Big Apple chefs are invading Washington, DC — cooking for the White House and State Department, as well as opening up new restaurants in the nation’s capital.
Last week, chef Maria Loi prepared a power meal for President Obama at the White House to honor Greek Independence Day, which has been celebrated at the White House for the past 26 years.
Loi, known as the Greek Martha Stewart, launched Loi on the Upper West Side just last October, as we exclusively reported.
White House chefs Cristeta Comerford and Bill Yosses brought Loi to the White House gardens, and showed her their honey bees, which were used to make her signature baklava.
“It was the most wonderful honey I ever tasted — and we have great honey in Greece!” Loi said. “It was a very moving experience. The White House chefs welcomed me as if I were in my own kitchen. I could stay here and cook with them forever,” she gushed.
On March 14, New York chef April Bloomfield, known for launching New York’s gastro pub trend with the Spotted Pig, prepared a lunch for Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in honor of British Prime Minister David Cameron, in the Benjamin Franklin Room at the US State Department.
Vice President Joe Biden attended both Obama’s Greek dinner and Clinton’s British lunch.
Also this month, New York chef Marc Vidal and owner Yann de Rochefort opened Boqueria in Dupont Circle. It is their third location, but their first outside New York.
Michael White is also opening an outpost of Osteria Morini at The Yards Park in DC on the Anacostia River, in the Capitol Riverfront neighborhood, just south of Capitol Hill. Slated to open in the summer of 2013, it will be 4250 square feet with river and park views.
And since 2009, Jean-Georges Vongerichten has graced DC with J&G Steakhouse opposite the White House in the W Hotel while New York alum Kyle Bailey, who got his start working at Cru and Allen & Delancey, is now executive chef at Birch & Barley in DC.
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SIGHTING: Stanley Tucci at Fiola in Washington, DC, where chef Fabio Trabocchi, formerly of Fiamma in New York, is currently nominated for a James Beard best new restaurant award. Fiola opened last April.