Tuesday’s midterms brought the blue wave everyone was talking about: Democrats took back the House and the Senate, and DC elected Ward 4 Councilmember Janeese Lewis George as its first new mayor in more than a decade. DC voters also banned foie gras, with Initiative 86 passing with 73% of the vote and clearing 70% in every one of the city’s eight wards. The ban starts July 1, 2027, and a court fight is already brewing, so foie lovers have about eight months (and Maryland and Virginia are a short drive away).Then we got down to business, and the table was full.Katie Catalano and Eugene “EJ” Beckley poured for us all show long. They’re the co-founders of Charcuteria, opening soon at 2104 Vermont Avenue NW in the old Bottle Collection building around the corner from the 9:30 Club. It’s a Mediterranean market, wine bar and charcuterie cafe all under one roof, with an outdoor spritz garden, conservas and a serious vermouth and aperitivo program. The drinks came one after another: a Bourbon-Limoncello Spritz made with Don Ciccio & Figli limoncello, distilled right here in Northeast DC, then a Spanish vermouth from Reus, then a flight of four wines from grapes rescued from near extinction in Turkey, Spain and Greece, and finally a Recioto della Valpolicella, the sweet Veneto red that gave the world Amarone by accident.From 14th Street, the Michelin-starred Bresca, a 2026 James Beard Award semifinalist for Outstanding Hospitality, brought Chef de Cuisine Garrett Brower and GM Chris Giamporcaro into the studio. Garrett spent nearly four years as a sous chef at The French Laundry and won the S.Pellegrino Young Chef Academy U.S. title with quail stuffed with Chesapeake oysters (and yes, you may have spotted him in The Bear). An albacore crudo with concord grape, toasted buckwheat and champagne graced our table. Book now for Bresca’s one-night-only Truffle Dinner on November 13 and its Thanksgiving Day Fete.Chef, food writer and Jewish culinary historian Vered Guttman learned to cook at two grandmothers’ tables in Israel, one Iraqi and one Polish, and went on to cook President Obama’s 2014 Passover Seder at the White House. She joined us from FOODISH, the food initiative of ANU – Museum of the Jewish People (ANU is Hebrew for “we”), to talk ChallahFest. Don’t miss Beyond the Braid at Sixth & I this Sunday, with a challah photography exhibit and a panel with Pati Jinich, plus challah-pops from Baked by Yael and a Shabbat dinner at Sixth & I on November 13.And from Georgetown, Domingo Luiz, sommelier at Koryouri Urara, came by to talk about Chef Urara Iwasaki’s first year. Urara was in the studio just as she was opening, and now her 22-seat dining room off Wisconsin Avenue is the spot where you step inside and you could be in a neighborhood restaurant in Japan. Every tasting menu opens with her egg-dashi custard and moves through dishes from her childhood in Yokosuka, and upstairs there’s a sushi omakase counter.Pour yourself something good and listen in.

Shake off that Halloween sugar high, and hope you enjoyed the extra hour of sleep, because what better way to spend it than celebrating 18 years of Foodie & the Beast?So much has happened since we first went on the air. Eighteen years ago, there was no Union Market, no Wharf and no Yards. DC has always had good food, great restaurants and real hospitality, but just look at how the terrain has changed! The breadth and depth of this city’s dining scene is something we couldn’t have imagined back then.Nearly 1,000 shows and 4,000 guests later, from international stars like Wolfgang Puck and the late, great Michel Richard to the local stars who make DC’s hospitality scene America’s most diverse, vibrant and downright delicious, it just keeps getting better and better.But today, we’re not just celebrating us. We’re celebrating friends who’ve had incredible journeys and a banner 2026. Joining us to toast Foodie & the Beast, as we toast their monster accomplishments on the food and wine scene:Tom SietsemaRetired, and now rehired! Tom is the food correspondent for The Washington Sun, author of the “Next Course” newsletter and, of course, the longtime former food critic of The Washington Post. Traveler, bon vivant, raconteur and all-around good guy. Masako MorishitaThe executive chef at Perry’s won the 2024 James Beard Award for Emerging Chef, and this September, she was named one of Food & Wine’s Best New Chefs, joining 13 other rising stars from across the country in the magazine’s 38th annual class.Jill TylerOnce upon a time, there was Tail Up Goat, Adams Morgan’s first and forever Michelin-starred go-to for exceptionally good taste. When the lease ran out and Tail Up Goat closed last December, Jill and her husband, Jon Sybert, came back with Rye Bunny, an entirely new concept that’s already earning rave reviews, including a spot on The New York Times’ list of the country’s 50 favorite restaurants. Glendon HartleyGlendon is the co-founder and creative director of Service Bar, overseeing everything from ingredient sourcing to bar design and cocktail creation, and he’s a former president of the U.S. Bartenders’ Guild DC Chapter. Service Bar just celebrated 10 years on U Street, landed on North America’s 50 Best Bars for the fifth year in a row and was a Tales of the Cocktail Top 10 nominee this year. With partner Chad Spangler, Glendon also co-founded The Menehune Group, whose DC footprint includes Causa and Amazonia. He’s shaking up something special to toast 18 years!Every Sunday at 11 a.m. on 1500 AM, or listen in right here. Cheers to 18!

