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!
The moules frites at Granville Moores.
February 3, 2010 at 1:52 pmYour mom! Heeeeyoooo. ….I can haz tickets?
February 3, 2010 at 2:03 pmPanang 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.
February 3, 2010 at 2:11 pmthe 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.
February 3, 2010 at 2:13 pmFilet 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.
February 3, 2010 at 2:22 pmThe 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!
February 3, 2010 at 2:27 pmPork 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.
February 3, 2010 at 2:39 pmBeer & the remaining summer sausage at the end of a 5-day backpacking trip
February 3, 2010 at 2:42 pmhawaiian tombu wrapped with lettuce sambal, with mint, peanuts and a daikon radish @ cashion’s eat place.
February 3, 2010 at 2:46 pmI 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.
February 3, 2010 at 2:51 pmDried Beef Hot Pot from Temptasian Cafe. So much flavor that you cry Szechuan.
February 3, 2010 at 2:55 pmLast 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.
February 3, 2010 at 2:56 pmLatest 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.
February 3, 2010 at 3:06 pmapple crumble. simple. classic.
February 3, 2010 at 3:22 pmmango sorbet. so deliciously fresh, even in winter.
February 3, 2010 at 3:55 pmBest 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…
February 3, 2010 at 4:10 pmi’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!
February 3, 2010 at 4:19 pmA 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!
February 3, 2010 at 4:30 pmManhattan 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.
February 3, 2010 at 4:31 pmomigawd, 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.
February 3, 2010 at 4:47 pmAmazing lemon & blueberry pancakes this morning (courtesy of my pal) to ward off my post-Lost premiere party hangover. Thank goodness for snow days!
February 3, 2010 at 5:04 pmcrabs. 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
February 3, 2010 at 5:18 pmWinter vegetable pizza at Radius. Who would have thought celery root puree, parsnips and pinenuts would taste so good on a pizza?
February 3, 2010 at 5:52 pma bitchin’ bowl of pho my mom made over xmas break!
February 3, 2010 at 6:57 pmLooking forward to the event!
February 3, 2010 at 6:57 pmThe 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.
February 3, 2010 at 10:37 pmDuck 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!
February 3, 2010 at 10:54 pmside of moroccan beans at tangier in adams morgan. spice is right!
February 3, 2010 at 10:56 pmThe 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.
February 3, 2010 at 11:44 pm“espresso y zeppole” = mini donuts with a cup of espresso ice cream… dessert was very creative and yummy too!!
February 4, 2010 at 2:38 amLast 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.
February 4, 2010 at 10:19 amAlex, 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.
February 4, 2010 at 10:40 amPeanut 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.
February 4, 2010 at 11:00 amhttp://www.yelp.com/biz/hitching-post-restaurant-washington
HITCHING POST HITCHING POST HITCHING POST YA YA YA
February 4, 2010 at 11:01 amthe black cod dish at Massa 14. It’s like butta.
February 4, 2010 at 11:06 amPeter 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.
February 4, 2010 at 11:07 ami made an awesome tater-tot casserole yesterday.
February 4, 2010 at 11:29 amThe 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?
February 4, 2010 at 3:12 pmI just want to say this is the best comment thread eva!
February 4, 2010 at 6:23 pmThe 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.
February 4, 2010 at 6:30 pmLobster Mac and Cheese from Oya and the Chocolate buns from Ping Pong….yum….
February 4, 2010 at 9:42 pmThe unpronouncable special at Mandu!!
February 4, 2010 at 11:16 pmMost 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…
February 4, 2010 at 11:26 pmLike the Hitching Post is some big secret? Anyway…
Anyway, the cavatelli with lamb neck and Manchego at Birch & Barley.
February 5, 2010 at 9:07 amposte’s beluga lentil salad with slow cooked duck egg, pork belly and crispy shallots. yummmmmm.
pick me!choose me!love me!
February 5, 2010 at 11:02 amFondue we made from some amazing Cowgirl Creamery cheese. What’s not great about things dipped in cheese?
February 7, 2010 at 11:13 amWinner Winner Chicken Dinner! We have notified the winner, thanks all!
February 8, 2010 at 8:24 pm
Hands down, the Garides Me Anitho @ Zaytinya
February 3, 2010 at 1:28 pm(sautéed shrimp, dill, shallots, mustard and lemon juice)