By Jordan Wright
February 25, 2009
I caught up with “Top Chef” finalist Carla Hall at CulinAirie’s FoodWorks Kitchen on 14th Street, minutes after the finale of Bravo’s hit show. She was swarmed with local devotees, who, despite her runner-up result, adore their down-to-earth “homegirl”.
“You totally won!”, “You were great!”, “You came out the best!” “We love you Carla!” were the typical buzzbites surrounding their culinary heroine’s impressive performance. She took it all in graciously and with refreshing charm.
Many of her fellow chefs and food industry leaders from the DC chapter of Les Dames d’Escoffier, who count her as one of theirs, feted her as though she were royalty. And really it was her night. After weeks of intense battling she was reaping the well-deserved kudos. Continue reading Carla Hall former TOP CHEF Contestant
By Jordan Wright
Every chef has his or her trade secrets…special ingredients, little known sources, on-line products, techniques, tools and tricks.
Here’s one of mine. I buy my biscuits at Brenner’s Bakery.
 Country Ham Biscuits If you’re a Southerner, biscuits are an important part of your daily life. They sop up red eye gravy and the juice from beans and barbeque. They are de rigeur with fried eggs and sawmill gravy.
And ohmygod, you had better make an extra batch because they are morphed into yet another course…dessert. Slathered with butter and drizzled with Karo syrup, molasses or sorghum and eaten by the plateful. That’s real Southern style. But most of y’all already knew that.
There is no excuse, even for a transplant such as myself (in my case raised in Manhattan but with roots south of the Mason-Dixon line). Southerners are required to serve biscuits when they entertain their friends and relatives.
Though many of my clients regularly dine on truffles and fois gras, they know as sure as the stars shine above, that they will be serving ham biscuits at their next social event…and that means receptions, steeplechase races, hunt breakfasts and sit-down Sunday suppers. Southern hosts and hostesses do like to entertain. In some parts they still invite the mailman in for a cup and piece of cake in the mornings. Continue reading From Gravy Biscuits to Mexican Wedding Cookies,Brenner’s Bakery Slathers on the Southern Style
By Jordan Wright
As Valentine’s Day is quite nearly upon us, I thought I would write about what I call one’s “foodheart,” which is what I have come to regard as the “extra sense”, and the other better-known senses that drive our passions to satisfy it.
We know that our food memory is a powerful
and palpable force and relies on our individual culture, early culinary tastes and preferences and genetic predisposition. Its profile is defined before we can be swayed by advertising’s claims. We are first influenced by what is available or served to us and who is doing the serving, most likely our mothers. Continue reading An Essay on Passion and Desire for Valentine’s Day
By Jordan Wright
March 2009
The message behind Share our Strength’s Taste of the Nation is a powerful one. Feed the children. Launched in 1988 and held annually in over 40 US cities, top chefs join together to offer their time, talent and dedication to help stamp out hunger in our nation.
The recipe for success for this premier event is first…start with an array of the great chefs in our area, add samplings of their finest dishes, mix with the coolest cocktails and wines, create a silent auction featuring dinners-for-two from the finest DC area restaurants and a live auction of chefs’ services in your own home; stir in wild-eyed foodies eager to get in on the fun and voila! You’ve got one of the best parties in town and all for a great cause. Continue reading Share Our Strength’s Taste of the Nation Washington DC
Chef/Co-Owner Ryan Morgan of Art & Soul By Jordan Wright
The message behind Share our Strength’s Taste of the Nation is a powerful one. Feed the children.
Launched in 1988 and held annually in over 40 US cities, top chefs join together to offer their time, talent and dedication to help stamp out hunger in our nation.
The recipe for success for this premier event is first…start with an array of the great chefs in our area, add samplings of their finest dishes, mix with the coolest cocktails and wines, create a silent auction featuring dinners-for-two from the finest DC area restaurants and a live auction of chefs’ services in your own home; stir in wild-eyed foodies eager to get in on the fun and voila! You’ve got one of the best parties in town and all for a great cause.
Monday night’s event at the glamorous Mellon Auditorium featured our best culinary braniacs. Executive chefs brought with them legions of sous chefs, pastry chefs and garde mangers and still needed the army of volunteers from L’Academie de Cuisine. Link to full article
By Jordan Wright
Twenty years ago Old Town Alexandria had three Greek Restaurants, two Irish pubs, a few colonial food restaurants and not much else. The Greek spots were all lined up along King Street, west of Washington.
 Photo by Roy Wright/Local Kicks BIG NIGHT FOR BASTILLE: Christophe and Michelle Poteaux of Bastille Restaurant in Old Town, finalists for the region's top Upscale Casual restaurant and region's top Pastry Chef, respectively. Back then the whole town shut down by 10 pm and anyone seen later than that strolling down King Street, who wasn’t coming out of Murphy’s Irish Pub, was probably going to rob you…because everyone else was snug in their beds.
Those days are long gone and Alexandria today is as vibrant and dynamic as any cosmopolitan city. Last night at the RAMMY Awards in Washington DC the finalists featured seven chefs and/or their restaurants in Alexandria.
Those days are long gone and Alexandria today is as vibrant and dynamic as any cosmopolitan city. Last night at the RAMMY Awards in Washington DC the finalists featured seven chefs and/or their restaurants in Alexandria. Link to the whole article
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