Flavor Café: Restaurant 3

Third-generation Washingtonian Brian Robinson has made a menu based on what he wants to eat.

By Pamela Hess • Photographs by Molly McDonald Peterson

Northern Virginians familiar with the honky-tonk charms of Whitlows on Wilson might be surprised to discover its locavore cousin in Clarendon—Restaurant 3.

“We wanted to do something completely different,” said Jonathan Williams, who co-owns Restaurant 3 with his wife and her parents, who bought the original Whitlows in 1971. “This is the other side of the spectrum.”

Family Tree

Like Restaurant 3’s, chef Brian Robinson’s culinary roots are humble. A third-generation Washingtonian, Robinson’s first professional cooking job was at a suburban pizza place. From there he jumped to D.C.’s Georgia Brown, renowned for its modern Southern cuisine. He became the chef at Whitlows— beloved for its live music, cold beer and Sunday brunch—in 1998. When the owners decided to open a third, more upscale restaurant, he started experimenting.

Chef Brian Robinson (right) and sous chef Sean Mooney

Restaurant 3 cures and smokes its own bacon from pork bellies sourced from three local farms. Its oysters—plump and fried crisp with black-eyed pea relish, brightened with lemon balm and pineapple sage grown in chef Robinson’s home garden—are delivered by the oyster farmers themselves. Cherry Glen goat cheese is brought straight into the kitchen every Thursday by the man who makes it.

You Had Me at Bacon

Robinson knew he wanted to serve as much food from local sources as possible at the new venture. Restaurants that tout the local provenance of their food can veer dangerously close to elitism, but in Robinson’s hands, it sounds more like populism. “We always wanted to support local, independent businesses because we’re local and independent ourselves,” he said.

The menu evolved into what it is—what he and his sous chef Sean Mooney most want to eat and cook, versus what they knew would “sell”—after about a year of being open. Robinson subscribed to two separate farm shares so he could learn what was in season in the area as he began shaping his menu.

But the local sourcing, and the switch to house-made bacon, started early, around month two. Bill Jones of Babes in the Woods, a pig farm in Dillwyn, Virginia, called. Would they be interested in buying some of his pork?

The yes was instant. “We’ve always been pork centric,” explained Robinson.

Although Jones’s small farm couldn’t keep up with Robinson’s need for chops or roast, his “pork belly was less expensive, and he had plenty,” said Robinson.

The result is a meaty, salty-sweet marvel. “For three months we were making bacon and eating it all,” Robinson laughed. “But then we thought, we could use it rather than just eating it!”

It will soon be offered satay style on a stick, daubed with his “magic sauce” to satisfy the hordes who saw a Travel Channel feature on his bacon in November and now come in to try it. Diners can also eat it wrapped around roasted pork loin, stuffed into a meat loaf with brie cheese, and as a topping on a beef and andouille sausage burger. They can drink it too: It flavors vodka for a house specialty—a bacon Bloody Mary.

Sourcing Around

Restaurant 3’s grits are stone ground and come from Wade’s Mill, in Raphine, Virginia, a small outfit Robinson learned about from a corporate food company’s sales rep. The grits make a nutty, toothsome bed for seared scallops with Asiago cheese and diced tasso ham. Robinson does not yet make his own tasso ham, but he has begun making pancetta and has a leg of prosciutto curing that should be ready in January.

On the recommendation of the nearby restaurant Willow, Robinson also buys from Polyface Farms, perhaps Virginia’s best-known family farm and certainly a leader in the local-eating movement. His Sunday suppers almost always feature a protein from Polyface—a deal at $17 a head for a set entrée and three sides, served family style.

Dreams and Realities

But sourcing everything locally isn’t feasible. “In a perfect world, you would do all local. We’re blessed here by a long growing season. But you can’t just eat greens all winter,” he said with a smile.

Co-owner Jonathan Williams acknowledges that the economics of serving local food can be a challenge. “A lot of people say they want an all organic meal but they don’t want to pay an extra two dollars for it,” he said. “But this is not a trend. It’s a movement, and people are coming to expect it.” Williams himself is sold on the farm-to-table concept and confesses to fantasies of buying a farm of his own with a restaurant attached to serve what he grows.

For now, however, he and Robinson have their hands full figuring out what to do with what each season yields. Autumn is Robinson’s favorite time to cook. Summer produce doesn’t need much from a chef, just a quick turn on the grill or a sprinkle of salt and herbs. Cool-weather crops, though, require a chef’s creativity and the meat needs long, slow braises.

And one added bonus—this is when the pigs come in.

Restaurant 3
2950 Clarendon Blvd., Arlington, VA
(703) 524-4440
www.restaurantthree.com

Find the recipes for Scallop & Asiago Grits and Bacon-Infused Vodka here.

Pamela Hess became the editor of Flavor in January 2011. She was the Associated Press’s intelligence and national security correspondent from 2007 to 2010, covering the CIA, intelligence, torture, espionage, and foreign and military policy. Prior to joining AP, she was United Press International’s Pentagon correspondent and a war correspondent.