Plated Beauty

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The work of local ceramicists becomes front and center in the DC restaurant scene 

By Ally Kirkpatrick, Photography by Hannah Hudson 

Visit a DC-area restaurant this season and you’re likely to notice innovative artistry happening not only on the menus, but on and with the plates. 

Chefs are partnering with potters, seeking out handmade ceramics in place of anonymous commercial restaurant ware, adding a rustic elegance and function to each plate setting.  

Choosing Centrolina’s ceramic plates came well in advance of opening the restaurant for Chef Amy Brandwein, who visited the studio of potter Jane Herold.(http://janeherold.com/restaurants/). Herold has been creating pottery for restaurants in New York and DC for a few years now, mixing her own glazes and using a wood-fired kiln. Herold worked through samples, varying shape, size and texture for Centrolina, from mini sauce dishes to olive oil cruets.  

The results, which Brandwein calls “works of art in their own right,” are also high-functioning restaurant ware, able to hold up under the heat lamp and then be thrown into the dishwasher. Most handmade pottery performs well in a busy restaurant. Its endurance is matched by its beauty. To Brandwein and her dinners, it makes a difference. “It would be impossible to go back to basic service ware,” she says.  

At The Restaurant at Patowmack Farm, Chef Tarver King commissions service ware to parallel his evolving seasonal menu. The colors and shape of a bowl mirror the main ingredient: A mushroom-centered dish gets an earth-toned, flat-bottomed bowl to evoke the forest floor; an oyster dish is plated against a shell-like iridescent glaze. Designer and self-taught potter Amber Kendrick, the founder of CloudTerre (http://www.cloudterre.com/shop), has provided pottery to Patowmack Farm since their early collaborations in 2009. Kendrick’s work can now be found at Chef Rob Rubba’s Hazel and at Chef Eric Ziebold’s Kinship. 

Emerging artists Katie Aldworth (http://yooying.com/georgialee_pottery) and Camille Morin (http://www.belleepoquepottery.com), both Community Artists at DC ceramics studio District Clay, are forging partnerships with cafés and restaurants. Aldworth started producing custom cappuccino and espresso cups for US Barista Champion Lem Butler. Morin’s work can be found at The Whole Ox, Marshall, VA, and for sale at East City Book Shop, Capitol Hill.  

See these potters and others at the holiday sale at District Clay’s pop up event December 3–4, 11am–7pm, at West Elm (1728 14th St. NW, WDC) or the studio sale December 10, 11am–5pm. (2414 Douglas St. NE, WDC) (http://www.belleepoquepottery.com/. 

 

Break Bread, Make Policy

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Winning dinner party tricks from a lobbying guru

 By Susan Able, Photography by Hannah Hudson

With his charming half-grin, Jim Courtovich swings open the front door of his gracious Woodley Park home and welcomes me in. It’s late morning and Courtovich is half prepped for a dinner party, the kitchen filled with the rich scent of chicken stock simmering away in a huge copper pot. Apron-clad with a phone tucked under his chin, he talks business strategy about an upcoming project while chopping vegetables for a Tuscan soup.  

Founder and CEO of Sphere Consulting, a DC communications firm that just celebrated its 10th anniversary, Courtovich is one of those rare birds who entertains seemingly effortlessly, constructing an entire dinner party for eight or 18 in a day (with a little help from a cast of local college students who “house-tern” and learn to braise at his elbow.)  

For this DC lobbying guru, the best way to do business in “this town” is around a dinner table chez him; good food and good wine go a long way to smoothing difficult conversations, whether it be matters of party politics or state. “People come over and get to know each other over a great dinner, and yes, we end up doing a little bit of business. I’m lucky to be able to blend my passion for cooking with my work,” says Courtovich. 

Growing up in Winchester, Massachusetts, part of a large Greek family, gathering to eat was everything. Men were in the kitchen and on the grill as much as the women. 

“Food was a big deal for us, and all my male relatives could spit-roast a lamb like you’ve never seen. Part of my DNA is bringing people together. In my family, we never made a meal that served fewer than 12 people. Anything else was called a snack.” 

