Foodie News: Tex-Mex Joins Tony Shopping Block, Inspections Close Down Restaurants, Edible Cicadas

Get caught up with the food scene in Montgomery County and adjacent Washington, DC, neighborhoods with 1 Meat, 3 Sides. This week, a new Tex-Mex restaurant on the 'Rodeo Drive of the East Coast' takes center plate.

One meat:

On Friday, Chevy Chase's newest restaurant, Mi Cocina, opened in the middle of the ritzy Wisconsin Avenue shopping block, The Collection at Chevy Chase (5471-5481 Wisconsin Ave.)—also known as the 'Rodeo Drive of the East Coast.'

Mi Cocina is a popular upscale Tex-Mex chain that opened 20 years ago in Dallas. Its Chevy Chase location has one-of-a-kind art, a lofty private dining room and an outdoor dining space. Flanking Mi Cocina are Christian Dior and Bulgari—making it ideal for those who work up big appetites shopping for pricey accessories. (And, calorie counts on the menu help keep splurging in check.) Read more on Bethesda-Chevy Chase Patch.

Three sides:

Where do you go if you have a taste for paella and guacamole? La Malinche in Silver Spring can satisfy both of those cravings with a menu that features small plates of Spanish and Mexican specialties. Read more about the restaurant on Silver Spring Patch.

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Three restaurants inspected by Montgomery County's Licensure and Regulatory Services Program had violations that caused them to close for a time in April, according to Data Montgomery, Silver Spring Patch reported.

The restaurants: Bubble Tea Cafe, at 11160 Veirs Mill Rd. in Wheaton; Jason's Sub, at 916 East-West Highway in Takoma Park; and Taco Mex, at 13830 Old Columbia Pike in Silver Spring. Read more on Silver Spring Patch.

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Food truck culture finally is catching on in Montgomery County: A new website, www.mocofoodtrucks.com, organizes about a dozen food trucks within the county and includes a comprehensive calendar of when some of the trucks will be in which area, Silver Spring Patch reported.

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Bonus side in honor of The Great Gatsby film premiere: Did you know that the lime rickey—consumed in "long, greedy swallows" in chapter seven of F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby novel—is Washington, DC's official cocktail? Washingtonian dishes up the deets and a recipe.

Bonus side in honor of bugs soon to be born: Cicadas aren't just pests—they're protein, too. Washington City Paper lists some cicada dishes being served at DC-area restaurants. Beer-battered cicadas or cicada tacos, anyone? Don't like insect legs sticking out of your fajita? Try some cicada-infused bourbon instead.

Dessert:

Bethesda resident Laurie Webber will take a trip to Paris soon, thanks to her culinary creation, tomato basil mini pochettes, which she created as her entry into la Madeleine's "Recipe to Paris" contest, Bethesda-Chevy Chase Patch reported.