Monday's announcement that James Beard Award-winning chef José Andrés is shuttering his longstanding nuevo latino restaurant Café Atlántico to make way for a temporary American cooking-themed exhibit hits a little too close to home for this columnist. While the restaurant's once high profile has diminished significantly in recent years beside its heralded, hard-to-book-a-reservation tasting-menu counterpart, [...]
At a deliciously catered breakfast at the National Archives Monday morning, chef José Andrés announced he's opening a six-month pop-up restaurant in conjunction with a government exhibit, titled What's Cooking, Uncle Sam? The Government's Effect on the American Diet. "To open an American restaurant is a dream," said the native of Spain and owner of various restaurants showcasing Mexican, Mediterranean, Spanish and Chinese cuisines. [...]
A sliver of zest, a dash of scotch, a strap of leather—that's right, real cow hide, soaked in tequila—and what do ya got? The answer, my friends, is the ultra inventive, if ultimately disenchanting, cocktail being served to those saddled up at Café Atlántico, the so-called "Daisy If You Do." OK, so there's no actual [...]
Openings, closings, revamps, events, compiled from press releases, compressed into haiku "Colombia Week"/guest chef Barrientos/avant-garde tastings; starting May 10, Café Atlántico, 405 8th Street NW, (202) 393-0812 Master barista/shares best coffee recipes/win a new machine; from 2:30-4:30 p.m, May 11, Café Du Parc, 1401 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, (202) 942-7000 Celebs steak challenge/48 ounces of beef/children's [...]
Two cable TV comedians are coming to town to stage a rally on the National Mall, and the political establishment isn’t sure whether to laugh, cry, or declare its own irrelevancy in the presence of fake pundits who have the drawing power of Sarah Palin at an NRA swimsuit contest. Y&H doesn’t have the bona [...]
Note: It looks like I would have won that bet after all. Isabella announced his departure from Zaytinya earlier this summer. When Mike Isabella appeared on Top Chef last season, I was ready to wager vast sums of money (well, as vast as they get in the alt-paper biz) that the Zaytinya chef would pack [...]
If hearing that a Chilean Gastronomic Week will begin in Washington next Monday doesn't evoke any particular tastes, smells, or images for you, you are not alone. "Nothing comes to mind at the expression 'Chilean cuisine,'" says James Farrer, a sociologist at Tokyo's Sophia University and expert in culinary soft power who has written about [...]
José Andrés will be the first to acknowledge that his part in the nationwide Dine Out for the Gulf Coast fundraiser amounts to, essentially, a "little gesture." Four of his Penn Quarter restaurants in the THINKfoodGROUP — Jaleo, Zaytinya, Oyamel, and Cafe Atlantico —will donate the proceeds from a selected dish that is, according to [...]
Get Enzo Fargione's cooking, at discounted prices, through Jan. 24 at Teatro Goldoni. I know, I know. You've got a million excuses why you haven't been able to do Restaurant Week. Your kid's sick. You've got too much work to do. Your car needs repairs. Your stars are out of alignment. Well, a number of restaurants are giving you a second chance [...]
Andrew Zimmern, your host for all foods bizarre, has a short Q&A with former Hook chef de cuisine Joshua Whigham, who was recently anointed to lead the kitchen at the four-star performer, The Bazaar by José Andrés. Among other questions, Zimmern asked Whigham how the D.C. food scene differs from L.A.'s. Whigham's answer is essentially [...]
