If they are foodies at heart, most D.C. residents will know about executive chef extraordinaire Robert Wiedmaier. Extraordinary because his cooking is superb, he has won awards, appeared at the James Beard House, and runs four highly successful restaurants in the metro area: Marcel’s and Brasserie Beck in D.C., Brabo by Robert Wiedmaier in Alexandria, and the Mussel Bar in Bethesda. How does he manage them all? One answer: “I have a very fast car. Or my motorbike.”
It also helps that Wiedmaier is a classically trained chef, modeled in the European tradition. Born in Germany to a Belgian father and an American mother, he grew up in Europe, attended the Culinary School of Horca in the Netherlands and then trained with some of Europe’s finest chefs. After moving to the area, his rigorous training continued with stints at the now-closed Le Pavillion, then at the Four Seasons, and finally, at the Watergate, where he replaced a D.C. culinary legend, the late Jean-Louis Palladin.
The next step: opening his own restaurant in 1999. Naming it Marcel’s (after his first son), Wiedmaier created a culinary stir in the capital with his deliberately elegant Belgian/European array of food — roasted diver’s scallops and the Belgian classic carbonnade a la flamande have been menu stars.
| IF YOU GO |
| Brasserie Beck |
| » Where: 1101 K St. NW |
| » Info: 202-408-1717 |
| » Hours: 11:30 a.m. to 11 p.m. Monday through Thursday; 11:30 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. Friday; 5 p.m. to 11:30 p.m. Saturday; 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday |
Wiedmaier had bigger restaurant plans brewing. Next in his roster came Brasserie Beck, whose ongoing popularity is underscored by the fact that crowds gather nightly to unwind. A casual place to go drink Belgian beer, Beck, named after his second son, mirrors the Belgian brasserie experience, down to the overhead clocks and open kitchen. “In Belgium,” he said, “brasseries are usually in train stations.”
In cooperation with the Kimpton Hotel Group in 2008, he opened his first Virginia restaurant, Brabo by Robert Wiedmaier, which he describes as between Brasserie Beck and Marcel’s in price and concept. “Brabo is named after a fictional legend in Antwerp where my dad was born,” he explained. “So I have the whole Belgian theme running through the restaurant.”
Most recently, Wiedmaier opened what many may think of as his most inventive eatery yet — Mussel Bar. People can drink Belgian beer, eat pizza and enjoy mussels served nine different ways, including a Thai version with a fiery broth.
With so many demands on his time, Wiedmaier does still cook nightly at Marcel’s, his first and finest eatery, where he arrives between 4 and 5 p.m. to do the mise en place. He visits his other restaurants earlier in the day.
He attributes his success to his staff, who understand his philosophy and way of doing business. Fortunately for D.C. foodies, Wiedmaier has no plans to take his show on the road.
“If I stay local, I feel good,” he says. “But if I had to jump on a plane to Las Vegas, I wouldn’t like that.”
Q&A
What is your signature dish?
I am best known for being a saucier and for cooking wild game, such as venison, duck, geese. I love cooking that type of food. We bring in whole hogs, and use extractions for getting flavors out of whole animals. I am a full-circle chef; I pay total respect to that animal by using the whole carcass.
What’s in your fridge right now?
Eggs and a lot of hummus, avocado, chicken, olive oil, artichokes, eggplant.
What has been the greatest influence on your cooking?
One of the guys I worked for for a long time, who taught me a lot about cooking, is Douglas McNeill of the Four Seasons Hotel. … He helped me when I opened Marcel’s. He was the chef’s chef. … I had worked for great chefs in Belgium, and Jean-Louis Palladin with his products, cooking. And Michel Richard [of Citronelle and Central]. We are good friends and we talk about food all the time.
What is your favorite dish/comfort food?
Pork belly, I love pork belly, I can eat that stuff all day long with caramelized onions and poached egg with a nice baguette with garlic and olive oil. Farm-fresh eggs with deep-orange yolk, little bit of salt; that’s good eating.
Where do you eat out?
If in Bethesda, I go with the boys [sons Marcel and Beck] to Black’s restaurant — their boys are my sons’ best friends — and I like Jeff’s [Black] restaurant. I eat at all my friends’ restaurants: Scott Drewno, Michel Richard. It depends on my mood.
Chef Robert Wiedmaier’s Classic Mussels
Cooked mussels can be eaten directly from the pot or pan or transferred to a wide-rim soup bowl. Keep covered until just prior to eating as they cool quickly. Make these at home, or head to Brasserie Beck for mussels, mussels, and more mussels. …
Serves 2 to 3
1 Tbsp unsalted butter
1 Tbsp minced garlic
1 Tbsp minced shallot
1 pound Penn Cove mussels, cleaned and de-bearded, in the shell
1 cup dry vermouth
1 cup heavy cream
1 Tbsp chopped Italian flat-leaf parsley
Add the butter to a pot or heavy pan and cook over medium heat. Sweat the garlic and shallot until translucent, about 45 to 60 seconds. Add the mussels and vermouth, and cover the pot. When the mussels are almost open (about 90 seconds to 2 minutes), add the heavy cream and cover the pot again. Once all of the mussels are open, about 2 more minutes, sprinkle parsley over top and serve.
