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Jordan Wright
August 16, 2012
Special to www.dcmetrotheaterarts.com, www.broadwaystars.com, and www.localkicks.com
 Occidental Grill and Seafood Executive Chef Rodney Scruggs. Photo by Jordan Wright. The Occidental, Forever Young
In the shadow of the White House a special watering hole welcomes celebrities, power brokers and out-of-towners in equal measure. The Occidental Grill and Seafood situated beside the Willard Hotel continues its reputation as a swank establishment where legions of notable devotees have long gathered to drink, dine, swap State secrets, and make policy. That it continues to attract both the well-heeled and influential for over one hundred years is a tribute to its reverence for fine food and superb service. But what’s more impressive is, though it boasts a clientele of famous politicians and a roster of international scene-stealers, The Occidental has kept pace with the contemporary food scene. It’s one DC spot that doesn’t rest on its considerably august laurels but continues to forge ahead with innovative American cuisine.
Executive Chef Rodney Scruggs has been steering the kitchen’s progress over the past seven years buying locally as much as he can and delivering the kind of elegant dishes his guests expect. Oysters hail from War Shore Oysters and sustainable seafood is delivered six days a week from Prime Seafood. On a recent visit he beamed like a proud papa over a tray of biodynamically-raised heirloom tomatoes from Virginia’s Whipple Farms and patiently explained how Molly Visosky’s famers co-op, The Fresh Link a system that links farms, food artisans and farmers markets, provides the restaurant with the best local produce farmers have to offer on any given week. The spectacular steaks the Occidental is known for are from Rosetta Farms in Baltimore County who supply Scruggs with top quality naturally raised meat.
 Matt Baker. Photo courtesy of The Washington Loyalist The recent hire of Chef de Cuisine Matt Baker ups the game with his edgy twist to food styling and concept. Also new is Mixologist/Sommelier Jo-Jo Valenzuelawho is quite literally stirring things up with craft sodas and artisanal cocktails, plucking sprigs from the hotel’s herb garden and hunting down exotic spices, to create infused liquors and bring a fresh creative approach to the overall program.
 Lobster roll with fennel at the Occidental. Photo by Jordan Wright. Last week over Maryland lump crab cakes, yellow fin tuna burgers and lobster rolls with fresh fennel, and pleasantly ensconced beneath hundreds of framed photographs of the restaurant’s legendary clientele, tales of the town were swapped with a convivial group that included Metropolitan Opera star Alessandra Marc, über-defense lawyer and former DC Baseball Commissioner, Marc Tuohey III, National Theatre’s Executive Director Tom Lee, and Sean Graystone who currently oversees the restoration of the magnificent Temple of the Scottish Rite one of DC’s most iconic historic buildings.
As we talked our indoor table looked out over the pretty patio with its royal blue umbrellas and cast iron jardinères and window boxes spilling over with herbs and bright pink flowers reminiscent of a sidewalk café along the Champs Élysées. You could almost sense the city’s original designer, Pierre L’Enfant, smiling down in approval, his vision realized and still very much alive.
Summer is Peachy Keen at Station 4
The sleek interior of Station 4 is a fitting stage for the playful cuisine of Executive Chef Orlando Amaro. Decor is a mix of campy chic and studied casualness with lipstick red button tuck leather banquettes, honey-toned pearlized leather chairs and shaded chandeliers. The space is large and lively, with a bar that runs the length of the room and the tables are well spaced, affording easy conversation. On summer evenings opt for the outdoor patio separated from the street by a pathway lined with rosebushes and shaded by white umbrellas.
 Executive Chef Orlando Amaro of Station 4. Photo by Jordan Wright In honor of National Peach Month Amaro has embraced the summer fruit, giving it a supporting role in any number of dishes. Raw oysters become a cradle for a sweet tart peach mignonette; watercress is the underlying base for a piquant salad with blue cheese and pecans toasted with oregano and cayenne; and seared foie gras meets lightly charred peaches. Of particular note recently was an appetizer of watermelon topped with lump crabmeat, halved yellow grape tomatoes and speckles of dehydrated Kalamata olives – an alluring partner to a glass of Schramsberg Brut Rosé.
 Appetizer of watermelon topped with crab at Station 4. Photo by Jordan Wright. Most conveniently Station 4 is located across the street from the Waterfront Metro Station, next door to Arena Stage, and walking distance from Nationals Park making it a terrific gathering place before or after a boffo show or a winning season Nationals game. Check with the restaurant for Nats ticket promos.
