amanda mcclements

For this spring-like day, Arlington resident and food lover Adam Levine, at right, offers his list of Five Bites. 1. Mexican roll at Tono Sushi 2. Fiery chicken kraprao at Bangkok 54 3. Mac and cheese with hot sauce at Whitlow's on Wilson 4. Lomo saltado with a frozen swirl margarita at Lauriol Plaza 5. Crab tower at Clyde's of Georgetown Five Bites is a place for Metrocurean readers 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 DOT com.

Not a winter tomato, from my parents' garden I don't buy tomatoes in the winter because I don't see the point in eating them. The insipid, rock-hard orbs usually taste like a refrigerator. When I cracked open the latest issue of Gourmet last night, I was given another more serious reason to avoid trucked-in winter tomatoes: buying them essentially fuels modern slavery. I like when Gourmet gets political. Barry Estabrook's story " The Price of Tomatoes " is a must-read that chronicles the abuses, involuntary servitude and general misery inflicted on tomato pickers in Florida, where 90 percent of domestic winter tomatoes come from. At the end of the story, you'll find tips for buying slave-free tomatoes, including looking for locally produced hydroponic greenhouse tomatoes.

A spin on the standard rye whiskey Sazerac , from epicurious.com

A Cacao Tree chocolate, shot with a point-and-shoot camera Metrocurean photo We food people have been to known to whip out cameras at odd times. After all, how could you take a bite of that beautiful dish without documenting it for posterity first? If you fall into this slightly crazed category, check out my tips for great food photos over on Kelly DiNardo's Amuse Bouche blog. And here's a link to some of my favorite photos I've coaxed out of a point-and-shoot camera.

Elli Benchimol at Zola Wine and Kitchen Photos by Fredde Lieberman Elli Benchimol, director of wine and spirits for Penn Quarter's new Zola Wine and Kitchen , believes there's a wine out there for everyone, for every celebration and — perhaps most importantly in times like these — in every price range. "You just need to be resourceful, open-minded and enthusiastic,” she says. With that in mind, Benchimol shared with Metrocurean five of her favorite wines under $20, all available at the sleek new wine shop and test kitchen, located at 505 Ninth St. NW. 1. 2007 Domaine du Salvard Cheverny, Loire Valley, France. "This smaller region from the Loire is less well-known than Pouilly-Fumé or Sancerre, but still produces amazingly refreshing Sauvignon Blancs of a similar style, but more delicate and light. Awesome Loire valley minerality and grassy notes, but without the big price tag." $15 2. 2007 Porrais, Douro Valley, Portugal. "This blend packs a punch...

If you're looking beyond bars and beads come Mardi Gras this Tuesday, head to one of these restaurants where great food will be the focus of the festivities. • Central Michel Richard : The James Beard award-winning restaurant hosts its second annual Mardi Gras celebration Tuesday from 5:30 to 11 p.m. with live jazz, traditional food and of course cocktails. Chef Cedric Maupillier will be cooking New Orleans fare like turtle soup, oysters Rockefeller, jambalaya, shrimp and crayfish etouffée, trout amandine, short rib po-boys, debris gravy, bread pudding and pecan pie. General manager Brian Zipin has created a list of vintage cocktails, priced at $11-$14. Sip on Hurricanes, Corpse Revivers and Abita beer. • Mio : Chef Nicholas Stefanelli will serve a four-course Mardi Gras menu, priced at $48, featuring charbroiled Rappahannock River oysters, barbecue shrimp with potato pancakes, roasted pork with red beans and rice, and beignets with a coffee chicory milkshake. Mio will donate a p...

Justin Guthrie, one of DC's top cocktail creators, recently left his gig behind the bar at Central and will soon announce his next career move. But today, he's getting hitched! To toast the big day, he's sent in five of his favorite drinks. "Abigail and I have been together for just over three years and spent a majority of our free time dining," says Guthrie, pictured at right with the bride. "These were the drinks that we always went back to." 1. Todd Thrasher's pickled martini at Restaurant Eve (The couple had it on their first date.) 2. Ask Owen Thomson for a shot of Four Roses Yellow Label on the rocks at Bourbon (Adams Morgan) 3. Chantal Tseng's Brown Derby at the Tabard Inn 4. Iced coffee with milk at Pho 75 5. Scott's digestivo at 2 Amys , for finishing up a meal A big congrats to the newlyweds!

