Pork Week Pops Up at Capella, Feb. 6 to 8


The Grill Room at the Capella Georgetown is hosting a Pork Cook Off to celebrate a full snout-to-tail dining experience Feb. 6 to 8. Diners can choose from one of two five-course pork-filled menus to taste the difference in the eco-friendly raised and processed pork provided by EcoFriendly Foods.

Bev Eggleston founded EcoFriendly Foods in 2001 after 12 years of farming in Mendota, Va. As a farmer, Eggleston experienced the frustration balancing raising great animals and making the most out of the product he raised. This gave him a first-hand look at how small family farms have to compete with the large-scale, corporate-owned, industrial-based agriculture that seem to dominate the industry. EcoFriendly Foods offers small farmers the opportunity to take care of the business end of processing, marketing and distribution of their animals, all done in-house.

Grill Room executive chef Jakob Esko and sous-chef Robert Sargent invited Eggleston to join them in the celebration of locally raised and processed pork. The team also invited D.C. chef John Manolatos of Cashion’s Eat Place and Yvan Mucharraz from Don Manuel’s at Capella in Pedregal, Mexico, to participate in the cook-off. Together, they created a menu that features such dishes as pork shank ravioli with radicchio, rapini, parmesan and smoked ham hock cream as well as pork–rib broth with poached Jidori egg and winter truffles. Chef Esko also invented two pork-inspired desserts, including an apple tart tatin with candied pecan and bacon ice cream and a caramelia chocolate mousse with hazelnut cake and fig and prosciutto ice cream.

The pork menu is exclusively available Thursday, Feb. 6, 6 p.m. to 10 p.m., when the featured chefs will be on-hand for the kick off.

Feb. 7 and 8 will feature a blend between pork tasting and regular Grill Room items during dinner from 5:30 p.m. to 11 p.m.

The five-course pork tasting menus are $95 per person (excluding gratuities.) If guests would prefer to order the dishes a la carte, they can do so on Feb. 7 and 8. Starters are priced between $14-18; the main courses are $32-38; and $10 for desserts. View the full pork filled menu at grillroomdc.com/events, or call 202-617-2429. The Grill Room, 1050 31st St., NW.

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