LA Chef Replaces Brian McBride at the Blue Duck Tavern

The Blue Duck Tavern has announced an official replacement for longtime chef Brian McBride, who departed the restaurant last month to help his friend Robert Wiedmaier further extend his restaurant empire across the region. They've brought aboard Sebastien Archambault, a Los Angeles transplant who was born in Texas but has trained in France.

Prior to this gig, Archambault had been working at LA's L'Epicerie Market since March and, before that, he was the executive chef at RH at the Andaz, another Hyatt hotel restaurant. According to a press release, this is where the chef first met McBride, who endorsed his replacement's selection. Chef de cuisine John Melfi will remain in place and Tom Sietsema reports that Archambault has plans to add things like ceviche and his father's recipe for duck confit to Blue Duck's menu. Also, in regards to the move from LA to DC, Sietsema writes that the chef "is looking forward to feeding an audience that will eat richer food."

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Sebastien Archambault [Photo: Yelp]