Tysons Corner Center visitors will get another opportunity to sample the mall’s culinary scene this spring.

After drawing a big crowd when it launched last year, the Taste of Tysons is set to return for a second year on May 4. More than 40 eateries throughout the mall will participate, offering free food bites from noon to 2 p.m.

Attendees should first stop by the Plaza to check in and get access to a digital “Passport to Delicious: Eatery Guide.” There will also be music from the party band Cazhmiere, a Barrel & Bushel beer bar, a photo booth, a prize wheel for “swag” and gift cards, and a “Career Corner,” where restaurants will provide information about their job openings, per a press release.

After 2 p.m., the Plaza will host cooking demonstrations from the chefs at Seasons52, Shake Shack and other restaurants. The event will conclude with live music from the Delaware-based Party Fowl Band.

Taste of Tysons is free to attend, but the mall is encouraging prospective attendees to register in advance. Tickets for a V.I.P. lounge on the Plaza can be purchased through Eventbrite.

“Purchase of a $30 ticket grants you access to the exclusive VIP lounge…complete with complimentary pairings from our top restaurants including Nordstrom Marketplace Cafe, Earls, Seasons52, and Barrel & Bushel!” the press release says.

Proceeds from the VIP ticket sales will go to the nonprofit Food for Others, which operates a food bank and other food distribution programs out of a warehouse in Merrifield.

According to Tysons Corner Center, here are some of the eateries participating in this year’s food sampling, including the Indian restaurant Dhoom, which opened in February:

Beng Beng Chicken
California Tortilla
Capital Musubi
Cha Street Food
Cinnabon
Dhoom
Haagen-Dazs
Istanbul Kitchen
Kung Fu Tea
Maman Joon
Matcha Café
Moe’s Chicken
Naan & Beyond
Nordstrom Ebar
Olivia Macaron
Shake Shack
Shilla Bakery
Soricha Tea
Wasabi

As showcased in yesterday’s 8-2 Opening Day loss in Cincinnati, Ohio, the post-World-Series-winning Washington Nationals remain a work in progress, but Dunkin’ Donuts hopes to drum up enthusiasm for this season nonetheless with a pep rally in Springfield on Monday (April 1).

The donut shop at 6310 Backlick Road will celebrate the D.C. team’s home opener with a giveaway of “DoNats Donuts” to its first 100 customers, starting at 9 a.m.

The DoNats Donut is a seasonal flavor created as part of Dunkin’s official partnership with the Nats. Available now through July 24 at participating locations in D.C. and Northern Virginia, it features white icing with red and blue sprinkles in a nod to the team’s colors.

In addition to free donuts, Monday’s pep rally in Springfield will have a speed pitch game with prizes, a visit from Dunkin’s mascot Sprinkles, chances to win Dunkin-themed merchandise and a live painting demonstration by local artist Jordan Lawson, who will create “a Dunkin’- and Nationals-themed art piece.”

The event is slated to last until 11 a.m.

“Nationals fans have an amazing relationship with their team and Dunkin’ is proud to fuel the Nats fan base in D.C.,” Dunkin’ Donuts Field Marketing Manager Colleen Krygiel said in a press release. “Whether you’re heading to a Nationals game or grabbing a dozen DoNat Donuts, Dunkin’ is proud to be a part of your gameday traditions.”

The Nats will play the Pittsburgh Pirates for their first home game of MLB’s regular season on Monday at 4:05 p.m.

The retail and restaurant mix in Dulles International Airport is getting a shake-up.

At a board of directors meeting today (Wednesday), the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority unveiled more than a dozen new concessions planned at Dulles and Reagan National Airport.

“Having a mix of local and national brands at our airports represents added value for passengers,” said Jaimini Erskine, Airports Authority vice president for marketing and concessions. “We continue to seek out new brands that showcase the Washington region experience.”

Though it’s not mentioned in MWAA’s announcement, the incoming eateries include the smoothie bowl and juice shop South Block, which is expected to open in Dulles Airport’s Concourse D, founder and CEO Amir Mostafavi confirmed to FFXnow.

South Block’s plan for an airport location was first reported by The Burn.

Mostafavi says the shop is on track to open in the late summer or early fall, becoming the company’s 18th location in the D.C. area. The business has other locations slated for Chantilly and West Springfield.

