Barton Seaver
Executive Chef Partner
He is 27, but his culinary resume reads like a seasoned 40-something. Washington, D.C. native, StarChefs.com Rising Star of 2006 and recently nominated as a Rising Star by the Restaurant Association of Metropolitan Washington, Chef Barton Seaver of the soon to be opened Hook (3241 M Street NW, 202.625.4488, www.hookdc.com) was taught at an early age about the importance of food. Dinner in the Seaver home was a seven nights a week family affair. Eating dinner with his family was a “communal celebration” and involved shopping for the freshest ingredients at local markets, instilling this value in him at a young age. “Mac and Cheese” was never just out of the box, but prepared with a homemade béchamel cheese sauce and pasta made from scratch. Summers spent at a family friends’ hog farm on the Chesapeake Bay, along with crabbing and going with his father to buy fresh seafood from local fisherman, taught Seaver the importance of supporting local purveyors and using quality and fresh ingredients. According to Seaver, “Seasonality and locality made sense to me early on.”
Seaver began his professional career working for popular D.C. restaurants such as Ardeo, Felix, and Greenwood. After years of invaluable kitchen experience, Seaver made his way to Hyde Park, New York, where he trained at the renowned Culinary Institute of America. During his schooling, he spent time in the kitchens of Tru restaurant and The Dining Room at the Ritz Carlton under Sarah Stegner in Chicago. Upon graduating with honors, he immediately took a fellowship position at C.I.A. as a graduate teacher in both the meat and fish classes. Working in this hands-on environment taught Seaver the importance of proper handling and techniques of exceptionally fresh products, all the while giving him direct access to sources of fish through the eastern seaboard ports. Under the guidance of Chef Corky Clark, he learned to appreciate underutilized species of fish and became a proponent of sustainable ocean products.
After completing his tenure at the C.I.A., Seaver went on to the Finch Tavern in New York to work under renowned Chef Dan Kish, where he was eventually promoted to Executive Sous Chef. Seaver’s classical training later led him to Europe. Traveling extensively throughout the Iberian Peninsula and Africa, he participated in old world traditions of farming and harvesting from the sea. He spent time working in small seaside restaurants and cooking with families in their homes. This form of simple, market driven food has greatly affected his personal style of cuisine. Seaver later returned to Washington, DC, to work for star Chef Jose Andres at his flagship restaurant Jaleo, where he gained experience in cutting edge small plates cuisine.
In early 2005, Seaver accepted the position of Executive Chef at Café Saint-Ex. At Café Saint-Ex, Seaver maintained the restaurant’s established bistro style, he adapted the menu to focus on simply prepared wood-grilled items. Using local organic ingredients and focusing on sustainable fish species, Seaver blended Mediterranean simplicity with stylized sustainable modern cuisine. In July 2006, Seaver also oversaw the revamp of the menu at sister restaurant Bar Pilar into Italian inspired small plates.
Seaver left Café Saint-Ex and Bar Pilar in March 2007 to open Hook restaurant in Georgetown. Hook allows Chef Seaver’s dedication to the use of sustainable seafood to flourish. As one of the cause’s biggest advocates, Chef Seaver looks to his restaurants, both past and present, to serve as the "educational arm" of his beliefs and will continue to powerfully influence his community with the opening of Hook, which is a 100% sustainable, fish focused restaurant. His menu will focus on crudos, which means “raw fish” in Italian. Highlights include Smoked Pacific Yellowfin Tuna with extra virgin olive oil, chervil and grapefruit, Maine Scallops with almond milk and sofrito, and Striped Bass with yellow watermelon and mint. Appetizers include a Country Ham Tasting with seasonal accompaniments and biscuits, and Rosemary Braised Cuttlefish with Marcona almond sauce. Adventurous fish eaters can tuck into Halibut Cheeks with parsley garlic chile and sherry and Slow Roasted Alaskan Halibut with sea urchin parsley butter.
Seaver is a certified sommelier through the Sommelier Society of America and is continuing his studies with Wine and Spirits Educational Trust in London. Additionally, he is also active in the Slow Food movement, and recently cooked at the bi-annual Slow Food Terra Madre conference in October 2006 in Italy. Other organization involvements include the Chef’s Collaborative, the James Beard Foundation, the National Restaurant Association, the International Seafood Conference, Chef’s Congress, and the Seafood Alliance. As a firm believer in the idea that chefs are the keepers of food culture, he is publishing a monthly article for the online newsletter for StarChefs.com. In an effort to educate fellow industry members, Chef Seaver will address the issue of sustainability from the perspective of a chef offering solutions to common problems they face in their profession such as buying decisions and their responsibility as the definers of what is fashionable eating. Monthly columns are archived on the StarChefs.com website with new articles posting on the 15th of each month.
