Foodie and the Beast – Oct. 18, 2020

Hosted by David and Nycci Nellis.

On today’s show:

• Grand Cata, recently voted one of America’s 50 Best Wine Retailers, has opened its second D.C. location at La Cosecha. It’s a grocery-wine bar concept with a curated selection of classic and sustainable natural wines from Latin America, framed by artisanal gastronomic products from the region. Founders Pedro Rodriguez and Julio Robledo joins us;
• Matt Baker is the celebrated chef/owner of Gravitas, his modern American restaurant in Ivy City. He’s just celebrated the birth of his baby girl by opening Baker’s Daughter, a café and market across the street from Gravitas;
• When you walk into an area restaurant – from fine dining to fast casual – and think, “wow – this place is so cool,” chances are pretty good that Core Architecture and Design’s Allison Cooke had something to do with it. Core’s client list reads like a who’s who of leading restaurants, including Centrolina, Astoria, Founding Farmers, the Pearl Dive Oyster Palace, the Schlow Restaurant Group, the Jose Garces Group, Sweetgreen, the CAVA Grill, the Silver Diner and more. Mozzeria is a great new pizza place near Gallaudet University with a very special mission, and, yes, Allison and Core did that one, too. She joins us along with Ryan Maliszewski from Mozzeria with all the details;

• You may remember a while back that Georgetown’s Brasserie Liberte opened to a great response, only to be confronted by the COVID-19 pandemic shortly thereafter. Well, they pivoted in response and are doing fine. Executive Chef Matthew Cockrell and owner Hakan Ilhan join us with an update.