The soft serve sundaes available at Dolcezza for all of February. | Dolcezza As D.C. comes down from the high of the holidays, restaurants are keeping spirits high with special collaborations, Monday deals, and plenty of Valentine’s Day-themed celebrations. Get bundled up and go enjoy thes e spectacular winter pop-ups, plus be on the lookout for updates to this list. Upcoming pop-ups Capitol Jill Baking at Hill East Burger Local baker Jill Nguyễn is selling pastries, cakes, and other sweets at her favorite neighborhood bar this Sunday, February 8. Swedish cardamom buns, cheddar cornbread scones, and a Mardi Gras-inspired cinnamon roll with pecan praline will be available at 1 p.m., while other baked goods, like passionfruit opera cake and apricot elderflower olive oil cake, will be sold at the pop-up at 3 p.m. Special sweet cocktails, like a Choco Taco Martini, will also be sold for the sugary collaboration. 1432 Pennsylvania Avenue SE Vera Cocina x ZZ Vera has been throwing some exciting collaboration dinners lately, and now Middle Eastern bakery ZZ is coming down to the Ivy City restaurant for a crossover brunch on Sunday, February 8. ZZ will be making signature manoushe with Mexican za’tar and Oaxacan cheese, alongside a few other collaborative morning dishes. Reservations are available on Tock, but walk-ins and to-go orders are also welcome. 2002 Fenwick Street NE Valen-Wines Tasting at Lulu’s Winegarden The seasonal, walk-around wine tasting at Lulu’s Winegarden is Valentine’s themed for this month, with unlimited tastings of 25 different wines and a bottomless taco bar on Sunday, February 15, at either the noon to 1:30 p.m. session or the 2 to 3:30 p.m. session. Tickets ($55 a person) are available on Resy. Other Valentines-themed events at the U Street wine bar include a Galentine’s Bravo Trivia Night that will include questions ranging from The Real Housewives, Southern Charm, Below Deck, and Summer House on Tuesday, February 10, from 7 to 9 p.m. Holiday-themed cocktails and a discounted pink and sultry reds wine menu will also be available from February 10 to February 15. 1940 11th St NW Lundi Gras Party at St. Vincent Wine The 3rd annual Lundi Gras party at the Park View wine bar will include Mardi Gras beads, classic hurricane cocktails, live brassy funk music, and a Cajun-inspired menu on Monday, February 16, from 5 to 10 p.m. Tickets ($20) are available on Resy. On the Friday before, February 13, St. Vincent is throwing a Nowhere to Wear It Galentine’s Day Party, where attendees are encouraged to wear the most outrageous thing in their closet while enjoy the seasonal fondue menu (only available this month) or a “girl dinner” special with truffle fries, miso ceasar salad, a full charcuterie board, and bottle of rose for only $85. 3212 Georgia Ave NW Las Quince Letras × Apapacho Taqueria Celia Florián, the chef behind traditional Oaxacan restaurant Las Quince Letras, joins her son, Apapacho owner Alam Mendez, for a very special eight-course tasting dinner on Friday, February 20, at 7 p.m. The pair will explore Oaxaca’s moles throughout the dinner, which will be hosted in the La Cosecha taqueria. Tickets ($170 per person, $220 with the optional beverage pairing) are only available in advance. 1280 4th St NE Unit 10 20 Years of Mandu Collaboration Dinner Series The first full-service Korean restaurant in D.C. is celebrating 20 years of serving heart-warming meals in D.C. with a series of collaboration dinners with Danny Lee and Mama Lee, with the first one with Pascual’s Isabel Coss and Matt Conroy taking place on Tuesday, February 10. The pre-paid tasting menu ($150 per person) will meld Korean and Mexican cooking techniques, with tickets almost sold out on Resy. Upcoming collab dinners include Michael Rafidi (Albi, Yellow, and La Shukran) on March 10, Masako Morishita (Perry’s) and Chef Matt Adler (Caruso’s Grocery, Cucina Morini) on April 7, and Erik Bruner Yang (Maketto) and Steve Chu (Ekiben) on May 7. Keep an eye out for those upcoming reservations. 