Tonight, at Cashion's, chef John Manolatos unveils a new weekend tasting menu of his favorite dishes. Price is $85 per person ($105 with wine pairings). Availability is limited. The next day, the Cashion's crew also celebrates the second anniversary of its sister retail spot, A.M. Wine Shoppe, with tastings and demonstrations throughout the afternoon and early evening.

Also on Saturday, a whole weekend's worth of culinary education events kicks off at 1789 with chef Anthony Lombardo's braising tutorial, followed by a trip across town to Eastern Market and subsequent cooking class with celebrity toque Spike Mendelsohn. On Sunday, meanwhile, Barracks Row is the scene of an entire culinary education crawl.

Sunday is also the start of D.C. Meat Week. Those who don't schlep out to Rockville's Urban Bar-B-Q for the kick-off party, featuring happy hour specials and free side dishes, can still look forward to clogging their arteries at the Hill Country buffet on Monday, as well as other events throughout next week.

For more info, click on any event in the Y&H food events calendar above.

Got something tasty going on? Email tips, daily specials and event listings to hungry@washingtoncitypaper.com

***

Category: Tipped hourly wages [the advocacy' group endorses a $5 hourly wage for workers who are paid tips]

Clyde's Score: 0

Clyde's Response: Andersen confirms that no, the company doesn't pay the $5 or more on regular wages for its tipped employees. "We do pay the minimum," he says, which ranges from $2.13 in some jurisdictions to "two-eighty-something" in others. "But, our servers are making, with their tips, a lot of money," he notes. The company routinely monitors its payroll, including declared tips. ("Waiters, as you know, are supposed to claim tips," he notes. That's usually "the least amount they're willing to admit to making—not the most," he clarifies.) Based on that data, Andersen reports that front waiters are averaging more than $18 an hour (including wages and declared tips), back waiters (the food runners) are making $17.51, bartenders are raking in nearly $25 an hour and bussers are averaging $11.78. "Although we don't pay the five [as advocated by the workers' group]," he says, "we don't think that's an unfair situation for our servers."

***

Category: Non-tipped wages [the advocacy group recommends a $9 hourly wage]

Clyde's Score: ? [for unknown]

Clyde's Response: "We do have some people making less than $9 an hour," Andersen admits. "They're usually either a brand new employee or somebody that's in a training mode of one kind or another. It usually doesn't last more than six months or so and then they're usually well over $9, more like around $10 an hour or more....But I would say our average is definitely over $9 an hour, so we definitely should've gotten some credit for that."

***

Category: Paid sick days

Clyde's Score: 0

Clyde's Response: "As you know, there's a law in D.C. that requires paid sick days for all non-tipped employees and also for bussers who are tipped," Andersen notes. "And we do offer our employees 10 days per year of leave time. We don't have that for the tipped employees, but for the tipped employees, of course, they have a very flexible wage. I mean, we follow the D.C. law on that. And I know this particular group thinks that even tipped employees should get a paid sick day of some kind. We think that we allow them to easily make up whatever they want whenever they want, and we agreed with the D.C. government when they made that decision, too."

***

Category: Opportunities for advancement [the advocacy group awards an upward arrow for companies that offered at least 50 percent of its employees a promotion]

Clyde's Score: 0

Clyde's Response: Seriously? Andersen himself "grew up" within the company. "I started as a server at Clyde's," he says. "I'm now the operations manager for the whole company." Andersen's been with the company for 38 years. Lots of other people have similar stories, too. "My boss, John Latham, started as a dishwasher, believe it or not," he says. Latham is now the CEO. Looking over the management roster—some 180 people–Andersen reports that 70 percent have "grown up through the ranks," he says. "A lot of them, like myself, started as line employees and moved up to management."

***

Summing up, Andersen says: "Based on the standards that [Restaurant Opportunities Center United] uses, I can see why we wouldn't be one of their gold or silver-prize winners or something like that. But I think that we treat our employees very well."

Each year, the company conducts an anonymous survey of its employees, addressing things like treatment by supervisors, workplace safety and other working conditions. One question: "Have you told a friend or family members about job opportunities at Clyde's?" Of 1,162 responses, 770 said yes. "The number one reason was treatment," Andersen says. "That was at 42 percent." At a close second, 37 percent, was money. And scheduling was the third reason, he reports.

"I think our people feel pretty good working for us," Anderson says.

The Tombs is not known for its lamb ragu. It’s a college bar. It serves beer and various inexpensive “study snacks,” including chicken wings and fried pickles.

