Wildfire Tysons Galleria hosts beer or wine-themed dinners monthly. Wildfire’s focus is on steaks, chops and seafood. Photo by Donna Manz.
If the abundance of hosted “themed” dinners, particularly those paired with complementary wines, are an indication of popularity, one may then conclude that themed dinners are quite in vogue now. And fall seems to bring out seasonal themes, from harvest to rich beer, that celebrate nature and festivities. The restaurants featured not only serve finely-prepared cuisine, but, they are “good neighbors” to the area communities.
Here is a sampling of themed dinners open to the public from mid-October to mid-November.
- Maple Avenue Restaurant is intimate, unassuming, and loved by local folks. Owner/executive chef Tim Ma has a deft hand with updated classics. On Wednesday, Oct. 15, and Thursday, Oct. 16, beginning at 7 p.m., Ma hosts “tasting table” dinners. Only six seats are available each evening.
October’s tasting table dinner is dedicated to fall comfort food. The five-course dinner is $59 per person and paired wines are available for an additional $20 per person. Ma selects fresh, sustainably-farmed ingredients for his dishes.
To reserve a seat, e-mail Joey@mapleaverestaurant.com with name, phone number, dinner date, number of seats and any food allergies or restrictions. Or call 703-319-2177.
Maple Avenue Restaurant is located at 147 Maple Ave. West, across the street from the Vienna Drug Center. To stay updated with menu selections, check out the restaurant’s Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/MapleAveRestaurant.
- Bazin’s on Church hosts a Joseph Phelps Vineyards wine-paired dinner on Monday, Oct. 20, beginning at 6:30 p.m.
Oysters Casino partnered with a Sauvignon Blanc opens the menu, followed by salmon croquettes with a wild mushroom ragout paired with a Freestone Chardonnay. Third course is seared duck breast, sourdough bread pudding accompanied by Fog Dog Pinot Noir. For the fourth and main course, Chef Patrick is preparing Creekstone Farms New York strip steak, accented with a cabernet sauvignon sauce, paired with a Cabernet Sauvignon.
Dessert is fried apple pie with salted caramel ice cream.
Cost per person is $115, excluding tax and gratuity. Reservations are required; call 703-255-7212 to book and confirm with credit card.
For full menu and cancellation fine print, go to http://www.bazinsonchurch.com/josephphelps?no_redirect=true.
- L’Auberge Chez Francois, in Great Falls, has been celebrating its 60th anniversary all year with specialty and themed dinners and special events. From wine-paired dinners with music to garden-to-table feasts, Chez Francois offers a selection of twice-monthly special hostings.
An Alsatian-styled inn set amidst a Great Falls country retreat, Chez Francois — under the direction of executive chef Jacques Haeringer — continues the tradition of classic French cuisine and attentive customer service brought to life by Papa Francois Haeringer.
On Wednesday, Oct. 22, L’Auberge Chez Francois hosts a Quintessa Family Estates Wine Dinner, beginning at 6:30 p.m. Jacques Haerringer is joined by Master Sommelier Larry Stone. Quintessa Estates Winery includes a valley, a lake, five hills, four microclimates and many soil types, producing 40 very different wine lots from 26 different vineyard blocks.
The wine celebration begins with hors d’oeuvres and an Illumination Sauvignon Blanc. Dinner starts off with a roulade of lemon sole stuffed with Julienne Vegetables and accompanied by Flowers Chardonnay. Dinner continues with grilled Gulf shrimp and a root vegetable puree and a Flowers Pinot Noir. A roasted veal loin chop with wild mushrooms takes center-stage, paired with a Faust Cabernet Sauvignon and a Quintessa Rutherford.
Hazelnut and almond cake with hazelnut sauce closes the meal. Cost per person is $165, all-inclusive. Chez Francois accommodates dietary concerns.
For full menu and details and to book, go to http://www.laubergechezfrancois.com/cooking-demos-wine/?ee=64 or call 703-759-3800. L’Auberge Chez Francois sits on a country road at 332 Springvale Road, Great Falls.
- Pazzo Pomodoro hosts monthly 4- to 5-course wine dinners featuring a global selection of wine varieties. The next wine dinner, spotlighting Conn Creek wine from Napa Valley, is on Monday, Nov. 3, starting at 7 p.m.
Dinner begins with an antipasto of prawns sauteed with mascarpone brandy sauce and risotto cake. First course is spinach ravioli stuffed with sausage and ricotta. Third and main course is beef tenderloin wrapped in pancetta and puff pastry served with rossini sauce and wild currants.
The grand finale, dessert, is centered around Pazzo Pomodoro’s housemade gelato — a pumpkin cheesecake served with salted caramel gelato.
Each course is to be paired with a complementary wine that enhances the ingredients of each dish.
Only two years old, the restaurant was named Best New Restaurant by Washingtonian readers in 2013 and one of 50 Best Restaurants by Northern Virginia Magazine.
Pazzo Pomodoro is active in fundraising for the national capital area lymphoma society.
Cost of the Conn Creek wine dinner at Pazzo Pomodoro is $75 per person, tax and gratuity not included.
Pazzo Pomodoro is located at 118 Branch Road SE, Vienna. To book the wine dinner, call 703-848-1747. See www.PazzoPomodoro.com for full wine dinner menu.
- Wildfire Executive Chef Eddie Ishaq and St. Michelle Wine Estates representative Benny Torman host a Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars wine dinner on Monday, Nov. 10. The reception, with poached prawns in coconut-curry broth, and jumbo lump-crab beignets and Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars Sauvignon Blanc begins at 6:30 p.m. Dinner at 7 p.m. Wildfire Tysons Galleria -Steaks, Chops and Seafood – is located at Tyson Galleria.
The four-course dinner includes pan-seared duck breast and Stag’s Leap Karia Chardonnay to begin, followed by a second course of braised short ribs and stuffed chanterelle mushrooms and a Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars “S.L.V.” Estate Cabernet Sauvignon. Third course includes a hand-picked selection of artisan cheeses and a Stag’s Leap Artemis cabernet sauvignon. Dessert is a raspberry trifle with compote and chocolate mousse, accompanied by a Stag’s Leap Hands of Time red.
Charge per person is $120 plus tax (gratuity not included). RSVP to Amanda or Erika at 703-442-9110. To see full menu and details, go to www.wildfirerestaurant.com.
And while there will certainly be no wine included, there will be pumpkins galore when Wildfire hosts a pumpkin-carving workshop for children on Saturday, Oct. 25, from 3 to 4 p.m., and on Sunday, Oct. 26, 9 to 10 a.m. Each session costs $20 per child. A portion of the proceeds benefits Food for Others.