Restaurant Nora’s Southern-style pulled pork with health slaw sliders on organic wheat circles. Is there a better smile? All photos Socotra.
I had the best of all food worlds this weekend, though Fall sort of got lost in the mix. It started with happy hour white after work on Friday- and Tracy O’Grady, Willow’s vivacious owner- stopped by the Amen Corner to have a glass of wine with Old Jim, Mary, Jake and me.
She mentioned that she was going to be open on Sunday, a highly unusual happening, since Tracy is a hands-on executive chef, just as her partner Kate Jansen is a totally engaged baker and pastry chef. They like to get the staff (and them) at least one night off a week.
“What’s the occasion?” I asked.
“It is the Fall event for the Women Chefs and Restaurateurs. We are calling it “World Fare: a Street Food Festival.”. We are going to have almost forty vendors here- women brewers and vintners and cheese-makers and chefs and restaurant owners. It is going to be a lot of fun.” She pulled a flier with the specifics and how to order tickets from her chef’s coat and handed it over.
“Sounds like a lot of work?” I said. “So, I think I have to see it. Five on Sunday?”
She nodded. “Kate and I try to support the DC chapter of WCR, so we are throwing the place open. It is going to be fun.”
Jake decided to get home before he got in trouble, and I thought that the work-week was thoroughly done and did the same. I had some prep cooking to do for the tailgate at College Park on Saturday, and the weather had reported that there might be rain. I recalled the last time I tried to cook out there- in the monsoon- and this time we conned Jason into providing his easy-up tent and folding grill.
The Agency Jake used to run had a gala that night, and with a three o’clock kick-off, even if it rained, we would get the tailgate and then see whether or not we would actually go to the game.
As it turned out, it rained a steady chill gray right through, and it was the best of all worlds- slow-cooked BBQ, sautéed peppers and onions and beer and chilled clear liquids. Then, at the appointed moment, half the party started the wet trudge to the stadium and we packed up and left, due to Jake and Jason’s commitments elsewhere.
I did my research for the World Fare event that night, and in the morning before running the deferred errands and cat support mission to the farm. Tracy’s WCR was formed in 1993 by eight marquee-named women in the culinary business, and now number in the thousands, supporting women-owned ventures and training the next generation of chefs and restaurant operators. The top women chefs, sommeliers, farmers, bee keepers, cheese makers, food truck operators and mixologists would be gathering through the afternoon.
I deliberately kept myself hungry all afternoon, and was surprised to see both the Lions and Redskins win. By the time cocktail hour rolled around, I was read and willing to hit the Street Food at Willow.
The drizzle continued, but not intrusively, and I could see the food tracks parked at the curb as I drove up Fairfax Drive in Ballston. I could see Tracy and Kate and Deborah managing their chaos in their customary effortless manner, and I decided to park at the office and walk over.
The nice lady at the gate to the patio checked my name against The List, stamped a red star on my right hand, and I wandered past The Willow station to my left, featuring a thinly-sliced porcetta dish with black beans on the side.
It is a guy, but he works for Tracy!
Nora’s was to the right, pulled pork country American, and the culinary institute of the Paint Branch High School was serving Cuban tamales on authentic corn leaves.
These are nice, hard-working people with real passion in their lives.
Inside, I did the circuit. There were three kinds of beverages available for sampling along the bar. In the Bistro area was the silent auction for a variety of delightful food-related products and activities.
But the main event was in Willow’s main dining room and the private salons in the rear. Willow’s tables and bar stools were all pulled out and stowed somewhere, and it was no wonder that Kevin, Willow’s estimable sommelier, looked tired. His wife Megan was dispensing hard cider- not too hard- bubbly in The Cave.
Megan serves up a complex, dry and bubbly cider from downstate.
Whatever it was, this oriental dish frHank’s Oyster House table was an immediate winner- I peered over the divider and watched a real artist shucking away.
om Equinox in yam-flour wrappers had tasty shrimp.
