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.

"I'm not sure where we'll end up," he adds.

Nor is Black sure yet what the concept of the new place will be, save for one element: It'll offer affordable fare. The owner wants to hit a "mid-price point."

"And not lip service to a mid-range, but a real mid-range," Black says.

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.

"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.

Black says he tried to talk to Wiss about lower food and labor costs, but, "for whatever reason, [he] didn't want to follow them."

Hence, Black says, the parting of ways.

In the meantime, Wiss says he'll "hang low" for a while, before aggressively looking for another chef gig. "It's pretty dry out there now," he says.

"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."