Q&A with Michael Harr
• November 3, 2011

Chef Michael Harr’s return to the D.C. area has landed him at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center to helm both the Old Hickory Steakhouse and Moon Bay Coastal Cuisine. Thrilled to have a chef with such star quality, the hotel takes a decidedly different turn in offering diners a more innovative and chef-driven dining opportunity.

Locals know the Gaithersburg-raised Harr from turns at the Watergate’s Jean-Louis, where the cooking bug bit him, Butterfield 9, the greatly adored and sadly missed D.C. restaurant where he made his mark with his beautifully created and unique offerings, and at the former five-diamond Maestro Restaurant, where he worked alongside famed chef Fabio Trabocchi.

Harr has held stages in France at a number of prestigious restaurants, working with other noted chefs Alain Ducasse and Guy Savoy. In Las Vegas he was sous chef to Jacques Vanstaden at the famed London Club, and later worked in Montreal, New York and Miami as executive chef at Zodiac.

Old Hickory, which I reviewed last year, is a sophisticated steakhouse. It has an après-dinner cigar deck, their very own artisanal cheese cave and one of the most beautiful dining rooms ever designed — a stunning Charleston-inspired setting with gorgeous views of the Potomac River.

Moon Bay, also reviewed here last year, feels like a coastal retreat, with a babbling brook flowing beside its deck. It, too, overlooks the Potomac. Surrounded by a lush tropical forest, it features creative seafood dishes. Harr’s French-trained background is an impressive new direction for these two top-drawer destinations.

In an exclusive first-time interview with The Georgetowner, Harr shares his vision for his latest adventure.

As an iconoclastic chef with classical traditions, how will your style translate to accommodate two distinctly different restaurants: Old Hickory Steakhouse and Moon Bay Coastal Cuisine?

As a culinary professional, it is important to appreciate many aspects of cuisine and the use of products available to us with every season. In this case, we have seafood and meats as the main focus. This amazing opportunity will allow me to focus on foods that I am passionate about, such as local East Coast seafood, as well as sourcing seafood items that wouldn’t normally be found on a general seafood restaurant menu.

For Moonbay, I envision it as being an adventurous outlet with the freshest of seafood as its main focus. My objective with the food is sustainably sourced, seasonality and driving personality — and keeping it simple and approachable.

For Old Hickory, I plan to incorporate classic approaches as well as “new-age” items with a modern twist. We hope to share our concepts to a clientele that can be adventurous and enjoy creativity within a steakhouse setting. Old Hickory is a gorgeous restaurant with an outstanding service. I’ve dined in many steakhouses and Old Hickory stands out as an attractive destination that sets itself apart from the rest.

I would like to introduce seasonally inspired food items with creative choices for our composed plates. We are a steakhouse so our focus will be to offer great quality steak dishes, but I’m looking forward to incorporating some very interesting twists like “Chocolate Elk” (a dish that became my signature and gained notoriety at one of my previous restaurants), among others. My vision for Old Hickory is to make it one of the Capitol region’s newly appointed destination restaurants that everyone must experience.

How will you interpret your training in haute cuisine for the both restaurants?

I have a very ambitious approach to our cuisine at the Gaylord National, with important goals to accomplish along with our executive leadership. My initial focus will be to bring the best local ingredients to our clients while enhancing overall food quality.

We currently have corporate contracts and, once they are approved for local sourcing, I will be able to develop a seasonal program that allows me to design creative and fun menus with local products. I believe “haute” is about quality, passion and foundation. In this way I am able to be successful in my mission to create the best for the clientele.

What menu changes and local sourcing do you have in mind? When will the menu reflect these changes?

I believe that all menus should be seasonal. Local sourcing can be significant with the amount of business that we produce. If we support the local farmers, we demonstrate our support for agriculture, renewable resources and local community.

In regards to menu changes, that’s a good question. We have to consider that we are in a corporate environment, so there are many processes that must be followed. We will gradually implement the changes as we provide comprehensive training to our staff.

Will you be using only sustainable seafood and from what sources?

Yes, I would like to obtain sustainable resources as much as possible. As a local D.C. chef, I have many sources that I have used throughout the years. I will continue to use my vendors to source amazing seafood products.

Who have you brought with you to execute your vision?

We are currently evaluating our organizational structure, and we will strategically allocate our talent to improve operations.

D.C. residents can get to National Harbor by taking the Metro (blue line) to King Street, where a Gaylord Hotel shuttle at the entrance to the station runs every 30 minutes from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. direct to National Harbor, $5 each way.

Ferry service from the Georgetown dock and Old Town Alexandria to National Harbor resumes in March. For more information visit: www.potomacriverboatco.com or
www.gaylordhotels.com/gaylord-national/ and click on “Transportation.”

For questions or comments about this article contact jordan@whiskandquill.com.

All About Oysters
•

Seafood lovers know the Washington area for its great crabs. The Maryland Blue Crab, a summertime luxury, keeps the Delmarva area swirling in culinary excitement every season, and signs for All-You-Can-Eat Snow Crab legs clutter the streets of beachside towns up and down the Chesapeake. But one hundred years ago, D.C. was known for its oysters, and over the last 10 years these coin-sized delicacies have been making a thundering resurgence.

“If you go back to circa 1890, 1900,” says David Moran, the managing director of Clyde’s of Gallery Place and Old Ebbitt Grill, “Washington, D.C. had over 150 oyster bars in the city.” Discussing oysters and wine with Moran at one of his bars in Clyde’s, acute rays of dusk flooding in streams of gold leaf through the windows, the afternoon seems more like a scene from a James Stewart flick than a scheduled interview. Moran’s restaurant effortlessly maintains a certain timeless American appeal — lacquered rosewood runs the length of the bar tops, and the buzz of customers seem to be as much a part of the design plan as the atrium-like conservatory room.

Moran’s enthusiasm for oysters is contagious, and he is proud of this area’s longstanding history surrounding bivalve food culture. “This was one of the hotbeds in the country,” he exclaims. “All they served were oysters and beer.”

Loved by the royal and working class alike, oysters occupy a unique intersection on the culinary map. An average Joe may not regard foie gras or salmon roe with particular enthusiasm. Likewise, try feeding livermush and coleslaw to a Washingtonian, and one will understand the very nature of dark comedy. Oysters, on the other hand, are universally understood and appreciated.

