You’ve probably seen her food show, and you may even know her by sight on D.C.’s streets. But when you meet the daytime Lauren DeSantis, dressed for her lawyer’s business, you’d never guess this young woman has a not-so-secret passion: She loves to cook. And cook she does, very publicly on her own cooking show, “Capital Cooking,” and very privately, at home for her husband, herself and her friends.
A native of St. Louis, DeSantis moved to D.C. with her husband, also a lawyer. Surrounded by lawyers and surfeited with talk of law and politics, DeSantis decided she needed another outlet.
“I have always loved to cook and to entertain,” she said. “I love that part of it, the ‘Let’s all eat together.’ ”
Growing up in a family where both her mother and grandmother were great cooks, DeSantis tells how they served really outstanding Italian dishes.
“They were always in the kitchen,” she said. “It’s funny because here there are so many caterers. Back home, people make their own food, and share it with friends.”
Settled in D.C., DeSantis found she was inspired by a young female lawyer in Texas who was self-taught, started her own catering business and concurrently got her own television show. That formula appealed, and DeSantis decided to pursue her particular dream: She honed her cooking skills by attending Gaithersburg’s L’Academie de Cuisine, receiving a chef’s certificate. She then studied several production courses so she could handle assembling her own cooking show. Once she was certified, she submitted a cooking show proposal to the area’s Channel 10 — and, 2 years later, began airing on the Dish Network in November 2009. Since then, her show is now playing to more than 20 million homes nationally. And elsewhere? It’s anyone’s guess.
What makes the show somewhat unique is how she has peopled it with a definite D.C. angle, featuring local chefs, artisanal food producers and embassy cooks, and eating lunch out with lobbyists.
“I give the viewers something that is unique to D.C.,” she said. “It’s what we offer here. We have many ethnic cuisine and regional restaurants from all over the country. … I would like to get different congressmen to talk about their local foods and give us an inside look at them,” adding the D.C. food scene is really taking off.
DeSantis also has angled her show toward people who love food and who love to cook, but who also may be intimidated by complex recipes and may not be familiar with all the ingredients; DeSantis always provides ideas for substitutes. As well, she believes that seeing a dish or ingredient offers the best lesson.
“I am a very visual person … on the show, I do the cooking with the guest,” she said. “We do one or two recipes, depending on the complexity of the recipe. We have 24 minutes of air time.”
Further combating the intimidation factor, DeSantis, on her show and in her cookbook “Capital Cooking,” acknowledges a good cook has to plan out meal assembly.
“Then you have the time in the kitchen,” she says, “and time for relaxing.”
