Add to all of that the tunes of Timbaland pumping through the speakers and you get the feeling that this new chef trend makes restaurants that are one part hole in the wall, the other part nightclub. The chairs outside for sidewalk seating are bright red plastic. Bar stools, not white-tablecloth four tops, make up the dining room, if it can be called that. “One of the huge new chef trends is doing things more authentic with no fuss, especially when you surround it with a less-pretentious environment.” “I feel like fine dining is really too stuffy,” he says, leaning casually against a stainless steel table in We’s kitchen. But what sets Mendelsohn and his pizza parlor apart from his predecessors goes beyond his appearance. We’re used to chefs being edgy and unshaven. Americans learned more than a decade ago thanks to Anthony Bourdain that not all of our nation’s greatest chefs are polished around the edges-or polished at all, for that matter. It’s not just the uniform that’s different at We. Although he’s a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America, the country’s premier culinary school, and has experience cooking in France, Spain, and the famed Le Cirque in New York City, he wears a fedora and no chef coat when he’s behind the counter. This is a gourmet restaurant for today’s consumers, and Mendelsohn is not like the stuffy, French-trained chefs of the past. We, the Pizza-affectionately called simply We by Mendelsohn and his crew-is clean with white and black subway tiles, red bar stools, and a gigantic picture of Woodstock.ĭon’t let the 1969 culture reference throw you, though. infamous for hard-working interns, not iPhone-toting hipsters. His ability to attract the “in” crowd is particularly impressive, seeing as the stores are in the shadow of the U.S. ![]() The latter is an Italian-American pizza concept that offers gigantic pies, beautiful specialty sodas, and gourmet gelato.Īs one might guess by his appearance, Mendelsohn’s restaurants cater specifically to the young and hip. The former is a gourmet burger joint focused on fresh, local ingredients that draws lunchtime lines around the building. When he’s not jet-setting across the country or competing in quick-fire competitions, he runs two Washington, D.C., restaurants, Good Stuff Eatery and We, the Pizza. Mendelsohn first appeared on the show as a contestant in Season 4, then again as a guest judge in Season 6, and this season competed against past cast members in an all-out, drama-filled culinary cut throat.īut that is not Mendelsohn’s day job. ![]() ![]() After eight seasons, the Bravo hit series just wrapped an all-star version of its famous competition show where cheftestants are pitted against each other to earn industry respect, cash prizes, and, perhaps most importantly, national exposure. For those who watch Top Chef, he needs little introduction.
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