Food

Natalie Koltun • July 7, 2014

Twenty-one local restaurants were honored at the 2014 Rammy Awards, June 22. The 32nd annual gala, held at Walter E. Washington Convention Center, highlighted the best restaurants in the area in categories, ranging from “formal fine dining” to “new restaurant of the year.” This year, several new categories were introduced to recognize the finest cocktail and beer programs, as well as some favorite fast bites and regional food and beverage producers.

Only members of Restaurant Association Metropolitan Washington were eligible for nomination. Of more than 100 nominees, only 21 were selected to represent the local culinary industry, four of which were selected by public vote.

And the winners are…

Formal Fine Dining Restaurant of the Year: Fiola

Upscale Casual Restaurant of the Year: Ripple

Everyday Casual Restaurant of the Year: Toki Underground

New Restaurant of the Year: The Red Hen

Chef of the Year: Haidar Karoum, Doi Moi, Estadio, Proof

Rising Culinary Star of the Year: Michael Friedman, The Red Hen

Pastry Chef of the Year: Caitlin Dysart, 2941 Restaurant

Wine Program of the Year: Ripple

Cocktail Program of the Year: Jack Rose Dining Saloon

Beer Program of the Year: Birch and Barley/ChurchKey

Service Program of the Year: Blue Duck Tavern

Restaurateur of the Year: Michael Babin, Neighborhood Restaurant Group

Regional Food and Beverage Producer of the Year: Red Apron Butcher

Favorite Gathering Place of the Year: Hank’s Oyster Bar – Dupont Circle

Upscale Casual Brunch: Mintwood Place

Everyday Casual Brunch: Pearl Dive Oyster Palace

Favorite Fast Bites: Amsterdam Falafelshop

Allied Member of the Year: ProFish Ltd.

Employee of the Year: Stelios Alexandris, 1789 Restaurant

Manager of the Year: Boo Young Kim, District Commons

Duke Zeibert Capital Achievement Award: Lynne Breaux
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Robert Devaney • June 30, 2014

Mike Copperthite, descendent of the founders of the Connecticut-Copperthite Pie Company, drove a restored 1914 Model T pie delivery truck into Georgetown from the Virginia suburbs June 22.

Cooperthite has revived the family’s pie business over the past few years and is selling pies in different locations or just donating them to various charitable events. He drove his pie truck — which caught everyone’s attention — around town from M Street and to Q Street and R Street.

Founded in 1888, the Connecticut-Copperthite Pie Company had locations in Georgetown and Capitol Hill. It not only was the biggest pie bakery in D.C. but was one of the biggest companies in D.C.

The Connecticut-Copperthite Pie Delivery Truck was restored a few months ago and is one of only 119 made in 1914 and was sold by the Ford Motor Company to the Connecticut-Copperthite Pie Company 100 years ago.

“Though intact and complete, she was in need of loving attention,” according to Copperthite. “The Henry Ford Museum folks gave a lending hand to Gary Cooper, a master craftsman, and the Model T Club of Southern Nevada in the restoration of Serial No.317233. Cooper and his team spent the last year putting her right.”

The story of the restoration of the pie truck will be told in July on the History Channel’s “Counting Cars.”

The truck will serve at special events, says Copperthite, “before heading to the Henry Ford Museum and the Model T National Museum to be exhibited before she goes into the Smithsonian Institution.”

Robert Devaney • June 27, 2014

Just when things were humming along, executive chef Jakob Esko at the Washington Capella Hotel has announced that he is leaving the hotel July 1.

One should not surprised, however, as Esko — who is from Sweden and had his first job in Zurich — has been something of a globe-trotting chef. The company said Esko’s decision to depart was a personal one.

Esko runs the Capella’s Grill Room and Rye Bar. He has been at the Georgtown hotel — which made its debut in March 2013– about one-and-a-half years. Esko has worked at other Capella properties in Singapore, Mexico and Ireland. He also worked for the Ritz-Carlton in Barcelona between 2005 and 2008, where both of his sons were born. His wife Jodi is from Silver Spring, Md., and the couple met in Washington in 1994.