Piaf Would Love This Place
 Chicken with mushrooms and summer vegetables at Bistrot Lafayette. Photo by Jordan Wright. Along Old Town Alexandria’s well-trodden King Street is where you’ll find Bistrot Lafayette. A cozy intimate restaurant – a little shabby, a little chic – just how the legendary French chanteuse would prefer. Last week a memorable soupe du jour was cream of spinach served with a dollop of fresh goat cheese and a ribbon of olive oil laced with fresh herbs. Expect to find classics like steamed mussels in white wine as well as roast leg of lamb and duck confit. When the weather turns chilly try the beef bourguignon with a cabernet sauce, or a silken foie gras from Hudson Valley served with pears poached in a soupçon of lemon, honey and five spices.
Every weekend best friends and owners Isabelle Zorro and Marie Sinclair throw a party in their quaint two-story brownstone. Aprés dinner those in the know head upstairs on Friday and Saturday nights to carouse with fellow songsters and Francophiles where live piano accompaniment is in full swing until the last drink is served.
Throughout the steamy month of August Bistrot Lafayette will celebrate their 10thAnniversary with champagne (Mais pourquoi pas, chéri?) offering guests a complimentary glass of French bubbly with each entrée and a full bottle for a table of four.
 Cream of Spinach soup at Bistrot Lafayette. Photo by Jordan Wright. Zorro sends out, “A big thank you to our loyal clientele who have supported us for the past ten years, with many more great times to come!” To that end they are offering another special extending past Restaurant Week. Lunch is $20 for two courses or $25 for three sans the champers. And Mondays are far from blue with half price on all bottles of wine during dinner hours.
Vive la France!
Jordan Wright
August 7, 2012
Special to Washington Life
 Top Chef Master Marcus Samuelsson at the Howard Theatre, Washington, DC – photo credit Jordan Wright A child is seated on the grass in the Land of the Midnight Sun, his attention drawn downward by a clump of flowers. They are everywhere stretching across the rolling hillside as far as the eye can see, but he is focused on collecting specific elements for a simple bouquet clutched in his tiny left hand. A striped knit cap is pulled down tightly over his head. He is five. He appears curious and self-assured, methodical and intense, traits he evidences in no small measure to this day. The scene is from a black and white photograph out of Marcus Samuelsson’s latest book, “Yes, Chef”, an autobiographical journey that opens with his earliest memories of his adoption from his native Ethiopia. 3,700 miles as the crow flies, to Sweden.
Marcus Samuelsson’s ascendancy to Top Chef Master is no fluke. Hard work, numerous television appearances and a slew of cookbooks have shown a bright light on his skills and restaurants. His unique path to a life in professional kitchens began when he was cut from his small town of Göteborg’s soccer club because of his slight frame. “I sometimes think of myself more as a failed soccer player than an accomplished chef,” he admits.
For a while he knocked around a few local restaurants until landing in Switzerland where he trained under the old European hierarchical system where Larousse Gastronomique and Escoffier’s Le Guide Culinaire were the bibles of French cooking. There he was put to the test in a brutally exhaustive regime fraught with demeaning work, withering insults from head chefs and inhumane hours. The system offered internships to Michelin-starred restaurants where the treatment of young chefs was equally as intense. Samuelsson not only survived, unlike many of his peers, but thrived, learning the intricacies and pitfalls of the business from the inside out and perfecting a disciplined mind that would rival that of an Eastern mystic.
Over the years and throughout his travels Samuelsson kept a diary of his food experiences carefully recording the regional dishes he learned to prepare and daydreaming about how he would do them differently when the time came to open his own restaurant – a time that would come when he could at last merge international flavors with traditional cuisine. That day came in 2011 with the opening of Red Rooster in New York’s Harlem where he has put down roots in the city he has come to call his own.
 Ambessa Teas Last month I sat down with him in the newly restored Howard Theatre in Washington, DC where he has created the venue’s current menu and where he was preparing to discuss and sign his latest book along with an onstage cooking demo. He kindly brewed me a cup of Choco Nut Blend from his new line of Ambessa specialty teas he has created this year for Harney and Sons.
Jordan Wright – You say in your book that a jazz musician looks for a new kind of perfect as going “deep in the shed”. Does that apply to you?
Marcus Samuelsson – Yes! Well, sometimes. For me perfection can be different things. When I started cooking French food we were serving only about two percent of the population. Now I find perfection in berbere [an Ethiopian spice mix] and the countryside of Ethiopia where I’ve found the smells and flavors that I didn’t know how to value earlier in my life. Perfection can mean different things at different times in your life.
JW – You mention in your book wanting to hang out with Keith Haring and Madonna. Who would you like to hang out with now that you haven’t yet met?
MS – It’s been planned for me to cook for Nelson Mandela and that would be really nice. It just hasn’t worked out yet.
JW – Who are the chefs that you most admire today?