In ancient Rome, an oyster would fetch its weight in gold. Emperors, so enamored with these briny delicacies, would send droves of slaves into the English Channel to gather them. Contrarily, modest fishermen from Europe to Japan have lunched on mollusks for a millennium, and barely a century ago in this very city, oysters were the preferred bar fare of off-duty day laborers and wharf grunts. Today, oysters can fetch upwards of $3 a bite at fine dining restaurants, or one can knock back oyster shooters for a buck-fifty at O’Brien’s in Annapolis.

Unfortunately, the Chesapeake oyster population had dwindled to about 1 percent of its population from the late 19th century, due to overfishing, pollution and disease, and the Washington area oyster culture was nearly lost. Thankfully, due to population restoration efforts, sanctuary reefs have been set up to redeem the species, and more efforts are in the works. The reefs, set up five years ago, are now home to around 180 million native oysters.

Most oysters that find their way to the raw bar these days are harvested in oyster farms. Not only has this unique method of farming been pivotal in maintaining oyster populations for restaurateurs and consumers, they have in fact created entirely new varieties of oysters.

Though oysters can be broken down from three broad regional varieties — Eastern oysters, also known as Gulf or Atlantic oysters, European flat oysters, or Belons, and Pacific oysters — oyster farmers today can effectively treat their product as winemakers treat grapes. “If you take a chardonnay grape and grew it in southern Napa versus northern Napa, you’d get different flavor profiles,” explains David Varley, executive director of Bourbon Steak in Georgetown. “Same thing works with oysters. If you take an oyster and put it in a certain bay of water, it filters that water and picks up that area’s unique flavor profiles.”

Sharp and engaging, Varley has an encyclopedic knowledge of all things shellfish.
The way he can rattle off the names of oyster farms, harvesting techniques, and flavor characteristics, vaguely recalls a rambling Bob Dylan.

Having invited me to an oyster tutorial, Varley and I stand behind the bar by the serving counter of his kitchen. Before us sits a tray of softly crushed ice filled with nothing but a lemon wedge wrapped in cheesecloth and an inconceivably small bottle of Tabasco. In a similar platter sits a dozen oysters, not yet shucked. It is difficult to focus on anything when you know you are about to be eating fresh oysters, like the last few minutes of work on a Friday afternoon, but Varley manages to keep me engaged.

“There are couple different methods for growing oysters,” he tells me. “Hanging baskets is pretty much the dominant one on the east coast.” Oysters are hung at different ocean depths in baskets, suspended off the ocean’s floor by strings floated by buoys. “So you go pull a line up, crack open your box of oysters, power wash them, get rid of any starfish.” With the mention of starfish, my clear amusement is promptly shamed by the grave severity of Varley’s eyes.

“Starfish are the enemy of oyster farmers,” he says, daring me to find this funny. “They’ll just latch on to the oyster and pry them open. And they travel in packs like herds across the sea floor. It’s pretty nuts.”

I make a note to myself not to ever joke about starfish with an oyster farmer.

There are a slew of benefits to harvesting oysters over plucking them wild from the ocean floor. There is the peace of mind in knowing they are clean of unwanted pathogens, having been maintained by marine agricultural professionals. Fecal coliform is not a particularly pleasant bacteria to host.

But there are also indulgent advantages. Wild oysters, for one, do not naturally grow as deep in their shell as customers are accustomed to seeing. The deep-cupped shell, which retains the oyster’s delicate liquor, is a harvested characteristic. “Wild oysters,” says Varley, “like the shells at the beach, are flat and have that oblong shape. Oystermen chip the flat side of the shell, and the oyster will compensate by growing deeper.”

The ‘R’ Myth

Talk of harvesting and sanitation begets a single inquiry that seems custom tailored to chafe the nerves of any chef or restaurateur in the oyster business. The ‘R’ myth has been swirling about mollusks almost as long as the ocean currents themselves. Rumor has it that one should only eat oysters in the months which names contain the letter R. The remaining months—the consecutive summer months—are said to be an unsafe time to consume oysters.

“It really had a lot to do with a lack of refrigeration back in the day,” Moran explains. “You wanted to eat oysters in the cold months, so you knew they were unspoiled. So you’d eat them in November, December … only the months that have the letter R in them. And in the summer months you’d lay off them.”

Luckily for us “shellfishionados,” this myth has been thoroughly debunked. With the modernization of the industry, proper cooling and transportation allow restaurants to get safe oysters any time of year. In the summer months, business begins going further north into Canadian waters and British Columbia, where the water remains icy cold and the oysters grow at greater depths.

“I think my oysters often fly better than I do,” jokes Moran. “You pick them up in an inlet, they’re flown first class, and they’re on the plate at the Old Ebbitt the next day.”

Supplies are not as bountiful in the summer months, as any oysterman will admit, and there is less variety from which to choose. But safety and quality is no longer anything of concern.

The good news is that with every ebb, there comes a flow. There is a best time of year to eat oysters. Right now. “The oysters are eating a lot, right now” Varley says, “preparing themselves for the summer, for the spawn. So in the later months of winter they’re going to be the plumpest, definitely at their crispest, their peak of flavor in the winter months.”

Shucks

The crux of any oyster program is in the creatures being opened only after the customer orders them. “You can tell if they weren’t shucked to order,” says a visibly distressed Moran, the idea alone enough to distract him momentarily. In prior decades it was common for oysters on a menu to be pre-shucked and refrigerated on a sheet pan. This irritates Moran. “They’d have dried out from being shucked hours ago… They’re living organisms until you pop that shell,” he says. “You can taste the freshness.”

Speaking later with Varley, it becomes evident that abusing an oyster is a universal transgression of seafood specialists. “Nothing is worse than anticipating a great oyster, and getting a plate of shells, or having them chopped up into a million little pieces,” says Varley with a veteran air of frustration. With this he takes his oyster knife, a cross between a dinky ice pick and a butter knife (or as he puts it, a prison shank), and rolls a small green towel half way to the center.

“There are two methods of shucking oysters,” he says, picking up a shimmering, marbled beauty that he has been teasing for a while. “One is popping them at the hinge, and the other is stabbing them through the top shell and then slitting the connector muscle.”

