What's Happening In Washington, DC: April 18, 2016
Ottoman Taverna
D.C. is finally discovering what the rest of the gourmet world already knew — Turkish food is the bomb — and because of it, more restaurants are offering Turkish fare across the area. The latest to join the club is Ottoman Taverna, a new 160-seat restaurant from Turkish native son, Hakan Ilhan. His new digs will be at 425 I Street, NW, Suite #107. The restaurant will be open for dinner service, with lunch and brunch in the works. The restaurant's design is reminiscent of turn-of-the-century casual restaurants found throughout Istanbul. Keeping things real will be general manager Nuray Karatas, and executive chef and Istanbul native, Ilhan Erkek. Erkek's award-winning Turkish fare garnered him accolades at the Ritz Carlton Hotel in Istanbul, where he created the menu and handled the daily operations of Çintemani, the hotel's exceptional Ottoman restaurant for two years.
Pinstripes
Mudbug, or crawfish, season started last month so they are in fine fettle now. For messy, delicious fun, we can't think of a better way to spend a warm Saturday in D.C. than eatin' some boiled crawfish. That said, head over to Pinstripes on Saturday, April 30, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., for the restaurant's fourth annual fundraiser the Crawfish for Cancer Crawfish Boil. Early bird tickets have already sold out, but general admission tickets are available for $80 per person until April 23, and after that, tickets will be $90 until event day. So what does the entrance fee get you? Access to five-hours of unlimited crawfish, drinks, and music, plus specialty cocktails featuring Firefly Sweet Tea Vodka. All proceeds from this event benefit the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation and you can buy tickets online.
Station 4
If you need a pick-me-up after doing your taxes, head over to Station 4 on Monday, April 18 for its new fixed-price special for $20.16, not including tax and gratuity. For just $20 and some change, you can choose to nosh on a choice of three appetizers, three entrées, and two desserts. Look for tasty goodies like fat tax tacos, the IRS salad, H&R pasta, and taxpayer's lava cake. This offer is good during dinner 5 p.m. to 11 p.m.
Wallace H. Coulter Performance Plaza at the Smithsonian National History Museum
As part of their "Cooking Up History": Asian Pacific American Culinary Heritage celebration, the Smithsonian National History Museum is hosting a cooking demonstration and lively discussion on Friday, May 6 at 2 p.m. "Cooking Up History" is a free program that showcases a guest chef, along with a Smithsonian host, preparing a recipe while discussing its ingredients, culinary techniques, and history. The May program demonstration will feature a chef from Wegmans and will explore the theme of "Asian Pacific American Culinary Heritage." It will be held in the Wallace H. Coulter Performance Plaza, Demonstration Kitchen, First Floor, West. After a 45-minute demonstration, visitors will have the opportunity to purchase a dish inspired by the demonstration in the museum's Stars & Stripes Cafe.
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Summer Whitford is the D.C. Editor and a food, drink and travel writer at The Daily Meal. You can follow her on Twitter @FoodandWineDiva and on Instagram at thefoodandwinediva.