The dude in the white t-shirt is Gordon Ramsay. Really.

This may mean something. It may mean nothing. But one of Y&H’s many foot soldiers — OK, he’s actually a friend of Carol Blymire’s, aka Alinea at Home — spotted British bad boy Gordon Ramsay roaming the streets of Georgetown on Saturday.

Given that Ramsay’s bid for the Maestro space at the Ritz-Carlton in Tysons has fallen through — and that Michel Richard is apparently headed to McLean — speculators were already speculating that, perhaps, the chef was casing Richard’s joint in the Latham Hotel for a future restaurant.

Whew, this level of gossip makes Y&H want to take a shower. But I asked the iPhone ready Chris Wilson if he followed Ramsay after taking this pic or if he felt that was entering stalker territory. Wilson’s response:

Read More “Gordon Ramsay Spotted Loitering the Streets of Georgetown” »

As you might have guessed, traffic to Y&H spiked tremendously this week on the news that celebrity chef Michel Richard had plans to move his base to the Ritz-Carlton, Tysons Corner. No other post this week had nearly as much traffic, despite the fact that Thursday was Food Day here at the paper.

1. Michel Richard Plans to Move His Home Base to Tysons Corner
2. Pepsi Throwback: Right Back Where We Started
3. The University of Florida Arrives, Dines, and Dashes
4. Watch the Deleted Eamonn’s Segment from Bourdain’s ‘No Reservations’ Show on D.C.
5. If Not Expansion Plans, What Is Ben’s Next Move? Think Shipping.
   

There’s no good or delicate way to pass along such awful news, so forgive my straight-forward reportage on this: Jérôme Girardot, a respected pastry chef for the Ritz-Carlton hotel in the West End, was found dead on Monday in Ben Brenman Park in Cameron Station, just weeks after an earlier tragedy in the same neighborhood.

The state medical examiner in Fairfax has ruled the 32-year-old Girardot’s death a suicide.

Read More “Ritz Pastry Chef Jérôme Girardot Found Dead in Cameron Station Park” »

I raise this tricky question after reading Marian Burros‘ blog item today in the New York Times, which reports that the Ritz-Carltons in D.C. are replacing the traditional pillow mints with cookies based on a Family Circle magazine recipe by First Lady-to-Be Michelle Obama. Among other interesting bits of info, Burros drops this little grenade:

The magazine tweaked the recipe, the hotel tweaked the recipe and so did this reporter.

Read More “Ritz Guests Receive a Free Jar of Michelle Obama’s Cookies. Or Do They?” »