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JORDAN WRIGHT – Food Editor
Published -LocalKicks.COM – NIBBLES AND SIPS
MAY 2009
 Southern-style baker Anita Benton of Desserts, Etc. Photo by Jordan Wright Anita Benton, of Desserts, Etc., exudes a certain unmistakable Southern style. She’s Hattiesburg, Mississippi, born and bred, and although the drawl is nearly gone you’ll know you’re down-home with her steal-the-show Southern-inspired cakes and cookies. I had a chance to meet Anita and her delectable desserts this Saturday at National Harbor’s local-centric Farmers Market. This lady cooks with love and you can taste it in every bite.
We tried tender and moist Sweet Potato Brownies, Kentucky Butter Cake, Snickerdoodle cookies and Mocha Madness Cake. They were sumptuous and mouth-wateringly memorable. She does Strawberry Red Velvet Cakes, Orange Dream Cakes layered with orange mousse, and my personal favorite Coconut Cake, which she fills with lemon curd pineapple curd or coconut cream. How divinely decadent! Another specialty is called Felicia’s Favorite Cake. It’s a white vanilla bean cake made with chunks of brownies and pecans, layered with caramel pastry cream and topped with chocolate sauce. Heaven can wait!
A graduate of the University of Southern Mississippi and L’Academie de Cuisine in Maryland Anita is also a personal chef and creates dinner parties with classics like Shrimp and Grits.  Spring radishes and kohlrabi at National Harbor's Farmers Market. Photo by Jordan Wright To order online visit her site at www.desserts-etc.com or taste her wares at National Harbor’s Farmers Market, Saturday mornings from 10AM till 3PM.
I met farmers like Monica Medina  Sampling her mother's wares at Valle Produce Photo by Jordan Wright of Valle Produce who grow all their produce in Westmoreland County. Her French Breakfast radishes, tiny strawberries and kohlrabi were particularly beautiful and delicious.
David Thorne of Zekiah Farms raises Roseda Black Angus beef on his farm in Bryantown, MD. Free range grazed in his pastures without hormones or antibiotics, the beef is sold to some of our top local restaurants. Each animal has its own “biography” and they can even trace the meat back to the farm.
With over 16 cuts to choose from you can surely find your preference. He also raises pork, lamb, goat and poultry with the same high standards.
E-mail to writer [email protected]
Food Inc. Clips
By Jordan Wright
In his new documentary “Food, Inc.,” scheduled to premiere here on June 19, producer Robert Kenner lifts the veil on the shameful underbelly of food production in this country. Kenner is the director of the Academy Award-winning documentary “An Inconvenient Truth,” narrated by Al Gore. It’s now the fourth largest-grossing documentary of all time. After the screening I wondered, could “Food, Inc.” have the same radical, policy-changing influence on business as usual in the food production world as “An Inconvenient Truth” did when it challenged and informed us on climate change? Could we continue to ignore the realities of an industry gone haywire?
Featuring interviews with the iconic food author and activist Michael Pollan (“The Omnivore’s Dilemma” and “The Botany of Desire: A Plant’s Eye View of the World”), Eric Schlosser, author of “Fast Food Nation” and Joel Salatin, real-life farmer of Polyface Farms, a sustainable, organic model farm in Swoope, VA, and author of “Holy Cows and Hog Heaven”, the directors have proffered the reality of agri-business in this country. This is an inconvenient truth of a different kind. It reveals how our nation’s food is being raised, produced, slaughtered, cloned, genetically modified, seed patented and engineered, and co-opted and controlled by a few mega-conglomerates. Monsanto, Smithfield and Con-Agra top the list of eco-villains. Continue reading FOOD, INC. REVIEW OF FILM BY ROBERT KENNER
 Chef Todd Grey and Jordan Wright
Photo by Roy Wright Valerie Plame has nothing over undercover agent Ellen Kassoff-Gray. Ellen is the power behind the magic of Todd Gray, executive chef of Equinox, Market Salamander and the forthcoming Salamander Resort and Spa. Working on the down-low, she pulled off a super-secret surprise party to celebrate her husband’s ten years at the helm of Equinox. (“I could be robbing banks up and down the East Coast and he would never know!”) But this was no ordinary party, it was a roast and the roasters were charged with serving up some zingers to nail the low-key kindly chef. No matter which long-ago episode they tried to pin on him he took it all in with his natural grace.
