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A Chat With Cathal Armstrong


DonRocks

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Chef Armstrong,

Thanks for what has been a very interesting and informative chat. My question is a little out of left field, but I figured I'd throw it up there:

With such an emphasis on seasonal ingredients impeccably presented, as well as the advantageous location in a country of plenty, are there any ingredients you wish you could get a hold of but cannot? I recall that when growing up, my mother would lament the lack of quality jackfruit, as well as several other ingredients that don't really have English equivalents I know of, in the US. Anything you wish was cultivated/available in the area more?

In the same vein, are there ingredients you see too often that you wish restaurants would use less often? "Foodie" magazines always publish lists of "hip" ingredients (a notion I'm a little skeptical of) -- do you think about these kinds of lists when coming up with menus?

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I see from your post above that you "hit the farmers market on the way in" to work.  Which farmers market(s) to you frequent most and which do you like the best?  Do you fiind that each farmers market has its own strenghs?

Tuesday: Alexandria

Wednesday: Vienna

Thursday: Annandale

Friday: McLean

Saturday: Courthouse

There are others but others are these are the ones most conveinient for me. Don't go to the one in Old Town on Saturday, most of the people there go to Costco to buy what they sell. The other markets require you to be a grower to have a stall.

For the most part the same farmers and the same product is available at all the markets but on Saturday at Courthouse for example you can find a great Dairy farmer, real milk!!!!!

Also there is a really good farmer that has true free range chickens and pork and Duck Eggs.

The market at Courthouse is the biggest and busiest, but I like the smaller weekday ones better, more personal.

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Chef Armstrong,

Thanks for what has been a very interesting and informative chat. My question is a little out of left field, but I figured I'd throw it up there:

With such an emphasis on seasonal ingredients impeccably presented, as well as the advantageous location in a country of plenty, are there any ingredients you wish you could get a hold of but cannot? I recall that when growing up, my mother would lament the lack of quality jackfruit, as well as several other ingredients that don't really have English equivalents I know of, in the US. Anything you wish was cultivated/available in the area more?

In the same vein, are there ingredients you see too often that you wish restaurants would use less often? "Foodie" magazines always publish lists of "hip" ingredients (a notion I'm a little skeptical of) -- do you think about these kinds of lists when coming up with menus?

Oh yes, I wish I could get some wild Irish Salmon, farm raised is readily available but I won't buy farm raised fish, I believe it is bad for the species and bad for the environment and all around bad flavored.. Also I would love to get some Dublin Bay Prawns, Galway Bay Oysters, some of the french oysters are great too, Clairs and Specials.

I have been working with one particular farmer to encourage crop diversity, I have participated with the AIWF and Smithsonian to raise awareness in this area. A lot of the local farmers all have the same thing for sale, peppers, zuchinni, yellow squash, yawn, boring.

It's funny though, I get a lot of calls asking what we are doing that is "cool" That doesn't really interest me. I'd rather do good than cool.

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It's a hot summer Sunday and the whole family is hungry. What do you eat?

It's a chilly winter Wednesday, after a long night at work, and you're fending for yourself. Same question.

Sunday dinner in the summer is usually, ribs or chicken or hamburgers on the grill, you know stuff the kids will eat with corn and salad from the market.

I'm never home on a Wednesday evening in winter but on Sunday evening nothing beats the old fashioned beef stew with mashed potaotes. I make it at work on Saturday, it's always better the next day.

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Chef Armstrong,

I wonder if you could tell us a little about how you chose the location of Eve, and how it's worked out for the restaurant. What are some of the pros and cons of being across the river? How important do you think location is for a restaurant? And what do you think of the Old Town dining scene apart from Eve?

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Chef Armstrong,

I wonder if you could tell us a little about how you chose the location of Eve, and how it's worked out for the restaurant.  What are some of the pros and cons of being across the river?  How important do you think location is for a restaurant?  And what do you think of the Old Town dining scene apart from Eve?

Originally Meshelle and I discounted Old Town assuming that rents would be prohibitive. We were looking in Middleburg for a quaint inn to develop a disitnctive Irish location similar to Ballymaloe in Shanagarry. We considered a number of places 1789, Ashby Inn among others and we were very close to a deal on a great house above the town of Middleburg. The owner had 145 acres and wanted to subdivide 10 of them with the main house which would have been perfect except that his wife took ill and they decided to sell the entire property and move home.

A few weeks after that we were introduced to Washington's Old Club. A beautiful building on south Washington St. that was owned by the Clydes Restaurant Group. We spent a good deal of time and money investigating it and finally decided that with 1 million raised and the prospect of borrowing 3-4 more it was a bigger bite than we wanted to chew. We walked away, dissapointed.

We had lunch at Majestic Cafe that afternoon and decided there and then to revamp our concept, forget about the inn idea and open a small restaurant with the possibility of growth in the future. We abandoned the irish idea knowing that a restaurant could not support it without the feel of an inn.

Two days later Meshelle stopped in to Santa Fe East for a cocktail and from there grew her vision of Restaurant Eve.

We love Old Town. I have never really been interested in having a business in D.C. Don't get me wrong it's a great city, but I find cities to be a little impersonal and congested. I like the quaintness of smaller towns and villages and I think you can feel that when you come to the restaurant. The biggest cons to being here are the difficult building codes and the prohibitve liquor laws. We have to physically go to the loquor store to purchase and often the liquors are $10-$12 more per bottle than downtown. Also all alcohol served on the premises must come from a licensed distributor making the popular BYOW illegal. The pros I have found to be the wonderful guests we have, adventurous in their dining habits. I certainly sell food here that we couldn't give away downtown.

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Cathal,

Thank you for one of the best-ever chats - it was informative, insider-y, heartfelt, and reflective of a man whose restaurant mirrors his passion and commitment to his family, to local farmers, and to excellence in general. Everyone I've heard from has been fascinated by your answers, and that was pretty much echoed by over 55 people signing up, in just one short afternoon and evening, for the upcoming dinner at Restaurant Eve.

Thank you Cathal!

Rocks.

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Hi Cathal,

Don't know if you are still taking questions, but if you are, here is something I would love to get your read on:

What is your take on the relationship that needs to exist between the front and back of the house? In so many places, it ranges from indifference to acrimony, and I could never really understand why because the environmental differences should not account for that much. Sometimes you'd have trouble believing two teams actually share an employer. What is the problem, and how would you make it go away?

Thanks a lot, this chat is the most interesting chef's visit ever.

Nadya

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I second that emotion.

Nadya, you have an interesting question and I can sense your frustration. If you like to email me I will give you my best effort at answering it for you but for now it is time to lay down my pen.

To all posters I thank you for your questions and your attention. It has been an honor to be a guest among you and though I rarely post I always pay attention to your comments and criticisms. Although many of you are not nor have ever been employees of restaurants your oninions reflect that of our guests and must be payed their due heed. Even though we may be ofttimes frustrated by the negative we still hear you and thank you for making us better.

Kindest Regards.

Slainte.

Cathal.

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