amanda mcclements

This promo is so very appropriate, seeing as the city just got a nice soaking ... Starting Oct. 1, when it rains, Helix Lounge is pouring drink specials. Spot some rain and you'll get special prices on Cruzan rum drinks, including $6 Dark and Stormys, $4 bottle beers and $5 house wines and champagne. And since I doubt any of you are hoping for rain, Helix is also hosting backyard bashes on the patio every Friday night from 5 to 8 p.m. Guests will find $1 hot dogs, $2 mini-me burgers and $2 PBRs.

As DC's latest street food innovator, Coite Manuel is hoping to change the perception of the city when it comes to our ubiquitous hot dog and pretzel carts. But unlike the eco-friendly On the Fly or the mustachioed Fojol Bros. , Manuel is working with what DC's already got. Food Chain , his new venture, gives existing carts a culinary boost by bringing them more diverse and higher quality menu items. Manuel currently partners with three carts to offer jerk chicken wraps and tacos, Caribbean bean burritos, coconut rice, citrus black beans and mango salsa. A fourth cart joins the fold this week with some Thai-inspired options. In his former job, Manuel helped low income individuals start businesses. He saw an opportunity to bring better food to the streets, while helping food vendors make money. "I can impact the lives of these hard working folks," he told Metrocurean. The business model is fairly simple. Manuel rents out a restaurant kitchen and at the start of each w...

Shrimp "Louie" lettuce cups from Bourbon Steak's lounge menu. A few days after downing several crunchy lettuce cups filled with stir fried lamb at The Source , I cracked open the September issue of Food & Wine and saw this recipe for spicy Asian chicken salad lettuce cups . Not a week later, a press release landed in my inbox touting Bourbon Steak 's new fall lounge menu, including a whole line-up of lettuce cups. They come filled with tempura lobster, pulled pork barbecue with pickled watermelon rind, shrimp salad, chopped chicken with coconut curry, and Thai crispy rice. Then on Bravo's Top Chef, Michael Voltaggio won an episode's elimination challenge with braised pork belly with soy mustard sauce served in ... that's right, folks ... lettuce leaves. Ok, so lettuce wraps have been around a while — a long while in Asian cooking (see: ssam ). They were certainly popular during the carb-cutting diet madness and are still popular on chain restaurant ...

Orr Shtuhl likes Iceland's Stori Dimon cheese with 3 Fonteinen Oude Kriek beer . Today's bites are from the City Paper 's one and only Beerspotter, Orr Shtuhl . Follow him on twitter here , and if you're a fellow blogger, check out his Blogtoberfest, details here . His bites are, naturellement , paired with beer. 1. Cornichons and an everything bagel with smoked whitefish salad from So's Your Mom (Stoudt's Gold Lager) 2. Bresaola at Canales Quality Meats in Eastern Market (Orval) 3. Dry-rubbed chicken wings at Washington Pizza (Smuttynose IPA) 4. Fried chicken with mustard sauce at Central (Terrapin Rye Pale Ale) 5. Stori Dimon (super stinky Icelandic cheese) at Whole Foods (3 Fonteinen Oude Kriek) Five Bites is a place for Metrocurean readers — and DC's top chefs — 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.com.

All the juicy stuff you may have missed from the Twitterverse ... follow Metrocurean on Twitter here . Cue Bar will become U St Music Hall : RT @ goingoutgurus D.C.'s Top DJs to Headline Their Own Club http://bit.ly/YofeQ You'll get to sit with me... RT @ timcarman Take part in our contest and you might be a judge at the Taste of Georgetown. http://bit.ly/FYxSh Pinkberry 's looking to open 3-5 locations in the DC area in 2010 (as some already tweeted). Fro yo trend no slow... Rumor has it Scott Conant's Scarpetta will open in old Olives space, which would be fabulous. Fingers crossed. http://bit.ly/JT0pC And the next celeb chef with eyes on DC may be Boston's Michael Schlow, according to @ bestbitesblog - > http://bit.ly/7Puw5 Congrats to chef Josh Whigham. Well-deserved: RT @ timcarman the new Bazaar chef is: http://bit.ly/19irsQ

There's a mini Restaurant Week going on through Sunday on Bethesda Row . The promo is offering two-course lunches for $12, three-course dinners for $30 and a few happy hour specials at Assaggi Mozzarella Bar , Austin Grill , Dalhi Dhaba , Lebanese Taverna , Le Pain Quotidien , Mon Ami Gabi , Raku , Redwood and Tara Thai . Check Best Bites for all the menus . (And as the promo photo implies — see the sushi earring?! — you can get some fall shopping done while you're there.)

