Photo credit: Janet Donovan
“They’re all my favorites. I’ve been to all of them,” food writer David Hagedorn told Hollywood on the Potomac about the restaurants that made the new Washington, DC Michelin Guide which was celebrated at The Residence of the Ambassador of France Gérard Araud with the Michelin ‘dough boy’ in tow. “A writer never tells. I’m pleased with all the restaurants that have been chosen, but I think there could have been some others.”
“BRAND-NEW! The MICHELIN Guide goes to Washington! The iconic red-covered restaurant guide, covering the renowned dining scene of the nation’s capital, helps both locals and visitors find great places to eat. All tastes and budgets are represented, with a great diversity of cuisines. Anonymous professional inspectors carefully select restaurants using Michelin’s famed food star-rating system. Lots of photos and great maps accompany the objective reviews. Everything in the guide is recommended, so diners can feel confident in their choices.” Michelin Guide announcement
“It’s very important for Michelin to expand the geographical cover of the Michelin Guide and Washington is becoming a city where the culinary scene is changing,” Claire Dorland-Clauzel, EVP of Michelin’s brands and external relations told us. And yes, we want her job! “We thought it was important to launch this guide. In fact, it’s like in every country we have inspectors that are paid by Michelin, that pay their bill in the restaurant and are anonymous. Before going in the restaurant and tasting the food, they learn, they read a lot, and they listen a lot and after they make the selection. It’s the same in every country in the world and every city in the world when we publish a guide. And in fact it’s true that Washington is changing also. Before it was only the political city, today it’s more than that. It was important for us to be here. It’s the fourth city that we covered in the U.S. and we will continue little by little.The other cities are New York, San Francisco, and Chicago. You have a lot of young chefs with influence and the quality is growing, and Michelin is here to push the qualities.”
Claire Dorland-Clauszel
Q: “What are the trends? Universally, are there any trends? Is any city different?” A: “It’s probably, universally, for chefs to use local ingredients. To find the best products around them. We see that all over the world. Of course you have still international food, but more and more young chefs they really want to work locally. This is very very important.” Q: “Give me a rundown of what your day is like. Are you based in Paris?” A: “Yes. I am based in Paris because I am member of the board of Michelin worldwide. I run the brand, government affairs, and the guides all over the world. During the day I really have a lot of external contacts because I am like the ministry of foreign affairs for Michelin. Also I work a lot on brand strategy, and strategy for maps and guides all over the world. It’s a great job, and I was the first woman to be part of the board of Michelin. After Washington, I am flying to Quito, because I have an important meeting for preparing meetings on climate change. It’s very important and Michelin is very committed to help protect the planet.”
Ambassador Gérard Araud and Claire Dorland-Clauszel
“By having a Michelin Guide for Washington, DC it means that Washington is making a great step in the right direction,” Amb. Araud told an enthusiastic crowd. “When I come out of my residence, I have been totally excited by your food scene. I love to discover them and there are some chefs here tonight. I want to say on a very personal basis congratulations for what you are doing. Congratulations to all the creativity that you are bringing to Washington because there is not one way of cooking. Well yes, there is a French way – but as an Ambassador I’m obliged to make some concessions to the natives,” he joked.
“The explosion of great cooking in DC has been absolutely phenomenal and I think that there’s a couple of things that explain that. We have found a lot of young chefs who are from the area, who have traveled. They’ve gone to New York, they’ve gone to San Francisco, they’ve gone to different countries. They’ve found different ways of cooking, different cooking techniques, different ways of seasoning, different ways of flavoring things,” said Michael Ellis, International Director of the Michelin Guide.
Michael Ellis
“They come back to DC and they have opened in places where when I was living here I wouldn’t go to at night. They move in, renovate a building and then all of a sudden you have this real re-generation of previously almost uninhabited areas where at nighttime there was nothing going on,” Ellis explained. “That’s had a huge impact on the economics of the city and I think it’s really exciting to see. Another thing that we’ve been absolutely struck by is the fact that many chefs now are discovering how wonderful local products are. My job takes me around the world and what we see in Washington is the ability for the chefs to really push the envelope, have cutting-edge innovations, but also with great, deep flavors and I think that’s really a sign. The arrival of the Michelin Guide is going to shine an international spotlight on DC. DC is now on the A-Team in terms of gastronomy and people ask me often, ‘What does the arrival of the Michelin Guide, what impact does that have?’ What it does is, we’re arguably not as well known in the US as we are in other countries because we don’t have the history we have in Europe or even in Asia, but we certainly, I think, shine an international spotlight. We’re going to be following you over the years, we’re going to be expanding into the suburbs and everyone who’s in the guide, we’re going to be following you very closely. I think that the best years for DC lay in the future.”
“Life is full of wonderful surprises. You never know until you’re called that you’re truly, really going to be honored. You have to live 4 lifetimes, that’s the trick. This is our 40th year coming up so it feels like four generations.” Patrick O’Connell, owner of The Inn at Little Washington told us, although interjecting that in actuality he had to fend for himself by starting out in a garage.
The Scene:
JoAnne Mason
