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ATTN: There was a vibrant, two-track food scene in DC in the 80s/90s, one led by brigade system white guys, the other (“New American”) led largely by (mostly, but not all, white) women and LGBTQ people. How could it possibly be that people haven’t heard of most of the latter?
It’s a tale as old as time, still being told and written, usually with an eraser with the facile words “none to speak of” and “by and large” printed on it. Ann (sic) Cashion fit right into the scene here when she arrived and remains a deeply respected leader.
Here is a piece from Phyllis Richman, the great critic who is often erased in pieces about great critics of yore, on DC’s dining scene in the 80s. (I make an appearance. All of my professional cooking mentors were women.) https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/magazine/1989/12/31/how-we-ate-in-the-80s/210bd877-a81a-4739-8c55-72ad64db5d07/
I’m happy to write about this and set the record straight, as it were. Here are some of the people you might discover: Alison Swope, Patrick Clark, Susan McCreight Lindeborg, Lisa Joy, Janet Terry, Melissa Ballinger, Greggory Hill, David Hagedorn, Mary Richter, Ris Lacoste...
...Jamie Leeds, Ruth Gresser, Barbara Witt, Carolyn Robb, Carole Greenwood, Ann Amernick, Gillian Clark, Amy Morgan, Ingrid Gustavson, Susan Gardner, Lynn Foster, Lisa Tcherkasky, Nora Pouillon and Patrick O’Connell.
These chefs, myself included, did not need to "catch up" to chefs in other regions. We were creating on our own, not deriving. Oh, if you could only have seen and felt the buzz and energy of the Tabard Inn kitchen in the 80s.
In 1997, Mary Richter opened Zuki Moon, an amazing, and I think the first, Japanese noodle bar in DC. Keep that in mind when giving credit to others (men) who arrived in Washington much, much later. https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/magazine/1997/04/13/moonstruck/c80e6373-dc71-4a1a-9fb2-9ade40d3f842/
Small plates? Janet Terry opened Samplings on M Street in 1987. (Ahead of its time.)
This is not to say that the talented people I listed are completely unknown. Their respective communities are certainly aware of them but don't necessarily have a platform. The arc from the 80s to now is paved with misogyny, homophobia & racism and still is.
Coda: I hope one day the trope about DC being a steakhouse and stuffy French restaurant culinary wasteland magically transformed by Jean-Louis Palladin and José Andrés or any other single person will die the death it deserves. Slow curtain, the end.
