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]

• Quanta Robinson has taken over as executive chef at Black's Bar & Kitchen, following the surprise departure of Arra Lawson earlier this year.
• Barton Seaver's forthcoming Diamond District Seafood Co. will not only offer sustainable (and affordable) seafood for sale and dining in, but it will also accept food stamps. [via Missy Frederick and Washington Business Journal]
• Alexandria now has its own steakhouse — or it soon will, once the Neighborhood Restaurant Group opens the upstairs chophouse at its twin-concept Columbia Firehouse, which just debuted.
• Damascus, Md. native Ed Witt, who has cooked at such prestigious spots as Jardinière and Daniel, will lead the kitchen at the forthcoming Morso in Georgetown, which will serve Mediterranean small plates. [via Metrocurean]
• And finally, David Guas' highly anticipated Bayou Bakery will not open after all. At least not in the former Murky Coffee space in Clarendon. [via Sietsema and Going Out Gurus]

Photo by Darrow Montgomery

Arra Lawson

"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.

Black was the lone dissenter. As the big dog at BRG, Black could have trumped his managers, but he opted to let the majority rule. "I have to look at the whole and what's best for the restaurant."

BRG typically doesn't offer severance packages, but in this case, Black says he gave Lawson "the single largest severance in the history of the company."

Black didn't have to look far for Lawson's replacement: Quanta Robinson was already the No. 2 cook at Black's when BRG tagged her to take the lead spot. She's been with the Black Restaurant Group for years now, working her way up from line cook at BlackSalt to the top position at Black's.

Robinson isn't revamping the menu at Black's — at least not yet. With all the changes in the kitchen of late — Robinson is the fourth executive chef at Black's in the past 15 months — Black says he doesn't want to create more chaos by overhauling the menu, too. Instead, Robinson has been using the specials menu to test her new creations, like a soft shell crab with black-eyed peas in a light veal-based sauce.

"There's been enough change," Black says. "We got to think of the customer here."

Photo courtesy of Black's Bar & Kitchen

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.

Black's Bar & Kitchen "is such a big restaurant and it's such a busy restaurant," Black told Y&H via the phone today. Addie's, by contrast, does smaller numbers and has an extremely loyal clientele that likes its menu to remain fairly constant. As an example, Black tells me about a customer who called the owner at home when Black dared to take the steak off the menu.

Nonetheless, Waugaman has tweaked the Addie's menu in small ways since taking over earlier this year, securing a local source for that beloved rib-eye steak and adding a scallop entree. More impressive, Waugaman has joined a number of local chefs — Peter Smith at PS 7's and Nathan Anda for Neighborhood Restaurant Group — who are making their own charcuterie. Black says Waugaman is curing his own salami and prosciutto in-house and even making his own head cheese.

The recent hiring decisions, Black admits, were based in part on the troubles Black's had with Wiss, who apparently never fit into the BRG system. "Barring catastrophe, that will be the last time I hire a No. 1" outside of the Black Restaurant Group, the owner says.

In other BRG news, Black says he's partnering with former Black's head chef, Mallory Buford, on an upcoming project. Buford will be a partner in the restaurant, which will likely be in the District. Black and Buford are currently scouting locations. Black preferred not to talk about the concept yet, since it could change depending on the location.

"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.

in the meantime, Black's executive sous chef Nate Waugaman is running the kitchen and developing menus, in consultation with the owner. Waugaman, along with Arra Lawson, chef de cuisine at Addie's in Rockville, are both in the running to replace Wiss, Black confirms. One other person, also in-house at BRG, is in the hunt.

Lawson "has done a great job," says Black about the former toque at Daniel O’Connell’s in Old Town. "He's on the short list of names."