Sure, the president and first lady have tasted his food, not to mention countless celebrities, but when you ask Chef Michel Richard who, exactly, he’d like to see in his new restaurant, Michel, he doesn’t have a straight answer.
“I want to cook for the entire world, not one person,” the chef told Yeas & Nays over lunch at his downtown D.C. eatery Central. “To make everybody happy is fine, not one person, I don’t care.”
It could be his unpretentious attitude that has aided his success, as the French chef opens his third restaurant in the area. (Central and Citronelle are his other two establishments.) The new place, Michel, is located on the fourth floor of the Ritz-Carlton out in Tysons Corner, an area that Richard wasn’t gung-ho about at first. Now he’s ecstatic.
“I’m inside of a very special castle, it’s a good marriage,” he said. “I’m in love with the Ritz-Carlton, I want to be married to the Ritz-Carlton for a very long time.”
The restaurant has modern lighting and is decorated with a lot of burgundy to remind customers of red wine.
“When you look at the kitchen you want to eat, when you look at the wall you want to drink,” Richard explained.
The menu is French, made for Americans.
“I wanted it to be French, bistro French, simple food with an American accent because I have been living here for many, many, many years,” Richard said.
Leek tartare with Parmesan dressing, roulade of foie gras with mushroom and creme brulee napoleon can be counted among the dishes.
Richard’s goal for the place? He just wants people to come back.
“I want the food to dance in their mouths,” he said.
