Boss Tweed and the political machine of Tammany Hall are mainstays of elementary school history books, at least in New York. Honest graft, exchanging jobs and services for immigrant votes, 19th century political patronage — the machine politics that laid the foundation for notorious corruption in Chicago are just as infamous.
Party bosses don’t come to mind in the same way when thinking about the nation’s capital. That shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise. We didn’t get our first popularly elected mayor until the 1970s and still have out-of-state politicians trying to meddle in our business today. But the history of local governance in the District of Columbia is much older than the Home Rule Act and Walter E. Washington. There’s been phases of self-governance in this city dating back to its founding as the capital. With that came our own 19th century political bosses, one of whom inspired the name of local restaurant boss Paul Cohn’s new eatery.
Boss Shepherd’s — named after the second and last Governor of the District of Columbia, Alexander Robey Shepherd — sits steps from his statue outside the John A. Wilson building, D.C.’s city hall. Shepherd shouldn’t be confused with Sen. Morris Sheppard, for whom Spike Mendelsohn has named his new speakeasy. It occupies the long vacant dining room in the basement level of the Warner Theater building.
Cohn, a long-time player in the local dining scene, was behind J.Paul’s and the rest of the Capital Restaurant Concepts portfolio, which includes Georgia Browns, Neyla and Old Glory, among others. He left the group, which had been largely focusing on rapidly opening new Paul French bakeries in the United States, and opened Boss Shepherd’s. He has partnered here with Daniel Mahdavian, also the general manager, to open what they’ve envisioned as a downtown, farm-to-table, power dining spot.
The man behind the Southern-style cooking is Jeremy Waybright. Chicken pot pie fritters are the most memorable bite from the starter menu topped with a sausage gravy. After attending a hosted media dinner after the restaurant’s opening, I returned for lunch to try a pastrami salmon sandwich. The black pepper, coriander spice and texture of the fish was worth returning for, though it comes with a little too much bun.
Waybright does a nice job with classics like fried chicken and crabcakes. I’m partial to his buttery take on fish. Trout is served with a lemon caper brown butter sauce, offering a tangy, salty, sweet flavor and a filling plate combined with a large serving of white grits. A daily fish special is served with a butter crumb.
C-SPAN is on one of the televisions above the bar; the other is tuned to D.C. Council hearings. Barrels with Virginia whiskeys—Kopper Kettle from Belmont Farms in Culpeper and Catocin Creek 92-proof rye—sit behind the marble bar, part of a beverage program featuring local spirits, beers, and wine. A lounge besides the bar and one up a duplex flight of stairs leads to areas with plush leather banquettes, perfect for group happy hours, semi-private dining or backroom meetings with the next Uncle Earl.
