Contemporary American cooking
1955–1998 · United States
Patrick Clark was born in Brooklyn in 1955 and trained at the Culinary Institute of America, then worked in France under Michel Guérard and in California at Michael's before returning east. He was one of very few Black chefs of his generation to lead a major American kitchen.
In Washington he ran the Hay-Adams Hotel, where a seasonal, ingredient-led American menu drew national attention and earned him the James Beard Award for Best Chef in the Mid-Atlantic in 1994. He later became executive chef at Tavern on the Green in New York.
He died of cancer in 1998, at forty-two, and is remembered as a mentor and as an early champion of American cooking that could stand beside the French tradition.
Lump crab bound lightly with mayonnaise and crumbs, fried until crisp outside and tender within.
Creamy stone-ground grits topped with shrimp sautéed with bacon, garlic, and a splash of lemon.
Beef short ribs browned and braised in red wine until they fall from the bone, served with their own sauce.
A new American dinner in Washington · 1990 · Washington, D.C.