At Founding Farmers, the “gone-green” design with its outdoors-friendly décor incorporating reclaimed woods and its emphasis on sustainability and renewability underscore what this place is about: farm-to-table foods.
Of course, these are buzzwords in today’s lexicon, but the folks at Founding Farmers — located, interestingly enough, in the IMF building — take this mandate seriously. So seriously, it turns out, that management has hired an executive chef — Graham Duncan — who had already put one foot solidly on the green path. In fact, when in Georgia, Duncan promoted organic produce by participating in cooking demonstrations that spotlighted the Georgia Grown Organic Farm Co-op.
Indeed, Duncan has personally committed to honoring the sustainable farming movement, assuring patrons that the food he and his staff prepare exudes freshness.
As he puts it, “Before this, I had been going in this direction,” he says, “focusing on seasonality and regional foods. So I and others had started cultivating farmer relations. This is the first restaurant I could put this cooking in the forefront.”
Obviously, he adds, with a farmers-owned restaurant, farm-fresh cooking commands center stage.
“We look for sustainable fisheries, and we buy produce from Maryland, Pennsylvania, Georgia and Florida. We get our beef from Maine and chicken from Pennsylvania,” he says. All the proteins are organically raised, he adds, but not all the produce is.
“If we can get it, we get it,” he says.
For this South Florida native, working in the kitchen and cooking have been his lifelong pursuits.
“I’ve always worked in restaurants ever since I was in school,” he says.
By the time he turned 18, Duncan had decided to train professionally and enrolled in the Florida Culinary Institute. With a move to Georgia, Duncan spent 14 years working at various Atlanta restaurants, including City Grill, Sala Sabor de Mexico and Wildfire, all busy restaurants that readied him for the hectic pace at Founding Farmers, where, says Duncan, they serve up to 850 covers a day.
His family is impressed, and Duncan admits to sending all his newspaper clippings to his grandmother, who is very proud of his accomplishments. His dad is pretty proud, too, he says, and has eaten several times at Founding Farmers.
For Duncan, who embraces wholeheartedly the complete farm-to-table message, he works hard at developing menus that reflect both the glories of fresh, fresh ingredients and the range of good, old-fashioned home cooking.
“We looked at the menu here as resurrecting Americana,” he says. “We serve homey nostalgia foods. The most popular [is] the chicken pot pie and our sandwiches. At breakfast, it’s eggs straight up with sausage, potatoes … a farmhouse breakfast.”
Still a very young man with loads of energy and dreams of delectable dishes yet to invent, Duncan attributes his cooking fervor to several outstanding chefs: John Barnum in South Florida and French chef Emil LaBrousse. And, he says, he’s always learning in the kitchen.
“The way I think about food is evolving as I become more mature,” he says. “So, now, I make my food and the ingredients the stars of the meal.”
And the meals take the best of granny’s cooking, and turn that up a few notches.
If you go
Founding Farmers
1924 Pennsylvania Ave. NW
Washington, D.C.
202-822-8783
Hours: 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday-Wednesday; 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. Thursday; 8 a.m. to midnight Friday; 4 p.m. to midnight Saturday; 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday
Q&A with Chef Graham Duncan
Do you cook at home?
I’m rarely home, but what I am I cook what I can put in the oven and forget for a couple of hours so I can spend more time with my family.
What’s your favorite food?
Cold pizza. Or whatever is in the fridge. That’s what I love when I get home late from work.
What’s your favorite cuisine?
I really enjoy seafood, but we go to family-owned ethnic restaurants.
What’s in your basic pantry?
Kosher salt, grapeseed oil, fresh peppers, dried beans of any variety, and different varieties of rice. Then whatever goes with these ingredients that I’m building recipes around.
What do you do in your leisure time?
I have no leisure time. Well, I have children, so that’s what I do.
From the Chef’s Kitchen
Cedar-Planked Salmon with Maple-Apricot Glaze
For this dish, use four small or one large cedar plank, soaked in water for 24 hours. These are usually available at well-stocked cookware stores.
4 (6- to 8-ounce) skinless salmon fillets
2 Tbsp. vegetable oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Prepared Maple-Apricot glaze, as needed (see recipe below)
Lemon slices for garnish
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees, or preheat an outdoor grill. If using the oven, preheat the cedar planks for 15 minutes on a baking sheet. Oil the salmon on both sides and season with salt and pepper. Place on the cedar planks, top with a generous serving of salmon glaze and cook to desired doneness, about 10 minutes per inch of thickness. Top with more salmon glaze and serve with lemon on the cedar planks.
Maple-Apricot Glaze
1 cup apricot preserves, such as Bonne Maman
1 cup grade A amber maple syrup
1 Tbsp. whole-grain mustard
1 Tbsp. ground coriander
1 dash ground cayenne
1 tsp. kosher salt
Juice of 1 lemon
Combine all ingredients, and mix well.