Today’s Foodie & the Beast studio was packed with people who are feeding our DMV community.-Ari and Claire Wilder of La Bonne Vache call in with news on the electrical fire that gutted their Georgetown bistro, and how you can help.-Enzo Algarme and Michael Berger of Pupatella share tastes and tales of their VPN-certified Neapolitan pizzeria. Pizza photos coming!-Chef Thomas Malz of Catahoula serves up a blend of Cajun, Creole, French, Southern and Vietnamese traditions. His chicory coffee is high octane.-Chef Bin Lu, formerly of two-Michelin-star Pineapple and Pearls, dishes on his new role at Harrimans Grill at the Salamander Middleburg.-Sarah White of Westover Taco, Arlington’s Mexican-inspired neighborhood restaurant and women’s sports bar, says Watch Women Win.-And Rochelle Julich, who went from bartender to founding SHKR, a catering powerhouse, and then opening Continental Club, shakes up our drinks.Listen to it all here.

Today on Foodie & The Beast - We are all poets and we did not know it!-Mike Curtin of DC Central Kitchen serves up the state of the plate and gets us ready to rumble at Capital Food Fight, November 12 at The Anthem.-Chef Vishwesh “Vish” Bhatt traded Mississippi for D.C., bringing his James Beard Award-winning chops to Chai Pani with the Iranis.-Josh Murski pours from the cocktail menu at soon to open Bar Nuestro in Navy Yard, the bar that’s ready to feel like yours from the first sip.-Poets Hiram Larew and Tina Daub prove a few good lines can help feed people with Turning Poetry into Food.It’s legit Fall today in the DMV. Put your headphones, grab your fleece and walk your way through today’s Foodie & the Beast, here.

Foodie & The Beast officially turned 18 yesterday, the big celebration show is coming October 31, and today’s show was a great one, with a lineup of D.C. chefs, nonprofits, motorsport fans and pop-ups to put on your calendar.-Primrose in Brookland: A Neighborhood Brasserie Hits Year Nine: There’s an old saying, “Local boy makes good,” and we had two of ’em on the show. Good friend Sebastian Zutant, a veteran D.C. sommelier, winemaker and restaurant owner, brought Chef Patrick Benton (an Annapolis native who can really cook, baby) to talk Primrose, its 9-year evolution and what makes it the perfect neighborhood brasserie.-Sunflower Bakery: Job Training for Young Adults and Teens: Sunflower Bakery job trains young adults and teens with learning differences through pre-employment exposure and workforce development in pastry arts, culinary arts and hospitality. Ellen Shimberg, Sunflower’s Director of Development, joined us with the incredible details and how you can help. Yes ... YOU!-DC Motorsport Community: F1 Watch Parties and the October 25 Rooftop Takeover: Nikki Lang has a need for speed, and her DC Motorsport Community (DCMC) hosts F1 watch parties, Grand Prix experiences, automotive showcases and VIP events. Mark October 25 for the MOTORSPORT TAKEOVER AT CITY RIDGE, a rooftop party for the Austin F1 Grand Prix.-KYOJIN × Casa Kantuta: A Bolivian and Japanese Pop-Up for Hispanic Heritage Month: Carla Sanchez, aka Spicy Candy and Casa Kantuta, is closing out Hispanic Heritage Month with KYOJIN × Casa Kantuta, a cross-cultural celebration of Bolivian and Japanese influences through food and drink. It was inspired by Carla’s childhood friendship with a girl of Japanese descent, and it celebrates heritage, cultural exchange and the connections that shape us.-Shia + AJ Johnson + Red Thread: A Korean and Jamaican-Inspired Cocktail Pop-Up: And tonight, a collab for the ages. Shia, the modern Korean fine dining restaurant in Washington, D.C. focused on sustainability and innovation, teams up with AJ Johnson and Red Thread for a Korean- and Jamaican-inspired cocktail experience. Geoffrey Chang, Shia’s beverage director, and AJ Johnson stopped by to make the party happen.Eighteen years in, the celebration show is October 31. Find more D.C. food, drink and events on The List’s calendar of events.Listen in here.

