• Last week, food porn dream team Dakota Fine, Jeff Martin and myself took a trip to NE to check out H Street’s newest restaurant & bar, Smith Commons. Check out photos of the space and my food review: First Look & Bite: Smith Commons

• Brussel sprouts and cauliflower have been plagued with less than appetizing reputations, but lately they seem to have made a serious comeback. From Bourbon Steak’s roasted cheddar cauliflower gratin to P.J. Clarke’s shaved brussel sprouts with smoked bacon, find out where you can eat the best in the District. (EatMore DrinkMore)

• The Argonaut reopened this week and is joining forces with Sticky Rice, Dangerously Delicious Pies, and several other eateries in the Atlas District to offer their own discount week, H Street Eats, now through January 23rd. (The Feast)

• Six local food trucks are participating in Deals on Wheels this week. Get great deals on food & drink and help out with a good cause – 10% of each purchase will benefit Miriam’s Kitchen. (Young & Hungry)

• DCist visits Granville Moore’s for their recently added Saturday brunch. The menu sounds delicious and is sure to please both vegetarians and carnivores with dishes like fried French toast sticks with cinnamon-apple butter & whipped cream and bison bruschetta with tomato-basil salad & sunny side eggs.

• We Love DC takes a first look at Woodley Park’s Hot N Juicy Crawfish. Spiced shrimp and crawfish with a side of cajun fries? It’s next to impossible to read this post without drooling. Can’t wait to try this place out!

• My latest guilty pleasure has been this month’s Chefs Tell All columns on Washingtonian’s Best Bites Blog. This week: Overhyped and Under-Appreciated Chefs and Bad Servers and Tired Trends. One chef writes that one of his biggest pet peeves when it comes to servers is cell phones: “Using cell phones and iPhones in the corner on the job. You think that no one sees you? You’ll be fired right away.” Yikes! Glad I don’t work for that guy; I would’ve been fired a long time ago!

ROUND-UP

• Animals are dying everywhere, crazy super storms are coming, and 2012 is on its way. In other words, we’re all months away from impending doom. Luckily Eater is here to help you out with a guide to the 50 Meals to Eat in 50 States before the Apocalypse. Local picks include Restaurant Eve, Bethesda Crab House, and Komi, so on the bright side at least you can check three places off the list. (Eater)

• Jelloware: Edible Cups “started out as an entry in a Jell-O mold competition and now the ladies behind this clever invention are all over the internet. The cups come in different flavors — lemon-basil, ginger-mint, or rosemary-beet — and are made of a gelatin substitute.” (Slashfood)

• If you tuned in to a recent episode of Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, you got to find out one of life’s secrets that everyone’s dying to know: what late night eats are guaranteed to prevent any hangover. If anyone knows what’s best, it’s Anthony Bourdain, and he wants you to eat drive-thru mac n’ cheese, Cap’n Crunch’s Crunch Berries, and cold Kung Pao Chicken. Check out the video here: Anthony Bourdain’s 10 Second Meals. (Eater)

• Debuting at the 2011 National Retail Federation show: a Kraft Store Kiosk Scans Your Face Then Knows What to Feed It.  And yes, it’s just as weird as it sounds. The machine works by zooming in on an individual’s face, determining the gender and age group, then guessing what products they might be interested in eating. For example: “for a mom of school-age kids, it would presumably recommend Oscar Mayer wieners with a side of Mac ‘n’ Cheese. A twenty-something guy with bloodshot eyes might be directed to the Tombstone Pizza aisle.” I’d hate to think what would happen if it passed over my face… the whole thing would probably short circuit and explode. (Fast Company)

• Last week marked the first time straight whiskey has been sold in a can, and in honor of this special event, I am declaring a new national holiday. Apparently, the geniuses over at Scottish Spirits believe that outdoor drinkers would prefer to crack open a tin rather than lug round a bottle, and I couldn’t agree more. Oh and did I mention each can contains a total of 8 shots??