Miscellany

Now that the hubbub of the inaugural festivities is dying down, we Washingtonians need something else to occupy our hearts, minds, and stomachs. Enter Winter Restaurant Week 2009. The food powers that be have announced the Restaurant Week will be from Feb. 16 to Feb. 22. I've snagged reservations at Jose Andres' Cafe Atlantico and Corduroy (whose seared big-eye tuna is pictured above). I've never eaten at either (mostly because they're a bit out of my price range), and I am totally psyched.

Oh, and even though the inauguration's over, excitement about Obama's influence on food policy continues to mount, as Alice Waters and others work to garner attention for the Slow Food movement, farm-to-table ethos, and local, sustainable ingredients. Know someone with a green thumb? Nominate him or her to be the first White House Farmer. And speaking of Alice Waters, I would be totally remiss if I didn't link to WaPo's story on Alice Waters' events in DC this past weekend (one of which took place at The Phillips Collection!). According to this write-up in the NY Times, cookbook author (and hostess to one of Waters' dinners) Joan Nathan choked on a piece of chicken, and received the Heimlich Maneuver from none other than the Top Chef himself: Tom Colicchio! The drama! The mayhem! Nathan recovered from her near-catastrophic poultry encounter, declaring "Tom Colicchio saved my life." No harm, no fowl, right?

In the meantime, I've been neither choking on chicken, nor performing the Heimlich Maneuver on anyone, but I have been trying to figure out what to bring to my friend Erin's potluck on Saturday. The theme is Italian, so I immediately thought bruschetta, but tomatoes are woefully out of season. So now, I'm thinking artichoke bruschetta. Once I nail down a recipe, I'll post it here.