Washington, D.C
Always in bloom: Cherry blossom pop-ups, food and drinks to try in DC
The National Cherry Blossom Festival may be over, but bloom season is just getting started.
Spring in D.C. is still vibrant despite the end of the cherry blossoms’ peak bloom at the Tidal Basin.
This year’s National Cherry Blossom Festival concludes this weekend with events including the Sakura Matsuri Japanese Street Festival and parade (except for the Anacostia River Festival on May 17). However, the presence of the cherry blossoms remains in the District as many restaurants, hotels and gardens keep the pink and white energy alive for the season.
If you’d like to experience any type of bloom regardless of the season, the U.S. Botanic Garden has dozens of exhibits perfect for pictures and learning more about horticulture. It’s also running its annual orchid show.
The National Arboretum is also a good choice. Dogwoods and lilacs are appearing, and some species of cherry trees are in bloom. Here’s a self-guided cherry blossom tour.
Cherry blossom-themed food, drinks and pop-ups
At MITA, enjoy their cherry blossom-inspired cocktail, the Sakura Maru, which includes a hint of raspberry syrup and lemon juice, topped with a layer of aquafaba for only $18.
El Cielo will serve freeze-dried cherry cones filled with cherry blossom cream, sakura shoyu gel, cherry sorbet and a chocolate branch to celebrate the season.
Numerous restaurants on The Wharf have Cherry Blossom-inspired food from Toastique’s cherry blossom smoothie to Fat Fish’s cherry blossom and ube soft-serve. Check out if your favorite bar or restaurant on the Southwest Waterfront is celebrating the season here.
Ciel Social Club
The cocktail menu at Ciel Social Club offers drinks such as the lychee martini and the Japanese black Manhattan for customers while they surround themselves with cherry blossom-inspired decorations. Arlington-based designer Kat Flowers Design and Decor crafted the seasonal scenery inside the rooftop lounge and restaurant with expansive views of the U.S. Capitol dome, Washington Monument and downtown D.C. It’s on top of the AC Hotel Washington DC Convention Center in Mount Vernon Triangle.
The Bloomroom

Hi-Lawn, located on the rooftop of Union Market, features The Bloomroom inside their Dome. The newly cherry blossom-fied dome has floral artwork projections created by D.C. artist Chris Pyrate and Australian digital artist Laura Alice.
Sip from a full menu of flower-adorned cocktails and mocktails ($8-$15), then munch on elevated, bloom-covered small plates that scream spring, including a salmon tartine and arancini with pea puree ($13-$22).
Each $35 ticket gets you inside The Dome for a 90-minute journey through bloom-filled scenes. Food and drinks cost extra.
It’s mostly for those aged 21 and up, but younger folks can go to the noon shows on Saturday and Sunday. Reservations are available here.

The Fairmont Hotel in Georgetown will host their final Cherry Blossom Afternoon Tea on Sunday, April 13. The tea will include a variety of sandwiches, sweets and drinks for people of all ages. Tickets are $110 for adults and $65 for children ages five through 13.
ARTECHOUSE’s Blooming Wonders exhibit

