Asian-style noodle outlets are bobbing up all over the District these days, sometimes in pretty unusual places. On a recent evening, I find myself twirling a fork through a pile of thick udon that’s sitting in a shallow puddle of dark broth, topped with a soft runny egg. To the side of the noodles is [...]
Recruiters from the renown Culinary Institute of America, aka "CIA," are coming to town later this month with a pretty persuasive pitch: job growth in the food service industry is expected to outpace the national economy. Not a difficult feat, I suppose. The point: maybe it's time to consider slipping into some chef whites. Reps [...]
Grist magazine checks in with former Hook and Blue Ridge chef Barton Seaver for a little Q&A. Seaver is the author of a new cookbook, For Cod and Country, which is chock full of recipes for "alternatives to the obvious seafood choices that have become unsustainable for our ocean ecosystems." In the interview, Seaver plays [...]
The Baltimore Sun reports on a "new twist on the sustainable food movement"—local chefs serving snakeheads, the invasive fish species from Asia that is overtaking Chesapeake-area rivers. The Sun cites some of the biggest names in the D.C.-area food scene as taking part in the campaign, including Volt's Bryan Voltaggio ("Here's a fish you can [...]
The venomous lionfish, an invasive species that has ravaged coral reef ecosystems in the Atlantic, Gulf of Mexico, and East Coast, has one real predator: humans. And area chefs have been doing what they can to help in the efforts to control its spread—by serving it. Xavier Deshayes, the executive chef of the Ronald Reagan [...]
This news has been reported in many other places, but Esquire finally posted the 20 Best New Restaurants feature online, where we can read what John Mariani had to say about Bibiana, Ashok Bajaj's sleek new Italian operation. Bibiana is the lone representative from the District, and like last year's D.C. pick (and the two [...]
A few weeks back, I wrote about Blue Ridge's switch from a wine-oriented, celebrity chef-driven restaurant to a casual, beer-focused concept with no named toque in the kitchen. The owners carefully explained that they had misread Glover Park and its needs, that they tried to give the 'hood something it didn't want. Some readers bristled [...]
I had been trying to reach Barton Seaver for weeks, hoping he might have something to say about his short time at Blue Ridge and about the Glover Park eatery's new focus on beer. But Seaver is a busy man, and we missed phone calls on several occasions. It was only late last week that [...]
Mr. Sustainable Seafood — you know, Barton Seaver, chef at Blue Ridge and your favorite punching bag — is serving up a multi-course dinner on Friday to accompany a screening of Rupert Murray’s documentary, The End of the Line . Seaver's main course? A preparation of red lionfish. Never heard of red lionfish? It's not [...]
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 [...]
