Michael Solomonov might have beaten out three of DC’s finest chefs for Best Chef: Mid Atlantic, but DC’s own Chef Jose Andres took home the gold at last nights James Beard Foundation Awards. Long considered the highest honor a chef in America can receive, the JBF Outstanding Chef Award is the Best Actor Oscar award of the cooking world. It’s been a long journey for minibar since it’s opening in 2003, the same year Chef Andres won his first JBF award for Best Chef: Mid Atlantic, and Zaytinya was nominated as Best New Restaurant. Nearly 25,000 seated patrons and eight years later minibar has won the top honor for its inventive chef. Chef Andres has been nominated for the last four years in a row, and finally received his long overdue award.
How could it not? There is no limit to Chef Andres imagination. Creating artful and inspired signature dishes such as Thai curry cotton candy, or a blue-cheese-topped “tart” of almond cream and liquid nitrogen. In some ways eating at minibar is the fashion week of food. A patron is shown amazing design, technique, taste and cutting edge food trends are premiered right before your eyes.
Widely excepted as the hardest reservation in town to acquire, a diner must call (202) 393-0812 at 10 am exactly one month before you want to dine. Seats are only released a month in advance. Call May 11 for a June 11 seat, but remember the restaurant is closed on Sundays and Mondays. For the best luck, if a month ends on the 30th call that day. Twice as many seats are given away to make up for the lack of a one month ahead calling day for the 31st. Have time to plan ahead? Need to save for the $150 price tag? Plan to call the last day of next February when three days of seats will become available at once.
minibar
second floor of Café Atlántico,
405 8th Street NW.
(202) 393-0812 for reservations
Jana Erwin is the primary chef and writer of CherryTeaCakes.com, a non-profit venture combining the love of fine desserts and feeding the impoverished in Washington, DC. You can follow her posts on twitter:@cherryteacakes.
