Arts & Entertainment
A tasty New Year’s Eve
Last day of Dec. a great time to try special dishes


Bourbon Glazed Manchester Farms Quail from Jardenea (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)
Many of Washington’s hottest dining spots are offering New Year’s Eve specials. Here are a few:
Chef Bryan Voltaggio presents the Supper Club at Range (5335 Wisconsin Ave. N.W.) from 9 p.m.-1 a.m. Range would be my personal New Year’s pick — a great opportunity to experience four hours of Voltaggio’s impeccable craftsmanship. Table reservations are available for two or more at $200 per person and include the Supper Club Feast, Never Ending Punch Bowl and champagne toast. General Admission is also available for $175 and includes the feast and the champagne toast. The night will also feature live music from The Blue Vipers of Brooklyn.
Alba Osteria (425 I St. N.W.) opened in late December but is eagerly jumping into the New Year’s Eve ring offering an al la carte menu. Executive Chef Roberto Donna and Chef de Cuisine Amy Brandwein recommend standout dishes like the gnocchi verde served with sausage ragu or the Agnolotti al Brasato.
Ambar (523 8th St. S.E.) is serving a New Year’s Eve menu showcasing the best dishes throughout the Balkan Peninsula with a modern twist. The menu includes grilled bacon-wrapped prunes with goat cheese and blueberry balsamic reduction (which I need to try), sesame crusted salmon and veal schnitzel.
Blue Duck Tavern (1201 24th St. N.W.) will offer two seatings this new year’s eve. The first will be at 5:30 p.m. and features a three-course menu. The second seating also includes a three-course menu along with a champagne toast at midnight. Dinner starts at $75 per person and goes up to $175.
Café Dupont (1500 New Hampshire Ave. N.W.) will have a five course prix-fixe menu handcrafted by Executive Chef David Fritsche available for $85 per person or $130 if you opt for wine pairings.
City Tap House D.C. (901 9th St. N.W.) will showcase its refined American pub fare, Executive Chef Scott Swiderski prix-fixe menu will be offered at $50 per person or at $80 with pairings. Standouts like the blue crab mac and cheese and the pork collar with cheddar grits will be offered.
Daikaya (705 6th St. N.W.) is a popular izakaya that will be offering small plates with a Japanese twist for New Year’s. The meal will include items like grilled avocado with crab salad, pork and brussel sprouts with apricot and truffled yougurt and wasabi octopus.
Jaleo (480 7th St. N.W.) will offer a traditional New Year’s celebration with unlimited tapas off the New Year’s tasting menu from 8:30-11:30 at $90 per person. Selections include favorites like the huevo frito with caviar and the pork Canelones with béchamel sauce. At midnight guests will be offered a celebratory glass of cava and 12 grapes for good luck, a Spanish tradition I remember fondly from childhood.
Jardenea (2430 Pennsylvania Ave. N.W.) offers a five-course menu priced at $90 per person with an optional wine pairing for an additional $50.
nopa Kitchen + Bar (800 F St. N.W.) offers a three-course prix-fix menu featuring entrees off Chef Greg McCarty’s menu. Pastry Chef Jemil Gadea will contribute to the festivities with tempting desserts like her fried pies: chocolate bar with peppermint ice-cream and sweet potato crème caramel with persimmon pudding.
If you want to celebrate the New Year just steps from the White House, then the Oval Room (800 Connecticut Ave. N.W.) is the place to be. You can enjoy a four-course meal with wine pairings where Executive Chef Tony Conte will feature dishes like the Maine peekytoe crab. Sweet confections like the passion fruit curd with coconut frozen yogurt will also be available.
Pearl Dive Oyster Palace/Blackjack (1612 14th St. N.W.) will offer several New Year’s Eve specials in addition to their regular menu including a scallop and braised short rib duo and a raspberry and champagne trifle.
Rasika (523 8th St. S.E.), named among the top 20 restaurants in America by Zagat, will serve a special New Year’s Eve menu prepared by Executive Chef Vikram Sunderam. Menu highlights include Tandoori scallops with pickled spices, grouper manga with mustard seeds and Lucknowi lamb chop with caramelized onion. The three-course menu is $55 per person and $95 with wine pairings. The four-course menu is $85 and $145 with wine.
Ripple (3417 Connecticut Ave. N.W.) Chef Marjorie Meek-Bradley will offer two prix-fixe menus: a four-course menu will be $75 and the five-course menu will be $95. To make reservations, call 202-244-7995.
RIS (2275 L Street NW) will ring in the new year by serving a multi-course meal and live jazz. The menu will feature delicious dishes like smoked trout panna cotta, winter squash agnolutti and the smoked paprika Muscovy duck. Reservations are required and the prix-fix is $90 per person or $130 with wine pairing.
Zengo (781 7th St. N.W.) will offer two tasting menus from 5-9 p.m. and a four-course menu for $55. Staff will also have a four course-tasting menu available all night with specials that are not generally available at Zengo, as well as a champagne toast for $75 per person.
Music & Concerts
J. Lo, Troye Sivan, RuPaul added to WorldPride Music Festival
Two-day event to feature array of musical genres

