Monday, October 19, six venues, and the capital region's top chefs, pastry chefs, and mixologists all pulling in the same direction ... it is time for Chefs For Equality, and this year's theme is United Plates of America.Now in its 15th year and one of the nation's most anticipated culinary fundraisers since 2012, Chefs For Equality is spreading across the city with four collaborative dinners, a Drag Brunch for Dinner, and a cocktail party at Silver Lyan, every seat supporting the Human Rights Campaign Foundation and the fight for full LGBTQ+ equality. It's the only chef-led event in the city raising funds for LGBTQIA+ equality, so come dine deliciously, raise a glass, and make a tangible impact and maybe take the day off on the 20th.Four Dinners, Four Dream Lineups ($400 per person)Multi-course, wine-paired, and chef-driven, and the hard part is picking just one. Each dinner starts with a cocktail reception at 5:30 p.m., then a six-course dinner with wine pairings at 7 p.m., and every guest goes home with a pretty hefty swag bag. Across the four you'll find Michelin-starred talent, James Beard Award winners, and chefs representing two of North America's 50 Best Restaurants.Rosewood (CUT DC by Wolfgang Puck): Andrew Ho of CUT DC, Jeremy Barragan of Osteria Mozza, Ruben Garcia of Casa Teresa, Mike Friedman of All-Purpose Hospitality Group, Ligia Barros of Rosewood, and Ana Sofia Pino of Lutèce.Centrolina: Amy Brandwein and Pichet Ong of Centrolina, Tatiana Mora of MITA, Seng Luangrath of Thip Khao/Padaek, Manuela Carbone of Brasero Atlantico, Jamie Leeds of Hank's Oyster Bar, Kat Petinito of The Duck & The Peach, Johanna Hellrigl of Ama, Claire King of Caviar Concierge, and Julie Cortes of Kayu.Marcus DC: Anthony Jones of Marcus DC, Paolo Dungca of Kayu, Patrick Benton of Primrose, Ria Montes of Fish Shop, Matt Adler of Caruso's Grocery/Cucina Morini, Rob Rubba of Oyster Oyster, and Kareem Queeman of Mr. Bakes.Moon Rabbit: Kevin Tien and Susan Bae of Moon Rabbit, joined by Jeremiah Langhorne of The Dabney, Harley Peet of Bas Rouge, Martel Stone of Dōgōn, Lekki Limtavana of Six Ways to Sunday, and Rachel Jennings of Boogy + Peel.Brunch for Dinner and a Cocktail Party ($250 per person each)Drag Brunch for Dinner at Perry's: a buffet by James Beard Award-winning chef Masako Morishita and pastry chef Jill Nguyen, performances by several of DC's fiercest queens, and sweets from Yuri Oberbillig of Saku Saku Flakerie and Audrey Angeles of Frost & Flourish.Cocktail party at Silver Lyan: head downstairs to the acclaimed subterranean cocktail bar in the Riggs Washington D.C. hotel, where some of the city's best chefs and bartenders share the room, the chefs passing bites while the bartenders shake and pour. David Guas of Neutral Ground Bar and Kitchen, Scott Drewno and Danny Lee of The Fried Rice Collective, and Victor Albisu of Taco Bamba/Electric Bull are cooking, and new this year, Silver Lyan is hosting a dedicated cocktail omakase experience.Ready to Go VIP?Private VIP Martini Lounge at The Dishonesty Bar, $3,000: while the cocktail party is going on, slip away to the swanky bar next door to Silver Lyan for a private one-hour seating, where Silver Lyan bartenders shake up martinis for your table, caviar bumps from Merolin Caviar alongside, and bento boxes prepared by Chef Peter Kannasute of Kyojin are waiting for you and seven of your best friends.Why Your Seat MattersChefs For Equality raises vital funds for the HRC Foundation, the educational arm of the nation's largest LGBTQ+ civil rights organization. Through public education, workplace training, and model policy development, the HRC Foundation works to reshape the institutions that govern the everyday lives of LGBTQ+ people across the country. Every ticket purchased, every dish savored, every glass raised moves that mission forward.Pick your venue, bring friends (TELL YOUR FRIENDS), and let's fill these rooms with delish food and joy. I'll be stopping by every single one of them, with my last stop at Silver Lyan, so wherever you are that night, I will see you!Individual tickets, group tables, and sponsorships are on sale now at chefsforequality.org.See you Monday, October 19.

October is Pizza Month, and Nycci is doing the research to make sure you celebrate right. Check out her segment on Good Day DC, featuring Westfield Montgomery's variety of pizza spots, here.

Nycci Nellis of TheListAreYouOnIt.com joined WTOP to highlight some of the DMV’s biggest summer restaurant openings. New arrivals include The Oak Room and Bernadette’s in Georgetown, the return of The Riggsby in Dupont Circle, Caribbean rooftop concept Croix in Navy Yard, and Agora and Call Your Mother in Bethesda. Other openings include Little Birdie, Duke’s Burgers, Slice & Pie, La Merna, Wheelhouse, and The Grace, with Ellizabetta and cocktail bar The Bit continuing the wave of new dining destinations into fall.

Kat Petonito and Rochelle Cooper run three Washington DC restaurants together, and before any of that they came up through kitchens that made them pay for being there. Rochelle was told that if she could not work with the chef who was harassing her, she would be the one moved. Twenty minutes into this one, the conversation stops being polite.Nycci Nellis takes Industry Night out to The Point in Southwest DC, where the Potomac and the Anacostia meet, and sits down with two of the most decorated women working in this city. Kat Petonito is executive chef across The Duck and The Peach, La Collina, and The Wells for Eastern Point Collective. Rochelle Cooper is executive pastry chef across all three and the 2024 RAMMY Pastry Chef of the Year.This chef interview podcast goes two directions at once. First into harassment in professional kitchens and what it did to two careers, including an HR conversation that ended with Rochelle choosing between a step back and a step out. Then into what they built afterward, a three restaurant group with a no touching policy, no drinking on the clock, good insurance, paid time off, mental health days, and a team that has mostly stayed six years.Along the way there is goat butter, primal cuts, 22 quarts of duck fat a day turned into bar soap, and an ice cream label born out of a walk-in full of leftovers. For anyone in the DC food scene or the hospitality industry, this is a working model, not a mission statement.Watch it on YouTube or listen to the podcast episode here.