FOODIE & THE BEAST: SEPTEMBER 28, 2025

Today on Foodie & The Beast: We’re sharing stories, feeding the city & launching festivals:
-Alyssa Taylor of Penguin Random House breaks down Banned Books Week. The wagon is in DC, Oct 5–11. Time to take action and get free banned books into readers’ hands.
-Mike Curtin, CEO of DC Central Kitchen, previews Capital Food Fight (Thu, Nov 6 @ The Anthem) and why DCCK’s mission—feeding our neighbors while creating living-wage careers through culinary job training and social enterprise—matters now more than ever. Expect an all-star lineup: Amanda Freitag, Roy Yamaguchi, Eric Adjepong, Rocco DiSpirito, Ryan Zimmerman, hosted by Spike Mendelsohn & Tommy McFly.
-Meghan Trossen is in to unveil Celebration of the Arts—a two-day, immersive arts-and-culinary festival taking over Capital One Center, Oct 4–5. Think installations, performances, chef-driven bites, tastings, and community programming—two days of culture you can see, hear, and taste.
-Chef Daniel Perron—ex Charlie Palmer, Trummer’s on Main, and Fabio Trabocchi—leaves the big city to craft his own dining experience in  Fredericksburg with Locavore, a seasonal New American restaurant.
And our drink segment? Sam Nellis (SAM!) from Silver Lyan at the Riggs Hotel—RAMMY winner and North America’s 50 Best Bars honoree—pours from their brand-new menu, The Butterfly Effect: nine months of R&D distilled into an immersive cocktail narrative.

Buckle up buttercups, DC let’s and dive in. Listen to the episode here.