A couple of weeks ago, Y&H asked you to nominate the entrees and appetizers and desserts that you felt were worthy of inclusion into a D.C. Dish Hall of Fame. Y’all tore into the assignment like a pack of wolves on a dead carcass.  I received Tweets, personal e-mails, and lots of suggestions via the comments section.

Then for this week’s Young & Hungry column, I contacted a few chefs for their input on HOF dishes. All told, between the public and chefs, you nominated more than 100 dishes, with very little overlap. I’ve narrowed down the list down to the 30 dishes that could represent D.C. well, if elected to the hall.

Now it’s your turn. You can vote for three dishes and three dishes only. The top five vote-getters will be part of the inaugural class of the D.C. Dish Hall of Fame. You have until Dec. 11 to vote.

Pass the word around!

Photo by Darrow Montgomery

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” »

I have no idea when José Andrés‘ real birth date is, but I know they’re celebrating the Spanish chef’s 40th tonight at an undisclosed location, kind of like Dick Cheney might , only with actual friends involved in this case.

In a weird case of synchronicity, a City Paper employee met today with a publicist for the National Gallery of Art, who told him how Jaleo, the flagship in Andrés’ restaurant empire, got its name.  The CP employee asked me if I knew the inspiration for Jaleo’s name. I had to admit I didn’t.

The publicist said that Andrés was visiting the National Gallery nearly 17 years ago when he came across the above painting by John Singer Sargent. Its name?

Read More “Happy 40th Birthday, Jose Andres” »

The career of chef JohnPaul Damato has come full circle. The man who used to oversee all three Jaleos left his position in Jose Andres‘ empire in January 2007 to become the executive chef at Mio. Damato didn’t stay long; he left the budding Thomas Circle restaurant in June 2007, just a month after it opened, to rejoin Andres at his THINKfoodGROUP. The reunion, however, didn’t go as expected.

“As much as we were still friends and family, we didn’t have the right opportunity [for Damato] at the right time,” says Rob Wilder, CEO of THINKfoodGROUP. “It was sort of a mismatch of what his dreams were and what the reality of our positions were.”

As a result, Damato and THINK parted ways in February 2008, less than a year after the chef had rejoined the company to work in the special projects section. But five short months later, Damato was back, once again, in the family fold. He accepted a position as chef of the Jaleo in Bethesda, which has been, in my experience, the weakest performer of the three tapas joints. Perhaps this wasn’t the plum job Damato wanted with THINK—hell, technically it’s a demotion from his previous gig overseeing all the Jaleos—but it also struck me as a smart move. Damato might re-energize the place.

I went to the Bethesda location on Sunday to see if he had. I mean, Damato has been there for nearly seven months; his stamp had to be on the place by now.

Read More “JohnPaul Damato Is Back at Jaleo, and You Can Taste It” »