While you should show your love for Mother Earth all year long, let your actions speak volumes this April during Earth Month. We here at TheListAreYouOnIt.com are embracing the month as we all celebrate our planet's beauty with the many tastes and experiences across the DMV. From eco-friendly events to sustainable dining options, there are countless ways to be good at nurturing our planet while savoring the abundance of Earth's offerings right here in the DMV. Let's make every day Earth Day: Viva Abejas at dLeña:  dLeña’s Viva Abejas campaign has returned. Through Monday, April 22 (Earth Day), indulge in bee-centric dishes and drinks at the modern Mexican concept. One in every three bites of food depends on bees for pollination. Chef Richard Sandoval aims to celebrate this integral part of the food cycle with a 360 degree approach to food, signature activations, cultural education, philanthropy, and more. Menu offerings are focused on bees, utilizing sustainably obtained honey, pollen, and other bee-derived ingredients. Specials include duck confit tacos with agave honey, cilantro, romesco sauce and pickled vegetables on blue corn tortillas, and the Margarita royale with tequila blanco, honey, passion fruit cordial, lime, bee pollen and an edible flower. Finish your meal with a slice of honey vanilla cheesecake, topped with honeycomb. Those ordering any Viva Abejas food or beverage special will receive wildflower seed packets to plant flowers at home, directly aiding the bees. Richard Sandoval Hospitality is aiming to educate 60,000 students this year by sending teams to work with Title 1 schools around the country with their in-classroom lesson plan, developed with educators and curriculum experts at Slow Food USA. 476 K Street NW; dlenadc.com   New Initiatives at Park Hyatt: In keeping with their commitment to advancing environmental action so that destinations around the world remain vibrant for all, Park Hyatt has introduced two new initiatives in time for Earth Month. First, food scraps and compostable items are collected from Blue Duck Tavern on each service day. Four 65-gallon-size bins are emptied from the hotel twice a week, equally 4.5 tons per year being composted and kept out of landfills. Blue Duck Tavern is working with Maryland-based Compost Crew. In addition, five hives, a total of 50,000 bees, and one queen per hive, are being “checked in” to the hotel rooftop. Collaborating with Capital Bee Care LLC, the bees will feast on the hotel’s rooftop garden as it blossoms with an array of herbs and flowering plants such as echinacea, black-eyed Susan’s, mint, basil, lemon verbena, chamomile, and more. Blue Duck Tavern and Blue Duck Lounge will incorporate these rooftop herbs and flowers into its seasonal menus and cocktail program. blueducktavern.com DC  Reduces: DC Reduces is a grassroots initiative that helps businesses and consumers in the DC community reduce single-use packaging. They do this by offering a sticker for businesses to place in their shop windows, signaling to customers that the shop is open to customers bringing their reusable coffee mugs, bags, or other containers for their purchases...hassle-free. So far, 64 DC businesses have signed up to the program, including 23 coffee shops/bakeries such as all five DC Gregorys locations have signed up, SakuSaku, Puro Gusto, Zeke’s and more. For more information, click here.Water Milled Ingredients: Chef David Guas of Bayou Bakery, Coffee Bar & Eatery and Neutral Ground Bar + Kitchen has been granted the exclusive use of the grits produced from George Washington's Gristmill - the same machine used by Washington in 1771. The Gristmill is incredibly eco-friendly as it operates solely by a water mill beneath the building - in fact, it is the only milling system in America still utilizing this design. Guas incorporates the grits and cornmeal into classic cornbread, lemon chess pie, and cornmeal sable cookies. 1515 N Courthouse Road, Arlington; bayoubakeryva.com  Low-Waste Cocktails: Restaurateur and cocktail expert Gina Chersevani keeps her Buffalo & Bergen libations waste-free by juicing and utilizing all of the fruit, down to the skins, in her drinks. Citrus ends and herb stems are the foundation in Chersevani’s infused syrups, and garnishes remain a byproduct of already-incorporated ingredients. Also, locally-sourced spirits contribute to the low carbon footprint of how she runs her businesses. Union Market & Capitol Hill; buffalobergendc.com  Snail of Approval Awards: The Vineyards at Dodon has been recognized as one of six local businesses to receive the 2024 “Snail of Approval” award from Slow Food DC. Each year, the Snail of Approval Award recognizes food & beverage establishments for the pursuit and practice of “Slow Food” values in their business, from sustainable farming practices to responsibly sourcing ingredients. The other winners include Chinese Street Market, Earth Spring Farm, Nido Wine Shop + Market, Paste and Rind Cheese Co., and Wheatland Spring Farm + Brewery. The cohort will gather in May to celebrate the honor at the official Snail of Approval Awards Ceremony.  Locally Sourced at Shilling Canning Co.: Shilling Canning continues to source food by partnering with local farms & being resourceful in their practices. If you’ve been in the restaurant lately, you will notice a list of partner farms on the menu to let you know a little about where your food comes from. They have also officially joined Destination DC's Sustainability District program. The program supports Mayor Muriel Bowser’s Sustainable DC 2.0 initiative, which has the goal of making DC the “healthiest, greenest, most livable city.” 360 Water Street SE; shillingcanning.com  Kegs Are It at Sixty Vines: Packaging is regularly cited as the top contributor to greenhouse gas emissions, often producing more emissions than grape cultivation and winemaking combined.  Sixty Vines saves over 300,000 bottles, corks, and labels annually from landfills by serving wine in keg. For Earth Month, the brand is launching an online hub with insights about the positive environmental impact of wine on tap. In addition, throughout April, you can enjoy a curated wine flight featuring four pours from Sixty Vines’ winery partners most deeply committed to eco-conscious winemaking. The flight menu includes a QR link to videos from each winemaker for guests to discover the story behind the taps. For Earth Day weekend, there will be a variety of events, including a brunch event featuring a Sustainability Somm to provide education on the impact on wine-in-kegs on April 20, a pop-up market featuring local businesses on April 21, and an Earth Day celebration featuring complimentary wine tastings from partner winemakers, including those featured in the Earth Month flight, paired with light bites on April 22. In addition,  you are encouraged to bring corks, clothing, and batteries in for recycling all weekend long. Those who bring in a bag of corks will receive a complimentary 5oz. glass of wine in exchange for their donation. Clothing donations will benefit Women Giving Back, supporting women and children in crisis with a caring and committed community. For more information about Sixty Vines, visit sixtyvines.com Month-Long Specials at Equinox on 19th: Chef Todd Gray is celebrating Earth Day all month long by highlighting several menu items that make use of food that otherwise might be discarded. Chef Todd has been at the forefront of plant-based dining and sustainability since the restaurant opened in 1999. These specials will be available through April 30: The Limoncello D'Alfredo, a sparkling cocktail using skins from juiced citrus, which is incorporated into housemade limoncello (made with citrus juice, milk, and peels, and allowed to ferment for 14 days and then strained). House Made Empanadas: Equinox's popular braised short rib empanadas are made from beef short rib and hanger steak trimmings saved from other dishes. The trim is roasted and hand-chopped with caramelized onions and fresh herbs. The snack is available during happy hour for $9. Finally, Gray is making sunchoke chips from the peels of the plant-based creamy sunchoke soup. The peels are crisped up and used as a garnish for soups, fish, and meat dishes. 900 19th Street NW; equinoxrestaurant.com    

