About Jessica Lee
Jessica started her culinary career at age 19 at the Wendy's in Orleans, MA, where she was the only employee over 18 so had to man the fryolater. After obtaining a degree in English from Wellesley, she cooked at a restaurant in Cambridge, MA for a year and has lots of Bourdain-like stories to tell from that period.
After her flirtation with professional cooking and its crummy hours, Jessica got an MBA and became an investment banker who raises growth capital for companies. She has been caught blathering on about the IPO market in respectable news outlets such as the Wall Street Journal and NPR's Marketplace. She still fancies herself a chef and loves to cook for her friends. Jessica lives in Chevy Chase, DC with her sheltie and cat and two Weber grills.There are 54 posts by Jessica Lee
NY Legislator Proposes a State-Wide Ban on Using Salt in Restaurant Cooking
And that is not a headline from The Onion. The bill, which Assemblyman Felix Ortiz , D-Brooklyn, introduced on March 5, would fine restaurants $1,000 for each violation. An excerpt of the bill's text: No owner or operator of a restaurant in this state ...Mar. 11, 2010 — Uncategorized
The Little Market That Could Now Has an Outdoor Grill
The Broad Branch Market, now that the weather is good, has started grilling great stuff outdoors. When I visited them yesterday they were grilling hamburgers, ribs and chicken. They also have an amazing selection of condiments, including chimmichuri. I hope that they keep on grilling ...Mar. 7, 2010 — Uncategorized
Oysters
The New Englanders amonst us know that you NEVER eat an oyster in a month that does not contain an "R."Yet Americans continue to do so and the FDA has come in to rescue those Americans who do not know that rule by issuing a ...Mar. 3, 2010 — Uncategorized
Is Salt the Devil Incarnate?
John Tierney of the NY Times has a great article today about the salt debate. The question at issue is whether the salt debate has merit or is another government inititiative that has unintended consequences, such as the food industry's work on creating artificial ...Feb. 23, 2010 — Uncategorized
An Expose on Just How Awful the US School Lunch Program Is
The US government pays massive dollars to schools to help them provide meals to children in public schools. Federal payments -- including $2.68 for each fully reimbursable lunch -- total around $12 billion annually and feed roughly 30 million children every day, according to the ...Feb. 16, 2010 — Uncategorized
Argentinian President: Pork Rises to the Occasion more than Viagra Does
To build on fellow poster Kim's claim that pork is the meat of Kings, The President of Argentina has chimed in to agree. Actually, Ms. Fernandez de Kirchner went further, arguing that pork assists in other ways. According to CBSNews she said that she hadn’t ...Feb. 3, 2010 — Uncategorized
The Best New Sandwich in Washington
The Broad Branch Market, which offers my previous best sandwich, the Industrial, is outdoing itself. Owner John spent a few weeks in Vietnam and came away convinced that none of the DC area establishments that sell banh minh, the classic Vietnamese sandwich, came close to ...Feb. 1, 2010 — Uncategorized
Where the WH Elite Dine in DC
I, and I am sure more than one restauranteur, was hoping that the new POTUS would dine out more than did his predecessor, who was known for a 9PM bed time and never went out. The current POTUS is pretty much like W, but some of ...Feb. 1, 2010 — Uncategorized
The Bag Tax as a Big Hassle
I am opposed to any bag tax but could make peace with it if it only applied to grocery stores as those visits are planned and I am 50/50 to remember to bring the non-disposable bags along. But as Jackson posted, the DC bag ...Jan. 31, 2010 — Uncategorized
Mission of Burma
Today I finally got to Burma, the DC Chinatown restaurant known for both its lack of atmosphere and its great Burmese food. In keeping with their low rent theme, they do not have a web site but here is the google maps profile of ...Oct. 30, 2009 — Uncategorized
Jamie Oliver Is On a Mission to Save America From Itself
British food celebrity Jamie Oliver has taken on a new mission. The NYT article headline says it all: "Putting America’s Diet on a Diet." So Jamie has a plan for America. He starts in Huntington, WVA, which serves a 15lb burger, as if this is ...Oct. 8, 2009 — Uncategorized
A Review of The Great Wall
The Great Wall is a hole in the wall Chinese take-out joint on 14th Street that has gotten a lot of press as its owner and cook went to a prestigious Chinese cooking school. It is known for its Szechuan cooking and foodies ...Sep. 26, 2009 — Uncategorized
The Best New Thing in Mobile DC Food
Last night I was at an art opening on 14th Street. The art was great but I was also intrigued by the metal food trailer outside. It was broadcasting Mexican music via the speakers placed on its roof ...Sep. 13, 2009 — Restaurants
I Love San Francisco…I Hate San Francisco
Anyone who loves food and knows SF can appreciate the dual emotions expressed in that headline. At once, San Francisco is the best food place in the world and also the worst. The fresh ingredients are the best in this country, and the food police ...Sep. 3, 2009 — Uncategorized
The Little Market That Could (T-Shirts Available)
In April I posted about the Broad Branch Market, that wonder of a neighborhood shop that carries everything from epoisses to microbrews and home-made terrines. The tiltle of my post was "More on the Little Market That Could." So how excited was I to see ...Aug. 19, 2009 — Uncategorized
Time Magazine Calls NYC Nanny-State Laws the #2 Food Trend
While it is not a positive that NYC has instituted Nanny-State food rules, it IS a positive that Time Magazine calls them that. After months of legal disputes, New York City in May began enforcing a law ...Jul. 13, 2009 — Uncategorized
Dan Snyder Kills the Tailgate Party
Via realredskinsfans.com: Dan Snyder Kills the Tailgate Party. In some way, it was inevitable. That is, the demise of the tailgate bacchanalia that was the one redeeming feature of attending a game at Fed Ex Field. The stadium is generally a nightmare for fans to get ...Jun. 24, 2009 — Uncategorized
David Kessler is Back, And Can’t Resist the Chocolate Chip Cookie So He Wants to Outlaw It
David Kessler, the FDA head under Clinton, has re-emerged as a fervent voice about food. His latest argument is that the sweets industry has addicted the US population. His book argues that the food industry has addicted the US population to foods that corporations ...Jun. 23, 2009 — Uncategorized
Michelle Obama’s WH Farm
I have mostly jealousy when I think about or discuss Michelle Obama's small WH farm. How the heck is her mini-farm about a month ahead of mine when we live only a few miles apart and planted at the same time?Jun. 17, 2009 — Uncategorized
“Roadfood” Authors Chart a Course for Food Travelers
I travel a lot for work and find most of the country outside of big cities homogenous in terms of food offerings. Strip malls, Starbucks and Applebee's, sadly, define a lot of this country's dining experience. So I was thrilled to see that a completely ...Jun. 16, 2009 — Uncategorized
