Cuba Libre Restaurant & Rum Bar, located steps from CityCenterDC at 801 9th Street, NW, 20001, will celebrate the release of Chef-Partner Guillermo Pernot’s second cookbook, CUBA COOKS: RECIPES AND DESRETS FROM CUBAN PALADARES AND THEIR CHEFS (October 2018) with a book signing party on Tuesday, November 13.
Guests pay $50 per person to enjoy select open bar to include beer, red and white wine by the glass, house red and white sangria, Pyrat Mojitos, Mango Mojitos and Spiced Cuba Libre’s along with an array of passed and stationary tapas, ceviches, and desserts profiled in CUBA COOKS. Dishes are subject to change, but may include Ceviche de Pez Perro, hog fish ceviche with blackeyes peas, coconut milk, cilantro and cachucha Chile sauce; Sopa de Cilantro, chilled cilantro soup with tempura of clams; Tacos de Berenjenas, malanga tacos with eggplant salad; Buñuelos de Espinaca, spinach and manchego cheese fritters, served with goat cheese sauce; Croquetas de Pollo, chicken croquettes with cachucha aioli; Alitas de Pollo a lo Chino, Chinese barbeque chicken winglets; Tostones con Ropa Vieja de Pato,braised pulled duck legs with Hawaiian toston, as well as Cuban Porchetta, pork belly and pork loin roast with Moros y Cristianos pilaf. Desserts are just as enticing and include Churros con Chocolate; Macarrones de Coco; Guayaba con Mousse de Queso Crema as well as El Arroz con Leche de Mami Totty. Cookbooks will also be available for purchase throughout the evening and priced at $40 each.
A vibrant celebration of the island’s bold flavors, creative techniques, and unique inspirations of Cuba’s finest paladares, readers of CUBA COOKS will find a rich variety of dishes which have been adapted from some of the best private restaurants from Old Havana to Santiago de Cuba. Showcasing a cuisine which marries traditional foundations with modern influences, Pernot and Co-Author Lourdes Castro have thoughtfully collected recipes and stories that reveal a vibrant contemporary cuisine. Throughout the book, readers will find illuminating and insightful notes about Cuba’s culinary heritage, as well as helpful notes found with every recipe.
Guillermo Pernot is a nationally renowned chef and restaurateur, and chef-partner at Cuba Libre Restaurant & Rum Bar in Philadelphia, Atlantic City, Orlando and Washington, DC. Named “Chef of the Year” by Esquire magazine and one of “America’s Ten Best New Chefs,” by Food & Wine, Pernot is a two-time James Beard Award winner for Best Chef (Mid-Atlantic) and Best Single-Subject Cookbook for Ceviche: Seafood, Salads, and Cocktails with a Latino Twist (Running Press, 2001).
Lourdes Castro is a professor, recipe developer, and author of three cookbooks, Latin Grilling (Ten Speed, 2011), Simply Mexican (Ten Speed, 2009), and Eat, Drink, Think in Spanish (Ten Speed, 2009). A recurring judge on Food Network’s Beat Bobby Flay, Castro has also appeared on NBC’s Today Show, CBS’s The Early Show and The Talk, and on news and lifestyle programs for Better TV, Univision, Telemundo, and CNN en Español. Her recipes have also appeared in Food & Wine, Latina magazine, and The New York Times.
WHEN: Tuesday, November 13, 2018, from 6 PM to 8 PM.
WHERE: Cuba Libre Restaurant and Rum Bar is located at 801 9th Street, NW, Ste. A, Washington, D.C. 20001;
– On Nov. 14, 2018, NCMEC will host its first ROCK THE BLOCK. Guests will enjoy
specialty plates and craft drinks at more than 12 of Old Town Alexandria’s top restaurants and food
trucks in one evening – all for one price. All proceeds from the event will benefit NCMEC – a national nonprofit located in Old Town Alexandria – that leads the fight against child abduction and exploitation – because every child deserves a safe childhood.
From 6 p.m. – 9 p.m., event-goers will walk through Old Town Alexandria, enjoying food, drink and music at all of the participating restaurants. Restaurants include: Vermilion, Augie’s Mussel House, The Majestic, Columbia Firehouse, select food trucks at Market Square, Pizzeria Paradiso, Mia’s Italian Kitchen, Virtue Feed & Grain, Hi -Tide Lounge and more to come.
VIP ticket holders will have access to two VIP-only restaurants, including Hi-Tide Lounge. VIP access will also include a pre-party reception from 5 p.m. – 6:30 p.m. (location TBD) and an “after-party” with live music upstairs at Virtue Feed & Grain from 9-11 p.m.
General Admission tickets are $125 and include unlimited food and drinks at all participating
restaurants. VIP tickets are $300 and include admission to all participating restaurants, the VIP pre-party reception, VIP-only restaurants and the VIP-only after-party.
– Pre-sale Tickets (20 percent discount) are available on Sept. 10
– Full Price Tickets are available starting Oct. 1
– www.Rocktheblocks.org
TRUFFLE TRASH BRUNCH
NOVEMBER 25TH
Known as the “black diamonds” of the kitchen, truffles are the world’s most prized mushroom. truffles have a mild, subtly musky, earthy flavor that enhances many foods. The winter white truffle (Tuber magnatum) is sometimes called a Piedmont or Alba Truffle, because Italy has been blessed with an abundance of white truffles. Harvested from October to December, the short winter season adds to the mystique that surrounds this fungus. they are harvested by truffle Hunting trained dogs. They are prized by chefs and cooks all over the world. Today we use the “peelings”, “skins” and “bits” of the tuber (that are otherwise too small to shave on a truffle mandoline) from our white truffles and add them to these delicious plant based brunch dishes.
