Appetite: Alexandria Kicks Off Summer Restaurant Week

Alexandria’s restaurants take another turn in the spotlight, with special deals in honor of the city’s Summer Restaurant Week. The festivities, which run Aug. 17-26, highlight some of the city’s most compelling cuisine with brunch, lunch and dinner deals. Peruse the menus of dozens of participating restaurants and circle your favored date and time — but make a reservation, as the eateries usually book up quickly.

Café 44, 44 Canal Center Plaza

Tucked away within North Old Town’s Canal Center, Café 44 is offering up a brunch and lunch special for Restaurant Week. For $22 per person, diners can expect a three-course meal sporting a trio of options for each course. For lunch, try the likes of Potomac peach salad, ratatouille skewers and vanilla bean gelato; for brunch, cheddar bacon biscuits, quiche and lemon berry Napoleon await.

Mia’s Italian Kitchen, 100 King St.

The newcomer to lower King Street is starting its Restaurant Week tradition strong with a passel of featured dishes. Diners can partake of a two-course lunch (choosing either a starter or dessert) for $15; a three-course dinner will set you back $35. For lunch, select the likes of zucchini fries or minestrone to start, a porchetta sandwich or eggplant parmesan as a main dish and cannoli or Nutella budino as a sweet treat. Dinner will find such additions as eggplant and porcini “polpetta” or a giant meatball as appetizers, Tuscan brick chicken or bistecca alla Florentina on the entrée menu, and tiramisu added to the dessert lineup.

Hank’s Pasta Bar, 600 Montgomery St.

The chic pasta purveyor in North Old Town is back for another round of Restaurant Week fun. Chef Jamie Leeds and her team are offering up a $35-per-person three-course dinner this time around, and the offerings are compelling. Start off with a cool zuppa fredda di heirloom — a chilled heirloom tomato soup with cucumber and chili flakes — and then proceed to the likes of oven-roasted salmon, spaghetti primavera or New Zealand rack of lamb. Finish out the meal with panna cotta or sorbetto and head home satisfied.

Old House Cosmopolitan Grill, 1024 Cameron St.

New to town, Old House Cosmopolitan has settled in to the Restaurant Week spirit quite nicely. The eatery’s $22 lunch special sports a choice of soup (goulash or pfannkuchen, also known as German pancake soup) and entrée (lamb chops or spinach spatzle), followed up by a crepe for dessert. Or go with the three-course $35 dinner option, with the likes of mussels and shrimp, tomato mozzarella salad or soup to start; wiener schnitzel, crab cakes or Zurcher Geschnetzeltes — a veal ragout — as the main course; followed by black forest cake or crepes.

Hope Nelson owns and operates the Kitchen Recessionista blog, located at www.kitchenrecessionista.com. Email her any time at hope@kitchenrecessionista.com.