amanda mcclements

Five Bites was busy eating turkey sandwiches last Friday. But its back, and Andrea Person kicks off today's feature with the dishes she misses most since leaving DC in the fall. 1. Maryland blue crabs at Jimmy Cantler's 2. Fried green tomato eggs benedict at Cafe Saint-Ex 3. Dolsot bibim bap at Mandu 4. Havuc koftesi (pictured) at Zaytinya 5. Mini burgers with gorgonzola at Matchbox Next up, Alex Harisiadis offers just a few of his favorite foods in and around the DC area. 1. Roasted pork tenderloin with confit of cabbage and side of frites at Brasserie Beck 2. Coconut cake at Ray's The Classics 3. Large pho with sliced brisket and flank steak with a side of soft tendon at Pho 75 4. Pork rillettes at 2Amys 5. Chilled tomato soup at Corduroy Join the fun and tell Metrocurean readers which dishes you're enjoying around town by e-mailing five of your favorite dishes or drinks and whether you'd like your name and a picture included to metrocurean AT gmail DOT com. (Pho...

Inspired by sister establishment Restaurant Eve 's popular Lickety Split lunch deal, The Majestic is offering a midday deal of its own, dubbed The Royal Pick. Sit at the bar (pictured above) Tuesday through Friday during lunch and any entree off the menu is $12, with a soda or tea. With some lunch entrees regularly priced above $15, sounds like a good deal. The Majestic 911 King St., Alexandria 703.837.9117 (Photo courtesy The Majestic.)

My favorite type of gift is one that doesn't stick around long, gathering dust on some shelf or sinking to the back of a closet. What better fits that category than food? This holiday season, give friends and family a taste of DC with these locally made treats. • Chocolate: Thanks to a boom in local chocolatiers, the city's selection of locally made chocolates keeps getting better. Pictured above is a coconut truffle from The Cacao Tree . Owner Sandra Escobar makes a variety of delicious artisanal truffles. For more local chocolates and sweets, check out Artisan Confections , Christopher's Confections , Chocolaterie Wanders , J Chocolatier , Kingsbury Chocolates (which is about to open a cocoa gallery on 14th Street NW) and Locolat . Shops selling locally made chocolates include Biagio Fine Chocolate and Artfully Chocolate . • Toigo Farms Bloody Mary Mix : This fiery hot mix, pictured above, is often available at the Dupont FreshFarm Market . Perfect for a holiday bru...

Look out, lords a leaping. Sayonara, swans a swimming. Hank's Oyster Bar is rewriting the old holiday standard "A Partridge in a Pear Tree" with a seafood theme this December. A platter of the “Twelve Seafood Dishes of Christmas,” priced at $75, will feature some of chef Jamie Leeds’ classics. Heaped on the platter, designed to share with four to eight people, guests will find (you can sing it if you really want): one cup of ceviche, two jumbo shrimp, three golden scallops, four barbecued oysters, five littleneck clams, six West Coast oysters, seven peel n’ eats, eight Ipswich clams, nine golden rings (calamari), 10 fried oysters, 11 steamed mussels and 12 East Coast oysters. The special will be available for the month of December at Hank’s in both Dupont Circle and Old Town, Alexandria.

Dear readers, May your turkey skin be crisp, your stuffing hot, your sweet potato souffle tall and your pies sweet perfection. If you need a diversion from the family dynamic today, check out these restaurant news bits from other DC blogs: • Eternal Recurrence checks in on H Street NE's new Sova Espresso and Wine . (Nice logo!) • Prince of Petworth picks up on the news from BISNOW that Busboys and Poets owner Andy Shallal may open another restaurant just across the street in the new Union Row building at 14th and V. • Gridskipper seeks out the city's best falafel . • The District Domestic offers a recipe for cranberry coconut cookies that seem like a perfect segue from Thanksgiving to December. Thanks for reading, commenting, emailing me and otherwise being a wonderful audience. Eat well, and happy Thanksgiving.

Ever wonder what it takes to open a restaurant? Or what goes on behind the scenes from cocktail napkin conception to reality? The team behind Bethesda's forthcoming Punk's Backyard Grill is blogging all about the process of getting their new restaurant off the ground. They're chronicling it all, from signing a purchase agreement at 4936 Fairmont Ave. — a space ever so briefly occupied by Yin Yankee — to sizing up which bottled sodas to offer. The idea for Punk's was hatched by three students in a restaurant entrepreneurship class at Cornell. The trio hope to create a chain of restaurants that channel the classic American backyard cookout in a casual and contemporary setting. The planned menu offers a range of, well, stuff you might throw on your backyard grill, like skewers, ribs and chicken marinated in mojito sauce. A "leftover" sandwich will offer pulled pork and slow-smoked beef brisket topped with a choice of two sides; "Nothin Fancy" gril...