 Courtovich designed his home to facilitate his passion. Two kitchens—one upstairs and one downstairs—serve as base camps for prep; he even boasts a “charcuterie” room, a marble-countered space with a commercial-style refrigerator, a serious meat slicer and shelves of copperware. There is a formal dining room, but two other large dining spaces are used for more casual affairs. Dozens of cookbooks line the bookshelves in the Courtovich kitchens. At night, he cruises through them to relax and to garner ideas: Favorites are Wolfgang Puck’s Pizza, Pasta, and More and Nancy Harmon Jenkin’s Flavors of Tuscany. The Balthazar Cookbook is a “touchstone” for him. 

 “Greek food inspires much of my cooking—but I also live in South Carolina part of the year, so I’m starting to merge those cuisines. Greek sausage mashes up in Southern-style gravy,” Courtovich adds. “I’m trying to write a cookbook, but work gets in the way. It will be about city cooking and entertaining with tips that show how make everything easier.”  

For Courtovich, holidays mean opening his home for gatherings—from intimate dinners to his famous large parties for 50 or more, held on sequential nights with rotating guest lists. And this pro entertainer has hacks for that. As he explains, successful entertaining relies on a plan and depends on a circle of trusted vendors, reliable shortcuts and proven recipes. 

This holiday dinner for eight showcases the “Courtovich” approach: a strong appetizer program, show-stopping main courses and a simply elegant layer cake from Sweet Teensy Bakery.  

Jim Courtovich on Entertaining    

  • Create a vendor triangle—mine is a florist, my butcher at Wagshal’s and Calvert Woodley for wine. My route is up Wisconsin, over to Connecticut and then home—it’s efficient; I know how much time it takes. 

  • Place orders ahead as much as you can for things you are picking up; let them know when you are coming. Saves time. 

  • Do a theme party. People love simple food; for the debates this fall I set up a hot dog bar. Who doesn’t like a hot dog? All the toppings, plus deep-fried tater tots. So easy and everyone was crazy about it. 

  • Even a sit-down dinner doesn’t have to be formal. I’ve served chicken and biscuits for a business dinner. 

  • This is important: Trade off things that are easy to buy and customize. For my crab balls, I buy pre-made crab cakes, then roll them into balls, coat them with panko breadcrumbs and deep-fry them. 

  • For apps, keep them smallish in size and easy to pick up. If you are standing up, talking to people, how big do you really want something to go in your mouth? It should be one bite. 

 Menu

Lamb Kofta with Tzatzki Dip

Salmon Ceviche 

Jim’s Famous Pizza 

Crab Balls  

Tuscan Vegetable Soup

Filet Mignon with Herbed Butter (Caption on the filet describing prep) 

Roasted Asparagus (Caption mentioning prep on asparagus) 

Lobster Mac & Cheese  

Sweet Teensy Red Velvet Cake

Liberian Christmas Breakfast

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by Helene Cooper

There are three Christmas traditions my Liberian family lives by.  

Tradition 1: A few nights before Christmas, we do an Ikea meatball and Red Rooster party for the neighbors at my house. It is beautifully low-rent: I drive to the Ikea to buy seven or so bags of frozen meatballs, with the lingonberry jam and the powdered cream sauce.  

On party night, I serve them on platters accompanied by giant pots of mashed potatoes, all washed down lovingly with Red Rooster frozen vodka-cranberry juice-orange juice concentrate slushies. 

Tradition 2: Christmas dinner will not include turkey. Because really, who wants to eat turkey, ever?  

Tradition 3 concerns Christmas breakfast, when my mom makes cassava with smoked fish gravy and Spam. 

Growing up on the Atlantic Ocean in Monrovia, just north of the equator, tropical vegetables and fresh fish were staples of life, and cassava—sometimes called yucca here—was on the table for all special-occasion breakfasts. The cassava is peeled and then boiled in water for 20 minutes or so until it’s soft, and served with a spicy, habanero-pepper-infused fish stew.  

Liberians who couldn’t afford or find fresh fish simply substituted Spam as the main star of the stew, and then added smoked fish fillets, as ubiquitous in Liberia as bouillon cubes, to give the transformed Spam stew its necessary fish flavor.  