He places the oyster with its hinge on the rolled half of the towel, cup side down, and folds the other half of the towel over the top of the shell. His right hand holds the oyster firmly in place beneath the towel. He explains that he prefers to shuck through the hinge because the knife can get a better foothold. He sticks the blade into the seam and the top shell begins to move. After twisting the knife once or twice, he drives it just enough to penetrate the top and bottom shells completely. There is an audible pop. “That’s the back hinge breaking,” he says with a roguish smile.

He wipes the residual dirt from the knife and moves it carefully into the opening at the hinge along the inside ceiling of the shell. “You want to separate the meat from the top. Ever so gently slice through the top adductor muscle.” Voila. The top shell comes off without protest. A picture perfect oyster.

It doesn’t take long for him to sever the muscle underneath the skirt on the other side and free up the glistening little booger. Now we are ready to eat.

Chew vs. Gulp

Among oyster connoisseurs, it is commonly agreed upon that one should not embellish the oyster with superfluous toppings. A squeeze of lemon perhaps, but tartar sauce, mignonette sauce and horseradish merely diminish the experience of this briny treasure, with its subtle variations of refreshing sweetness, salty, crisp flavors, and feathery soft meat. However, there appears to be a raging debate of a different order: shalt thou chew or shalt thou gulp thy holy sacrament?

“I chew ‘em,” says Varley with nonchalance. “I’m not trying to hide from them.” Well, it’s his kitchen. Let’s do it his way. Biting down on the morsel, I find it so light that my teeth hardly notice its presence. An initial briny minerality from the liquor gives way to sweet, clean tasting meat. There is a distinct and pleasant beachiness that floods my senses like a familiar scent, reminding me of naps in the sand of Hilton Head Island and boat rides down the Chesapeake. I realize that I have never tasted anything this fresh. Score one for Team Chew’Em.

“Gulp,” says Moran without a moment’s hesitation. “Just squeeze some lemon, pick up the shell and pour them right in your mouth.” There are oysters in front of us, and he graciously demonstrates. I join him. The man makes a persuasive argument. It was a Raspberry Point oyster, with a taste like cucumbers and melons. There is a particular satisfaction in slurping down the entire beast, like jumping off the high dive and feeling the thrill of weightless liberation. A cool sweetness lingers seductively down my throat.

“If they’re done right, it’s perfect right there. I am a gulper of wine and oysters,” laughs Moran. My standing on the matter of Gulp VS Chew is split, and I can see that will not be the one to resolve this timeless debate. Can’t we just do them both?

Drink Pairings

I have a beer in front of me. I chase down my oyster, and the bite from the lager refreshes my palette and readies my tongue for another oyster — a beautiful sensation. The art of pairing drinks with oysters is a specialty hobby, and some take it rather seriously. Moran, for instance, holds an annual oyster and wine pairing competition throughout the month of October. Last year, he sampled around 350 wines with oysters over the course of a few weeks. Not a bad job, he admits with a laugh.

As a definitive rule, red wines do not pair well with oysters. “It’s just the texture and structure of them,” says Moran. Cabernets and merlots overpower the oysters’ delicate flavors. “They’re very tannic. It dries your mouth and you can’t taste the oysters.”

The types of wine to drink with oysters are crisp dry white wines, refreshing palette cleansers. “You’re looking for a wine that will prepare your mouth for your next oyster,” offers Moran.

Specifically, Moran has learned, New Zealand sauvignon blancs have been the regularly prevailing champions of Moran’s annual competition. He explains, “Two years ago, out of the 340 we had entered, our entire top 10 — and we do this competition blind, we don’t look at a label until this competition is over — all 10 winners were New Zealand sauvignon blancs.”

These New Zealand wines have a powerful fruit explosion up front. If sipped independently, these wines are often too much of a fruit bomb. For oysters, however, it has a wonderful balance of acidity, which cuts one’s palette, leaving taste buds refreshed and tingling. “It’s almost like it prepares your mouth for the next oyster,” says Moran. “When you take the wine with the saltiness and brininess of the oyster, it’s a perfect combination.”

Whatever the pairing, a great oysters is a welcomed luxury. In the prime of the season, with Island Creek oysters coming fresh from Ducksbury Bay and the local catch from Rappahannock Oyster Company rolling into markets and restaurants daily, Washington’s oyster culture is alive and well.
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Plates from the Park: Tarte Tatin
•

Now in its eighth year, the Georgetown Farmers’ Market in Rose Park, sponsored by the Friends of Rose Park in cooperation with the D.C. Division of Parks and Recreation, is open from 3 to 7 p.m. every Wednesday (rain or shine) until the last Wednesday in October at the corner of O and 26th Streets.

Each week, the Friends of Rose Park suggest a recipe using ingredients in season and available at the farmer’s market. This week, we are featuring a recipe for tarte tatin, provided by Victoria Delmon of the Friends of Rose Park:

“Tarte tatin is an upside-down dessert of pasty and apples bathed in caramel. It was allegedly created by the Tatin sisters of France’s Loire Valley while trying to repair a baking error. Whether it was created due to error or not, it tastes wonderful. To the pastry chef’s advantage, the pastry itself does not have to be pristinely rolled, since it is on the bottom of the dessert. This particular recipe was handed down from my husband’s French grandmother. It is simple, quick to prepare and, if dairy-free margarine is substituted for the butter, serves well as a dairy-free dessert.”

Crust:
• 1 cup of flour (white or brown)
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1/2 cup butter, chilled and cut into small pieces
• 2 tablespoons wine or cider vinegar
• Cinnamon

Filling:
• 3 1/2 pounds small apples, peeled, cored and cut into wedges
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon

Preparation:
To prepare crust, combine flour, sugar and a pinch of cinnamon in a mixing bowl or food processor. Add the cubes of chilled butter; mix or pulse until mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs. Add vinegar, and mix or pulse until mixture forms clumps. Gently press dough into a ball and wrap in plastic wrap; freeze for 30 minutes or cool in fridge for 2 hours.