453 K Street NW Jane Jane Does Olympics and Valentine’s Day Logan Circle’s acclaimed cocktail bar Jane Jane toasts to the Olympics with a trio of “Teeny Tinis” (martinis) inspired by the podium itself ($33). And for Valentine’s Day weekend, the bar unleashes a cheeky cocktail for two dubbed “I Wanna See Your Peacock” (gin, cognac, lime, and pomegranate), served in a peacock glass for $30. 1705 14th Street NW Chicatana x El Mercat Bar de Tapas On Thursday, March 5, Arlington’s Spanish newcomer El Mercat Bar de Tapas invites D.C.’s top-rated Mexican restaurant Chicatana to venture across the Potomac and cook a collaborative seven-course dinner for one night only. Tickets are $145 for the tasting menu with wine pairings or $90 for just the food. 1301 S. Joyce Street, Arlington, Virginia Ongoing pop-ups Chang Chang x Ice Cream Jubilee In honor of the Lunar New Year, James Beard Award finalist Peter Chang makes his first foray into ice cream a la Ice Cream Jubilee. The fiery flavor features his iconic Sichuan numbing spice, balanced by salted caramel and crunchy dark chocolate pretzel pieces. PB Málà Swirl will be available at all Ice Cream Jubilee locations and on the menu at Chang Chang in Dupont starting Friday, February 6, through March, or while supplies last. Multiple locations …Meanwhile, Q by Peter Chang hosts a daytime Temple Fair to mark the Chinese New Year and Lantern Festival at his Bethesda outpost on Sunday, March 1. Tickets (available here) are priced at $58 for adults. 4500 East-West Highway, Bethesda, Maryland …and Lunar New Year celebrations continue at Hong Kong-themed Tiger Fork in Shaw, which honors the year of the horse from February 17-28, complete with classic Cantonese dishes from executive chef Simon Lam that include new dumpling drops and duck platters. Swing by Blagden Alley on Saturday, February 21 for two showings of traditional Lion Dance performances. Reservations are available via Resy. 922 N Street NW February Specials at Dolcezza Dolcezza is serving up special February gelato flavors inspired by Valentine’s Day, like a red velvet cake gelato and passionfruit mousse gelato, plus corresponding soft serve sundaes and matcha drink specials. The soft serve sundaes, which are only available at H Street and the Hirshorn museum shop, include a red velvet version covered in cake bits and cream cheese frosting and a passionfruit iteration with a passionfruit pulp sauce. 600 H St NE and 7th and Independence Ave SW Taco Taco by Cranes Starting on January 28, Cranes will be hosting a lunch pop-up called Taco Taco with chef Pepe Moncayo serving up tacos that explore Japanese technique and Moncayo’s Spanish background, but also Latin flavors from traditional taquerias. Tacos, bowls, and wraps will be filled with grilled garlic shrimp with ajo blanco and chili oil; koji-marinated skirt steak with salsa macha; crispy chicken karaage with napa cabbage and togarashi crema; and more fusion fixings during the lunchtime pop-up from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesday through Friday. There will be a special promotion during the first week of Taco Taco’s launch, with buy-one-get-two-free tacos available from January 28 to January 30 during lunchtime. 724 9th Street NW Cucina Morini Monday Pasta Deal Get in your comforting carbs this winter at Cucina Morini, with pasta deal Mondays extending throughout all of February, chef Matt Adler tells Eater. Diners can order $10 primi servings and $20 full servings of pasta during the Monday deal. There will be a short break on January 19th, but the pasta deal will start back up on January 26. Reservations are available on SevenRooms. 901 4th Street NW Trompo Mondays at Pascual This fire-fed Mexican spot is serving up trompo-cooked meats folded up in tortillas every Monday through this winter. Proteins cooked on a rotating spit span many different cuisines, like a South Indian trompo in late December with beef nadan (curry-spiced) served in tamarind tortillas. Look out for teases of which trompo the Pascual team is serving next on Instagram and reservations are available on Resy. 732 Maryland Avenue NE ...read more read less