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Posts Tagged ‘Bar Pilar’

Chefs For Equality – a Cause Worth Eating For!

October 25th, 2012 • No Comments

I have really great news for DC Fundraisers and Foodies in our Nation’s Capital – DC has reached Foodie Destination! OK, so maybe there are still quite a few events with poor food and bad drinks, but after recently attending the Capital Food Fight, the Washingtonian Brunch & Bloody’s event and Wednesday, October 24th’s Chef’s For Equality event, I noticed many of the same restaurants and chefs showcasing different sides of their culinary ability. The bad news is I didn’t get a list of dishes from last night’s event – I was spending too much time tasting, drinking and a bit of hobnobbing – but let’s just say there wasn’t a bad dish! What made this event extra Foodie was that there was also a Cocktail focus and some of the top Mixologists in our region like Todd Thrasher and Adam Bernbach went all out to impress the crowd.

The Evening’s cause was to raise awareness and votes for Same-Sex Marriage Rights in Maryland – since I support same-sex marriage but I’m really focused on Food and Drink Events, here are the details on the politics of the event from the Human Right’s Coalition. Also, Washingtonian had a nice article with some Chef gossip and the details on the political cause. Other Articles include the Washington Blade which mentions MD Gov. O’Malley’s speech at the event, Tim Gunn from Project Runway was a speaker at the event as well, you can read more at MyFoxDC’s Coverage. I’m all for political causes and fundraisers, but I feel it’s my duty to stay focused DC’s culinary experiences.

Below is a list of participating chefs and Mixologists as well – I was able to copy the links to most of the restaurants so it’s also a nifty way to find out more about each establishment. I’ll try to update the dishes if I can get a list of them, but alas, this is mostly a Publicity post right now – I REALLY like to include more food information – Cheers!

Participating Chefs

Find out more about DC’s top culinary chefs participating in this special event.

Featured Mixologists

Charlie “I Drink on the Job” Adler

A Multi-Chef Event with Star Power in DC

October 15th, 2012 • No Comments

Great Shindig at the Ron Reagan Building!

Capital Food Fight on Monday, October 8th, 2012 was a culinary party for DC’s Foodie Elite! This impressive event had a Sold-Out Turnout of around 1,500 people tasting, imbibing and nibbling on 2 Levels of the Ronald Reagan Building. What makes this event so different from many multi-chef events in DC was the Star Power draw of some big name Chefs and Foodie Stars: Anthony Bourdain, Padma Lakshmi, Carla Hall (DC’s own!), Andrew Zimmern and of course DC’s own infamous Jose Andres put on a show for the crowd around the cooking competition between 4 Battling DC Chefs:

Chef Jeffrey Buben -Vidalia, Bistro Bis
Chef Enzo Fargione – Elisir
Chef Guillermo – Pernot – Cuba Libre Restaurant and Rum Bar
Chef Adam Sobel – Bourbon Steak

And the Winner is..Chef Buben!

I have to admit – I was so focused on tasting many of the 60 Restaurant’s dishes at the event, that I barely paid attention to the cooking competition – I’m a professional taster, and that’s what I do at these events – Taste! the list of restaurants was quite impressive, here’s the list of about 60 – Capital Food Fight Restaurants .

Ohh, and here are the dishes served:

1789  • House-made ricotta with fresh figs & Wildflower Honey

Adour • Lobster salad with cauliflower & céleri rémoulade, assorted macaroons & al tiramisu

American Tap Room • Bourbon barrel stout braised wild boar with pumpkin butter & pickled   vegetables

Argia’s Italian • Duck confit, bean ragout with crostini

Art and Soul  • Louisiana crawfish étouffée, preserved lemon, brown jasmine rice & scallions

Bandolero • Red snapper tostada – really woke up my tastebuds and refreshing with a good dose of salt to bring out the fish and other flavors!

