D.C. chefs offer seasonal treats

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November is game season, and at Charlie Palmer Steak (101 Constitution Ave. NW; 202/547-8100), chef Bryan Voltaggio is offering Washingtonians a chance to hone their cooking skills in a special class from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Nov. 4. The class includes instruction on designing and preparing a four-course menu showcasing pheasant, quail and venison. It includes preparation of the dishes, lunch and a take-home gift bag. Cost is $88 for American Institute of Wine and Food members and $95 for nonmembers. For reservations, call 301/588-3060.

Hunting season opens Nov. 1 at Dish (924 25th St. NW; 202/388-8707). Through November, chef Anthony Chittum is offering a special Let the Games Begin five-course menu priced at $65 per person, which includes quail salad, rabbit stew with grits, duck with soy-maple glaze, and roast venison.

At Urbana (2121 P St. NW; 202/956-6650), a special pumpkin menu with wine pairings by Leslie Sbrocco, author of "The Simple & Savvy Wine Guide," is being offered through Thanksgiving. Priced at $60, plus $20 for the full flight of wines, the menu includes scallop seviche with roasted pumpkin, crispy sardines with pumpkin confit, and bone-marrow ravioli with pumpkin risotto.

Chef-owner Savino Recine will host a special wine dinner at 7 p.m. Nov. 18 at Primi Piatti (2013 I St. NW; 202/223-3600). The five-course dinner is priced at $90 per person with wine pairings and will feature a live magic show by Mr. Recine. Dinner will include Italian favorites such as scampi over cannellini beans, risotto with mushrooms and truffle butter, and pears in red wine with mascarpone mousse.

The Roof Terrace Restaurant (Kennedy Center; 202/416-8555) will kick off its fall-winter wine dinner series Nov. 16. Dinner begins at 8 p.m. and costs $100 per person. The menu will include lobster salad, pan-seared quail and braised short ribs. Featured wines are from California: Chalk Hill Estate chardonnay, merlot and cabernet sauvignon, and Chalk Hill sauvignon blanc with a walnut cream torte for dessert.

Today through Nov. 12, chef Jose Andres has invited Spanish cheese expert Enric Canut to Jaleo (2250-A Crystal Drive, Arlington, 703/413-8181; and 7271 Woodmont Ave., Bethesda, 301/913-0003) for the Wine and Cheese Please festival. Wine-and-cheese pairing seminars will feature a discussion and tasting session on the art of pairing Spanish wine and cheese. Tonight's seminar begins at 7 p.m. in Arlington, with a repeat Nov. 2 in Bethesda. The cost is $75 per person. Free events will take place from 5:30 to 7 p.m. Monday in Arlington; 5 to 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Jaleo in Washington (480 Seventh St. NW) and from 5:30 to 7 p.m. Nov. 1 in Bethesda.

From 2:30 to 4:40 p.m. Nov. 9, Dorie Greenspan will make a special appearance and sign her new cookbook, "Baking: From My Home to Yours," during tea at the Four Seasons Washington (2800 M St. NW; 202/944-2026). This will be the last event of the 2006 Great Cooks & Their Books series sponsored by Borders and the hotel. Executive pastry chef Romain Renard will showcase miniature versions of tea pastries using Miss Greeenspan's recipes. Cost for the event is $65 per person and includes afternoon tea and an autographed copy of the cookbook.

On Nov. 15, 10 of Washington's top chefs will battle it out onstage to benefit the D.C. Central Kitchen at Capital Food Fight 2006. D.C. Central Kitchen is a national model program that recycles surplus food to make 4,000 meals for area social service organizations; it trains homeless and unemployed men and women in the kitchen and life skills they need to get good jobs in the food-service industry.

The event will take place from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. in the Ronald Reagan Building, 1300 Pennsylvania Ave. NW. Individual tickets are $125, and sponsorship opportunities range from $1,000 to $10,000, with all proceeds going to the D.C. Central Kitchen. Forty area restaurants will provide guests with tastes of their specialties. Visit www.capitalfoodfight.org.

Chef Nathan Beauchamp of 1789 Restaurant (1226 36th St. NW; 202/965-1789) is preparing a top-secret five-course tasting menu, priced at $45 per person Monday and Tuesday. The menu will feature ghoulish fare with shock value -- the names of the dishes will be withheld until the end of the meal. For Thanksgiving, Mr. Beauchamp is planning a traditional menu at a $52 fixed price as well as an a la carte menu. Thanksgiving dinner will be served from noon until 9 p.m.

At the Blue Duck Tavern (24th and M Streets NW; 202/419-6755), chef Brian McBride and chef de cuisine Mark Hellyar's Thanksgiving menu will include roast turkey breast with chestnut-stuffed leg, plus other entrees featuring ingredients from regional farms, such as suckling pig with bourbon peaches, trout with pears and Maine lobster potpie. Desserts include apple pie, chocolate pecan cake and pumpkin custard with creme fraiche. Thanksgiving brunch will be served from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. with a fixed-price three-course menu ($80 for adults and $35 for children between 6 and 12). The $75 three-course dinner is served from 6 to 10 p.m.

Thanksgiving is not a holiday in India, but Rasika (633 D St. NW; 202/637-1222) and the Bombay Club (815 Connecticut Ave. NW; 202/659-3727) are adding tandoori turkey to their a la carte menus on Nov. 23 for $15.50 and $14.95.

At the Oval Room (800 Connecticut Ave. NW; 202/463-8700), chef Tony Conte is offering a three-course menu priced at $40 per person. His menu features sea scallops with cranberries; sweet potato soup with mulled maple syrup, and butternut squash ravioli with sage and balsamico.

Ardeo (3311 Connecticut Ave., NW; 202/244-6750) will offer a Thanksgiving menu, priced at $35 per person, from noon to 8 p.m. Choices include squash soup with toasted hazelnuts, cheddar-chive biscuits, maple-brined turkey, glazed ham, and porcini-crusted monkfish.

At 701 (701 Pennsylvania Ave. NW; 202/393-0242), the three-course holiday menu will be served from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. for $38 per person. On the menu are dishes such as lobster creme brulee and crayfish salad, roast turkey with sweet potato puree, halibut with roasted cauliflower, and pumpkin bread pudding.

The Fairmont Washington (2401 M St. NW; 202/429-2400, Ext.164) is again offering turkeys to go. Dinners for 10, priced at $200, include the turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, roasted sweet potatoes, baby squash, cranberry sauce and pie. Orders must be placed before Nov. 17 and can be picked up between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. Nov. 23.

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