The 49-room boutique hotel on 31st Street next to the C&O Canal and its Grill Room and Rye Bar are a hit with visitors and neighbors alike. It regularly hosts culinary events with the community. Founded by former Ritz Carlton COO Horst Schulze, the company has other Capella hotels and resorts in Singapore, Dusseldorf, Ixtapa and Cabo San Lucas. The company has plans for hotel openings in such places as Bangkok and Russia.

Robert Devaney •

Tony Cibel celebrated his 77th birthday with a couple hundred of his closest friends June 5 at his waterfront restaurant at Washington Harbour, Tony and Joe’s Seafood Place, which marked its 25th year in 2012. Cibel is a native Washingtonian.

Tony Cibel founded Tony and Joe’s with Joe Rinaldi in October 1987 at the newly constructed Washington Harbour. His business projects have expanded since then. Cibel is the patriarch of the Oceanside Management Family of restaurants, which has included the Dancing Crab, Tony & Joe’s Seafood Place, Nick’s Riverside Grille, Kaufmann’s Tavern, Cabanas and the Rockfish. Tony and Joe’s survived the April 2011 flooding at the waterfront that damaged it and several other places. With a re-design, it emerged better than ever.

Party-goers were treated to oysters, shrimp, lamb chops, sauteed soft-shell crabs, split lobster, prime rib and drinks, of course — and, yes, there was dancing.
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Natalie Koltun •

Soupergirl, a small, eco-friendly restaurant featuring homemade vegan and kosher soups and salads, has opened a new takeout store at 1829 M St., NW, in the former Yo-Cake location.

Known for its various gazpachos in watermelon, beet, peach and tomato, the shop offers five soups, warm or chilled, that change daily on a rotating schedule. All of the soups – starting at $6 — are plant-based, made up of fresh vegetables, beans, grains, herbs and spices, and have interesting names, which originate from the owner’s previous career as a stand-up comedian in New York City. In addition to soups, the menu includes green salads, grain salads, sides of bread and hummus, and desserts. It also features delivery and catering services.

The 750-square-foot site in the heart of the downtown business district is the second Soupergirl to hit Washington, D.C. The first, located on Carroll Street, NW, near the Takoma Metro Station, opened its doors in 2011, and is where all the food sold at both locations is prepared. Because of its smaller size, the new shop does not have the space for seating, but it features a counter window for customers to enjoy a quick lunch. However, the new takeout location offers a wider variety of soups each day than the Takoma store does.

Sara Polon, also known as “Soupergirl,” is the founder and owner of both locations. She decided to get involved in the local food movement after reading Michael Pollan’s book, “Omnivore’s Dilemma,” and was inspired to create a restaurant that offers healthy dining options made from only the freshest seasonal ingredients, many of which are organic and grown on local farms. Her business began in 2008 as an online ordering system and has since developed into a popular lunch spot for Washingtonians on the go.

“This store is more of a ‘Soupergirl Express,’ ” Polon said. The takeout option is ideal for businesspersons who only have time to pick something up before eating lunch at their desk, she said, adding, “I am on a mission to provide good, healthy food to as many people in the area as possible.”

Polon’s success can partially be attributed to her mother, Marilyn, or “Soupermom.” She is responsible for crafting each recipe down to the final spice as well as cooking the soup from scratch each day.

The food at Soupergirl is kosher-certified by Rabbi Shmuel Herzfeld of Ohev Sholom — The National Synagogue. The food is also certified by the Washington, D.C., chapters of Slow Food and REAL (Responsible, Epicurean and Agricultural Leadership) — organizations that promote restaurants that support local, seasonal and sustainable food sources in their kitchens.

“You’re going to feel clean when you eat this food,” Polon said. “You will recognize every item on the ingredient list.”

Soupergirl’s signature soups and salads are available in Whole Foods Market, eight Sweetgreen locations in the D.C. area and Glen’s Garden Market in Dupont Circle. The M Street shop is open 11 a.m. to 8 p.m., Monday through Thursday and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m, Friday. It is closed weekends and on Jewish holidays.