MS – My grandmother, who was not a professional but got me going, Charlie Trotter who embraced me early in my career, and I love what Alice Waters has contributed to American cooking. Also I look up to Daniel Boulud and the so many of the unknown chefs who are not yet recognized for their craft.
JW – Are you working with any new ingredients?
MS – Well, not new. I love discovering the ancient Ethiopian foods and presenting them to a non-Ethiopian crowd. It’s fun to treat things a little bit differently like using the chili-like berbere with chocolate or on popcorn.
JW – Who’s been the greatest influence in your life?
MS – My mom and my dad who always gave me guidance. My grandmother giving love and cooking, my parents for my schooling, and my Ethiopian mother who gave me the ultimate sacrifice by making sure we [Samuelsson’s sister was adopted into the same family] would survive.
JW – Your book has a powerful message to future chefs that they should be tough, detailed and methodical. Do you think artistry ever trumps hard work?
MS – Cooking is a great craft because it’s a balance between craftsmanship, traditions, storytelling, artistry, finance and marketing. It’s all of those things.
JW – Do you believe that people have an innate talent for cooking?
MS – I’m a firm believer that you have to work on your talent constantly. I’m always traveling and asking myself questions. Talent will get you in the room, but it’s not going to help if you don’t have a good work ethic and curiosity. It’s evolution, evolution, evolution!
JW – Was the White House State Dinner for the Prime Minister of India hosted by the Obamas one of the highlights of your career?
MS – Absolutely! It was a huge honor to be a part of the team on such a big day where so much of the cooking came down to care as well as research.
JW – Let’s talk about your experience on Top Chef Masters.
MS – I learned so much from being with Susan Feniger and Jonathan Waxman, friends that I so much admire, American chefs that came from California and were part of a cuisine revolution that we didn’t have in Europe. What’s great about the show was sitting around before the filming and listening to how they started in a truck back in the 70’s with no money. It was very inspirational. I remember moments that were not caught on tape like when my back went out and Susur Lee was giving me a massage because I could not move. There was such a camaraderie there that you cannot describe.
JW – Do you want to talk about the menu you’ve created for tonight?
MS – It’s really a fun menu. I will celebrate Sweden with its gravlax, go into Harlem with the fried chicken, and then there’s a hash that features Ethiopian flavors, finishing with the chocolate pancake with roasted cherries and blueberries. It’s comfort food and all the things that speak home to me. I’m really excited to be here in the historic Howard Theatre and to witness the resurgence of the neighborhood.
This interview was conducted, condensed and edited by Jordan Wright.
Jordan Wright
July 30, 2012
Special to The Alexandria Times
 Photographer Shane Canfield It’s Olympics Week and we’re in London. Well, not really Dearie, not the London of the Tower Bridge and the colored rings, but a smidge more local, at The Little Theatre of Alexandria far closer to the Potomac than the Thames. No, my friends, this is the London of Sweeney Todd, “who would blink and rats would scuttle” as he “served a dark and vengeful god.” Close enough, I’d say. Maybe too close.
From the opening salvos the 20-member cast of Stephen Sondheim’s spine-tingling Sweeney Todd – The Demon Barber of Fleet Street will sweep you off your feet and smack dab into a Dickensian world filled with high dudgeon and deep depravity. The musical is a fierce story of love, loss and revenge merrily served up in all its carnivorous glory with a spot of tea and a stiff upper lip – body parts included. It’s a grisly horror story dripping with blood and British charm and some of Sondheim’s best songs.
 Photographer Shane Canfield We are introduced to Sweeney Todd alias Benjamin Barker upon his return to London to avenge the death of his wife by the evil and perverse Judge Turpin (Chris Gillespie) and his conspiratorial cohort, Beadle Bamford (Christopher David Harris), and to reunite with his daughter, the beautiful Johanna (Roxanne Scher), who is being held captive by the judge as his ward and future bride.
Todd falls in with Mrs. Lovett, an ambitious and wily widow with a failing meat pie shop. They strike up an unlikely and diabolical alliance and, in a stroke of business genius, Mrs. Lovett provides Todd with a tonsorial parlor above her store where they gleefully combine the two disparate businesses. “Think of it as thrift,” she chirps with a dash of gallows humor. “It seems an awful waste with the price of meat what it is.”
The Little Theatre knew Sweeney Todd was going to be a monster of a production and commandeered three producers to keep it on track. That it is one of their finest productions to date is due in no small part to Andrew JM Regiec, who appears to have his hand in most elements of the play. His superb directing, top-notch choreography and staging, including collaborating on set design with Dan Remmers, take this theater and its twelve-piece orchestra to dramatic new heights. Throw into the mix the award-winning team of Jean Schlichting and Kit Sibley who have costumed the show in high Victorian poverty splendor all the way down to the beggar women’s bloomers. Another clever touch they employ are the scarlet red silk flourishes worn by the ensemble in the opening number, the “Ballad of Sweeney Todd”, that reveals shades of things to come.