David was a no-show once more, so I was Beastless for another week on Foodie & The Beast, but the studio didn't get the memo. With our 18th anniversary on air just a week out, this might have been the fullest house we've ever had, and the food backed it up: butter chicken from Chef Sanjay Mandhaiya, platters of dips from Agora (plus their gorgeous Greek olive oil), and cocktails from Devon that were massive and, frankly, a little dangerous. -Agora Brings Turkish, Greek, and Lebanese Cuisine to Three DMV Locations - Betul and Ismail Uslu, the husband-and-wife team behind Agora, now have three Agora locations across the DMV — Dupont Circle, Tysons Corner, and the newest on the ground floor of the Bethesda Hyatt Regency — serving honest-to-goodness cuisine from Türkiye, Greece, and Lebanon.-Executive Chef Sanjay Mandhaiya joined us to talk Pappe, Karavaan, and The Grace, the three restaurants under his Silk Route Hospitality banner. His menus build around freshly ground spices, seasonal produce, and fresh meats and seafood.-Greg Heitzig, General Manager and Executive Chef of The Fountain Inn in Georgetown, came in alongside the inn's bartender, Zach Atzert. We an excellent meal there a few weeks back. Together, Greg and Zach talked about how their little inn in the middle of Georgetown pulls off big tastes and even bigger hospitality.-AND, Mark Your Calendar: Taste of Bethesda Returns October 3, 2026Taste of Bethesda returns Saturday, October 3, 2026, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., bringing more than 50 restaurants — a good number of them new this year — and four stages of entertainment to downtown Bethesda. Stephanie Coppula, the queen of Bethesda entertainment, stopped by with all the details and brought a head start with her: Executive Chef Andrew Fleischauer and bartender Devon Kloth, both of Mon Ami Gabi. Now you know. Tune into Foodie & the Beast every Sunday at 11AM on 1500AM or here. 

 We had a full studio and an even fuller lineup this week, so buckle up.We welcomed Hancie Stokes, Director of Communications for SMYAL, DC's LGBTQ+ youth community center, whose mission is to support and empower LGBTQ+ youth to build a world where queer and trans young people thrive. Hancie came in loaded with info on all the good work SMYAL is doing right now, plus a first look at their upcoming fall brunch. Mark your calendars.Now, I may be barking up the wrong tree, but I think Chef and Entrepreneur Tony Jackson may be onto something big. Tony's built businesses around two things he loves, great food and dogs, and now those worlds are colliding with the launch of DMV Dog Grub, his new line of handcrafted, small-batch dog treats. So be a gooood listener, and sit! And stay! And wait to hear what Tony's got to say.Then we sat down with Monique Rose, an entrepreneur, restaurateur, and hospitality leader with more than 20 years of experience building businesses and creating memorable guest experiences. She's the founder of the La'Caj seafood concept, and she walked us through her whole journey, from where she started to what she's building now.And because the seasons are shifting, we brought in the drinks experts to talk about having the right wines on hand for fall. Micky Edwards, co-owner of Sohal Wine & Spirits, the neighborhood wine and spirits destination she opened with her husband, Alex, in 2025, joined us alongside Lakeisha Mays, founder and owner of Vista Stellata (Starry Vision), an Italian wine brand born from a lifelong love of wine that took root during trips to Napa Valley and deepened through years of education across Europe. Both of them came in loaded down with the wines you're going to want to have on hand this season.Catch the full episode, and get ready to take notes.

