In 1990, Dave Lefeve and Matt DiStefano went off in different directions. Now, 13 years later, they meet again on King Street.
After the two graduated from T.C. Williams in 1990, DiStefano headed for James Madison University, while Lefeve went further south, to the University of South Florida.
Their paths crossed again when they returned from college and worked at King Pepper. After going off in other directions again, they both returned to their hometown, this time to pursue a common passion.
Both Lefeve and DiStefano are applying their culinary talents at the newly opened Vermilion Restaurant — Lefeve as the head chef, DiStefano as sous chef. "It's a lot of fun and a lot of work," said Lefeve.
The two chefs complement the management of Mike and Stephanie Babin and Christi Ehrett, who have proven their restaurant know-how by running Evening Star Cafe in Del Ray for six years. For their second dining venture, they joined forces with Steve Rauner and Brian Hooyenga.
"I think we have a good product at a good price. If you do that long enough, people notice," said Mike Babin.
VERMILION OPENED on upper King Street last month in the space formerly occupied by Kingfish Restaurant. Rauner said that they will also open Rustico, another Del Ray restaurant not too far from Evening Star, at the end of the year.
"Modern American with an eclectic twist," is how Rauner describes the food at Vermilion. They’re keeping lunches reasonably priced, he said. A soda and a sandwich costs less than $10.
Lunch melds cuisines, with menu items like Yucatan fish taco, Thai peanut noodles, Korean steak sandwich, and crispy BBQ chicken spring rolls with hoisin-barbecue sauce and cucumber and Mandarin orange salad.
The lunch menu is a mix, said DiStefano, who put it together. "Some things are from New York, others are things I like. “They are things you know, but the combinations are a little different."
DiStefano spent several years in New York as a graphics designer. When he tired of the work, he headed back to Alexandria and found out the owners of the new restaurant were looking for a sous chef. It was a chance not only to cook, but to work with his old friend.
DINNER IS EVEN more varied. To create the dinner menu, Lefeve said he sat down and started coming up with ideas.
Some of Lefeve's more popular dinner items include sesame crusted, pan-roasted tuna with flash fried rice noodles, baby bok choy, wasabi cream and sesame-seaweed salad.
There’s also a chili rubbed, pan-roasted salmon with warm mango salad and fried jicama; filet mignon with truffle mashed potatoes, haricots verts and Cabernet reduction; roasted rack of lamb with new potatoes, raspberry spinach and mint vinaigrette; and pan-seared, hoisin-glazed scallops with sesame sushi rice and fried carrot tangle.
Lefeve realized that cooking was his thing after he started helping out at a friend's restaurant in Louisiana. After bouncing around awhile, someone suggested to him that he go to the Culinary Institute of America.
That was definitely the right path for him, and after graduation, he trained at restaurants in Washington, D.C., and Tysons Corner as a sous chef. When the head position opened up at Vermilion, it was perfect timing.
MANY MENU ITEMS were tested on friends and family, who also affected the two cooks’ path into the kitchen; especially Lefeve and DiStefano's mothers
"Both our moms are cooks. We get a lot of suggestions from them. In high school, one of our houses was always the place the guys wanted to eat dinner," said DiStefano, who has known Lefeve since seventh grade.
Those friends and family members have also been supportive of the new business, with many former T.C. Williams graduates stopping by for lunch, dinner or drinks.
They offer 50 different bottles of wine, 15 of which can be ordered as splits, with 14 wines available by the glass.
For the wine list, said Rauner, Lefeve worked with Daily Planet director of operations Jennifer Witebsky.
VERMILION ALSO offers many specialty drinks, including several different martinis. Rauner sees Vermilion as a place where people will feel comfortable coming for the whole evening, or stopping by just for a drink.
"There's something for everybody," he said.
Hues of maroon, orange and purple enliven the remodeled restaurant, designed by Catherine Hailey, who works at both Evening Star and Vermilion. Rauner is especially excited about the upstairs dining room, which he said would be used for regular dining.
"Our main goal is to fill both floors for dinner," said Rauner. They reached that goal last weekend. Rauner said that they had about 200 guests both Friday and Saturday evening.