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“Pickle Guy” Jason Gallant
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Pickle Power
Early each Saturday, pickle (and olive) aficionados start queuing up in front of Jason Gallant’s outdoor Eastern Market stand. Peering into his row of barrels, they’re eager to taste wasabi-flavored pickles, dilly beans, sauerkraut, marinated mushrooms, pickled watermelon and Turkish-grown olives stuffed with garlic, jalepenos and other goodies. But Gallant’s number one seller: half-sour pickles. We used to trek to New York’s legendary Zabar’s for our half-sour pickle fix, but now the crunchy, garlicky cukes are available at Gallant’s stand, “In a Pickle.” You’ll find it in front of the Rumsey Aquatic Center at Seventh St. and North Carolina Ave. SE.
“My friend Mitchell, who sells crepes nearby, suggested that I get into the pickle business,” said Gallant, 41, who lives in Baltimore. “I had been in the food business for 20 years, and Mitchell thought I should give pickles a go. He was a huge help.”
Jason added that most of his pickles are brined by a friend in Lyndhurst, NJ, near New York City. Grown mainly in Texas and Mexico, his cucumbers remain in the pickling bath anywhere from three weeks to three months. Half-sours marinate only three weeks, which explains their crispness. Full-sour pickles, in contrast, might soak for three months. Right now Gallant is working on a recipe for pickled beets, his biggest request. Prices range from about $5 per pint to $9 and $10 for a quart.
First-time customers Carla Hogue of Reston and Margaret Farrell of Herndon, had taken Metro to Capitol Hill to see the restored Eastern Market. “I was just walking by,” said Hogue, “when I noticed the pickle barrels. I can’t decide what I want,” she said. “I’ve sampled everything.” The women did not leave empty-handed.
Gilbert and Sullivan return to CHAW
Every summer for almost a decade, Capitol Hill Arts Workshop (CHAW) has presented a Gilbert and Sullivan musical. For this year’s play, “Iolanthe or The Peer and the Peri,” a madcap tale of fairy love and revenge, CHAW is hooking up with the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgendered (GLBT) Arts Consortium. Thanks to CHAW executive director and “Iolanthe” producer Jill Strachan, we were fortunate to catch an early rehearsal and chat with performers and back-stage artists.
“Gilbert and Sullivan started out as a project with GLBT stage director and choreographer Alvin Mayes,” Strachan told HillBuzz during a rehearsal break. “We enjoyed working together, and now we’re joined at the hip.” CHAW productions by the 19th-century British musical collaborators, W.S. Gilbert and Sir Arthur Sullivan, have included “The Mikado,” “HMS Pinafore,” “Pirates of Penzance,” and a sampling of several works.
CHAW’s annual G&S show is practically a family affair. “I was Jill’s baby sitter,” recalled costume designer/prompter Joan Biella, whose “day job” is at the Hebrew and Arabic department of the Library of Congress. Biella added that her own parents met backstage at a University of Colorado performance of “The Mikado,” where her mother designed the costumes and her father sang in the chorus.
“Whether you are gay or straight, everyone has an inner fairy,” declared Hill resident Rick Mauery, a tenor with the GLBT chorus performing in his fifth G&S show. Maurey, who also teaches cabaret at CHAW, is enjoying his “Iolanthe” role as Celia. “This is a great break from my regular job,” said Mauery a professor at George Washington University’s school of public health.
“This is the first time I’ve ever sung, except in the shower,” said fellow hill-dweller John Aaron Blanchette, who sings in the play’s Chorus of Peers. “I teach ballroom dancing at CHAW, and Jill had been asking me to try out for “Iolanthe.” I finally said yes, and I’m having a great time.” Blanchette is also starting his new job as CHAW registrar.
There’s still time to catch CHAW’s production of “Iolanthe.” Performances are at CHAW’s “blackbox theater” 545 Seventh St. SE. Dates are August 1, 7, and 8 at 7 p.m., with additional performances August 1 and 8 at 3 p.m. Tickets are $20, except for the August 1 and 8 matinees for $10.
Call 202-547-6839 or visit www.chaw.org or www.dcglbtarts.org
Timberlake named Art & Soul’s top toque
Art and Soul, in the Liaison Hotel, has promoted Travis Timberlake to executive chef. He’s served as chef de cuisine since Art and Soul’s debut last year. Timberlake will continue to work closely with owner/chef Art Smith in creating “food for the soul” like fried green tomatoes with remoulade, oyster po’boys and cornmeal “pizza” (hoe cakes).
If the name “Timberlake” sounds familiar, Travis’ parents opened the late Timberlake’s, a homespun Dupont Circle watering hole. The pub became a “second home” for young Travis, who eventually graduated from Marquette University and the prestigious Culinary Institute of America. Travis has cooked for almost a decade in top Washington restaurants including DC Coast, Ceiba and Acadiana.
He’s back
Hill neighbors lamenting the abrupt departure of Zack’s Taverna (purchased by Good Stuff Eatery and currently vacant, at 307 Pennsylvania Ave. SE), can take heart: Zack Harrison has a new venture: he has acquired Townhouse Tavern, a neighborhood bar near Dupont Circle at 1637 R St. NW, which once housed a Spanish restaurant, El Bodegon. Will Townhouse become Greek like Zack’s former endeavor? Townhouse is open daily for dinner only; call 202-234-5747.
Adieu
We’re bidding farewell to Hill resident, ANC6B commissioner, and landscaper Julie Olson of Serendipity Garden Design. Julie is returning to her native North Dakota to care for her ailing, 82-year-old mother. Olson plans to re-establish her landscaping in Grand Forks and yes, this northern plains city does have a summer, we’re told, from June through August when the temperature reaches comfortable 80s. We might visit Julie when Washington’s August heat and humidity arrives.
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