Food

Gary Tischler • October 10, 2013

We’ve always contended—based on the food and the man—that chef Maziar Farivar, co-owner with his brother Shahab of the popular Peacock Café in Georgetown, is one of our favorite chefs in this city, where chefs are often kings.

Farivar’s kitchen—whether in the initial small 12-table space he and his brother opened in 1991 or the current sun-lit, spacious spot—has always been top-notch.

First in 2011 and again in 2012, Farivar was invited to the James Beard House and Foundation in New York City to serve a five-course dinner in celebration of the Persian New Year. It was an ideal task for Farivar, because he and his brother hail from Iran, and the experience allowed him to add a little bit of his childhood memories into his cooking.

Then, last year in September, Farivar, along with other national, regional and local celebrity chefs, was named to become a Culinary Ambassador and a member of the American Chef Corps, part of a new Diplomatic Culinary Partnership with the U.S. State Department, its Protocol Department and the James Beard Foundation.”

“It makes sense,” Maziar said. “This is about culinary diplomacy. This is such an international city, and there are so many foreign dignitaries who work here, and visit here, including heads of state, and there are all these embassy chefs. It was really an honor, I am very proud to serve.”

The Chef Corps will be deployed overseas, and travel as “chef ambassadors” or cook for dignitaries, speak to groups and extol American cooking and food products.

This September, Farivar got his chance.

He was assigned to represent the U.S.A. in the Cous Cous Festival, a multi-nation cook off competition held September in the ancient fishing village of San Vito Lo Capo, located between the Gulf of Castellammare and the city of Trapani.

“What a great experience,” Farivar said. “Eight nations competed, included Italy, Israel, Morocco, France, Egypt, Algeria and Tunisia as well as the United States. This is like rich territory for dishes and chefs featuring cous cous. This was the first time the U.S. competed so I was really proud to be there.”

This was a competition to determine, if you will, the capo of cous cous.

“I was in a group with Tunisia and Morocco, this is like people who grew up with this all our lives,” Farivar said. “There were two votes, popular and judges. In the end, Israel won.”

Farivar came up with what he called an American-Persian dish called Lamb Khoresht, a heavy stew with dried lime and citrus cous cous. “I got some very nice comments like ‘bold flavors’ from judges and people.”

“Let me tell you,” he added, “when you walked out flanked by the Italian and American flag, and they played the Star Spangled Banner, I got a lump in my throat.” [gallery ids="101491,151739,151746,151744" nav="thumbs"]

Georgetowner •

Siblings Erin and Cat Blakely have a breezy one block walk from their narrow red brick Federal townhouse on 35th Street to their equally petite Pie Sisters bakery at the foot of Key Bridge. That?s where the Great Falls, Va., natives, with third sister Alli Sydnor, have been baking sweet and savory goods since opening for business in early 2012. A home nearby is an ideal retreat for the trio, day or night.

Let?s take a look inside. The slim all-white contemporary first level living and dining space, with dark bamboo floors and a spiral staircase to the one bedroom, leads to the adequate modern kitchen and door to a postage stamp garden, covered in wood decking. Throughout, furnishings are sparse and there is zero clutter. ?For as small as it is, from the living room to the garden, we can have 20 for dinner, divided-up in two groups,? says Erin. ?Everything is multifunctional.?

For example, a clever custom built-in unit serves as home office, bar storage and buffet area. A second built-in, each flanking the fireplace, is a convenient spot their party-sized glass beverage urns, one each for a serve-yourself rum punch, sangria and margarita cocktail.

Before guests arrive, the sisters place fresh multi-colored floral arrangements in every room. (They buy assorted bunches at nearby florist Greenworks.) With a monochromatic interior design, ?flowers make it pop,? says Alli. For ambiance, out come short and tall pillar candles, which give the space more dimension. Next, they line the buffet surface with bowls of hummus, pita chips, nuts, olives as well as a cheese board. Still, one important have-to-have is missing
.
Alongside the snacks, there is always a platted dessert. ?There are no rules. You can have dessert before dinner,? says Alli. ?That?s the way our parents always do it at home.?

Often, the party sweet is a gluten-free, chocolate-glazed, walnut brownie. They call it ?Texas Sheet Cake.? ?It?s our mother?s recipe from her hometown of Roby, Texas,? says Erin. ?And it melts in your mouth.?