Harv Lester tackles the dark vengeful Todd with masterful aplomb. From his opening number “No Place Like London” Lester puts the entire audience in his thrall with his tremendous baritone and powerful presence. His fresh portrayal made me feel as though I were seeing it for the first time.
As Mrs. Lovett, Jennifer Lyons Pagnard, is on par with original Broadway cast member Angela Lansbury (whom this critic remembers fondly). Pagnard is captivating with gestures so naturally balanced between her left side and right side so as to present a continuous self-portrait. It was a master class in acting effortlessly. In addition her fifteen years as a vocalist with the US Air Force Band’s “Singing Sergeants” has gifted her with a performance ability more often honed on a professional stage. Pagnard knows how to memorialize a character – in spades!
 Photographer Shane Canfield Christopher David Harris is terrific as the smarmy and foppish Beadle whose ghastly encounter with a blind nightingale led my seatmate to let out a shriek heard throughout the theater… and perhaps across the pond. Keep an eye out for Zachary Frank in the role of Pirelli whose portrayal of the Italian barber is a hilarious foil to the murder and mayhem.
Countless elements contribute to the realism of the show. Art Snow adds much in terms of special effects including designing blood-spurting razors synchronized to the slashing of Todd’s victims’ throats, a chair that sends victims sliding into an abyss, and a dungeon-worthy oven billowing smoke and flames. The technical complexities of the show are impressive – as in the two double-decker turntable stages that rotate an astonishing 64 times. Add to that the more than 80 sound cues and dozens of mood-shifting lighting cues designed by the WATCH Award-winning team of Ken and Patti Crowley and you have a tremendously dynamic stage set.
Highly recommended.
Through August 18th at The Little Theatre of Alexandria, 600 Wolfe Street. For tickets and information call the box office at 703 683-0496 or visit www.thelittletheatre.com
Jordan Wright
July 12, 2012
Special to Indian Country Today Media
A scene from “Unto These Hills”
Amid the majestic scenery of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians’ 56,000-acre sovereign nation known as Qualla Boundary lies the city of Cherokee, which sits at the entrance of North Carolina’s Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The area is steeped in Cherokee history and culture and a beautiful setting for a vacation adventure.There are many ways to enjoy a visit to this region. But first determine your vacation expectations. Are you pumped by the glamour and glitz of an all-night casino and a swank suite in a luxury hotel? Or do you picture yourself luxuriating in a hot tub in a rustic cabin nestled snugly in the woods? Does the outdoor life beckon? There’s backcountry exploring along the Appalachian Trail or driving the iconic Blue Ridge Parkwayand camping beside miles of stocked trout streams where you may be visited by curious elk and wake to the chirp of the Eastern bluebird. In Qualla Boundary, or very nearby, you can choose from any one of these options and at a price to suit every budget.
What to Do
For nature lovers a good place to start is at the Oconaluftee Visitors Center and Mountain Farm Museum in the park, run by the U.S. National Park Service, where you’ll learn about the early farming history of the region. You can pick up hiking and topographical maps, light camping supplies and info on the region’s flora and fauna. Resident naturalist Ila Hatter encourages amateur botanists to get in touch with the power of the plant and shares her extensive knowledge of the area’s native plants and their use for food, medicine and crafting. “The Cherokee word adowahi means the spirit of the plant,” she explains. “You ask the power of the plant to do the healing. It keeps its strength in the plant to be your medicine. It can also mean ‘forest’ or ‘guardian spirit.’ It’s comparable to the Buddhist concept of living gratefully.”
Mountain Farm Museum
Whether roughing it or living the luxe life, you’ll want to experience Cherokee culture. Spend time in the Museum of the Cherokee Indian, which has an astonishing collection of Cherokee and Paleo artifacts dating from 10,000 years ago. Here interpretive dioramas of early life mesh with dramatic videos depicting ancient myths and legends. Among carved basswood tribal masks and stone gorgets is the rifle used to execute Cherokee hero Tsali in 1838. Ask for museum interpreter (and well-known stickball expert) Jerry Wolfe, who happily shares his extensive knowledge of traditional recipes and local lore.
Directly across the road is the Qualla Arts and Crafts Mutual, an artisans’ cooperative with more than 250 members. The modern studio-like space, which houses exquisite early and contemporary pottery, beadwork, dolls and museum-quality white oak splint basketry, is a marketplace for authentic Cherokee crafts.
