food

Clarendon Day Details Revealed

By ARLnow.com

We’re one month away from the 2010 iteration of Clarendon Day, the outdoor event that’s billed as “Arlington’s biggest party.”

Clarendon Day 2010 will take place from 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on Saturday, September 25.

For runners, three Pacers-sponsored races will be held before the start of the festival: A 5K at 8:20 a.m., a 10K at 9:00 a.m. and a kid’s dash at 10:30 a.m. (Register here.)

The main event will feature music on two stages, more than 50 vendors and food from more than 15 restaurants, including Whitlow’s, Hard Times Cafe, Rocklands, Screwtop Wine Bar, Northside Social and Bakeshop. There will also be art, fitness classes, kids’ activities, health screenings, dancing and more.

Clarendon Day and Virginia Hospital Center Foundation’s Family Fun Day have been combined into one event this year, allowing for more kid-friendly events. The kids’ activities will include climbing walls, games and — we hear — an ice cream eating contest.

The festivities are all taking place in the area around the Clarendon Metro station.

Proceeds from the event will benefit Doorways for Women and Families, the Clarendon Alliance and the Virginia Hospital Center Foundation.

Power Could Be Out In Fairlington Until Sunday

By ARLnow.com

Update at 5:10 p.m. — Dominion reports that 3,583 customers in Arlington are still without power.

Power in the hard-hit Fairlington neighborhood could be out until Sunday, Arlington County warned today. With temperatures reaching into the 90’s on Sunday, this could present a dangerous situation for residents who try to wait out the power outage in their homes.

Arlington advises that residents could use Central Library as a cooling shelter. Central Library is open until 5:00 today, from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on Sautrday, and from 1:00 to 9:00 p.m. on Sunday.

Other cool places to kill time include the Pentagon City mall, Ballston mall and the Crystal City underground. Click here for more heat safety tips from the county.

Food safety is another concern. A refridgerator can only keep food at a safe temperature for four hours during a power outage, assuming the door is not opened. One way to keep food from spoiling is to bring in blocks of ice or dry ice.

Freezers can stay cooler longer, but only 24-48 hours. Again, bringing in some sort of ice could prevent your frozen food from thawing.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has a guide for which foods to throw out and which ones to keep when the power goes out for an extended period.

To Do This Weekend: Caps Fan Fest & Colombia National Day

By ARLnow.com

On a humid, 90 degree day, a trip to Ballston to celebrate a sport that’s played on ice could make for a nice diversion. If you agree with that statement, then Saturday’s Caps Fan Fest at the Kettler Capitals Iceplex (627 North Glebe Road) may be for you.

The event will kick off at 8:00 a.m. with a free open skate, followed by a development camp scrimmage at 10:00. There will also be airbrush artists, face painters, moon bounce, obstacle course, street hockey and an equipment sale. Brooks Laich and “select draft picks” will be signing autographs after the scrimmage.

If hockey isn’t your thing, but eating and dancing is, you may want to check out the 22nd Colombia National Day Celebration.The event will feature Colombian folkloric dance and musical groups as well as a variety of Colombian food. Some of the performers will be flown in from Bogota and Miami for the occasion.

The celebration is taking place from noon to 6:00 p.m. on Saturday at the Gunston Arts Center Theater One (2700 S. Lang Street). Tickets cost $15 for anyone over the age of 12.

For more great events this weekend, check out our events calendar.

Morning Notes 5/26/10

By ARLnow.com

Eat Cheap in Arlington — Eleven Arlington County restaurants made Washingtonian magazine’s annual “Cheap Eats” list, reports the Sun Gazette. Counted among the 100 top food bargains in the area: Columbia Pike’s Bangkok 54, Lyon Village’s The Burger Joint, Courthouse’s Chez Manelle, and eight other Arlington eateries.

