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“You don’t have to wait until 2020 to get a sense of Ramsey’s cooking. He’ll be hosting a series of pop-ups, starting with “Cornchella” on Sept. 23 inside Archipelago on U Street NW. He’s calling it a cultish worship of his favorite summer produce. An à la carte menu will be available from 5p.m. to 9 p.m. (or until supplies run out). No reservations are needed.
Save room for the “corn-ish hen” fried chicken sandwich that’s finished with corn caramel. To make the caramel, Ramsey employs a special powder that converts starches into sugar. There will also be a play on elote that marries corn with white miso blueberry butter. “Blueberries and corn—if it grows together, it goes together,” Ramsey says. For the pop-up, Ramsey is also making goat barbacoa tacos on corn tortillas.
He’s prone to obsessing over a certain ingredient or dish until he’s taken it far enough that it changes diners’ perspective of what’s possible, like he did with burgers. “Corn has a very interesting relationship with humanity, especially on this side of the world where corn has been tied to our very survival,” Ramsey says. “My personal affinity for corn is it just tastes fucking delicious.” His favorite chips are Fritos, and his favorite cereal is Captain Crunch.”
Laura Hayes / Washington City Paper
“The rule-breaking, avant-garde chef behind the viral PornBurger blog-turned-cookbook is opening a D.C. restaurant—Cold Beer—dedicated to globally inspired comfort food. “Cold beer is not everything we do, but it speaks to this celebration of simple pleasures,” says Mathew Ramsey. He has been honing his cooking and hospitality skills at some of D.C.’s top restaurants, including Pineapple and Pearls and Tail Up Goat,leading up to the 2020 launch of his restaurant in a location that’s still being finalized.
Ramsey has always approached food (and life) with an air of mischief. Just look at him posing in a robe with a knife in his mouth and an owl on his fist. Or this “Sext On The Beach” burger he built with ‘nduja aioli, steamed mussels and clams, crispy prosciutto, cheese, pickled shallots, a drizzle of oyster stout, and shellfish jus on a beef patty.
Washingtonians first got a taste of Ramsey’s food at his Bar R supper clubs, which were predominantly held in his former Bloomingdale basement apartment from 2014 to 2016. From an impromptu backyard accordion concert and a PornBurger tribute to Bill Murray to gnocchi tater tots, the only thing you could expect were surprises.
While the Cold Beer menu is long from being cemented, sample dishes include a crab fat-glazed cauliflower steak with black sesame yogurt, charred green onions, and crispy, pickled enoki mushrooms; upside down pork dumplings in a sweet corn caramel glaze with garlic scapes, cashews, and cilantro; and ramen fried chicken crowned with caviar. The latter features a bird brined in dashi and flavored with house-made ramen spice.
Ramsey says he’s pulling from his world travels and obsessions, including some time spent in Japan as a child. “As a child going from Omaha, Nebraska to Tokyo, it flipped my whole world,” he says. “Mexican cuisine has also always been a predominant lean for me.” On weekends you can find him digging pits for pig roasts in friends’ backyards.
He describes the way foods from far away places will come together harmoniously in a curious way—likening it to how sharing a joint in high school broke down barriers between the jocks, “academically inclined,” and “angsty artists,” thereby making life a whole lot more interesting. “There’s joy that comes from cross pollination of flavors, ideas, and techniques,” Ramsey says. “I think unexpected delights come from mixing unexpected things.”
-Laura Hayes / Washington City Paper
Every week, Eddie Kim and Mathew Ramsey shared a shift drink and swapped war stories from behind the line with chefs, bartenders, bakers, brewers, and anyone who touches this all-encompassing industry. Un-edited, no-holds-barred, and personal, these brief moments bleed into life stories, past and future aspirations, philosophy, life lessons, and every shot in between. This show was recorded and broadcast LIVE from the lobby of the LINE DC in Adams Morgan, Washington, DC. Available wherever you listen to podcasts.
This is my burger manifesto for the world at weird. A paint-by-numbers porno, showcasing my much-obsessed-over but never-before-released supply of recipes, along with exclusive sides and beverages. Published by Ecco, an imprint of Harper Collins. You can purchase a copy here.
