Washington Nationals Tap Carla Hall and Jamie Leeds to Replace Mike Isabella’s Sandwich Shop

Nationals Park will no longer sell sandwiches from scandal-plagued restaurateur Mike Isabella. Instead, a group of female chefs and restaurateurs will take turns serving specialty dishes at new dining stand, Grace’s Kitchen.

The Washington Post reports that Top Chef alum Carla Hall and Hank’s Oyster Bar founder Jamie Leeds are the first two chefs creating food for Grace’s Kitchen, adding Nashville hot chicken sandwiches and shrimp po’boys respectively to the new menu. Leeds sells oyster po’boys at the chain of seafood-centric restaurants she’s sprinkled across the D.C. area — including her most recent location in the neighboring Wharf complex — while Hall has been promising to open a Southern-style restaurant in D.C. for years. Her struggling restaurant in Brooklyn closed last summer.

Rounding out the female team are local soup and booze partners: Prescription Chicken (Valerie Zweig and Taryn Pellicone) and Republic Restoratives (Pia Carusone and Rachel Gardner), according to an email from the Washington Nationals.

The Washington Nationals severed ties with Isabella last month after allegations of sexual harassment were made public by an ongoing lawsuit. Ballpark administrators removed two of Isabella’s food stalls, Kapnos and Catchfly, shortly thereafter and promised to have something new in place at the former G stand (Section 136) by opening day. Eater reached out to Nationals staff about the other female hospitality leaders expected to fill in at Grace’s Kitchen but has not heard back.

Isabella has repeatedly denied the allegations that have shaken his business empire. Former Mike Isabella Concepts manager Chloe Caras recently updated her original suit, requesting that court officials strike down nondisclosure agreements she says bar other employees from speaking out against Isabella and his management team.

• Mike Isabella Restaurants Allegedly Used NDAs to Silence Potential Accusers [EDC]
• Nationals Park Cuts Two Mike Isabella Restaurants [EDC]
• Washington Nationals Strip Mike Isabella’s Eateries From Nats Park Amidst Sexual Harassment Suit [EDC]
• Alleged Sexual Harasser Mike Isabella Is Already Losing Supporters [EDC]
• Isabella Eatery Manager Sues Mike Isabella for Sexual Harassment [EDC]

Carla Hall’s Got Work to do Before Exporting Troubled Southern Kitchen to D.C. [EDC]