An Iron Chef Will Sell Healthy Bowls at Wizards Games

Fresh concessions

For years now, Washington Wizards fans have gleefully subjected themselves to ridicule in the sports world by cheering louder for an in-stadium promotion that yields free Chick-fil-A sandwiches than for the team’s on-court feats. But starting with their first game of the regular season against the visiting Miami Heat on Thursday, October 18, the Wizards will have a healthier option to excite the fowl-crazed crowd.

Cat Cora, the first woman to earn the title of Iron Chef from Food Network, is behind the concessions stands selling Mediterranean bowls from her Olilo brand at Capital One Arena as part of the Chinatown stadium’s $40 million renovation, DCist reports. Cora tells DCist that the brand, created in partnership with big-box vendor Aramark, will offer a “customized bowl experience” with vegetables, sauces, and proteins such as grilled salmon, braised lamb, chicken and falafel. Eater DC reported in July that Cora would be coming to the stadium along with David Chang’s Fuku — an established concessions player in New York, Miami, and Philadelphia — and a version of local chef Alex McCoy’s Lucky Buns. Both of the latter options could present a further threat to the Chick-fil-A fervor. [DCist]

Reclamation project

The Washington Post last week published a profile of Carla Hall detailing how the morning show star, who splits her time between D.C. and New York, is leading the way for African-American chefs reclaiming soul food by presenting a more nuanced, healthier version of the cuisine. The article points out how Hall met resistance from her literary agent when she pitched her new book, Carla Hall’s Soul Food: Everyday and Celebration, because the agent felt it might not appeal to non-black consumers. “Nobody would say that about other cultures,” Hall said, according to WaPo. [WaPo]

Sustainable sausage

The Salt Line in Navy Yard, one of Eater’s Essential 38 restaurants in Washington, has come up with a funky way of cooking up an invasive species in the Chesapeake Bay: catfish kielbasa. Check out this tweet from chef Kyle Bailey. [Twitter]