Ari Post •

Our reputation as the home of Capitol Hill power lunches – which, in many ways, our chefs are still trying to shake – has become a sort of cultural heritage, building a duality of seriousness and leisure that pervades the sensibilities of dining rooms and kitchens across the city.

It is excellence meets informality, seriousness meets raucousness. Washingtonians work hard and expect good food to come from places that soothe their collectively weary spirits. We want a place to sit and relax without putting on appearances.

Here at Georgetown Media Group, we were excited to explore this side of dining: the restaurants and chefs that offer extraordinary cuisine without requiring a bank-breaking budget or jacket and tie. We wanted to know where the city’s frequent diners grab a great bite, to track down the casual, everyday delicious. With the RAMMYs — Restaurant Association Metropolitan Washington’s annual restaurant awards — coming up on June 22, it was a perfect time to highlight some of our favorite nominees.

Washington’s restaurant community recently lost an important member of the family, former Washington Post food writer Walter Nicholls. A longtime champion and translator of our area’s food culture, particularly significant in calling attention to the once-cloistered pockets of authentic Asian and Latino cuisine, his passion for food helped elevate our culinary scene to its current status. This issue is made in his memory: these are the kind of restaurants that Walter loved.

Tim Ma
Water & Wall,
Maple Avenue Restaurant
RAMMY Nominations: Rising Culinary Star of the Year, Upscale Casual Restaurant of the Year

Tim Ma should never have opened a restaurant. At least that’s what he says. Working for eight years as an engineer before attending culinary school, he found a restaurant for sale on Craigslist in Vienna, Va., and bought the lease. With a handful of friends and his wife and business partner, Joey Hernandez, he opened Maple Avenue Restaurant in 2009.

“It should never have happened,” he said. “And it didn’t go well for a very long time. But I’m pretty used to succeeding through failure. So we just evolved very quickly and kept drastically changing the menu until we hit on something that we knew was right. And in the process we taught ourselves how to run a restaurant.”

An experimental fusion of French and Asian cuisine, Maple Avenue is a culinary destination, currently RAMMY-nominated for Upscale Casual Restaurant of the Year. Their seared scallops – served on a bed of coconut risotto with scallions and basil ice cream – are alone worth the trip.

“You see risotto in a lot of places,” says Ma. “But we wanted to introduce these Asian flavors that I knew would pair well with the scallops. And infusing a delicate herb like basil into such a rich plate was an interesting challenge.”

Despite Maple Avenue’s success, Ma took his unique culinary style and approach in a different direction with Water & Wall, his new restaurant in Arlington, to better fit the profile of the surrounding neighborhood.

“Eventually it’s the neighborhood who will support you,” he said. “And the French-Asian thing didn’t catch on in the same way as it did in Vienna. The tilt that we’ve taken is now more traditional French-American food, but in our style. It tends to be a lot more playful, a little tongue-in-cheek.”

For example, Maple Avenue had a rib platter with a Dr. Pepper-based barbecue sauce. At Water & Wall, it was reimagined as a cured, slow-braised beef brisket. “My sous chef is from Tennessee and has a southern tilt to his cuisine, so we made it a Cheerwine-based sauce,” utilizing the red cola distributed exclusively in the South. It is paired very simply with applewood-smoked mashed potatoes and pickled mustard greens (Ma’s favorite part of the dish).

Water & Wall’s soft-shell crab is a seasonal must, gently tempura-fried and served with sauteed spinach, house pickles and an Old Bay aioli.

“I love what’s happening with this area’s food culture,” says Ma. “If this were ten years ago, I would have never been interviewed for anything – no one would care who I was. But the fact that there’s all this attention on D.C. food makes you feel rewarded for working hard in an industry that for the most part, until five years ago, was never rewarded for working so hard.”