*What?s Cooking, Neighbor? visits with wine, food and entertaining professionals, who call the Georgetown area home. Georgetowner dining columnist Walter Nicholls is the food critic for Arlington Magazine, a former staff writer for The Washington Post Food section*

**Texas Sheet Cake**
Ingredients:
2 1/2 sticks unsalted butter
5 tablespoons cocoa powder
1 1/4 cups water
2 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 cups King Arthur gluten-free flour
3 eggs
1 1/4 cups sour cream
Directions:
Pre heat oven to 350. Combine butter, cocoa and water in a sauce pan and bring to a boil. In a separate mixing bowl, combine powdered sugar, baking soda, salt and flour. Pour hot mixture over flour mixture. Add eggs and sour cream and beat with a hand mixer on medium speed until smooth. Pour into a 12 X 18-inch greased pan and bake for approximately 20 minutes.

**Frosting**
Ingredients:
1 stick unsalted butter
8 tablespoons milk
4 tablespoons cocoa
4 cups powdered sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla
1 cup crushed walnuts
Directions:
Bring butter, milk and cocoa to a boil, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and add sugar and vanilla. Beat well with a whisk. Let the mixture stand for 10 minutes to slightly thicken. Add crushed walnuts to frosting and smooth over warm cake. Let cool before slicing into 2-inch squares.

Georgetowner •

Chef Robert Wiedmaier Hosts 3rd Annual Chefs Go Fresh & Seafood Motorcycle Rally to the Annapolis area Monday, Sept. 30

On Monday, Sept. 30, for the third year, Georgetown Media Group continues the popular event, Chefs Go Fresh, while highlighting seafood this year. Local chefs rev up for a motorcycle tour of farms near Annapolis, sponsored by the Maryland Department of Agriculture and Maryland Department of Natural Resources Fisheries, in an effort to introduce D.C. area chefs to purveyors of produce, meats, seafood and other local products.

Chefs, sponsors and a limited number of ticketholders will start the day at 9 a.m. with a traditional Belgian breakfast at Brasserie Beck, hosted by chef Robert Wiedmaier, co-founder of the original “Chefs on Bikes.” Participating chefs will ride their motorcycles through the scenic Annapolis area, stopping at select farms for presentations by farmers. The day’s festivities conclude with lunch.

Tickets are $75 ea.

To purchase tickets and select t-shirt size:

Motorcycles are not mandatory, transportation can be provided for sponsors and chefs who don’t ride.

To Purchase Transportation Ticket, Click Button Below:

Become A Sponsor

Platinum Sponsor- $5,000 –SOLD OUT

• Premium Logo Placement: Top billing on all printed materials (invite, t-shirt, press releases, etc)

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• Editorial coverage of Chefs Go Fresh feature in The Georgetowner/Downtowner newspapers

• Credit in Press Release and post event editorial

• Placement of promotion and marketing materials at event

Gold Sponsor- $2,500

• Logo (medium) placement on all printed materials

• 10 tickets to attend event

• Credit in press release and post event editorial

• Placement of promotion and marketing materials at event

Silver Sponsor- $1,000

• Logo (small) placement on all printed materials

• Five tickets to attend event

• Credit in press release and post-event editorial

Bronze – $500

• Logo (small) placement on all printed materials excluding t-shirt

• 2 tickets to attend event

• Credit in press release and post event editorial

Please submit all sponsorship information, including logo in an EPS format by Sept. 16.

Corrie Dyke • October 3, 2013

The Third Annual Chefs Go Fresh was a roaring success Monday as a group of D.C. area chefs hopped on motorcycles for a rally through Maryland farms, sponsored by Maryland Department of Agriculture and Maryland Department of Natural Resources and Fisheries.

The event, originally co-founded by chef Robert Wiedmaier, introduced more than 30 chefs to area purveyors of produce, meats and other products in an effort to encourage chefs to buy local. This year’s rally through Clinton and Brandywine, Md. also highlighted seafood. Chefs, including David Guas of Bayou Bakery and James Gee of Jaleo, among many others started the day with a traditional Belgian breakfast at Brasserie Beck. After a scenic drive to Clinton, Md., chefs arrived at Miller Farms where owner Brad Miller gave a guided hayride tour of the bountiful kale, cabbage and collards growing on his 260-acre farm. Chefs were also introduced to his many free-range chickens and had the opportunity to learn how Miller Farms sources to local markets as well as Giant food stores in the area. From there, chefs rallied on to P.A. Bowen Farmstead in Brandywine where they were taught the farm’s cheese making process by owner Sally Fallon Morell and co-managers Mike and Barb Haigwood. P.A. Bowen’s Chesapeake cheddar cheese was recently ranked second in the country by the American Cheese Society for hard farmstead aged cheeses.

