It sounds like a culinary twist on the famous Vietnam-era statement — “It became necessary to destroy the village in order to save it.” — but there’s some logic behind Trout Unlimited’s campaign this week to save Bristol Bay’s wild salmon.

Trout Unlimited is, according to this story in the Anchorage Press, a national non-profit of fly-fishermen, and the group has hit the streets of D.C. like a school of piranha. They’ve been here all week for meetings on the Hill and to prove to Washingtonians that Bristol’s wild sockeye salmon is both tasty and worth protecting from the proposed Pebble mine, which according to Trout Unlimited, is “the world’s largest open-pit gold and copper mine in the headwaters of Bristol Bay, Alaska.”

Maybe you’ve sampled the salmon this week? The fish has been on plates at such restaurants as Blue Ridge, Coppi’s Organic, Equinox,  Granville Moore’s, Harry’s Tap Room, Hook, Kaz Sushi Bistro, Poste Moderne Brasserie, Redwood, Rock Creek Mazza,  and Sonoma.

Y&H asked Paula Dobbyn, the director of communications and co-director of policy for Trout Unlimited, why they’re targeting Washington diners in the campaign to save the Bristol Bay salmon. What, after all, can a diner do?

Her response is after the jump:

Read More “Save the Salmon By Eating the Salmon” »

The seasonal pumpkin-tapioca dessert at New Kam Fong

From the look of things, y’all have a strong interest in vegetarian food. Yesterday, the Y&H blog had some of its highest traffic numbers ever for a Monday, which, of course, is not why we do these kind of themed days. We do them in the name of dietery balance, the environment, human health, and the animals!

OK, sure, we also do them for the traffic.

Regardless, you seemed to enjoy the change of pace, even on the weekly Y&H newsletter, which yesterday was similarly devoted to veg eats. (You can sign up for the newsletter on the right, if you’d like.) One reader, Caroline, e-mailed to say:

Thank you so much for devoting this week’s newsletter to vegetarian/vegan dining! My boyfriend is a vegan and I am a carnivorous foodie. I almost lost it on Sunday morning when we couldn’t find a vegan pancake mix at Whole Foods. Keep the veg/vegan articles coming and maybe someday I’ll be able to go out on a date with him someplace other than Chipotle!

If you aren’t a newsletter subscriber you missed a number of other veg options that Y&H has recently highlighted, like the following:

Read More “Veg Day on Y&H: A Postscript” »

The Margherita at 2Amys: Does it make the cut?

Earlier this week, I was noshing on the roast chicken at Palena Cafe, reveling once again in Frank Ruta’s ability to add and coax flavors from this generous, succulent portion of breast, wing, and leg meat. That’s when the thought struck me: This is, hands-down, one of the area’s greatest dishes. It deserves a spot in some sort of local culinary hall of fame.

The roast chicken is an obvious one, but what other dishes would make the cut? I’ve been pondering this and have drafted a number of nominees. The list is, by no means, complete. It needs your suggestions.

Once we get a solid roster of nominees, we’ll put them to a public vote here on the Y&H blog. The top 10 vote getters will go into the City Paper’s inaugural D.C. Dish Hall of Fame. Winners will receive everlasting glory.

The working list of nominees:

Read More “Seeking Nominees for City Paper’s Inaugural D.C. Dish Hall of Fame” »

Jane Black over at WaPo posted a dandy item today about Esquire critic John Mariani naming Barton Seaver “chef of the year” in the upcoming November issue. As Black chronicles, the New York magazine’s decision flies in the face of local D.C. opinion on Seaver’s latest venture, Blue Ridge, in Glover Park.

Whether a good decision or not, I decided to call Seaver this morning and get his take on the situation. If there’s one thing I know about Seaver, it’s this:  He has a pretty healthy perspective on his skills and talents. He also takes criticism better than just about any human being I’ve ever met.

