The Weekly Feed: Young and Youngest Edition
Ch- Ch- Chef Changes...
Sometimes, the local boy makes good. Chesterfield, Md.-native Nathan Beauchamp has picked up the knife to direct the nightly deliciousness that is tradition at 1789. He's no stranger to the D.C. scene either, having worked at both Bistro Bis and Restaurant Eve, two of DCist's favorites.
According to the restaurant, the chef will unveil his new menu sometime in February. He's giving a nod to old favorites such as the oyster stew, the rack of lamb, and the Nantucket scallops by keeping them on the menu, but will introduce his take on sashimi and game as well. This sounds good to us.
Here's the kicker, though. The new E.C. is only 30. How's that for making you feel like crap? What the hell have you done? This guy was chef de cuisine at a Minneapolis restaurant at 21. All this DCist was doing at 21 was perfecting strategy at drinking games. We'll set aside our envy to welcome Chef Beauchamp to 1789, and hope he welcomes us with some incredible food.
Qdoba Reverses Manifest Destiny
There was a time in this country when the only things coming back East were in people in pine boxes. The West was magic and unexplored by whitey; it had no roads or cities, and burritos grew in abundance. These days, the West is colonizing the East. Case in point: Qdoba. Sure, the Colorado-based Mexi-chain is already in Herndon and Largo, but that's way too far when you have Baja Fresh right down the street.
Well, you westerners are in for a treat. It looks like Qdoba's going to move into a Q Street NW location in Dupont Circle. That's what, 84 burrito places for Dupont? Sweet. How about Capitol Hill? We need the 'to too.
Is That What They Mean By "Kids' Table?"
In a thread that has erupted with lava-hot rhetoric, donrockwellians have broached the subject all of us have been thinking about: breastfeeding in restaurants. Not just in the restaurant, but at the table. We didn't know that this was even an issue, but, lordy, is it ever.
Interestingly, the debaters come from three camps: (1) the return-to-the-sensibilites-of-the-'50s folks who think everything about it is heinously disgusting; (2) the breastfeeding-is-just-eating-with-flesh-utensils set who adamantly defend the right of women to feed their babies whenever and wherever they need to; and (3) the boys of "We Heart Tatas." Everyone seems to have really strong feelings about it, too; you'd think they were talking about gay marriage.
We here at DCist Food like to dine out, and we also like babies. We think babies deserve to dine out, even if they're not paying. However, mommies, we do request that – unless you are a boob ninja of some kind – you excuse yourself or employ a blanket for cover. No one wants a show. You probably don't want to give a show. Sure, baby needs to eat … but discreetly.
Restaurant Week Already Next Week…
…and we bet you don't even have your reservations in. You'll be missing out on the cream of the crop, but there are still a lot of places open. DCist prefers to use OpenTable for our reservation needs, but you may want to double-check to see that the restaurant is actually participating in the promotion before clicking through a reservation (and we know this from experience). The list of participating restaurants is here. Also, check out DCist's past experiences.
1789 and breastfeeding photos from flickr users claudecf and sluggo, respectively.