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| Chefs Jean-Claude Plihon & Andrew Cleverdon (r) (Photo: Rey Lopez) |
From our friends at Blue Duck Tavern...
Blue Duck Tavern Celebrates Its 20th Anniversary with a Chef Reunion and Special Hotel Packages
Award-winning Blue Duck Tavern will toast 20 years in the nation’s capital as one of the city’s most iconic restaurants in June 2026. To honor this monumental occasion, nationally recognized chefs, who formerly spearheaded Blue Duck Tavern, will return to prepare their signature dishes for a special dinner gathering accompanied by merrymaking over 2006 vintages from Blue Duck Tavern's Sommelier selections. The five-course feast will take place on Wednesday, June 10, with a champagne reception and hors d'oeuvres at 6 p.m., followed by a seated dinner served at 6:30 p.m. Limited to 40 guests, attendees will experience Blue Duck Tavern’s opening Executive Chef Brian McBride’s Maryland Crab cakes, Chef Brad Deboy’s Rohan Duck, Troy Knapp’s Hors d'oeuvres and BDT Fries, Ryan LaRoche’s Bone Marrow, complementing Blue Duck Tavern’s current Chef de Cuisine Andrew Cleverdon’s Cured Fluke. Jean-Claude Plihon, the director of culinary and food & beverage at Park Hyatt Washington D.C., will also prepare a dark chocolate birthday cake, in collaboration with Valhrona Chocolate, for this special menu. For the parting gift of the evening, the pastry team will create Blue Duck Tavern’s famous apple pie, served in mini portions, along with a selection of teas from the Tea Cellar with Blue Duck Tavern’s local honey, and a custom anniversary Blue Duck Tavern apron is also included. Former Blue Duck Tavern General Manager Joseph Cerione will preside as guest sommelier for the evening, explaining each wine pairing. Tickets are priced at $295 per person, excluding tax and gratuity, and are available here: https://www.sevenrooms.com/experiences/blueducktavernhyatt/blue-duck-taverns-20th-anniversary-celebration-4654810170867712.
Award-winning Blue Duck Tavern will toast 20 years in the nation’s capital as one of the city’s most iconic restaurants in June 2026. To honor this monumental occasion, nationally recognized chefs, who formerly spearheaded Blue Duck Tavern, will return to prepare their signature dishes for a special dinner gathering accompanied by merrymaking over 2006 vintages from Blue Duck Tavern's Sommelier selections. The five-course feast will take place on Wednesday, June 10, with a champagne reception and hors d'oeuvres at 6 p.m., followed by a seated dinner served at 6:30 p.m. Limited to 40 guests, attendees will experience Blue Duck Tavern’s opening Executive Chef Brian McBride’s Maryland Crab cakes, Chef Brad Deboy’s Rohan Duck, Troy Knapp’s Hors d'oeuvres and BDT Fries, Ryan LaRoche’s Bone Marrow, complementing Blue Duck Tavern’s current Chef de Cuisine Andrew Cleverdon’s Cured Fluke. Jean-Claude Plihon, the director of culinary and food & beverage at Park Hyatt Washington D.C., will also prepare a dark chocolate birthday cake, in collaboration with Valhrona Chocolate, for this special menu. For the parting gift of the evening, the pastry team will create Blue Duck Tavern’s famous apple pie, served in mini portions, along with a selection of teas from the Tea Cellar with Blue Duck Tavern’s local honey, and a custom anniversary Blue Duck Tavern apron is also included. Former Blue Duck Tavern General Manager Joseph Cerione will preside as guest sommelier for the evening, explaining each wine pairing. Tickets are priced at $295 per person, excluding tax and gratuity, and are available here: https://www.sevenrooms.com/experiences/blueducktavernhyatt/blue-duck-taverns-20th-anniversary-celebration-4654810170867712.
