When you stroll into the swank interior of Georgetown’s Bourbon Steak restaurant in the Four Seasons Hotel, perhaps the last entity you’d expect to find is a kitchen manned by an executive chef who loves to cook over an open wood fire. Only high-tech gas ranges for him, you’d think. But you’d be amazed to find that executive chef David Varley tends and stokes the kitchen fires of oak and mesquite at Bourbon Steak. Due to their intense heat and smoky flavors, these are the best woods for grilling their meats, he says.
How did he come to gain such respect for man’s earliest cooking technique? Indeed, how did he develop his zeal for working with organic, farm-fresh goods? You might find the answer with his parents, starting with the major inspiration of his mother.
“I got my love for cooking 100 percent from my mother,” says this New Jersey native. “She’s an old-time hippie, and she’s always been serving organic foods. She was like the Alice Waters of the East Coast.”
As it turns out, Varley’s mother tended the family’s organic garden, which yielded enough produce to feed not only her family but also to fill the pots of various local restaurants.
“She also grew 40 to 50 different herb varieties, edible flowers and sour cherries,” he says. “She would have the water boiling and drop in freshly picked corn. My mom loves food, and her legacy: Her love is expressed through food.”
His dad was the family’s grill master, and he also took young Varley along on serious outdoor outings.
“I also grew up hunting and fishing, which helped me understand the cycle of food and production,” he says.
Following along with his parents’ love for cooking, Varley started early with his restaurant career, picking up extra cash at the age of 14 by working at a YMCA summer camp as a dishwasher.
“I learned how to earn money,” he says, adding that he hated scrubbing pots. But by serendipity, his big break came when one of the camp cooks called in sick, and the staff asked Varley to make the day’s biscuits from scratch. That was a turning point, and he made it his mission to be a good cook.
In high school, Varley weighed up his options: Homework made him miserable, but cooking was tremendous fun. And along came another big break: When he was 17, Varley was offered a job as dishwasher in a nearby high-quality, family-owned restaurant. One day the chef handed Varley his own special knife and told him to start prepping foods. Varley calls that one of the best days of his life.
“The opportunity to learn in the kitchen caught [me] on fire,” he says. “All prior hobbies, including my music, fell by the wayside. I even forgot all about playing the trombone, and I was once the best in the state. I have never picked it up since.”
Without a backward glance, Varley’s upward culinary progress includes a degree from the Culinary Institute of America, and his cooking stints include Clio in Boston; The Ryland Inn in White House, N.J.; and the Parcel 104 in Santa Clara, Calif. In 2005, Varley moved to Las Vegas to work as chef de cuisine for Bradley Ogden within the Caesars Palace hotel and casino. At Caesars Palace, Varley led his team to earn back-to-back Mobil Four-Star reviews, Five-Diamond awards, and in 2007, Bradley Ogden’s first Michelin star.
Now in D.C. tending fires, grilling steaks and scouting out the best produce, Varley sums up his career quite simply: “This business captivates me in every way,” he says. “I wake up every day and feel blessed … to be in D.C., in this hotel, with this staff … I’ve immersed myself in food … I love what I do, and it is not work.”
If you go
BOURBON STEAK
Four Seasons Hotel
2800 Pennsylvania Ave NW
202-944-2026
Hours: Daily, lunch 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., Dinner, 5:30 to 10:30 p.m.
Q&A with Chef David Varley
How do you characterize your cooking?
I like adding twists, and I want something that is approachable. The creative process evolves a lot. I used to sit in an office and force it. But the less I try to force it, the better the dishes, with less to hide behind. … It’s a combination of all that I have learned. It’s based on the moment, the people, the place and the ingredients I am working with.
Where do you eat out?
Michel Richard, both Central and Citronelle, CityZen, and 2 Amys for pizzas. All the kabob houses in Arlington. I follow the cabs for lunch [to them].
What is your comfort food?
My weakness is all home cooking in any form or fashion. Like my mom’s pot roast.
What’s in your fridge?
A million condiments, organic Heinz ketchup, lot of Champagne, but no food.
Do you cook at home?
Absolutely not. I have never even turned on the stove at home. It is the last thing I want to do.
From the Chef’s Kitchen
Spring Garlic Soup
Serves 6
Look for green garlic, or young spring garlic, at area farmers markets and at Whole Foods markets. Garnish each serving with a soft-boiled egg, lemon zest and slices of black garlic, if available.
8 oz. peeled garlic cloves
8 oz. green garlic, washed and trimmed
1 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 white onion, cut in half and stuck with 2 cloves on each side
2 quarts chicken stock
1 bay leaf
1 sprig fresh thyme
2 slices toasted sourdough bread
Salt and pepper to taste
Juice of 1/2 lemon
Cover garlic cloves in cold water, bring to boil, drain off water, rinse and repeat.
Slice green garlic and in a large saucepan over medium heat, cook in olive oil; add the blanched garlic and lightly caramelize. Add the onion, stock, bay leaf and thyme, and cook over medium-low heat until tender and well combined, about 30 minutes.
Remove the cloves, bay leaf and thyme, and blend the soup mixture with the toasted bread until smooth. Adjust the consistency with more chicken stock, if necessary, and season with salt, pepper and lemon juice.
