A Chat with Michael Landrum

[DonRocks]

Hold onto your tocques, double-down your auntie, raise the stakes and fasten your seatbelts: let's all welcome chef Michael Landrum to this eGullet chat.

Michael appeared on the scene three years ago, seemingly from nowhere, with vague rumors of time spent at Capital Grille, Nora's, Europe and the Middle East, and various other nefarious and forbidden locales.

"I don't have the same professional pedigree as many of my more talented colleagues," says Landrum, "just a single-minded goal which I doggedly pursued over a long and convoluted path."

Ray's The Steaks opened in April 2002 and is the result of that pursuit, but is still very much a work in progress.

The chat will officially begin on-or-about Sunday, October 3rd, maybe Monday the 4th, but please feel free to begin submitting questions now and Michael will get to them when he can.

Michael, welcome to the chat, and thank you in advance for joining us here!

And here's a question: would it be accurate to consider Ray's The Steaks as being globally local, or perhaps even desperately local?

[mnebergall]

Chef Michael:

Rocks says that Ray's the Steaks is a work in progress. I understand that you plan to upgrade your "wine by the glass" program. But what else can we expect to see down the road?

Mark

Edited September 30, 2004 by mnebergall (log)

[John W.]

This should be rich...

[Chef Shogun]

Chef Michael:

First time caller, long time 'really want to go to Ray's the Steaks'.

How do you like YOUR steak? I'll let everybody else handle the hardball stuff!

[iamthestretch]

Michael -- Thanks for the great steaks tonight and all the tidbits that kept appearing. It's true what they say: no one beats your meat.

Anyway, we were spying on you through the front window afterwards while you were doing some butchering and the women all agreed they'd be happy to be handled that tenderly. (Minus the knives and cutting, of course.) How did you come by your obvious reverence for a good piece of beef?

Edited October 1, 2004 by iamthestretch (log)

[landrumm2000]

Michael, welcome to the chat, and thank you in advance for joining us here!

And here's a question:  would it be accurate to consider Ray's The Steaks as being  globally local, or perhaps even desperately local?

←

Thank you for the welcome and thank you for hosting me here. I hope I can do justice to this august and praise-worthy forum.

I believe Ray's is, by necessity, crucially and desperately local. At the same time I hope that we achieve something not global, but universal--creating a sense of place.

A restaurant, to be worth enduring (double entendre intentional), must be vitally connected to a place. A restaurant should both define a place but also be an organic outgrowth of the place it serves. It should be a focal point of its community but also an essential reflection of the community it serves. And ultimately a restaurant is merely that--a community, both of workers and guests, striving to create and enjoy the greatest sense of hospitality possible, no matter what level of dining serves as a backdrop.

Why desperately local, though?

All great cuisine, again no matter what level, is an organic outgrowth of a locale. And great cuisine must both grow from and reflect a locale, either physical space--prawns sea-side in Costa Brava, truffles in Piedmont, fois gras in Gascony, or mind-space--the cuisine of Rome is inextricably urban, while the cuisine of Milan is unavoidably urbane. Great cuisine, then, both epitomizes the culture of which it is a part and is an intimate conduit for the creation of that culture.

Without the intense, vital, intimate connection to place, culture and community there can not be the celebration of life, love, friends, family and hardship overcome that is the essence of great cuisine and the celebration of which a restaurant serves as the communal backdrop.

That is why DC, with a few notable and excellent exceptions and regardless of what professional boosters may say, is such a poor restaurant town--a poverty of connection and community is at its core.

And that is why--not that I make any claim to greatness--Ray's strives desperately to return to that crucial sense of connectivity and community that makes what we all do worthwhile.

[landrumm2000]

Chef Michael:

Rocks says that Ray's the Steaks is a work in progress.  I understand that you plan to upgrade your "wine by the glass" program.  But what else can we expect to see down the road?

Mark

←

I am not at liberty to disclose publicly, but let's just say that Siegfield and ...Ray has a nice ring to it, don't you think?

[landrumm2000]

This should be rich...

←

I'll deal with you later, mister.

[landrumm2000]

Chef Michael:

First time caller, long time 'really want to go to Ray's the Steaks'. 

How do you like YOUR steak?  I'll let everybody else handle the hardball stuff!

←

Cooked by someone else, preferably not a chef.

[landrumm2000]

Michael -- Thanks for the great steaks tonight and all the tidbits that kept appearing. It's true what they say: no one beats your meat.

Anyway, we were spying on you through the front window afterwards while you were doing some butchering and the women all agreed they'd be happy to be handled that tenderly. (Minus the knives and cutting, of course.) How did you come by your obvious reverence for a good piece of beef?

←

Thanks right back at you.

What you saw, that wasn't beef.

[jmc8y]

Thanks right back at you.

What you saw, that wasn't beef.

←

i can tell already, this is going to be an interesting chat.

I'll admit it, I would have never discovered your place if it weren't for the pho shop a few doors down. ever try that place?

[hillvalley]

What should I say when I mention to non-eG regulars of Rays when they find out I was lucky enough to experience the steak tartar deviled eggs and they haven't?

BTW, I have been dreaming of them ever since.

[JPW]

Michael,

What steps have been on that long and convoluted path that have helped you create that wine list that I enjoyed so much when I was there?

