street FreshFarm Market this Saturday, Aug. 2 from 9:30 a.m. to noon, for the annual salsa contest. To submit a salsa, email info@freshfarmmarkets.org by today. The salsa must be homemade, and most ingredients must come from the H Street Market (except things like limes, orange juice, mango). And it can’t be so hot that it makes people cry. Tortilla chips will be provided, and prizes will be awarded for the top three salsas. The market is held at 624 H St. NE .

Michael Mina . Four Seasons . Bourbon Steak . Click .

Prompted by the newly expanded Jolie-Pitt family, Food & Wine asked some of their favorite critics and bloggers (including yours truly) for family friendly restaurants where a couple of movie stars could take their six-pack of kids. Check out the recs here . Where are your favorite spots to go with kids in tow? (Photo: splashnews.com.)

In addition to the standard $20.08 lunches and $35.08 dinners, Vidalia is pushing Restaurant Week into extreme fine dining territory with a five-course menu for $50.08 ... and no supplements! That's about $35 less than the Southern restaurant's five-course tasting menu usually costs. Guests can choose from around four options for each course. Check out Vidalia's full Restaurant Week menu here . Couldn't be a better time to taste James Beard award winner R.J. Cooper's cooking. (Photo from vidaliadc.com.)

It's Friday and that means it's time for five bites. Today's list is from Lucy Melcher, who lets us in on the foods she missed the most when she left DC for grad school. 1. Dolsot bibim bap from Mandu 2. Sigara boregi and a blueberry mojito from Meze 3. Spicy black bean veggie burger wrap from Juice Joint 4. Yellowfin tuna ceviche from Ceiba 5. Shish taouk from Mama Ayesha's (pictured) Five Bites is a weekly opportunity for Metrocurean readers to share the dishes and drinks they're enjoying around town. E-mail five of your favorites and whether you'd like your name and a picture included to metrocurean AT gmail DOT com. (Photo from mamaayeshas.com .)

To break in its new fourth floor terrace, Domaso Trattoria is hosting a "wine and grill fusion" tasting on Saturday, July 26, from 4 to 6 p.m. Affording one of the better restaurant views in town, overlooking the Potomac and Georgetown, the Hotel Palomar Arlington 's Domaso will offer wine pairings for a sampling of passed dishes, including grilled shrimp with green mango chutney, pancetta wrapped chicken skewers and coriander-dusted lollipop lamb chops. The tasting kicks off with a glass of prosecco at the hotel's ground floor wine shop, Domasoteca , and then moves up to the terrace. The event is $45 plus tax per person and credit card reservations are required. For reservations and more information, call 703.894.5104.

A new wine bar, from Looking Glass Lounge barman and cocktail savant Dan Searing and several partners, is headed to Columbia Heights at 11th and Lamont streets NW. Read about it on Prince of Petworth .

A few interesting tidbits from the new Zagat survey, released today: • The "impeccable" Makoto was rated tops for its food, followed by the Inn at Little Washington (last year's No. 1) and Komi . • Michel Richard's Citronelle claimed honors as the District's most popular eatery, while the chef's Central took No. 5 for popularity. • Ray's the Steak , with an average meal costing $44, snagged the No. 1 steakhouse spot, beating out the longtime favorite Prime Rib , which bills an estimated $66. • The top-rated DC newcomer is The Source , followed by Westend Bistro by Eric Ripert, Evo Bistro , Proof and Il Fornaio . • We are plagued by bad service. Survey participants cite "poor service" as the most irritating part of dining out by an overwhelming 75 percent. • But we tip well anyway, an average 19.2 percent, above the national average of 19 percent. Check out the full release here .

The list of restaurants participating in summer Restaurant Week, from Aug. 11-17, was posted today, and the rumored $5 price hike for dinner is (understandably) official. Lunches remain $20.08 for three courses, dinners $35.08. A Metrocurean poll last summer showed 32 percent of you are not fans of the promotion, but 52 percent either love it or tolerate it. How about this summer? Will you be doing Restaurant Week?

Farewell to the Curry Club , San Marco , Merkado (Aug. 24) and Gerard Pangaud Bistro (perhaps temporarily). Merkado is being repurposed by the same owner into Commissary , a coffeehouse and lounge.

In one of the more irreverent moments at Tales of the Cocktail in New Orleans this weekend, top mixologists from all over the country gathered on Canal Street Saturday night to bury the bad cocktail. The appletini was pegged to carry the symbolic burden. A traditional New Orleans jazz funeral — complete with theatrical sobs and yells, a minister (his sash, above, reads "appletini"), a casket and a brass band — paraded down the road to bid farewell to bad cocktails the world over. But in death, there's rebirth, as the Museum of the American Cocktail officially reopens today. What other cocktails deserve a burial?

