Cranes Unveils Beautiful Bento Boxes for Lunch in Penn Quarter

Cranes serves up $24 bento box lunches

• Ambitious new Penn Quarter Spanish-Japanese restaurant Cranes is rolling out lunch service, with both a tapas menu and a constantly-changing $24 bento box. Chef Pepe Moncayo is prepping seven options for each box, including egg confit with seaweed mashed potato, maitake tempura with daikon dipping sauce, and pork belly yakitori. Find Cranes’ bento boxes in the bar and dining room from 11:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.

In other news ...

• D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser is pushing Metro to restore late-night service, according to the Washington Post, which she says is necessary for D.C’s nightlife and service industries. Meanwhile, the DC Bar and Restaurant Workers Alliance joined Mayor Bowser and the Director of the Office of Nightlife and Culture Shawn Townsend yesterday at a “Keep Metro Open Late Rally” to push for further extendeded Metro Hours and call “for significant changes to the proposed WMATA budget that is set to cut bus routes and increase fares.”

• Northern Virginia magazine has new details on Solace Brewing Co.’s upcoming outpost in Falls Church, which is aiming for an April or May opening.
• Vegetarian taco favorite Chaia teamed up with D.C. prepared-meal delivery service Vegetable and Butcher to dream up a few new dishes. That includes savory oatmeal with braised mushrooms, caramelized onions, and fresh ginger for breakfast; Green Goddess salad with candied pepitas and habanero dressing for lunch; and butternut squash and black bean enchiladas with salsa roja and herbed rice on Chaia’s homemade tortillas for dinner. Find them on the Next Week’s Menu tab of Vegetable and Butcher’s site (place an order by this Friday at midnight to get the delivery on Monday). Chaia is testing these dishes out in hopes of permanently adding them to its menu in its restaurants.