Food

Brian McPherson Named New Chef at Jackson 20 and the Grille at Morrison House

Dennis Marron’s replacement will debut new menus at the end of March.

Brian McPherson is focusing on local and sustainable at Jackson 20 (pictured here) and the Grill at Morrison House. Photograph by Stacy Zarin-Goldberg.

Late last year, Dennis Marron left his gig as top toque at Old Town Alexandria restaurants Jackson 20 and the Grille at Morrison House for a new post at Poste. All three restaurants are owned by the Kimpton hotel and restaurant chain, and Kimpton has picked Brian McPherson, an alum of New Heights, Butterfield 9, David Greggory, and—wouldn’t ya know it—Poste, to replace him.

When we chatted with McPherson on Wednesday, he told us he spent the first weeks on the job training cooks—teaching them to brine the chicken before roasting it, for instance, as well as proper techniques for braising and confiting. While working under Marron’s Poste predecessor Robert Weland, McPherson became a convert to the kitchen herb garden, and plans to bring more on-property ingredient sourcing to the Alexandria restaurants and work more with local farmers and purveyors. Sustainibility programs—recycling, composting—are also being implemented. McPherson will debut new menus at both restaurants by the end of March.