Back in D.C., chefs concluded the day with a crab feast at Nick’s Riverside Grill at Washington Harbour. Along with freshly steamed crabs (that were still alive when the chefs arrived) a number of sides were prepared with produce from Miller Farms. Chefs Go Fresh looks forward to continuing the tradition of spreading the word of local agriculture at next year’s event.

Corrie Dyke • October 1, 2013

What do you get when you combine 5-star chefs, fine wines and a six-course meal? Nothing better than the Farm-to-Fabulous “5 Star Reunion” dinner and wine tasting at Cesco Osteria & Co2 Lounge in Bethesda, Md., Sept. 25.

Hosted by chef Robert Wiedmaier and organized by Greg Phillips, media consultant for Five Star Charities, the evening promoted farm-to-table dining and benefitted the Olney Farmers and Artists Market. The night started with a reception tribute to Wolfgang Puck and Sandi Hoffman who signed her book, “My Love of Affairs,” while guests enjoyed hors d’oeuvres, prepared by the talents of Francesco Ricchi, K.N. Vinod, Jeff Buben and others.

Guests mingled while the 5 Star chefs had a blast from the past, preparing a six-course meal and no doubt reminiscing on their days of working at the Four Seasons. The all-star team included chef Robert Wiedmaier, Oliver Beckert, Jason Tepper, Devin Bozkaya, David Rexford and Roberto Donna.

Chefs presented their course with a short speech to the enthusiastic small crowd of new and old friends, who gave a roaring response to each chef and his dish.

From Wiedmaier’s potato blini, topped with Scottish smoked salmon, crème fraiche, a quail egg and osetra caviar to tuna, pretending to be a filet mignon, by chef Devin Bozkaya, the food was an excellent representation of quality, 5-Star work.

Wine flowed from Jackson Family Fine Wines and was paired and poured by Elyse Kudo of Majestic Fine Wines. Kudo presented two Jackson Family Verite Le Desirs from Sonoma County 2003 and 2008 that were named 100-point and 99-point wines respectively.

Both the event emcee, Joe Cochran, Jr., and Wiedmaier spoke to the importance of local farmers and the use of their products in restaurant kitchens. Each chef noted 5-Star kitchen’s high expectation for excellence in every piece of what they do. Wiedmaier learned that demand early in his career from chef Doug McNeill, whom Wiedmaier toasted to conclude the night.

Walter Nicholls • September 25, 2013

On any given Sunday afternoon, Gus DiMillo prepares a simple pasta dish for himself in the small, sun-drenched kitchen of his stone-clad Victorian row house near Volta Park. “I like my pasta and it’s really the only time I have to cook at home” says DiMillo, a founder of the Passion Food Hospitality restaurant group.

In 1998, with partners David Wizenberg and Jeff Tunks, the trio opened their first restaurant, DC Coast, on K Street N.W., and over the past 15 years added Ceiba and Arcadiana (also in downtown Washington), PassionFish (Reston), District Commons and adjoining Burger, Tap & Shake (Foggy Bottom) and Fuego Cocina y Tequileria (Arlington). On most nights, he is at one property or another, maintaining the high quality of his establishments. Some evenings, he gives a new dining spot in town a go.

For this “quick and easy family recipe,” he uses the popular De Cecco brand pasta because “it’s made with the best flour from the Abruzzo region of Italy, where my family is from.” Only the asparagus tips make the cut. “They are tender and cook faster than the stalks.” DiMillo never grates Parmesan cheese on a seafood pasta dish, saying “It overwhelms the delicate flavor of the shrimp.”

Rounding out his dining-for-one meal is a small arugula salad, topped with shaved, sharp pecorino sheep’s milk cheese and seasonal fruit for dessert. “Then, as they do in Italy,” he says, “ it would be nice to take a nap.”

But times for rest are too few. DiMillo’s specialty is staff training and “reenergizing everyone,” a never ending duty in an industry, which is notoriously transient. He will tell you that “Hospitality is a dying art.” With that in mind, he encourages servers to always make customers feel welcome. “When guests feel they are being cared for they will overlook a small service mistake,” he says.

DiMillo and his partners have three projects in the works, opening over the next two years. His details are few. “It’s still too early yet.” But one he shares will be a second location for the always busy Burger, Tap & Shake. He enjoys a busy life.

Then Sunday rolls around again, and it’s time for a bit of solitude and a nice bowl of pasta.

DeMillo’s current favorite
restaurants: Marcel’s in the West End for the fried chicken special and B Too in Logan Circle for the mussels.

