Appearing on NPR earlier this week, Andy Shallal, the activist owner of Busboys & Poets, was asked whether he could see himself one day following in the footsteps of another restaurateur turned politico, Herman Cain, former CEO of Godfather's Pizza. Shallal was pretty adamant: "God forbid. That's not – no. I don't have any real [...]
“It’s not a charity. If we don’t make money, we can’t stay in business....I don’t want sympathy diners. We want people to come here because we are good at what we do.”—Self-described activist who "happens to be in business," Anas "Andy" Shallal, owner of Busboys & Poets, discussing economic reality with the Washington Post Photo [...]
Back in June, Y&H colleague Alex Baca wrote about the foot-traffic woes of Artisphere, Arlington County's would-be Kennedy Center for young people. Part of the problem: losing Busboys & Poets, the creative-class magnet that restaurateur Andy Shallal had originally intended to spin-off into yet another buzzy location inside the arts center. But the deal fell [...]
Looking West: As Andy Shallal, who describes himself as an "activist with food," works on a possible Busboys & Poets location in Harlem, he also has Busboys projects cooking out west, including a location that's in the works in Denver, and "expects to open a San Francisco Busboys within the next two years." [Publishers Weekly] [...]
Many of you may remember Tim Carman's Beard-nominated cover story last year that chronicled the way in which Andy Shallal selected Eatonville's first chef. If you recall, the story didn't end well. Chris Newsome, initially appointed executive chef after winning the Top Chef-style contest, was quickly replaced by runner-up Rusty Holman. Holman left Eatonville this [...]
Two cable TV comedians are coming to town to stage a rally on the National Mall, and the political establishment isn’t sure whether to laugh, cry, or declare its own irrelevancy in the presence of fake pundits who have the drawing power of Sarah Palin at an NRA swimsuit contest. Y&H doesn’t have the bona [...]
Holy crap, is that Rusty Holman?! No way, it can't be! Don't embarrass him, or yourself, by asking! Don't even make eye contact! But what if it is Rusty? You'd be one lame-ass food writer if you don't find out what he's doing slinging fries out of a food truck on Farragut Square! Don't forget [...]
Tacos took off in D.C. in 2009 Good God, I can even begin to wrap my mind around all the things that happened on the D.C. dining scene during the past 12 months. Fortunately, not all of them were as apocalyptic as the closing of your favorite restaurant or the passing of Ben Ali. For [...]
Chef Rusty Holman, the chef at Eatonville My tablemate and I are sitting at a two-top by the large picture window at Eatonville, which provides a semi-comfortable, climate-controlled view of the parade of mini-skirts and flesh that walks up and down the bustling 14th Street NW corridor. We're half way through our appetizers when the [...]
Washington City Paper food critic Tim Carman's piece "How Not to Hire a Chef" (5/22) has been selected for inclusion in Best Food Writing 2009. It is the second year in a row that Carman's work has been chosen for the anthology. Carman's piece examines, or maybe more precisely spatchcocks, local restaurateur Andy Shallal's Top [...]