WaterAndWall.com
3811 N Fairfax Dr, Arlington
703.294.4949

MapleAvenueRestaurant.com
147 Maple Ave. W, Vienna
703.319.2177

Will Artley
Pizzeria Orso
RAMMY Nominations: Everyday Casual Restaurant of the Year, Everyday Casual Brunch of the Year

“As a cook and an eater, I’m really most attracted to the craftsmanship of old, lost arts like bread making,” says Will Artley, head chef of Pizzeria Orso. “Pizza dough takes an extreme amount of discipline and you will always continue to learn.”
Artley and Pizzeria Orso defy every expectation. A neighborhood pizza place in Falls Church, Va., Pizzeria Orso sits on the ground floor of a four-story office building off Lee Highway. A makeshift vinyl sign dangles next to gray block letters that read “TAX ANALYSTS,” visible from the interstate beyond a local burger joint and an auto-parts retailer.

But inside this unassuming building, Artley is making some of the best pizza in the Washington area. A RAMMY-winning chef for his work at Evening Star Cafe in Alexandria and a finalist on Food Network’s “Chopped,” Artley had been looking for his next move. When Pizzeria Orso came his way, he saw an opportunity to put Falls Church on the map and return to his roots as a neighborhood chef.

“I had never done pizza,” he says. “But what I saw in Falls Church was a tight-knit community who stuck by each other. And I wanted to be a part of that.” He immediately enrolled in a bread program at the Culinary Institute of America, and before long, Pizzeria Orso was making waves.

“It’s instilled in chefs from the get-go to constantly strive for perfection,” he says. “But neighborhood restaurants are so special because they teach you that perfection is subjective. Perfection is someone walking out of your restaurant satisfied, happy and wanting to come back.”

His pizzas, crafted in the age-old Neapolitan tradition, are simple and extraordinary. The marinara pizza with house sausage is perhaps the perfect example: tomato puree with hand-chopped tomatoes, sea salt, olive oil, shaved garlic and oregano.

“It’s one of the most classic pizzas,” Artley says. “I know it seems strange not to have cheese on a pizza, but I promise you’ll be sold. It’s simplicity and beauty, without being crushed under the weight of forty toppings.”

Beyond the pizzas, diners would be remiss not to try the grilled lentil salad over grilled squash with green peppercorn dressing. The seared scallops with corn succotash and tomato jam is also an unexpected highlight. Grilled octopus with white artichoke puree and white bean ragout is a slice of southern Italian divinity, worthy of Poseidon himself.

“I want people to come get to know us,” says Artley. “If you’re a vegan, gluten-free, I can cook for you. I want to do it. I want everybody who walks in these doors to have a great experience.”

PizzeriaOrso.com
400 S Maple Ave., Falls Church
703.226.3460

James Huff
Pearl Dive Oyster Palace
RAMMY Nomination: Everyday Casual Restaurant of the Year, Everyday Casual Brunch of the Year, Manager of the Year (Tyes Zolman)

Chef James Huff has spent his career falling into the sea. From cutting his teeth with groundbreaking D.C. seafood chef Bob Kinkead in the late nineties to working at Emeril Lagasse’s Delmonico Steakhouse in New Orleans, his career seems to have been destined for a focus on fish.

It is only natural that he would end up in Washington working for Black Restaurant Group, arguably the royal family of Washington-area seafood culture. But when he came across the opportunity to run Pearl Dive Oyster Palace, Black Restaurant Group’s 14th Street hot spot, Huff wanted to bring more to the table than your average array of fine-dining oceanic gastronomy.

“Everyone in our kitchen comes from fine-dining backgrounds,” he says. “And that knowledge and technique is the backbone of all our cooking. But there are a lot of people in this city just like me – three kids and a busy life – and I want to cook for them, give them a neighborhood gathering place, somewhere they can swing by any time of day and get simple, consistent, quality food and service.”

The highlights of the menu, to hear Huff tell it, are the simple delicacies, such as the wood-grilled oysters with garlic, red chile butter and gremolata and the wood-grilled redfish, a skin-on filet that picks up the natural richness of the wood smoke, served with cayenne stoneground grits and a simple brown butter sauce with sage and pecan and lemon. The cornmeal-fried oyster po’ boy with cayenne aioli and the Dive Burger with roasted green chilies, pepper jack and bacon are also things of not-so-guilty epicurean pleasure.