With a "perfect" pumpkin soup and a Southern cooking twang, DC chef Ricky Moore went head-to-head with newly crowned Iron Chef Michael Symon in Battle Thanksgiving this evening on Food Network's "Iron Chef America." The native North Carolinian (like this writer) gave his menu a Southern point of view with deep-fried turkey and cornbread dressing. "Growing up, the food was very straightforward, so for me this was inspired by my family," he told the judges. (Moore, at left, was named head chef of IndeBleu just last week but was leading the kitchen at Agraria when the show was filmed.) Throughout the battle, both chefs were relatively calm and silent — that is until the end when a few flubs cranked up the heat. With less than five minutes to go, Symon accidentally dumped a grappa cocktail in his stuffing, and Moore sliced open his bacon-wrapped venison to find it completely raw inside. "We gotta go, we gotta go" became Moore's frantic, ...

Get your grass-fed turkey, apple pies, honey, old fashioned sweet potatoes, bread pudding, chestnuts, walnuts, an array of greens and more at the final day of the 14 & U Farmers Market, right now, til 1 p.m.! It's basically a one-stop Thanksgiving dinner shop, and your last chance to visit the market for the season. Also bowing out for the winter season is the Bloomingdale farmers market, which has its last day Sunday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., at First and R Streets NW, next to the Big Bear Cafe .

Brendan Spiegel, co-editor of endless simmer (at right), recently moved away from Washington, but these are the DC dishes he misses the most. 1. Mediterranean pide at Rosemary's Thyme 2. Chicken tikka at Heritage India Georgetown 3. Grits bake at W Domku 4. Cheese pupusas at El Rinconcito Café 5. Saltena empanadas at Julia's Empanadas , "beats the crap out of jumbo slice" Carrie Foster, vice president and publicist for Linda Roth Associates, offers the second set of bites for today. 1. DC Cobb salad (piles of crab, shrimp, goat cheese, bacon, avocado, tomato and quail eggs) at the Ritz Carlton Washington lobby lounge 2. Dukem kitfo at Dukem 3. A dozen (six Kusshi, six Kumamoto) oysters with a side of mac and cheesy at Hank's Oyster Bar (at left) 4. Meatball, onion and mushroom pizza from Manny and Olga's 5. Apple cinnamon sorbet at Blue Duck Tavern Join the fun and tell Metrocurean readers which dishes you're enjoying around town by e-mailing five ...

Updated 9 p.m. Asia Nora is planning to close Dec. 21, according to a report from The Washington Post 's Tom Sietsema. But what's taking over the building is what will really have people buzzing. And which big name chef could be involved. The building at 2213 M St. NW where Asia Nora is located is set to become a luxury, eco-conscious hotel, Sietsema reports. Rumors have been swirling for some time about W Hotels coming to the District (Hotel Washington is slated to start its transformation to a W at year's end), and Sietsema's story mentions that the hotel will be called One (1), backed by an investment group that includes Barry Sternlicht, Starwood Capital's chairman and CEO and the creator of W. A little digging turns up the following information on the new hotel brand from Starwood Capital's web site: "The 1 Hotel brand is the latest innovation from Starwood Capital Chairman and CEO Barry Sternlicht. Mr. Sternlicht’s previous trend-setting hospitalit...

Chef Ricky Moore was just named the new head chef at IndeBleu , following the recent departure of Vikram Garg. Moore only recently left the kitchen at Agraria . Moore will continue "to develop indebleu’s modern cuisine featuring Indian flavors," according to news release. As you may remember , Moore is set to be the next DC competitor on Food Network's "Iron Chef America." He'll go head-to-head with newly crowned Iron Chef Michael Symon in a Thanksgiving themed episode this Sunday, Nov. 18 at 9 p.m. No word yet on where Garg will land. He's a talented chef, so let's hope he stays in town.

Fritz Hahn of washingtonpost.com's GOG Blog has compiled an excellent list of Beaujolais Nouveau parties this week. For Beaujolais newbies, the young and light bodied wine represents the first taste of the current year's harvest. The release is heavily hyped, and some would say a triumph of marketing over quality. According to French law, the wine can't be served until the third Thursday in November. That means Francophile bars and brasseries start the party on Wednesday night at the stroke of midnight. Bistrot du Coin and Brasserie Les Halles typically host the biggest parties, but several more spots are throwing parties through the weekend. Prefer a quieter Beaujolais toast? Cafe du Parc will offer complimentary small plates for every bottle of Beaujolais Nouveau ($30) purchased at the bar from Nov. 15-18, 5:30-9:30 p.m.