TWG's whole leaf teas TWG photos Last week, a story in The New York Times reported that high-end gourmet tea sales are thriving despite the dismal global economic situation. It seems that quality tea is a small luxury many people are willing to splurge on. This winter, I had the chance to sample teas from TWG Tea , one of the luxury brands featured in the story. TWG made its US debut in December, and you can find their teas at Georgetown's Dean & DeLuca and online . And this week in Manhattan, Madison Avenue's Dean & DeLuca will open a dedicated TWG Tea counter with 58 loose leaf teas. The Singapore-based company sources tea leaves from the most desirable harvests from tea gardens around the globe, and like wine, some of the teas carry a single-estate distinction. The leaves are gorgeous — the largest and most fragrant I've encountered in my amateur tea drinking. The White House Tea (a perfectly elegant DC souvenir, don't you think?) is a juicy blend of wh...

Dynamo Donuts' bacon maple apple donut I've been stuffing my face and swilling wine for the better part of the past week out in San Francisco and Napa. And though I've had my share of olives, local cheese, Cabernet Sauvignon and other expected wine country delights, I can't seem to escape the ubiquitous donut ... or doughnut (in my former profession I would've gotten to the bottom of that spelling conundrum). I think these photos speak for themselves. Food porn at its purest. Above, from San Francisco's Mission district, is Dynamo Donuts ' heralded bacon maple apple donut. And it is none of those things too much. A little salty, savory bacon kick on a rich maple glaze, just a hint of apple, and a perfectly fluffy donut. The Boon Fly Cafe's cinnamon sugar donuts, at the Carneros Inn. The addictive little guys above were breakfast one morning from the Boon Fly Cafe at the delightful Carneros Inn , smack dab between the towns of Napa and Sonoma. So ... whe...

Clayton Miller is the executive chef of Clifton's new Trummer's on Main . The Pittsburgh native started his culinary career with The Ritz-Carlton in Atlanta and from there worked in kitchens that included The French Laundry and Norman’s at The Ritz-Carlton Orlando, where he was executive chef. In his latest gig, he joins Stefan and Victoria Trummer at their new restaurant, which opened in July. ( Read more .) Here are Miller's Five Bites. 1. Chocolate malt shake with M&Ms from Peterson's Ice Cream Depot in Clifton 2. General Tso's chicken wings at The Source 3. Gougères at Central 4. Buffalo chicken wrap from Main Street Pub in Clifton 5. Cheese and charcuterie at Proof Previous Chef Five Bites: Cathal Armstrong , Dani Arana , David Guas , Josh Short , Michel Richard , Haidar Karoum , Ryan Morgan , Shannon Overmiller , Anthony Chittum , Jonathan Krinn & Jon Mathieson , Victor Albisu , Vatche Benguian , John Snedden , Nicholas Stefanelli , Travis Olson ...

Emily Samuel, who sells fresh baked artisan breads at Lyon Bakery , sends in today's food for thought. (That's her with Stonewall Jackson.) 1. Chesapeake Bay seafood stew at The Majestic 2. Fries and a St. Bernardus beer at Granville Moore's 3. Chicken pot pie at Blue Ridge 4. Original tangy with blackberries and granola at Mr. Yogato 5. Coconut cupcake ... heck, any cupcake at Baked and Wired (sweets pictured at left) Five Bites is a place for Metrocurean readers — and DC's top chefs — 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.com. Stay tuned later today for Five Bites from chef Clayton Miller of Trummer's on Main.

A huge thanks to Sylvie of Thrifty DC Cook for sending in these photos of opening day at FreshFarm 's new market by the White House. Michelle Obama told the crowd she's never seen so many people excited about fruits and vegetables. The crowd waits for the first lady. Chef José Andrés poses for a pic. Check out Obama Foodorama for more photos.

Bourbon Steak's nightly classic American suppers run from $50 to $70 per person. All the juicy stuff you may have missed from the Twitterverse ... follow Metrocurean on Twitter here . RT @ goingoutgurus : Columbia Firehouse Lets Chef Go http://bit.ly/PsgS2 Are we calling it the "White House" market? RT @ timcarman White House farmers market opens Thursday. Y&H has details. http://bit.ly/aSbou Billy Crystal & wife dined with Sen. John Kerry tonight [Monday] @ RistoranteTOSCA . Ordered lobster risotto, scallop shrimp linguine, lamb, caprese. Too bad. I adore the property: RT @ warojas Tarver King's out, a la carte is in at Middleburg's Goodstone Inn http://sn.im/nvgcgi RT @ PoPville Vacant building at 9th and U finally to be developed into a tavern! http://tinyurl.com/kkofqe At $50-$70/person, these Bourbon Steak multi-course menu specials are a steal: RT @ DCBOURBONSTEAK http://cli.gs/4EEgYD [PDF]