For guests interested in attending the celebration event and staying at this luxurious hotel, Park Hyatt Washington D.C. will offer a Blue Duck Tavern Celebration Anniversary Package, priced from $1,459, available exclusively on June 10, which includes car service to and from the hotel from the airport or area home address, a welcome amenity, two tickets to the celebration anniversary dinner, and breakfast for two the morning of June 11 in Blue Duck Tavern. To extend the culinary celebration, the hotel will also be featuring a summer weekend Epicurean Experience, priced from $1,599, which includes car service to and from the hotel, luxury accommodations for one night, a five-course tasting menu replicating the anniversary dinner, paired with select wines, a welcome amenity, breakfast, and a Blue Duck Tavern apron. The Epicurean Experience will be available on select Saturday and Sunday evenings from June 19 to September 4. It is limited to two people per day to enjoy a two-hour afternoon cooking class with the Blue Duck Tavern’s culinary team to learn how the restaurant’s signature whole duck is created, as well as the restaurant’s exceptional apple pie, prepared in the hotel’s pastry shop. USA Today selected Blue Duck Tavern’s apple pie as one of the “Top 25 Best Dishes” when it opened in 2006, and the recipe still stands as one of the city’s best desserts. The class is limited to one couple each evening for an intimate, hands-on experience with Blue Duck Tavern’s culinary team. A third option is the Anniversary Package available until Labor Day weekend that begins at $899 per night and includes a welcome amenity of apple pie and champagne, a Blue Duck Tavern apron, breakfast, and dinner for two, replicating the anniversary Blue Duck Tavern menu with wine pairings, and a special to-go gift. To learn more about the package and to make a reservation, please visit https://www.hyatt.com/park-hyatt/en-US/wasph-park-hyatt-washington-dc.
Chefs responsible for the Anniversary Celebration menu creation are as follows:
Brian McBride served as the executive chef and food and beverage director of Park Hyatt Washington D.C. from January 1986 to December 2010. McBride was instrumental in creating every aspect of Blue Duck Tavern, from research and development of the farm-to-table menu to the kitchen design plan, including the enormous Molteni range. The restaurant opened with excellent acclaim from both local and national critics, including Washingtonian’s “Best New Restaurant 2006,” Conde Nast Travel's “Best 95 New Restaurants in the World,” 2007, and Food & Wine’s “Go List” recognizing the most outstanding restaurants in 40 cities around the world in 2007. McBride went on to join Robert Wiedmaier at RW Restaurants as a partner in the company’s collection of notable restaurants in 2011.
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| Chef Brian McBride (Photo: Scott Suchman) |
Ryan LaRoche stepped into the executive chef role at Blue Duck Tavern, backed by a résumé that included leading positions at Michelin-starred NoMi during his tenure, Park Hyatt Chicago’s award-winning concept, and L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon in Las Vegas. “Ryan LaRoche takes charge of one of Washington's top restaurants,” stated Anna Spiegel of Washingtonian magazine in September 2014. Today, LaRoche is a restaurant consultant, bringing extensive expertise in culinary operations to clients.
Brad Deboy joined Park Hyatt Washington D.C. in 2013, after serving as executive sous chef at Vidalia. He worked his way up the culinary ladder to serve as chef de cuisine at Blue Duck Tavern. Blue Duck Tavern received a Michelin star in 2017, the first year in DC under his leadership. Deboy left to build, design, and concept Elle as a chef/partner. Next, he joined Street Sense as culinary director, traveling the world to work with hotels and restaurants on concept development, design, project management, training, and menu and recipe creation. Today, Deboy is the owner/culinary director of Cold Fire Consulting, a fermentation specialist.
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| Chef Brad Deboy |
Troy Knapp was named Director of Culinary and Food & Beverage for Park Hyatt Washington D.C in February 2017, assuming oversight of the hotel’s various culinary operations, including events, the lounge, and Michelin-star restaurant Blue Duck Tavern. Before joining the hotel, Knapp was the executive chef at the legendary hotel, The Driskill, in Austin, a position he had held since 2013. During his tenure, The Driskill’s 1886 Café & Bakery was named the number one hotel restaurant in Austin. Today, Knapp is redefining luxury dining with culinary artistry for milestone and special moments aboard Sea Table, providing fine cuisine with the intimacy of a private yacht sailing the local waterways of Washington and Annapolis, Maryland.