Berry Blasts Moran After WaPo Article — With less than two weeks to go before the local Republican congressional primary, GOP hopeful Matthew Berry wasted no time slamming incumbent Rep. Jim Moran (D-VA) after a Washington Post article detailing Moran’s very active stock trading habit. Berry is calling for the House Ethics Committee to investigate whether Moran violated congressional rules by requesting earmarks for two defense contractors he and/or his wife owned stock in. “It was bad enough knowing that Jim Moran was trading earmarks for campaign contributions,” Berry alleged in a statement. “But obtaining earmarks for companies in which he has a financial interest takes the corruption to a whole new level.”

Changes at ARLnow.com — We’re always evolving, but you’ll notice two changes as of late. First, we’re joining the rest of the online news world by filing a morning news roundup instead of our usual end-of-day “afternoon notes.” Second, we changed our Twitter handle to @ARLnowDOTcom from the less aesthetically-pleasing @arlnow_dot_com. If you don’t already, follow us and be the first to know about everything worth knowing in Arlington. And as always, please send feedback and tell us what we can be doing better.

Healthy, Locally-Sourced Food… At a Diner?

By ARLnow.com

When you think of diners, the greasy spoon image is the one that typically comes to mind. But Silver Diner is determined to appeal to a higher, more healthy culinary calling. The local chain, which includes the iconic location in the heart of Clarendon, is now calling itself “the next generation diner.”

As Stacey Viera writes at Every Food Fits, Silver Diner has launched a new menu that includes fresh, healthy, locally-sourced options.

Robert Giaimo, Silver Diner, Inc. co-founder and President and CEO said, “Diners are reflective of how people eat today… To get eggs from Lancaster, Pennsylvania, direct to Silver Diner, it costs about fifty cents more per omelet. When we surveyed the consumer, he said he’d pay more… This is a farm-to-table [operation] on a much, much broader basis than ever before. With this menu, we found that we had to go all the way with consumers,” and completely revamp the restaurant’s supply chain.

Stacey reports that Silver Diner had to increase its food costs by almost $375,000 in order to launch the new menu. But the effort has produced some dishes worthy of consideration by even the most experienced foodies.

“Try the new Grilled Wasabi Salmon Sliders for an infusion of Omega-3s, a salad with some of the sweetest strawberries around, and treat yourself to the gluten-free Mini Brownie Sundae,” Viera advises.

Read more at Every Food Fits.

Photo courtesy Stacey Viera.

Arlington Foodies Prepare: Taste of Arlington Sunday

By Ashley Houghton

Ok, foodies, get your forks ready this Sunday from noon to 5:00 p.m. Area food lovers wait in anticipation all year for the day they can graze from one local restaurant to the next, tasting the latest dishes from their favorite chefs at the annual Taste of Arlington in Ballston.

Taste of Arlington is returning for another day of delicious taste-testing of our area’s best restaurants. Participating establishments include the new Northside Social and older favorites like Busboys and Poets (see a full list here).

Even the rare individual who could care less about food will be able to distract themselves with an extensive arts and crafts fair, local music, stilt-walkers and a selection of wine.

The Washington Area Bicyclist Association is providing a bike valet for those of us who attempt to burn the calories we’re about to consume by pedaling to the event.

Advance tickets to nosh are $20 for eight “tastes” and $25 the day of the event. The event will be difficult to miss by car, bike, or metro: Arlington is shutting down a block of Wilson Boulevard in front of the Ballston Mall to make room for tents and pedestrians.

We suggest getting your ticket soon. There are a limited number available and about 12,000 hungry locals typically attend.  Happy eating!

Photos from tasteofarlington.com


District Taco’s Revenge

By ARLnow.com

Yesterday We Love DC reported that Arlington taco truck District Taco had been unceremoniously booted from its regular spot in Rosslyn.

Why? Because the spot — boldly staked out between Baja Fresh and Chipotle — apparently wasn’t sitting well with management at Baja Fresh, who complained to Monday Properties, which was renting the space to District Taco.

Well, Osiris Hoil and his crew were back on the streets of Rosslyn this morning, bringing their breakfast burritos to the masses. They found a new spot on North Lynn Street, between Wilson Boulevard and 19th Street, according to their Twitter feed.

