Daily dispatches on the Washington, DC area's food, restaurant and dining scene.

Chew on This: Is Barton Seaver Chef of the Year?

Seaver was awarded the title by Esquire Magazine. Does he deserve it? Let us know your thoughts.

By Kate Nerenberg

Comments

I don’t keep up with who is supposed to be the new hot chef, but when I realized this was someone who had something to do with Blue Ridge, I was shocked. A group of us had brunch at Blue Ridge a month after it opened. My sunny-side up eggs came congealed from sitting out so long, and the salad dressing was so oversalted I couldn’t eat the salad. Now, I’m sure this guy wasn’t cooking on a Sunday morning. But it was just a bad plate of food, for any restaurant.

Posted by: Glover Parker, Oct 10, 2009 12:25:10 PM

I love Barton Seaver, he is hot and is passionate about sustainability. But chef of the year for the USA? I think most of us will agree that to be chef of the year you should be serving exemplary food. Has anyone who has been to Blue Ridge think that he is doing that? I don’t.

Posted by: Anna, Oct 07, 2009 01:04:30 PM

this barton seaver bashing is pathetic.

as a native of the DC area (and local university alum) - now transplanted to another city - it defies comprehension that having the chef of the year for any national publication come from DC and not LA, vegas, NYC, etc., can be anything but positive for the DC food scene. because i come from DC, i have known the area to have great chefs and restaurants, but i will guarantee you the vast majority of esquire’s vast readership does not.

please, put down your sour grapes and think of the big picture. he hasn’tt been crowned BEST CHEF IN THE F-ING WORLD FOREVER, he’s been named chef of the year by a non-food magazine based on his achievements, his philosophy, and whatever else the critic used as his criteria. i mean, have you ever read esquire? the award does not diminish the other great chefs in DC, be they beard winners or recipients of other honors.

moreover, barton is a human being - a 30 year old man who already has accomplished a great deal. and he’s from DC. you should really be happy for the guy and proud that he’s from our hometown. in the meantime, give it a rest. your time will come, too, maybe sooner now that DC has gotten more culinary attention thanks to things like barton’s esquire award.

Posted by: really?, Oct 07, 2009 12:57:47 PM

I agree that there are a ton of chefs that have more years in the kitchen and more talent than Seaver, but Barton is hitting on something that is ever more prevalent in our time, sustainability. I think DC residents should be happy for the positive press, because ten years ago the only chef of the year we could of had worked the line at Dean and Deluca in G-town or they were from Silver Spring or Alexandria restaurants. Embrace new ideas and watch out for the 3rd restaurant, Diamond District, where Seaver will hopefully be able to shine with his "sustainable" fish market and restaurant.

Stop being so negative. Also, since when has Esquire Mag been anything more than a new fad magazine...

Posted by: so judgemental, Oct 07, 2009 12:37:36 PM

Glover park, DC: Hello Tom,

I have been to Blue Ridge a couple of times and have had lukewarm feeling about it. Then I saw the article about Chef Seaver being named chef of the year. Wondering what your thoughts on that were.

Also any word on there other restaurant Sonoma, I have been meaning to check it out.

Tom Sietsema: I think it says something that most of the local critics felt much the same way you did after eating at Blue Ridge: indifferent about the restaurant, which is helmed in part by Barton Seaver. The guy is an enthusiastic spokesman for sustainability, but chef of the YEAR? No way.

Esquire should be embarrassed by the pronouncement.

Yet another reason I tend to trust newspaper reviewers to magazine critics, some of who are too easily seduced by public relations people.

washingtonpost.com: Jane Black on the Barton Seaver-Esquire Issue

Posted by: tom, Oct 07, 2009 10:51:02 AM

So, true.

Posted by: agreed, Oct 07, 2009 06:22:21 AM

What a culinary travesty and a huge blow to the Washington DC dining scene. Barton Seaver was name the Nation Chef of the Year by Esquire!!! How simply observed this is.

The guy may be knowledgeable about sustainability, he may know a little about fisheries, but that doesn’t make him a good cook or a great chef. If any of these media people actually do any fact checking, one would learn that he has not been successful in any kitchen dynamic he ahs ever been in. If one tastes his food that is being produced from the kitchen he is supposed to be running, will find miss guidance, lack of execution, muddled flavors and above all not leadership.

We have a tremendous amount of talent in this city. Culinary pioneers (Jean Louis Palladen, Yanick Cam, Jeff Buben, Robert Weidmair, Roberto Donna, Jeff Tunks) that have paved this city’s culinary highway for the next generation of superstars (Cathal Armstrong, RJ Cooper, Eric Ziebold, Johnny Monis, Frank Ruta) on this list are 6 Beard winners, two nominated, one of the best chef/cooks in the world, chef’s who spend countless hours crafting cuisine that embarrasses not only the region but sustainability (oh and all have been working consecutively in there restaurants for more then five years!!!) Leadership on a culinary front should start with the kitchen not the media where Mr. Seaver’s has turned to make his brand successful.

Spouting off about sustainability should start with being able to sustain a success in food, restaurant and staff. This award has brought a tremendous amount of negativity to the great cooks that are in the DC metro area.

Mr. Searver should take himself out of the restaurant scene and do what he does best, pass his judgments and little knowledge on many topics to the media and stop using the word chef.

Posted by: All the Talented Chefs in DC, Oct 07, 2009 05:28:19 AM

complete BS. The guy can not cook a chicken right. There are actual Chefs in this city. It is his PR people got him this.

Posted by: WTF!!!, Oct 06, 2009 09:21:15 PM