Tucked away in Blagden Alley, in the heart of Washington, D.C.’s trendsetting Shaw neighborhood, The Dabney rediscovers, rethinks, and celebrates Mid-Atlantic cuisine. James Beard Award-winning chef Jeremiah Langhorne presides over a hearth-powered kitchen, working with seasonal ingredients sourced from local farmers, foragers, fishermen, and artisans.

The Heart of The Dabney

Jeremiah Langhorne honed his craft working for Sean Brock at his paradigm-redefining Southern restaurant McCrady’s in Charleston, South Carolina, before undertaking a philosophy-shifting stage at Noma in Copenhagen. In 2013, he returned home to Washington, D.C., with one goal: to open a groundbreaking restaurant that would pay homage to the cuisine and foodways of the Mid-Atlantic. Achieving this required extensive research and development. “I wanted to dig in,” he says. “The best way to dig in is to get to know the people who are actually catching, growing, finding, and doing things.”

Langhorne assembled a network of farmers, foragers, fishermen, and artisans, ensuring year-round access to the best produce, proteins, and wild ingredients in the Chesapeake Bay region. His menu evolves with the seasons, featuring dishes such as blue catfish sliders on sweet potato Parker House rolls, sour corn hush puppies with buttermilk dressing, hay-smoked Shenandoah Valley lamb tartare, and grilled Cape Charles rockfish with a flurry of Périgord black truffles. Built on tradition yet fueled by innovation, The Dabney is both a portal to the past and a picture of the present.

Nestled in Blagden Alley, The Dabney’s rustic, colonial-inspired aesthetic provides an apropos backdrop for its neo-vintage fare. Aglow with sepia-toned lighting and flickering tabletop candles, the dining room features exposed brick walls, pine floors, and reclaimed wood tables. Along its eastern wall, the open kitchen showcases a custom-built grill over an open hearth, where much of the cooking takes place.

Langhorne’s live-fire cooking has ignited a blaze of high-profile recognition, including a Michelin star and the top spot on Washingtonian’s 100 Best Restaurants list in 2023.

The Chef

Born just outside Washington, D.C., and raised in Virginia, Langhorne got his first culinary training under chef John Haywood at the now-closed OXO in Charlottesville, Virginia. He later moved to Charleston, South Carolina, where he worked for Sean Brock at McCrady’s, a highly regarded bastion of heritage-minded modern Southern cooking. While Langhorne was rising through the ranks, he left to stage at Noma, an experience that opened his eyes to the raw power of wild-foraged food to communicate the story of a place and a moment in time.

By the time he returned to Washington, D.C., in 2013, Langhorne had a vision for his own restaurant, The Dabney. “I wanted it to be a showcase for this region, its products, and its people,” he says. “I wanted to show people Mid-Atlantic cuisine. But you wouldn’t believe how many serious people, who are still in the industry now, laughed me out of conversations because they would say, ‘There’s no such thing as Mid-Atlantic cuisine.’”

In 2015, The Dabney opened with a menu deeply rooted in the Mid-Atlantic’s history and foodways. Langhorne built relationships with farmers, fishermen, foragers, and producers, ensuring that every dish reflected the best the region had to offer. Cooking over a live fire in the open kitchen, he proved his detractors wrong—going on to win a James Beard Award, while The Dabney garnered a Michelin star and the top spot on Washingtonian’s 100 Best Restaurants list in 2023.

In 2017, Langhorne expanded his footprint with The Dabney Cellar, a subterranean wine bar beneath his flagship restaurant. In 2024, he debuted Petite Cerise, a charming all-day French café-bistro located just a few blocks away.

Langhorne’s cooking is rooted in seasonality, sustainability, and a deep respect for local producers. His approach blends historical research with modern techniques, ensuring that every dish tells a story of place and time. He continues to push the boundaries of what Mid-Atlantic cuisine can be, redefining it for a new generation of diners.

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