Bar Pilar/Café St. Ex  • Wagyu brisket chili with farmhouse cheddar cheese & scallions – Wagyu is so wonderfully soft fat on the palate and really made this comfort food dish work.

Belga  • Celery waffle with orange duck in cotton candy – I didn’t feel like waiting in line – the cotton candy just got so much attention – food as entertainment I guess!

BLT Steak • Tuna tartar

Blue Duck Tavern  • Mushroom tart

Boqueria  • Roasted market carrots with yogurt, marcona almonds, citrus vinaigrette & cilantro

Boundary Road • House-made sausage & pretzel rolls

Carmine’s • Meatballs & eggplant parmigiana – funny how the most basic foods get oohs and aahs at this event.

Cava Mezze • Short rib stifado with roasted pearl onions & sunchoke puree

Central Michel Richard • Salmon croquet monsieur

Cuba Libre • Scallop tiradito with compressed strawberry, roasted corn, salpicon/sweet potate & micro celery – interesting how a fruit like strawberry brings out other flavors so well – this worked.

Dolcezza Artisanal Gelato • Lemon ricotta cardamom & cementine sorbetto

Elisir • Gorgonzola panna cotta eggshells with candied celery – great presentation and creamy, delicious dish.

Equinox  • Truffled fontina & slow cooked cabbage with roasted chanterelles

Et Voila • Endive soup with hazelnut oil & roasted hazelnuts

Evening Star • Pumpkin soup

Good Stuff Eatery • Toasted marshmallow shake

Graffiato • Cured sardines & broccolini with preserved lemon & aged balsamic – sardines definitely wake up the senses at a crowded event like this.

iCi Urban Bistro •  Rosemary duck confit rillettes with pickles on toasted baguettes

Indique • Crab papad roll

Jackson 20 • South Texas antelope carpaccio, mole de Colorado, local radishes & pickled tomatoes

Kaz Sushi Bistro • Mini temaki (sushi hand rolls)

Lebanese Taverna • Sliced lamb loin with pastry & lebneh

Lincoln  • Braised short rib with bone marrow jam, pickled shallots & black pepper truffle biscuits

Masa 14  • Fried steam buns with Korean lamb barbeque

Mie N Yu • House-made pho with duck breast

Oyamel • Salpicon de reshilled, shredded beef, pickled onions, tomatoes & chipotle chiles

PJ Clarke’s • P.J’s mini burgers

Policy • Brisket sliders with oven roasted tomatoes, sunny side up quail egg, caramelized onions & black truffle mayo

Rappahannock River Oysters • Rappahannock River oysters & Olde Salt oysters

Ripple • House-made Lamb mortadella, squash mustard & beet juice – yep, it looked like mortadella!

Santa Lucia Coffee • Coffee

Taberna del Alabardero  • Tomato surprise stuffed with anchovies

Taco Bamba  • Pork tenderloin burrito, grilled avocado, white beans & picked jalapeno pistachio vinaigrette

The Federalist Duck • Sausage with mustard pickled cabbage

The Majestic • Sashimi, rockfish with soy-yuzu vinaigrette, daikon, ginger, cilantro & sesame seeds

Westend Bistro • Fennel smoked trout with apple cranberry chutney, saffron aioli & angel hair potato crisps

Hank’s Oyster • Oysters on the half shell with saki ginger mignonette

Gristmill • Shrimp & grits

Jackie’s • Local lamb stuffed nora pepper with smoked tomato

Shake Shack • Frozen custard

Taylor Gourmet • Hoagies & salads

And of Course lot’s of Media Coverage:
Article by Washington Business Journal’s Miss Frederick

Washington Post Coverage

Article by Examiner

Jessica Sidman for City Paper – 4 Memorable Moments from Capital Food Fight (Note: she mentions the man who paid $1,000 to eat Iberico ham off Padma Lakshmi’s collar bone!)

“Where Did That Iguana Come From?” in the City Paper