WorldPride organizers on Tuesday announced two new headliners for the WorldPride Music Festival at RFK Festival Grounds (2400 East Capitol St., N.E.) June 6-7 in Washington, D.C.
Superstar Jennifer Lopez and gay pop artist Troye Sivan are set to headline, while drag trailblazer and TV star RuPaul will also take the stage for a DJ set.
Taking place over two days and nights and across three stages, WorldPride Music Festival will showcase a diverse range of music. Beyond pop stars and drag performances, house, EDM, techno, country, R&B, and a host of other genres will be heard across the weekend.
Featured LGBTQ audience fan favorites include Kim Petras, Rita Ora, Betty Who, and Marina. House and electronic fans will enjoy Zedd, Grimes, Purple Disco Machine, and Sofi Tukker. Other top-billing pop stars include Tinashe, Raye, and Grimes; Paris Hilton is also set to make an appearance.
Other artists that will bring their sounds to one of the stages include Aluna, Anabel Englund, Anne Louise, Coco & Breezy, Crush Club, Dombresky presents Disco Dom, Galantis, Hayla, Kaleena Zanders, Karsten Sollors, Leland + Friends, LP Giobbi, Matt Suave, Patrick Mason, Sasha Colby, Slayyyter, Spencer Brown, Trisha Paytas, and Ty Sunderland.
The music festival came together as a partnership between Capital Pride, Dreamland’s producer Jake Resnicow (who ran WorldPride in New York), and event promoter Club Glow, which has produced several music festivals in the region. Club Glow is set to host a separate festival, Project Glow, also to take place on RFK grounds the weekend prior to WorldPride.
Resnicow, as executive producer, noted that, “WorldPride Music Festival is a moment the world will remember. With legendary artists and our global community coming together, we’re creating an electrifying celebration that unites, uplifts, and amplifies LGBTQ+ voices like never before.”
Given the current political climate and anti-LGBTQ policies sweeping the country, “Hosting this festival in our nation’s capital makes it even more powerful — it’s not just a party, it’s a global movement.” Resnicow added.
Beyond the music, the festival will feature art installations and immersive experiences that celebrate the spectrum of LGBTQ culture, along with food and drink, specialty cocktail lounges, giveaways, and a VIP section. Proceeds from the event will benefit the nonprofit Capital Pride Alliance and other local LGBTQ community organizations, ensuring the festival’s impact extends beyond its two days of programming. WorldPride marks the 50th anniversary of Pride in the capital.
General admission, GA+, and VIP tickets start at $209.

Cupid’s Undie Run, an annual fundraiser for neurofibromatosis (NF) research, was held at Union Stage and at The Wharf DC on Saturday, Feb. 15.
(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)
















“Fuenteovejuna”
Through March 2
GALA Hispanic Theatre
3333 14th St., N.W.
$27-$50
Galatheatre.org
Inventively staged and strongly acted, GALA Hispanic Theatre’s production of Lope de Vega’s classic “Fuenteovejuna,” vividly brings to life an old but timely tale of injustice and power. A lot of theatergoers will find this work (first published in Madrid in 1619) painfully relevant.
Possibly Lope de Vega’s most produced play, this version of “Fuenteovejuna,” penned by renowned contemporary Spanish playwright Juan Mayorga, is markedly shorter than others you might have seen. While purists may not concur, it’s generally agreed that Mayorga has effectively condensed the plot and modernized the verse.
The action kicks off with cast members jovially sharing jokes that are mostly lost on those of us relying on the production’s English surtitles, but no matter, it creates a happy mood of a contented townsfolk whose lives are soon to be horribly disrupted. (From there on, all translation is clear and presents no difficulties.)
Lope de Vega based the play on a true incident. In 1476 in Southern Spain, village residents, unwilling to accept ongoing abuse, banded together and overthrew a brutish commander.
Here, the Commander/Comendador (played menacingly by Iker Lasker) sets upon the town and specifically the mayor’s daughter Laurencia (Julia Adun in her GALA debut). In short, the all-powerful bully makes the brave young woman’s life miserable, and as he grows increasingly insistent the situation becomes perilous.
Initially she relies on the protection of her male friends. But it’s not enough.
As Laurentia is further harassed and ultimately assaulted, she somehow becomes stronger, and emboldened. Disappointed by the town’s men, she calls on the women to rebel: “Sisters, take your places, and let’s do something that will shake the whole world.”
Like all the classics, the work’s themes are enduring. Justice, decency, and collective identity are among the pressing topics explored.
Also, integral to the play’s story is the love between Laurencia and her fiancé who becomes a target of the Comendador’s savagery. Additionally, there are fine examples of familial love and genuine friendship.
There’s a lot to love about out director Juan Luis Arellano’s glowing production. It moves swiftly and excitingly. He’s assembled a large cast of talented, experienced actors (including Luz Nicolás, who plays Flores, the Commander’s right-hand man) and an outstanding design team.
Arellano has thoughtfully imbued the piece with exceptional modes of storytelling.
For instance, off to the side but still clearly seen, DJ (Aldo Ortega) provides both mediaeval and rock music. Occasionally characters step away from the other players to narrate from a standing mic beneath a dramatic spotlight.
Scenic designer Giorgos Tsappas’s set is both a thing of beauty and unexpected functionality. Comprised of different elements that include a huge silver pendulum, a sandy floor, a curved wooden bench backed by a concrete-esque curved backdrop. All of its parts are smartly and organically integrated into the staging.
At the top of the second act, a door rather surprisingly opens, allowing the Commander surrounded by actors costumed in dark sheep masks, passage to the stage. It’s a striking image.
The set is compellingly lit by stalwart designer Jesús Díaz Cortés. He’s also responsible for the captivating visuals shot from overhead and projected on the imposing back wall. All the visual design work looks subtly expensive.
“Fuenteovejuna” is Lope de Vega at his best, and GALA’s production is the perfect means of introduction or a revisit.