Catching Up with Mike Isabella

Washington D.C. is better known for its politicking than for its food scene. But this is something that Chef Mike Isabella, who happily calls the District his home, is trying to change, one restaurant at a time.

After a successful run on Bravo’s Top Chef All-Stars, taking home the runner up title, Isabella opened Graffiato, an Italian-inspired joint. Fast forward one year later: Isabella strayed from his Italian roots into Latin cooking with the opening of Bandolero, a Mexican restaurant. TLK caught up with Isabella to talk about Bandolero, Latin cooking, and his future Beltway plans.

TLK: What made you decide to create a Mexican joint?

I cooked Latin food professionally for years with Jose Garces at El Vez and Douglas Rodriguez at Alma de Cuba, and it's a type of food I've always loved to eat. 

TLK: What Latin chefs inspire you?

Douglas Rodriguez is the first Latin chef I cooked for, so he was a mentor in teaching me that style of food. And I see Michelle Bernstein as a pioneer in Latin cooking. But I did not want to compete with these guys by going into fine dining. I wanted to be different and I am. I still keep the traditions but I put my touches on it.

TLK: What are some of your favorite ingredients to work with?

The big thing about Mexican cuisine is the depth of the flavor that other cuisines don’t have—the herbs, fresh ingredients, nuts, and dried chiles—which hit on all angles in your mouth. There’s sweet, sour, bitter and crunchy. All these flavors go around and that is what I love.

TLK: You describe Bandolero as “Modern Mexican fare”, what does that mean to you?

My food is not just classic Mexican food. We take a lot of classic dishes and change the technique and flavor profile. For example, the queso fundido—a dish that is usually hard and stiff but I recreated it with an egg on top to keep it soft. I take a classic taco and use suckling pig instead of beef, crisp it up, and serve it over a puree of pork, apple and mustard. It’s a combination of American and Mexican.

TLK: Can you talk about the décor in Bandolero? Why did you decide to go so dark?

You see a lot of colorful flamboyant restaurants and I just wanted to go in a different direction. I chose the Day of the Dead theme and just went dark with animal skulls, church pews and cemetery gates. I wanted a haunting underground feeling.

TLK: Bandolero serves fried chicken, not a classic Mexican dish. What was the inspiration?

I love fried chicken. I thought, how can I create a fried chicken that is not traditionally Mexican but make it Mexican? I take a small Cornish game hen and break it into six pieces, marinate it in adobo, bread it, deep fry it and hit it with more adobo. Then we serve it with a hot and sour sauce. Everyone gets a few small pieces.

TLK: You have 58 varieties of tequila and mezcals—how did you decide on your bar menu?

With any Mexican restaurant there are two things I want, a taco and a margarita. So, those are the two things we focused on. My intention was to have all good quality tequilas and mezcals with different varieties, from different regions and a mix of purveyors. We take a lot of classic drinks made with bourbon, vodka, and rum and make them with tequila or mezcal.

TLK: Which camp do you fall into, tequila or mezcal?

Mezcal, I love the smokiness.

TLK: Both Graffiato and Bandolero have menus featuring small plates. What draws you to these menus?

I enjoy trying a bunch of stuff. Growing up Italian, we would have big Sunday dinners with pasta, bread, and meat. When you leave an Italian household you are stuffed. I wanted to give people the same experience of the way I grew up. Both Graffiato and Bandolero have tasting menus where patrons can try anywhere from 10 to 12 dishes. My mentality is to always have one dish on the table.

TLK: What’s next?

Hardcore Isabella fans know that Greek and Mediterranean are more my style so for my next venture I am going back to my roots with Kapnos, which means smoke, and its set to open in 2013. After traveling around Greece and Turkey, I decided I really want to focus on the whole animal. The restaurant, set to open in May 2013, will have a nice show kitchen with two big wood-fire grills and five rotating spits each. The bigger the party, the bigger the dishes. G will be a 40-seat space next to Kapnos, which will serve traditional Italian sandwiches, soups and salads for lunch. That menu will be more traditional Italian than Graffiato. 

TLK: Would you say you are creating a beltway food empire?

My goal isn't to start an empire. I just want to create unique restaurant concepts that serve the kinds of food I love to make and eat, that people will enjoy. 

What was your inspiration for your cookbook, Mike Isabella’s Crazy Good Italian?

It's a memoir that includes a collection of family recipes and dishes I grew up eating, favorite dishes from Graffiato, and my take on both Italian and Greek cuisine. It is made for the home cook and includes recipes with ingredients that you can find at the store to make food fun, simple and easy.