Next weekend is the 11th Annual International Wine and Food Festival, a four-day celebration featuring 600 wines from 100 wineries and food from around the world. Events range from cocktail tastings to wine and cheese pairings, to chef demos to a grand tasting featuring a massive street food pavillion. Event prices range from $25 to $140, with many offerings in between. Check out the event calendar for listings, or just click here.
As a special treat for BYT readers, how about a giveaway?! Two tickets to the festival kick-off reception at PS7.
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International Wine and Food Festival Kick-Off Reception
Location: PS7's Restaurant
Date: Thursday, February 11th
Time: 6:00pm – 8:00pm
Tickets: $50 value
Co-Hosted by two of DC’s favorite chefs Todd Gray (Equinox) & Peter Smith (PS7s), this Festival opener offers guests the chance to sample savory bites and sip tasty Festival wines perfectly paired in an intimate and elegant setting. Both chefs will be on hand to share their expertise on food and wine pairings.
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To win, tell us the last truly great thing you ate. Put you answer in the comments and we'll be in touch with the winner. Just a note, please be 21+ because you'll be bummed to get turned away. Good luck and happy eating and drinking!
Previously in Misc/Awesome:
- 12/28: Terrible Boyfriend/ Girlfriend Generator.
- 12/1: The John Waters Advent Calendar-it starts today
- 11/28: It Chooses You: All I Want for Christmas is Everything from Miranda July's Pop-Up Shop
- 11/3: Things I'd Move to Minnesota For
- 9/6: PHOTOS: Maloof $$ Money Cup
- 9/2: PHOTOS: Chantilly Model Train Show
- 9/1: Libby's List: 5 Things I Want Right Now...
- 8/22: PHOTOS: Best Friends Day
- 8/10: PHOTOS: Lawn Mover Racing, Eastern Seaboard Regionals @ Bowles Farm
- 7/26: Special List: Things the BYGays Want Now That We Can Marry In DC (and NY!)
God loves a cheerful giver.
Hands down, the Garides Me Anitho @ Zaytinya
(sautéed shrimp, dill, shallots, mustard and lemon juice)
The moules frites at Granville Moores.
Your mom! Heeeeyoooo. ....I can haz tickets?
Panang curry at Mai Thai. It was fresh, spicy, and a little bit sweet. I thought I knew Thai food, but this was a transcendent experience.
the last truly great thing i ate?
i had a bacon cheeseburger feast pizza with extra hamburger, extra bacon and jalapeños from Domino's the other day that was truly fucking awesome.
Filet mignon at craftsteak in Vegas. Best piece of meat I've ever had in my life. It was so tender and juicy, it was like biting into a steak-flavored cloud.
The chocolate molten cake at Oya. This is probably the best dessert in town. Its definitely a go to for me especially for special occasions like peoples birthdays. It just melts in your mouth and the the hottness of the cake and the cold ice cream is an amazing combo!
Pork belly with braised turnips at a secret dinner club in Paris. I was terrified to try it at first but it was phenomenal. Bacon for dinner? Yes, please.
Beer & the remaining summer sausage at the end of a 5-day backpacking trip
hawaiian tombu wrapped with lettuce sambal, with mint, peanuts and a daikon radish @ cashion's eat place.
I have to agree with CB on the Garides Me Anitho at Zaytinya, that stuff is lifechangingly magical. But for the last great thing I'd have to say a La Divine beer alongside the Polish kielbasa with caramelized onions at the Brasserie Beck happy hour.
Dried Beef Hot Pot from Temptasian Cafe. So much flavor that you cry Szechuan.
Last month I was in Texas for the yearly family visit. In the armpit of America - Corpus Christi - my hunchbacked, mustachioed hero Robert works every day in a dimly-lit run down shack creating one of my favorite foods - heavenly, succulent barbecued brisket. Not the tough lump of meat the East Coast normally conjures. This giant hunk of beef is smoked for up to 12 hours over hickory logs, self-basting in its glistening fat and slowly becoming the tenderest delicacy imaginable.
So to answer the question, the last great thing I ate: Texas brisket, pickles and onions, and chipotle BBQ sauce on anonymous white bread; a crisp poppy seed cole slaw; paired with a shitty Lone Star beer.
Yes.
Latest and greatest eats:
Out and about, a glorious bacon, gruyere and sauteed mushroom burger, dripping with meaty juices, and fries, with a hissing skillet of crispy-topped macaroni and cheese, and a pint of white ale at the Black Squirrel, topped with a garnish of half-price burger Thursdays. All for me.
At home, pan-seared bluefish fillet with preserved lemon and fennel confit.
apple crumble. simple. classic.
mango sorbet. so deliciously fresh, even in winter.
Best meal of my life: On a trip to Italy a few summers ago a friend in Calabria took me to a village in the appennine mountains for lunch with Don Peppino, the round and red-faced local Priest, and a family friend. Lunch was prepared by his caretaker, an elderly lady whose name I can't remember. First course, marinated "funghi della poeta" (mushrooms of the poet) picked from the local woods by Don Peppino; second course, breaded wild boar cutlet with local vegetables; third course, the most bizarre dish I've ever eaten, chunks of the scum that gathers on top of a boiling pot of bones with a poached egg on top (weird texture but tasty and about the truest "peasant food" I can imagine). All accompanied by an abundance of housemade wine and followed by fruit and house-made spirits. We slept off the booze by a local lake when Don Peppino left to go christen a child...
i'm still dreaming of my first meal on my last trip to the French Quarter . . . It was brunch at restaurant Stanley (http://www.stanleyrestaurant.com/) on Jackson Square. My best friend and I pulled up to the 10-seat counter overlooking the kitchen and ordered the Breaux Bridge Benedict. Atop two pieces of thick and crusty french bread is "Charlie T's" mouth-watering Boudin (http://boudinlink.com/CharlieT/CharlieT.html), American cheese and two perfectly poached eggs all soaked in Creole Hollandaise sauce and garnished with smoked ham. It was a good day even before I got my Screwdriver with fresh OJ!