To prepare filling, combine apples and juice in a large bowl, tossing to coat. Melt in a 9 1/2-inch cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat. Add 1 cup sugar to pan; cook 4 minutes or until golden brown, stirring constantly. Remove pan from heat and pour caramel mixture into 8-inch cake tin. Leave to cool and set. Arrange half of apples, rounded side down, in a circular pattern over caramel mixture and then sprinkle with cinnamon. Top with remaining apples.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Roll dough on a heavily floured surface until approximately 1/4- to 1/3-inch thick. Place dough over apples; fold edges under. Cut 4 (1-inch) slits into top of pastry using a sharp knife. Bake for 30-40 minutes or until crust is lightly browned. Remove from oven; let stand 5 minutes. Place a plate upside down on top of pan. Carefully invert tart onto plate. Serve warm or cold. Pears or sliced bananas may also be substituted for the apples.

Walter Nicholls on Thai Tuna Salad
•

Thanks to the Royal Thai Embassy, I’ve reawakened a lost appreciation for canned tuna — one of Thailand’s principal exports. But tuna didn’t take me to Thailand. A few months back, as a food journalist and guest of the government, I traveled to Bangkok and points south and saw for myself what a terrific job the Thais have done in the eco-friendly conservation of natural resources and the revitalization of mangrove forests that in years past had been devastated by fish farming. I found the tuna salad of my dreams, and far more, at Bangkok’s legendary Mandarin Oriental hotel.

As it turns out, every day at 6 p.m. staff members of the Mandarin deliver a small cocktail amenity to the hotel’s orchid-filled guest rooms, placing the nibble beside the daily tropical fruit display. One evening, this dressing drink hors d’oeuvre may be a pretty coddled egg or, perhaps, a rich duck liver pate. Another day, think sushi. To ensure that the rotating roster of 15 cocktail amenities is up to MO’s exacting standards, every four months Executive Chef Norbert Kostner gathers together his staff for a testing and tasting workshop. And that’s where hotel Chef Enrico Froehnel introduced the group to his unexpected Thai tuna salad.

One afternoon at poolside, Chef Kostner explained that “We needed something different and here we have a perfect fusion of American and Thai with refreshing flavors that explode in the mouth and then bring harmony.” Granted, there is lots of chopping involved. But Froehnel’s exceptional seafood spread, loaded with taste sensations of kaffir lime and lemon grass, is worth the effort. To start: grab a can of good tuna.

Thai Tuna Salad

Makes 1 1/2 cups

2 teaspoons finely chopped lemongrass (use only inner core)
2 teaspoons grated galangal
1 teaspoon finely chopped kaffir lime leaves
1 1/2 tablespoons finely chopped white onion
2 1/2 tablespoons diced sweet peppers (thin-skinned varieties are best)
1 teaspoon finely chopped cilantro
2 teaspoons finely chopped spring onions (green part only)
5 tablespoons mayonnaise
1 1/2 teaspoons lime juice
A few drops hot sauce, such as Tabasco
A few drops Worcestershire sauce
1 pinch freshly ground pepper
1 pinch salt
1 teaspoon maple syrup
1 six-ounce can tuna, drained and finely shredded

Combine all ingredients, except the shredded tuna, in a large kitchen bowl and mix until well blended. Add the shredded tuna and mix again.

For best flavor, cover and refrigerate for two hours.

Serve with melba toasts, rice crackers, or sliced baguette.

(Kaffir lime leaves and galangal — a ginger relative — are available at Asian markets.)

Dining, Harajuku Style
•

At long last, after two and a half months of anticipation, several blizzards and a flurry of back and forth emails, I was armed with the event’s protocol. It consisted of guest photo op restrictions and apparel parameters from the hosts of a local super-secret dining club. Five couples had agreed to let me cover one of their monthly themed dinners.

The hosts: Anonymous members of a private supper club.
The location: Somewhere in metropolitan Washington on a hilltop.
The plan: A Japanese Harajuku evening with six courses and countless complex accompaniments.
The inspiration: Recipes sourced from New York’s Momofuku and Chicago’s Alinea restaurants.
The guest list: Serious foodies, gourmands, amateur chefs and wine connoisseurs.
The required dress: Creative outfits from the Harajuku movement.

On the appointed day I rushed to Google it up — isn’t that how we inform ourselves these days? I learned that Harajuku, which loosely translated means Halloween, originated with Japanese teens meeting up on Sunday afternoons in their neighborhood parks where they sport clothing and makeup inspired by specific themes. It begins with the over-the-top Lolita look, replete with baby doll dresses and large bows or barrettes clipped into brightly dyed pink, blue or purple pigtails, Japanese anime character look-alikes, period Victorian garb and colorful punk gear with Goth-inspired hair and makeup. Matchy-matchy is very uncool, and plaids are routinely mixed with stripes and floral patterns.

“Hello Kitty” and “Pokemon” purses and lunch boxes are favored accessories, as are carrying or wearing small “Totoro” stuffed animals or creatures from Japanese animator Takashi Murakami’s line of plush toys. Some styles are straight from high-end designer ateliers, but for the most part it is cobbled together from mismatched thrift shop or boutique finds. It sounds totally anti-fashion, but is actually spectacularly artistic in a bizarre and inventive way. Many current high-fashion runway looks have evolved from this genre.

I hastily pulled together a shocking pink Japanese brocade frock coat over a cream-colored Victorian lace blouse with jabot and paired it all with plaid knee socks over black leggings and a black schoolgirl’s kilt. I left the stuffed dinosaur at home, skipped the Kabuki makeup for a smear of lip gloss, and topped it all off with an assortment of rhinestone hair clips. I felt completely off-kilter but ready to channel my inner Japanese teen.

I arrived at a large restored colonial with a hawk’s eye view of the city where my hosts, their children and an on-duty Papillon greeted me enthusiastically. I planned on coming early to take some food photos and offer assistance to the host, but the preparations were well underway. My host and chef for the evening handed me a welcoming cocktail, an infusion of Asian pears with sho-chu vodka, and invited me on a tour.

The 19th-century high-ceilinged home had two kitchens and a butler’s pantry with 10-foot-high shelves filled with all manner of exotic spices, condiments and a working kitchen’s necessaries. The upstairs kitchen, large and rustic, had a wall of well-used copper pots, another featured a large contemporary oil painting. On the lower level another workspace housed state-of-the-art equipment befitting the molecular gastronomy necessary to achieve our much-anticipated dinner.

