Get a Pumpkin Soup Fix at Westend Bistro

New menus

Westend Bistro, the restaurant located inside of The Ritz-Carlton, Washington, D.C., is all in on pumpkin and root vegetables for its new fall menu (which debuted last week). Chef de Cuisine Alvin Dela Cruz and the team are sourcing seasonal ingredients from farms in Maryland, Virginia, and Pennsylvania. New menu items include a Cinderella Pumpkin Soup with crunchy cinnamon financier and vanilla Chantilly; the Root Vegetable Salad with roasted autumn vegetables, za’atar, brussels sprouts, almonds, and labneh cheese; and a Fall Kale Salad with pickled raisins, apple blossom pumpkins, graham cracker dust, and a cinnamon vinaigrette.

Coming attractions

A Bethesda taco shop is on the way from the founder of Penn Quarter’s fast-casual Indian spot Merzi. Bethesda magazine reports that owner Kaz Kazmi will open up in the former Bold Bite space at the corner of Norfolk and Cordell avenues. The plan is to serve tacos with a global focus, and get the shop opened up by January.

Deals

The Washington Business Journal analyzes Cava’s acquisition of rival Mediterranean fast-casual chain Zoe’s Kitchen. The differences between the two chains include starting wages, loyalty programs, and digital systems to collect data.

Initiative 77

The Washington Post interviewed voters who are frustrated by the D.C. council’s vote last week to overturn Initiative 77, which passed four months ago and was designed to change the wage system for tipped employees. “What they are doing is poisoning democracy,” a law professor in Tenleytown told the Post.