‘Tis the Season... to be Hungry at Eat Good Food Properties

 
The Majestic - 911 King Street, Alexandria, VA, 703.837.9117, www.majesticcafe.com

At Majestic, Chef Shannon Overmiller pays homage to the holiday season with December’s Nana’s Sunday Night Dinner.  Offered all month, the “Christmas Dinner” features Roast Beef with Red Wine Horseradish Sauce, Mixed Greens with Blue Cheese and Sherry Vinaigrette, Scalloped Potatoes, Sauteed Wild Mushrooms and Chocolate Cream Pie.  ($22 per person, served family style).   All pair well with one of Majestic’s classic cocktails or seasonal house-made sodas.



Majestic New Year’s Eve:

The Casually Swank Majestic will offer a three-course dinner menu priced at $75 per person (exclusive of tax and gratuity).  A la carte menu items will be offered all evening at the bar. For a small supplement, diners can indulge in Chef Overmiller’s featured items, including Osso Buco with Saffron Risotto and Roasted Pearl Onions and Foie Gras Two Ways, seared and torchon. Reservations are available between 5:30 pm and 10:00 pm.

Majestic Holiday Hours:
Sunday, December 25th – Monday, December 26th – CLOSED
Tuesday, December 27th – OPEN for normal service (lunch and dinner)
Sunday, January 1st – CLOSED
Monday, January 2nd – OPEN for normal service (Nana’s Sunday Dinner & a la carte items)

Eamonn’s/PX - 728 King Street, Alexandria, VA, 703.837.8633, www.eamonnsdublinchipper.com

Snuggle up with two of mixologist Todd Thrasher’s newest creations at speakeasy PX.  Por mi amor features macchu pisco, canton ginger, yuzu juice and spicy gingerale.  Thrasher's cocktail names always have something to do with the inner workings of the restaurant; Clinton Needs to Clean the Office and Stop Smoking combines a Sweet Potato Puree mixture with licor 43, Mt Gay XO, and Captain Morgan 100 proof.  Downstairs at Eamonn’s A Dublin Chipper, guests can purchase Selection Boxes, composed of an assortment of 8 different Irish candies and chocolates decorated in a Christmas themed box.  Selection Boxes come from a modern Irish tradition where children collect boxes of various chocolates after they finish their Christmas dinner, trying to collect as many “boxes” as they can.  Selection Boxes range in price from $12-$24.

New Year’s Eve at PX:

PX will be open on New Year's Eve from 6pm till 2am, offering craft cocktails by Drink Maker Todd Thrasher.  PX is the perfect place to start off the evening before dinner or ring in 2010. Lit by decadent chandeliers, accented by candlelight and decorated with snowflakes hanging from the ceiling for a ‘winter wonderland’ feel, PX is a 1930s social lounge that beckons the days where men wore hats and ladies donned themselves in lavish jewels.
Reservations can be made online at http://www.eamonnsdublinchipper.com/PX/index.html, or by email at Clinton@restauranteve.com, Subject line NYE.
PX opens at 6:00 pm.

PX Holiday Hours:
CLOSED Sunday, December 25 - Monday, December 26th

Eamonn’s Holiday Hours:
CLOSED Sunday, December 25th, Monday December 26th and Sunday, January 1st

Restaurant Eve - 110 South Pitt Street, Alexandria, VA, 703.706.0450, www.restauranteve.com

Now that Winter has truly arrived, diners can tuck into some of Chef Cathal Armstrong’s new hearty additions to the menu including Burgundy Truffles, which are shaved on butter poached filet of winter flounder and pureed with a creamy smoked risotto, and Shaffer Farms’ Venison Loin, pan roasted and served with Dukka (an egyptian spice mixture of toasted hazelnut, black sesame, cumin and coriander), Beluga lentils, fresh chevre coulis, and finished with a lentil mouse. Other seasonal items include Foie Gras with Honey Miso Puree, pickled honey cap mushrooms, and candied peanuts.

New Year’s Eve at Restaurant Eve:

The Chef's Tasting Room will be serving a Seven Course Tasting Menu with two choices within each course. The cost is $180 per guest (exclusive of tax and gratuity). Wine pairings are also available, by sommelier, Todd Thrasher if you would like to partake of that option at an additional $99. The Bistro is offering a pré fixe Three Course Dinner with selections within each course for $95 per guest (exclusive of tax and gratuity).
The bar will serve the bistro menu with pricing à la carte.

