Barton Seaver

Barton Seaver (born April 12, 1979) is a chef, author, speaker, and National Geographic fellow in Washington, D.C.

Contents

Biography

Early years

Seaver grew up in Washington, D.C. and attended St. Albans School.[1][2] He graduated with honors from The Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York, in 2001 and taught meat and fish classes on a fellowship post under the guidance of chef Corky Clark.[3] He worked in restaurants in Chicago and New York, and then traveled abroad to southern Spain and Morocco, where he worked with local villagers on fishing boats and in small family-run hotel restaurants.[4]

Career

Culinary

In 2005, Seaver returned to Washington, D.C., and worked with chef José Andrés at the restaurant Jaleo.[5] Seaver became executive chef of Café Saint-Ex and later its sister restaurant, Bar Pilar.[6] He was chef-owner of the sustainable seafood restaurant Hook in Georgetown in 2007.[7][8] Over the course of one year, Hook served 78 species of seafood.[9] In addition, Seaver helped launch the casual seafood eatery Tackle Box.[10] Seaver left Hook in 2008.[11][12] He became chef of a new restaurant in the Glover Park neighborhood called Blue Ridge in 2009.[13] His work at Blue Ridge led John Mariani of Esquire Magazine to name Seaver the 2009 Chef of the Year.[14] The designation polarized restaurant critics. [15][16] Seaver left Blue Ridge in early 2010 to work on other projects.[17] His plans for a 6,700-square-foot (620 m2) combination sustainable seafood market and restaurant in Logan Circle to be called Diamond District Seafood Company were put on hold indefinitely in 2010 due to problems with the location.[18] In 2011, Barton Seaver worked with The Pink Line Project to throw the second installment of its Cuisine Contra series, an unconventional and exquisite summer dinner party and awareness event at The Textile Museum in Washington, DC. [19]

Sustainability

Seaver has shifted his focus away from the restaurant business toward promoting sustainability, wellness, and community as they relate to food.[20] He sits on the board of the hunger-fighting organization D.C. Central Kitchen. He also has collaborations with the School Nutrition Association, the Center for Health and the Global Environment at Harvard Medical School, and Future of Fish. Seaver received a Seafood Champion Award from Seafood Choices Alliance in 2008.[21] He is a fellow with the Blue Ocean Institute.[22]

National Geographic

Seaver became a National Geographic fellow in 2010, working with the global partnership initiative Mission Blue. He developed a list of ocean friendly substitutes for popular yet depleted seafood species, and co-created the Seafood Decision Guide for consumers which evaluates seafood based on health and environmental factors.[23] He also hosts the National Geographic Web series Cook-Wise.[24]

Writing

Seaver has written opinion pieces for Seafood Business News, Treehugger, Stop Smiling magazine, StarChefs.com, and the Albany Times-Union. His first book, For Cod and Country: Simple, Delicious, Sustainable Cooking (Sterling Epicure, 2011) is a cookbook of seasonal, environmentally responsible seafood and vegetable recipes.[25]

Speaking

In 2010, Seaver delivered a TED Talk on sustainable seafood aboard the National Geographic Endeavour as part of a conference-at-sea conceived by TED Prize winner and Mission Blue founder Dr. Sylvia Earle as part of the Mission Blue Voyage.[26][27]

Personal life

Seaver lives with his wife Carrie Anne in Washington, D.C.[28]

Bibliography

References

  1. ^ “Ocean Hero: Barton Seaver”, National Geographic
  2. ^ Watson, Julia: “Barton Seaver – Owner-chef of Hook”, NorthWest Current, October 9, 2007
  3. ^ “Chef Profile: Barton Seaver”, Seafood Choices Alliance
  4. ^ Hacinli, Cynthia: “The Young Man and the Sea”, Cooking Light, April 2010
  5. ^ “Barton Seaver Biography”, StarChefs.com
  6. ^ “Barton Seaver Biography”, StarChefs.com
  7. ^ Eilperin, Juliet “At the End of the Line”, Washington Post, May 2, 2007
  8. ^ Clover, Charles: “Terms of Endangerment”, Vanity Fair online, April 21, 2008
  9. ^ “Barton Seaver Bio”, Blue Ocean Institute
  10. ^ Kraus, Alice: “Chef Barton Seaver Off the Hook”, DCist, June 25, 2008
  11. ^ Kraus, Alice: “Chef Barton Seaver Off the Hook”, DCist, June 25, 2008
  12. ^ Kliman, Todd: “Breaking News: Barton Seaver Splits With Hook”, Washingtonian.com Best Bites Blog, June 25, 2008
  13. ^ Black, Jane: “Going Out Gurus – Barton Seaver to Blue Ridge”, Washington Post GOG Blog, February 19, 2009
  14. ^ Mariani, John: “Blue Ridge's Barton Seaver: Chef of the Year”, Esquire, 2009
  15. ^ Black, Jane: “Barton Seaver Has Something To Save”, Washington Post, May 13, 2009
  16. ^ Carman, Tim: “Blue Ridge, in Glover Park, Switches Focus from Wine to Beer”, Washington City Paper, July 23, 2010
  17. ^ Wright, James: “Networking: Barton Seaver”, Seafood Business Magazine, June 1, 2010
  18. ^ Frederick, Missy: “Diamond District drops Logan Circle space”, Washington Business Journal, May 26, 2010
  19. ^ http://www.bizbash.com/pink_line_project_stages_unconventional_dinner_with_barton_seaver_storytellers/washington/story/21227
  20. ^ Hacinli, Cynthia: “The Young Man and the Sea”, Cooking Light, April 2010
  21. ^ Seafood Choices Alliance: "Seafood Champions 2008"
  22. ^ Blue Ocean Institute: "Barton Seaver Bio"
  23. ^ “Fellow: Barton Seaver, Chef/Conservationist”, National Geographic biography
  24. ^ “Cook-Wise”, National Geographic
  25. ^ Carman, Tim: “Barton Seaver’s Cookbook to Cater to the Walmart Crowd”, Washington City Paper, July 28, 2010
  26. ^ “The Mission Blue Voyage – a Project of the TED Prize”, TEDPrize.org
  27. ^ “Barton Seaver: Sustainable seafood? Let's get smart”, TED Talk, April 2010
  28. ^ Carman, Tim: “Barton Seaver’s Cookbook to Cater to the Walmart Crowd”, Washington City Paper, July 28, 2010