The view from Volt' s Table 21 Photo courtesy the Dapper Diner The Dapper Diner, who offered a fine dining smorgasbord in his first Five Bites , is back for another round. "I decided to try out some 'destination' DC restaurants — The Inn at Little Washington and Volt. And then I stopped by a few of my regular favorites." 1. "Sin in a Tin" (American Ossetra caviar with crab and cucumber rillette hidden under the caviar) from The Inn at Little Washington 2. "000" (puff pastry with cream, oysters and caviar) from Restaurant Eve 's tasting room 3. "Frozen" foie gras with onion consomme and balsamic vinegar from Volt 's new Table 21 4. Oxtail with Brussels sprouts from Central 5. Dragon's breath popcorn at the Minibar Five Bites is a place for Metrocurean readers 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 me...

Blue Ridge , the restaurant taking over the Busara space in Glover Park, has named Barton Seaver as head chef. Jane Black gets the scoop for The Washington Post 's GOG Blog.

The bar at 2941 It is of course Restaurant Week , but let's just say you were looking to avoid those crowds. And say you're in the market for fine dining, but you still don't want to break the bank. Chef Bertrand Chemel of the elegant 2941 is now offering a three-course bar tasting menu for $44 per person. The bar menu changes daily, featuring dishes like yellow fin tuna tartar with pine nuts, black truffle vinaigrette and celery and beef ribeye with rustic potatoes, bordelaise sauce and watercress. End the meal with creations from pastry chef Anthony Chavez, like pistachio pain de Gênes with ruby grapefruit, rose water crème and Campari sorbet. The $44 deal is available Monday through Friday from 5-9 p.m. at the bar. Previously featured deals (please call to check continuing availability): • Jackson's • Perry's • Urbana • Art and Soul • Vermilion • Restaurant 3 • Proof • Mio • Vidalia

A new cooking school has opened in the Dulles Town Center . Cookology , a recreational cooking school, offers interactive classes for just about anyone who loves food — from kids' birthday parties to cooking fundamentals for teens and couples cooking classes. Founder and owner Maria Kopsidas, whose passion for food was fueled by her Mediterranean family, plans to regularly bring in guest chefs from the DC area for classes. The focal point of the school is a work space for 16 people, making for fairly intimate classes. For the list of cooking classes, visit cookologyonline.com or call 703.433.1909.

The James Beard Foundation released its list of award semi-finalists today, and there are lots of great nods for DC. Keep in mind, this list will be pared down to five finalists in each category before winners are chosen. Tim Carman at Young & Hungry has pulled out the DC semi-finalists from the list .

Fellow food blogger Johnna, at right, of Johnna Knows Good Food serves up today's list of bites. 1. Duck confit at Lavandou 2. Margherita pizza at Pizzeria Paradiso 3. Baby cheeseburgers at Founding Farmers 4. Elixir at Co Co Sala 5. Lump crabmeat fried rice at Simply Home Five Bites is a place for Metrocurean readers 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 DOT com.

Northern Virginia welcomes two new restaurants today, Eventide in Arlington and Brabo by Robert Wiedmaier in Old Town. Eventide offers two floors (with a rooftop to come) and dishes like bison carpaccio with ancho chocolate mole, Malbec-braised lamb shank, and lobster tagliatelle. The GOG Blog has more details and a few photos . Wiedmaier's Brabo and adjacent Brabo Tasting Room feature the chef's Belgian-American cooking. Read more about the two concepts in this previous Metrocurean post . Meanwhile, a NoVa favorite, Ray's the Steaks , reopened this week in new digs at 2300 Wilson Blvd. Keep up-to-date on recent openings and planned restaurants with Metrocurean's Coming Soon and New Openings lists.

You already know I love the gingery heat-packing Domaine de Canton , mainly for sipping and spiking Champagne. Now, comes this eye-catching dessert from PS 7's pastry chef Leon Baker, featuring the spicy liqueur infused into chocolate-coated cheesecake lollipops. Ooh la la. The lollipops are available in the restaurant's lounge for $5.

