If you’re the kind of gourmand who is a) Michelin-obsessed and b) moneyed enough to spend $600-plus on dinner, then you’ll want to keep tabs on c) Minibar’s “Mini Series, Major Chefs” dinner series. José Andrés’ modernist tasting room in Penn Quarter is hosting some of the globe’s hottest culinary names—Spain’s Albert Adrià was a recent guest—for what we can imagine are marvelous, wildly expensive meals at the intimate counter. Next up: an evening with Dominique Crenn of San Francisco’s lauded Atelier Crenn on June 11.
Crenn was recently awarded three Michelin stars—a first for a female chef in the US. Only a handful of women have been earned the accolade (mostly in France, where she’s from). Previously she was awarded “Best Female Chef” on San Pellegrino’s global list of the The 50 Best Restaurants—a category she denounced as sexist, and more specifically, “stupid.” You can sense the theme: Dominique Crenn is a hugely talented badass.
Crenn will collaborate with Andrés and Minibar head chef Jorge Hernandez for two tastings—one at 5:30 PM and another at 8:30—for $695 per person including wine but excluding tax and gratuity. To put things in perspective, a “regular” night at Minibar goes for around $620, all-inclusive and with “standard” alcohol pairings. The ticketed reservations are available online, and limited to 12 guests per seating. So yes, the high price includes face time along with everything else.
Anna Spiegel covers the dining and drinking scene in her native DC. Prior to joining Washingtonian in 2010, she attended the French Culinary Institute and Columbia University’s MFA program in New York, and held various cooking and writing positions in NYC and in St. John, US Virgin Islands.