But lately, the subterranean watering hole, located on the outskirts of the Georgetown University campus, has seen some subtle shifts in its menu offerings. Alongside the typical barroom staples of chili, nachos, and mozzarella sticks, you’ll find various dishes incorporating locally sourced lamb, grass-fed beef, and sustainable seafood.

Three months ago, the bar’s upstairs neighbor, the far-fancier fine dining establishment 1789, hired a new executive chef, Anthony Lombardo. Part of his mission: making better use of what he calls “scraps,” though he admits that’s probably not the best word for it.

“When I throw that term out, it sounds a little scary,” says Lombardo.

Just to be clear: He’s not talking about the leftover gristle from some high-roller’s $45 steak. He means the pieces of meat that don’t generally make it on to that rich guy’s antique china plate to begin with.

Lamb racks, shanks, and shoulders, for instance, have long been signature items at 1789. The one night that Lombardo chose not to serve any type of lamb? Chaos. “It was like that commercial for Burger King where they don’t have the Whopper, and customers start freaking out,” he says.

But what about the other parts of the animal?

Those previously unwanted bits from upstairs are now the new study snacks downstairs in the Tombs. Some sections of that baby sheep will get ground up into lamb burgers, served with feta, lettuce, and tomato and sold for $11.95. Other parts go to other dishes.

“I’ll take some scraps and make, like, a really rich tomato lamb ragu with all the rib meat from inside the rib and all the fatty meat from on top of the rib cage,” Lombardo explains. “It doesn’t make a good burger, because it’s a little too sinewy. There’s some tissue in there that just doesn’t break down on a grill. But, if you stew it for five hours, it breaks down just fine. So we’re doing that, putting it on a rigatoni downstairs and it’s delicious.”

Likewise, auxiliary chunks of the same grouper, halibut, and red snapper served aboveground for $36 to $38 per plate wind up in a hearty fisherman’s stew served for $13.95 at The Tombs. Fishy refuse from above also goes into making the broth. “We take the bones from the halibut, break ’em down, and make a nice flavorful fume with some Riesling,” the chef says.

On a recent visit, I gorged on the golf ball-sized hunks of fish in the soup and the accompanying thick slab of grilled garlic bread, sopping up the entire bowl of lightly orange-tinted, faintly curry-flavored broth. If not the most delectable mélange I’ve ever tasted, it certainly beats the cheap beer-cheese soup I slurped on during my own college days.

* * *

Lombardo, 29, is a former Roberto Donna acolyte whose career has taken him from Washington’s once hallowed Galileo restaurant to venerable Detroit-area eatery Bacco. He later returned to D.C. for a year-long stint working under Amy Brandwein at Casa Nonna, prior to taking his former Culinary Institute of America classmate Dan Giusti’s old post as top toque at 1789.

Earlier in his career, Lombardo spent six months working as a butcher in Italy. He partially credits his ability to disassemble an entire veal calf in less than 30 minutes for impressing his current bosses enough to earn him the job. (Being old buddies with the last chef, who left this past summer to work at Denmark’s illustrious eatery Noma, probably didn’t hurt, either.)

Both The Tombs and 1789 are owned by Clyde’s Restaurant Group. Yet, in most ways, the upper-level gourmet eatery and basement boîte operate as entirely separate entities. Each has its own kitchen, staff, and chef.

In his current role, Lombardo’s primary focus is upholding the culinary integrity at 1789. It’s a pretty prestigious gig. The restaurant has a knack for attracting the neighborhood hoity-toity as well as various world leaders and titans of industry. This past June, President Barack Obama dined with German Chancellor Angela Merkel at the Georgetown landmark. On my own recent visit, ABC News anchor Sam Donaldson was seated at the next table, overlooking a crackling fireplace. The very next night, I’m told, former Vice President Dick Cheney was in the house, ordering a steak and salad. (Sadly, quail was not on the menu, the chef assures me.)

For its part, The Tombs attracts its own sort celebrity: the Sam Donaldsons of the future, if you will. Plaques mounted on the far wall near the bar are emblazoned with the names of Georgetown students who spent part of each of their final 99 days before graduation at the bar. At the top of the class of 2002, for instance, you’ll see T.J. Crawford, now the spokesman for beleaguered Bank of America.

While satisfying the upscale clientele upstairs remains job No. 1, Lombardo is also ultimately responsible for food and labor costs for the whole property, which is where his new “scraps” initiative comes into play.

“I was really interested in using whole animals and I told [Clyde’s brass] that’s the direction I would go,” he says. “I kind of pitched the thing as, you know, we can really utilize that stuff downstairs as long as I get that chef down there on board.”

Now he collaborates with The Tombs’ chef Frederick Valentin on how best to serve the scraps. Unused beef bits become stew. Pig parts become bratwursts cooked in the foamy dregs of otherwise spent kegs.