Jackson's Roasting & Carving Co. , the Arlington sandwich shop located at 933 N. Quincy St., will launch a special Restaurant Week lunch deal for two next week. For $20.09, two diners will get a sandwich featuring freshly roasted, hand-carved meats, a housemade side dish and homemade chocolate chip cookie. Each day, Jackson’s will feature a sandwich and side pairing. Monday, it's a Tuscan chicken panini on sourdough with lemon basil orzo salad; Thursday brings a Cubano sandwich with roast pork, smoked ham, swiss cheese and pickles with a side of corn and black bean salad. The deal runs Feb. 16-21. (Jackson's is closed Sundays.) Previous Wednesday deals (please call to check continuing availability): • Perry's • Urbana • Art and Soul • Vermilion • Restaurant 3 • Proof • Mio • Vidalia

Predicting restaurant openings is an imprecise science, even for restaurant owners. If only all restaurants would paint their opening dates on their windows, as demonstrated in this Prince of Petworth photo of Pho 14 , a Vietnamese spot coming soon to Columbia Heights.

Everything's better with bacon is one of my favorite cooking mantras. But it takes on a whole new meaning with this nifty little URL trick (spotted on the Epi-Log ) that slaps a piece of bacon on any site you want. Add this — http://bacolicio.us — before any web address, and voila, better with bacon. Behold, Metrocurean, avec bacon . Oh, fun times.

This week's bites are from Allan Maloney, who works at IBM, pictured with girlfriend and previous Five Biter Sara Damelio. 1. Szechuan green beans with ground pork at Joe's Noodle House 2. Chicken pad see euw at Ruan Thai 3. Cheeseburger with tater tots at Quarry House Tavern 4. Hand-filled cannolis at Marchone's Italian Deli 5. Filet o' fish and large fries at 1 a.m. at 24-hour McDonald's in Bethesda Five Bites is a place for Metrocurean readers 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 DOT com.

Wednesday's New York Times Dining section featured a photo of Mario Batali, Sirio Maccioni and Jean-Georges Vongerichten wearing signs with pleas to come visit their restaurants. Times critic Frank Bruni writes that "if you eat out regularly in New York, you’ve noticed a different reception, an altered mood: extreme solicitousness tinged with outright desperation." Amid the talk of economic woes, I've encountered packed restaurants in DC the past few weeks. In the spirit of New York's reservation trackers, Grub Street's Two at Eight and Eater's resyfeed , I wondered what the result would be if I checked OpenTable two days out for prime time reservations for two — Saturday at 7:30 p.m. — at some of DC hottest restaurants. A sort of pulse check of our restaurant scene, if you will. This is of course completely unscientific, and you can draw your own conclusions. And this is not meant to gloss over dropping restaurant revenues, staff cuts and other har...

Dinner for two rings up at a bargain $25 the first Tuesday of each month at Perry's When was the last time you had dinner for two in a stylish restaurant with wine (!) for as little as $25? Probably never. Enter Perry's . Okay, so Wednesday's delicious deal is admittedly a day late for this, but mark your calendar for the first Tuesday of March, when the Adams Morgan restaurant offers its monthly First Tuesday deal. For $25 a couple, each person can choose an appetizer, main course and glass of wine from the featured menu. This month's choices included dishes like butterfish with mustard panko and red Thai curry mussels with fries. For more immediate gratification, check out Perry's Recession Lunch Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., when everything on the menu is $7 or less through the end of March. Click here for links to the deals' menus. Previous Wednesday deals (please call to check continuing availability): • Urbana • Art and Soul • Vermilion • Restaurant ...

Haldi drinks tout health benefits from curcumin Add to the ever-growing list of ingredients with buzzed-about health claims: curcumin, the main component in turmeric. The claim is that it may have anti-inflammatory properties . I'm an eternal skeptic, so I don't buy products based on health claims. I buy them for more practical reasons like, you know, pretty packaging. But seriously, I keep buying them if they taste good. Which brings me to Haldi , a shiny bottled beverage available at Whole Foods. After trying the green tea flavor (I'm not as crazy about the wild berry), I find myself reaching for it again and again. It's mildly sweet and lemony with a hint of spice. And who knows, maybe just maybe it'll cure some ails.

Heineken's walk-in fridge commercial