VOTE FOR OUR MOULES!

This September, a band of DC’s culinary influentials, including our own Chef Teddy Folkman, join Top Chef alum chef Spike Mendelsohn for a multi-sensory gastronomical experience called “Kraut Rocks.”  The month-long culinary experience puts sauerkraut, the classic fermented cabbage, on center stage.

For his part, Chef Teddy Folkman offers up his Kraut Rocks moules – better known around 1238 H Street, NE, as Jean-Claude Van Damn Those Mussels are Good! The tasty bi-valves are joined in the bowl by a smoked pork & tomato sauce, fennel, porkraut sausage, and Tabasco. They’ll be on the menu starting September 1st – you’ve gotta try these suckers!

The Kraut Rocks experience includes dining, voting, and winning. You can also tune in to a video series of Kraut Rocks conversations, hosted by Mendelsohn, on the Kraut Rocks website at www.KrautRocks.com.

DON’T FORGET TO VOTE DURING SEPTEMBER FOR A CHANCE TO WIN COOL STUFF!

Damn these moules look good! Photo by Scott Henrichsen.

Last week, Teddy was up in New York with Ommegang at the 3rd Annual SAVEUR Summer BBQ, serving up his rendition of chicken & waffles (a dish which, as it turns out, has quite a history behind it).

THE Chicken & Waffles

The Upper West Side's Boat Basin

So excited, they just can't hide it.

Granville Moore’s also made an appearance at the 22nd Annual Chef’s Best Dinner & Auction — a fabulous fundraiser for Food & Friends. We shared a table with Ommegang and Meridian Pint and ladled out smoked tomato soup with vanilla creme and (what else) pork belly.

The team at Chef's Best.

We are going big for DC’s Belgian Restaurant Week and will be posting updates soon!

Farrell

So, I’m not DC’s Hottest Chef

Hearty congratulations to Urbana’s John Critchley for being named Eater DC’s Hottest Chef. I’m sure the photo they chose of me hurt my chances more than anything, but…

Thankfully, I’m surrounded by supportive friends and coworkers who help keep my ego in check, like long-time friend & “guest” blogger, Jon W., who sent me the following:

In 2012, Chef Teddy Folkman of Dr. Granville Moore’s was entered in the DC’s Hottest Chef competition online. Despite an aggressive campaign, he received fewer votes than LeBron James running for Mayor of Cleveland. An exhaustive investigation was launched, led by the crack team of Dr. Augustus T. Speckmorton, the top researcher in the field of abject failure.

The following are the top 10 reasons Teddy got clobbered:

10.  His mother wasn’t online to vote 8,000 times like every other online poll he’s been in.
9.   Voters weren’t drunk.
8.   Have you seen his back hair?
7.   Teddy’s awkward teen period has become his awkward mid-30′s period.
6.   He used to look like Ray Liotta in “Goodfellas”. Now he looks like Mickey Rourke in “The Wrestler”.
5.   It’s hard work being sexy, and Teddy doesn’t work very hard.
4.   Signing up for “Paula Deen’s Fatburners” clearly didn’t help. He’s now in worse shape than downtown Detroit.
3.   His botox addiction has clearly gotten out of hand.
2.   The Kardashian look doesn’t translate into men.

And the #1 reason Chef Teddy Folkman was obliterated in DC’s Hottest Chef competition:
1.   He’s not hot.

The Doctor Offers A Remedy For Your Holiday Party Doldrums

Did you know that Granville Moore’s offers off-site catering? Ever thought about how awesome it would be to have the whole restaurant to yourself for a private party or lunch?

The new events team at Granville Moore’s is ready and able to help make this year’s holiday party, fundraiser, or private gathering one that no one will want to miss.

A large part of what makes Granville Moore’s so special is the restaurant itself. We’ve offered off-site catering under the radar for a while, but we think a lot of people are looking for alternative party space for their gatherings this season. Granville’s definitely doesn’t fit the typical mold for DC!

Granville’s provides off-site catering for small to medium-sized parties of up to 100 people. Menu offerings range from refreshing twists on the standard finger food to plated dinners crafted by Chef Folkman and our culinary team. Teddy & Matt can also suggest pairings of Belgian and Belgian-style beers to enhance the food.

Similarly, Granville Moore’s now is available for private parties, including customized beer dinners for up to 35 people, cocktail parties, and even lunch for up to 40.

Work is underway to convert the back porch area into a party space that will add another 20-plus seats to the restaurant or standing room space for up to 35 people. The new room, to be dubbed “The Waiting Room,” is expected to be completed by early next month. Keep an eye here on the blog & on our Facebook page to follow the build out progress.

To find out more information about catering or private parties at Granville Moore’s, please contact Events Manager Farrell Parker at DrGMEvents@gmail.com or call the restaurant at 202.399.2546.

American Craft Beer Week

Just because we’ve got a Belgian fetish doesn’t mean we don’t support American Craft Beer! We will have the following beers on tap at some point over the week, in

cluding a full keg of the Public. Don’t worry, we will tweet when we put it on…

DC Brau Public Ale
Great Divide Titan IPA
Great Divide Denver Pale Ale
Ommegang Rare Vos
Long Trail Belgian White
Schlafly Coffee Stout
Schlafly Kolsch
Schlafly Biere de Garde
Sierra Nevada Ovila Abbey Double

While everyone here enjoys their favorite brew, I’ll be in Belgium touring breweries, looking for something new for Granville’s…look out for pictures and tweets from the road on our Facebook page & Twitter. See you in about a week!