Indeed, Liberians flavor everything with fish. We use it as a seasoning, in all of our tropical stews, or just with “dry rice” and palm oil. My American sister-in-law never could understand that—the same way it’s hard for me to understand when my friends in Washington say they don’t want fish that taste fishy. 

Let’s now discuss Spam. In Liberia, like in Hawaii, Spam rules. We eat it with plantains, we put it in potato salad and, most especially, we eat it with cassava. 

My earliest memory of cassava and smoked fish gravy with Spam breakfast stems from 1973, the first Christmas my family had at our new house at Sugar Beach. I was 7 and fresh with terror over the “Santa Claus Weah”—a traditional Liberian country devil on stilts who had shown up at our house the night before to dance for money. But now it was Christmas morning, and the only thing standing between me and my Christmas bounty was my parents’ rule: no opening presents before breakfast. 

My siblings and I ate our cassava and smoked fish gravy with Spam on plates on our laps, excitedly chattering about the packages around the tree. My brother wanted a Polaroid camera; I wanted sunglasses.  

When my family fled Liberia for America after a military coup, we kept our Christmas breakfast tradition. It was hard to find cassava at first in Knoxville, Tennessee, and Greensboro, North Carolina, so my parents substituted potatoes. That’s where the Spam really showed its true worth, because even when it was hard to find smoked fish, it was easy to find Spam at the local Kroger. I don’t know what my parents did, but somehow they managed to extract the fishy flavor even when we didn’t have smoked fish. 

These days, African grocery stores are all over Washington, and you can find cassava and smoked fish right at my local Shoppers Food Warehouse on Route 1 in Alexandria. Since I’m in charge of Christmas dinner, my sister and mom make our Christmas breakfast. The night before Christmas, my sister Marlene takes my mom the ingredients, and she makes the smoked fish gravy with Spam at her condo. The next morning, my Serbian brother-in-law, Aleks, picks up my mom, her Christmas presents and our smoked fish gravy with Spam and brings the whole lot to Marlene and Aleks’ house for Christmas breakfast and present-opening. 

The Serbs—Aleks’ brother Dragan, his wife Lilly, his cousins Vlado and Marina, and their children—have become completely used to eating cassava for Christmas breakfast now. These days Marlene makes eggs and bacon on the side, but it’s the cassava and smoked fish gravy with Spam that disappears the fastest. I love the idea that my Liberian-Serbian-American nephew, Cooper, is growing up with the same flavors in his mouth at Christmas that I did. 

We still stick to the “no presents until breakfast” rule too, and Cooper and his cousins Jovana and Maca are, of course, DYING to get through breakfast so they can open up their gifts.  

Which they can’t do until after their cassava, smoked fish gravy and Spam.  

Just as it should be. 

This Christmas, for the first time since we ran away from Liberia after the coup, my entire family is going home for Christmas.   

We’re not sure yet where we will be for Christmas dinner—we will figure that out later. I recently called my sister Eunice, who lives there, to suggest we all go to Libassa, a popular seaside resort, for Christmas dinner. 

“That’s cool,” she said. “But you know those people won’t have cassava there oh.” 

 I said nothing, letting the silence stretch. 

 Eunice started laughing. “So we will have breakfast here at my house first!” she said. 

 “Well, duh,” I said. 

I can’t wait. A real live cassava, smoked fish gravy and Spam breakfast this year, right where it all started.   

Eat Local Guide at DCA

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By AJ Dronkers, Associate Publisher & Digital Editor

Cava Mezze Grill @ DCA Terminal B 

Cava Mezze Grill @ DCA Terminal B 

If you are like thousands of other locals you will be traveling through our regional airports this holiday season. Myself, well I'll be passing through DCA Wednesday en route to my home state, California, to spend time with friends and family. In the chaos of packing all your gifts and making sure you have all your holiday outfits picked out, it can be hard to remember to bring quality snacks for a needed refuel.

The great news is that DCA has continued to add our home-grown talent to their food lineup that will fill you up deliciously and affordably! Here are some of our favorite places to grab a quick bite before we escape the DMV.

