All’s well in D.C.’s West End, proving that all good things come to those who wait. That’s because RIS has opened at last. RIS is the restaurant owned and cooked for by D.C.’s renowned and beloved executive chef Ris Lacoste — who, by the way, has waited several years for this labor of love to open its doors.
That’s good news for all her fans, for newcomers to D.C., and for those neighbors who live and work nearby and who can drop in for a comfy brunch, a hearty lunch of braised lamb shanks, a quiet moment in the lounge area over a chilled beer (or hot cocoa), and a measure of chicken pot pie for dinner.
This former work-in-the-making — remember the months when the windows of 22nd and L streets NW were papered over? — is really her dream come true, Lacoste said.
“This corner location with all its windows called my name,” she said of the time when she first spotted and visited it. “I pictured it coming alive. I even wrote an essay for the architect about what I expected.”
It’s also a dream realized by Lacoste’s business partner, co-owner Mitchell Herman, who is making RIS his first foray into the restaurant aspect of the food service industry. Formerly an owner of several Shoppers Food Warehouse markets, Herman has been a driving force to get that front door open. At last.
RIS
2275 L St. NW
202-730-2500
Hours: Lunch –Ê11:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday to Friday; Dinner — 5:30 to 11 p.m. Monday to Friday; Saturday brunch — 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.; Saturday late lunch –Ê3 to 5:30 p.m.; Saturday dinner — 5:30 to 11 p.m.; Sunday brunch –Ê10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Now that RIS has opened — to much public acclaim — Lacoste said her new restaurant and its design have surpassed her expectations.
“It doesn’t get better than this,” she said, remembering how during those many long months of assembling all the restaurant’s pieces, she sat out on the sidewalk welcoming neighbors and passersby.
“I love the neighborhood cafe concept,” she adds, “because it is based on my memories of living in Paris.”
The restaurant may have its Parisian construct, but the menu is truly all-American, a reflection of Lacoste’s own best childhood food memories. A proponent of solid American regional cooking, Lacoste grew up in Massachusetts in a family that valued home cooking, thanks to her mother’s three good, hot meals a day and her frequent entertaining.
That started her early on in her culinary career, which took her from cooking at a local Friendly’s restaurant near her Massachusetts home to much later studying at the prestigious Parisian Ecole de Cuisine La Varenne, the pre-eminent cooking school in France, where she started as a part-time typist.
“Then Anne Willan offered me the full-time receptionist’s position, and I was offered my future,” she said.
That was years ago, and the intervening time of cooking and creating have led Lacoste to RIS, a contemporary restaurant that bears Lacoste’s imprint, from the stonework to the interior color to the setup of the kitchen.
“It was an amazing feeling to watch this being built,” she said.
And as for the menu, that was the last thing she constructed.
“The menu, that was tough,” she says. “But I knew what I wanted to serve … a daily dining concept with classic fare.”
As the menu has worked out, it’s the classic American comfort food combined with the freshness of California and the serene simplicity of Australia — and all Lacoste’s innovative cooking.
Q&A with chef Ris Lacoste
What is your comfort food?
Cheeseburger, french fries, a Diet Coke and plain ice cream.
What’s in your fridge?
Cheese ends, condiments, milk. Nothing edible. I go home every night starving, and the fridge is empty.
Where do you go on vacation?
To Isla Mujeres off Cancun.
Where do you get your inspiration?
From memory, from others, from the universe. From aromas. … It’s sitting and thinking about a food, than taking it from the mind to the tongue … and definitely from farmers markets. If I see carrots, I think how delicious they are.
What has been your luckiest moment?
There have been so many, I can’t answer. …
From the chef’s kitchen
RIS Potato Leek Soup
Serves 4
4 Tbsp. butter
3 medium leeks, washed thoroughly and sliced (2 cups sliced leeks)
4 to 5 cups chicken stock
2 sprigs fresh thyme
1 bay leaf
2 cups diced potatoes
Salt and freshly cracked black pepper to taste
Creme fraiche, diced roasted potatoes and fried leeks as optional garnishes
Melt the butter in a small, heavy-based pan. Add the leeks and cook over medium heat until just soft. Add the chicken stock, thyme and bay leaf, and bring just to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low and add the potatoes. Cook five minutes longer, or until the potatoes are soft. Puree in a blender and strain through a fine-meshed sieve. Serve warm.