The servers wear t-shirts and jeans and greet you with a warm smile. The exposed brick of the walls reflects the streetlights, making you feel like you’re hanging out in your best friend’s kitchen. Pearl Dive is a place to relax and enjoy the simple pleasures in life.

“At the end of the day,” says Huff, “we just want to make food taste good. That’s our mantra.”

PearlDiveDC.com
1612 14th St., NW
202.319.1612

Victor Abisu
Del Campo
RAMMY Nomination: New Restaurant, Chef of the Year

“I like eating really authentic foods,” says chef and restaurateur Victor Abisu. “And that’s what I wanted to cook. Good food, the food of my heritage.”

This was the inspiration for Abisu’s flagship restaurant, Del Campo, when he opened it in Chinatown in 2012. The airy, agrarian space is home to a meat-driven, wine-centric menu that brings together the chef’s Latin American roots – from his Peruvian mother and Cuban father – as well as his childhood experiences in an Argentine butcher shop.

“We are focused on the grill culture of South America, the parrilla,” he says. “My mission is to showcase these cultures in the ways that they affected me, and paint a picture of what I love about each one.” Everything touches the grill at Del Campo, transporting diners to the Andes Mountains, where they are connected to the history of it all.

The restaurant’s grilled octopus causa is based on a traditional Peruvian dish dating back to the late 19th-century War of the Pacific. Abisu breaks it down in a way that is undeniably tasty. The octopus is served with tuna confit, prawns, pickled leeks, potato, piquillo peppers and avocado. Each ingredient is independently grilled, then they are stacked together, offering a smoky, 360-degree crunch.

Rolled Wagyu skirt steak stuffed with cheese, burnt onions and rosemary is inspired by an Argentine dish called matambre, a rolled piece of meat stuffed with vegetables and poached. Needless to say, Abisu’s variation goes right to the grill, and results in a flavor both ancient and mesmerizing.

Del Campo’s tuna ceviche utilizes a citrus dressing made from smoked uni. “Even our ceviche touches the grille,” says Abisu. Putting together timeless, old-world techniques and elevating them to an approachable level, Del Campo offers a perspective on dining unique to Washington’s culinary scene. “It’s a balance you have to strike,” says Abisu. “You want to be satisfied as a chef and cook the food you love, but you also want to reach a wide audience. Hopefully that goes hand in hand when you stay true to yourself.”

DelCampoDC.com
777 I St., NW
202.289.7377 [gallery ids="101773,141166" nav="thumbs"]

Georgetowner •

The following is a selection of remembrances of Walter Nicholls, who passed away June 1. A Washington native and Georgetown resident, he was a former staff writer for the Washington Post Food section and created the popular column in The Georgetowner, “What’s Cooking, Neighbor?”

Nancy McKeon
I dragged my friend Walter Nicholls to a Washington Post Christmas party some years ago. While I was still in the entryway taking my coat off, he was already two rooms away surveying the food. Ditto our excursions to the Georgetown Gala one year and the Embassy Chef Challenge: While some of us shmoozed and bellied up to the bar, Walter buzzed around the food displays, sampling here and there, reporting back on what not to miss and what wasn’t so great.

An old friend once said to me, “Walter’s ‘idle’ speed is just a bit higher than ours.” I told Walter that because it so amused me. But now I can’t tell him anything, not (again) how I lived vicariously through his travel features and so enjoyed reading about his food adventures.

Chef David Guas
I met Walter at a party in 1998, shortly after I moved to DC. I remember someone telling me who he was, that he wrote for the Washington Post and was a very “tough” critic. I went right up to him to introduced myself and I remember him being very “reserved.” After that point, I started looking for his articles to try to understand who he was through how he wrote about food – and he knew food!

Walter was also the vanilla salesperson for my cooks at Bayou Bakery since opening in November 2010, introduced to me by Carolyn Lochhead (I remember telling Carolyn ‘Oh, I know Walter, everyone knows Walter!’) He used to show up to my Arlington restaurant within an hour of us placing our vanilla order via email (he lived near by in Arlington). I was so excited when he was hired by Arlington Magazine, because this neighborhood was his backyard, if not in the Blue Ridge Mountains.

