We’ve been looking forward to the debut of Mike Isabella’s 14th Street sandwich shop, G, since the toque divulged details and the upcoming menu back in February. Now it looks like Jerseyites in his home state will get first dibs on a similar concept, as a new eatery, G GrabandGo, was just announced for an opening in Edison, New Jersey, this spring. The Washington version is slated to debut later in the summer.
Isabella partners with sister Diana Isabella and brother-in-law Rob Wetchkus for the 20-seat spot, which promises to combine aspects of both Graffiato and the upcoming G. Both sandwich spots will serve breakfast creations such as the Jersey Mac—duck egg, ham, and Muenster cheese tucked between fresh-baked English muffins—and a variety of Italian classics like chicken Parm and an Italian hero.
Isabella isn’t the first Washington toque to expand to the Garden State. The Revel in Atlantic City drew Robert Wiedmaier and Michel Richard to set up outposts of Mussel Bar and Central, respectively.
Vikram Sunderam
Chef at Rasika and Rasika West End
Instrument: Tabla, an Indian-style pair of drums.
His learning process: “If I hear something often enough, I can play it.”
Tip for tabla mastery: “You play with your hands, so you have to have skillful fingers.”
Influences: Indian tabla maestros Zakir Hussain and Alla Rakha.
Where he plays now: “I have a tabla set and a drum kit at home, so I definitely keep the neighbors up.”
What he listens to in the kitchen: Pop, rock, Bollywood tunes, Hindi music.
Aaron McCloud
Chef at Cedar
Instrument: Violin.
First restaurant job: Playing violin during Sunday brunch at the Gandy Dancer in Ann Arbor as a teenager.
Pay at the time: $100 an hour.
Training: At McCloud’s peak, he was practicing up to ten hours a day and spending summers at Michigan’s Interlochen Center.
How performing informed his cooking philosophy: “A lot of chefs have this idea that they cook for themselves. If guests like it, that’s great; if not, screw ’em. I’m the opposite because I cook for other people.”
Career high: Taking a class with violin virtuoso Itzhak Perlman.
Chef Jennifer Nguyen officially takes over the kitchen in May. Photograph by Scott Suchman.
Washington’s Kimpton Hotel Restaurants are undergoing a number of chef changes this month. First came the news that Urbana’s John Critchley was moving over to Bourbon Steak. Now Tom Sietsema reports that celebrity toque Susur Lee will part ways with Zentan in the Donovan House hotel by the end of the month. Stepping in: Jennifer Nguyen, whose résumé includes big-name positions such as sous chef at Thomas Keller’s Bouchon, chef de cuisine at Morimoto in Philadelphia, and executive chef at San Francisco’s Ozumo.
Zentan was always a “modern Asian” restaurant under Lee, who’d travel from his base in Toronto several times a year to oversee the menu, which mainly mixed sushi and other Japanese items with Chinese dishes such as Cantonese-marinated steak and roast duck. A release from the restaurant says while a fusion of cuisines will still play a part in the offerings—blending flavors from Thailand and Nguyen’s native Vietnam—there will be a larger emphasis on Japanese fare. Past experience with sushi, omakase tasting menus, and yakitori will influence the new menu.
The kitchen isn’t the only place with a fresh face at Zentan. Bartender Josh Berner moved from Ripple in Cleveland Park to command the cocktail program at the end of 2012. The new hires are part of the overall changes at the property, which Kimpton took over last spring. Stay tuned for more details as they become available.
There are two Washington chefs among the ten Mid-Atlantic toques in contention for the People’s Best New Chef award from Food & Wine magazine this year. Every March, the magazine publishes a list of 100 up-and-coming cooks in ten regions, and the winner is determined by popular vote.
Toki Underground’s Erik Bruner-Yang, the man responsible for the Taiwanese-style ramen at the tiny H Street restaurant, is among the nominees. Joining him is Cedric Maupillier, the former chef de cuisine at Central Michel Richard who now helms the kitchen at Adams Morgan bistro Mintwood Place.
The two men join seven Philadelphia chefs and one Pittsburgh toque—Kevin Sousa—in the Mid-Atlantic category. The guy to beat may be Philly’s likable and talented Kevin Spraga, who surprised everyone by emerging victorious on season seven of Top Chef. (He used his earnings to open his new American restaurant, Spraga). If you want to see the honor go to one of our own, be sure to cast your vote before March 18.
Mike Isabella hands out porky snacks at the 2012 Cochon 555 event in Washington. Photograph by Jeff Martin.
Five chefs, five dishes, five wine pairings—that’s the idea behind Cochon 555, a traveling pig-centric competition. In cities across America, chefs are challenged to make use of a whole heritage pig, and the winner at each stop goes on to compete at the Food & Wine Classic in Aspen. This year, the Washington leg of the tour happens on Sunday, April 7.
The 2013 competitors in Washington are: Mike Isabella (Graffiato, Bandolero); Proof and Estadio’s Haidair Karoum; Kyle Bailey of Birch & Barley; Vidalia and Woodward Table chef-restaurateur Jeffrey Buben; and Bryan Voltaggio of Volt, Range, and Family Meal.
