Capitol Hill's Ba Bay, Penn Quarter's Fiola Both Lose Chefs

Chefs from both Ba Bay and Fiola quietly departed their posts in opposite quadrants of Pennsylvania Avenue weeks ago, despite having only been on the job for a matter of months apiece. Tom Sietsema reported in his weekly online chat this morning that Nick Sharpe left the seven-month-old Ba Bay earlier this month for a job with a San Francisco restaurant group. The Capitol Hill restaurant's owner Khoa Nguyen is apparently taking over the kitchen duties — and soliciting his grandmother's help as he revises the menu that's soon to feature a lot more "traditional family recipes."

In the same chat, the critic also casually dropped notice that Miles Vaden is out as executive chef over at Fiola after less than two months. Co-owner Maria Trabocchi explains to Eater that Vaden left the Penn Quarter kitchen a month ago. Trabocchi doesn't know where Vaden has ended up, but it doesn't seem like bad blood is the issue as she notes that "he's a great guy." Fiola hasn't tapped a replacement yet, but Trabocchi says they're looking to promote internally.
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