There was a Pacojet puree machine, an Excalibur food dehydrator, a Minipack Torre vacuum chamber sealer for shrink-wrapping, and a PolyScience sous vide circulating bath for cooking or chilling. Freezer drawers held silicone molds filled with spherical frozen mousse. It immediately became clear that this was more than just a passing interest for my host, and the “Iron Chef”-style excitement ratcheted up a few more notches.

As guests filtered in and out of the bustling kitchen and drawing room and the conversation turned lively, the children, clad in their own versions of the “look,” wandered off to wherever it is that children go when they are bored with adult conversation. After a few rounds of champagne, we gathered at the long dining table where food and wine began to consume the conversation and we, in turn, them.

The first course presented was a frozen sphere of Maytag blue cheese ice cream surrounded by walnuts in grape syrup, a Port wine gelee, grape foam, walnut milk, celery and celery salt made from stalks dried in the dehydrator — a sort of mad scientist’s Waldorf salad and our host’s nod to Chef Grant Achatz of Alinea Restaurant. It was an inspired, playful and delicious adventure and I ate my way in circles around the plate repeating the yin-yang flavors by turns.

A subsequent course proved to be a sensuous dish of riesling gelee over lychee nuts with pine nut brittle and shaved frozen fois gras — a tribute to Momofuku and the genius of Chef David Chang. The mouth feel of this combination was luxurious: the tiny wriggly cubes of late harvest Riesling jelly, tender globular floral-fragrant lychees, crunchy pine nuts with their sap-like aroma encased in hardened caramel and buttery-smooth Hudson Valley duck foie gras raining down over the whole. I was pleased this evening was a secret, for I had no impetus to reveal its mysteries to outsiders just yet.

Irresistible slabs of crispy pork belly glistened, and in yet another triumph borrowed from Chang, Bo Ssam, a 10-pound braised pork shoulder, its skin rendered bronze and lacquered with ssam. Platters of just-shucked oysters appeared alongside such sauces and condiments as kimchi, chiles, fermented bean curd, pickled mustard seed sauce, scallion and ginger compote, pickled vegetables and fish sauce.

The wines for the evening were carefully selected and exquisite. A Carlisle zinfandel from the Russian River Valley, a double magnum of Poizin Reserve in the skull and crossbones-etched bottle from Armida Winery in Sonoma’s Dry Creek Valley, a fine 2007 Sea Smoke pinot noir from Santa Barbara County and an extraordinary 2007 Saxum from James Berry Vineyard Proprietary Blend (100 points from Robert Parker!). A wine of such splendor and amplitude begged silent contemplation of its marvels, every sip bespeaking its provenance and development. As my imagination concocted its journey, I envisioned its beautiful grapes slowly ripening on the vine and the experienced decisions of its vintner shepherding its path from birth passage to aging process.

With deep regret I had to take my leave for a prior engagement before dessert was served, so I will never know the ending to this evening’s meal. But in a way, like all great meals and all great wines, we stand at the precipice, lured by the siren’s song and the promise to our most fragile selves to relive that evanescent moment when all the gastronomic stars align.

To start your own private supper club:
There are widely varying degrees of group size and culinary skill levels in each supper club. To start your own, you just need to round up friends of like mind for a once-a-month evening, decide on a theme (My hosts’ club did a multi-course fennel dinner the previous month, with fennel cake and fennel ice cream for dessert!) then decide if it’s “pot luck” or if the host couple will prepare the entire meal. Guests can bring wines but need to consult the host as to the proper pairing.

Themes:
The fun is in the planning and using your imagination. Single ingredients, ethnic cuisine or holidays can drive the theme of your gathering. I recall once coming upon a group of 20 or so Ukrainians picnicking in Fort Hunt Park last summer. Their party was more of a “pot luck” since each guest brought a dish, but it was marvelous in its variety of homemade pickled cucumbers and mushrooms, potted meats, borscht, a grill laden with skewered lamb shashliks, salads, homemade breads and cakes and, of course, large bowls of fresh cherries. The clear liquid of choice to wash it all down was most decidedly not branch water.

For questions or comments on this story contact jordan@whiskandquill.com. And if you decide to host your own supper club, let me know how it turned out. Better yet, I’d be delighted to help!
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Cocktail of the Week
• November 2, 2011

When was the last time you had punch at a party? Was it an enjoyable experience? Dan Searing posed these two questions during a recent event sponsored by the Museum of the American Cocktail at the Passenger bar in October. Searing, a partner in the intimate Room 11 lounge in Columbia Heights, hosted the event, which featured delectable drink samples from his new book, “The Punch Bowl – 75 Recipes Spanning Four Centuries of Wanton Revelry.”

Many attendees, recalling a less than-spectacular cup of punch, snickered at Searing’s opening queries. But by the end of the evening, there was little doubt that everyone appreciated his carefully crafted concoctions.

While the history of punch dates back centuries, it’s recent incantations have caused many to associate it with a strong mixture of cheap booze served at college parties or a sugary-sweet refreshment they sipped on at their class reunions or a baby shower. Searing decidedly altered those memories with his sophisticated and freshly-made libations.

Punch dates back hundreds of years when it was made by the English in India. The name punch most likely came for the Hindustani word “panch,” meaning five. Ancient punches were forged from five ingredients: traditionally tea, lemon, sugar, water and arrack, an Asian spirit distilled from palm sap.
According to Searing’s book, sailors plying the waters of the Atlantic became particularly fond of punch and it found its way from India to pubs in England and North America, and eventually into people’s homes. During the era of triangular trade, rum became commonly used in punches.
As the trend grew, elaborate punch bowls became fashionable and the design and material of the bowl became status symbols for their owners.

Right now, cocktails are undergoing a fantastic renaissance, and punch is following closely behind. Searing proved that a glass of punch could be as distinctive and tasteful as a finely forged cocktail. While many punches in Searing’s collection are historical in nature, the book also features 25 contemporary creations from some of today’s top mixologists.

One of the of the classic recipes included is Fish House Punch, which Searing describes as “A concoction shrouded in secrecy (and ongoing disagreement about its exact ingredients). “According to Searing, “this grand recipe comes from the Schuylkill Fishing Company, one of America’s oldest men’s clubs, originally founded in 1732. Prominent figures in American history, including George Washington, have enjoyed a glass or two of Fish House Punch at the famous club (which still exists today, though no longer in Schuylkill county.”