Cava Mezze Grill

We love their partnership with local Virginia lamb farm, Border Springs, to produce some high quality spicy lamb meatballs. And, we're big fans--we could add their crazy feta spread to anything. 

Taylor Gourmet

Specifically, we're really crazy about the breakfast menu, which they don't offer at their other area locations. Choose one of their fresh creations or even build your own! 

&pizza

The pizza entrepreneurs have taken DC by storm expanding rapidly across hot spots such as U St, H St, Chinatown and now DCA. &pizza offers the ultimate flexibility to build your own pizza for about $10, including choice of dough, sauce, and unlimited toppings. 

Freestyle. #craftyourown Cred: @viktorvash

See this Instagram photo by @andpizza * 274 likes

Kapnos Taverna

This is a sister restaurant to celebrity chef Mike Isabella's Kapnos on 14th Street. Kapnos Taverna brings Mediterrerean-style cuisine to your hungry family. 

Lebanese Taverna

This family-owned DC beloved standard offers delicious Lebanese food -- go for one of their essential dishes like chicken shawarma and hummus to tide you over to your next layover. 

Ben's Chilli Bowl

In case you didn't have time to eat at their iconic location on U Street NW,  you can still grab a chili half-smoke on the way to your gate! 

Fresh Take on Fish Feast

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By Cathy Barrow, Photography by Jennifer Cubas

Styling by Elizabeth Duncan Events and flowers by Philippa Tarrant

There’s nothing old school about this holiday tradition

By 5pm on December 24, Washington’s office doors have long clicked shut. Reagan National Airport begins to recover from the overflows of members of Congress and their staff who have fled town. Many expats will be gone.  

One cadre of Washington residents will spend the holidays here because home is somewhere around the globe (and a plane ticket is not in their personal economic recovery plan). But for many more of us, here’s no place we’d rather be. We love the quiet of holiday streets emptied of the masses, our nation’s Capitol bathed in winter light. Perhaps Christmas Eve is just another day. Yet, there is an undeniable celebratory twinkle in the air.  

Rather than press a virtual nose against the glass while forking cold takeout from a cardboard container, savvy Christmas “orphans” plan a celebration with their Framily—the friends they love, the family they choose—and together they make a new tradition. While some of those gatherings include a meal from a home kitchen, many opt to spend the holiday at festive restaurant tables. 

Around the city, there are spectacular options for holiday meals. French bistro Le Diplomate offers a Christmas Eve menu. On the 23rd, DGS Deli repeats the Chinese-Jewish deli mashup with guest chefs from around the city. And Osteria Morini Pastry Chef Alex Levin serves sufganiyot for Hanukkah.  

Since 2011, Chef Fabio Trabocchi has served up “an indulgence menu” based on the traditional Feast of the Seven Fishes at his downtown restaurant Fiola, recently awarded one Michelin star. The Feast is also served at Casa Luca and Fiola Mare. The meal reflects Trabocchi’s native Italy, where there is a long tradition of a seafood feast on Christmas Eve and, in his case, seafood on the table every holiday. 

“It is the essence of celebration: caviar, lobster, black truffles, oysters,” he said. “We repeat those items every year but in brand new executions.”  

Served on Christmas Eve, the Feast of the Seven Fishes is a spectacular array of seafood dishes traditional to the Italian table. Cookbook author Domenica Marchetti (Preserving Italy, HMH) parses the details: “Italians always had seafood for Christmas Eve—numerous types. My mother was born in Italy and had never heard of the idea of counting the number of fishes. It’s more of an Italian-American custom to count seven—or, in some places 13—fish.” 

As a young chef in Italy, Trabocchi might have enjoyed these meals in restaurants, but it is infinitely more common to feast with family and that is the spirit with which he infuses his menu. It’s celebratory, beautiful and filled with opportunities to dazzle. 

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The first year, Chef Trabocchi’s menu honored each of the seven fish, but diners cried “uncle!” too soon, leaving some food languishing. The following year, he reworked the menu to express the seven in five exquisite dishes. 

From the briny oysters served atop a perforated ceramic tower, to a plump Maine scallop nestled in a puff pastry shell topped with a perfect disc of black truffle, to the buttery seared foie gras and lobster poached in Barolo, every element feels like a gift. 