Dulles also has several new retail shops on the horizon, MWAA announced:

• Plum Market — Market with all natural, organic, local, and specialty items.
• Brighton –– Handcrafted accessories, jewelry, and leather goods designed by talented artists and artisans.
• The Goods @ IAD — Store combines an array of travel essentials and check-out with convenience of technology.
• IAD Express — Last-minute travel essentials.
• Capital Supply Co. — One-stop-shop travel essential needs.
• Starbucks — New location of the national coffeehouse chain.
• Washington Essentials (Pre-Security) — An array of necessities for travelers on the go.
• Relay — Travel essentials featuring gourmet snacks, health and beauty, gifts, books and apparel.

According to MWAA, these concessions will join recently opened newcomers to Dulles, including the bookstore Ink by Hudson, the health food restaurant Freshii, Potbelly, a Hudson news and gifts shop, Brookstone, and Market 1962, a grab-and-go market named after the year that the airport opened.

Some previously announced retailers, including Union Kitchen and Rappahannock Oyster Company, are also still in the works.

Over in Arlington, Reagan National Airport is set to get a new Lego store. The store will “showcase Lego activity sets, bricks and licensed gifts,” the Washington Business Journal reported earlier this week.

The smaller airport is also adding a Starbucks, the restaurants Mi Vida and Nalley Fresh, a location of the D.C.-based bookstore Solid State Books and others.

Work on all of the newly announced concessions will begin this year.

“These food, beverage and retail brands represent the latest awards of a multi-year program to redevelop more than 80 concessions at both airports,” MWAA said in a news release.

The Reston-based German Armed Forces Command partnered with Food for Neighbors to help tackle food insecurity among teenagers on Saturday (March 9).

The office, which serves as the German military’s liaison to the U.S. and Canada on issues related to defense technology and weapons, helped sort nearly 3,400 pounds of donations at Herndon Middle School. It also presented a donation of more than $5,500 to Food for Neighbors.

A local nonprofit organization that provides food to middle and high school students, Food for Neighbors plans to use the funds to address teen food insecurity in partnering schools throughout Northern Virginia.

“I feel honored and privileged to present this donation as our contribution to your outstanding and very important cause,” Col. Joerg Dronia, commander of the German Armed Forces Command in the U.S. and Canada, said. “The funds were raised at the 2023 Christmas Market at our HQ here in Reston. The women and men serving there, nominated your charity organization as the prime recipient. I am more than pleased to follow their suggestion to support those in need.”

This is the second year that the German Armed Forces Command worked with Food for Neighbors after the organization participated in a similar sorting event in January 2023.

Dronia said the organization sees itself as an integral part of the local community.

“I have to repeat what I said already last year: Although, we are far away from home, you all make us feel at home here in Reston,” he said at the collection and sorting event.

Food for Neighbors founder and executive director Karen Joseph said the organization currently helps 7,500 students in 47 schools.

“In addition to representing one of our greatest NATO allies, the German Armed Forces Command is an excellent example of what it means to be a good neighbor,” Joseph said. “We are one of many organizations that have benefited from their giving spirit, and we thank them for all that they do to help our most vulnerable community members.”

Nearly 65% of Herndon Middle School’s students qualify for free and reduced-price meals, according to the Virginia Department of Education.

“Our students don’t need fancy shoes. They need food and love. By coming together over food, we create a community,” Herndon Middle School Family Liaison Salazar Laske said.

Overall, the effort sorted and collected more than 26,500 pounds of food and toiletries.

Dozens of restaurants and breweries from across Northern Virginia will descend on the Fort Belvoir area this spring.

The National Museum of the U.S. Army (1775 Liberty Drive) will host this year’s Taste of NoVA, a relatively new food festival produced by Northern Virginia Magazine as a celebration of its annual 50 Best Restaurants list.

The inaugural festival was held in May 2023 at Segra Field in Leesburg.

Tickets for the 2024 tasting event on May 19 are currently available for early bird prices of $145 for general admission tickets or $170 for VIP tickets, which include early admission and access to a VIP lounge with specialty cocktails by Tiki Thai.

“We have only a limited number of tickets available for Early Birds, so you’ll want to get in on this deal,” Northern Virginia Magazine Director of Events James McFadden said in a press release. “The best of the best will be at this event, and you’ll be able to talk with the region’s most celebrated chefs.”

According to McFadden, there’s a limited quantity of early bird tickets but no set date for when the promotion will end. At full price, general admission tickets cost $165, and VIP tickets are $190.

All ticket-holders will get complimentary samples and sips from the participating restaurants, wineries and breweries, along with a one-year subscription to Northern Virginia Magazine. The event will also feature live entertainment, giveaways, recreational activities and access to the Army Museum.

Supported by Northern Virginia Food Rescue, a nonprofit created during the pandemic that “rescues” food waste and distributes it to those in need, the 2024 Taste of NoVA will run from 1-4 p.m. with VIP ticket-holders getting a head start at noon.

