Chances are good that you'll eat this up: August is here, and so is Restaurant Week. And not just DC's Restaurant Week ... both Reston and Alexandria are mounting regional Restaurant Week promotions throughout the month.  Better news, even: Many restaurants are offering Restaurant Week menus for more than just one week. Which ones?  Check the Buzz, my dears.  It's all in there, along with Restaurant Week extensions (that we will keep on updating), info on restaurants closed this month for vacay, delicious summer deals, cocktails to cool you down, a red hot tomato recipe contest and so much more.   

Hard to believe that summer is in the home stretch, isn't it?  (You can always tell when fall is around the corner, those back-to-school ads start popping up -- Ugh!)  But, on a happy note, August is still jammed with all sorts of educational and just plain fun events and activities for food, wine, beer and cocktail enjoyment.  A quick click on Local Events and you'll likely be floored by how much is going on, even during these dog days of August. And, if that doesn't boggle your mind, check out Coming Soon for info on a real explosion of new restaurants and food carts opening all around town in the next couple of weeks.  As for restaurant openings in the here and now, August is no slouch either. Click to Openings to see who just opened in August, and, so that you don't miss a single morsel of info, click back to see who opened in July (and June and any opening for the last seven years, for that matter!).

But wait...we have articles - exclusive articles! In the Chef's Column, get to know Theresa Souther, Director of the Professional Pastry Arts Program at L'Academie de Cuisine in Gaithersburg. MD.  Theresa's journey to the culinary world and, specifically, baking is a fascinating one that took her from college at Georgetown and a bunch of science classes to the realization that rolling in dough was the way to go.  It's a delicious read.  And in Grapes & More, Sicilian-born Domenico Sacca, a former restaurateur for 16 years (among other credits, he is the former GM who opened the doors at Bice), talks about his latest project, DC-based, Red Ink Imports, where, as cofounder and product director, he thrives on discovering and promoting little known wines and, well, making them well known.  A case in point is his latest find, delicious Cantina Novelli wines from Umbria. Click to Grapes & More to find out what has Domenico smiling these days.

That all for now.  As we do every year, we at TheListAreYouOnIt.com are taking our summer respite -- sort of -- the Local Events, Coming Soon & Openings sections will be updated every day, as always.  But, we will be on hiatus for a few weeks, and back with you as usual and always, right after Labor Day.  Have fun exploring this new issue and squeezing every bit of fun and entertainment out of these last few weeks of summer.