Got pop-up fatigue yet? Well, Mike Isabella doesn’t. After doing several pop-ups at other venues, the Graffiato chef is bringing them to his home turf.
Beginning in January, guest chefs will takeover the kitchen of his Italian-inspired restaurant on Sunday and Monday nights. Graffiato sous chef Adam Brick and chef de cuisine Marjorie Meek-Bradley will be among those guest chefs.
Brick, an Austin native who’s cooked at top New York restaurant’s like Aureole, Daniel, and Momofuku Ssam Bar, will prepare a 12-course tasting menu for just 12 guests (in two seatings) each week using scarce ingredients like lamb neck, chicken oyster, halibut tail, pig snout, and tuna marrow. Brick is a whole animal butcher and charcuterie marker and will come up with new menus every week. The $85 dinners, beginning Jan. 13, will be offered at the six-seat ham bar on the second floor of Graffiato at 8 p.m. on Sundays and Mondays. Reservations will be taken one month in advance by emailing events@graffiatodc.com.
In addition, Meek-Bradley will host five-course wine dinners one Monday per season. The first dinner is scheduled for March 11, and Italian winemaker Cesare Benvenuto from Pio Cesare will be on hand to lead guests through wine pairings from the Alba and Piedmont regions of Italy.
Other local toques will takeover the kitchen the first Monday of every month. Volt chef Bryan Voltaggio is scheduled to showcase bites and drinks from his new Chevy Chase Pavillion restaurant Range on Jan. 7. The Source‘s Scott Drewno and Toki Underground‘s Erik Bruner-Yang are teaming up to cook late night Asian cuisine on Feb. 4 with cocktails from Toki Underground mixologist Colin Sugalski.
Check out graffiatodc.com to find out about future industry takeover guests.
Photo by Darrow Montgomery