Eating Around: Colorado Kitchen Refines the Basics

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JUST THE WORDS "AMERICAN CASSEROLE" conjure images of 1950s comfort food made with goopy cheddar, cornflakes and canned tuna. Even if it has a certain cocooning appeal, who wants to go out for casserole when there are so many other choices in D.C.'s dining landscape?

Chef Gillian Clark's renditions of this meal-in-a-dish classic at Colorado Kitchen can change the mind of any skeptic. In prepping for her fall menu during an August hiatus from the restaurant, Clark has been whipping up casseroles from her youth, as well as reinventing versions. "Everyone has casserole memories," said Clark. "One of my goals this fall is to uplift the image of the casserole."

For teasers, she cited a bourbon casserole for fall made with rice, corn, Spam and cheese, as well as a late-fall bean, cornmeal and tomato Mexicali-style dish.

Clark has been up to more than cooking casseroles. For one, she's been ironing out the details for her Adventures at the Stove Culinary Camp on Sept. 28-30 in Minnehaha Springs, W.Va., where Ray's the Classics' Michael Landrum, Grapeseed's Jeff Heinemann and Passage to India's chef Sudhir Seth will be in attendance. "I've been thinking about doing something like this for years," said Clark of her hands-on cooking weekend, during which guests can learn to make Indian curry, knead sourdough, sample exotic cheeses and prep for Saturday-night service alongside other folks in the industry.

Clark has been putting the final touches on her memoir, "Out of the Frying Pan: A Chef's Memoir of Hot Kitchens, Single Motherhood and the Family Meal," due out in early October. The idea came to her in listening to her kids, Magalee, 17, and Sian, 14, tell "ridiculous" stories after school. "Are these freaks really my children?" she joked. At least we think she was joking.

What started as her recording anecdotes led to writing down observations about raising children as a single mother and the road to her second career as a chef, including stints as a student at L'Academie du Cuisine, as part of the morning crew at Cashion's Eat Place and as a line cook at the Morrison-Clark Inn.

Stay tuned for more information on her launch party at Colorado Kitchen on Oct. 12th, where customers can taste fall casseroles and other dishes.

» Colorado Kitchen, 5515 Colorado Ave. NW; 202-545-8280. For more information on Colorado Kitchen’s Adventures at the Stove, e-mail ColoradoKitchen@aol.com. $495 for the weekend includes all food and lodging for three days and two nights.

Photo by Allison Shelley