A Charcoal-Powered Hearth Is The Key to Incredible Flavors at The Dabney

For 10 years, The Dabney has been earning national acclaim, and even a Michelin star, for its wood-fired dishes made with fresh, mid-Atlantic ingredients and a constantly burning hearth in D.C.’s Blagden Alley. Executive chef Jeremiah Langhorne says the original inspiration behind the D.C. institution was how traditional dishes from the Chesapeake Bay were cooked over fire and time he spent in Charleston, North Carolina, working with barbecue pit masters. He dives into a whole day of prep in the hearth-focused kitchen within a rustic former row house.

First, Autumn Olive Farms drops off a hog about once a week, which they have refined over the years to fit the specific high fat ratio that The Dabney team is after. Langhorne and chef de cuisine Timothy Buell break down the whole pig and discuss the family style entree they are preparing for the night, which will take hours of charring and resting a pork loin, preparing ham sausage, curing the jowl, and crisping up the pig’s ears.

Bread service prep is next, including the restaurant’s famous sweet potato rolls (that have been on the menu since opening) getting a first proof with sorghum syrup before being shaped into toasted buns just before service. A grain-filled sourdough used for dishes like tartines is also prepped and made into loaves. Buell prepares a freshly delivered Chesapeake rockfish for dry aging, cutting off the scales and gutting the fish before it’s aged for five to seven days in the walk-in.

Fresh vegetables are delivered by Fireside Farm, as Langhorne explains how he always asks farmers he works with to advise him on which seasonal produce is at its peak. He roasts fava beans are over the hearth’s coals, and serves them almost like edamame with their peeled skin and plenty of tarragon, lime, and chile. Invasive blue catfish is filleted and fried as Langhorne talks about his commitment to using the destructive fish and always keeping it on The Dabney’s menu, tucked into a sweet potato roll slider. Langhorne visits the restaurant’s rooftop garden, discussing how fresh herbs make such a difference in a dish.

Langhorne talks through the menu with front-of-house staff, describing a new rockfish dish served with roasted okra and a roasted cherry tomato sauce. Then, service kicks off with chefs moving quickly across the open kitchen to roast, toss, slice, and plate dishes. Langhorne fries up blowfish, which is called fried Sugar Toads on the menu, treating the succulent fish like fried chicken slathered in hot honey. Little known produce becomes juicy and succulent after a quick roast in the hearth.

“The hearth is the heart of the whole operation,” Langhorne reiterates. “Probably 90 percent of the items we cook here are going through that hearth and it allows us to impart a level of flavor.”

Watch the latest episode of Mise en Place to see how Langhorne and The Dabney team use fresh ingredients from local farmers and instill almost every dish with the smoky, earthy flavor of a charcoal-powered hearth.