Sheila Johnson of Salamander Farms and Market Salamander in Middleburg was the first to skewer the chef.
“Todd Gray is so nice that he makes Mother Theresa look like Gordon Ramsay,” and “Todd Gray is so nice that the last time Dick Cheney ate here, he decided to use San Pellegrino in all future waterboarding sessions.” After eight straight nominations for a RAMW award and five straight nominations for a James Beard award, Johnson declared him the “Susan Lucci of Washington chefs.” He’s been nominated yet again this year. One hopes he has a better track record than Lucci. Johnson let us all in on Gray’s first passion — golf — which he traded in for the restaurant life many years ago. And to help atone for giving up his dream to play the Masters Tournament at Augusta National, she presented him with the iconic “green jacket.”
 Chef Todd Gray and Dr. Shelia Johnson
Photo by Roy Wright Uber-restauranteurs Dan Mesches of Stir Food Group and the ever-charming Gus DiMillo of Passion Food Hospitality were on board, as were food writer extraordinaire Marion Burros of The New York Times, David Hagedorn of The Washington Post and the ubiquitous Michael Birchenall of Food Service Monthly, who told tales out of school to everyone’s delight, and wouldn’t have missed this for the world. There were foodies from as far away as Maine.
So many chefs came up through the ranks in this town or trained with Gray, the “kitchen shepherd,” and they wanted to be there to pay homage. Some of his contemporaries like cohort Robert Wiedmaier of Brabo, Tony Chittum of Vermillion, Michel Richard of Citronelle and Victor Albisu of BLT Steak gathered round to hear the stories and spin a few of their own. Old friend and award-winning pastry chef Heather Chittum brought a tray of her dazzling chocolate caramel tarts with Maldon sea salt topping.
Continue reading Chef Todd Gray’s 10TH Anniversary Party
By Jordan Wright
 Ripe strawberries at the Farmer's Market.
Crystal Farms, the new Farmers’ Market on Crystal Drive has a novel idea to re-use bags. You know the flimsy ones we try to recycle that sometimes blow away and get caught up in trees and make that fizzy flapping noise in the breeze for weeks.
Perusing the naturals at the Farmer’s Market.
Do we really need to use those anymore? They are also asking for the nice eco-friendly, re-useable bags. We have dozens of cloth totes around the house from past events. What a clever way to give these a second life!
The plan is to let other shoppers use them…a bag-sharing plan. (Please just the ones that are in good condition.)  Perusing the naturals at the Farmer's Market. 500 billion plastic bags, over one million every minute, are used worldwide every year with most of them ending up in landfills or the aforementioned trees. They break down into tiny particles that contaminate our waterways eventually our food system.
There will be designated areas at the market to collect them and they will give them to shoppers who have forgotten to bring theirs from home.
Check out this market with over 20 farmers and producers:
* Atwater’s Bakery: artisan breads, scones, cookies, organic ingredients
* Baguette Republic: baguettes, boules, challah, focaccia, rolls
* Barajas Produce: beans, beets, broccoli, herbs, salad mix, mustard green and more
* BIGG Riggs Farms: apple butter, hot pepper jelly, vodka sauce, fruit jams
* Four Seasons Nursery: cut flowers & herbs, culinary and medicinal herb plants
* G. Flores Produce: seasonal fruits and vegetables, cut flowers and herbs, container plants
* Graces Pastries: quick cakes, breads, scones
* Great Harvest Bread Co.: breads, cookies, baked goods
* Guata Java: premium Guatemalan coffee
* Kuhn Orchards: fruits and vegetables, herbs, flowers and plants, fruit butters, jams, jellies, canned peaches
A Monster Apple Pie and other sweets at the Farmer’s Market.