Pasta with asparagus and shrimp Serves: 4

Ingredients:

1 lb. penne or rigatoni pasta

4 garlic cloves, chopped

1 bunch of pencil-thin asparagus cut one inch down from tip

1 and 1/2 lbs. medium raw shrimp

1 and ½ pint of cherry tomatoes, halved

1/2 cup fresh sliced basil

Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

In a large skillet, sauté the garlic for two minutes in 4 tablespoons of olive oil. Add the asparagus tips, saute’ 2 minutes , add cherry tomatoes and cook 3 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Add fresh shrimp to mixture, sauté 2- 3 additional minutes .

Cook the pasta in 6 quarts boiling salted water. Drain and combine with the shrimp, asparagus and sliced basil.

What’s Cooking, Neighbor? visits with wine, food and entertaining professionals, who call the Georgetown area home. Georgetowner dining columnist Walter Nicholls is the food critic for Arlington Magazine, a former staff writer for The Washington Post Food section.

Nico Dodd • September 12, 2013

The RAMMYs are the biggest awards in the Washington, D.C. area for the restaurant indus- try. Check out this year’s nominees. We are definitely going to be checking some of these out soon. Stay tuned.

Fine Dining Restaurant of the Year
The Ashby Inn & Restaurant?
Blue Duck Tavern
The Bombay Club
Marcel’s
Rasika

Upscale Casual Restaurant of the Year?
Birch and Barley?
Cork Wine Bar
Estadio?Jaleo – Penn Quarter
KAZ Sushi Bistro

Casual Restaurant of the Year
Bar Pilar?
Bayou Bakery?
C. F. Folks?
Nando’s Peri-Peri?
Pete’s New Haven Style Apizza

Neighborhood Gathering Place of the Year?
Ardeo + Bardeo
Bastille?
Evening Star Café
Nellie’s Sports Bar
Willow Restaurant

New Restaurant of the Year
Boqueria?
DGS Delicatessen?
Fuego Cocina y Tequileria
Mintwood Place?
Rasika West End

Chef of the Year
Tony Conte – The Oval Room?
Haidar Karoum – Estadio/Proof?
Tarver King – The Ashby Inn and Restaurant
Cedric Maupillier – Mintwood Place?
Fabio Trabocchi – Fiola

Rising Culinary Star of the Year?
Scot Harlan – Green Pig Bistro?
Tim Ma – Maple Avenue Restaurant
Marjorie Meek-Bradley – Ripple
John Melfi – Blue Duck Tavern?
Nathan Shapiro – The Ashby Inn and Restaurant

Pastry Chef of the Year
Beverly Bates – Vidalia?
Peter Brett – Blue Duck Tavern?
Alison Reed – Ripple?
Susan Wallace – BlackSalt Fish Market & Restaurant?
Tom Wellings – Fiola

Wine Program of the Year
Adour?
The Ashby Inn and Restaurant
Dino?Marcel’s?
Ripple

Power Spot of the Year
The Bombay Club?
Johnny’s Half Shell?
P. J. Clarke’s Seasons?
The Source by Wolfgang Puck

Hottest Restaurant Bar Scene of the Year?
Bar Pilar?
Fiola
Fuego?Cocina y Tequileria?
Hank’s Oyster Bar – Capitol Hill
Jack Rose Dining Saloon

The 2013 RAMMY Award winners will be named at the 31st annual RAMMY Awards Gala on Sunday, June 23, 2013 at the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel. For more information about The RAMMYS, go to www.ramw.org, or contact RAMW at (202) 331-5990 or email at therammys@ramw.org.?
[gallery ids="101232,145428,145412,145424,145419" nav="thumbs"]

Georgetowner •

The Rye Bar, located at the Capella Hotel, hosted a June 12 barrel-tapping event of its new batch of six-week-aged rye. It was crafted by the hotel’s food & beverage manager Will Rentschler. The Rye Bar has turned barrel-aging cocktails into an art form. The barrel consisted of an aged Dad’s Hat Rye, an artisanal small-batch whiskey from Pennsylvania, Dolin Sweet Vermouth and Byrrh Quinquina, a sweet French aperitif. After being siphoned, the deep bodied with hints of vanilla rye was created into wonderful Manhattans that were finished off with homemade orange bitters. [gallery ids="101350,152341,152311,152337,152318,152333,152323,152328" nav="thumbs"]

Jody Kurash •

If you walk into most liquor stores, you’ll notice quite a large space devoted to its vodka selection. Many watering holes will have a rainbow of vodkas on display behind the bar. Vodka is one of the most well-liked spirits in the United States, especially among younger drinkers. Given the tremendous popularity of vodka today, it’s hard to believe that up until the 1950s, gin and whiskey were the preferred liquors of choice.