The ten-city tour marks its fifth anniversary in 2013. It’s typically a boozy good time (especially the after-party, where the chefs and industry insiders really unwind), but this year the organizers have upped the ante for the big birthday. Guests can now sample five bourbons, including Breckenridge and Four Roses; tipples from a Manhattan bar; or a mezcal tasting section with samples from Ilegal, Mezcales de Leyenda, and Fidencio. The VIP-ers find a little extra with a new cocktail competition among six local barkeeps, as well as early entry (which can be worth it, given the 400-deep crowd), access to more spirits, and, for the first time, a tartare bar. Other fun treats include a cheese bar, a butchery demo from Alleghany Meats, porky desserts, and Fernet Branca digestifs.
The venue is still being determined, though representatives confirm the event will be in the District. Tickets are on sale now, starting at $125 for general admission and $200 for VIP. Check out our pictures from last year, including one of crown pork prince Scott Drewno of the Source, for a preview of what to expect.
Current Urbana chef John Critchley takes over at Bourbon Steak when Adam Sobel departs for the West Coast. Photograph courtesy of the restaurant.
It looks like San Francisco-based restaurateur/gentle god Michael Mina has called another of his lambs home. Eater DC brought word yesterday that Bourbon Steak chef Adam Sobel is leaving his post, which was confirmed to the Post today (don’t get some people started). It looks like that “big-ass going-away chef party” Mike Isabella tweeted about was for Sobel’s new gig as chef-partner at Mina’s wine-centric RN74 in San Fran.
This isn’t the first time Mina has taken talent back to the mothership. David Varley, the Bourbon Steak toque just before Sobel, left Washington for a corporate chef position in the Mina Group. The successful restaurateur has also attracted Washington toques from outside eateries. Pastry chefs Douglas Hernandez and Chris Ford left posts at Bibiana and Rogue 24, respectively, for Mina operations in the Four Seasons in Baltimore, while Nick Sharpe departed Ba Bay for a Mina title in California months before the Vietnamese spot closed.
Another chef drawn to the restaurant group: Sobel’s replacement, the current Urbana toque John Critchley, who starts his new position on March 18. What will the switch mean for the fine-dining hotspot? It’s too early to tell, but Critchley cites similarities with the Mina philosophy in a release, including a focus on seasonality, sustainable seafood, and local ingredients. As for Urbana’s kitchen, it’s time to polish up those chef résumés: A search for a new commander is in the works.
Former sous chef Martha Garcia has taken over the kitchen at Jack Rose. Photograph by Kyle Gustafson.
It looks like the Presidential Restaurant Group has selected a chef at its latest restaurant, Teddy & the Bully Bar—and no, it isn't Sam Kass. Word came this morning that former Jack Rose chef Michael Hartzer will take the lead on the American shared-plates menu. The restaurant was originally gunning for a inauguration-weekend opening, but it has been pushed back to the spring.
Scott Drewno, Todd Gray, Mike Isabella, Art Smith, and Rock Harper created tasty bites to benefit charities of their choice. Photographs by Jeff Martin.
Sartorial ogling aside, the food was the big draw at the charity event, co-chaired by Art and Soul owner Art Smith and his executive chef, Wes Morton. Big names such as Mike Isabella (Graffiato), Scott Drewno (the Source), Erik Bruner-Yang (Toki Underground), Todd Gray (Equinox), and Rock Harper of DC Central Kitchen each created bites to raise money for causes like the Cambodian Children's Fund and the Prevent Cancer Foundation. Smith and Morton gifted their donations to Smith’s organization Common Threads, which teaches underprivileged children about health and nutrition.
Relaxed as it was, the ball did have its glitzy moments: Redheaded Modern Family star Jesse Tyler Ferguson (staff wore bow ties from the actor’s pro-gay-marriage organization) showed up, as did Smith’s friend Gayle King and Illinois governor Pat Quinn.
Local restaurateur Geoff Tracy, who helms Lia's and the three Chef Geoff's locations, delivered a talk at 2012's TEDxMidAtlantic conference about getting into the mindset of an entrepreneur. The talk, viewable as a roughly nine-and-a-half-minute video, includes, among other anecdotes, the story of how he walked into his first restaurant to find the freezers filled with months-old spoiled food, which he cleaned out himself because he couldn't find a company to take on the odoriferous project.
For more on Tracy, check out Todd Kliman's story "Everywhere at Once: Geoff Tracy's Data-Driven Empire," about the chef created a complex system to ensure consistency and seamlessness of experience across his restaurant mini empire.
Nearly 60 chefs and restaurant owners from the District, Maryland, and Virginia have signed on to a letter that calls for an end to seafood fraud and the implementation of improved traceability systems in the US market. The petition, led by National Geographic fellow Barton Seaver, is part of an ongoing campaign by Oceana to end the mislabeling, misrepresentation, and illegal exchange of seafood products.
While certain kinds of fish fraud happen knowingly on the restaurant level—when a cook swaps out local crabmeat for the cheaper Asian product to save money on those “Maryland crabcakes,” say—but in many cases, it’s the chefs themselves who are being misled. Whether it’s the fisherman, the distributor, or the packaging plant doing the mislabeling, plenty of toques—and, as a result, customers—are duped into thinking they’re purchasing one kind of seafood when it’s actually a cheaper and lesser product.
