Executive chef Kat Petonito shares the approach that makes her restaurants stand out.
I realized I wanted to cook at a very young age. My parents owned a store in this old building in Old Town Germantown [in Washington, DC], a bakery, video rental, catering company—they did it all. I grew up seeing how they made people smile, that human connection. I fell in love with hospitality young and it’s the only thing I’ve ever wanted to do.
I applied to CIA fresh out of high school. My senior year, my grandmother got diagnosed with stage 3 pancreatic cancer with three months to live. I was already very interested in cooking, and she sat me down and said, “This is what you need to do. I’ve never seen you so happy.” That’s what really sealed it for me, and I’ve been doing it ever since.
But after my grandmother died, I didn’t handle it very well while I was in culinary school. There was a teacher there who saw potential in me. He took me out into the hallway one day and yelled at me: “You are the most talented person I’ve seen and you’re coming to class high. You’re not going to be able to skate through on raw talent alone.” He woke me up. It kills me that I don’t remember his name, because he probably saved my life, but he was my Mediterranean teacher, and I’ve had a love for Mediterranean cuisine ever since.
I graduated and lived in Alabama for a little bit to learn some Southern hospitality, and I moved to Nantucket to learn New England cuisine, and then my dad fell on some hard times and asked me to come home and help financially. I was looking for jobs in DC, and that’s when I linked up with Mike Isabella Concepts. I met [chef] George Pagonis there, who is still one of my mentors, and he took me under his wing; we opened all nine concepts together—and then it exploded. I learned a lot, but I also learned what not to do. I learned that the most important thing about running a business is the people and how you treat them and respect them.
The concepts I’m executive chef for now—The Duck and the Peach, La Collina, and The Wells—are all right next door to each other, and we’re running out of one larger kitchen, so we’re
able to run a smaller team in a tighter ship, doing three types of cuisine. The Filipino flavors I grew up with come out in so many different ways. Sometimes when my pastry chef [Rochelle Cooper] does dessert, I’ll suggest using ube or pandan or trying tapioca. In our Italian restaurant, La Collina, when we first opened, we were collaborating on the pastry menu, and I worked with Rochelle to create a tiramisu-flavored sans rival.
That’s the most romantic thing, how [cuisine] has that ability to bridge gaps between different cultures and people.”
It blew everyone out of the water. (Sans rival is a very Filipino dessert, like a crunchy meringue cake layered with buttercream and flavored with pistachio.) My mom came in and tried it, and she was like, Katarina, this is fusion. This is fusion. It was so funny.
My mom is Filipino through and through, and I’m first generation on her side. She is the most wonderful cook there could ever be. In my house growing up, for Thanksgiving we did the traditional American turkey, ham, mashed potato situation. But there was always a Filipino dish or two, usually kaldereta, which is like a beef stew flavored with beef liver and tomato. It’s very umami forward. Rice was always on the table, and my mom always made Filipino fruit salad, which is probably the unhealthiest thing in the world— condensed milk, canned fruit—but it hits so many nostalgia points. It’s very good, but it’s very not-cheffy.
I am so spoiled to have grown up with that kind of food, and her cuisine has a lot of influence in my life. We do a street- food bite situation at The Wells for our bar snacks. And we put her exact lumpia recipe on the menu, a little homage to her. She was very honored.
I’m half Italian on my dad’s side, and we did the Italian family gatherings, the lasagnas and the ragus and the antipastis and all that jazz. Pasta everywhere! And my grandfather on my dad’s side, he was a crabber on the Chesapeake, back in the day when you could crab there. I grew up eating bushels and bushels of crabs. I always have to remind myself not everyone had the luxury of having a big Italian family. Now I do a spiced lamb ragu that has been a staple at La Collina since day one.
One thing I find very interesting is how similar everyone’s cuisine is. I think that’s the most romantic thing, how it has that ability to bridge gaps between different cultures and people. That’s how most of American cuisine has come to fruition. It’s just one big melting pot of different cuisines through the ingredients we have available in our backyard and the generations of people immigrating here. Like my mom would say, “fusion.” It’s such a cringe word now, but it’s true.
Get Kat Petonito’s Recipes
Lumpia
Spiced Lamb Ragu
Creamy Fruit Salad
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