Belgian Style Frites

One of the most often questions I get is: How do you make the frites at Granville Moore’s?

“The frites have to be good,” I told myself time & time again when I took the job as Executive Chef of Granville Moore’s. “It’s what we are going to be serving a lot of.”

I have been making fries under three different chefs with three different techniques. One was all about washing the potatoes like six times; another insisted on leaving the potatoes soaking overnight, but not in a fridge. The last believed that defrosting frozen fries and then blasting them made the best frites. Sometimes, your inspiration comes from a friend, a roommate, or in this case, my then girlfriend (now fiancée) Kate.

The science of cooking.
My fiancée is a Doctor of Microbiology and Immunology so science is always a topic of conversation in our house. When she was working in the lab, we used to laugh about how similar our days were. Her boss was always making her perfect techniques over and over like a chef does his apprentice. Measuring, marinating, soaking, performing experiments, it all seemed ironic. But then you sit and think about how much science goes into cooking, and it is obvious.

This particular recipe was a complete science experiment inspired by my scientist. Not only did I test various types and ages of potatoes, but blanching temperatures, times and soaks. I even had controls and a formulated hypothesis. Finally, after three months of failure, success, misery, tasting and increasing belly fat, I came to a conclusion…these might be the best frites in the world. At least on H Street.

So how do we make our frites?
The secret is that I start out by cutting the fries and soaking them for exactly…I would love to share the rest of this story, but some secrets are not for the sharing. Three months is a long ass time to work on fries!

Here are some guidelines that should get you close:

10 pounds G-Pod Idaho Potatoes (cut into 3/8” batonnettes)
Cooking Oil (Preferably Peanut)
Deep Fat Fryer

Step 1
Cut and soak potatoes in water for at least an hour to let them “bloom”

Step 2
Drain all water

Step 3
Blanch the cut potatoes in a deep fryer at 275 degrees for around 4 minutes until they are translucent, soft, yet don’t break easily if you shake them and they don’t have a crunch when you bite down into them. Phew.

Step 4
Cool for at least 1 hour, preferably overnight

Step 5
Fry a second time at 375 degrees until desired crispiness

Step 6
Dust with desired toppings (i.e., sea salt, herbs, pepper)

Serve immediately with favorite dipping sauce. Truffle Aioli perhaps?

So many holiday beers…

So many holiday beers, such a short season. Every brewer seems to put out at least one creative offering at this time of year, with the great majority labeled as Christmas or Noel beers, others as Holiday, Winter, or the far more generic Seasonal.

We carry a fair number of these specialty beers on tap, with up to five of our seven draft lines running a mix of Belgian and domestic holiday beers. We’ve got a smaller variety in bottles, including several cases already set aside to age for the 2011 and 2012 holiday seasons.

The range of flavors is amazing — pine, cinnamon, nutmeg, honey, gingerbread — but my favorite holiday beer for the past several years has none of these additions. My holiday winter seasonal favorite? “Avec les bons Voeux de la brasserie Dupont” (“With the best wishes of the brewery Dupont”).

The Dupont brewery creates the world renowned Saison Dupont, often cited as the best example of the saison style available…anywhere. The style was originally explained to me as the beer created for workers in the fields, brewed for consumption during the harvest season, with each field worker allotted several liters per man per day. Good enough to quench the thirst of a fieldworker? Good enough for me.

The “Avec..” was originally a small batch saison, brewed as a gift for their best customers. As the brewery’s popularity grew, so did the requests for this coppery complex blond. The bottle is a heavy green champagne style 750ml, hefty enough to contain the carbonation building up during the secondary refermentation in bottle. Pouring a hazy golden orange, with a thick straw colored head, notes of citrus greet your nose before Dupont’s signature yeast strain jumps all over your tongue. A substantial mouth feel doesn’t stop you from wanting another sip…it makes you crave another…right now. It’s refreshing and complex and just damn good beer. 9.5% abv? Hard to believe, because you just don’t taste it.

A great beer, an extra glass to share, a case set aside to age for the next few years. We’ve got a few bottles to share with you now of the 2010 release. Yes a few… Brasserie Dupont isn’t a mass production operation, it’s a farmhouse brewery. Don’t miss out and have to wait a full year for it to come around again.

Avec les bons voeux de la gastropub Granville Moore’s!

Introducing “Two Guys Talk About a Bar…”

Sometimes, late at night, we look around the restaurant at the dozens of cases of beer stashed under seating areas, around the jukebox, making up the host stand, lining the top of the bar…and think:

“What should I taste first?” (If you’re Matt LeBarron, Beverage Director Extraordinaire); (and if you’re Exec Chef Teddy Folkman): Inspiration!

We like to think Granville Moore’s strikes a brilliant balance of a beer-lover’s paradise and an inspired culinary destination. Just how do we do it? Matt and Teddy will use this space to whet your palate by sharing tidbits about what’s being poured in Matt’s glass (he’ll try to save a few bottles to sell you, too), as well as what Teddy’s imagination is whipping up in the kitchen (even if inspiration strikes him in some very strange, unique & awkward places…however embarrassing it might be).

Won’t you join us?