It's been a weekend of fried pig's ears , moonshine and cocktails ... lots of cocktails ... as I've been drinking my way through New Orleans, where the sixth annual Tales of the Cocktail is being held. Thursday night, I hit John Besh's Restaurant August with fellow DC blogger Counter Intelligence to taste through a multi-course menu paired with cocktails by EatBar 's Gina Chersevani. Check this post at Counter Intelligence for the recipe to our favorite cocktail from the night. DC's blossoming community of craft cocktail connoisseurs is well-represented in the Big Easy. Also mixing it up are Todd Thrasher ( PX , Eve ), Derek Brown ( Komi ), Chantal Tseng ( Tabard Inn ), Adam Bernbach ( Bar Pilar ) and John Hogan of BarMargic . Cheers.

Metrocurean reader Magda Nakassis offers a list of her go-to budget bites. 1. Spinach burrito with everything at Burritos Fast 2. Green tea mochi at Sushi Sushi 3. Thai steak and noodle salad at Woodmont Grill 4. Beef hot pot (complete with sauce fixins bar) at Bob's 88 Shabu Shabu 5. Gin and tonic at Dupont's Fox & Hounds Five Bites is a weekly opportunity for Metrocurean readers to share the dishes and drinks they're enjoying around town. E-mail five of your favorites and whether you'd like your name and a picture included to metrocurean AT gmail DOT com.

The GOG Blog says Michel Richard may be the next to enter DC's burger joint bonanza. Meantime, anyone care to throw a guess into the ring as to the next celebrity chef to put his name on a downtown restaurant?

Redwood , the third restaurant from Eli Hengst and Jared Rager, is expected to open next week (possibly Monday) in Bethesda. Leading the kitchen will be Andrew Kitko, who's bringing a résumé packed with West Coast hot spots boasting Michelin cred. During nine total years in San Francisco, the Connecticut native cooked at Restaurant Gary Danko (one Michelin star), Bar Tartine , where he was awarded two and a half stars from the San Francisco Chronicle , and Aqua (two Michelin stars), where he was sous chef. He also served as executive chef at the now-closed Palmetto . Kitko also spent two years at Manhattan's Café Boulud (one Michelin star). Like its siblings Sonoma and Mendocino Grille , Redwood will focus on seasonal American food prepared with sustainable and artisanal ingredients. Check out Washingtonian 's preview of Redwood (7121 Bethesda Lane) for photos and menus.

Check out the latest additions to Metrocurean's New Openings list , including Nando's Peri-Peri (819 Seventh St. NW), quite possibly the most attractive fast food chain I've seen, pictured at right; Southern comfort food haven Langston Bar and Grill (1831 Benning Rd. NE); and casual bar and restaurant Spider Kelly's (3181 Wilson Blvd., Arlington). DC's second Nando's Peri-Peri is planned for 1210 18th St. NW.

Grilled pizzas have been popping up a lot of places , my grill included. (And no, the dough does not melt through the grates.) Which got me wondering if any DC-area restaurants are tossing pies on their grills? DC's pizza renaissance has brought us plenty of delicious options — Comet , RedRocks and Pete's have joined standbys Pizzeria Paradiso , 2 Amys , Matchbox and Coppi's — but I can't think of a single one offering a grilled option. Al Forno of Providence, Rhode Island, is credited with introducing grilled pies to the US, and it caught on in New York. This spring, Chicago chef Craig Priebe released an entire cookbook on the dish. His Gamberian pie is pictured at right. Seen grilled pizza on any local menus?

A huge thanks to XM Satellite Radio "broads" Molly and Christine for having me on their show Broadminded on Thursday. Metrocurean joined "wine broad" Andrew Stover, of Chief Wino and and Oya Restaurant , to dish about trends in food and wine. Listen in here:

Today's five bites come out of Howard County from the author of the blog HowChow . If you need dining recommendations in that area, HowChow is a great resource. Check out the blog's handy Google map of Howard County restaurants and markets. Now, on to the bites... 1. The "Pretty In Red" roll (crab and spicy tuna) at Sushi King ( HowChow write-up ) 2. Sopapias after a tapas dinner at Ranazul , pictured at right ( HowChow's take ) 3. The "French" coffee with condensed milk at An Loi Pho 4. The pumpkin appetizer, tender pumpkin dressed with yogurt and spiced, ground beef, at Maiwand Kabob ( HowChow's take ) 5. Fresh corn tortillas — less than $2 for 30 — made at Lily's Mexican Market Five Bites is a weekly opportunity for Metrocurean readers to share the dishes and drinks they're enjoying around town. E-mail five of your favorites and whether you'd like your name and a picture included to metrocurean AT gmail DOT com. (Photo from ranazul....

