Capital Spice

In September of 2009, we reached out to a couple of guys named Heath and Brett whose locally-made barbecue sauce had earned them a chance to appear on ABC’s Shark Tank.  Since then, we’ve worked with the Pork Barrel BBQ team to participate in two DC Meat Weeks, each time offering attendees a taste of what they could expect at the “soon-to-open” restaurant in Del Ray.  And they’ve been more than a little busy themselves, winning the Perdue National Chicken Championship and taking the title of Grand Champion at the Safeway National Capital Barbecue Battle in June.

But the wait ends tonight.

Pork Barrel BBQ officially opens its doors at 5 PM, and when we took a look around this weekend the restaurant gave every indication of being worth the wait.  As Heath Hall put it, “This is barbecue.  We wanted to make sure everything was just right.  You can’t rush good barbecue, no matter how much you might want to.”  With five smoked meats and more than half a dozen sides on offer, that meant a lot of testing and retesting of recipes while the restaurant space was finished to everyone’s satisfaction.

All the dirty details on the smoker, the sides and the space after the jump. (more…)

By any measure, Eleven Madison Park has had a phenomenal year:

Outstanding Restaurant, James Beard Foundation
#24 – World’s 50 Best Restaurants (up from #50), S. Pellegrino
 Best Restaurant Bar, Tales of the Cocktail
Upgraded from one Michelin star to a full three stars

And just in case all of these accolades (and the four stars from the New York Times) didn’t make it hard enough to get a reservation at the Union Square Hospitality Group’s star attraction, the restaurant underwent a renovation that reduced their seating capacity from 114 to 80 and introduced a new format that offers either a four-course menu ($125 per person) or a Tasting Menu ($195 per person).  A new cookbook – the word barely begins to describe it – out today is the luxurious icing on the cake, and it confirms that Danny Meyer is in the process of selling Eleven Madison Park to a restaurant group formed by Chef Daniel Humm and general manager Will Guidara.

So how did we end up with a choice reservation on the night before Hurricane Irene blew into town?  Full disclosure: One of our cousins is on staff there and helped to secure the reservation for us.  Considering the slate of awards referenced above, we’re pretty confident that our over-the-top experience owed more to the perfectionist culture at EMP than to our personal connection, but you can judge for yourself.

Immediately upon our arrival, we could tell we were in for an evening unlike any we’ve had in a long time.  The maitre d’ greeted us by name as we walked in the door – before either of us had said a word.  We were shown to a table near the front of the room, allowing a full view of the space.  Before long, we met three more staff who confirmed food allergies and general dislikes before inviting us to sit back and enjoy our tasting experience.  They take those answers seriously, too – Elizabeth’s aversion to sea urchin resulted in her receiving an alternate dish while Mike was served a “cappuccino” of sea urchin, crab and apple.

Even with all that attention up front, we were unprepared for what was to come. (more…)