1. blood orange + lavender
2. cannabis
3. mixed greens
4. purple corn
5. octopus
6. black garlic
7. cantaloupe
8. black garlic
9. mixed heirloom tomatoes
10. lobster
1. Cabin Fever Dream — Stumptown Hairbender coffee / nitro-charged, house Irish-cream
2. Pickle Fizz — gin / lemon juice / lime juice / coriander simple syrup / egg whites / carbonated Gordy's pickle brine
3. Roberto Roy — mezcal / sweet vermouth / mole bitters
4-5. Flaming Hot Cheeto Tequila
6. Frosé — rosé granita / blueberry / basil flower
7. Horchata Frosty — coconut milk horchata / aged rum
8. Champagne Cocktail — champagne / Angostura candy floss
1. cheese plate — fig / honey-whipped goat cheese / cocoa olive oil / black pepper / graham crumb
2. vegan pork rind
3. grilled chorizo-spiced octopus — pickled watermelon and potato salad / fried plantain / smoked avocado / charred onion mayo.
4. seared beef tongue — tarragon green goddess / black radish / green apple / mint / THC olive oil
5. seared foie gras — peanut butter + concord jelly waffle
6. sesame cucumber "noodles" — tomato water / cherry tomatoes / pea shoot
7. foie gras
8. uni pappardelle — fresh pappardelle / uni beurre blanc / fresh uni tongues / fried capers / parsley
9. beet carpaccio — salt roasted golden beets / smoked goat cheese / toasted seeds / pickled shallot / pickled romenesco
It's the most popular sandwich on the planet, but what makes a burger, a burger? A quick discussion about burgers, philosophy, and of course, the Matrix. This talk was part of a larger theme based around the idea of New Rules.
1. goat cheese + beet gelato
2. cacio e pepe gelato
3. chocolate Szechuan peppercorn gelato
4. garden milk gelato — black cardamom / rose
5. Italian ice cream sandwich — toasted brioche / prosciutto / parmesan gelato / olive oil
6. strawberry + basil sorbet
7. banana split — strawberry buttermilk gelato / cinnamon honey gelato / toasted sweet corn + blueberry gelato.
1. sesame brioche buns
2. rye + kimchi sourdough
3. goat cheese beignets
4. lobster brioche
5. parmesan cronut
6. everything bagels
7. cider doughnut + braised pork cheek
1. guajolote pibil
2. candied prosciutto
3. garlic shrimp
4. black pepper + brown sugar bacon
5. honey buttermilk corndogs + habanero
6. pork cheek
7. salmon pastrami
8. fried chicken
9. smoked honey sesa-mite wings
10. venison burger
1. pork belly tacos de canasta
2-3. banana flower taco — fried banana flower / spicy coconut peanut sauce / Napa cabbage slaw / radish / corn tortilla
4. fresh pressed corn tortilla
5. lamb barbacoa taco — quail egg / avocado
1. sesame macrons + burnt miso peanut butter
2. ramen brittle
3. beet meringue
4. Roquefort marshmallow
A dive into the dark arts of hamburgery, as I showcase my fresh take on the infamous "Juicy Loosey", utilizing sous vide cooking. Produced by NatGeoTV for Eat: The Story of Food, 2014
1. pork burger
2. savory s'more — flank steak / mole poblano / corn + queso fresco marshmallow / cracker
3. the mac daddy — lobster patty / jerk rubbed bacon / fried mac + cheese buns / tomato
4. the salty dog — sea urchin / lobster Kewpie / jalapeño / bacon wrapped hot dog / golden whitefish roe
5. the fluffer — toasted Roquefort marshmallow / green apple / black peppercorn bacon / beef patty / pickled red onions / dijon
6. birthday sex — bing cherry + caramelized onion + kalamata cake / truffle whipped goat cheese / bacon / foie gras mousse / onion jam / freshly grated black truffle / balsamic glaze
7. double stack cheeseburger
8. trout burger
9. inglorious basquered — candied jamón / seared foie gras / oxtail patty / sweet vermouth oxtail jus / roasted physalis shallot compote / rustic country bread
In this episode of the Food Network's "Hungry Games", I teamed up with Chef Richard Blais to create the ultimate burger and see if our collaborative stack would cut the mustard.
1. soft boiled chicken egg
2. large brown chicken eggs
3. fried chicken eggs
4. beef tartare + quail egg
5. mole verde / fried squash blossom / quail egg
