Posts Tagged ‘Cathal Armstrong’
Eamonn’s Flips for National Fish & Chips Day
Posted by The Editorial Desk / Wednesday, May 26th, 2010
(Video: First Advertising)
As indicated in the insanely-choppy-yet-undeniably-catchy-video above, it’s National Fish & Chips Day across the pond.
And local chipper, Eamonn’s, plans to celebrate the Irish Traditional Italian Chipper Association (Cosa Fritto?)-sponsored “holiday” by dishing up “1 & 1″s (small cod with chips) for $4.35–”sickly cheap,” according to Eamonn’s co-founder Meshelle Armstrong–all day.
Deep-fried food lovers: enjoy the early Christmas present
–Warren
Chef Cathal Armstrong on DC School Meals
Posted by The Editorial Desk / Thursday, May 6th, 2010
Image: Restaurant Eve
Earlier this week, the D.C. Council approved tougher school lunch provisions, which includes encouraging purchasing organic foods from Virginia and Maryland farmers.
Chef Cathal Armstrong, chef/owner of Restaurant Eve, was one of 11 chefs invited to tour DC public schools and see exactly what children are being fed.
In a recent interview with Katty Kay on BBC News America, he described the food served to DC children as “garbage” and wants to see private sector involvement in order to fund healthier foods. You can watch the interview here.
–Aisha Salazar
James Beard Award Semifinalists Announced
Posted by The Editorial Desk / Thursday, February 18th, 2010
The James Beard Foundation has announced its 2010 semifinalists for the Restaurant and Chef Awards. Twenty-two D.C., Virginia, and Maryland restaurants are represented; a significant honor and indication that the D.C. region is a culinary hot spot.
Congratulations to all of the nominees!
Outstanding Restaurateur
* Ashok Bajaj, 701/Ardeo/Bardeo/Bibiana Osteria-Enoteca/The Bombay Club/The Oval Room/Rasika – D.C.
Outstanding Chef
* Jose Andres, minibar – D.C.
Image: SF Weekly
Outstanding Restaurant
* Vidalia – D.C.
Rising Star Chef of the Year
* Johnny Monis, Komi – D.C.
Best New Restaurant
* Eventide
* J & G Steakhouse – D.C.
Outstanding Pastry Chef
* Amanda Cook, CityZen – D.C.
Outstanding Wine Service
Outstanding Wine and Spirits Professional
Image: Jonathan Timmes
* Derek Brown, The Passenger – D.C.
Outstanding Service
* Marcel’s – D.C.
Best Chef: Mid-Atlantic
* Cathal Armstrong, Restaurant Eve
* Tony Conte, The Oval Room – D.C.
* Melissa Close Hart, Palladio at Barboursville Vineyards
* Peter Pastan, Obelisk - D.C.
* Dale Reitzer, Acacia
* Vikram Sunderam, Rasika- D.C.
* Bryan Voltaggio, Volt – Md.
The five finalists in each category will be unveiled March 22, with the winners honored at the May 3rd Beard Foundation awards gala in New York.
–Aisha Salazar
NoVA Restaurants Score Big at 2009 RAMMYS
Posted by The Editorial Desk / Sunday, June 7th, 2009
(Image: Michael Birchenall)
A cadre of stellar local toques and restaurants (many of whom we’ve crowed about in the magazine) did NoVA proud at the Restaurant Association of Metropolitan Washington’s 2009 RAMMY awards.
Top honors takers from here in the Old Dominion included:
* Restaurant Eve (Fine Dining Restaurant of the Year)
* The Liberty Tavern (Neighborhood Gathering Place)
* Anthony Chittum (Rising Culinary Star of the Year), and,
* Kate Jansen (Pastry Chef of the Year)
Congratulations to all the 2009 nominees and, of course, to the aforementioned award winners. Peruse the full list of 2009 RAMMY contenders here.
–Warren
Sustainable Chefs Look Westward this Summer
Posted by The Editorial Desk / Friday, May 8th, 2009
Looks like ’09 is shaping up to be the summer sustainable dining takes NoVA by storm.
