Komi Is Swapping Its Pricey Tasting Menu for Vegetarian Diner Riffs Again

Mushroom souvlaki in Dupont

Michelin-starred Komi is bringing back Happy Gyro, the vegetarian pop-up that reinvents Greek diner food from chef-owner Johnny Monis’s youth, for the month of October. Happy Gyro has taken over Komi just once before, this past June, serving a $60 tasting menu (compared to the $165 at Komi) that includes dishes such as a skewered mushroom souvlaki and a tofu skin gyro. Co-owner Anne Marler, Monis’s wife, tells Washingtonian that the couple eats “mostly vegetable-centric” these days and that, with the restaurant approaching its 16th anniversary, they’re “thinking a lot less about permanence and a lot more about continuing to evolve.” Starting September 30, tickets will be released Mondays at 2 p.m. [Washingtonian]

Sausage fest in Virginia

Starting today, Cheesetique is celebrating a charcuterie festival at its three Virginia restaurants (Del Ray, Shirlington, Mosaic District) for the next two weeks. In addition to its normal menu full of twists on mac and cheese and grilled cheese sandwiches, the shops will run a special menu that includes jamon Iberico and a prosciutto smashburger. Owner Jill Erber will teach a Charcuterie 101 class — $55 gets you eight cured meats, two wine pairings, and some cheese — at Mosaic on September 22, and there are also a series of terrine demonstrations.

Game on in Penn Quarter

Longstanding D.C. chef Fabio Trabocchi is rolling out a new tasting menu at Fiola next month that pays tribute to his home region of Le Marche on the east coast of Italy. The hilly area is full of hunters, so the five-course menu ($155) is full of game dishes like elk tartare and roasted venison saddle. A four-course menu at the Michelin-starred restaurant runs for $125, but there’s not an a la carte Ezio Room with pastas starting at $24. Here’s a look at the Marche menu: