Colleen Conrad's Back at Pearl Dive

Last time Colleen Conrad cooked in the Pearl Dive Oyster Palace kitchen, she was a junior sous chef. Now she’s back leading the charge as executive chef. Spending the past year opening Takoma Park’s Republic with head chef Danny Wells was invaluable, she tells us. “The biggest lesson is that you don’t know anything when it comes to opening a restaurant. I wouldn’t be able to come in and change up the menu [at Pearl Dive] without having gone through the past year with Danny.” Colleen’s focus is on letting local, seasonal ingredients shine. “This crowd doesn’t want to read a menu with words they don't understand,” Colleen says. One example of simple done right is her whole wood grilled Bradford Bay Farms black bass.

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