Enjoy!
THREE COURSE MENU $40.00
OR A LA CARTE
Our regular brunch will also be available
Hanukkah Latke Brunch / eat.YOGA.drink. @ City Tap Dupont – Sunday, December 9
Visit City Tap Dupont on December 9 for a special Hanukkah iteration of their weekend brunch, featuring platters of latkes served with sour cream and applesauce for $8 as well as featured beers from Shmaltz Brewing. Stick around after grabbing an early brunch for a 12pm eat.YOGA.drink. instructor-led vinyasa class in City Tap Dupont’s private room. Tickets are $20 and include the class, small bites afterward, and an alcoholic drink of your choice. Make reservations for brunch and purchase tickets to the eat.YOGA.drink. class at www.citytap.com/location/
Wake-n-Bake with Terrapin Beer Co. @ City Tap Penn Quarter – Sunday, December 16
City Tap Penn Quarter is teaming up again with Terrapin Beer Co. for their annual Wake-n-Bake baking challenge. Amateur bakers will be challenged to make their most delicious creation using Terrapin Wake-n-Bake Coffee Oatmeal Imperial Stout. The bakers will present samples of their creations at City Tap Penn Quarter at 11am on December 16, with guests attending the event sampling all the desserts and voting on the winner. Bakers who want to participate can sign up by emailing info.pennquarter@citytap.com; guests who want to sample all the desserts and select their favorite can get a ticket for $10 at the door.
Chocolate Festival
Saturday, Feb. 9, and Sunday, Feb. 10; 10 a.m.–5 p.m.
The Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian holds its annual Chocolate Festival in February. From the blossoms of the cacao tree which grows in Mesoamerica, the Maya culture developed chocolate. This program will introduce visitors to indigenous symbols and images representing cacao throughout pre-Columbian history and invite participants to make an art-inspired piece. Participants will enjoy the music of Guatemalan Marimba with Marimba AWAL and join Grupo Los Tecuanes (Mixtec) as they share the process of turning cacao into chocolate. Executive Chef, Mitsitam Native Foods Café, Freddie Bitsoie (Diné), will demonstrate various recipes inspired by chocolate. Limited tastings will be available during the demonstrations. Families and children can participate in different activities in the imagiNATIONS Activity Center, including make-and-take a cacao pendant using the Mayan glyph for cacao (chocolate).
Crêpe Day: Celebrate La Chandeleur!
Saturday, February 9, 2019, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.
Enjoy crêpes, storytelling, art projects, and more amidst Hillwood’s spectacular gardens, magnificent mansion, and exquisite French treasures.
4155 Linnean Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20008
Chocolate Festival
Saturday, Feb. 9, and Sunday, Feb. 10; 10 a.m.–5 p.m.
The Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian holds its annual Chocolate Festival in February. From the blossoms of the cacao tree which grows in Mesoamerica, the Maya culture developed chocolate. This program will introduce visitors to indigenous symbols and images representing cacao throughout pre-Columbian history and invite participants to make an art-inspired piece. Participants will enjoy the music of Guatemalan Marimba with Marimba AWAL and join Grupo Los Tecuanes (Mixtec) as they share the process of turning cacao into chocolate. Executive Chef, Mitsitam Native Foods Café, Freddie Bitsoie (Diné), will demonstrate various recipes inspired by chocolate. Limited tastings will be available during the demonstrations. Families and children can participate in different activities in the imagiNATIONS Activity Center, including make-and-take a cacao pendant using the Mayan glyph for cacao (chocolate).
On February 18 at 7 pm, Chef Todd Gray will host the first annual Not Wasted Dinner, a tribute to the organizer’s collective mission to eradicate food waste in the hospitality industry. The dinner is a collaboration of diverse yet like-minded chefs who will create a four-course dinner made from “trash ingredients” like roots, stems and cuttings.
“As we celebrate our 20th year in business, we’re more committed than ever to taking dramatic steps to decrease the restaurant’s carbon footprint. The dinner will be both educational and delicious–showcasing how you can utilize otherwise wasted ingredients and have a sumptuous dining experience at the same time,” said Ellen Kassoff, co-owner of Equinox Restaurant.
The evening will also feature an interactive discussion with an enlightened group of esteemed panelists to discuss and guide us all in ways we can reduce, reuse, and recycle for a brighter, more promising environmental future.
Confirmed panelists include:
- Amanda Stone, World Wildlife Fund
- Elizabeth Bennett-Parker, Together We Bake
- Hilary Landa, Ad Council
- Laura Monto, Sodexo
Panel moderator: Lesly Baesens, DC Food Recovery Working Group
Guest Chefs
- Todd Gray, Equinox Restaurant
- Michelle Brown, Teaism
- Gregory Payne, Sodexo
- Robert Wood, SuperFd Catering
Special “Trashed” cocktails — using forgotten bits of bar fruit in syrups, garnishes, and mixers — will be crafted by Peter Grimm, Equinox Restaurant’s Bar Manager and Mixologist.
Tickets are $65 and may be purchased at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/