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| Chef Troy Knapp (Photo: Sea Table DC) |
Jean-Claude Plihon was appointed Director of Culinary and Food & Beverage for Park Hyatt Washington D.C., with its Michelin-starred restaurant, Blue Duck Tavern, in November 2019. He relocated from Dallas, Texas, where he served for 10 years as executive chef of the AAA four-diamond Grand Hyatt DFW. Plihon was honored as the 2019 Texas Chef Association’s Dallas Chef of the Year. He also earned the 2017 Hyatt Culinary Leader of the Year award. A native of France, Plihon has held numerous US and international culinary titles while working for Fairmont Hotels between 1997 and 2009. He also cooked in several Miami-area restaurants before joining Fairmont Hotels.
Andrew Cleverdon was appointed chef de cuisine for Blue Duck Tavern in November 2022. Cleverdon's culinary career includes tenure at many important restaurants working with celebrity chefs such as Tom Colicchio’s flagship restaurant, Craft, Jeffrey Boubin’s Vidalia and Woodward Table, Chef/Owner Fabio Trabocchi’s Fiola and Fiola Mare, Michael Mina’s BOURBON, Derek Brown’s Eat The Rich, The Passenger, and Columbia Room, and Robert Wiedmaier’s Siren. He opened the prestigious seafood spot in 2017 as executive sous chef and quickly climbed the ranks before being named executive chef of Siren in 2018. Under his leadership, the restaurant was awarded a Michelin star in 2019.
About Blue Duck Lounge:
Blue Duck Tavern’s 60-seat Lounge offers guests an oasis in the nation’s capital with comfortable seating and “Capitol Hill” glass-enclosed booths flanking a distinctive marble and glass bar. A unique lounge-style power breakfast is served here each morning, followed by a full lunch menu and evening fare ideal for pre or post-theater dining. There is also a nightly cheese presentation showcasing artisanal cheeses by the ounce. Tempting seasonal cocktails, classic martinis and an extensive wine list, with many special by-the-glass selections complement these offerings. Adjacent to the Blue Duck Lounge, is the Tea Cellar, which features more than 50 rare and limited production single-estate teas from remote regions around the world.
About Park Hyatt Washington:
Park Hyatt Washington D.C. combines modern luxury with classic American style. Located in the fashionable West End Georgetown neighborhood, near Embassy Row and the Smithsonian Museums, Park Hyatt Washington D.C. affords guests convenient access to shopping, dining, and cultural attractions of the nation’s capital. With 220 guest rooms and suites, a Tea Cellar offering rare and vintage tea selections, and an intimate Spa Room, Park Hyatt Washington D.C. provides a unique experience. The hotel is home to the award-winning restaurant, Blue Duck Tavern, an elegant neighborhood tavern offering menu selections focusing on the freshest ingredients available from regional purveyors. Park Hyatt Washington D.C. offers flexible meeting and event space, The Gallery, with seasonal catering. To reserve Park Hyatt Washington D.C., please visit www.parkhyattwashington.com.
About Blue Duck Tavern:
Located inside Park Hyatt Washington D.C., at the corner of 24th and M Streets, NW, the dining room of Blue Duck Tavern is open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner daily - breakfast from 7 am to 11 am; lunch from 11:30 am to 1:30 pm; dinner from 5:30 pm to 10 pm; and Saturday and Sunday brunch from 11:30 am to 1:30 pm. The restaurant has seasonal outdoor seating, a semi-private dining room for up to twelve guests, and a Chef’s Table adjacent to the open kitchen for up to 22 guests. Blue Duck Tavern Lounge has comfortable seating for an intimate lounge experience and showcases Capitol Hill glass-enclosed booths in the center of the room, flanked by a stylish marble and glass bar for drinks and casual dining. Reservations for Blue Duck Tavern can be made by visiting www.blueducktavern.com.
