Taking its name from the French word for “craft,” chef Eric Ziebold’s Métier, which he co-owns with his wife, Célia Laurent, sits below its sister restaurant, Kinship, on the southern edge of Washington, D.C.’s Shaw neighborhood. Both restaurants hold a Michelin star.
To gain entrance to the subterranean dining room, guests step into a small elevator that quietly descends, as if accessing a secret lair. The doors open to a low-lit, white-walled room that evokes a swank study. On one side, a peek-a-boo window offers a view of the James Beard Award–winning chef and his team working in the white-tiled kitchen. On the opposite wall hangs a portrait of an anonymous elder statesman marked with a jaunty brushstroke of white paint across the eyes, a playful reminder that the chef does not take himself too seriously.
Métier’s seven-course tasting menu changes every two months or so, guided by the season, whimsy, and creative restlessness. Ziebold’s philosophy is to create a series of interlinked experiences that flow naturally into one another rather than feeling like individual dishes served in succession.
No matter what is served, expect exquisite indulgences, artful technique, and pristine execution. Think truffle soup with lángos (Hungarian flatbread) and Darden ham. Perhaps pineapple carpaccio with cured tuna belly. Maybe an elevated take on chicken and dumplings featuring lobster tail. Or Broken Arrow Ranch quail with spring ramps. The finale might be a light-as-a-feather mandarin orange vacherin.
Expect dishes to be punctuated with fresh herbs from the chef’s home garden in Alexandria, Virginia, including an array of basils, dill, sage, lavender, and rosemary. Ziebold’s appreciation for just-harvested ingredients began during his time working for Wolfgang Puck at Spago in the 1990s. “He was so good at those bright, fresh, just-made flavors,” says Ziebold, who also spent time under Thomas Keller at The French Laundry and Jeff Buben at Vidalia, his progressive Southern restaurant in Washington, D.C.
