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Central, 11th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue Downtown - Executive Chef Nick Johnson and Chef de Cuisine Sean Mulcahy


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On 9/7/2016 at 8:54 AM, Bart said:

Anyone else have any other ideas on the Central menu that scream MICHEL RICHARD?

I'm a bit late to this party, but my go-to dishes here were the beef tartare and the cassoulet.  I think they were very MR, in an understated way.  The beef tartare has some texture to it, and the cassoulet had a playfulness to it that I never tired of.  We haven't been to Central in years, our favorite bartenders either moved out of town or work at other places (Kinship).  

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27 minutes ago, DaRiv18 said:

I'm a bit late to this party, but my go-to dishes here were the beef tartare and the cassoulet.  I think they were very MR, in an understated way.  The beef tartare has some texture to it, and the cassoulet had a playfulness to it that I never tired of.  We haven't been to Central in years, our favorite bartenders either moved out of town or work at other places (Kinship).  

The steak tartare and cassoulet were dishes introduced at Central by Cedric Maupillier. I remember eating there one day when Cedric sent me the cassoulet before it was on the menu. It was a large bowl of beans with bread crumbs on top. All the goodies were submerged in the beans. It was like a fun scavenger hunt and it was sensational.

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Had a great inaugural meal here tonight.  As I mentioned previously, my wife and I were going to see Bill Maher tonight so we arrived at 5:30 to give us plenty of time to make the 8:00 show.  When we got there the place was hoppin' and probably more than half full.  When we left, at maybe 6:45, the place was completely packed.  It looked like a lot of the people there were dressed for the theaters near by, which caused me to wonder if the place would clear out at 7:45 or so.

The pace of our meal was definitely geared for the pre-theater crowd which suited us fine, but damn!, the dishes came out fast.  We were completely finished with our meal and had ordered dessert before we were there for an hour.  I'm not complaining about that at all, just noting the well oiled machine they have going there.

We started with the Gougeres which were very good, but according to my wife, not as good as the ones at the Garrison.  I've never been, so I can't comment.

We also got the Tomato and Watermelon salad, Tuna Carpaccio, Tomato Gazpacho,and the Fried Chicken.  All were very good with my favorite being the chicken with the amazing breading/crust.  I think I actually prefered when the crust flaked off so I could eat it alone, rather than have it attached to the meat. The Tuna Carpaccio "Nicoise" really good and had A LOT of things going on.  Lots of ingredients and lots of different and subtle flavors.  

Our waiter was great.  Super friendly and enthusiastic with great service, and he actually recommended the cheaper rose' of the two we were considering. I  gave him an extra 5 in his tip for that gesture alone.

We finished up with the Michel's Chocolate Bar and a couple coffees, both of which were great.  The bill was $152 before tip which felt like a bargain.

The only bit of weirdness was when the head chef, David Deshaies, appeared in the kitchen.  Our table was right next to the counter in the open kitchen, next to where the servers pick up the plates.  For the first half of the meal it was calm and quiet and we enjoyed watching the chefs work, and seeing the different dishes come out.  Half way through the meal, someone else showed up and started barking out orders at the chefs and the servers.  It was a bit of a downer and kind of stressful to listen to.  I actually looked up this thread on my phone to check the name of the head chef, and sure enough, it was the same name embroidered on the uniform of the guy barking out orders in a French accent.  I loved our seats for the first part of the meal, but kind of hated them after Deshaies showed up and ramped up the stress level.  I know he was just trying to do right by the customers, but in an open kitchen, there's probably a better way to do it.

PS - we saw John Waters waiting in line to buy drinks at Constitution Hall

PPS - they only take cash at the bar and they serve the white wine at approximately 83 degrees

PPPS - this is my 1000th post 

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Joined a couple of friends here for happy hour as the first stop in my farewell tour of DC (hello, beautiful homeland of New Mexico!). Gougeres were as delicious as ever right out of the oven, less delectable as they cooled off. The bartender made a lovely sparkling lemonade with a bit of mint for me as a nonalcoholic alternative to the sauvignon blanc and white sangria with blueberries that my friends were drinking. I hadn't been to Central in years, and while it's not looking as polished as it was when it first opened, I was just as happy there for a drink and a snack as I was back in the day.

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Went here accidentally the other night before catching 'Kedi' before it left our locales. Frog legs (with unnecessary BBQ sauce were tasty. Then tasty duck leg confit. Mmmm. Was this a creme de la creme moment? No. But it was a great way to spend a Thursday evening before a movie.

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Seven of us had an office dinner here tonight.

While four of the seven had the fried chicken, I turned elsewhere....the pork cheeks were outstanding. Three crispy chunks, adorned with seared turnips, a wedge of bok choy, on a bed of creamy mashed potatoes. Downright delicious.

On the down side, our waitress was a young lady who must have been trained to speak at 65 decibels when the ambient noise level is 75-80 decibels. As if that weren't enough of an annoyance, I caught her out of the corner of my eye returning to the bar area with a mostly spent bottle of white wine, and then carefully pouring what was left in the bottle into another bottle at the corner of the bar. 

But the pork cheeks were outstanding.

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I enjoyed dinner here with my two grown children who were visiting from California before we headed to a performance of the Nutcracker at the Warner Theatre. The staff did a great job making sure we made it to the show on time--perhaps too good--as all three of us felt rushed by our servers as we were enjoying the last bites of our food and sips of our wine.

We started with the Tuna Carpaccio and the Faux Gras with Country Pate. Both appetizers were disappointing. The highlight of the tuna dish was the mangos and avocados that topped the rather tasteless fish. The only noteworthy thing about the second appetizer was the delicious mustard that accompanied it. The meal improved when our entrees arrived. I ordered the fried chicken with mashed potatoes and it was delicious. My son enjoyed his duck leg confit with truffles as well. My daughter's order, the Agnolotti with lobster (a nightly special) was dry and underwhelming. 

Overall, it was a nice meal, and the proximity to the theatre was wonderful. The Nutcracker, by the way, was great fun. The mayor even had a cameo appearance.

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Central is offering a Delivery option through Caviar when you click "Delivery" on their website:

Screenshot 2020-03-27 at 06.47.46.pngScreenshot 2020-03-27 at 06.49.38.pngScreenshot 2020-03-27 at 06.49.48.pngScreenshot 2020-03-27 at 06.49.59.png

David Deshaies had a new project coming - the massive Ardent.

Oct 10, 2019 - "New Restaurant Coming from Unconventional Diner Team Coming to Capital Crossing" by Rebecca Cooper on bizjournals.com

Who knows what's going to happen, but between Unconventional Diner, and the potential of Ardent, Deshaies surely isn't manning the kitchen at Central (where, I believe, he is a partner), but I've never read any announcement about who is. Does anyone know who the new Chef de Cuisine is at Central? As far as I can tell, it's Sean Mulcahy, who came with an impressive resume.

---

ETA - Nick Johnson is titled "Executive Chef," but only works at Central. Sean works with the guidance of Nick, and is Chef de Cuisine.

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Returned to the bar here for the first time since the pandemic began. Happy hour! (then on to E Street Cinema to see Tar.)

It was lovely. Good drinks. Loved the gougeres, and the Faux Gras, and the chicken nuggets. And service was excellent.

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