Ed Witt, the new chef at 8407 Kitchen Bar in Silver Spring, has rolled out new menus for the restaurant, keeping the focus on local, artisanal and house-made preparations, but with his own signature dishes.
Witt was hired in early January to replace Chef Pedro Matamoros, who was fired in November (see my blog, November 27, 2012).
A Damascus High School grad who attended the University of Maryland and got his cooking degree at the Culinary Institute of America, Witt was most recently executive chef at 701 Restaurant in downtown D.C. His impressive resume includes stints at New York’s Restaurant Daniel, Nicole’s, River Café and Il Buco.
Witt, who said the new menus are “more my style,” is trying to use as many locally sourced ingredients as he can. As a result, the menus will change seasonally.
Starters include Witt’s own house-cured charcuterie, such as liverwurst, rabbit rillette and lemongrass head cheese. He’s also introduced a grilled octopus appetizer, a dish he said he’s “done for years.” And among the new entrees are a pan-roasted grouper (with celery root puree, pickled kumquats, wild mushrooms, tarragon and cardamom crumble) and seared sea scallops (with curry, cauliflower, pickled carrots, golden raisins and pistachio brittle).
Matamoros’ signature lamb Bolognese is history, but not to worry. Witt has replaced it with his own rustic pasta dish—beef short rib ragu over homemade pappardelle.
8407 Ramsey Ave., 301-587-8407. To look at the new menus, go to www.8407kb.com