Don't know how much I want other people to know, because you might raise your margin, but I, for one, am greatly appreciative of some of the bargins on your list even if I haven't taken advantage of them as much as I have wanted.

[Nadya]

Michael,

1. What do you like to eat when you're home alone?

2. What do you like to eat when you're home...but not alone?

3. Where do you like to eat out in DC?

4. Breakfast in bed or her arms in your sink?

5. I am curious whether your travels, as oblique as Rocks was about them, have influenced your cooking, or contributed to your views on food, and if so, in what way?

6. What do you like about being a chef?

[rhodegirl]

Chef Michael,

Thanks so much for doing this.

Could you talk about the suppliers you use for the restaurant?

Do you use produce, beef or other foods from local farmers or farmers' markets at all?

What do you think of 'grass-fed' or 'naturally raised' or 'organic' beef? What about the practice of sustainable farming? Do you think these approaches improve the quality of the products? Are small restaurants able to use foods from these kinds of small farms, or are the prices too high?

(Apologies if these questions are ridiculously basic or naive - I'm not in the business and I know nothing about how the restaurant supply process works.)

[laniloa]

Hi Michael--

I'm sure I share this dilemma with others on the board. I want to tell all my friends who are wasting their money at places downtown to come to Ray's. But, it is already difficult to get a reservation and I don't want to contribute to that. So, how do you stay desperately local when you can't just say, hmmm, I'm in the mood for a steak...let's go to Ray's tomorrow night?

That said, I'm going to try to introduce a friend to your fine establishment next week. That is, if we can get a reservation on such short notice.

[Mark Sommelier]

Hi Michael--

I'm sure I share this dilemma with others on the board.  I want to tell all my friends who are wasting their money at places downtown to come to Ray's.  But, it is already difficult to get a reservation and I don't want to contribute to that.  So, how do you stay desperately local when you can't just say, hmmm, I'm in the mood for a steak...let's go to Ray's tomorrow night?

That said, I'm going to try to introduce a friend to your fine establishment next week.  That is, if we can get a reservation on such short notice.

←

Here's a thought: Go to the movies first, then go to Ray's around 8:30. Much more civilized time to eat, much easier to get in.

[FunJohnny]

Here's a thought: Go to the movies first, then go to Ray's around 8:30. Much more civilized time to eat, much easier to get in.

←

Michael: How late do you serve on the wkends?

[Minister of Drink]

Hi Michael,

Any chance of ever bringing back those sirloin tip/spear appetizers you provided to Hooligan, John W. and your arms-dealer patron several months ago????

[mnebergall]

Chef Michael:

I would be remiss if I let your obvious evasion of stretch's question to go unchallenged. So, I will use my 1000th post to ask his question again:

"How did you come by your obvious reverence for a good piece of beef?"

A complete answer wil include details on the thinking that went into your decision to open Ray's the Steaks, a somewhat unique concept for a steak restaurant. Or is the answer something as simple as "I like to drink red wine and I was just looking for something good to drink it with." Rumor has it that you worked for a time at Capitol Grill. Did you just wake up one day and say to yourself "self, I can do this better than they can.?"

Mark

[landrumm2000]

Hey everyone!!

I am a little bit slow getting started with my replies today. Sorry.

You see, I am still recovering from the devastating effects of hosting the full and combined forces of the terrible trio of John W., Morela and the Minister of Drink last night. After all of the free and wonderful things I prepared for them (the glories of which I am sure they will soon regale you with) I am in need of a mental health day, some serious cocktails, and a long nap.

As soon as my recovery is complete, I'll start right back up again.

Michael

Both Halves of Ray's

[morela]

Michael,

That burger you made me last night induced some really strange behavior.

Despite my toxic companions, after the brilliant and priceless meal, I

wandered to the south end of the Key Bridge and starting praying in front

of that spray-painted sign that says "Virginia is for Losers. " I did that

for maybe, like, 90 minutes! Afterwards, I walked across the

bridge, but not on the little pedestrian path, on the thin metal railing; at any given

moment I could have fallen right into the river. Don't worry, Michael. I wasn't the least bit scared because I had my wings. And when all the cars started to honk at me, I retorted by flashing my chest at them.

Apparently, I made it home okay, but a strange cat was in my room when I woke up...

I must say, though, today I feel better than I've ever felt in my life.

How did you make those burgers again? I know you said there won't be a 'next time,' but why then, should I continue to live? That should be my last supper.

[Minister of Drink]

How did you make those burgers again? 

←

Michael, thank you so much for taking the time to make us those burgers from those very specially selected cuts of 50-50 sirloin which you finely chopped by hand. My withdrawal symptoms began the moment I walked out the door.

MoD

P.S. The clam-chowder is phat! Da bomb!!!!!! It will be a regular staple of my future RTS campaigns especially with colder weather!

Edited October 4, 2004 by Minister of Drink (log)

[John W.]

Right. Clam chowder. Forgot about that one.

RTS is now a legit restaurant as it has a bar. How long before the apple martinis are flowing like water?

[mdt]

Damn, I must get back to RTS and quick!

Michael,

Are there any cuts of meat that you wish more people would order because they may be unfamiliar with it or think it has a bad rap?

BTW, how much coffee do you drink before you record your answering machine message?!

Thanks.