“Our whole team at Bayou Bakery in Arlington was very saddened by the news of his passing. I miss him already.”
– Chef David Guas

“We will miss you Walter Nicholls but we will never forget you. You will always be an important part of our life story.”
– Sophie and Katherine of Georgetown Cupcake

“I’m so sad to learn of Walter’s death. What a true gentleman and a gentle soul. Gonna miss you, my friend.”
– Tricia Messerschmitt

“Walter Nicholls, better known to me as “Wonder Wal” back then, was also, among all of these things, “Drop Dead Gorgeous”! His intellect and conversation…when we met about 43 years ago, was then, and is still, a highlight in my life. Unique humor and a gracious man. He loved so much, so young. He also gave gifts to me and his friends, that were so unusual and beautiful…they are in my home and hanging on my walls today, throughout…many moves, changes etc. “Wonder Wal” knew great art when he saw it! I haven’t kept in touch in years…but I feel his presence…just as much now…as I always will.”
– Heather P. McConnell

“I had the great good fortune of working with Walter for many years. He was smart, kind and wickedly fun and funny. Walter never did anything in first gear. He always operated in overdrive. His energy was amazing. He was amazing. And very much missed.”
– Sukiq (Washington Post reader)

“My spouse and I had a dinner party when Gorbachev, premier of the USSR, came to Washington in the ’80’s. I decided to call it “Glasnost,” indicating his opening to the West, while rapidly liberalizing the Soviet system at home. I hired Walter to cater it, and he took on the assignment with a vengeance, researching old Russian cookbooks from the Czarist era and other sources. He arrived with his staff and provisions early the morning the day of, dismissed us and set to work, clearing out our furniture to accommodate 25 to set up tables for a seated dinner which turned out to be beyond fabulous. Course after course was authentically Russian in every way. He did it again the next evening for a similar crowd, followed by a brunch the next day after that with a more conventional menu. He was exhausted by the end of it all, but appropriately self-satisfied that he did a fine job.”
– Amabala1 (Washington Post reader)

Georgetowner • June 18, 2014

Loudoun County is the next?Loudoun County. One Loudoun, a development in Ashburn, will host metro-area restaurant groups ready to expand west. Robert Wiedmaier plans to open a new Italian-concept restaurant. Matchbox Food Group plans to open a **Matchbox** next summer. Bryan Voltaggio is already northwest of D.C., so he?ll travel south to open his second **Family Meal** (the first one is in Frederick) at One Loudoun in late summer or early fall. More outside-of-D.C. concepts slated to open there include **Uncle Julio?s Mexican** restaurant (from the folks who brought you **Rio Grande**) and **Redskins Grille**, from a company that opens NFL-themed restaurants.

**Texas de Brazil** plans to open where **Buddha Bar** used to be in NoMa (aka Mount Vernon Triangle) on Massachusetts Avenue, NW. The churrascaria-style Brazilian steakhouse with Texas-style hospitality is known for its all-you-can-eat service right at the table. There is currently a location in Fairfax?s Fair Oaks Mall and in Richmond. A fourth-quarter 2014 or first-quarter 2015 opening is targeted.

Robert Irvine of ?Restaurant Impossible? and ?Dinner Impossible? cut a deal to open **Robert Irvine Fresh Kitchen** at the Pentagon. It?s a restaurant in Arlington you may not be able to visit unless you an employee or a contractor. Irvine has the military creds, as he began his career in the British Royal Navy and was a guest chef at the White House mess (run by our navy). It will offer full-service, as well as fast-casual and fast food, for breakfast and lunch. A February 2015 launch date is expected.

A new Italian restaurant, **Noelia**, opened where **Finemondo** was at 1319 F St., NW, near Metro Center. Owner Kaiser Gill hired Carmen Piazza, formerly of **Sette Osteria** and **Caf? Milano**, as executive chef. The businessman comes from a restaurant family that owns and operates **Aabshaar**, a Pakistani restaurant in Springfield, and **Shineys** in Annandale. Noelia, named for his niece, will serve modern Italian comfort food.