Open wide. It's time for your weekly double dose of Five Bites. Monika Le serves up the first set. 1. A small bowl of soup #6 (Vietnamese beef noodle soup) at Pho 75 2. The onion straws that accompany the mini burgers at Matchbox 3. Banana and chocolate ice cream dessert at Ceviche 4. BDT fries at Blue Duck Tavern (at left) 5. Blue fin sushi from Kaz Sushi Bistro Fellow blogger Alisa of DCFabulous (who's getting hitched down in Mexico, congrats!) offers helping numero dos — which introduces a chaat at Rasika (below) to compete with the palak chaat, a solid Five Bites All Star . 1. MT TAM cheese at Cowgirl Creamery 2. Avocado mango papaya chaat at Rasika 3. Lemon Twist martini, made with Pallini Limoncello liqueur, Tanqueray Sterling Vodka, fresh squeezed lemon juice, at DC Coast 4. Goat cheese caesar salad at Central 5. Tzatziki appetizer at Mourayo Join the fun and tell Metrocurean readers which dishes you're enjoying around town by e-mailing five of your favorite dishe...

Like it or not, gift-giving season is upon us. But what's not to like about getting a gift when you least expect it? Like at the end of a meal at a restaurant? I'm not talking about a mint on your check. A thoughtful parting gift is a smart touch that can make dinner all that much more memorable. Take The French Laundry , which sends guests home with signature shortbread cookies, tied up with a bow. Sister restaurant Per Se does macaroons. Alain Ducasse doled out fresh brioche at his now-shuttered New York restaurant. But you don't have to travel — or drop $500 — because we have some noteworthy gift-givers in our midst, as well. Guests of BlackSalt 's new tasting room receive a bag of beautiful chocolate shells (pictured above) made by pastry chef Susan Wallace. The shells are made with white chocolate and coconut; dark chocolate, pecan and caramel; and milk chocolate with peanut butter filling. For the month of December, D'Acqua will feature an eight-course F...

Forks at the ready? It's a busy week in the land of DC wining and dining. With darkness falling oh-so-depressingly early this evening, you can start treating your seasonal affective disorder at the latest wine bar to hit the scene. Vinoteca (1940 11th St. NW) started welcoming guests last week but the official opening is this evening. The new spot is pouring nearly 70 options by the glass and serving a menu of cheese, charcuterie and a handful of entrees. Next up, two noteworthy openings fall on Thursday: Westend Bistro by Eric Ripert ( 1190 22nd St. NW) and Domaso (1121 N. 19th St., Arlington). Westend will deliver casual bistro fare (it's not a Le Bernardin mini-me) like an Eastern Market salad with truffle vinaigrette, burgers, skate with brown butter sauce and flat iron steak with shallot sauce. At Westend's bar, you can sip on cocktails with DC-centric names, like the 22nd Street Sidecar (Hennessy VS cognac, Triple Sec and lemon juice) and Moonlight on M Street ...

Silver Spring teacher Trayce Diskin offers today's first helping of Five Bites. 1. Rellenitos de platano macho appetizer (sweet fried plantains stuffed with seasoned black beans and topped with creme) at Casa Oaxaca 2. Camarones al ajillo (shrimp in garlic sauce) at Cuba de Ayer 3. Any one of the mussel pots, but especially the Bebert (mussels steamed with leeks, horseradish, Delirium Tremens and smoked salmon) and of course a side or two of pommes frites at Mannequin Pis 4. Pan-fried stuffed triple delight with eggplant, green pepper and tofu at Hollywood East Cafe 5. Bouillabaisse with scallops, mussels, shrimp and monkfish in lobster fennel broth at Hank’s Oyster Bar Fellow blogger Shana (at right) of The DC Concierge sends along the second set of bites. 1. Warm marinated olives at 2Amys 2. Frisee salad with lardons and poached egg at Central 3. Mushroom ravioli in a sage butter sauce at Al Crostino 4. Skirt steak in mojo at Merkado 5. Josephine crepe (banana and Nutella...

The Georgetown gelato and coffee shop, Dolcezza , recently started selling its creamy gelato at the Penn Quarter FreshFarm Market , which runs through Nov. 15. And this Sunday, they'll join the line-up at the Dupont market , as well. Dolcezza is selling half-pints and pints of flavors made with ingredients from area farmers. Among the seasonal choices: Keswick Creamery Ricotta, Blue Ridge Dairy Mascarpone, Toigo Orchards Bosc Pear Bourbon, Toigo Orchards Apple Cider Clove and Toigo Orchards Long Neck Pumpkin with ceylon cinnamon, Next Step Produce ginger, fresh grated nutmeg and brown sugar.