Beyond the warm fuzzy do-gooderness of reducing waste, the payoff from the executives’ perspective, at least in theory, is on the balance sheet. “My pitch was, ‘Listen, it’s going to help the food costs,’” Lombardo says. “It’s going to look good when you’re sitting down with the [numbers] at the end of the month.’”

Tom Meyer, president of Clyde’s, isn’t expecting big savings. “If it was just a financial decision, it’s a lot easier for me to buy steaks already cut,” Meyer says. “I’ll say this about Anthony: He thinks like an old-school chef.” Using whole animals, Meyer says, is “more interesting. It makes sense. You’re not wasting food. And, as a result, the food cost, you know, it works. My point is, it’s not an austerity measure.”

The benefit to the college crowd: a more “gastronomical experience,” says Lombardo. However, the execution sometimes staggers on account of the cultural clash between the two kitchens.

Case in point: the lamb ragu. “I put my heart into it,” Lombardo says. “Then, one time, I told my friend to order it. He’s down at the bar. And one of the cooks just steamed the pasta, then just dumped the ragu with the ladle on top. He didn’t cook the pasta with the sauce in the pan—you know, like how you should cook pasta. So I got pissed off. I started making a big deal out of it. The managers are like, ‘Listen, it’s ten bucks, dude. Chill out.’”

My own experience with the pasta wasn’t much different. The sauce, while plentiful, didn’t quite cling to the rigatoni the way it does with pan-tossed pasta.

Meanwhile, the lamb burger, while quite flavorful, came out a bit overdone for my taste. Then again, the collegiate server never asked my temperature preference.

It may never become a full-fledged house of haute cuisine, but The Tombs is likely bound for even more gustatory experimentation, at least as long as Lombardo is in charge upstairs.

“I would like to use more offal meat downstairs,” he says. Imagine late-night cram sessions over liver mousse and beef-heart sandwiches! “I was thinking, late at night, when these college kids are drunk, I could maybe pull a fast one on ’em,” he laughs.

Photos by Darrow Montgomery

The Tombs, 1226 36th St. NW, (202) 337-6668

Eatery tips? Food pursuits? Send suggestions to hungry@washingtoncitypaper.com.

Any guesses which ones? The guy has already been to Ben's Chili Bowl, Five Guys, Ray's Hell Burger, Ted's Bulletin, Restaurant Eve, Good Stuff Eatery, 1789 and Equinox, among other places.

Photo by Фото пресс-службы Президента России/Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License

Photo by AgnosticPreachersKid/Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license

Guacamole MacGyvers: Some helpful tips if you venture to Gaithersburg's Tortacos: "The guacamole was excellent–the drawback there was that their chips are made from flour tortillas, not corn, and were overfried to boot. Porcupine came up with the brilliant solution of taking one of the double corn tortillas comprising each of the tacos, tearing it into chip-sized pieces, and eating the guacamole with those." [DonRocks]

Oily Anticipation: Shirlington's olive-oil-and-vinegar store is supposed to open on Thursday. [ARLNow]

Choices to Ponder: If you've been interested in a community-supported agriculture share, here is what you should know before you are inundated with leafy greens. [Washingtonian]

Famous Diners: German Chancellor Angela Merkel ate at 1789 last night with President Obama. [The Feast]

Photo by Flickr user racheocity using an Attribution-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic Creative Commons license

An alumnus of Tryst and Baked & Wired and a graduate of L'Academie de Cuisine's pastry program, Visser is serious about his drinks and sweets. Like the other top-shelf cafes in the area, Counter Culture Coffee will be brewed here. Well, not just brewed.

Visser proudly pantomimed (see right) his signature pour-over technique that non-hurried customers can enjoy. "Coffee is like wine with very complex flavors," Visser explains. And this method, "as wine people would say, allows more of the tannins and terroir to come through," he says.

Instead of pouring hot water over coffee grinds to make a large pot of coffee, customers can order just a single pour, which is essentially one cup brewed just for you. While this can take three to four minutes, this cup of coffee will be the best you can get, as it hasn't been sitting losing flavor.

Even though he's a trained pastry chef (having worked at 1789), the space didn't allow for a kitchen, so Visser carefully sourced his treats: croissants from Hawthorne Fine Breakfast Pastry, bagels from Whatsa Bagel and biscotti from Chez Hareg. All of its afternoon desserts, such as cookies and bars, will be vegan friendly. (While not of that dietary model himself, Visser received plenty of Facebook messages requesting soy milk from his soon-to-be vegan neighbors. )

Visser will be creating all of the flavored syrups from natural ingredients: expect vanilla, caramel (vegan), hazelnut, almond and peppermint to spruce up your drinks. Of course you might not want to mask the coffee's inherent flavors after you waited almost five whole minutes for the single pour.

