Blue Duck Tavern Blog

Thanksgiving at Blue Duck Tavern

On Thursday, November 22, Chefs Seabstien Archambault & John Melfi will offer a three-course ‘lunch into dinner’ Thanksgiving meal. The experience begins with an array of starters set throughout the open kitchen, followed by a choice of plated entrées and side dishes. Seasonal desserts, created by Pastry Chef Peter Brett, on display in the Pastry Pantry, complete the Thanksgiving feast.

Menu highlights include Pumpkin Ravioli with sage and beurre blanc; Braised Apple Cider Glazed Roasted Turkey Leg with Virginia Riesling gravy; Muscovy Duck Breast, confit of leg and pumpkin relish; Wood Oven Baked Beets with citrus salt; Corn Bread with oysters and chorizo stuffing; Red Wine Salsify with brown butter granola; Milk Chocolate Caramel Mousse; Butternut Squash Crème Brulée; Pumpkin Walnut Bread; and Caramel Dipped Chestnut Cream Puffs.

$95 per person & $42.50 for children 6-12 years of age; under 6 are complimentary. For reservations, please call 202 419 6755 or visit http://www.blueducktavern.com/

Park Hyatt Masters of Food & Wine - Autumn Mushroom Dinner

On Saturday, September 22, Park Hyatt Washington & Blue Duck Tavern will host Park Hyatt Masters of Food & Wine, a seasonal culinary experience saluting the tastes and flavors of local chefs, regional producers, and American winemakers.

Join Executive Chef Sebastien Archambault and Chef de Cuisine John Melfi, along with Bryan Irwin, of the R.L. Irwin Mushroom Company, for a specially prepared Chef's Table dinner featuring recently foraged chanterelle and field mushrooms at the peak of their season. Located in Kennett Square, PA, the mushroom capital of the world, the family-owned Irwin Mushroom Company has been shipping fresh mushrooms since 1946. 

This five-course 'Masters' dinner will be complemented with a selection of limited-production, specialty wines from Robert Mondavi Winery in Napa Valley, CA. 

The dinner menu includes:

First Course

American Cheese & Charcuterie

Second Course

Mushroom Tart with Hazelnut Oil

Third Course

Seared Sea Bass with Gold Chanterelles & Sunchokes

Fourth Course

Dry-Aged Rib-Eye with Sauteed Field Mushrooms, Potatoes, Garlic, and Black Truffle Sauce

Fifth Course

Rum Baba Cake with Fruit Minestrone and Housemade Creme Fraiche

Seasonal Ice Cream and Sorbet

The Autumn Mushroom Dinner is priced at $155 per person, inclusive of tax and gratuities. For more information or to purchase tickets, please call +1 202 419 6768, email [email protected] or visit our Facebook page.

National Tequila Day!

Happy National Tequila Day! Celebrate with our freshly prepared Margarita, available in the restaurant or Lounge.  Our Margarita mixes Patron Silver Tequila with Triple Sec, Agave Nectar and Fresh Squeezed Lime Juice. 

The Margarita was invented in October 1941, at Hussong's Cantina in Ensenada, Mexico, by bartender Don Carlos Orozco. He was experimenting with mixing new drinks when Margarita Henkel, the daughter of a German ambassador, who lived with her husband Roy Parodi near the city, arrived. Don Carlos offered the drink to Margarita, and named it after her for being the first person to taste it. He concocted a mixture of tequila, orange liqueur, and lime, served over ice in a salt-rimmed glass.

Happy National Sugar Cookie Day!

In celebration of National Sugar Cookie Day today, we are giving you the recipe for our signature sugar cookies. Did you know these cookies have been a staple on our menu since we opened over 6 years ago?!?

Old Fashioned Sugar Cookies

By Pastry Chef Peter Brett

Yields: 2 dozen

Ingredients

1 1⁄3 cups sifted flour
1⁄3 teaspoon baking powder
1⁄3 teaspoon salt
1½ sticks (6 ounces) butter
2 tablespoons plus ¼ cup white sugar
2 tablespoons brown sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
1 egg

Method

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

In a large bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Using an electric mixer, cream the butter with 2 tablespoons of white sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla. Beat in the egg. Stir in the dry ingredients. Place the remaining ¼ cup sugar in a clean bowl. Using a small ice-cream scoop, shape 1-ounce balls of the cookie dough and roll each in the sugar. Bake 12 to 15 minutes, until the cookies are just browning at the edges.

 

A Day at the Farms!

Yesterday, Chefs Sebastien Archambault & John Melfi organized a trip for the restaurant's culinary team to visit 2 of our suppliers in PA - Pipe Dreams and Earth N' Eats.  Embracing Hyatt's new philosophy, "Food. Thoughtfully Sourced. Carefully Served.", the team enjoyed meeting with the producers, personally touring their farms to see where our ingredients come from, how cheese is made, goats are milked, lettuce is grown, and chickens are raised to produce eggs. 

Enjoy our photos from the farms!

Chefs John Melfi & Sebastien Archambault with Brad Parker of Pipe Dreams Fromage. For almost 20 years, Brad has been making goat cheese using traditional methods he learned in France on his 16-acre farm in Greencastle, Pennsylvania.

We took a walk with the goats around the farm.

Chef Sebastien makes a new friend.

Brad teaches us how to make fresh goat cheese with rennet.

Milking the goat.

Next, the group drove several miles down the road to Earth N' Eats, an Amish food co-op in Waynesboro, PA. We spent a few hours touring the farm with father & son owners and operators, Samuel & Josiah Martin.

Tomatoes grown on the vine

Chef John picking cucumbers with Josiah.

