Jordan Wright
May 2010
Buddha Bar – Hot and Glamorous, World Class and Here
 WJLA's Leon Harris and the stunning Holly Macke at Buddha Bar - photo by Jordan Wright Only world-class cities like Moscow, Paris, Tokyo, New York and Dubai have Buddha Bar…until last week…when DC’s newest, screeching hot, upscale haunt with the world-music vibe opened to the public. Before the velvet ropes went up Washington Life held a swank reception for the well-heeled and well-known and believe me there were plenty of “nibbles and sips” to go around under the acquiescent gaze of the eighteen-foot Buddha. Buddha Bar is known for its eclectic music mixes. They have a dozen CDs out of their signature in-house mixes, ranging from operatic arias and New Age to Samba and Bollywood, and everything in between. I have an enormous collection of two so far and they are among my very favorites.
That night House DJ, Parisian Allan Davis, was spinning to Raspberry Saketinis, champagne, sushi and crispy Vietnamese spring rolls. Yum yum!
Co-owner Michael Don, “I’m originally from Soviet Georgia,” told me, “It’s all about the food here. That’s number one to us!” On that note we’ll have to return for a proper meal and let you know.
www.BuddhaBarDC.com
Jordan Wright
May 2010
Ritz-Carlton’s Twentieth Anniversary Celebration
 Ritz-Carlton Executive Chef Fredric Chartier with his vegetable tower - photo by Jordan Wright When the Ritz-Carlton opened its elegant doors in Arlington twenty years ago, they were a pioneering luxury hotel  Ritz-Carlton's Anniversary Celebration cake - Photo by Jordan Wright in their Pentagon City neighborhood. Since then they have become an important destination hotel for high level diplomatic and military visits, a home to Presidential Inauguration events and VIP guests from around the globe.
Last week they invited their loyal clientele to join them in celebrating two decades of success, with a sumptuous reception in the ballroom that featured signature cocktails and the glories of the kitchen prepared by recently appointed Executive Chef, Frederic Chartier. The baby-faced Chartier, who has staged at The Four Seasons and George V in Paris, brings Modern French cuisine to the hotel’s fyve Restaurant Lounge. The evening capped off with Pastry Chef Dallas Marsteller’s divine desserts, including scrumptious mini-strawberry shortcakes.
www.RitzCarlton.com/PentagonCity
Jordan Wright
May 2010
Poste Moderne Brasserie in the Hotel Monaco
 A sample of Poste's herbal spirits - photo by Jordan Wright A lunch at Poste Moderne Brasserie in the Hotel Monaco’s garden took advantage of a temperate but breezy afternoon. Sous Chef, Jenn Flynn, was at the helm at last week’s lunch hour and I sampled many a wonderful dish  Poste Moderne's Sous Chef Jenn Flynn in the organic garden - photo by Jordan Wright from the open kitchen. In particular a knockout Asparagus Carbonara made with tesa (an in-house two-week cured pork belly) ramps (get’em while you can!), spring onions and morels (see my story on Morels recently posted). Another unimpeachable dish is the Pineland’s Farm Steak tartare on house-made brioche, and a curious but playful Tasting of Salted Caramel with caramel ice cream, coffee-caramel crème brulee and caramel popcorn. Crunch, slurp, lick. A crisp 2007 Tavel Rose from Ferraton Pere et Fils sealed the deal.
By now those of you who know the restaurant are well aware of Executive Chef, Rob Weland and his total commitment to local farm sourcing. But it doesn’t get more close-in than his patio gardens with their vast assortment of organic vegetables, lettuces, fruit trees (pawpaw!) and herbs used in both the dishes and cocktail flavorings.
 Asparagus Carbonara at Poste Moderne - photo by Jordan Wright www.PosteBrasserie.com
Jordan Wright
May 2010
A Mess of Mudbugs and Zydeco at Hungry for Music in the Park
 Mudbug races at Hungry for Music's 15th Annual Crawfish Boil - photo by Jordan Wright There was some serious crawfish face time at Fort Hunt Park last Saturday at Hungry for Music’s 15th Annual Crawfish Boil fundraiser.
 Ready for action - photo by Jordan Wright Organizer Jeff Campbell, is a Louisiana native, who started the crawfish boil with friends as a backyard bash. After a few years they made it a fundraiser for the non-profit that aids in purchasing musical instruments for needy schools and students all around the world. Over the years it has blossomed to include over 600 guests and 2200 pounds of overnight-shipped crawfish and Lord knows how much beer!