Fish House Punch has a strong citrus tang up front followed by rich and layered flavor stemming from two types of rum. While its bright sunny taste would be refreshing on a warm day, the full-bodied and savory attributes from the cognac and brown sugar would make this an enjoyable tipple on a cool autumn evening.

Ingredients to make Fish House punch may be purchased at Dixie Liquor at 3429 M St. in Georgetown. Searing’s book ““The Punch Bowl – 75 Recipes Spanning Four Centuries of Wanton Revelry,” is available online and at Room 11.

Fish House Punch – Circa 1732
15 to 20 servings

4 cups freshly squeezed lime juice (about 32 limes)
2 cups freshly squeezed lemon juice (about 12 lemons)
1 cup dark brown sugar
1 cup Appleton’s Estate Reserve dark rum
2 cups Flor de Cana Extra Dry 4 Year Old white rum
1 cup Pierre Ferrand Cognac
1 block of ice

Pour the lemon and lime juices into a large punch bowl. Add the brown sugar, and gently stir until dissolved. Slowly add the dark and light rums and the brandy, stirring constantly. Slowly ease the block of ice into the punch bowl.  Put the punch bowl into the refrigerator, and chill for 3 hours. Stir the punch every few hours to help the flavors blend.  When ready to serve, remove the bowl from the refrigerator and, if need be, add more ice.

The Latest Dish
•

Hank’s Oyster Bar & Lounge at 1624 Q Street NW has doubled in size with both inside and outside dining as well as a private upstairs room that can accommodate up to 24 guests. Architect Eric Gronning transformed the space into a hip neighborhood oasis. For those into creative cocktail menus, that has expanded too as chef/owner Jamie Leeds hired a beverage director, Dana Mosbarger, and a mixologist, Megan Coyle. If you appreciate great limoncello (as I do), Megan created two types of delicious, authentic house-made limoncello.

Ch-ch-ch-changes:

Michael Sternberg re-acquired Harry’s Tap Room in Clarendon and plans to re-open it as Market Tavern later this month … Härth at Hilton McLean Tysons Corner just opened their new 52-seat outdoor patio complete with fire pits and fall cocktails to warm guests up inside and out … Ballston’s Willow Restaurant has expanded with a new bakery and casual bistro (lower price points) inside. Instead of opening a new restaurant, chefs/owners and wife/husband, Tracy O’Grady and Brian Wolken expanded within their existing space. The bistro’s small plates menu offers a variety of vegetarian options. The new “Kate at Willow” allows Kate Jansen to stretch her pastry chef creativity, which is a bonus for us all. The Ritz-Carlton, Georgetown has changed Degrees Lounge into Degrees Bistro, a French-inspired bistro with banquette seating for 46, serving breakfast, lunch, dinner and casual bar food. This new dining space was made necessary by their conversion of Fahrenheit restaurant into an event space.

He’s not just the master of fine dining French restaurants. Michel Richard plans to open a restaurant focused on meatballs in Penn Quarter at 626 E St. NW. Not just meatballs, but meatballs to be ordered with pasta, salad or sandwiches at prices up to $10. Slated to open in November, it will be called Meatballs, which is also the name of one of my favorite Bill Murray movies.

Chef & GM Update:

Joe Sluger has been named the new general manager for The Melting Pot in Gaithersburg. The new chef de cuisine at Watershed by Todd Gray is Godofredi Vaquerano, who has spent 11 years working with Todd Gray and held the same position at Equinox. Todd named Karen Nichols the executive chef at Equinox – a first in the restaurant’s history. Karen served as sous-chef at Gramercy Tavern in New York City.

Openings Update:

Cafe Deluxe, now operated by Clover Restaurant Group (CRG), will open in the RIO Center in Gaithersburg in mid-November, serving American brasserie fare. This will be its fourth location, with others in Tysons Corner, Bethesda, and Cleveland Park in D.C. CRG also plans to open its second Tortilla Coast at 15th and P Streets, NW in Logan Circle in mid-December. The new location will vary from its Tex-Mex sister restaurant on Capitol Hill and offer authentic Mexican fare … PAUL USA, the bakery that opened its first D.C. location at 801 Pennsylvania, NW has recently opened its second location on Wisconsin Avenue near M Street, NW… Wagamama, which has been expected to open in Penn Quarter for a while now, is now shooting for a spring 2012 opening in the space on 7th St, NW formerly occupied by Olsson’s Books … The second Founding Farmers farm-to-table-themed restaurant is slated to open in early November at 12505 Park Potomac Ave. in Potomac, Md. It will be overseen by corporate chef Joe Goetze, executive chef Rob Ross and pastry chef Courtney Goldian.

Quick Hits:

Mike Cordero, owner of Caribbean Breeze, Malibu Grill and Aqua Vida in Old Town plans to open Bronx Pizza in early December in Clarendon. Sushiko has a combination ramen and izakaya (Japanese pub) restaurant called Daikaya, slated to open next year at 705 Sixth St., NW in Penn Quarter … Pizza CS, a pizzeria slated to open in the first half of November in Rockville (where Three Brothers Italian Restaurant used to be), will feature Neapolitan pizza. Owners/operators are Ankur Rajpara and John Allen, formerly of local restaurant group, Latin Concepts. Bethesda Bagels is slated to open in the former Johnny Rockets space at 1718 Connecticut Ave. NW in north Dupont Circle by end of November. Jason Story and Carolina Gomez plan to open a charcuterie shop called Three Little Pigs in Petworth at 5111 Georgia Ave., NW by year’s end. Their plan calls for a sandwich station, retail space and charcuterie classes.

2100 Prime has opened in The Fairfax Hotel where The Jockey Club used to hold court. The new chef is Mark Timms, native of Sheffield, England, who has re-vamped the menu with lower prices and a greater focus on sustainable and local foods.

Chef/owner Patrick Bazin and his wife Julie plan to open a new authentic Mexican restaurant called Alegria, next door to their restaurant Bazin’s on Church, in Falls Church. It is slated to open in late December of 2011. The menu will showcase authentic Mexican food with a very strong connection to local growers and specialty regional suppliers. Outdoor dining on the patio will be offered as weather allows. The name Alegria (which means happiness) was chosen as a result of a Facebook page contest to name the new restaurant. The winner won dinner for eight on opening night for their winning submission.

