FYIDC | THE DISH
WORTH THE WAIT Washington waited a long time for Jeremiah Langhorne and The Dabney, and now that patience is being rewarded. B Y L A U R A WA I N M A N
ashington, D.C. is a city that knows mentor, Sean Brock, at McCrady’s in what it wants and is willing to Charleston S.C. Langhorne spent five wait to get its way. Case in point: the line years honing and fine-tuning his talents outside of Rose’s Luxury forming earlier there, working his way up from line and earlier on any given Tuesday evening, cook to chef de cuisine. or the hordes of salivating sweet toothers Though the decision to leave and set who haven’t ceased to queue outside Milk out on his own was not an easy one, Bar since its arrival in late October. Langhorne says he knew it was time The latest object of desire is a 19thwhen he realized “there was never century row house now turned into a 55going to be another Sean” and that seat restaurant in Blagden Alley, the Shaw it was time to start molding his own neighborhood’s hidden gem. For two identity. But the moment the word years the city waited with baited breath got out of his departure, the pressure for chef Jeremiah Langhorne to finally started to mount. Jeremiah Langhorne at the Dabney (Photo by Tony Powell) throw open the doors of The Dabney and “As soon as the press got wind of my say “welcome.” Anticipation had been building since Langhorne left leaving McCrady’s and moving to D.C., I immediately started getting Charleston, S.C. in 2013 amid rumors that he was returning to his asked ‘when’s your restaurant opening’,” Langhorne says. “Everyone hometown to open his own restaurant. On Halloween, Washington thought my leaving meant I had this thing in my back pocket, ready to finally got its collective wish granted when the first piping hot go, but when my business partner Alex Zink and I moved, I think we buttermilk biscuits with foïe gras, apples, maple and country ham were had only been up to D.C. for one weekend trip; we didn’t even have served. a space yet.” But the story behind The Dabney, named for Langhorne’s prominent Finding exactly the right space to fit his very detailed vision was one Virginia family and honoring his Mid-Atlantic roots, really starts more of the hardest parts of the last two years. than a decade ago when the now 29-year-old chef was just a 16-year“I’m a very particular person and I knew exactly what I wanted for old kid working as a pizza delivery boy. this from day one,” Langhorne says “The concept of this restaurant has “After leaving my first ever job at McDonald’s, where I was working always been static. I’ve known what it was going to be and what it was to save money for a video camera for my skateboarding habit, I got a going to look like for years.” job at one of those strip mall Italian places,” Langhorne remembers. The chef, who often finds himself poring over vintage cookbooks, “It was really a pizza place but they had a few specials every night, says his goal for The Dabney dining experience is to transport guests cheesy things like balsamic glazed pork tenderloin. Anyway, one night out of their everyday routines in the city and take them on a journey I noticed the guys in the kitchen making a new dish with vegetables somewhere else. The cornerstone of that experience became his 10from the prep line. I don’t know why, but it shocked me that you could foot wood-burning hearth, where he plans to roast or smoke much of actually create new dishes. I literally thought that all dishes were just his Mid-Atlantic-inspired cuisine. The Dabney’s menu changes almost recipes that already existed, and the idea of making something new was daily as Langhorne, just like Brock, has “a complete and total respect mind-blowing to me at the time.” for local ingredients,” which means only using what is at peak in the After a quick chat with the pizza shop’s owner about his new-found region on any given day. That might be a “whole fried porgy” with a fascination, Langhorne realized that if he was serious about cooking side of grilled cabbage cooked in duck fat one day and seared golden he needed to move on to a new restaurant. Once he was introduced tilefish and caulif lower soup the next. to chef John Haywood (formerly of Charlottesville’s beloved OXO), One thing you should never expect to see in Langhorne’s kitchen? Langhorne started down a long and dedicated path of staging (culinary Unhappy faces. speak for interning) while balancing multiple jobs and trying to fulfill “One of the most important things Sean taught me was how to his quest for learning. After a few twists in the road, including one balance being totally dedicated to this craft at an intense level while winter spent as a ski bum in Crested Butte, Colo., Langhorne found having an enormous amount of fun,” Langhorne says of his Metallicahimself working under the man who would become his greatest blasting former boss. “Happy cooks just make better food.”
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