In honor of its sixth anniversary, waterfront dumpling destination Bangkok Joe's is offering a special multi-course menu for $36.66. The menu features executive chef and owner Aulie Bunyarataphan's most popular dishes. The menu starts with a Siam Sunray cocktail (kaffir leaves, lemongrass, red chili, ginger, Smirnoff vodka, coconut liquor and fresh lime juice), and follows with an amuse, soup, appetizer, a choice of main dishes and dessert. Among dishes on the menu: crying tiger wrapped mint leaves with spicy lime sauce, sticky rice ball and mini spicy green papaya salad; baked giant shrimp stuffed with jumbo lump crabmeat with yellow-curry ginger sauce, baby Asian greens and black sticky rice; and fresh mango and sticky rice, flourless chocolate cake and fried roti dough with taro ice cream. The tribute menu is available through Sept. 30. (Bonus: Bangkok Joe’s also offers half-price wine on Monday and Tuesday night.) Congrats on the sixth anniversary, Bangkok Joe's!

Wendy Buckley has one of those familiar career shake-up stories (see Cakelove , Cork ). She left a high paying job at AOL to follow her dreams and open a wine bar. The Texas native gave her notice last October, and she hopes to see her vision come to fruition when Screwtop Wine Bar opens later this year, hopefully in December, at 1025 N. Fillmore St. in Clarendon. Now that screwtop wine has kicked its low-brow reputation, why not pay homage to the cork alternative in the name. "I hope the name alone helps to convey the casual laid back nature of our place," Buckley tells Metrocurean. The concept is two-fold: Screwtop will house a retail wine, cheese and charcuterie market as well as a wine bar with a small menu. "Our motto is 'Drink What YOU Like'," Buckley says. "We aim to do everything we can to take the intimidation out of the wine buying and enjoying process." The retail component will offer boutique small production wines, cut-to-order chee...

Chef Rodney Scruggs of the Occidental has been cooking in the DC area for more than 20 years — and he's ended up right where he started. At 18, he was hired as a line cook at Occidental and worked his way up to executive sous chef, under then-executive chef Jeff Buben (now of Vidalia and Bistro Bis fame). He followed his first Occidental run with stints at Galileo , Cesco and Bistro Bis and found himself back on familiar terrain when he was named head chef for the Occidental in 2005, just before the restaurant's 100th birthday. Here are his Five Bites. 1. Gina Chersevani's scalded milk cocktail at PS 7's "Tastes like a milk shake. Silky smooth." 2. Anything (like the sticky pecan buns) from the Swiss Bakery 3. 24-hour sous-vide pork belly at Café du Parc 4. Pasta with shrimp, rapini, crushed pepper and white sauce at A La Lucia 5. CityZen 's bar menu Previous Chef Five Bites: Cathal Armstrong , Dani Arana , David Guas , Josh Short , Michel Richard , H...

Burgers from Morton's bar bites menu. Ronya from the blog Telling It Like It Is feeds us this Friday's bites. 1. Red velvet cake at Firefly 2. Deviled eggs at Jackson's Mighty Fine Food 3. Three prime cheeseburgers (above) from the Morton's bar menu 4. Grilled asparagus salad with crispy poached egg, herbed goat cheese dressing, frisee and citrus vinaigrette at Eventide 5. Pizza with pepperoni and goat cheese at 2 Amys Five Bites is a place for Metrocurean readers — and DC's top chefs — 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.com. Stay tuned later today for Five Bites from chef Rodney Scruggs of The Occidental .

In honor of today's 9/9/09 date, Metrocurean offers nine noteworthy fall restaurant openings, roughly (and I do mean roughly) in the order of their openings. 1. Bibiana Osteria Enoteca 1100 New York Ave. NW, 202.216.9550 Now open Ashok Bajaj's first Italian restaurant opened last week in the former Luigino's space. Bajaj (at left) also owns Rasika , Oval Room , Bombay Club , 701 , Ardeo and Bardeo . Chef Nicholas Stefanelli, formerly of Mio , Fiamma and Maestro , is heading the kitchen and turning out dishes like bucatini with guanciale, roasted lamb rib eye and shoulder with white beans and escarole, and whole roasted sea bass with rapini and cherry tomatoes. 2. Sou'Wester Mandarin Oriental , 1330 Maryland Ave. SW ETA: Sept. 14 CityZen chef Eric Ziebold is slated to unveil his new casual Southern restaurant, Sou'Wester, next week. Chef Rachael Harriman will oversee the kitchen. On the new spot's homey Southern-inspired menu: blackened bluefish with Cajun ...