Flying Fish Coffee and Tea, 3064 Mt Pleasant St, NW, 202-299-0141

Photo by Stefanie Gans

Too Much Attention: Tom Sietsema says Cuba Libre might want to take it easy a bit:

The crew at Cuba Libre is a knowledgeable and engaging bunch, but I wish the staff would ease up on the sales pitches. "Can I get you started with some sparkling or still water?" one of the servers suggests. "Some rice to sop up those juices?" I was asked when I ordered my entree. [WaPo]

Late-Night Diner Brawls: If only Mike Tyson's outburst at Au Pied de Cochon were available on video. [BuzzFeed via Eater Nat'l, Y&H]

Familiar Favorites: The now re-opened Argonaut should please those who have missed the H Street NE bar and restaurant's go-to menu items: "[T]he menu still has their old classics: the Argo Burger, fish and chips, shrimp and grits, and of course the sweet potato fries." [The Hill Is Home]

Departure on 36th Street NW: Over at the venerable 1789 in Georgetown, pastry chef Travis Olson is leaving to hike the entire length of the Appalachian Trail. [Washingtonian]

Photo of Cuba Libre courtesy Lightman Photography/Heather Freeman PR

Following the recommendation of a food friend, I found myself at The Tombs in Georgetown this past weekend. I'd chosen a lazy and cold Sunday afternoon to avoid what I thought would be a typical college crowd. I anticipated nachos, wings, and what's said to be a great burger, but the menu ended up being irrelevant. The owners responsible for the basement bar on 36th Street NW also run the Clyde's restaurant collection, in addition to Old Ebbitt Grill downtown, and The Tombs' upstairs neighbors, 1789.

To describe the food here would be redundant. All the Clyde's Restaurant Group's locations offer predictable but well-executed bar food. What sets The Tombs apart, however, might have something to do with the space it inhabits.

D.C. has plenty of bar and restaurants that fill long and narrow spaces, many former rowhouses or smaller commercial structures. New construction sometimes offers larger, more open floor plans, but often at the cost of that warm feeling only older architecture can afford. The Tombs, however, has both history and space working to its advantage.

It also has a good bar, as in the physical bar structure. It's a three-sided affair studded with brass accents and the scars of pre-smoking ban cigarettes. Embedded name plates note sparse details of Tombs employees. The name plates offer a conversation starter for drinkers who face each other, instead of the staff.

Given The Tombs' proximity to Georgetown University, students definitely dominate. Although I'm removed from my undergraduate days by more than a decade, I didn't feel slightly out of place. On an extended visit recently, I talked to seniors, recent graduates, and long-time neighborhood residents. A food runner stopped by on his day off and joined in, followed by a writer, a basketball player, and a father toting three kids.

At a standard bar, you might meet two new people sitting to your left and right. A bar with a corner makes interaction easier, creates more eye contact, and opens up the space. A bar with two corners? Well, that's a real find.

The food is straightforward and good. I ordered a grilled cheese sandwich with tomato soup to keep the cold at bay, and the brunette to my left stole a bite. Still hungry, I ordered some wings cooked double crispy. The kitchen fries them once, hits them with sauce, and fries them a second time to produce a dry crunchy skin. Drenched with a side of extra sauce they were perfect, and I doused the heat with a pitcher of cold cheap beer.

By 6 o'clock, I felt things shift around me. My first bartender cashed out, and was followed by a younger, scruffier, and bow-tied replacement. A human crush had formed near the door and the median age was falling. It was dark outside and students had decided it was time to blow off some steam—a perfect indication it was time for me to leave.

Photos by Scott Reitz

During an interview I conducted late last year with Ris Lacoste, the fixture for a decade at 1789, the chef revealed some of the inspiration behind her new place, RIS, in the West End:

Bob Kinkead, my dearest friend and mentor, said, ‘Ris, you look for an underserved neighborhood, you know.’ He would always say, ‘Open a diner.’ I always wanted to open a diner…My working title of the project was Lacoste Fine Diner, and that’s what helped me create my concept. It just said what it was. You know: fine diner...

RIS is indeed a fascinating blend of chef-driven, seasonal New American dishes and chef-driven All American comfort food, the stuff that can be enjoyed year-'round. At RIS, you can order a $36 veal chop with gremolata sauce or a $10 cheeseburger with onion jam.

If you want to know the truth, though, I favored one side of RIS over the other. You can find out in this week's Young & Hungry column.

Photo by Darrow Montgomery