Read Brianna Crane & Sami Sparber's interview with Nycci, and get all the deets on hosting trends in 2024~Find out more here. Photo: A tablescape by North Carolina-based dinner party wares rental company Canary. Photo: Emily Bennett, courtesy of Beth Nash 

St Patrick's Day is here, and there are so many ways to celebrate! Listen in to Nycci's suggestions, pt 3:

Thanks for joining us again on Industry Night with me — Nycci Nellis. It is patio season in DC and I am so so excited because this month’s show is being taped at Tony & Joe’s right down on the water in Georgetown. If you live in the DMV or have ever visited this city chances are you’ve been here. They have one of the best patios – it looks out on the Potomac with views of the Kennedy Center.Seriously, on a gorgeous day, you want to sit out on that patio with a tray of fresh shucked oysters and a glass of rose and watch the boats go by. Thanks as always to Greg Casten and his whole team for always being such a tremendous supporter of me, this show, and the work that I do.Today, I’ll be chatting with Hugo Mogollon, the Executive Director of Fresh Farm Markets here in the DMV. Before launching The List in 2003, I was already a Fresh Farm supporter. I would schlep all five kids down to Dupont Circle on Sundays, not long after that first market opened in 1997, and we would leave with bags and bags of vegetables, eggs, and fruit. Once in the Industry, I became friendly with the FreshFarm founders, Bernie Prince and Ann Yonkers. They were some of the first guests on Foodie & the Beast. Over the years, FreshFarm Markets have expanded with more than 20 markets, and have created incredible outreach programs that bring fresh food to so many people. AND, FreshFarm has launched many businesses in this area as well. Giving makers an opportunity to R&D, grow and create brick & mortars — Call Your Mother, Red Apron and Gordy’s Pickles comes to mind.But first a little on where I’ve been:- I emceed the Embassy Chefs Challenge and it was amazing- I ate all the things at the Regarding Her Women’s History Month Dinner at Centrolina with Tiffany MacIssac, Amy Brandwein, Ellen Yin, Kimberly Prince and Rochelle Cooper- I also judged a pisco competition at Causa — cause that’s what I do- And, not food but a lil’ culture, took in the Star Power exhibit at the Portrait Gallery. I am a huge George Hurrell fan. As I mentioned, I am a FreshFarm fan and a shopper. In 2019 Hugo Mogollon joined FreshFarm as executive director. Fresfarm merged with Community Foodworks, which Hugo had led for five years, and now FreshFarm is the largest farmers market organization in the Mid-Atlantic. What Freshfarm can now offer as a regional food system is immense, as is their reach and impact. I am ready to get all updated – aren’t you?Listen to the full episode here, and watch it all, here.