ARTECHOUSE DC’s Blooming Wonders exhibit transports visitors into a floral utopia with digital, interactive environments to celebrate spring and honor the cherry blossoms’ short-lived prime moment.
Calico’s Birdcage in Bloom pop-up in Balgden Alley will end for the urban backyard this Sunday.
For the month of April, head to Adams Morgan and Jack Rose Dining Saloon’s open-air terrace with cherry blossom specials every Thursday through Saturday.
Want to know what’s up for your weekend? Sign up for The Weekend Scene, our newsletter about events, experiences and adventures for you and for your family around the DMV.
Washington, D.C
Storm Team4 Forecast: A chilly, gusty Sunday before a cool start to the week
4 things to know about the weather:
- Chances of rain in the morning
- Gusty Sunday
- Chilly Monday
- Temps will rise again through the work week
Download the NBC Washington app on iOS and Android to check the weather radar on the go.
After a nice and warm Saturday, changes arrive for part two of the weekend.
The first half of your Sunday will have a chance for showers. Winds will pick up with our next system and are expected to gust to about 20-30 mph. Cooler air will settle in, and lows Sunday night fall into the 40s.
Highs temps Monday will reach only into the mid to upper 50s.
However, temperatures will rise through the week, so you won’t need your jackets every day.
QuickCast
SUNDAY:
Showers, then partly cloudy
Wind: NW 10-15 mph
Gusts @ 30 mph
HIGH: Lower 60s
MONDAY:
Partly cloudy
Wind: NW 10-15 mph
Gusts @ 25 mph
HIGH: Upper 50s
Stay with Storm Team4 for the latest forecast. Download the NBC Washington app on iOS and Android to get severe weather alerts on your phone.
Washington, D.C
‘It’s a twilight zone’: Iran war casts deep shadows over IMF gathering in Washington
The most severe energy shock since the 1970s, the risk of a global recession and households everywhere stomaching a renewed surge in the cost of living – hitting the most vulnerable hardest.
In a sweltering hot Washington DC this week, the message at the International Monetary Fund meetings was chilling: things had been looking up for living standards around the world. But then came the Iran war.
“Some countries are in panic,” said the fund’s managing director, Kristalina Georgieva, addressing the finance ministers and central bank bosses in town for the IMF and World Bank spring meetings. “The sooner it [the Iran war] ends, the better for everybody.”
Such gatherings are not typically used to fight geopolitical battles. “You don’t get people shouting at one another at these things,” one senior figure remarked. But, as a record-breaking April heatwave swept the US capital, no one could ignore the mounting damage from the Iran war.
Those familiar with the mood over breakfast at a meeting of the G20’s representatives on Thursday, which included Donald Trump’s treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, and the outgoing US Federal Reserve chair, Jerome Powell – said the atmosphere in the room was sombre amid an open exchange of serious views.
“It is such a twilight-zone meeting,” said Mohamed El-Erian, a former IMF deputy managing director who is now chief economic adviser at the Allianz insurance group. “There are several shadows hanging over it: one is the shadow that comes from concern about the global economy as a whole.
“The second is that some countries are going to be particularly hard hit, and it’s mostly countries that very few people are talking about. But the third concern is the adding of insult to injury: the fact that the US, which started a war of choice, is going to be hit, but by a lot less than elsewhere in relative terms.”
Before Thursday’s breakfast, Rachel Reeves had started her day with an early-morning jog. Joined by her counterparts from Spain, Australia and New Zealand for a run down the iconic National Mall, she posted an Instagram selfie with a not-so-subtle dig: “Friends that run together – work together.”
A day earlier, the chancellor had told a CNBC conference that she thought “friends are allowed to disagree on things” as she criticised Trump’s Iran war as a “mistake” and a “folly” that had not made the world safer.
Speaking at a venue just steps away from the White House, before a one-on-one meeting with Bessent, she said this “fair message” was needed because UK families and businesses were feeling the pain from higher energy prices triggered by the conflict.
Those close to Reeves insist her meeting remained cordial. Britain and the US have significant shared interests in AI, financial services and trade. The chancellor also said the UK government had little time for the Iranian regime.
But with the IMF having warned on Tuesday that the Iran war could risk a global recession – in which Britain would be the biggest G7 casualty – it was clear Reeves had travelled to Washington ready to pick a fight.
“I’m struck by how vocal she has been and the words she used,” said one global financier. “We know the disagreement between Bessent and [European Central Bank president] Christine Lagarde earlier in the year. But that was in private.”
At a cocktail party held at the British ambassador’s residence for hundreds of diplomats and financiers – including the Bank of England’s governor, Andrew Bailey, the chief executive of Barclays, CS Venkatakrishnan, and dozens of senior figures – this transatlantic tension, weeks before King Charles’s US state visit, was a major topic of conversation.
The other, in the balmy residence gardens, was one of its former occupants, Peter Mandelson, as revelations about the former ambassador’s appointment threatened to further rock the UK government.
Before the war, the agenda for the IMF had been about global cooperation; the adoption of AI, jobs and work to eradicate poverty. Each of those tasks had now been complicated, but not least the task of countries working together.
For many at the meetings, the focus was on forging closer global cooperation without the world’s pre-eminent superpower.
“Everybody is talking about how you hedge against American decisions,” said David Miliband, the former UK foreign secretary, who now runs the International Rescue Committee. “You can’t do without them, because they’re 25% of the global economy. But, in a lot of fora, they’ve pulled out.
“So everyone has to think, how does one structure international cooperation? The old west is not coming back. And so everyone has to figure out how to position themselves for that world.”
For those gathering in Washington, there was irony in the fact that they were meeting in the halls of institutions founded, under US leadership, to promote global cooperation after the second world war. The whole idea of the Bretton Woods institutions was to avoid the dire economic conditions and warfare of the 1930s and 1940s. Yet this year’s meeting was taking place amid these intertwining problems.
In their conversations about the best economic policy response to the shock of conflict, the economists also knew the real power to make a difference lay two blocks across town from the IMF and the World Bank – behind the security cordons and construction equipment blocking the White House from public view. “It is not clear they can do anything about it,” said El-Erian.
Still, with a booming economy driven by AI – including Anthropic’s powerful Mythos model, the topic of much conversation – most countries cannot afford to completely break off US ties.
“People want to find ways to insulate themselves from the mess. But, on the other hand, they admire the US private sector,” El-Erian said. “The best way I’ve heard it put, is: they want to go long the private sector and short the mess. But it’s almost impossible to do.”
Washington, D.C
Rosselli opens in DC, serving classic Italian flavors from chef Carlos
Washington, D.C. (7News) — Rosselli is the newest restaurant to open in DC.
Bringing in classic Italian flavors, Chef Carlos explained how he hopes his food is a unique addition to the Italian food scene in the DMV.
Chef also demoed a signature dish with Brian and Megan.
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You can learn more and book your table here.
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Washington, D.C43 minutes agoStorm Team4 Forecast: A chilly, gusty Sunday before a cool start to the week