Earlier this year, Taste of the Nation brought together about 50 restaurants, chefs and mixologists and raised $150,000 to benefit local charities. Interested in volunteering for next year's Taste of the Nation ? The DC committee chairs for Share Our Strength’s Taste of the Nation are hosting an informative volunteer recruitment happy hour at PS 7’s , Wednesday, Sept. 9 from 6-8 p.m. Snack on complimentary hors d’oeuvres and sip on special select $4 wines and $3 beers, while learning more about Taste of the Nation and volunteering on the 2010 planning committee. Taste of the Nation 2010 is scheduled for Monday, April 12 at the National Building Museum. RSVP to DCTaste@gmail.com.

All the juicy stuff you may have missed from the Twitterverse ... follow Metrocurean on Twitter here . ... Bibiana opened today [Friday] at 1100 NY Ave with chef Nick Stefanelli. For Bibiana menus, @ timcarman has you covered: http://bit.ly/15mm7G I guess plans are off for Regine Palladin's Confit . Old Pesce space has signs in the window for www.ezmedc.com , of 18th St.'s Mezze . BTW, Pesce is now open just up the block in the former Montsouris space at 2002 P St. NW. Againn , a Brit gastropub, is coming soon to 1099 NY Ave w extensive beer and single-malt selection. Core is doing design. www.againndc.com Former U St Maggie Moo's renamed U Scream Ice Cream by PoP readers: RT @ popville http://tinyurl.com/kj8qzw

Chef Bart Vandaele took a break from his kitchen at Belga Café this weekend to head back to his native Belgium for a little visit ... oh, and to be knighted by the country's beer society. The chef grew up in Northern Belgium and worked in several renowned restaurants there, before moving to DC. After cooking for diplomats for a bit, he opened Belga on Barracks Row in 2004. 1. Tasting menu and wine pairings at J&G Steakhouse 2. Chocolate croissants from Le Pain Quotidien 3. New toys for the kitchen from Sur La Table 4. When I need to meet and talk to the farmers instantly... and gain ideas for menus, I head to Eastern Market . 5. Belgium, home sweet home, for beer, returning to my roots, reinvigorating my menu at Belga Café and simply for keeping things pure and real. Previous Chef Five Bites: Cathal Armstrong , Dani Arana , David Guas , Josh Short , Michel Richard , Haidar Karoum , Ryan Morgan , Shannon Overmiller , Anthony Chittum , Jonathan Krinn & Jon Mathieson...

Bess Marks writes a cooking blog Bess's Bistro and shares her favorite Arlington bites. 1. The Upswing cocktail at Eventide 2. Spinach tamales at El Ranchero 3. Filet mignon with brandy mushroom cream at Ray's the Steaks 4. Sweet potato fries on the side of the grilled mahi mahi (salad or sandwich) at Big Buns Grill 5. Garam marsala lamb burger at Eleventh Street Lounge Five Bites is a place for Metrocurean readers — and DC's top chefs — 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.com. Stay tuned later today for Five Bites from chef Bart Vandaele of Belga Cafe .

Trickling Springs Creamery milk on the shelf at the new Aroma Bakery and Market on U Street NW. I just downed a glass of cold, rich Trickling Springs Creamery milk that I scored yesterday, off a shelf right beside the Pepsi, from Aroma Bakery and Market . The U Street newcomer (1320 U St. NW) recently opened with a basic deli counter (the tomatoes are local), baked goods, a few fridges full of drinks and some staple items. But back to the milk. Local, organic milk from grass-fed cows just isn't the kind of thing you see in many DC convenience stores. And generally speaking, save for a few spots like So's Your Mom , the city's corner stores, markets, bodegas — whatever you like to call them — are fairly run-of-the-mill. But things seem to be looking up — especially if you're a foodie. When Timor Bodega opened at 200 Rhode Island Ave. at the end of 2007, food lovers and neighbors rejoiced over the selection of local meats, dairy (also Trickling Springs), vegetables a...

Snack on complimentary soft pretzels when you watch Top Chef at Westend Bistro. photo by Len DePas Two deals for you today: Starting tonight, chef Joe Palma of Westend Bistro invites "Top Chef" fans to come to the restaurant's bar or the hotel lobby bar to cheer on his former colleague Jennifer Carroll (at left). They worked together for chef Eric Ripert at Le Bernadin , and Carroll now heads the kitchen at Westend's sister restaurant and Ripert concept 10 Arts in Philly. (And no, she's not the pastry chef, as another cheftestant asked in the first episode.) Guests will be treated to free warm soft pretzels with creamy cheddar sauce, jalapeno jam and Dijon mustard — one of Carroll's specialties. The viewing parties will continue as long as Carroll stays on the show. Through Saturday, Sept. 5, the Passion Food family of DC restaurants — Acadiana , Ceiba , DC Coast and TenPenh — is offering half-price bottles of wine (excluding the reserve list and bottles ...