More than 40 restaurants and 25 wineries, breweries, and spirits vendors have lined up for the event, including the winner of Northern Virginia Magazine’s “Best Restaurant” designation for 2023: West Falls Church’s 2941 Restaurant.

A full list of the participants is below. Read More

SevaTruck Foundation has been granted permanent use of the Lewinsville Center’s kitchen for its food distribution operations.

The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors approved a special exception on March 5 that will let the nonprofit continue making and providing free meals out of the senior center in McLean, which also houses adult day care and child care programs.

With the approval, SevaTruck can continue utilizing the kitchen and a designated parking spot on Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. It typically has two employees and up to two volunteers preparing meals that are then distributed both on-site and at other locations via a food truck and volunteers’ personal vehicles.

“This has been a great partnership, a great thing for the community, and this is a very easy one [to approve],” Dranesville District Supervisor Jimmy Bierman said before the board’s vote. “This is good stuff.”

The special exception was requested by Fairfax County Neighborhood and Community Services (NCS), which operates the Lewinsville Center and offered SevaTruck use of the commercial-sized kitchen in 2021 so it could make meals for low-income residents and others in need during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The county had suspended some zoning requirements to allow temporary uses, such as medical facilities, deemed necessary “to respond to the COVID-19 emergency and its impacts.” However, the local state of emergency for the pandemic ended on March 1, 2022, so operations established during that time now need official approval to continue long-term.

SevaTruck began operating in Fairfax County in 2017, serving over 380,000 meals to date. Getting access to the Lewinsville Center’s kitchen has enabled the nonprofit to “increase its capacity,” NCS North County Region 3 Assistant Division Director Karen De Mijango told the board.

Echoing the sentiments of a coworker who spoke at the Fairfax County Planning Commission’s public hearing on Jan. 24, Braddock Elementary School teacher Joyce Matthews testified that SevaTruck’s assistance has been critical to the school.

Before the pandemic, the nonprofit gave free meals to students who participated in after-school programs, and once COVID-19 shut down in-person classes in March 2020, it provided meals twice a week.

“We could not do the things that we do without SevaTruck,” Matthews said. “…We want to let you know how much of a difference they’ve made, and definitely with the kitchen, it has been much easier. They have become part of our Braddock community.”

Braddock District Supervisor James Walkinshaw confirmed that SevaTruck has done “an amazing job” at Braddock Elementary School and other sites around the county, recalling his experience volunteering to help distribute food out of the back of the truck.

Providence District Supervisor Dalia Palchik called the collaboration between NCS and SevaTruck a “creative use” of a public facility, while Board of Supervisors Chairman Jeff McKay noted that the nonprofit’s community service was recognized with a “Best of Braddock” award in 2022.

“I remember that night well, and they’re doing amazing work that’s really benefitting the entire county, especially our Title I schools,” McKay said.

Mustang Sally Brewing Company is hoping to serve up something new out of its brewery in Chantilly.

The business, which currently operates as a production brewery with a tasting room, hopes to expand its food service at 14140 Parke Long Court in an effort to become more competitive in the brewing industry.

Doing so would require Fairfax County’s approval of a special exception that would remove limits on the operating hours and equipment allowed for food service at the brewery.

Submitted to the county on March 1, the application contends that the county’s existing zoning ordinance “lags behind the competitive landscape of brewery tasting rooms” in terms of the food services that a brewery can conduct by right.

“Regardless of the business model or setting, customers have expectations about what tasting rooms offer and high among those expectations is food service. For a brewery to have a competitive tasting room now, it must have appealing food service,” the application says.

The business argues that the county’s zoning ordinance puts larger breweries at a “substantial disadvantage,” because they’re required to be located in industrial areas where there are limits on the food services they can provide in their tasting rooms.

According to the application, Mustang Sally is currently confined to offering pre-packaged food items that require limited preparation or reheating. In August 2021, the brewery began working with Eugene’s Sausages and Fries, which serves hotdogs and sausages made with traditional sandwich ingredients.

“Since introducing food service within the tasting room in August 2021, Mustang Sally’s tasting
room performance has improved considerably,” the application says.

But the county’s zoning administration determined that food could only be served Thursday through Sunday. The inability to offer food service outside of those days creates “significant challenges” for the brewery, according to the application.

Mustang Sally also wants to expand its current hours by opening earlier and offering food service during those hours as well — something that Eugene’s is reluctant to do, since it would increase their operating expenses and be challenging to staff, the application says.

