If the Michelin-starred Gravitas in Ivy City was a culmination of Matt Baker’s forward-looking ambition, consider Michele’s a nostalgic nod to the cooking that got the 34-year-old chef to where he is today. Set in the Eaton hotel, the brasserie-style concept is built on classic French cooking techniques and crafted with regional ingredients, while shouting out his mother’s hometown of New Orleans, his own upbringing in Houston’s diverse dining scene, and the artful New American cuisine he earned a reputation for while at the Occidental and City Perch.
Michele’s is a deeply personal venture, its name a tribute to the chef’s mother, who died from cancer five years ago. Meals begin with a complimentary glass of warm artichoke velouté garnished with black truffle powder, his mother’s favorite soup. When she was sick, she didn’t have much appetite, but she asked her son for it when he was visiting. “It turned out to be the last thing I made for her,” he says.
The just-opened restaurant takes over the space once home to Tim Ma’s American Son. Facing out onto a cozy, firepit-dotted patio on K Street, the room got a refresh, including a bottle shelf hovering above the bar, a glammy see-through wine case in the middle of the room, and a raw bar looking into the kitchen at the back.
The offerings are divided between seafood, vegetables, meats, caviar, breads, cheese service, and charcuterie. “I liked the idea of creating different experiences within the menu,” says Baker. “If you want to have a serious dinner on date night, you can work your way through some serious cooking. Or you can sit at the bar and have a lobster roll and a glass of wine.”
When it comes to oceanic options, the Maryland crab salad is a perfect encapsulation of Baker’s allegiance to technique, local sourcing, and creativity. Served in a bowl shrouded with grapefruit sabayon, dig in with the toasted brioche logs to discover crab atop the rich uni and crab custard lying in wait at the bottom.
The lobster “roll” is bun-less, but full of all the expected flavors. Poached lobster – tossed with Japanese Kewpie mayo, along with fresh tarragon, chives, and parsley – is slipped back into the shell from which it came, then dressed up with toasted brioche croutons and micro celery. For a taste of NOLA, there’s oyster gratinee you dunk into with grilled baguette rubbed with Creole seasoned butter.
There’s a range of caviar service, starting with house-made potato chips alongside trout roe on custardy ranch bavarois ($25) to Ossetra Prestige caviar with all the usual fixin’s for $140.
Four hearty, meaty entrees are on hand, including grilled ribeye, roasted lamb saddle, and pork crépinette. The latter is Baker’s favorite dish, a rustic French meatloaf packed with caramelized onion and garlic, sage, brandy, and warming spices. Served on pommes puree and apple-spiked wilted escarole, it’s finished off with a rich sauce made from pig trotters.
Vegetables get the star treatment. Take the best-selling Alsace-style tarte flambée. Baked in the wood fired oven, the rectangular tart comes graced with smoked potatoes, black truffle, caramelized onions, and Gruyere. Another breakout is thinly ribboned celery root rolled up into discs, glazed with sweetened apple cider, served on cinnamony apple miso puree, and topped with baked apples and pickled mustard seeds. “It tastes like a fall day,” says Baker.
Sauces or leftover bits can be sopped up with the house-made breads, which are no afterthought. There are three types, each with its own schmear: seeded sourdough with sea salt speckled butter, scallion-cilantro brioche accompanied by fermented black bean butter, and olive-caper sourdough alongside tuna rillette and eggplant-pepper caponata.
These loaves and desserts are overseen by pastry chef Aisha Momaney, who moved to D.C. during the pandemic after years at upscale restaurants in New York City. There’s a distinct homage to the Big Easy: There’s bananas foster in sundae form, for example, packed with brûléed bananas, vanilla ice cream, banana sorbet, and crunchy nuggets of brown butter streusel. Milk chocolate mousse, made-to-order chocolate souffle, and caramel apple-laced cheesecake round out the sweet selections.
Even more of Momaney’s work is on display at Baker’s Daughter in the hotel’s lobby space formerly housing the Kintsugi coffee shop. It’s the third location of Baker’s café-market, which he debuted during the pandemic in Ivy City, and now has another outpost in Chinatown. Expect others to pop up in the coming months, potentially in Bethesda and Northern Virginia.
Michele’s is still a work-in-progress for Baker, who plans on unveiling a 10-seat chef’s counter at the raw bar next month. Focused on seafood and shellfish, and served directly by the kitchen team, the dining experience will feature 15-18 dishes not found on the regular menu. Lunch and brunch are also under consideration.
Baker is taking everything one step at a time, taking nothing for granted. “What I’ve always told myself was, ‘Work your ass off. Treat people right. Create relationships that matter. Be authentic.’ I’ve always believed in my abilities as a chef and as a cook. If I handled all those things, everything would click and come together eventually.”
Michele’s is located at 1201 K St. NW. Open Wednesday and Thursday 5 p.m.-11 p.m., Friday and Saturday 5 p.m.-12 a.m., and Sunday 5 p.m.-11 p.m.
This post has been updated with the correct address for Michele’s.