The Eternal Flame greets visitors at the 18th century Oconaluftee Indian Village and Living History Museum. Cherokee demonstrators encourage hands-on participation in weaving, carving, pottery, flint knapping and other traditional crafts. A guided tour of the Cherokee Botanical Garden and Nature Trail is also offered. It is part of the North Carolina Birding Trail System, and features more than 150 native plants through a half-mile loop along the slopes of Mount Noble. Be sure to pre-purchase tickets to the spectacular outdoor evening performances of Unto These Hills at Mountainside Theater. This moving portrayal of the Cherokees and the Trail of Tears told through dance, music and drama is held in a vast amphitheater. During the day special “Step-On” bus tours led by guides in traditional dress can be arranged by contacting the museum in advance.
 At the Oconoluftee Village – photo credit Jordan Wright Master woodcarver, tribal culture bearer and gifted storyteller Davy Arch is the village’s manager and one of the lifeways guides well versed in Cherokee lore. Call the Cherokee Historical Association in advance to arrange traditional suppers or guided trips to Mingo Falls or Soco Falls with its mountaintop observation deck overlooking Maggie Valley.
Just outside of town in a valley along the Tuckasegee River lies the Kituhwa Mound, the center of what is considered the “Mother Town.” The site, established 11,000 years ago, was once an ancient village considered by the Cherokee the center of the universe. Arch brings groups here to talk about the site’s importance as the first Cherokee village and the spot where the sacred fire was kept burning.
Sporting activities in the area include fly-fishing with Rivers Edge Outfitters guides (in Spruce Pine, North Carolina), zip-lining with Adventure America’s Nantahala Gorge Canopy Tours in nearby Bryson City, where you can also ride the rails in restored vintage railroad cars at the Great Smoky Mountains Railroad. Or spend a few hours tubing and kayaking on the Oconaluftee River from Big Cove. A spectacular view of Clingmans Dome, at more than 6,600 feet the highest peak in the Smokies, can be yours on horseback with Cherokee guide Goodlow Bark, owner of End of the Trail Riding Stables.
Where to Eat
Restaurants abound and there are four plus a food court inside Harrah’s Cherokee Casino & Hotel, but more traditional fare can be found at Paul’s Family Restaurant on Tsali Boulevard. The stream-side cottage with outdoor deck features blueberry frybread, buffalo rib-eyes and burgers, pheasant, rabbit, mountain trout, Indian chili tacos, fried green tomatoes and homemade coconut cake.
Since 1977 Cooper’s Roadside Stand, has been boiling peanuts in giant iron cauldrons on the side of Paint Town Road. Be sure to pick up some “rat” cheese (a sharp cheddar), locally grown produce, country ham and some unique jams and jellies like kudzu or wild dewberry.
 View of the Great Smoky Mountains from the Sequoyah National Golf Course – photo credit Jordan Wright Where to Stay
Luxury—The 21-story Harrah’s Cherokee has the most luxurious accommodations including four restaurants, a food court and a casino, currently under a major expansion. Book ahead if you want to hit the greens at the nearby Robert Trent Jones II–designed Sequoyah National Golf Course. The hotel is proud to be a participant in Harrah’s award-winning CodeGreen environmental sustainability and energy conservation program and recently installed 150,000 square feet of sedum on their new porte-cochère roof.
 At Harrah’s Cherokee in the Rotunda – photo credit Jordan Wright Comfortable Adventuring—A 45-minute drive from Cherokee on the western side of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park is the Fontana Village Resort on the 30-mile-long Fontana Lake. The 400-acre property has a large marina and features a great lodge, private cabins or riverside tent camping. With plenty of planned activities throughout the day, it’s like summer camp for the whole family. Free concerts are held on weekends and evenings are for gathering around the fire pit, karaoke contests, sunset pontoon boat cruises, ghost tours and Indian storytelling. While there plan to visit Fontana Dam. At 480 feet high and 2,365-feet across, it’s the tallest concrete dam east of the Rocky Mountains.
The Lodge at Fontana Village Resort
The Outdoor Life—Tents, cabins and RV campgrounds are in every nook and cranny. Within walking distance from town is the Cherokee Campground & Craig’s Cabins where you can put your fishing pole in Soco Creek right outside your cabin door. For camping with a pool and plenty of kid’s activities try the local KOA campground or the Adventure Trail Campground.