Matchbox , Penn Quarter's pizza hot spot, recently added brunch to its repertoire on Saturdays and Sundays from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. And though I'll always be a mini burger addict, my new favorite Matchbox dishes are delivered in cast iron skillets. Super soft cinnamon rolls (pictured above), a delicious chorizo and manchego egg tortilla, steak and eggs and a few other hearty brunch items are served in small skillets. Check out the whole brunch menu here . And don't miss the bloody marys. The restaurant has also started making desserts in-house, including a decadent chocolate chip bread pudding, an ice cream sandwich filled with coffee gelato, and sugar-dusted doughnuts. "The puzzle is complete," co-owner Andrew Kim said of the new menu additions. In other news, construction is under way at the Capitol Hill outpost of Matchbox. A fall opening is possible, though the only prediction I could get out of Kim was "2008." Stay tuned.

The newly relocated Corduroy is introducing a new wine and cheese happy hour today from 5-7 p.m. Wines by the glass are $6, and a cheese plate featuring five selections is priced at $7. Happy hour is every weekday, 5-7 p.m.

The Washington City Paper 's City Desk has the scoop on some exciting plans for the vacant building on the southwest corner of 14th and T streets NW, pictured above. The owner of The Diner , Tryst and Open City , Constantine Stavropoulos, hopes to get approval for a new ground floor coffeehouse-diner-bar. City Paper says it'll be a little Tryst-y and a little Diner-y. Read more . (Metrocurean photo.)

Chef Teddy Folkman (pictured above) of Granville Moore’s will be featured on the Food Network’s Throwdown! with Bobby Flay tomorrow, July 8, at 9 p.m. The show, in which Flay ambushes unsuspecting cooks and challenges them to a recipe face-off, was taped back in March at the nearby Argonaut . Endless Simmer and Frozen Tropics were on hand to capture it for the blogosphere. "Being selected by the Food Network to work with them is an amazing honor. But to represent ‘Moules and Frites’ in a city with so many great Belgian restaurants and big name chefs as Washington, DC, that was the greatest honor,” Folkman said in a release. The chef cooked his signature blue cheese, bacon, spinach and shallot mussels (at right) with herbed twice-cooked Belgian frites, accompanied by a yellow tomato and black truffle aioli for dipping. Flay’s mussels were served in a broth featuring coconut milk, roasted green chilies and butter with frites accompanied by — shocking to us all — a roasted pobla...

Metrocurean turned a whopping 3-years-old this weekend. Thanks for all your comments and tips this past year, and most of all, thanks for reading.

Today's holiday edition of Five Bites is from Kevin Baker, author of The Beckley Kid . He recently moved away from DC and thought there was no better way to say farewell than with a five bites list. 1. Soupe a l'oignon at Café du Parc 2. "Buffalo" crispy fried oysters from DC Coast 3. Ahi tuna tartare at Proof (pictured) 4. Pucillo pizza with prosciutto, arugula, tomato and smoked mozzarella at Ella's Wood Fired Pizza 5. Bittersweet chocolate torte with salted cashews, caramel ice cream and a smear of caramel at Hook and a Cuban coffee from Ceiba Five Bites is a weekly opportunity for Metrocurean readers to share the dishes and drinks they're enjoying around town. E-mail five of your favorites and whether you'd like your name and a picture included to metrocurean AT gmail DOT com. (Photo by Darko Zagar.)

To soothe all the bad news about restaurants dropping like flies , I offer some better and meatier news on the DC dining scene. First, burgers. Michael Landrum caused a virtual (and literal) stampede on donrockwell.com today when he announced the opening of Ray's Hell-Burger , aka Ray's Butcher Burgers. The burger shop is located in the same strip mall as Ray's The Steaks at 1713 Wilson Blvd. Speaking of burgers, Capitol Hill's Good Stuff Eatery will officially open July 7. Snide commenters across the internets are already hating on the place and on co-owner and Top Chef contestant Spike Mendelsohn , but for heaven's sake, let the place open already. The menu looks damn good. And the proof is in the pudding ... or the toasted marshmallow shake, in this case. On to noodles ... the word on the street is that Wagamama , which previously announced plans to come to DC, will move into the recently shuttered Olsson's bookstore in Penn Quarter at 418 Seventh St. ...

Residents of Fairfax, Reston and Oakton have new options for finding local foods. A new nonprofit, Smart Markets , recently introduced three new farmers markets to the region. The markets are guaranteed producer-only, meaning all the vendors made or grew what they're selling. Here's the schedule: • Smart Markets at Fair Lakes Whole Foods 4501 Market Commons Dr., Fairfax Wednesdays, 3:30-7 p.m. through Nov. 19 • Smart Markets at Reston Town Center In the Town Square Thursdays, 3:30-7 p.m. through Nov. 20 • Smart Markets at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Fairfax 2709 Hunter Mill Rd., Oakton Saturdays, 8 a.m.-noon through Nov. 22 Been to one of the markets? Let us know what you found.