Leg, Shoulder, Loin, and Shank: DC’s First Lamb Jam

I have always enjoyed lamb, but after judging yesterday’s first annual DC Lamb Jam event at the Ritz Carlton I really do have a whole new appreciation for the leg, shoulder, loin, and shank. The event was produced by the American Lamb Board which is comprised of ”producers, feeders, seedstock producers and first handlers, appointed by the secretary of agriculture, whose purpose is to strengthen the position of lamb in domestic and foreign markets”. The American Lamb Board has built strong relationships with the New York, San Francisco, Seattle, Boston, and now Washington, DC markets to create an annual Lamb Jam event in each city in which the winning chef advances to the finals to compete with their best dishes. By the looks of the event in Washington yesterday, this town seems to be crazy for lamb. The event was completely sold out and the food was impressive, inventive, and delicious.

The judges table consisted of eleven people and we were seated away from the chefs without information as to which dish belonged to which chef (in order to keep us from picking our favorite personalities or restaurants and not basing it solely on the food). It was a lively group that included Chef Mike Isabella of the upcoming Graffiato and Chef RJ Cooper of the upcoming Rogue 24 (both of whom hope to have their restaurants opened in June and July respectively). There were four categories: leg, shoulder, loin, and shank, and then finally we had to vote on a “best in show” which was our favorite overall dish. The 19 dishes started to come out one at a time and I tried my best to pace myself, but damn that was a lot of lamb.

My favorite dish of the day was from Urbana’s Chef John Critchley. It was a slow cooked leg with preserved lemon, dried herbs and flowers, rosemary scented gypsy peppers, and cippolini onion. The combination was lovely, and the Mediterranean flavors really popped… as Chef Mike Isabella said, it was reminiscent of a comforting sausage and peppers dish. My second favorite dish of the day came from Trummer’s on Main. It was one of the more creative dishes we saw all day, and the taste was also fantastic. Chef Clayton Miller’s dish was a lamb shoulder with rhubarb, spinach, lauren leaf crumble and red wine. The laurel leaf crumble was something else… it was crunchy and combined with the wine and the rhubarb it added just the right amount of sweetness to pair beautifully with the lamb. I loved it. My third favorite came from Vidalia’s Chef Hamilton Johnson. It was actually the first dish we tried but it stuck with me throughout the entire day as it was simple yet elegant. The lamb loin was stuffed with lamb sweetbreads and included black garlic soubise, charred bulb onions, a strawberry rhubarb mostarda and vadouvan jus.

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Urbana Chef Critchley's winning dish at the Lamb Jam. My favorite of the day.

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Trummer's On Main's Chef Clayton Miller's lamb shoulder. My second favorite dish of the day.

The overall winner of the event was Urbana. There seemed to be a consensus at the table that this was definitely a favorite. Best loin went to Cafe Atlantico, best shank went to Zaytinya (loved this one as well), best leg went to Urbana, best shoulder went to Bibiana which was delicious as Chef Stefanelli made a lamb ravioli, and the people’s choice went to BLT Steak.

Judging Lamb Jam was a blast, and the event was completely sold out which shows the love for lamb in the Washington area. We ended the judging with decadent Georgetown Cupcakes which I thought I was too full for, but no, I managed to attack one even after 19 lamb dishes. I am already looking forward to next year’s Lamb Jam and hope to spend more time at some of the top restaurants around town as I feel I am now one step closer to becoming a lamb connoisseur. And, I now have an apron that says “lambtastic”, so clearly I am very official.

Click here for more information about the American Lamb Board.

Click here for more information about the Lamb Jam.

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