Top Chef’s Mike Isabella hosted a private “oven-warming” party last night at his brand new restaurant, Graffiato.
By Laura Carlson
A Top Chef Mike Isabella sandwich. (Photo by Anchyi Wei)
The Penn Quarter newest eatery, Graffiato’s second floor was filled with Top Chef alumni from season’s past, some notable D.C. chefs and a mix of local media, who all gathered to celebrate the three-week-old restaurant.
Guests sampled signature dishes like the house-stretched mozzarella, the Jersey pizza (topped with fried calamari) and a charcuterie “ham” bar filled with cheese and meats from local farmers, while sipping on the house favorite, prosecco on tap. We caught Carla Hall from Season 5, who will be co-hosting the new show ‘The Chew’ which will be airing soon on ABC, sampling the ‘white house’ pizza. Stephen Aspirino from Season 1 looked dapper as he posed for photos with Season 6’s Jennifer Carrol and Season 4’s Dale Talde bragged about having already had the chance to eat the menu before the party even started. We spotted Spike Mendelsohn chowing down on several of the tappas-sized dishes in the corner and leaking that his next project is another Good Stuff Eatery “2.0” located right outside D.C. While we didn’t catch a sighting of Charlie Palmer protégée Bryan Voltaggio of Volt, we did see Kevin Sbraga, the D.C., Season 7 winner, who reminisced about cooking with Chef Isabella six years ago.
Graffiato 707 6th St NW, Washington DC 20001; 202-289-3600
(Photo by Anchyi Wei)
(Photo by Anchyi Wei)
(Photo by Anchyi Wei)
Hors d'œuvres from Graffiato (Photo by Anchyi Wei)
Top Chef Carla Hall. (Photo by Anchyi Wei)