He was at Blue Ridge when I phoned and didn’t know what I was congratulating him about. He thought it might be his recent marriage.  He asked if we could talk again in 30 minutes. Twelve minutes later, he called back. He had just read Black’s blog item.

Read More “Barton Seaver to Be Named Esquire’s Chef of the Year, Controversy Ensues” »

Chef Jonathan Seningen

Earlier this week, Y&H did something he hadn’t done in nearly a year: hit the gym. Summoning up whatever athlete’s pride I have left, this former cross country runner went 30 minutes on the elliptical without stopping, a solid 2.50 miles. (Don’t figure out the time per mile, I’ll just be embarrassed.)

I then went to Hook and downed a three-course lunch. I didn’t even feel bad about it.

How could I? Despite one glaring technical error, this was a solid lunch, top to bottom, all for $24 for those three courses.  I instantly put Hook and executive chef Jonathan Seningen, former chef de cuisine at Oya, on my watch list for next year’s Young & Hungry Dining Guide.

I started with the heirloom tomato gazpacho, a rather unusual take on the cold soup. Seningen’s version doesn’t try for an opaque, uniform texture. The look and texture of his gazpacho, I swear, reminded me of tomato placenta, the gelatinous interior of the summer fruit. It’s not a turn-off, I promise. It looks light, even refreshing. The orange-colored liquid is dappled with lump crab meat, corn kernels, and pine nuts, which provide a crunchy element here or a sweet hit there. The most pleasant spoonfuls, though, were those loaded down with lump meat, whose sweetness seemed to multiple by a factor of 20 when surrounded by that ever-so-acidic soup.

Read More “My Three-Course Indulgence at Hook” »

Michael Voltaggio’s surprising departure from the Bazaar by José Andrés — at least surprising to me — left a rather large hole to fill, given that the Top Chef contestant helped the Beverly Hills restaurant earn four stars from the Los Angeles Times.

So who did Andrés and THINKfoodGROUP tap to fill those oversize shoes (holes and shoes…sorry about the mixed metaphors)?

They turned to a former Cafe Atlantico and Zaytinya sous chef who served as chef de cuisine under Barton Seaver at both Bar Pilar and Hook. Now, if you can’t tell, that’s a whole lot of José Andrés influence right there in that last sentence. Not only are Cafe Atlantico and Zaytinya THINKfoodGROUP properties, but Seaver worked at Jaleo right before accepting the job as executive chef at Cafe Saint-Ex and its sister operation, Bar Pilar.

So who is this mystery chef with the suddenly plum job?

Read More “Former Hook Chef de Cuisine Tapped as The Bazaar’s New Chef” »

Buck’s fresh apricot summer punch

Buck’s Fishing and Camping owner James Alefantis first met chef Vickie Reh not at Food Matters in Alexandria, where she was once sous chef, but through a wine importer. Alefantis, in fact, never ate Reh’s food at her previous gig. So how exactly did Reh end up as head chef at Buck’s following Carole Greenwood’s departure?

Alefantis tells a story to help me understand: Reh and her husband, for their last vacation, went on a “salt tour” in which they brought back an entire bag of salts, the Buck’s owner says. When he heard the tale, Alefantis remembers thinking, “I was like, ‘You’re perfect.”

Read More “Vickie Reh Is the New Chef at Buck’s Fishing and Camping” »

In case you missed it, former Hook chef Barton Seaver was just on The Kojo Nnamdi Show, along with Baltimore Sun reporter Candy Thomson and the Ocean Conservancy’s Tom McCann, talking about sustainable seafood and the illegal trafficking in rockfish. The program will be available online on the Nnamdi Show’s page on WAMU.org.

Before he went on the air, I asked Seaver what he thought about the Washington Post’s recent story about the illegal traffic in rockfish and whether it has affected rockfish populations along the Potomac and the Chesapeake. His response is after the jump.

Read More “Barton Seaver on Sustainable Seafood on the Kojo Nnamdi Show” »