The sign outside POSH, the self-styled Restaurant and Supper Club, gives a list of clothing unacceptable inside. It includes, "Athletic wear; Sweat or sports jerseys; MC colors; Excessively baggy clothing (tucks-ins not permitted); Plain white t-shirts (short or long sleeve); Sleeveless t-shirts; Construction boots; White sneakers; Headgear; Chains; Ripped or soled clothing."

Executive chef Christopher Willis says it's in appreciation of his diners who tend to get dressed up to come in. When you're looking good, it's a shame if someone else isn't bothering. Blue jeans are okay, he says, though I'm sorry about the ban on white t-shirts which are my main uniform, even with black tie wear. And a certain kind of white tennis shoe is having a fashion moment in some places. But after 10 p.m. when the DJ comes on, you wouldn't want the sound of chains clanking  to interfere with the dance music.

Willis grew up on a farm in Havre de Grace in rural Maryland, exposed to local produce as the norm from a young age. It was his job to mow the grass, cut back the blackberry bushes. (Now, in the garden of his house in Waldorf, he grows much of the family's produce - "lots of hot peppers, arugular, herbs, broccoli, sweet corn.") His maternal grandfather who was Pennsylvania Dutch was responsible for the cooking. "We always ate collard greens," he grins, "fried chicken, crab cakes, and Mississippi Mud Pie." (Willis loves smoking meat and recently smoked 200 pounds in an electric cooker in his shed. "My wife always says I need to cook more", he grins.)

At 13, Willis went to work as a dishwasher at MacGregor's Restaurant close to home and quickly graduated to prepping then moved up to cook there. Next he worked at Bulle Rock golf course, home of the LPGA Championship. By 17, he was established as a line chef even while carrying on his High School studies.

At the same time, he was good at sports, doing well in All State football and baseball. So when it came to choosing his next step, would he become a coach for the rest of his working life? Back in the 90s that didn't pay so well. Nor did a culinary profession. Nevertheless, he opted for culinary school and took himself off to the accelerated program at Pennsylvania Culinary Institute in Pittsburg, a school with only 15 kids in the class. And there he shone. Nevertheless, he says that, bottom line, you learn best on the job.

By the time he was 20, he was an Executive Chef, cooking in restaurants from Martha's Vineyard to Miami that attracted a certain glitterati clientele. When Tom Clancy offered him a job as his personal chef, Willis thought it would take his resume in a different direction. He stayed three years, traveling with him wherever his book tours took him.

Posh is located at 730 11th St NW, 202 393 0975.

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