Upcoming Festivals
Eighth Annual Festival of Native Peoples—July 13 and 14
Cherokee Blueberry Festival—August 11
Southeastern Tribes Festival—September 14 and 15
Centennial Cherokee Indian Fair—October 2 through 6
Jordan Wright
July 20, 2012
Special to www.dcmetrotheaterarts.com, www.broadwaystars.com, and www.localkicks.com
Love Thy Neighbor and Their Beer
 Let the tasting begin – photo credit Jordan Wright What’s more local than partnering with your neighbor? For the food trucks that visit Alexandria’s Port City Brewing Company, producer and neighbor Logan’s Sausage lends kitchen space close by the Wheeler Avenue brewery. Fun fact: From 5 till 8pm on alternate Friday or Saturday nights The Big Cheese and Borinquen Lunch Box food trucks join the party at the brewery. Try the Puerto Rican style Churrasco Steak Sandwich or Cuban Sandwich from Borinquen, or the Cherry Glen Chevre with lemon fig jam from The Big Cheese who sources all their cheeses from the Cowgirl Creamery.
The monster storm that knocked out power to over a million people in our area earlier this month caught many local businesses off guard. At Alexandria’s Port City Brewing Company power was out for five days, compromising the process of some of the precision controlled beers. But from disaster comes a story to warm the cockles of your eager brewhearts.
Founder Bill Butcher along with Head Brewmaster Jonathan Reeves had been in the process of making the last batch of Downright Pilsner when the storm hit. “From lemons you’ve got to make lemonade,” Butcher told me. I think he meant that in a beer way. So while the vats’ temps had soared, fermenting the batch at a higher temperature than intended, they did a little research and found a style of beer called ‘California Common’ or ‘Steam Beer’ that ferments nicely at the higher temps. This happy accident will be called “Derecho Common” in deference to the type of storm that brewed it. Also called a ‘one-off’ or ‘shadow beer’, Port City will carry it along with the four other brews they are known for – Optimal Wit, a Belgian style Witbier; Essential Pale Ale, a golden beer with a fruity hop aroma; Monumental IPA, a balance between hoppy bitterness and rich malty goodness; and Porter, displaying a roasted coffee/dark chocolate character.
 Spice mix for the Optimal Wit at Port City Brewing Company – photo credit Jordan Wright As for their drowned out July 1st “Pint Party” to celebrate the Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control board’s new law finally allowing breweries to serve on premises, neighbors provided the borrowed electricity for the bands and lights a few days later.
In the meantime they’ve put their shoulders to the vats seven days a week for the past three weeks to get back on track after losing three weeks off their production schedule from the storm’s aftermath. (No worries. If you drop by all your faves are there on tap or for sale.)
During a recent tour I learned a great deal about the craft beer process, a quantum leap from the massive operation I beheld at the Guinness Storehouse last spring in Dublin. For example they use a Robot Coupe to blend the coriander, orange peel and Grains of Paradise – an exotic combination of African peppers used in the Optimal Wit. And that Reeves developed a machine called the ‘hop cannon’ to dry hop the beer while it rests in fermenting tanks. In addition their beers are all date stamped and leftover grain stored in the silo in the parking lot goes to a farm in Virginia for cattle feed. Oh, and they use the freshest local War Shore Oysters to make their Revival Stout a process that adds the oysters and their liquor to the briny brew during the boil and steep the shells in the brewing water to add mineral content.
This location is a busy spot both days and evenings with fans arriving regularly to refill growlers and enjoy tastings. Butcher has had to add a second tasting bar, proudly telling me, “It’s a very thirsty market!” Indeed!
For tours and hours visit www.portcitybrewing.com. Or Go to PCBC’s Twitter, Facebook or website to keep current on daily events.
Celeb Chef Joins the Equinox Team
 Ellen Gray (center) with Executive Chef Karen Nicolas (left) and Pastry Chef Brandi Etinger (right) – photo credit Jordan Wright Equinox’s Executive Chef Karen Nicolas could get lost behind a dough machine. The petite chef with the gleaming brown eyes may be small in stature but her ingredient-driven cuisine is now writ large on the culinary stage. At a summer casual party, replete with a live band, the much-adored Todd and Ellen Gray introduced Nicolas and her cuisine to the city’s food writers with the oft-hinted at but now formal announcement that she has been chosen Food & Wine’s Best New Chef of 2012. Nicolas who is Filipino as is White House Chef Cristeta Comerford (Is this a trend?) has been keeping the secret since the magazine informed her last November. Try keeping that under your toque.
Nicolas served up some scrumptious bites straight from her “Ode to Summer” menu. Here are a few of the items on this season’s four-course or six-course menu that offers the option of wine pairing.
Heirloom Summer Melons compressed in anise hyssop with cubanelle peppers, formaggio capra and cucumber water; Sea Salt Cured King Salmon with apricot, fennel crema, Minus 8 Ice Wine; Corn Flour Tagliatelle with Maine Lobster Velouté, summer squash and sorrel. I could go on, but I’m delicately drooling on my keyboard as I write this. I don’t usually mention the prices but in this case I note that they are astonishingly gentle – the four-course at $40 the six at $60. Add on for the wine pairings.
