Weekly Food News Round-Up ⋆ BYT // Brightest Young Things

Dupont FreshFarm Market will expand hours and its location starting April 3rd. The market is set to expand northward on the block of 20th Street between Q St and Connecticut Ave while also undergoing a half-hour shift for opening, now operating from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. (Young & Hungry)

Stop by Meridian Pint Friday, April 15th to sample DC’s first brewery in over 60 years. The launch party for DC Brau’s Public Ale will take place from 5-8 p.m. and starting Monday you can expect to see Public Ale throughout the city. (Prince of Petworth)

With one butcher shop set to open in the fall, Red Apron is already planning to open several others in the DC area – 9 others, in fact. “In addition to meat products, shoppers can expect pantry staples such as marinades, stocks, and spice rubs. Some may even have attached cafes with simple fare such as sausages and burgers.” (Best Bites Blog)

From Eater DC: “The polls closed last week and today the Washington City Paper has finally unveiled its annual Best of DC list. Unsurprisingly, the food & drink results look almost nothing like the roster of RAMMY nominees announced on Tuesday. Then again, the RAMMYs don’t have a “Best Unintentionally Vaginal Dessert” category.” Which they should obviously reconsider.

Cleveland Park’s new restaurant Medium Rare, a new venture from chefs Mark Bucher and Michel Richard is now open in Cleveland Park. The steakhouse features a large outdoor patio for seating as well as an extensive list of beers and desserts. Check out a preview of the menu & photos here.

Chef R.J. Cooper is getting ready to open his restaurant in Shaw’s Blagden Alley, Rogue 24, sometime this spring. The restaurant “will offer a ‘theater-in-the-round’ 24-course interactive dining experience” where “culinary artists will craft high-quality ingredients into edible works of art, while interacting with an audience of guests who come not only to be fed, but entertained and perhaps educated as well.” Check out more details on the place over at Young & Hungry.
Artisphere opens their restaurant HERE this weekend. Watch this space for a full report come Monday.

ROUND UP

The Oxford English Dictionary has announced the addition of a bunch of new culinary words including banh mi (Vietnamese sandwich), taquito (deep-fried corn tortilla), and California roll (the maki roll containing cucumber, imitation crab, and avocado.), but most importantly muffin top (both the food and fashion-related definitions). Cue Jenna Maroney’s muffin top song:

If you’re looking for the perfect way to commit suicide, Denny’s is currently hosting what they’re calling the “Baconalia” festival with seven bacon-laden dishes including a Triple Bacon Sampler, a BBBLT Sandwich, and the Maple Bacon Sundae, which features maple flavored syrup, vanilla ice cream, and “a generous sprinkle of diced hickory-smoked bacon.”

Because I’m sure you’re all dying to know: The royal wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton will feature two cakes, and of all the cakes in the world, future princess chose the official to be a traditional multi-tiered fruit cake. What a bitch. (BBC)

The Daily Meal brings us the 15 most followed chefs on twitter – most of them achieving this status, understandably, due to their Food Network fame. But Jamie Oliver at the no. 1 spot? really? Does anyone still care what he’s got to say? Did anyone ever care what he had to say?

Bourdain vs the James Beard Awards: Anthony Bourdain is nominated (along with Eric Ripert) for the radio show Turn & Burn, but that doesn’t mean he’ll be attending — he’d “sooner attend a Renaissance Fair in Hell.” Thems fightin’ words. Also, ironic since a renaissance fair in hell sounds like it might actually be kinda fun.