Hey, isn’t this supposed to be summer, when all we do is kick back and soak up the sun, along with those tart seasonal cocktails?  The local dining scene has not exactly taken a vacation this July. Here are just a few of the stories Young & Hungry has been following in the past week or so:

• Rustico has already found a replacement for Frank Morales, who split with the Alexandria gastropub less than two weeks ago. Neighborhood Restaurant Group also noted that it’s planning to open a second Rustico in Arlington. [via Tom Sietsema and Going Out Gurus]
• Destination DC and the Restaurant Association Metropolitan Washington have announced the participants for this summer’s Restaurant Week, which runs from Aug. 24-30.
• Brothers Tom and Derek Brown, those siblings with shaken cocktail syndrome, are planning to open a dueling drinking destination this fall, perhaps somewhere north of Chinatown. [via Metrocurean]

Read More “Food News You Can Use: No Summertime Doldrums Here” »

Arra Lawson performed so well at Addie’s in Rockville that, earlier this year, the toque was given the executive chef position at Black’s Bar & Kitchen, the Black Restaurant Group’s Bethesda property. But Lawson couldn’t summon the magic touch a second time; he apparently ran into conflicts in the new kitchen and was ousted by a majority vote of BRG principals, says owner Jeff Black.

“Something misfired,” Black tells Y&H. “The chemistry just wasn’t right.”

It wasn’t any one major issue, Black says, but more a collection of small ones, like a “punctuality problem” and conflicts with some of the cooks in the kitchen.  Instead of letting it fester into a stinking black mess, BRG management decided to tackle the conflict. Black and two other BRG managers, including the one for HR, looked into the situation and took a vote amongst themselves over whether to release Lawson. The vote was 2-to-1 against the chef.

Read More “Lawson Out, Robinson In As Executive Chef at Black’s” »

Y&H is late in reporting this — but, hell, so is everyone since Jeff Black doesn’t typically employ an army of PR agents to spoon feed us food writers with tips and breaking news  — but the Black Restaurant Group has filled the executive chef position at its flagship operation, Black’s Bar & Kitchen, following the short, messy tenure of Todd Wiss.

The nod went to Arra Lawson, former chef de cuisine at Addie’s in Rockville. Lawson, former executive chef at Daniel O’Connell’s in Old Town, took over the top spot at Black’s about three months ago, says Jeff Black, and has already overhauled the bar and brunch menus and has added a number of composed fish dishes.

So who’s in charge at Addie’s now?

That would be Nate Waugaman, former executive sous chef at Black’s who was, with the owner’s assistance, running the kitchen and developing the menus at the Bethesda restaurant after Wiss’ departure. Waugaman was up for the executive chef gig at Black’s, but the owner felt that Addie’s would be a better fit for Waugaman’s debut as head toque.

Read More “Black Restaurant Group Pulls the Old Chef Switcheroo” »

Jeff Black, co-owner of the Black Restaurant Group, confirmed today that Todd Wiss was removed as executive chef at Black’s Bar and Kitchen in Bethesda at least two weeks ago. The chef’s stay was short. Wiss, the former sous at Poste Moderne Brasserie, was installed as executive chef at Black’s in June.

“We just had philosophical differences in the ways to manage a business and manage a staff,” Black says. “It was nothing personal. Todd was a very good cook…I told him, ‘I don’t have any problem with the way you cook.’”

The difference boiled down to control. BRG, as a rule, likes to nurture its staff, both front and back of the house, and move them into positions of greater authority as they gain experience. The company, Black says, also likes to seek ideas from anyone within BRG, even if that person is far down in the pecking order. Wiss, the owner says, was more from a “corporate” environment where the mentality is, “You do what I say.”

Wiss was not immediately available for comment.

Read More “Todd Wiss Out as Executive Chef at Black’s Bar and Kitchen” »