When I asked Nicolas if she had a signature dish she appeared to ponder the question. “Not yet,” she mused. Maybe diners will choose one for her.
I urge you to taste her imaginative dishes for yourself and weigh in when you find your favorite. Gray has always been out in front when it came to buying fresh and local and still is. We’ll happily afford a pass to the Maine lobstah and Alaskan King salmon.
In Just Under the Wire Saturday’s Party and Femivore Award Winners
 Eat Local First Farm-to-Street party on V Street – photo courtesy of Think Local First In another celebration of local farmers and restaurateurs the Eat Local First’s Farm-to-Street Saturday party is the last of a week’s worth of local food, beer, drinks and artisans events at the 1300 V Street, NW outdoor location. Think Local First’s Executive Director Stacey Price and her dynamic team have been partying with the community for the past seven days and have one last event to offer this Saturday from 1 till 7pm. With 40 vendors and 4 bands there’ll be plenty to enjoy. Admission is $15.00 and includes four drink or food tickets.
The organization sponsored a Femivore award with a dinner at RIS. The top finalists and a $1,000.00 award were Lauren Biel and Sarah Bernardi of DC Greenswhose mission is to focus on DC college students, putting them to work in school gardens throughout the city mentoring younger students to grow their own produce to “connect communities to healthy food.”
 Femivore Award – photo courtesy of Think Local First Tied for runners-up with a $500.00 award provided by Mitch Berliner of Essential Farm Markets were Kathryn Warnes and Lisa Jordan with their Taste of Place program to expand culinary tourism in Washington D.C. The women seek to “help you experience the taste of place with hand-on farm-to-table culinary adventures, exploring local food in urban and rural environments.”
Allison Sosna with PINE and MicroGreens also came in as runner up with her innovative business model combining her experience as a restauranteur with a desire to contribute to community outreach. Sosna hopes to, “bridge the gap between food access, food knowledge, and the joy of cooking.” Her fast casual resto PINE sources locally and uses its resources to fund MicroGreens, a program to teach children to cook on a food stamp budget. Berliner generously provided an equal reward to both.
Well-deserved and enterprising programs coupled with thoughtful recognition for their selfless efforts. Now that’s what we call Olympian!
Jordan Wright
July 2, 2012
Special to Indian Country Today Media
 TOTEM – Cirque de Soleil Christian Laveau keeps to his roots – both literally and culturally. As an herbalist he stays grounded by following the ways of his people working for several years at the First Nations Garden at the Montreal Botanical Garden sharing his knowledge of native plants and traditional medicines passed down to him by his Huron-Wendat elders. As a cultural ambassador he is a well-known Canadian performer, TV host, comedian, singer, songwriter, television producer and musician. His award-winning children’s show Chic Choc focuses on inspiring stories directed towards Canadian youth.
 Painted bear symbol on Christian Laveau’s drum face – photo credit Jordan Wright His most recent role is as the lead singer in Cirque de Soleil’s latest production TOTEM, a fascinating tale of the evolution of man from its original amphibian state to its ultimate desire to fly. Illustrated through a visual and acrobatic language, it falls somewhere between science and legend. Laveau was discovered by the iconic Canadian company while performing at a pow wow on his reservation.
 Beaded wolf symbol on Christian Laveau’s drum – photo credit Jordan Wright He enters the room filled with coiled energy and childlike excitement, carrying a drum and stick. He seems self-possessed and contained, but eager to let loose. His impish smile is warm and infectious and his arms envelop his well-worn drum like a proud father. As he speaks he toys with a small smooth stone.
 Christian Laveau – photo credit Jordan Wright Jordan Wright – Is that the drum you use in the show?
Laveau – Yes, I play my own drum. This one is 25 years old and made of caribou hide, and these are partridge feathers. The beaded part is the symbol of the wolf. I use the wolf, as my symbol. For me it is very important because he is a warrior. He represents strength and courage. It’s a kind of keeper. The painted part is the bear, my spiritual animal, because I am in the Bear Clan. This symbol is the sun – wenta’ye yändicha’ in my mother language.
Wright – What was your childhood like on the reservation?
Laveau – We call it a reserve. It’s in the Northwest part of Quebec. It’s very small – around 2,000 Wendat live there. Wendat means human being. When the government made the national park they took my grandfather out of the bush. He was a trapper. My mother was just six years old then. That’s when she saw electricity for the first time.
I grew up on the reservation with my sisters, mother, father and cousins who still live there. It’s a matriarchal society in my culture. If you remain there you have no other choice but to work for the Band Council or for the Chief or make crafts. But I had a dream to leave and go to acting school. So I went to the indigenous theatre company, Ondinnok, at the National Theatre School of Canada for three years to study my aboriginal roots.