Attention chefs:

MasterChef Season Three Open Calls are taking place. You will be given a few minutes to plate your dish at the given casting location, but there will not be a kitchen to cook or warm it up so come prepared. Visit MasterChefCasting.com. The event takes place Nov. 12 at Trinity Washington University from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

The Latest Dish
• October 5, 2011

Jamie Stachowski and his son, Josef, are taking over Griffin Market in Georgetown to open what Jamie calls “a rustic Hansel & Gretel house of beef,” featuring salamis and sausages as well as sandwiches (hand-cut pastrami – I’m there), beef, pork, and more exotic items like duck pate, fois gras, confit; prepared items like turkey for Thanksgiving, short ribs and meatballs. They plan to be up and running by November.

The Capital Hilton at 16th and K Streets, NW, will open its restaurant,North Gate Grill, in November. It will open serving breakfast and lunch, before dinner service is added to the dining program. The name, North Gate Grill, refers to its location down the street from the north gate of the White House. The chef is Daniel Murray, formerly of Renaissance Cleveland. But before that, he worked here in D.C. at Blackie’s.

Ray’s the Steaks and Ray’s Hell Burger owner Michael Landrum has opened the latest restaurant in his Ray’s empire: Ray’s to the Third, selling steak frites 13 different ways. It’s only open for dinner, with plans for lunch service in the future, located at 1650 Wilson Blvd in the Rosslyn/Courthouse area of Arlington.

Richard Pawlowski, owner/operator of numerous Cosi and Qdoba Mexican Grill locations in the metro area, is opening America’s first outpost of London-based YO!Sushi in D.C. inside Union Station in 2012. The U.K. eatery is known for its conveyor-belt style of sushi service, also known as a Japanese “kaiten” sushi bar, as the sushi rolls, sashimi and Asian salads and dishes are color-coded as the belt moves past. Pawlowski has teamed up with his good friend, Darren Wightman, who will serve as operating partner for YO!Sushi. Wightman was formerly the executive chef for YO!Sushi in the U.K. He also worked for London-based Ping Pong Dim Sum as executive chef.

Quick Hits

BGR: The Burger Joint plans to open before year’s end in Gaithersburg’s Rio Center as well as in the Cascades in Sterling, Va. Also slated to open at Washingtonian Center: Nando’s Peri Peri and Café Deluxe. Al Forno, an Italian trattoria will open this fall at 3201 New Mexico Ave., NW, in the former Balducci’s space. The restaurant will feature a wood-burning oven for Neapolitan pizza, and outdoor dining, just like at its neighbor, Chef Geoff’s. New York-based Boqueria plans to open in Dupont Circle this fall, their first location outside of New York. They offer Barcelona-inspired tapas. Filter Coffeehouse plans to open its second location in Foggy Bottom near the World Bank at 19th and I Streets, NW. The plan is for it to be open before year’s end.

EatWell DC who brought us Logan Tavern, Grillfish, Commissary and The Heights, will open another Logan Circle eatery, The Pig at 1320 14th St., NW, featuring – what else? – pork. They will source foods from their own farm, EatWell Natural Farm in La Plata, Md., and use locally raised pigs. They will also offer craft cocktails, American beers and wines from eco-conscious producers as well as small batch bourbons. A second quarter 2012 opening is planned.

Relying mostly on the money he has made through his technology business, Steve Acup is opening Log Inn at Lucketts at Route 15 and Spinks Ferry Road. Although his plans call for a March 2012 opening, he has set up a mobile trailer with a commercial kitchen to give the neighbors a taste of what to expect at Log Inn. The restaurant will serve pizza, pasta, ribs, Italian beef sandwiches and cheesecakes. Acup is developing the recipes but hiring people to cook and execute the concept for the up to 125-seat restaurant.

Chef Drew Trautmann, formerly of Mendocino Grille & Wine Bar in Georgetown, and Jawad Saadaoui, of Redwood in Bethesda, plan to open District Kitchen this month in the space where Jandara used to be at 2606 Connecticut Ave., NW, in Woodley Park. The 75-seat space will offer American food, similar to Woodberry Kitchen (re: rustic) in Baltimore. Drew’s sous chef is Daniel Velasco, whom he worked with at Mendocino Grille.

Town Hall restaurant, 2218 Wisconsin Ave, NW in Glover Park will be moving a block north into the old Blue Ridge space at 2340 Wisconsin Ave., NW. Eli Hengst and Jared Rager, owners of both places, negotiated a deal that also allows Town Hall to assume Blue Ridge’s liquor license. Their former space now also comes with its own liquor license, a very attractive amenity these days. Town Hall plans to be open in their new space by Thanksgiving.

The Georgetown ANC approved a liquor license application for Malmaison, a restaurant slated to open at the corner of 34th and K Streets, NW. The owners also own and operate Cafe Bonaparte at Wisconsin Avenue and P Street, NW. The new dessert cafe’s name can translate into “naughty house” or “ill-fated domain” but is actually a reference to Napoleon’s Château de Malmaison.

Chef Update

Dennis Marron is the new executive chef at Poste Moderne Brasserie, adjacent to Kimpton’s Monaco Hotel near the Verizon Center. He comes from Kimpton’s Old Town property, the Grille at Morrison House and Jackson 20. Mark Timms has been named executive chef at 2100 Prime, the restaurant in The Fairfax Hotel that used to be the Jockey Club.

Openings Update

Passion Food Hospitality will open Burger, Tap & Shake before it opens District Commons at 2200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW, at Washington Circle in Foggy Bottom, which is sprouting foodservice options each month. District Commons will feature 20 American beers on tap. It will also be one of the few places in the area open for breakfast. Both should be open before the fourth quarter of 2011… The folks who own Tryst in Adams Morgan plan to open a taqueria at Lamont & 11 Street, NW. The working name is Margot’s Chair. If the construction gods allow, a January 2012 opening is planned. … Enzo Fargione’s Elisir on 11th Street, NW, in Penn Quarter plans to be open in October 2011 … The Hamilton, brought to you by Clyde’s Restaurant group in the former Borders space near Old Ebbitt Grill, will have three bars upstairs and two bars downstairs, and plans to be open before year’s end. Roti Mediterranean Grill plans to open on F Street, NW, the end of this month, and at Union Station, in first quarter of 2012.