Fresh basil

We also source our eggs from Earth N' Eats.  

PHOTOS: Park Hyatt Masters of Food & Wine 'Harvest Breakfast & Market Tour and Demo'

Thank you to everyone who joined us for the Park Hyatt Masters of Food & Wine on Sunday morning.  We started out with a 'Harvest Breakfast' on the terrace, treating guests to a variety of artisanal cheeses, fresh baked muffins, croissants, mimosas, and Santa Lucia Estate coffee. 

Guests chatted with the chefs, local farmers, and Ann Yonkers of FRESHFARM Markets, while enjoying some of our new 'Influential Breakfast' dishes: Brioche Bread Pudding French Toast, Jumbo Lump Maryland Crab with Scrambled Eggs, Short Rib Hash, Slowly Poached Egg with Sauteed Spinach and Mushrooms, and Fried Chicken Livers with Fried Egg and Sweet Rella Relish.

Following brunch, Ann led the group to the Dupont Circle FRESHFARM Market, where Chefs Sebastien & John led their 'Chef at Market' demo preparing Chilled Cucumber Soup with Jumbo Lump Crabmeat and Sorbet.  A refreshing snack on a very hot day! After enjoying the demo, the group toured the Market with Ann, chatting with the farmers, learning about their products and history. 

We had a great morning with everyone.  We hope you can join us for our September Masters of Food & Wine.

 

 

 

Chef Sebastien on WUSA9!

Gearing up for our Park Hyatt Masters of Food & Wine on Sunday morning, Executive Chef Sebastien Archambault appeared live on WUSA9's noon newscast, preparing Poached Egg with English Muffin, Sauteed Spinach, and Fresh Mushrooms.

The Masters of Food & Wine begins at 9:00 am with a Harvest Breakfast on our outdoor terrace, followed by a 'Chef at Market' cooking demonstration led by Chef Sebastien & Chef de Cuisine John Melfi at the Dupont Circle FRESHFARM Market. At the conclusion of the demo, Ann Yonkers, co-founder of the Markets, will lead the group on a tour, interacting with the local farmers and producers. 

A few tickets still remain.  For more information, please call +1 202 419 6768 or email [email protected]. 

A Balanced Breakfast

Since launching our 'Influential Breakfast' menu last month, Chef Sebastien & his team have added several new dishes this week, giving guests more of an opportunity to eat heart-healthy.  These lighter 'Balanced Fare' items include regional, seasonal ingredients, sourced directly from farms and suppliers in Maryland and Pennsylvania.  

With the new Cottage Cheese, Apricots & Bananas dish, the fruit comes from fresh Toigo Orchards in Pennsylvania; and the Jumbo Lump Crab with Scrambled Egg Whites uses fresh, local crabmeat from Baxter's on Maryland's Eastern Shore.  

Balanced Fare dishes include: 

Cottage Cheese, Apricots & Bananas

Housemade Smoked Salmon with Avocado, Pickled Onions and 'Silver Dollar' Johnny Cakes

Jumbo Lump Maryland Crab with Scrambled Egg Whites, Tomato, Avocado, Cream Cheese & Multigrain Bread

Slowly Poached Egg with English Muffin, Sauteed Spinach & Irwin Mushrooms

Breakfast is served daily from 6:30 am - 10:30 am.  For reservations, please call 202 419 6755 or email [email protected].  We hope to see you soon!

The Washington Post Awards Us Three Stars!

On Sunday, The Washington Post unveils its Dining Guide Spring 2012, but today we received a sneak peak online. And boy are we glad we did! It's been 5 years since our last review but it was worth wait as we received 3 out of 4 stars with a fantastic review of both our food and service.  

Thank you to both our team at the restaurant and kitchen, and to the paper for this terrific honor! We look forward to welcoming you, our favorite patrons, back again soon.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/gog/profile/dining-guide/blue-duck-tavern,102675,791754.html

 

Park Hyatt Masters of Food & Wine - June 24, 2012

Celebrate the start of summer with an early morning farm-fresh breakfast on Blue Duck Tavern's spacious outdoor terrace surrounded by our bountiful herb garden.  As part of our summer Park Hyatt Masters of Food & Wine program, Executive Chef Sebastien Archambault and Chef de Cuisine John Melfi are hosting a Harvest Breakfast & Market Tour.

Participants of this upcoming Masters event will enjoy an assortment of regional ingredients such as hand-harvested Amish eggs from Path Valley in Pennsylvania and artisan cheese from Everona Dairy in Virginia. The chefs will also prepare a variety of dishes found on their new breakfast menu including Short Rib Hash with Olive Oil Eggs and Horseradish Sauce, and Fried Chicken Liver with Fried Eggs, Anson Mills Grits and Sweet Pepper Relish.

After the breakfast, the group will walk over to the city's most popular Dupont Circle FRESHFARM Market to watch the chefs create a Chilled Cucumber and Crab Meat Soup, and Heirloom Tomato Tartar using freshly-sourced goat cheese and basil sorbet, right from the Market. Following the Chef at Market demo, Bernie Prince, co-founder of FRESHFARM Markets will lead the group on a tour of the Market, providing the perfect opportunity to interact with the artisans and to purchase locally-produced vegetables, fruits, baked bread, seafood and cheese.

The Harvest Breakfast & Market Tour is priced at $55, inclusive of tax and gratuities.  For more information or to purchase tickets, please email [email protected] or call +1 202 419 6768.

Our Masters of Food & Wine program supports Hyatt's new philosophy Food. Thoughtfully Sourced. Carefully Served, providing sustainable and responsible food and beverage for our guests.