EDC had a chance to preview Fiola’s 2016 Feast of the Seven Fishes menu. If you can’t get your Framily there this year (reservations fill up quickly), here are four recipes to add to your own holiday table. 

Feast of the Seven Fishes Menu 

from Fiola’s Chef Fabio Trabocchi 

A Winter’s Tale (Holiday Punch)* 

Shigoku Oysters & Prosecco Zabaglione 

Ahi Tuna Crudo Puttanesca* 

Baked Maine Scallops & Winter Black Truffle 

Gnocchi Crab & Caviar* 

Risotto, Langoustines, Sea Urchins 

Lobster, Foie Gras & Barolo 

White Chocolate Panettone Bread Pudding* 

A New Republic in Town

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By Hope Nelson

Drive east on New York Avenue to Ivy City—the formerly industrial northeast neighborhood enjoying a great –resurgence —and it’s easy to miss the bustle of activity at the intersection with Fenwick Street, adjacent to the old Hecht’s warehouse. But turn the corner and peer behind the glass-and-wood façade, behind the large garage-door-like window that opens upward to let in fresh air on pretty days, and see a new republic taking root.  

Here lies Republic Restoratives, the first women-owned distillery in the DC area. 

The distillery, which is currently selling vodka and has just released its first bourbon, was a long time coming, says Pia Carusone, co-founder with Rachel Gardner. “It was a loose thought for maybe eight years, but about 2011 we got serious about it,” Carusone said. One crowdfunding campaign and a storefront renovation later, Republic Restoratives opened this past Mother’s Day. 

“We love the neighborhood,” Carusone says. “It’s amazing.” The company was one of the first to sign a lease in what was a mostly derelict area of warehouses and with plenty of nods to the local vernacular takes its responsibility to the neighborhood seriously. Republic Restoratives’ brand logo—what appears at first glance to be a pair of crossed fingers—is actually the American Sign Language sign for the letter R, an homage to nearby Gallaudet University. 

Careful planning has left Carusone and Gardner in good start-up mode. The interior space is pleasing to the eye—from the glass- and woodwork throughout the tasting room to the distillery itself, a huge room with gleaming silver stills as showpieces. The upstairs barrel room houses the first batch of Borough Bourbon, sourced from a Kentucky distillery, now aging in pristine French wine barrels. The space is welcoming, homey in an unexpected way in this combination workspace and laboratory. 

“It’s a super-open layout because we wanted the facility to be really flexible in how we’re set up,” Carusone says. “So when we designed our operations here, we made equipment decisions that were going to be more than sufficient for our current need, but would also allow us to grow. We asked a bunch of distillers when we started, ‘What are your biggest regrets?’ and the one we heard over and over again was, ‘The still is too small. We wish we had bought a bigger still.’ And so we invested in one of the biggest stills in the region—far larger than we need right now, but again, we’re not going to have to replace it for a while.” 

The distillery’s aesthetic only serves to enhance libations worth the price of admission. For DC’s cocktail-savvy, both the Civic Vodka and the Borough Bourbon hold up to careful scrutiny—alone or in cocktails.  

The Civic is a silky-smooth vodka that lacks the burn of so many of its brethren and pairs quite nicely with a variety of mixers. The Borough’s stint in wine barrels brings about a spiciness with each sip.  

The city is responding. More than 100 restaurants and bars now carry Civic, Carusone says, and Republic Restoratives is looking to expand its reach into Maryland and Virginia as soon as the bureaucratic world of alcohol distribution allows.  

“This is the first time we’ve done this, so we didn’t have a ton of expectations, but we’re growing enough that we’re busy. Every day feels like we’re so busy, which is great,” Carusone says. “… We’re expanding. People are calling and asking for us. The word is out about the vodka; it’s delicious, people love it, and it’s priced fairly affordably.” 

That’s reason enough to lift a glass.

 

The Chin Chin Cocktail Recipe

Republic Restoratives, 1369 New York Ave. NE. For tasting room hours, distillery tours or to sign up for a private tour and tasting, go to republicrestoratives.com.