(Photo: LuluMom)
First came the news that the Outstanding in the Field folks were setting up camp at Ayrshire Farm all Labor Day weekend.
Now, we’ve got a pair of award-winning local toques spearheading dueling solstice (June 20) dinners at some of their favorite local farms.
Having successfully piloted/survived last year’s maiden OitF event here in the area, it appears Vermilion chef Anthony Chittum has fully succumbed to the cooking-under-the-stars bug. A Neighborhood Restaurant Group spokesperson said Chittum kept in touch with the OitF crew and immediately signed up when they mapped out a return trip.
Meanwhile, Chittum huddled with the NRG brass all winter in an effort to cook up their own “meet the farmer”-style dining experience.
The result: their debut Virginia Farmland Solstice Supper.
“It’s almost a 5-for-1 deal … getting to mingle with the farmers on their own property,” the NRG spokesperson said, noting that the participating specialty producers–Greenstone Fields, Moutoux Orchard, Potomac Vegetable Farms, Tree and Leaf Farm, and Wheatland Farms–collectively farm the adjoining tracts of land where the dinner will take place.
Guests will be invited to interact with the artisan purveyors, tour their respective properties or just enjoy the Virginia countryside prior to the meal and will be treated to wine pairings by local winemaker Dennis Horton as part of the seasonally-inspired banquet.
“This is definitely going to be an annual event,” the NRG spokesperson predicted, adding, “I think it’s a real natural fit for Vermilion.” The NRG aide noted, however, that the event could eventually evolve into more of a “harvest festival” involving other interested NRG properties.
That same day, Restaurant Eve founder Cathal Armstrong is poised to host the nascent Summer Solstice Farm Dinner at Sperryville’s Mount Vernon Farm.
An event spokesperson said a farm-to-table concept had been bandied about since last winter, but the dinner only really came together once Armstrong came aboard. The spokesperson noted that Armstrong has already been out to Mount Vernon Farm, Sunnyside Farm and Watterpenny Farm to become firmly acquainted with their wares, but warned stringent locavores to cut them some slack.
“Not every single thing will be local … because we don’t have a supply of trout in Rappahannock County,” the spokesperson joked.Best of all: a portion of the proceeds will go right back t the Rappahannock County Farmland Preservation Fund.
Reserve your ticket for Vermilion’s solstice event ($160 per person) here. Claim your seat at Gourmet Rappahannock’s solstice sit-down ($180 per person) here.
–Warren
Kudos to our Local Beard Foundation Awards Contenders
Posted by The Editorial Desk / Monday, March 23rd, 2009
The finalists for the 2009 James Beard Foundation Awards are now official, and we’ve got a host of hometown talents vying for the coveted food industry prizes.
Restaurant Eve toque Cathal Armstrong,
(Photo: Jonathan Timmes)
Rasika chef Vikram Sunderam and Peter Pastan (2Amys/Obelisk) [*my apologies to Pastan for leaving him off the original post*] are all in the hunt for the Best Chef – Mid-Atlantic mantle.
Chef Johnny Monis got a nod in the Rising Star category.
(Photo: Jamie McCarthy/wireimage.com)
The now bi-coastal José Andrés could theoretically score a Beard Foundation hat trick if he were to take the top honors in the web/radio, best new restaurant and outstanding chef categories.
(Photo: Bernardo Peréz)
Meanwhile, Washington Post dining critic Tom Sietsema racked up two nominations (newspaper features about restaurants and/or chefs, restaurant reviews) while the WaPo food section is in the mix for best newspaper food section (stellar work, Mr. Yonan!).
As for other media, several cookbooks/food tomes that we’ve recommended in our print edition are gunning for more widespread prestige (as if that were even possible), including: Cooking Up a Storm (American cooking category), Fat (single subject category) and Milk (reference and scholarship category).
You can view the full slate of 2009 nominees here.
To see the winners get their due live, you’ll have to break out your fancy duds and make your way up to enwhycee for the May 4 Awards Gala. The Beard Foundation is offering $50 discount for all ticket orders placed before April 4.
If you’ve never been, the event is quite an eye-opener. At least it was last year.
–Warren Rojas