“That is right, we are back!!! We might be small but our heart is big! Who doesn’t want to make the American Dream?” Hoil wrote.

If you hurry, you may be able to get the pollo asado or carnitas District Taco is serving for lunch.

Afternoon Notes: Fake FBI Agent Pleads Guilty

By ARLnow.com

Fake FBI Agent Pleads Guilty — Brenna Marie Reilly, 29, was arrested in Arlington in March and accused of impersonating an FBI agent. Prosecutors say that as part of the elaborate ruse, Reilly went so as to hire an unwitting neighbor as an assistant. Reilly pleaded guilty in federal court today. She faces up to three years in prison.

Arlington Releases Memorial Day Closure List — Unsurprisingly, just about everything county-related will be closed. However, trash collection will continue as normal and the Barcroft Sports and Fitness Center will be open for part of the day.

Write-Up for China Garden Dim Sum — If you haven’t had dim sum at Rosslyn’s China Garden restaurant, it’s worth it just for the experience, if not the food, according to I Spy Things DC. China Garden is located inside the ABC7 building at Wilson Blvd and North Lynn Street.

To Do Tonight: Spruce Up Your Salads

By ARLnow.com

Via Every Food Fits, we learn that Michael Kiss, resident chef at the Clarendon Whole Foods, will be teaching a class on whole grain salads tonight. What are whole grain salads? Well…

We all know that we need to incorporate more whole grains into our diets, although in practice it can be overwhelming and frustrating. Chef Kiss will showcase light and flavorful vegetarian salads, great for summer entertaining at patio dinners and picnics!

The class will start at 7:00 and run 30-50 minutes. It’s free and you don’t have to RSVP, but arriving early is recommended.

Whole Foods’ free cooking lessons are a weekly event. See some of the upcoming classes here.

Geek Gluttony For A Good Cause

By Alex

Update on 4/2/10 — Paul and Storm say the event was a “huge success.” Storm successfully ate the entire 12-serving cake, and the duo raised more than $2,750 for the Arlington Food Assistance Center.

Want to see a geek have his cake and eat it, too?

A self-proclaimed “geek musician” who goes by the name of “Storm” will be attempting to eat an entire Carvel “Fudgie the Whale” cake, live on the internet, at 8:00 tonight.

The stunt was originally meant to mark Storm and bandmate Paul reaching 10,000 Twitter followers. Now it has been transformed into a fundraiser.

Paul and Storm are asking their fans for donations, all of which will go to the Arlington Food Assistance Center.

The “Fudgiethon” is being held at online retailer Think Geek’s headquarters in Fairfax. Those who donate will also be enrolled in a chance to win a $100 Think Geek gift certificate.

It may be April Fool’s Day, but this is no joke! Wired has more details.

A Sweet Treat That’s a “Sexual Experience”

By Stacey Viera

Cross-posted from the blog Every Food Fits.

People can’t get enough of the pineapple/basil sorbet? I thought that Cristian Velasco, co-owner of Boccato Gelato in Clarendon, was pulling my leg.  “It’s insanely good! It explodes with a pineapple flavor.”

Sitting on a bench outside of 2719 Wilson Blvd., traffic flying by, Velasco animatedly rattled off other flavor combinations. “Elvis Pelvis gelato is made with peanut butter and bananas. A little raspberry sauce on top makes it taste like a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.” Minty Girl Scout gelato is made with Thin Mint cookies.  And Boccato’s most thrilling flavor of all, XXX, is an almost “sexual experience” with five kinds of chocolate, almonds and nougat.

It sounds sinful – for more than a couple of reasons – but many of Velasco’s products, the sorbet in particular, are fat-free. His gelato is made with milk and other fresh ingredients, such as chocolate and fruit. The sorbet is made with water, fresh fruit and fruit pulp. For the health benefits associated with antioxidants, Velasco is using more fruits like pomegranate and will soon introduce acai berry.

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