A Rogue Performance

There has been a lot of hype in the DC area because of Rogue 24. I knew that this was going to be a special experience after being able to partake in some yummy Rogue bits at The Sweetlife Festival. Buzz about this restaurant started long before it opened last summer, and it only got louder as Chef R.J. Cooper brought in some big name chefs to take over for him while he recovered from heart surgery at the beginning of this year. I had foodie friends telling me that I had to attend a "Rogue Session" when I got back to the DC area. I am happy that Chef Cooper is back in the kitchen, however, I am a bit disappointed that I missed out on the Rogue Sessions. 


My excitement started as I wound my way through Blagden Alley in the heart of DC’s Shaw neighborhood, searching for the converted garage that houses the restaurant. Probably not the smartest of things to do alone, late on a Friday but it definitely added to the experience. Part of the appeal of walking through the alley is searching for your destination. With no sign out front, but the chef’s knife graffiti over the door, it makes you feel like you've stumbled onto this hip, underground restaurant, and you are now part of the cool crowd.


Once inside, I was struck by Rogue 24′s intimate atmosphere. The space itself is industrial, beautiful, and unique – a very modern loft look with polished concrete, glass, exposed brick walls, and warm wood tones. I walked in and was not greeted by the hostess as she was attending to some other patrons in the salon area (more on this later). However, one of the other staff came from the dining room to seat me. Cooper is famously brash and picky about diner behavior. I had already read about the "dining contract" people were asked to sign in the restaurant's early days. The contract banned cell phones and cameras from the dining room and set out a host of rules about making and keeping your reservation. Though the contract is gone I still had not made a dinner reservation and decided that tonight I was going to be low key and stay in the salon. 


The bus staff set me up with menus and stilled water. I waited patiently for the hostess to come over to see if I was ready to order. After about 5 minutes of waiting, it became apparent that she was not "attending" to the other patrons in the salon at the time. She was actually socializing as they were obviously friends of hers. Believe me I normally do not fault any staff for having their friends as patrons of where they work or own. I am so close with some of my friends that when I visit their restaurants or bars that I go behind the bar or in the kitchen to give them a big hug. However, my friends do not ignore the rest of their patrons in order to spend time chatting with me. Nor do I want them to. Since I had enough time to figure out something to eat and drink by the time she attended to me I knew exactly what I wanted. The "Sea Floor" piqued my interest.


I was not about to pull out the camera with Chef Cooper sitting less than a foot away from me chatting with some regular patrons who just came into the salon. However, the restaurant recently posted some professional shots of their new menu on Facebook, so feel free to link to those. I borrowed another professional shot of the "Sea Floor" so you can share in my foodie experience.

The “Sea Floor"" is precisely like it sounds: a lava rock platter of sea urchin and seaweed awash in a sea salt foam. In Rogue style the bite sized dish was served with giant tweezers instead of traditional silverware. The gleaming utensils reminded my of training chop-sticks or from my years studying biology. Considering Rogue 24 is part science the throw back memories to biology class would be well appreciated by Chef Cooper. 


Also screaming science geek is the rotary evaporator (rotovap) sitting next to me in the salon. The rotovap’s function is for distillations of flavor and aroma. Not getting too geeky with my explanation of the rotvap, the machine works by lowering air pressure above a liquid, encouraging it to evaporate at a lower temperature than usual. It can then be collected and infused into dishes (sea salt foam) and cocktails to add unexpected tastes and scents.


I sat in the salon facing the dining room so that I could observe all that is Rogue 24. My readers know that I love to experience and share life through sharing a meal. At Rogue it is a totally different experience for me. I felt as if there was no issue or pressure to take part in sharing a meal or drink with anyone because I was watching culinary art performed in front of me. It was an intricate and well choreographed dance of chefs, servers, mixologist, and sommeliers all moving fluidly through the 52 seats. The stage (the dining room) is built around the kitchen, which sits in the middle of the room, completely open and within arms reach of many diners. This is obvious by design and plays into Cooper's rogue ways of thinking, a meal at Rogue 24 is really a ticket to dinner and a show.


You get to watch the chefs prepare molecular gastronomy-style meal which is part of that amazingly choreographed dance. One of the best parts of Rogue 24 is the way that the dishes are brought out by a rotating cast of servers and chefs. Depending on your drink of choice you are served by a well tailored sommelier or a fiercely tattooed mixologist. Having the opportunity to interact with your chef, sommelier, or mixologist allows you to learn in great detail about the thought, art, and science that has gone into your small but complex dish or drink. It also enables you to interact, become part of this ballet that is telling a different story for each table. It also enables the neo foodie to ask questions of a staff who is not haughty but genuinely pleased to help guide your through this culinary journey.

There is an effortless ballet going on in the dining room in front of me. The clearing and setting of some abnormal and expected utensils, all while not making too much of a disturbance to the diner. The sommeliers are stopping by the tables to make suggestions as a way to lead the diner down a new path of the culinary journey. Chef Cooper stops by most of the tables. He makes small jokes and it is apparent that he is happy to be back in his Rogue world, his stage. Maybe this is why the hostess isn't as involved with her patrons. She is not in the dining room participating in wonderful ballet being preformed in front of me? Even though she was distracted by her friends and after they left, by her cell phone, the rest of the staff picked up where she fell short. The staff is personable, efficient, friendly, and appeared genuinely happy to be working at Rogue 24. 

If you are looking for someplace to have amazing drinks, small talk with friends or a date,or a laid back evening alone...sit in the salon. You can observe the dining room ballet like I did, eat some wonderful a la carte dishes without committing to the full 16- or 24-course experience. If the hostess is distracted or lax simply ask for the general manager. Do not be intimidated by the performance playing out in the dining room. That is one of the reasons there is a GM. You may not be paying the hundreds of dollars for the dining room experience but you are still a patron of a restaurant whose overall staff is professional and friendly. If you are ready to be part of the culinary choreography going on in the dining room, take part in one of the journeys offered. I intend to go back to Rogue 24 and be part of the culinary art that I so enjoyed watching.