2023 Chefs
HEARTS DELIGHT Q&A
Q: Who is your favorite customer and why?
A:
The young couple. They’re in love – they laugh – they get the whole point of my cuisine.
“Foodies” on the other hand…
Q: Do you have any pet peeves?
A: Bad writing and bad bread
Q: What was the turning point in your career?
A: On my last night at Noma, I presented a dish during Saturday Projects. Rene was hugely impressed, and several other cooks later told me it was one of the best dishes ever presented by a stagier. As a self-taught chef, that gave me this incredible confidence to go out and just cook.
Featured: Saturday Grand Tasting & Auction
Tom Madrecki is the self-taught chef and entrepreneur behind two of Washington DC’s most talked-about culinary experiences. His minimalist cooking at supper club Chez Le Commis has been heralded in the Washington Post and Washingtonian Magazine, among other publications, and his “parking lot wine bar” Vin De Chez has been called “the District’s most interesting new wine venue.”
A 2010 graduate of the University of Virginia, Madrecki left a job in corporate public affairs to work under Rene Redzepi at Noma in Copenhagen and Inaki Aizpitarte at Le Chateaubriand in Paris. Despite the pop-up nature of his events, Madrecki was named a “chef to watch” in 2013 by Refinery 29 and First We Feast. In 2014, he was named one of Wine Enthusiast Magazine’s “40-Under-40” global tastemakers.