Food Calendar
Paella Fest in Jaleo Washington, DC
From September 17th through September 30th, José Andrés and his culinary team at Jaleo will celebrate the 10th Annual Paella Festival with a two-week event featuring inspired cocktails and dishes with special guest and paella master Chef Rafael Vidal of Restaurante Levante in Benisanó (Valencia, Spain) where three generations of his family have prepared paella for the royalty. Benisanó is considered the birthplace of paella.
A renowned expert on the rice dishes from the Valencia region, Vidal is famous for preparing his paella in the traditional form over a wood fire at his award-wining restaurant. This is Chef Vidal’s second Paella Festival with Jaleo, having been the restaurant’s guest chef in 2008. Vidal was also a key advisor to Jaleo’s culinary team for preparing paella over wood fire at the opening of Jaleo in Las Vegas, where paellas are cooked over America’s first wood-fired paella grill. Vidal was also a participant at the 2006 Worlds of Flavors conference at the Culinary Institute of America.
The rotating paella specials will be available all day at each Jaleo location. Featured items include Paella Valenciana, paella from Valencia with chicken and rabbit; Fideua negra con pulpo, paella of black noodles with octopus; Paella de pescados y mariscos, seafood paella; Arroz de verduras de temporada, seasonal vegetable paella; Arroz con col y costillas de cerdo, paella with Ibérico ribs and cauliflower; Arroz caldoso de pollo y alcachofa, soupy rice with chicken and artichoke, as well as Arroz seco de bogavante, lobster paella. Standout cocktails available during the Paella Festival include the refreshing Gold Standard, prepared with saffron-infused gin, and the sweet-scented Cracked Nut Primed, with horchata (a refreshing drink made from tiger nut milk) and Spanish brandy.
The Jaleo team, led by Chef Ramón Martínez, has designed a program of activities that will offer the opportunity to celebrate the spirit of Spain through a number of paella inspired culinary events, such as a cooking demonstration at Jaleo Crystal City on September 16th, a kick-off celebration on September 17th at the same location, and two cooking classes with paella lunch at Jaleo Bethesda on September 19th and 20th.
Under the direction of Chef José Andrés, Jaleo is an award-winning tapas bar with three locations in the Washington, DC area: Bethesda (Maryland,) Crystal City (Virginia,) and DC downtown.