“This event has allowed Hungry for Music to keep going and keep giving, and without these friends it wouldn’t be happening,” Campbell told me. “The Crawfish Boil is the lifeblood of this movement I’m very grateful there are so many people committed to its success.” HFM has already donated over 3,000 instruments.
On the park’s stage, local band, Squeeze Bayou and the SwampKeepers, played their Cajun Zydeco dance music of two-steps and waltzes all sung in Cajun French, to remind us all of how important it is to keep the music alive. They’ll be performing a free concert this summer in Gristmill Park in Alexandria on August 20th.
 Wayne Rodgers and son at the Crawfish Boil in Alexandria - photo by Jordan Wright So in walks uber-grooveman Wayne Rodgers, down from Woodstock, VA with his 13-year-old son, Frank, in father-son tie-dyed tees. Rodgers, who briefly appeared in the 1970 “Woodstock” documentary, was the joint-toking hippie known as the “Port-O-San Guy”, so named after he used an outhouse to light up against the torrential rain. As president of Coalition Against Hunger, he is long past his space-age days and was named Citizen of the Year in 2002 in Prince William County for his work with the organization.
This is how we keep it real…
www.hungryformusic.org
www.SqueezeBayou.com
Jordan Wright
May 2010
Cherimoya and Chontaduro at Café Atlantico
 Crab ravioli with chontaduro fruit at Cafe Atlantico - photo by Jordan Wright The past month has been a whirlwind of events. A sumptuous dinner at Café Atlantico (I was peeking over my shoulder to see what exotica was being concocted in the Minibar laboratory) prepared by the stunning 29 year-old, Chef Catalina Velez, flown in from Columbia, to join Atlantico’s Chef Terri Cutrino. Velez, whose two restaurants, Luna Lounge and Kiva in Cali, Columbia, cooks in the style of Nuevo Latino. She promotes ingredients from her native country and had more than a few unique delicacies from Columbia’s Pacific Coast woven into her menu.
 Stunning 29 year-old Chef Catalina Velez from Columbia Here’s what she prepared: Velvety avocado soup topped with shrimp and bonito with sweet “cherimoya” fruit, aka custard apple; crab ravioli with “chontaduro”, a delectable palm fruit, indigenous to South America; grilled squid salad; seared duck breast with duck confit tamale and lentils; beef tenderloin with tamarind sauce and plantain puree; dessert was a delicate corn cake with banana mousse. All perfectly paired with wines from Chile and Argentina. Tonya Fitzpatrick, creator of World Footprints and www.WorldFootprints.com, the ecologically-correct travel site, was my ever-delightful dinner partner.
www.Jaleo.com/CrystalCity
www.CafeAtlantico.com
Jordan Wright
May 2010
Leading Spanish Chef María José San Román Brings Her Paellas to Jaleo’s Paella Festival
 Chef Maria Jose San Ramon at Jaleo's Paella Festival - photo by Jordan Wright José Andrés and his culinary team at Jaleo will celebrate this year’s Paella Festival from June 7th through the 20th. The paellas will be based on the recipes of guest chef María José San Román of Alicante, Spain.
One of the leading female chefs in Spain, she is self-taught and expert in traditional Catalan and Valencian cooking, choosing a career in restaurants after studying law and languages. Today she and her family preside over a number of highly rated restaurants in the Alicante area including La Taberna del Gourmet and the critically acclaimed Restaurante Monastrell.
 A bit of refreshment with saffron, green apple and rosemary flowers -photo by Jordan Wright San Román has presented at a number of culinary conferences around the world including the Culinary Institute of America’s “Worlds of Flavor” conference in Saint Helena, California and the prestigious Madrid Fusion conference. An internationally recognized expert in “crocus sativus”, she works closely with the Universidad de Castilla La Mancha and the Spanish saffron industry and travels the world lecturing on saffron. Her book on the subject “El libro del azafran” will be published by Montagud in October of this year in Spanish and in English.
Chef San Román’s paellas combine interesting ingredients with various types of rice, resulting in exceptional taste and texture. Featured dishes will include Arroz con pluma ibérica y verduras de Alicante, Iberico pork paella with green
 Seafood paella -photo by Jordan Wright garlic and seasonal vegetables; Arroz caldoso con cigalas, soupy rice with Norway lobster, Fideos finos tostados con bogavante, vermicelli paella with lobster; Arroz con verduras y setas de temporada, paella of seasonal vegetables and mushrooms and Caldero de pescados con arroz finito a banda, fish stew with rice. The specials will be rotated throughout the two weeks and will be available for lunch and dinner.
Jaleo has locations in DC, Bethesda and Crystal City.
www.Jaleo.com
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