Nationals Park Welcomes More Female Chefs to Grace’s Kitchen

Grace’s Kitchen — the Nationals Park food stand that recently replaced one of scandal-plagued restaurateur Mike Isabella’s dining ventures — is now expanding to include offerings from more female chefs, hospitality professionals, and restaurateurs.

Starting on Tuesday, May 15, the new concession stand — named in honor of Calvin Coolidge’s wife, who was a big baseball fan — will start serving meatball sandwiches from Pizzeria Paradiso’s Ruth Gresser, as well as a grain bowl with quinoa and cauliflower rice from Ris Lacoste of Ris. And Gina Chersevani from Buffalo & Bergen will serve an iconic drink found at her Union Market stand: the Lox’d & Load’d, a lox mini-everything bagel atop a bloody mary made with vodka from Republic Restoratives.

They join existing fare from Grace’s Kitchen inaugural chefs: Top Chef alum Carla Hall and Hank’s Oyster Bar founder Jamie Leeds, who added Nashville hot chicken sandwiches and mac and cheese and shrimp po’boys, respectively, to the menu last month.

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.

A portion of the proceeds from will benefit the Nationals Youth Baseball Academy Nutrition Program and the DC Central Kitchen.

Grace’s Kitchen is located behind Section 136 on the Main Concourse.

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