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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
By Jordan Wright
 Jordan and cakelove's Warren Brown Warren Brown is on a mission.
The eponymous all-American baker, owner and founder of CakeLove and Food Network star, has plans to get you into the kitchen. A graduate of Brown University with a Bachelor’s degree in history, and of George Washington University, where he earned his law degree and a Master’s in Public Health, Brown dropped his law career like a bad debt in 2000 and followed his life’s calling by researching and refining the art and science of baking. By 2002, he had opened his first CakeLove shop in the District. Brown is an impassioned advocate of “pure food” and natural ingredients, and delivers devotion to his craft and his customers every day. Last Friday, I caught up with Brown outside his newest location at National Harbor. I found him to be a gentle and droll man, generous of spirit and dedicated to sharing his knowledge with others.
JORDAN WRIGHT: Congratulations, you’ve just opened your seventh location in the Washington area. What’s your next project?
WARREN BROWN: I’ve been talking to a woman who has an existing ice cream shop, Maggie Moo’s, in the downtown area around the Metro Center. The idea would be to partner in one shop.
JW: A lot of your fans were introduced to you and your cakes through the Food Network with your show “Sugar Rush.” When did all that begin? Continue reading CakeLove’s Warren Brown Brings His Sugar Rush To National Harbor
 The National River Roll at Moon Bay Coastal Cuisine at the Gaylord National Hotel. By Jordan Wright
When you spend your days and nights pursuing taste and flavor delivered by a panoply of chefs, you are at the mercy of many hands preparing many dishes.
Sometimes the dishes are simple, a nicely done roast chicken or shrimp dumplings; some just dreadful or unfortunate, an overdone Wagyu beef filet or a withered salad.
Food critics, girded with a “glass half-full” mentality, are forever on the hunt for that consummate experience of brilliant food, superb service and dazzling or, not to be underrated, comfortable ambiance.
My dinner at Moon Bay Coastal Cuisine at the Gaylord National Hotel and Convention Center became that rare and successful combination of all three elements intrinsic to a great dining experience. An experience so satisfying, that if it hadn’t been for the tiniest glitch, I would have nothing to compare it with. I’ll get to the glitch later.
A spectacularly lush tropical garden beckons you into Moon Bay Coastal Cuisine. Walk across a copper-lamp lit wooden bridge over a rushing stream to the wide open entryway and you will need to make your first decision…whether to dine beside the babbling waters overlooking the courtyard or enter the cool, dark and handsome interior. Continue reading Gaylord’s Moon Bay Serves up Modern Maki with an Eye on Perfection of the Palate
The locally sourced food bandwagon has chef converts then and now. But at
By Jordan Wright
There was a long line for a table outside Founding Farmers on a recent Thursday evening.
It seems the in-and-out economy hasn’t afflicted the success of this eco-friendly watering hole. A restaurant so green they recently received the first DC restaurant-recognized LEED Gold Certification in a ceremony attended by no less prominent a group than Mayor Fenty, the US Business Council, their next-door neighbors, the IMF, and White House representatives from the Office of Green Initiatives.
A policy of recycling, sustainable and reclaimed materials, and energy-conscious practices has drawn kudos from the environmentally minded and sourcing food from more than 40,000 farmers, with whom they have a direct relationship has brought the best food to the table. Charging a little bit more than the average dinner tab hasn’t deterred diners.
The locally sourced food bandwagon has chef converts then and now. But at Founding Farmers they don’t just talk the talk they walk the walk. Against a backdrop of fluffy cloud sculptures and flocks of birds, shelves hold rows of pickled vegetables.
Customers sit at walnut-slab farm-style tables and you can feel a force of nature and newness at work here, from the staff to the chef to the bar. The enthusiasm is palpable and persuasive. Heard from our table were diners awed by dishes like the 17 Vegetable Salad. Sharing appears to be the order of the day. Continue reading Founding Farmers Opens As An Eco-Friendly Watering Hole
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
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