Courtesy Barton Seaver

Chef Barton Seaver Brings Tasty Seafood to Logan Circle

November/December 2009

Barton Seaver, whom Esquire just named America's chef of the year, grew up cooking in D.C. He's worked in kitchens all over town, most recently as executive chef at Blue Ridge in Glover Park and Sonoma Restaurant and Wine Bar on Pennsylvania Avenue, and he's earned a name for himself through his sustainability efforts. This winter, he's teaming up with business partner Douglas Singer to unveil Diamond District Seafood Co. near Logan Circle.

Washington Flyer: Tell us about the new venture and its name.

Barton Seaver: It's a neighborhood restaurant with a market attached. It's on 14th Street, and we'll serve all seafood. I'm getting back to what I love about cooking, which is a great variety of seafood. We work directly with a lot of local fisherman, and the menu will reflect the day's catch and a diversity of species. The name is a reference to the original shape of D.C. before we split it up and gave it back to Virginia.

WF: What's your favorite fish?
BS: Blue fish. In this area, we're so blessed to get really great, high-quality blue fish, and when it's fresh, it's the best thing in the ocean.

WF: What's your most essential cooking ingredient?
BS: I like acid—lemon juice. Acid makes things taste like they are and accentuates natural flavors. When you use acid in your cooking, such as lemon on baked fish, it takes the place of a lot of fatty ingredients.

WF: Simple ingredients seem to be the key for you. Where do you shop?
BS: I go to the Dupont Farmer's Market year round for staples and basics, and the Maine Avenue fish market on 12th and Maine.

WF: What else inspires you?
BS: I love [cooking with] smoke. In all of our restaurants, we use a wood grill. When you can make the cooking method an ingredient in the final dish, you add depth, complexity and flavor.

WF: You have a real affinity for how food should be cooked. Where did you get this?
BS: My father. He was an intrepid cook, and he and my mother both were interested in the food that they put on the table, both from the source of the ingredients to the composition of the meal. I still crave vegetables as the main source of a meal, because that's the way we ate when we were kids—small amounts of proteins with large diverse vegetables.

WF: When you're not cooking for yourself, what's your favorite restaurant to visit?
BS: Pupuseria San Miguel. It's a little Salvadoran joint on Mount Pleasant Street. I've been eating there for 17 years. The food is consistently kick-ass. Their tacos de carne are incredible, and their pupusas are great. Growing up, my friend Garth and I had taco-eating contests there.

WF: Do you have a signature dish?
BS: Wood-grilled calamari with basil-walnut pesto.

WF: What's your favorite holiday dish?
BS: Sweet potatoes. They have a lot of versatility and marry well with fish and traditional meats. My close friend Patsy does mashed sweet potatoes with brown sugar and marshmallows. My brother eats the marshmallows, and I eat the sweet potatoes.

Diamond District Seafood Co. is located at 1608 14th St., NW.