Howsoon Cham - Owner-chef of Red Ginger and Cafe Tropé

Red Ginger owner plans next venture

The drive that won Gambia native Howsoon Cham a soccer scholarship at Bethany College also may have contributed to his decision to buy Georgetown restaurant Red Ginger three-and-a-half years ago. He was determined to turn around the spot located on the hill at Wisconsin Avenue at Q Street, and he was determined to do it within 30 hours — without closing it down. The staff he took over was aghast.

“I said to them, ‘Where is the biggest trash can you have? ... Fill it with all the food you have.’We had three trash cans full. And I told them, ‘Let’s dump it. A new delivery comes tomorrow. Also, we have a party of 30 coming tomorrow. And a new menu starting today.’” He chuckles. “They looked at me like I am nuts. But in two days we had new everything.”

His mother was a talented cook, producing food for her family of six children, says Cham. But he says it was his experiences while an undergraduate at the liberal arts college in West Virginia that sparked his interest in cooking. During his free time and vacation breaks he helped fund his education by working in restaurants. He got his degree in international affairs and took a job at the Gambian Embassy in Washington, but he quickly realized he preferred to spend his life cooking.

Instead of setting off for culinary school, Cham decided to learn by working his way around restaurants in the Washington area. His mother was not thrilled with his plan. “I had a passion. Even so, mom said, ‘Go to culinary school.’ But with my passion, I was offered [the] assistant chef job at Georgia Brown’s, and then I never looked back,” he said.

He pointed out to his mom that none of the chefs who inspired him — like Patrick O’Connell of the Little Inn of Washington, Charlie Trotter of his eponymous restaurant in Chicago and Norman Van Aken of Norman’s in Miami — had been formally trained either.

As Cham moved around developing his technique and expanding his experience, he picked the restaurants that served the kind of food that resonated with him. He worked his way through i Ricchi, the acclaimed Market Street Bar & Grill at the Hyatt in Reston, and Vidalia, where he was heavily influenced by chef Jeff Buben, its owner, and Peter Smith, who later left to open his own PS7s.

When he learned in March 2004 that local Caribbean cook Sharon Banks was selling Red Ginger, he decided he was ready to take it over himself.

Though he hadn’t eaten there, he knew he wanted to open a place where he could cook the kind of food he’d grown up with — “kind of Caribbean in concept plus a touch Jamaican, a touch of Haiti, Trinidad,” he said. He read up on that wide region’s cuisine and devised a new menu that played off it but with an added touch of French influence, picked up from the high-end restaurants he had worked in.

So Walnut-Crusted Duck Breast shares the list with Jamaican Rum & Apple Cider-Cured Pork Tenderloin and Red Snapper à la Veracruzana — which he basically made up. Chicken shows up as Jamaica’s iconic Jerked Chicken as well as in Peruvian Lollipops.

And now he’s taking his cooking adventures a step further, adding to his restaurant portfolio with Café Tropé at 2100 P St. NW. The name is a play on Saint-Tropez, the fishing village in the south of France made fashionable by French actress Brigitte Bardot. The menu offers what he describes as French-Caribbean small plates.

He’s brought with him the saturated colors of the walls in Red Ginger, painting Café Tropé’s different rooms in chocolate browns, ketchup reds and bruised plum, with some of them overpainted by hand with huge exotic tropical flowers.

He won’t say whether another of Red Ginger’s features might find its way down to Dupont Circle. One of Cham’s most popular ideas — “stunts” might be the word — is Red Ginger’s bread. Seasoned diners there know not to complain if a bread basket isn’t immediately brought to the table when they arrive. “We make the bread to order in the restaurant. When you sit down, that’s when we start baking it for you.”

It’s well worth the wait. Families with kids love it, Cham says — particularly his own. His 5-year-old daughter already has a respect for good food. She loves to eat at Hook and Proof and her daddy’s restaurant, where she packs away appetizers, entrées and desserts, all washed down with lemonade. Cham says, “You can’t fool that little girl with food. She eats anchovies,” he with pride, “and she’ll tell you McD’s is not healthy.”

Red Ginger (202-965-7009; http://www.redgingerofgeorgetown.com) is located at 1564 Wisconsin Ave. NW. Main courses cost from $15 to $20. Café Tropé is located at 2100 P St NW.(202-223-9335; http://www.cafetropedc.com)

This article by Julia Watson first appeared in the Northwest, Dupont, Foggy Bottom and Georgetown Current Newspapers. Photo Bill Petros/The Current.