Eric Ziebold

Kinship

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Thursday, May 8, 2025 at the Winemaker Dinner Series

A respected personality of the Washington D.C. and national dining scene, Eric Ziebold opened two critically acclaimed restaurants, Kinship and Métier in December 2015 and April 2016 respectively. Located in the District’s Shaw neighborhood and just steps north of the Mount Vernon Square across the street from the Walter E. Washington Convention Center, the restaurants attract Washingtonians and destination dining travelers alike.  

Atop the restaurant honors list is Kinship’s recognition by the prestigious Michelin Guide as a Michelin one-star restaurant in 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2021, and Métier as a Michelin one-star restaurant in 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2021.  

Washingtonian magazine name Métier the number one restaurant in their February 2018 list of “100 very best restaurants.” It stated that (Métier) offers “the most beautiful dining experience in Washington right now” and that Ziebold’s cooking “is more quietly daring than showy” these days.  In 2017 Washingtonian proclaimed that “Kinship is the most exciting DC restaurant opening of the New Year” (2016), while ranking both Kinship, number four and Meter, number 14 in their annual “top 100” list. 

The Washington Post awarded Métier four stars (out of four) and proclaimed that “no detail is overlooked at Métier” and this “little jewel box” is an “escape for an evening with Eric Ziebold’s seven-course tasting menu, which affirms his role as one of Washington’s premier talents”.  Kinship received 3 stars from the paper. 

Chef Ziebold has received an array of accolades for creative interpretations of modern American cuisine.  From September 2004 to December 2014, Ziebold was Chef at CityZen in the Mandarin Oriental Washington, DC. During that time, the restaurant was awarded the coveted Washington Post Four-Star rating and was the only AAA Five-Diamond-rated restaurant in the city at the time. In addition to being named one of the “Best New Chefs” in the United States by Food & Wine Magazine in 2005, Ziebold took home the prestigious James Beard Award for “Best Chef Mid-Atlantic” in 2008.  

Prior to CityZen, Ziebold served as Chef de Cuisine of Thomas Keller’s The French Laundry in Yountville, California, often described as the “best restaurant in America.” As well, he helped Keller open Per Se in New York City in early 2004.  Ziebold worked for Chef Keller for a total of eight years.  Prior, he worked under acclaimed Chef Jeff Buben at Washington, D.C.’s Vidalia and at Spago in Los Angeles under the direction of Chef Wolfgang Puck. Ziebold graduated from the Culinary Institute of America with Honors, following a lifelong interest in cooking that took root in his native Iowa.