Now that Jeff Black and the rest of the Black Restaurant Group have stabilized the kitchen at their Bethesda property, the team can focus on their latest plan — to expand the dining empire that already includes BlackSalt, Addie’s, Black Market Bistro, and Black’s Bar & Kitchen.

Actually, Black thought he had a deal to rent an existing space on Barracks Row, with a possible option to buy, but negotiations fell apart. Not that BRG is limiting itself to Barracks Row, but the company would like to expand its presence in the District, where it has only BlackSalt in the Palisades.  BRG has been scouting locations in Georgetown, K Street NW, the U Street corridor, Columbia Heights, and Capitol Hill, Black says.

Read More “Black Restaurant Group Is Looking to Open Another Place in D.C.” »

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” »

Todd Wiss, the former executive chef at Black’s Bar and Kitchen, disputes owner Jeff Black’s explanation as to why he was let go earlier this month at the Bethesda restaurant. The dismissed toque says he was called into a meeting on Dec. 2 and told that Black’s could “no longer pay my salary” because of declining revenues.

“I was shocked. I was floored,” Wiss says. “You don’t expect that kind of thing to happen” right before the holidays.

Wiss says he was never given any indication that his management style clashed with Black Restaurant Group philosophies. Nor did he get any indication that management disliked his cooking. When I asked Wiss if he thought the economic excuse was legitimate, he said the weekly numbers were “definitely down, but not to the point where you take an ax and start cutting people.”

“At the end of the day, if they didn’t want me there, that’s fine,” Wiss adds.

When reached by phone, Black denied Wiss’ depiction of events. Black admits that economics played a role, but not in the way that Wiss describes. Wiss’ salary, in fact, was smaller than that of Black’s previous toque, Mallory Buford. The main problem, Black says, was that Wiss ran his food costs in the 38-40 percent range, when 33-34 is the norm for Black’s. The owner says his former chef also ran higher labor costs, employing extra personnel on garde manger and pastry.

Read More “More on Todd Wiss’ Departure at Black’s Bar and Kitchen” »

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” »