One of the principle cocktails that propelled vodka into the limelight was the Moscow Mule, a mixture of vodka, ginger beer and lime. This classic tipple was born out of mutual convenience between two men, John Martin and Jack Morgan, in the 1940s.
Martin was trying to introduce his new product, Smirnoff vodka, in the United States. At the time Americans were accustomed to spirits with a more pronounced flavor, making it extremely difficult for Martin to sell his vodka. It is rumored that he had problems giving it away.

One day Martin was having lunch at the Cock & Bull restaurant in Los Angeles. He started a conversation with the owner Jack Morgan, who at the time was trying to sell his Cock & Bull brand of ginger beer, a product he produced on the side.
They decided to mix the two products together, and after a bit of experimentation the Moscow mule was born. Morgan had a friend who had inherited a copper factory and she was trying to unload a huge batch of copper mugs. The two men decided to promote their new concoction by serving it in copper mugs with an image of a kicking mule embossed on it. The cocktail was said to have the kick of a mule.

The Moscow mule became the house special at the Cock and Bull on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood. Martin set off to market his new drink to bars across the company. He had a clever scheme, which involved taking Polaroid photos of bartenders holding the distinctive copper mug along with a bottle of Smirnoff. He would leave one copy of the photo at the bar and take another photo to competing bars to show them that their competitors were selling Moscow mules.

Between 1947 and 1950 Smirnoff case columns more than tripled, and nearly doubled again in 1951, according to CocktailAtlas.com,
The Moscow mule kicked off a long period of success for Smirnoff. According to Phil Greene, founding member of the Museum of the American Cocktail, as the brand increased in popularity, Smirnoff ran many ad campaigns featuring the Moscow Mule with celebrities such as Woody Allen. The ad campaign touted that Smirnoff vodka will “leave you breathless,” a possible reference to the idea that vodka is undetectable on your breath.

The popularity of the Moscow mule encouraged Smirnoff to promote a variety of cocktails, all of which highlighted the mixability of Smirnoff with other ingredients. As time wore on, vodka became the favored spirit of many leading up to a Renaissance of new cocktails, such as the cosmopolitan, sex on the beach and whole host of drinks served in martini glasses, such as the appletini, flirtini and French martini.

Today, the Moscow mule is a cocktail that stands the test of time, even though its birthplace, the Cock and Bull has closed it doors. The original Copper Mugs are now collector’s items.

It’s a fairly simple cocktail to mix with only three ingredients. Finding the ginger beer can be a bit challenging, but most large supermarkets and better liquor stores will have it on hand. One of the most popular brands is produced by the Black Seal rum company to promote their dark and stormy cocktail. Personally, I prefer Goya ginger beer, which is a spicier than other brands.

THE MOSCOW MULE:

2 ounces vodka

3 ounces ginger beer

1/2 oz fresh lime juice

Build in mug, fill with ice, garnish with lime wedge.

Recipe courtesy of the Museum of the American
Cocktail.

www.MuseumOfTheAmericanCocktail.org

Jordan Hellmuth •

Mad Fox Taproom announced Aug. 12 that it expects to open in Glover Park by first quarter 2014. It will be Mad Fox Brewing Company’s first expansion from Falls Church, Va., to the District.

Mad Fox Brewing Company just celebrated the third anniversary of its Fall Church location in July and now has another reason to celebrate. Madden is hoping to took over the property at 2218 Wisconsin Ave., NW, where Mayfield & Pine once was, in September.

Mad Fox CEO and executive brewer Bill Madden and business partner Rick Garvin started Mad Fox in 2007 and since have become very active in the craft beer and brewpub community.

Falls Church will remain the hub of the whole operation, as all of the beers will be brewed there in its 16-barrel brewery. The new location will showcase Mad Fox’s award-winning handcrafted beers with draught and English-style cast service, including up to 24 draught and cask options.

“We have plenty of capacity in our brewery and we’ll be able to serve all of our Falls Church fans, wholesale clients and the Glover Park tap room without any compromises,” said Madden.

Just like the original in Falls Church, Mad Fox Taproom will provide guests with not only handcrafter beers, but also with a full menu including appetizers, sandwiches, burgers, salads and small plate options.
“Though the spotlight will be on our beers, our food is a key part of our concept and will help the taproom evoke a brewpub environment,” said Madden.

“I can’t wait to bring the Mad Fox atmosphere and experience to the iconic city of Washington, D.C.” said Madden.