Linda Roth Conte is president of Linda Roth Associates, Inc. (LRA), specializing in making creative connections through media relations, marketing initiatives, community outreach and special events for the hospitality industry. Contact Linda at 703-417-2700 or linda@lindarothpr.com or visit her web site at www.lindarothpr.com

Miller Lite Scoreboard Walk at Nationals Park: Food Party Spot With a View
• September 13, 2011

It is a walk that is also a hit. While the Washington Nationals took care of the Philadelphia Phillies this past weekend, their ball park was taking care of hungry and thirsty baseball fans. And while around the stadium there are food spots aplenty, one space stands out: the Miller Lite Scoreboard Walk with its Miller Lite Party Nights.

The Miller Lite Scoreboard Walk, located on the mezzanine level of the stadium with its own escalator to the left of the centerfield gates behind the main scoreboard, is fast becoming a meeting hot spot as its walking area and restaurant space gives baseball fans an elevated view of the field – and a place to see and be seen.

During the Miller Lite Party Nights – Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays – fans can buy a Scoreboard Pavilion seat for $20 ($22 for prime games) and get a drink voucher for the Miller Lite Scoreboard Walk Bar. Live entertainment starts two-and-a-half hours before the start of each game. Five-dollar happy-hour beer specials are available two-and-a-half hours before the first pitch at the Miller Lite Scoreboard Walk Bar for all remaining home games this season.

In fact, one of a group of fans enjoyed the food and space so much last week, they stayed put and sat in the lounge chairs and at the high tables for most of the game.

With approximately 15,000 square feet of open space, it is easy to lounge in the new chairs, listen to pregame music and partake of burgers and shakes from Shake Shack, Union Square Hospitality Group’s most popular joint, along with Danny Meyer’s other offerings, Blue Smoke, El Verano Taquería and Box Frites. You can hang at the Walk and watch the new HDTV screen behind the scoreboard and never a moment of the action on the field. Baseball, hot dogs, burgers, real pit barbeque, tacos, Belgian fries and beer and wine – and shakes and custards. No strikeout here.

Nationals Park is the third sports venue with the Union Square eateries; the other two are the New York Mets’ Citi Field and the Saratoga Racing Course.

Here are some fun green facts about Miller Lite Scoreboard Walk that the Nationals are proud of. Building on the ballpark’s environmentally-friendly design, the enhanced Miller Lite Scoreboard Walk incorporates sustainable elements which include the following: indigenous plants and trees, which require less water and maintenance while also improving air quality; all the under plantings are herbs, which attract butterflies and will give off an herbal scent when in bloom from May to November; all plantings were installed with composted materials, while the trees were grown from intercropping.

Unique to the refreshed area are the 14 shade sails suspended by turnbuckles covering the space. The sails were designed and provided by Tenshon specifically for the Nationals. They will reduce ambient
temperature up to 20 degrees and provide protection of up to 93.7 percent of UV rays, protecting fans from excessive heat and sun exposure. Each sail measures 16 feet by 10 feet and is made of fully recyclable HDPE architectural shade fabric.

Cocktail of the Week
• September 7, 2011

By Miss Dixie
Last week on a perfect summer night, an annual event for a select group of music fans was celebrated in D.C. Parrotheads flocked to suburban Virginia for Jimmy Buffet’s annual tour and marked the event by downing margaritas in droves. While I am not a Buffet fan by any means, I am truly a margarita lover.

No other musician is so closely associated with a cocktail than Buffet and the margarita, after his continually-played “Margaritaville” tune hit the airwaves in 1977. Buffet’s ode to his island escape played a huge role in elevating the margarita to the number one tequila cocktail in the U.S. Its popularity in the states has surpassed its prominence in Mexico, where the Paloma is the preferred tipple.

Today, Buffet rakes in millions peddling pre-mixed bottled drinks and serving margaritas to fans in his vast of chain of theme-restaurants.

Unfortunately for the margarita, its place in the sun has greatly altered a drink that was once delightful and refreshing. These days, it is enjoyed by most in a ready-mixed, preprocessed or machine-dispensed form that vaguely resembles its origins.

As Buffet strummed his signature diddy last week, mullet-haired, Hawaiian-shirt wearing fans sang along holding foot-high Slurpee-like drinks housed in plastic guitar-shaped glasses purported by concessionaires to be frozen margaritas.

The original margarita is timeless mixture of tequila, orange liqueur (or triple sec) and lime juice. It is a textbook example of David Embury’s “Roll Your Own” theory that drinks are made up of three components – a liquor base, (tequila) a sweetener, (triple sec) and a sour (lime juice). Embury put forth this theory in 1948 book, “The Fine Art of Mixing Drinks.” Other cocktails that follow this formula include the daiquiri, whiskey sour and the sidecar.

With a recipe this simple, it’s hard to understand how the margarita ventured so far from it roots. For starters, instead of picking up a detergent-sized bottle of margarita mix, invest in an inexpensive lime squeezer and half dozen of limes. If you don’t want to be hassled by squeezing fresh fruit on the spot, make a batch ahead and refrigerate. It will make a world of difference.

While cheap varieties of triple sec abound, I suggest upping the ante. Many bartenders use Cointreau, a French liqueur, or Grand Mariner, a Cognac distilled with orange. My personal recommendation is Patron Citronage, a high-end triple sec made by one of the most respected tequila makers in the world.

Your choice of tequila also plays a big role. Tequila is a distilled spirit made from the blue agave plant. While some tequilas are 100 percent agave, those labeled “mixto” are made with a minimum of 51 percent with other sugars making up the remainder.

While many mixologists prefer silver or un-aged tequila for their mixability in cocktails, I prefer margaritas forged from a reposado tequila, which is aged in a barrel for up to a year. Slightly aged tequila provides an extra layer of flavor and complexity.

As for garnishes, the time-honored margarita should be served on the rocks (my apologies to the frozen drink lovers) and in a glass rimmed with salt. The pinch of salt brightens the fresh, sweet and sour flavor and adds a bit of twang.

Follow these simple steps and you can enjoy a simply sublime cocktail that has become an American summer tradition. The choice of background music is up to you.

Margarita

2 oz. 100-percent agave tequila

1 oz. triple sec, Citronage, Cointreau or Grand Marnier

1 oz. freshly squeezed lime juice

Salt for garnish