An old-fashioned approach

Surprisingly, Buben quickly admits that cooking as a career was something he backed into in high school, when his guidance counselor suggested taking some vocational courses. “I didn’t even think of cooking as a career,” he says. “It just became life’s direction,” adding that work in the kitchen seemed more interesting than welding or carpentry.

Interesting, indeed. As it turned out, Buben attended the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, N.Y., (he has served on its Alumni Board), and worked at such upscale Manhattan restaurants as The Sign of the Dove, Le Cygne, and Le Chantilly, plus cooking in the kitchens of leading hotels elsewhere. By 1984, Buben and his wife Sallie—who is his partner in his culinary venture, titled Fully-Baked Restaurant Group—decided that Washington was a convenient halfway point between her native North Carolina and his Pennsylvania.

In 1993, the Bubens’ life took a sharp right turn: They opened Vidalia. As he has probably been asked two million times, why name a restaurant after an onion? He explains, “It started with an idea of making the onion our icon. It’s about American produce and American food. Vidalia connotes a Southern theme, so we created onion dishes and cooking around it….We focused on onions and a regional approach, because D.C. is a Southern town. So it fits.” Besides, he adds, the restaurant’s cooking explores the bounty of the Chesapeake and the Eastern seaboard with such dishes starring rock fish and soft-shell crabs. And, of course, Vidalia onions. “If you did this in New Jersey, the concept wouldn’t work as well,” he says.

Buben opened his second restaurant, Bistro Bis, in 1998, making a complete change in approach and cooking: Bistro Bis is a traditional French bistro following traditional, classic French cooking. “Most of my training was classical French,” he says, “which explains my old-fashioned approach.” That approach has obviously succeeded: The restaurant has received annual nominations by The Restaurant Association of Metropolitan Washington as a power spot, and has earned its place as “Where Capitol Hill Dines.”

What’s next for this D.C. phenom? Buben grins, answering only that he is of a “mixed mind” but also hinting that he is looking at the concept of a wine bar bistro. “Nothing white tablecloth,” he says. His foodie fans await his next move.

Vidalia Sweet Onion and Crab Soufflé

Makes 4 servings

Butter and flour for soufflé mold

5 tablespoons butter, divided

3/4 cup minced Vidalia onion

1 cup lump crabmeat

2 tablespoons minced chives

Salt and white pepper

3 tablespoons flour

1 cup milk

Pinch cayenne pepper

Pinch freshly grated nutmeg

4 egg yolks

5 egg whites

1/2 cup grated Swiss cheese

» Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Butter a 6-cup soufflé mold or four 1-cup molds and lightly dust with flour.

» Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a medium sauté pan. Add Vidalia onion and cook 2 minutes. Add crabmeat and heat. Add chives and a pinch each of salt and white pepper. Set aside.

» Melt remaining butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in 3 tablespoons flour and cook over medium heat about 2 minutes. Remove from heat.

» In glass measuring cup, heat milk for 2 minutes in a microwave. Pour hot milk into flour mixture and stir with a wire whisk until smooth. Add 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/8 teaspoon white pepper, cayenne, and nutmeg. Return to heat and whisk until thickened, about 1 minute. Remove from heat and whisk in egg yolks, one at a time. Stir in crab mixture. Add salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.

» Beat egg whites with a pinch of salt until stiff but not dry. Gently stir half the egg white mixture into crab mixture. Stir in the cheese. Fold in remaining egg whites. Pour mixture into prepared mold.

» Set on middle rack in oven and bake 30 to 35 minutes, until soufflé is golden. Individual soufflés will bake in 25 to 30 minutes. Serve immediately.

In Buben’s own words

What is your cooking philosophy? The food’s taste comes first. Ask, “Would you want to eat that dish yourself?” Cook for yourself first, and don’t cook what you don’t know.

What is your favorite food? Everything. But I am obsessed with fried chicken. I’m always in search of it, and some days I find a good recipe. It’s also my comfort food, and I like it served with anything.

What ingredients are your must-haves? Onions. Pork in some form, and garlic. Fresh herbs. After that, you can make anything taste good.

Where do you eat out? I normally eat out at ethnic restaurants, but I enjoy eating at Roberto Donna’s because I am comfortable with him and his food. Sallie and I go to CityZen for special occasions.

Where do you see yourself in ten years? My dream is to own a restaurant on the Outer Banks. That will be my retirement restaurant with a menu of the day, and all served family style. It will be a Southern supper.

What cooking tip would you pass on to home cooks? Don’t be afraid to buy whole ingredients. Do it yourself, and don’t buy cut-up meats, for example. It’s a challenge to yourself to use whole items, and you can make stocks from the bones, etc. It’s a special event to make everything from scratch.

Which is your favorite cookbook? James Beard’s “American Cookery,” which was my inspiration for modern American cooking. Then Joan Nathan’s “An American Folklife Cookbook” published in 1984, which touches on the historical aspect of regional cooking.

If you go

Bistro Bis

15th E St., NW,

Washington, D.C.

202-661-2700

» Breakfast: Mon. – Sat.

» Lunch and dinner daily

» Brunch on Sundays

» On the Web: vidaliadc.com/bistro/directions.asp