Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/1050740
Patrick Bazin: Bazin's on Church, Vienna While it's now common to see multiple gluten- free dishes on menus, chefs rarely do so out of necessity for their own health. When Patrick Bazin discovered five years ago he had celiac disease—a tough diagnosis for a native New Jerseyan whose longtime favorite food was pizza—he made adjustments both in his own life- style and at Bazin's, the contemporary American restaurant he opened in 2006. In addition to hosting gluten-free pop-ups, Bazin ensures the majority of the options on his menu avoid gluten without sacrificing nostalgia (he says the restaurant specializes in "dishes that people miss," among them pierogies, chicken- and-pesto pizza with onions, and broccoli frito with rice-flour batter). The maple- and miso-glazed Chilean sea bass is an ever-present favorite on the menu, and guests also swoon for his crab cakes wrapped into fried spring rolls. "It's a very exciting time for chefs," he says. "We have five vegetable preparations on the menu— when I opened there were only salads." Offering 350 options by the bottle and 30 by the glass, Bazin curates one of the area's largest wine lists and trains staff through weekly tastings. He says he's proud and supportive of his chef col- leagues who left the D.C. dining scene to set up shop in Vienna: "We are building our own scene," he adds. Miso-glazed sea bass is a signature entree at Bazin's on Church. november 2018 / the tasting panel / 107 Patrick Bazin of Bazin's on Church changed his culinary philosophy when he was diagnosed with celiac disease.