Walter Grio • June 17, 2014

In 1991, two brothers with limited savings pooled their resources to open a cute, 12-seat eatery on Prospect Street. With only the aid of a hot plate and a convection oven, Maziar Farivar, the older of the two, prepared the pasta salads and sandwiches on the short menu. Younger sibling Shahab managed the front of the house, waiting tables and handling take-out sales. Both charmed and nourished all who entered Peacock Cafe.

And when, in 1998, these natives of northwestern Iran moved a few doors down, expanding their operation into an airy full-service restaurant, contemporary in décor, the fans followed. Maziar’s modern American, Mediterranean-influenced menu – at the same time sophisticated and family-friendly – has something for everyone. Kids can have their meatloaf and mashed potatoes while the adults at the table dig into a whole bronzino with fennel-butter sauce. From the bar come made-to-order fresh vegetable and fruit juice drinks, as well as killer cocktails, 24 wines by the glass and a heady selection of craft and imported beers.

The chef’s addition of exceptional Persian dishes has not gone unnoticed. “They are so well received, I’m doing more and more,” he says. Borani is a thick purée – bright tasting and spicy – of caramelized onion, sautéed spinach and yogurt with a touch of cumin and chili oil, a yummy spread for crisp flatbread. I adore the creamy and smooth, sweet-scented pistachio soup enlivened with a sour note of Seville orange. The fruit-and-nut theme continues in an entrée of delicate Atlantic cod atop a compote of apricots, figs, sour cherries and shaved almonds. Sun-dried limes are the secret to the explosion of flavor in qaymeh – a stew of tender chunks of lamb, yellow split peas and tomatoes, topped with a tangle of tiny golden-brown potato sticks.

Last summer, Maziar created a healthier version of one of his favorite dishes, Cajun-style shrimp and grits. His inspiration was “Fit for Hope,” the American Cancer Society’s 12-week chef weight-loss and fitness competition. “This was a real challenge for chefs with girth,” says Maziar, who lost 22 pounds and raised $2,000. “Adding coconut milk is my little twist.”

Cajun Shrimp with Coconut Cauliflower

2 servings

Ingredients

1 head of cauliflower, outer leaves removed

7 ounces unsweetened coconut milk

1/4 cup provolone cheese, shredded

Salt and pepper to taste

10 large shrimp, peeled and deveined

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 teaspoons Cajun seasoning mix

1/4 cup dry white wine

4 sprigs of flat-leaf parsley

1 lemon, cut in wedges

Directions

Cut the cauliflower into florets and then into 1-inch cubes. In a saucepan over medium-low heat, bring the coconut milk to a simmer and add the cubed cauliflower. Cook until fork-tender, about five minutes. Off heat, strain the cauliflower, removing and saving the coconut milk. Then transfer the cauliflower to a blender and add the salt, pepper and shredded cheese. Pulse until the mixture resembles lumpy mashed potatoes, adding back the reserved coconut milk, 1 tablespoon at a time, for desired consistency – smooth or chunky. Cover to keep warm.

Meanwhile, dust the shrimp with the Cajun seasoning mix. Heat the olive oil in a large sauté pan over medium-high heat. Add the shrimp and cook, stirring, until pink, about 3 minutes. Add the white wine, stirring, and reduce the liquid by half, about one minute. Remove from heat. To serve, mound the cauliflower on a plate or a platter and arrange the shrimp on top. Garnish with the parsley and lemon wedges.

Peacock Cafe

3251 Prospect St., NW

202-625-2740

peacockcafe.com

Georgetowner • June 4, 2014

Whenever I’m feeling a little blah or beat, I treat myself to lunch at Patisserie Poupon. I never waiver on menu choices. I have have-to-haves. At one of the tiny corner tables in the rear of the attractive bakery/cafe, past the gleaming showcases of fancy French pastries, next to the specialty coffee bar, I rejuvenate with a healthful crudités salad composed of a variety of select fresh vegetables and a sandwich of yummy country pâté with cornichons on buttery brioche. A perfect pairing. In minutes, any troubles fade away.

