What seemed like a typical guest/chef exchange one recent lunchtime became a verbal praise fest.
“Are you responsible for the lamb?” asked the gentleman on his way out of the restaurant.
“Our team is responsible for everything,” answered R.J. Cooper, chef de cuisine of D.C.’s very popular Vidalia restaurant, and the winner of this year’s James Beard Foundation’s Best Chef: Mid-Atlantic award (Co-winner: Frank Ruta of D.C.’s Palena). I hope you liked it.”
“Oh, my, yes,” answered the guest, who patted Cooper a thank-you while ushering his friends out the door.
Since winning the coveted Beard award, Cooper finds that along with the general adrenaline thrill, his life has become more challenging: Each day he feels the pressure to cook better than the day before.
“It’s just notching up the culinary level,” he says, adding that he quickly changes the menu to keep pace with the seasons and to help local, sustainable farmers, noting that since he won the award in early May, the menu has already turned over several times.
“You won’t find any watermelon here in February,” he adds.
Coming from a Detroit family that prized home cooking from scratch, it might seem that professional cooking would be an obvious fit, but at a young age, Cooper fancied becoming a rock star. Instead, after realizing he could neither sing nor dance, he apprenticed in a local bakery, then enrolled in The Culinary School at Kendall College in Illinois. After graduation, Cooper’s in-the-kitchen training included stints with Eric Ripert Gilbert LeCose at Brasserie LeCoze and Le Bernardin and Guenter Seeger at The Buckhead Ritz-Carlton.
Eventually, Cooper ended up in D.C., working at both New Heights and Toka restaurants. But in 2004, Cooper’s life took a definite upswing.
“I talked to Jeffrey Buben (owner and executive chef of Vidalia) on Friday, prepared a tasting menu for him on Saturday, and started work the next Tuesday,” says Cooper. Buben’s newly hired chef de cuisine has proven to be a hard worker: Cooper was also nominated this year for D.C.’s Best Chef by The Restaurant Association of Metropolitan Washington and Vidalia likewise received a best-of nomination, just one of its many awards and positive reviews, all posted on the stairwell descending into the restaurant.
So how did it feel to win the James Beard award? Cooper admits to being overwhelmed by it all.
“The second my name was called,” he says, “I looked at my wife and said ‘Holy cow.’ I then looked at Jeff, and felt shocked. It’s very rare to be nominated and win in the first year. It’s a huge honor to win…. I thanked my wife, my boss, and my staff. We get the accolades, but the staff should get the handshakes.”
Good luck, then, to this young man, who ultimately says, “D.C. has been very good to me.”
Vidalia’s Baked Onion
For the Onion
4 whole jumbo Vidalia onions
4 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme
4 teaspoons chopped fresh rosemary
2 tablespoons chopped garlic
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
4 tablespoons vegetable bouillon
8 tablespoons Banyuls vinegar
Four 12 by 12-inch pieces foil
30 chanterelle mushrooms, wiped clean
For the Vinaigrette
6 slices bacon, chopped fine
1/3 cup hot bacon fat
1/2 cup finely chopped Vidalia onion
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard, preferably Coleman’s
1/3 cup Banyuls vinegar
4 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup chopped flat leaf parsley
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
» Preheat the grill to 400 degrees.
» Peel onions and cut them in half horizontally. Place each half of the onion, thyme, rosemary, garlic, and olive oil in the center of each piece of foil. Place remaining onion half on top in the center of the foil with the root end facing up. Lightly crimp the foil around the neck of the onion. Pour the bouillon and vinegar into the foil. Grill the onion for about 1 hour and 10 minutes, or until soft. Remove onions from foil and place on serving plates. Reserve the juices.
» Meanwhile, sauté the bacon in a skillet over medium-high heat until brown and crisp. Remove the bacon with a slotted spoon and drain. Reserve 1/3 cup of bacon fat in the pan. Add the onions and garlic to the bacon fat, and cook for 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Add the mustard, vinegar, olive oil, and parsley. Remove from the heat and season with salt and black pepper.
» On a serving plate, place the roasted onion in the left center. Toss a small amount of the vinaigrette with field greens. Spoon the vinaigrette over the onion and a portion of the mushrooms, letting the juices cascade off the side of the onion. Place field greens on either side, repeat with remaining ingredients and serve.
If you go
Vidalia
1990 M St. NW
Washington, D.C. 20036
(202) 659-1990
vidaliadc.com
