With his boyish grin and crew cut, executive chef Russel Cunningham at Agraria talks animatedly about his Texas childhood, his grandfather’s barbecue restaurant and his love for motorcycles. But his enthusiasm ramps up when talk turns to cooking, especially to handling farm-fresh food.
That’s his express mission at this farm-to-table restaurant, the first farmer-owned restaurant in Washington. (Its sister restaurant is the recently opened Founding Farmers in the IMF Building.)
Assessing his childhood, Cunningham says he supposes his love for cooking and his interest in using farm-fresh products stem back to the days when his mother taught cooking classes at a shelter for battered women run by Catholic priests.
“She taught them how to cook, and I went along to watch,” he says. “I remember a graduation deal when everyone picked their own recipe to prepare. One girl picked steak tartare. How do you cook or eat raw beef? She made meat loaf instead.”
One of several children, Cunningham pitched in to help his mother with family dinners, a time when everyone sat down to an old-fashioned meal.
“The food was really good,” he says, remembering when his mother took classes in Chinese cooking and taught the young Cunningham how to make lemon chicken.
Later, as a college student at the University of Texas, he earned cash by working as a dishwasher in a local steakhouse, and that’s when he realized that cooks have more fun. And, inspired by that and his at-home cooking, Cunningham left the University of Texas to enroll in the Texas Culinary Academy, earning his culinary arts diploma in 1994.
From there, Cunningham vowed to learn every aspect of kitchen work. That way, he figured, he would know what it took for a chef to make a kitchen run smoothly and to produce quality meals.
“Working every job in the kitchen has given me the valuable perspective that it’s not just the cooks who run the place,” Cunningham says. “I know what everyone goes through and, in that way, I can keep the kitchen running smoothly.”
To achieve this, he has bounced around the country, moving from Texas to Baltimore to Ocean City to D.C., where he has worked at Dean & Deluca, the Convention Center and Dupont Grille before ending up at Agraria.
“I love the city,” he says, adding he goes sightseeing around the area on his motorcycle.
At Agraria, he brings his years of restaurant experience — from management, to accounting, to working with local farmers — to the menu, which is firmly based around sustainable agriculture. But Cunningham has not forgotten his Texas roots, he says.
“I grew up on steaks, sausages and barbecue, in that atmosphere. … My whole family was raised in that atmosphere.”
To that end, his style may have traces of Tex-Mex, traditional French or Nuevo Latino flavors, but he calls his food all-American — nice, simple flavors with a contemporary spin.
His signature dish? Well, he pauses, maybe the potato-crusted rockfish. Or maybe the braised lamb shanks with mushroom risotto.
If you go
Agraria Restaurant
3000 K St., NW, Suite 101
Washington, DC
202-298-0003
Hours: Lunch — noon to 3 p.m. Tuesday-Friday; Dinner — 6 to 10 p.m. Tuesday-Thursday, 6 to 10:30 p.m. Friday-Saturday, 6 to 9:30 p.m. Sunday
Q&A with Chef Russel Cunningham
Do you cook at home?
Not often, unless you count a frozen pizza. On the days off, maybe I’d be with friends.
Where do you eat out?
I end up at Sonoma a lot or at Founding Farmers, Brasserie Beck, Fogo de Chao or Blue Duck Tavern. Or maybe at Five Guys because I love a good burger.
What’s your comfort food?
Good old meat and potatoes, mashed potatoes. A nice wood-fired pizza and anything braised. A nice beef stew or my mom’s pot roast.
What’s in your fridge?
Not much. Cheeses, sodas, a six-pack of beer, condiments. Unless it’s leftovers.
What was your luckiest culinary moment?
When at the University of Texas in Houston, I got to work with the upcoming students in hotel and restaurant management and teaching them what goes on in the kitchen, from costing food to managing all. … That is what and who I am now. I have patience with beginners. I already know what can go wrong.
From the Chef’s Kitchen
Braised Lamb Shank With Wild Mushroom Risotto, Basil Pesto and Lamb Jus
Serves 4
The lamb shanks:
4 lamb fore shanks, 16-18 ounces each
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 carrots, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces
3 stalks celery, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 yellow onion, peeled and cut into cubes
4 sprigs fresh thyme
2 cloves garlic, peeled
1/2 tablespoon whole black peppercorns
2 bay leaves
1 cup red wine
Water, as needed
The risotto:
3 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 cup wild mushrooms, such as cremini and “hen of the woods”
1 1/2 cups Arborio rice
2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
1 shallot, peeled and minced
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
The pesto:
1 cup fresh basil
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 Tbsp pine nuts, toasted
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
To prepare the shanks, preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Place the shanks on a baking sheet, and rub them with olive oil, salt and pepper. Bake until the outside is browned; remove the shanks from the oven and reduce the temperature to 325 degrees.
Place the shanks in to a medium-sized pot (big enough to hold the shanks and vegetables), add the carrots, celery, onion, thyme, garlic, peppercorns and bay leaves. Drain the oil from the sheet used to roast the shanks and then deglaze with the red wine. Pour the deglazing liquid into the shanks. Add just enough water to the pot to cover the shanks. Cover the pot with foil and bake for 4 hours or until fork tender. Remove them from the stock and keep warm. Strain the stock and reserve 3 cups of the liquid for use in the risotto. Cook the remaining liquid in a clean sauce pot to reduce to a glaze
To prepare the risotto, heat a medium saucepan over high heat and add the olive oil. Slice the mushrooms and add to the oil. Saute until tender. Add the rice, garlic and shallot, and stir to coat with the oil. Pour in the 3 cups of the reserved lamb stock, bring to a boil and reduce to low. Cook until the liquid is evaporated and the rice is al dente. Stir in the Parmesan cheese and season to taste with salt and pepper. Keep warm until ready to serve
To prepare the pesto, place all ingredients in to a blender or food processor and process into a smooth paste. Season to taste with salt and pepper
To serve, place the risotto into four large pasta bowls, top with a lamb shank, the reduced jus and a scoop of the basil pesto. Serve immediately.