* LynnVale Studios: over 100 different kinds of specialty cut flowers and culinary herbs
* Meat Crafters: all natural handcrafted meats, cured, fresh and smoked
* Mount Vernon Farm: 100% grass-fed beef, lamb and pastured pork
* Red Apron Butcher Shop: bacon, pastrami and hotdogs
* Salsa Las Glorias: Salsas and Pico de Gallo made with locally grown ingredients
* St. Ambrose Apiaries: Honey, honey related products, 100% beeswax candles
* Teaco: wide varieties of loose leaf teas
* Toigo Orchards: applesauce, apple/pear butter, pasta sauce, honey and fresh fruits
* Tysons Farms: wide varieties of seasonal fruits and vegetables including peaches, plums, cherries, berries, beans, zucchini, peppers, cabbage, beans, eggplants and much more
* Walnut Hill Farm: seasonal vegetables including corn, potatoes, beans, kohlrabi, onions, watermelon and more
* Westmoreland Produce: seasonal vegetables and fruits, container plants, cut herbs and flowers
Radishes at the Farmer’s Market.  Radishes at the Farmer's Market. Crystal Farms Market is held on Tuesdays from 3 pm to 7 pm on Crystal Drive between 18th and 20th Streets in Crystal City. The market runs until October 27.
By Jordan Wright
 Photo by John Arundel/WHG
Three Alexandria chefs walked away with the top awards at the Rammys Sunday night, with Cathal Armstrong’s Restaurant Eve, BRABO by Robert Weidmaier and Tony Chittum of Vermilion picking up Fine Dining Restaurant of the Year, Chef of the Year and Rising Culinary Star of the Year, respectively.
Once not too long ago a backwater on the DC-area dining scene, Sunday night’s glittery 2009 Restaurants Awards by the Restaurant Association of Metropolitan Washington further solidified the seat taken at the head of the culinary table by now-renowned Alexandria chefs in recent years.
Aglow with over 1,200 industry guests at the Omni Shoreham Wardman Park, the evening sparkled with luminaries from the Washington restaurant scene. Rep. Jim Moran, the ever-gorgeous award-winning journalist, J. C. Hayward and Bon Appetit’s Editor–in-Chief, Barbara Fairchild were on board as presenters. John Arundel, the associate publisher of Washington Home & Garden, was an awards presenter, remarking on the impressive showing by the city’s chefs in recent years at the Rammys.
 Photo by John Arundel/WHG Cathal Armstrong accepts the award from his culinary peers for best Fine Dining Restaurant in the DC area, with wife Michelle Armstrong. It was the third time Restaurant Eve had taken the award for top fine dining in the DC area. “Only a handful of spots — Restaurant Eve and The Inn at Little Washington tie for best — can compete with New York’s finest,” gushed celebrated New York Times food critic Marian Burros.
Indeed, Eve has become a stomping ground of sorts for serious New York foodies with the means to jump on the shuttle to celebrate with clients an investment banking deal or special anniversary at an Armstrong-inspired Tasting Room dinner in Alexandria — not DC, Manhattan or Washington, VA. — reported an insider.
“I was born in Ireland but made in the USA,” said Cathal Armstrong, a Dublin native who speaks four languages, if you include Irish. Armstrong was flanked on stage by his wife and business partner Mishelle and Sommelier Todd Thrasher, also a partner. “I’m just so blessed to have such a top-notch staff and a loving and supportive wife behind me,” Armstrong said.
The husband and wife team created Eve six years ago with passion based on their experience and a name lent by their first child. The historic warehouse building at 110 S. Pitt Street in Old Town, once home to a Mexican tapas restaurant, has been converted into a quaint yet sophisticated 100-seat restaurant offering two unique dining experiences in separate rooms, “The Chef’s Tasting Room” and “The Bistro.” Continue reading Alexandria Restaurants Rule the Rammys
 Photo by Roy Wright
By Jordan Wright
Ahhh … the distinctive allure of a Washington spring. Splashes of nature’s saturated color everywhere; azalea’s pinks and hydrangea’s blues. Down dappled Georgetown sidewalks, we peer into backyard gardens to see bold striped canvas awnings unfurled against the sun’s sudden angle shift. Deep purple clematis weaves its way up iron trellises yielding toward the new light and sweet wisteria and lilac mingle with fragrant viburnum. The first tiny yellow sulphur butterfly of the season winks its wings along a privet hedge. Read more below the recipe!
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JORDAN’S LEMON CHICKEN
4 organic split chicken breasts
4 organic chicken thighs with legs
1 lemon, cut into 1/4-inch slices, seeds removed
2 sweet onions, cut into 1/4-inch slices
Granulated garlic (fresh garlic adds too much moisture)
1/2 cup or more of dried Provencal herb mix
Extra virgin olive oil
Butter
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper Continue reading THE SPRING GARDEN PARTY
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