 What a show. This week's episode had everything: fundraising for a great cause, a RAMMY win for the region's favorite content creators, and a studio filled with both caviar and chicken nuggets at the same time. We kicked things off with our new best friends, Chef Eric Brannon of Little Birdie's, the too-much-fun, deee-lish chicken joint that's taken over Alexandria's Del Ray neighborhood. Fair warning: you're going to want fried chicken after this segment, possibly with a side of caviar, because that's how they roll.Then things got fast and fun with Rick Bratman, Founder and CEO of ASA Entertainment, America's largest action sports event, television, and content production company. Rick's bringing the Super Girl Festival Series to Virginia Beach in early September, the world's largest women's sports, music, and lifestyle platform celebrating female athletes, musicians, creators, and leaders. Who’s going?DC's digital darlings joined us too: Jason Fisher and Tessa Alimahmoodi, the husband-and-wife team behind DCFoodGod, fresh off winning the 2026 RAMMY Award for Content Creator of the Year. Their rise from native Washingtonians to must-follow influencers is as fun a story as it is inspiring.And Bonnie Benwick and Ariel Levinson-Waldman of Tzedek DC joined us to talk about Eat Well Do Justice, the organization's 10th-anniversary fundraiser. This year's theme, "Spice It Up," celebrates Sephardic cuisine, with five returning champion chefs pairing up with new and returning talent, plus newcomer Anthony Jones of Marcus.On the drinks side, Ceren Ç. Hunt, hospitality executive and Chief Operations Officer at Âla Restaurants, stopped by to talk about the Levantine-inspired cocktail program that's putting this concept on the map.11am on 1500am every Sunday or Tune in for the full episode here.

Another great show in the books! -This week we started at the source — literally — with John Norman of Norman’s Farm Markets. Now more than ever, you need to know where your food comes from, and John made the case for why shopping farm markets for your produce isn’t just a nice-to-have, it’s the move. From there, we baked our way to Northern Virginia. -Bridie McCalla is a three-time RAMMY nominee for Pastry Chef of the Year,  born in Virginia, seasoned in Florence, and now head baker at Northside Social, working alongside the restaurant’s longtime executive chef, Emer O’Rourke. We’re not in Florence anymore, Dorothy! Bridie brought the talk and the taste of world-class baked goods straight to the show. -Then we headed to Shaw, where The Grace just opened in the former Passenger space,  a modern American tavern and saloon with real buzz behind it. Executive chef Courtney Evans is fresh off her run on Netflix’s “Next Gen Chef” and previously ran the kitchen at Charlotte’s acclaimed Leah & Louise. You’ll hear all about the space, the menu, and her. -Over on K Street, Public Interest is blending French brasserie tradition with American comfort food inside the Tempo by Hilton Washington DC Downtown, and the man behind that kitchen, Chef Arnaldo Pujols, joins us later in the show with all the details. -And because no episode is complete without drinks, veteran bartender José Cox stopped by to talk shop. He’s Bar Manager at U Street’s Kathmandu Tapas & Cocktails, a Himalayan inspired cocktail bar blending modern technique with ingredients sourced directly from Nepal. Farm markets, French brasserie, a Netflix chef, and Himalayan cocktails — this is what DC’s food and drink scene sounds like right now. Tune in.

We've got a stacked one for you today on Foodie & The Beast.-Restaurateur Ashok Bajaj, owner and CEO of Knightsbridge Restaurant Group, joins us to celebrate more than 35 years in the business, since opening his first DC restaurant, Bombay Club, back in 1989, and his latest opening, Rosselli, alongside Executive Chef Carlos Cardona, for a taste of what's cooking at DC's newest Italian spot.-CNN Hero Kerry Brodie stops by to talk Emma's Torch, her nonprofit that's trained over 700 refugees, asylees, and survivors of trafficking in the culinary arts, generating more than $34 million in increased wages along the way.-Husband-and-wife duo Mehmet Sukutli and Malti Chaudhari bring us into Tiffany's Bar & Bistro, their ode to Turkish culture and Mehmet's family roots. Dips and puff of pita for everyone.-And on drinks, Chrissy Sheffey of Doyle Bar at the Dupont Hotel debuts her new cocktail menu, a book called Swing Set. It’s more than a menu, it's an homage to the bar as a playground for ideas, inspired by the unscripted moments between arrivals and departures and those who once gathered in spaces like Doyle to quietly shape the world. See what she shakes.That’s Foodie & The Beast every Sunday at 11am on 1500am or here.