Photo credit: Janet Donovan
Foie Gras Two Ways: “The grilled Foie Gras terrine is topped with a little bit of golden raisin and cherry on a buttery brioche. On the other side you have pan-seared Foie Gras which is cooked in duck gloss, blackberries, beets and just a little bit of cassis,” Chef Robert Wiedmaier told a group of 20 serious foodies at the residence of German Ambassador Peter Wittig and Huberta von Voss-Wittig for Sips & Suppers benefiting Martha’s Table and DC Central Kitchen. The Foie Gras was number four on the menu that stretched to six courses.
Foie Gras
Alexander Moore is the chief development officer at DC Central Kitchen, the nation’s first in leading community kitchens. He stopped by en route to a dinner co-hosted by Winston Lord over at Republic Restoratives, the site of one of the 38 suppers around town. “We’re going to serve three and a half million meals to children, families and adults in DC this year,” he told Hollywood on the Potomac. “We’re also a job training organization that’s putting people back to work here in the city’s incredible culinary industry. Sips and Suppers is an incredible celebration of what our hospitality industry is capable of doing here in DC. We team up with our friends at Martha’s Table to raise funds to support our year round efforts to fight hunger in the city. We have a rigorous 14-week culinary job training program that recruits men and women who have been incarcerated, struggle with homelessness and addiction, survivors of domestic abuse and other forms of trauma. Over the course of those 14 weeks, they learn knife skills and life skills. They become certified food safety managers and go out on internships where we pair them with these incredible mentoring chefs all over – we show them the ropes and get them ready for ultimately the job search process, where we have a 90% job post rate.”
Ellis Carr, Huberta von Voss-Wittig, Ambassador Peter Wittig and Alexander Moore
“You braved the rain, you braved the weather,” said Ambassador Wittig. “Could be nicer, but tonight is not really about the weather, nor is it about the view that we normally have when the weather’s nice. It’s really about your support for this great city of Washington D.C. and the needy people that live in this great city. We want to thank you for coming out. We want to thank you for your support and really for your lovely and profound dedication for the people in need in this city, and I want mention two persons in particular. Ellis, Ellis Carr, soon to be Chairman of the Board for Martha’s Table. Martha’s Table is doing such a tremendous work here in D.C. Access to education, healthy nutrition, functional family, that is the core of the needs of children and teenagers and Martha’s Table recognized this need and has done so much for the good cause in this city. And Alex Moore. of DC Central Kitchen. D.C. Central Kitchen has been a trailblazer, has almost been a disruptor in the world of volunteering for D.C. and beyond. It has been a force of good and I was told that when this organization was created in the 80s, it was so progressive that many people didn’t think it would ever succeed. But it did and with your mission statement and with your spirit of not only feeding people but also training them for a job, I think you are a model for D.C. charitable work and beyond.”
Not to be outdone by the French, the table was laden with lots of sterling. It’s a good thing that Emily Post told us just go from right to left! Dinner started with a Sip of Roasted Chestnut Soup, Brandade of Icelandic Cod and Ossetra Caviar. That was followed by Butter-Poached Maine Lobster, Fennel Puree, Cognac Lobster Essence and Squid Ink Tuile and then Pan-Seared Sea Scallops and Aged Sherry Shallot Sauce. And yes, there was more: Lamb Pryamids, root Vegetable Puree and Cumin Madeira Sauce that was in between the Cherry Bombe and the Foie Gras Two Ways.
“I had the pleasure of being here last year and you guys are in for a treat. As the Ambassador said, this event is about good food and great conversation, but at the same time it’s really around really highlighting the issues of hunger and poverty in the D.C. area,” said Ellis Carr. “In 2009 Martha’s Table and D.C. Central Kitchen started some suppers as a way to really bring awareness to poverty and homelessness and hunger in the D.C. area, and not just bring attention to it, but actually have a call to action for us to actually go beyond coming to a nice dinner, having nice food, but actually really getting involved. D.C. Central Kitchen and Martha’s Table are really at the forefront of that work in the district, working with some of the most vulnerable populations across the city.” Then came the Cherry Bomb. Ah, the Cherry Bomb and a take-a-way chocolate basket.
The Cherry Bomb!
“Can I quickly read you a paragraph from a letter that we got on Friday that we totally didn’t expect?” said Joan Nathan, author of 11 cookbooks. “We are pleased to send greetings to everyone attending the 10th Anniversary Celebration of Sips & Suppers for DC Central Kitchen and Martha’s Table. Change comes when caring and engaged individuals join together to build a brighter, stronger future for the generations to come. For the past decade, you’ve carried forward a proud tradition and daring to imagine our city as it could be, and working tirelessly to realize that vision. You are helping the District of Columbia reach a better tomorrow. One where hard work pays off for everybody and where our children know there will be food on the table after a day at school. We are grateful for the steady leadership of Alice, Joan and Jose, and for what all the many people involved in Sups & Suppers have done to help drive our city forward, on the path of prosperity. Barack and Michelle Obama.” Can’t have a better ending than that!
