Celebrate Mardi Gras on Tuesday, February 5th, in the National Building Museum’s rotunda, where DC’s foremost chefs (including those from Café Atlántico, Citronelle, Equinox, Vidalia, Westend Bistro by Eric Ripert and more) will be dishing up their specialties at stations while guests bid on one-of-a-kind silent auction items at this glamorous benefit for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital (5:30–9:30 PM; $350; 401 F St. NW; for tickets 800-336-3083 or www.stjude.org).
Also on Fat Tuesday, the good times will roll at Michel Richard’s Downtown bistro, Central, where a live New Orleans–style blues band will set the mood for Big Easy menu specials like crayfish gumbo and jambalaya. Potent Hurricane and Cyclone cocktails will help fuel the festivities; reserve a table or drop by the bar (6–11 PM; 202-626-0015).