Wright – What did that experience mean to you?
Laveau – I left my reservation and went to Montreal. At the institute we studied native culture and spirituality. We used songs, instruments and dance as a way to discover our real spirit.
It was more than a school. I studied with Yves Sioui Durand. He’s very intense and made us go very deep inside of ourselves to feel the pain and the joy, and the peace and the war of our ancestors. In my blood I have all those memories. We tried to experience those emotions, to have respect for them and to explore them, to make us stronger. And we will continue to fight.
My grandfather is one of my idols because he spent his life in the bush and my great-grandfather also was in the territory all his life, protecting and preserving the area and its traditions – hunting, fishing and gathering. I learned that it’s important to balance the forest.
My grandfather said if we go to the lake and find two beaver families, and if we leave them there, they will destroy everything around. But we need to eat, to make hats from the fur and tools from the bones. Where we live we cannot be vegetarians because it’s too cold! We use the kidneys to make a tea for when you have a cold. It is the animal that comes to us. We always put tobacco at the place where we hunt the animal. It’s to thank Mother Earth for giving us food. It shows we are grateful so that the spirit of the animal can go in peace.
Wright – I noticed you wrote and recorded an album mixing traditional Native songs with folk and New Age.
Laveau – It’s called “Sondakwa”, which is my first name in my mother language. It means ‘eagle’. In the video I made for the album I worked with Gilles Sioui, a bluesman and an elder with the native spirit. I’ve been a fan of his since I was a child. He’s been my inspiration. One day he heard me singing at a pow wow and I said to him, “You don’t know how much I would like to work with you,” and he said, “I’m your man!”
He had planned to do one song but he wound up making the entire album with me – doing the direction and all. (Visit this link to watch a video of one of the songs from Sondakwa, “Terre Rouge” (Red Earth) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sj4UOHFKMSI&list=UUcWYJ2GpBcL4URJuvwwAUmQ&index=1&feature=plcp).
Wright – How do you reach young people with your message?
Laveau – I have a TV show called Chic Choc on the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network (APTN). In native language it means, “Go over the mountain.” It’s for the youngsters that I do this TV show. It’s difficult for them. There are not a lot of things to do in the area and there are problems with alcohol and drugs. They don’t even allow glue in the classrooms. But because the children are the keepers of our culture we have to show them and use what our grandparents gave us. My grandmother always spoke to me about the importance of the “Seventh Generation” and continuing our traditions.
Wright – Where is your stone from?
Laveau – Well, they come from everywhere because whenever we have a pow wow we always exchange stones. It’s my talisman. This one is from a friend from the Atikamekw Nation in Quebec. I’ll eventually exchange it for another.
Wright – It seems in your career you do it all.
Laveau – It’s natural for me. It’s in my blood. It’s not complicated for me. My mother is a singer and I began singing with her when I was five years old. My father was a dancer so I studied traditional dance, after that he was a chief. But that’s not for me. I’m not political. I’m too sensitive. I prefer to share my culture. I don’t have the strength of my father to be a chief.
In the show I sing in my mother language. Guy Laliberté [founder of Cirque de Soleil] said, “You are a realculture, you are alive, so you will sing in your mother language.” For me it’s really an honor. Every night I use my own drums and other personal items.
 Tim Smith, Artistic Director of Cirque de Soleil’s TOTEM – photo credit Jordan Wright Tim Smith, who has been TOTEM’s Artistic Director through its inception, was there to answer additional questions about the production.
Wright – Tell me something about the show.
Smith – We concentrate on the human instinct. In us we have every origin of species all the way through to man’s wanting to fly, which is why the totem pole reflects the many faces of man and why we have an eagle on top. It’s man’s constant need to progress forward and often upward that’s why a lot of our images are aerial and constantly moving artists from the ground to the air.
Wright – Are there other Native performers in the cast?
Smith – The show is truly multicultural. We have 53 artists from 17 different countries speaking 9 different languages on stage every night. Two are American Indian dancers performing traditional dance – Shandien Larance (Hopi) and Eric Hernandez (Hopi) from New Mexico and California. They are authentic hoop dancers. The hoop shapes describe evolution from frog to thunderbird. We don’t teach them, we go out and find the real thing. We use a lot of traditional images and Christian (Laveau) has written a lot of original music for the show in collaboration with the composers of Cirque. That’s how authentic TOTEMis, and how important it is for the company to embrace that voice and that spirit.
Cirque de Soleil’s TOTEM will be at the Plateau at National Harbor, MD from August 15th to September 30th. For tickets and information visit http://www.cirquedusoleil.com/en/shows/totem/default.aspx
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