It’s Beginning to Taste a Lot Like Winter, And More Intel

Chef and restaurateur Caroline Ross is welcoming the frostiest of seasons at River Bend Bistro & Wine Bar in Alexandria, Va., by rolling out winter warmers including white bean and pork cassoulet, raclette with new potatoes, and braised lamb shank.

Ch-Ch-Changes

Starting Jan. 30, Bloomingdale pub Boundary Stone will extend kitchen hours to 11 p.m. on Friday and Saturday and serve food until 10 p.m. every other night, with new late bites like seasonally inspired meat pies and house-made meatballs. Chef Leo Garcia will also debut a new kid’s menu at the end of the month.

“June” Pops Into Mess Hall

Following a few years out west, hospitality vets Michael Turner (Beefsteak, minibar, Daikaya) and Alexandra Bookless Turner (Rappahannock Oyster Bar, Passenger) are back in D.C., and giving their own stuff a try with family-run pop-up, June. Washington City Paper scribe Lura Hayes says the food is New American, the drinks are festive, and that the action is going down at Mess Hall. The $70 dinners ($30 more for beverage pairings) are scheduled to run from Feb 9 to Feb. 11. [WCP]

The Shutter

A Capitol Hill institution has ceased functioning. No, not Congress. It’s the Chicago pie-style flinging, great-people-watching-patio-having Armand’s pizzeria on Massachusetts Avenue SE. The Hill is Home contacted the popular lunch spot about its current situation and got alternative facts about unspecified renovations. An update on the restaurant’s website confirms the cold hard reality: the restaurant is kaput. [THIH]