Reservations are being accepted between 5:00 pm -10:00 pm

Restaurant Eve Holiday Hours:

Saturday, December 24th - Tuesday, December 27th – CLOSED
Wednesday, December 28th – Dinner Service Only (5:30pm)
Sunday, January 1st - CLOSED

Virtue Feed and Grain - 106 South Union Street, Alexandria, VA, 703.706.0450, www.virtuefeedandgrain.com

Virtue Feed and Grain, the comfortable escape to tasty morels, beer inspired ‘hoptails,’ big screens and vintage arcade games is prepared to provide the classic backdrop for the holidays. Decorated with hanging Christmas trees (even better than kissing under the mistletoe), sparkling Christmas lights, and reefs on many walls, the decorations are only a precursor for the seasonal beer list that will feature a different holiday beer everyday leading up to Christmas, starting December 18th (stay tuned to Facebook/Twitter for announcements). The once strongest beer in the world, the Schloss Eggenberg Samiclaus is aged 10 months before bottling and only brewed once a year, on December 6th. Virtue will be featuring this holiday Bier with a pairing special on Wednesday, December 7th of Chef Ryan Wheeler’s Alsatian Style Savory Tart.

Pastry Chef Rebekka Baltzell’s special creations for the holiday season include a Chocolate Candy-cane Cake, Guinness Gingerbread Cake, and White Chocolate Eggnog Mousse.

New Year’s Eve at Virtue Feed and Grain:

For New Years, the restaurant will be serving the full menu, including Feast Specials of Lobster, Prime Rib, and Whole Suckling Pig. There will be a midnight toast alongside the dropping of the ball on the big screen.

Virtue Feed and Grain Holiday Hours:

Saturday, December 25th - Monday, December 26th – CLOSED
Sunday, January 1st - CLOSED

* All Properties will be closed on Christmas Day and New Year’s Day




And a new year brings in new things... Society Fair, an epicurean emporium of delight, coming soon.

From Our Pantry: Cozy Cocktail

November is a month for warmth, comfort, and hearty dinners. Especially with the endless array of winter crops available—including the variety of squash and potato, ready to be baked, steamed, fried, mashed, or better yet, made into a drink.

Todd Thrasher, mixologist at PX in Old Town Alexandria, has whipped up something special for the season: a drink made with pureed sweet potato that hits the spot in terms of warmth and comfort.
He's named it Clinton Needs to Clean the Office and Stop Smoking. But don’t let the name fool you. November is also a month for family—and sometimes family are the only ones to call you out on your bull. At PX, Restaurant Eve and other sister establishements in Alexandria, they're all family, and Thrasher would never miss an opportunity to help PX manager Clinton Terry grow into a better individual...(plus he really enjoys giving drinks interesting names).

Some other cocktail names include The Cocktail with No Name, It Could be a Wee Bit Drier, Plight of the Honey Bee (named and designed to bring attention to the decreasing number of these enormously beneficial creatures), and Smoker’s Delight (concocted with Old Virginia tobacco to help Restaurant Eve's Chef Armstrong kick his pack a day smoking habit). But perhaps the most notable, I Have Too Much Thyme on my Hands Right Now at This Point in My Life took first place at the 42Below Vodka Cocktail World Cup in New Zealand with the longest name in cocktail history. The name was inspired by all the thyme growing in Thrasher’s garden, proving his creativity to stem from more than just a good drink, but also a moment, a smell, or even a memory.

Clinton Needs to Clean the Office and Stop Smoking
Sweet Potato Cocktail Recipe from Mixologist Todd Thrasher
1/2 oz. Licor 43
1/2 oz. Mount Gay XO rum
1/2 oz. Captain Morgan 100 proof rum
2 oz. Sweet Potato Puree mixture (recipe below)

METHOD:
Stir all ingredients until well incorporated.

FOR SWEET POTATO PUREE:
4 cooked, peeled sweet potatoes 1 star anise pod
1 tsp. nutmeg
1 cinnamon stick
Clinton Needs to Clean the Office and Stop Smoking
4 whole allspice berries
1 cup maple water (1/2 cup maple syrup combined with 1/2 cup hot water)

METHOD:
Puree all ingredients and simmer for half an hour. Strain Mixture.
Until golden brown. Brush with thin coat of jam for shine as desired.