A cheeseburger. I have stayed away from red meat for about 7 months and on a whim decided to reward my abstinence by having a huge, greasy cheeseburger from a dirty bar. It was the best stomach I have ever had!
Manhattan Clam Chowder from Trinity in Keyport, NJ.
I usually don't like the stuff--in fact, til I tasted this soup, I didn't understand why recipes for it exist--but, the waiter told me it was good, and since he was good looking, I ordered it. Tomatoes and clams really are a good match, and the soup was thick and rich (possibly with the assistance of a little cream) and.. now I want some again.
So, when you go to Jersey for the Guido Beach reality tour, stop and put something good in your body first.
omigawd, P.B.!!!!!!!!! i'd love to meet you in person so you could tell me more amazing stories about your travels to remote italian villages and other fantastic places where you might have sampled the finest most awesome local cuisines!!!!
just kidding. shut up.
Amazing lemon & blueberry pancakes this morning (courtesy of my pal) to ward off my post-Lost premiere party hangover. Thank goodness for snow days!
crabs. and by crabs, I mean the ones that come as a side dish with Lindsay Lohan's pussy.
sorry,,,had to go there. I know I don't deserve to win:P
Winter vegetable pizza at Radius. Who would have thought celery root puree, parsnips and pinenuts would taste so good on a pizza?
a bitchin' bowl of pho my mom made over xmas break!
Looking forward to the event!
The Source, upstairs, a few weeks ago. Started with two types of dumplings and the tuna cones, could've eaten those all day. Before dinner, downed an "not on the menu" tastier for being secret Dark n Stormy. Dessert was something delicious but I forgot. Happy birthday to me.
Duck confit at Balthazaar in NYC - savory duck leg crisped and cooked in duck fat. It was served with golden brown wild mushrooms sauteed in butter, along with paper thin potato slices fried in duck fat with garlic and parsley (key ingredient was duck fat). Paired with a luscious Bordeaux, I was in heaven!
side of moroccan beans at tangier in adams morgan. spice is right!
The El Panchito in Houston, TX. It is a deep-fried eggplant stuffed with lump crabmeat, scallops, and gulf shrimp all smothered in chilli con queso. No food is better than this.
"espresso y zeppole" = mini donuts with a cup of espresso ice cream... dessert was very creative and yummy too!!
Last night I went to that hitching post place on upshur. It is AMAZING. It's been there for over 40 years, and it shows. The greens and fried oysters are among the best I've ever had. It's a small place and I don't want it to get overrun, but you should really check this place out.
Oh, and PLEASE, I really want to go to this.
Alex, please delete the reference in LJ's comment. Thanks. It has been kept a secret off blogging sites for quite some time. It will be ruined.
LJ. Sorry. Alex knows what you're talking about. Thank you for your contribution and I hope you understand the reasoning behind this.
Peanut butter toast with a drop of honey and a glass of milk has been my favorite food since I was 5 and probably always will be. But if you give me these passes, maybe my horizons will be broadened...though I doubt it.
http://www.yelp.com/biz/hitching-post-restaurant-washington
HITCHING POST HITCHING POST HITCHING POST YA YA YA
the black cod dish at Massa 14. It's like butta.
Peter don't you have a house to clean? I am tired of your roommate complaining to me about how your filth makes him cry and want to punch children out of frustration.
i made an awesome tater-tot casserole yesterday.
The Oatmeal Cream Pie from BakeshopDC is to die for!
Inhale right before you take a bite and the awesome oatmeal and ginger scents fill your nose. Tastes like nostalgia, but not as cloyingly sweet as the ones we had as a kid. When their espresso bar opens, it'll be the perfect treat for a snowy day!
did i win this contest yet?
I just want to say this is the best comment thread eva!
The last truly great thing? Some chick made some bacon wrapped dates dipped in brown sugar or some shit at a party I was at Saturday night. I totally nutted in my pants, then ate all the rest of them so no one else could have any.
Lobster Mac and Cheese from Oya and the Chocolate buns from Ping Pong....yum....
The unpronouncable special at Mandu!!
Most recent would be Sweetwater's warm goat cheese salad (followed up with their fillet mignon with extra sauce....beyond words; I'm drooling on my computer). But Busboys and Poets's bread pudding with coconut ice cream was also akin to great sex in my mouth. I just wish they offered it entree sized...
Like the Hitching Post is some big secret? Anyway...
Anyway, the cavatelli with lamb neck and Manchego at Birch & Barley.
poste's beluga lentil salad with slow cooked duck egg, pork belly and crispy shallots. yummmmmm.
pick me!choose me!love me!
Fondue we made from some amazing Cowgirl Creamery cheese. What's not great about things dipped in cheese?
Winner Winner Chicken Dinner! We have notified the winner, thanks all!