The owners are husband-and-wife team Joe and Ruth Poupon, pastry chefs who met at the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, N.Y. Joe is a native of Brittany in France and Ruth hails from College Park, Md. After working in restaurants for several years in Washington and New York, together they opened their flagship Patiserrie Poupon take-away bakery in Baltimore in 1986. The Georgetown location opened in 1998. In late March, a third location – Cafe Poupon – opened as a 30-seat eatery and bakery four blocks from the Inner Harbor on Baltimore’s historic Charles Street.

“The new place, it’s just gorgeous,” says Ruth Poupon at an impromptu pastry tasting in her second-level office above the Georgetown location. “The building is a former Masonic Temple, built in 1866, with lots of French and Italian Renaissance-inspired detail.”

At all Poupon locations, there is something sweet for everyone. The shop’s many French-born customers order a wide variety of favorites, including breads, cakes and pastries. “In particular, they like our Paris-Brest,” she says. The doughnut-shaped, almond-topped pastry is split and filled with a praline-flavored buttercream. American-born customers are less adventurous and “tend to go for just a few things,” like the luscious strawberry cake, cream-filled and chocolate-covered éclairs and the classic, crisp, layered Napoleon.

The bakery’s large Middle Eastern following “loves our croquembouche for any kind of celebration,” she shares. French for “crisp in the mouth,” the decorative dessert (order in advance) is made with bite-size custard-filled cream puffs, coated in caramel and stacked into a tower shape. For a theme party, the sugary puffs may also be fashioned into the form of, for example, a baby stroller, train or teddy bear.

The preparation must be exacting. “There can be no air in the filling and the caramel cannot be dark and bitter,” she says. The weather also comes into play. “On a humid Washington summer day, the caramel can get sticky and melt. I say, this time of year, get a cake. We are pastry people who believe in what we do and want to do it well.”

For a “perfect day” on the 1600 block of Wisconsin, she suggests dropping the car off at Detailz Fine Auto Cleaning for the works, inside and out, followed by an appointment at the beauty destination IPSA For Hair. “They are the very best,” she says. “Then you have time for a little clothes and antiques shopping nearby. Then, have lunch with us.”

Patisserie Poupon, 1645 Wisconsin Ave., NW, 202-342-3248 (patiserriepoupon.net)

Raspberry Choux

Makes 15 individual-sized puffs

Ingredients for the pâte à choux:

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup milk

8 ounces butter (one stick)

A pinch of salt

1 cup all-purpose flour

4 large eggs, plus 1 for brushing

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line two baking trays with parchment paper. Combine the water, milk, butter and salt in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and add flour all at once, stirring with a wooden spoon until the dough forms a ball. Remove from heat and beat in the eggs one at a time, mixing thoroughly between each addition. Use a pastry bag or spoon to transfer the dough onto the baking trays in balls approximately 1 1/2 inches wide. Beat the extra egg and brush the tops of the dough balls with a soft brush. Score the tops gently with a fork. Bake until golden brown all over and under, approximately 20 to 25 minutes.

Ingredients for the diplomat cream
1 1/4 cups whole milk
3 egg yolks
1/8 cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons cornstarch
1 vanilla bean
1/2 cup heavy cream, whipped
2 pints fresh raspberries

Directions
Split the vanilla bean and scrape the seeds into the milk along with the pod. Bring to a boil. Meanwhile, beat the yolks and sugar until thick and fluffy, then beat in sifted flour and cornstarch. Temper into hot milk by adding a ladle of hot milk to yolk mixture. Whisk and add to pan, stirring constantly over medium heat. Bring to a boil, simmer for a minute, pour into heatproof bowl and cool. Once cool, refrigerate (can be made a day in advance).
To serve, stir and smooth the cold pastry cream and gently fold in the whipped cream. With a sharp knife, remove the tops of the pâte à choux. Fill each pastry with the diplomat cream. Top with fresh raspberries and dust with powdered sugar.

The Georgetowner family was shocked and saddened by the recent loss of food writer Walter Nicholls (see obituary on page 8), who created “What’s Cooking, Neighbor?” We will miss his presence dearly in the paper and in the neighborhood he loved.