Jamie Leeds, the chef/owner of CommonWealth and Hank’s Oyster Bar, has been selected to serve as president of Women Chefs & Restaurateurs, a national non-profit whose mission is to promote “the education and advancement of women in the restaurant industry and the betterment of the industry as a whole.”

The post is a two-year commitment that will place a fairly serious burden on Leeds’ time and attention. She will oversee the marketing and membership committees. She will attend quarterly meetings. She will have a say on the organization’s spending and Web site. She will even travel to Chile soon for a sort of culinary fact-finding mission.

“It means a lot of work,” Leeds tells Y&H over the phone this afternoon. “It’s a very challenging, exacting, and very rewarding position.”

How will Leeds manage her three restaurants with such a heavy commitment over the next two years?

Read More “Jamie Leeds to Serve as Next President of National Culinary Organization” »

With this week’s opening of Masa 14, the Latin-Asian fusion restaurant owned jointly by Richard Sandoval and Kaz Okochi, Y&H naturally turned his attention to CommonWealth.

Why? Because neither Okochi (Kaz Sushi Bistro) nor Sandoval (Zengo and too many other places to name) are handling the daily kitchen chores at Masa. They’ve left that to former CommonWealth chef de cuisine, Antonio Burrell.

So where does that leave CommonWealth, Jamie Leeds’Columbia Heights gastropub that was a top 50 performer in this year’s Young & Hungry Dining Guide? It leaves the place looking toward Europe.

Read More “CommonWealth Casts an Eye to the Continent” »