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Restaurateur Ashok Bajaj‘s new American brasserie NoPa Kitchen + Barnow has a chef: Greg McCarty. The Newfoundland native with a penchant for pickling spent six years working at New York’s Jean Georgesbefore working his way from line cook to executive sous chef at Dune in the Bahamas, then returning to New York to cook at Nobu 57.
More recently, McCarty has consulted for restaurants from Miami to New York. He started his own consulting business in 2010 and launched a gourmet sandwich food truck in Connecticut. Read more about McCarty in the press release below:
Greg McCarty Appointed Executive Chef for NoPa Kitchen+Bar
Washington, D.C. (February 12, 2013)–Ashok Bajaj of Knightsbridge Corporation is pleased to announce the appointment of Greg McCarty as executive chef to spearhead the April 2013 opening of NoPa Kitchen +Bar, located at 800 F Street NW, 20004. The restaurant’s menu is in the planning phases for this American Brasserie. Guests can anticipate garden fresh vegetables, select meats and fish prepared with a touch of French influence at both lunch and dinner service.
Greg McCarty was raised in Newfoundland with an understanding of seasonal ingredients and a passion for pickling. His summers where spent in Arkansas with his grandmother, enjoying the area’s bounty of fresh produce. McCarty went on to graduate from The George Brown Chef School in Toronto, Canada, and his culinary career began in the New York City kitchen of Jean Georges. He cooked under Chef Vongerichten for six years, working his way up from line cook to executive sous chef of Dune in the Bahamas. The work ethic learned during his tenure with Georges shaped his approach to kitchen management and creativity.
In 2005, McCarty returned to Manhattan to open Nobu 57 as the executive sous chef. His interest in Asian ingredients and techniques flourished, and the restaurant was awarded three stars by The New York Times. In 2009, he was invited to join 24 other high-profile chefs and culinary professionals in a class given by the lauded Gohan Society: Mastering Fish the Japanese Way. Impressed by his skills, various Japanese purveyors began inviting him to teach and cook at events designed to promote Japanese products in the U.S.
McCarty started his own business in 2010. He launched a food truck that operated in Connecticut which garnered considerable press attention. Colman Andrews included one of the truck’s menu items on The Daily Meal’s list of best sandwiches of the year. While in New York, McCarty was a member of Farm-to-Chef. He was also tapped to be a Connecticut Specialty Food Association Product Awards Competition judge. In 2011, while consulting and developing recipes for a high-end, Manhattan-based caterer, McCarty was named “Best US Chef” in the Mussels Match Up competition, which is part of the NY International Restaurant Show.
In 2012, McCarty reunited with renowned restaurateur Drew Nieporent as a consulting chef. He also began work with another restaurant group on a yet-to-open project in Miami before being tapped by Bajaj to open NoPa Kitchen+Bar in the nation’s capital.
Photo via Google Maps