“It is a daily occurence that people walk into Mustang Sally’s tasting room, realize they cannot get food and immediately walk back out,” the application states.

Started by a former corporate lawyer, Mustang Sally opened in May 2016 with a 4,000-square-foot tasting room. Its beers are also sold in draft and can form throughout Northern Virginia, and it regularly hosts events, such as trivia nights and dog adoption days.

Image via Google Maps

River-Sea Chocolate Factory is making progress on its plans to open a production facility in Reston.

The company, which has a retail store and hot chocolate cafe in Chantilly, is seeking to add a location near Reston Station at 11495 Sunset Hills Road, according to county permits.

While River-Sea co-founder Krissee D’Aguiar didn’t indicate exactly when the factory will open this year, she noted that Reston is officially home for her and her business.

“I grew up in Reston and we live in Reston, love Reston,” D’Aguiar wrote in a statement. “Also, as D.C.’s Bean-to-Bar chocolate maker, we wanted to be closer to Metro to be more accessible to customers and visitors in the D.C. area.”

Krissee and Mariano D’Aguiar started making chocolate in 2017 after visiting family in northern Brazil, where they saw the potential of using food to act as a “connecting bridge” between their life in D.C. and Brazil, according to the company’s website.

River-Sea has said that it will maintain its retail shop and cafe at 4520 Daly Drive, Suite 100, in Chantilly after the Reston site opens.

A small business that specializes in all things granola is relocating its Chantilly location to Reston.

Dano’s Granola plans to open in 11495 Sunset Hills Road, Suite 105, by the middle to end of this summer, according to owner and mom of three, Dania Abimourched.

“I’ve lived in Reston since middle school and we started our family here,” Abimourched told FFXnow. “We love the Reston community and our customers that have become part of extended Dano’s Granola family.”

Abimourched’s passion for baking stems from her master’s degree thesis project — an endeavor that tied together her art and ideas together. After her eldest son was diagnosed with several allergies, she began experimenting with different ingredients for health food snacks and treats.

She sells mixes of granola that come in flavors like turmeric and vanilla, carob spice, coconut and seeds, and chocolatte (a combination of chocolate and coffee).

Dano’s Granola currently operates a retail location at 4520 Daly Drive, Suite 100, in Chantilly. It also appears at the Lake Anne Farmers’ Market every spring and fall and provides products to several partners around Northern Virginia, including Wegman’s in Reston, The Bike Lane and Beloved Yoga.

Fairfax County Public Schools is seeking a solution to its ballooning student meal debt, which soared over the past year.

On Tuesday (Feb. 20), Fairfax County School Board members directed Superintendent Michelle Reid to get them more information on what options are available to prevent FCPS students from accumulating more debt due to their inability to pay for meals.

“So, in my view, we need to do some work to…put policies or procedures in place that, A) prevent the ballooning of this debt going forward, and B) expand access to lunches for kids, so we can feed more children and deter the potential practice — that may or may not be occurring — of holding children liable for the debt,” At-large member Kyle McDaniel said during the work session.

As of 2022, over one-third of FCPS students (34%) qualify for free and reduced-price meals through the National School Lunch Program, but FCPS Chief Financial Officer Leigh Burden said parents might not have realized that they needed to reapply after the end of a universal free school lunch program introduced during the pandemic.

The federal relief funds that paid for that program, which enabled all students to eat for free, ran out on July 1, 2022. FCPS reported an increase in students eating school food while the program was in effect.

Although schools are supposed to send out newsletters to parents with information about meal debt and free or reduced lunches, Burden recognized that families may be unaware of their accumulating balance.

She also emphasized that in some cases, families barely exceed the eligibility threshold for free lunches, making it difficult for them to clear their debt.

“So, we think those two things combined have contributed to the student debt rising so dramatically over the last two or three years,” she told the board during the work session.

About one-fourth of FCPS schools qualify for the Community Eligibility Provision program, which provides free lunch and breakfast to all students attending low-income area schools.

But elsewhere, students only qualify for free meals if their family earns less than 130% of the poverty level. Those with incomes between 130% and 185% of the poverty level qualify for reduced-price meals.

For grades K-12, breakfast costs $1.75. Lunch is $3.25 for elementary schools, and $3.50 for middle and high school students.

Burden notes that meal debt has been steadily rising since she was hired six years ago. However, in the last few years, the debt has “skyrocketed” across the entire school system, she said.

“During the years that all meals were free, we were serving 160,000 meals a day, whereas now, we’re back to about 110,000 [meals],” Burden said. “I mean, think about that: 50,000 students more were eating each day who now aren’t.” Read More