The Evening Star Appoints Keith Cabot as Executive Chef, Debuts a New Menu

PHOTO: Keith Cabot photo by Marissa Bialecki

The Evening Star announced today that Keith Cabot is the new executive chef of the neighborhood restaurant that has been a fixture in the Del Ray community for more than 18 years.

Chef Cabot is bringing a refined and regional focus to the Evening Star, with a brand new seasonal American menu debuting Saturday, Oct. 3, in collaboration with Art on the Avenue.

The Evening Star’s rich history and sense of place within the community drew Chef Cabot to his new role, according to a news release from Neighborhood Restaurant Group. With experience at some of the country’s most notable farm to table restaurants, Chef Cabot will leverage his relationships with local farmers and capitalize on the unique resource of the Evening Star Rooftop Garden. Here, he plans to grow his own source for heritage varietals of radishes, lettuces and other produce for the menu. The restaurant, previously helmed by Chef Jim Jeffords, who left the restaurant last year, has been focused more closely on a Southern menu.

Guests of the restaurant, bar and lounge, can expect dishes such as Pork Croquettes with shaved rooftop squash, paprika aioli and toasted Virginia peanuts; Roast Chicken Breast with yellow wax beans, marinated cow peas, toasted almonds and madras curry carrot purée; and Rainbow Trout with roasted beets, buttered leeks, potato coins, buttermilk sorrel sauce, as well as the addition of “Family Share” plates like Chili Braised Lamb Shoulder with Grilled Romaine Hearts.

Chef Cabot’s culinary experiences span from coast to coast, but his love of food and cooking started in his hometown of Charlottesville, where his godmother’s dishes were the centerpiece of every family gathering. After culinary school, he spent formative years in the kitchens of Ad Hoc and Blackberry Farm, developing his craft and his culinary perspective.

In 2012, Chef Cabot moved to Washington, DC to help Chef Johnny Spero open the tasting menu restaurant Suna in Capitol Hill. He then worked as Sous Chef at Table, before becoming the Chef de Cuisine MENU MBK. Most recently, Chef Cabot reunited with restaurateur Ari Gejdenson to open both Denson bar and Sotto.

​The ​Evening Star is open for dinner nightly at 5:30 p.m. and for weekend brunch on Saturday and Sunday beginning at 10 a.m. Evening Star Cafe is located at 2000 Mount Vernon Avenue in Alexandria, VA 22301. For more information call 703-549-5051 or visit www.eveningstarcafe.net.