In capitals like Paris, Madrid and Rome, restaurants are frequently family affairs. Papa is in the kitchen, while Mama runs the front of house. Equinox is one of only a handful of restaurants in Washington that can make a similar claim.

Others include Vidalia and Bistro Bis, where Sallie Buben is almost as much a part of the picture as her husband, Jeff Buben. And pretty much everyone in the Abi-Najm family is involved in the extended Lebanese Taverna empire.

Ellen Kassoff Gray rules just as formidably over Equinox as does her co-owning husband and chef, Todd Gray. For some diners, there’s a quick stab of disappointment if she isn’t around somewhere in the dining room when they arrive. But she has far more input than just bubbling with enthusiasm and owning some of the longest legs in the business. This past Sunday, she was voted Manager of the Year by the Restaurant Association Metropolitan Washington in its annual RAMMY awards.

The restaurant, a short sprint from the White House at the end of Connecticut Avenue, is revered for its take on contemporary American cooking. But it’s also respected for its adherence to finding food from sustainable sources and its support of local farmers.

Equinox became one of the first restaurants, following the launch of the Certified Humane label in May 2003, to cook only those meats that have been raised humanely. Todd Gray says the concept of ‘certified humane’ had become a topic for some farmers. But he wondered if it would be an issue that would draw the support of his customers.

Ellen had no such hesitation. “She approached me with it,” Gray emphasizes. “She got it started here.” Which may or may not surprise you. Ellen is a committed vegetarian, so you might imagine she wouldn’t involve herself with any aspect of meat.

But food supply is how she met her husband, selling products to chefs for Sysco Food Services in the 1990s when Gray was working at Roberto Donna’s Galileo. The decision to go with certified humane meat was, in fact, a simple one. “At the end of the day,” says Todd Gray, “it’s all about quality.”

He developed his focus on using ingredients of a high standard through his years with Donna. “He made a really lasting impact on my style — from start to finish ... from sourcing vegetables and local farm-raised eats to learning how to build and compose dishes. We had our own chicken and egg farm out in Leesburg! He gave farmers seeds to grow tomatoes.”

Gray says his own commitment to buying local, seasonal and sustainable ingredients is important to customers. “A lot of people come to the restaurant because of the stand we take on the way we operate, the way we feed people.”

He is open to pitches from outside. SeaWeb and the National Marine Fisheries Service
approached him with a case against using rapidly diminishing stocks of Chilean sea bass. “When the information as presented to us, I saw we could participate with that.” He has been just as protective of wild salmon, fighting some years ago a move by the Food and Drug Administration to grant approval to genetically engineered salmon.

None of these would have been issues of concern to diners when the Fredericksburg, Va., native first began cooking in Washington in the 1980s. “It’s a very changed city. There are younger dedicated palates that have had access to a lot of farmers markets in the last five years. People are buying more regularly at farmers markets. They’re attending lots of cooking classes, going out more than ever, trying restaurants like forms of entertainment. And there’s the growth of restaurants in the ‘burbs. The city has changed dramatically.”

Gray began cooking in Washington at the celebrated French restaurant La Colline, now closed. He had waited tables while an art student at the University of Richmond and enjoyed restaurant life so much that he switched to food, finishing his education at the Culinary Institute of America. There were internships at California restaurants L’Orangerie, Citrus and Patina. But once he graduated, unlike many chefs, he didn’t move much. Four years with La Colline’s chef Robert Greault were followed by seven with Roberto Donna, who made him Galileo’s first and only American chef de cuisine.

With a 7-year-old son, Harrison, “who likes to eat everything,” Gray is looking to influence chefs of the future with classes at Equinox for children several times a year. And there are regular Saturday classes for adults.

He keeps up to date with what’s going on in kitchens around the world. Last year, he traveled to Ferran Adrià’s El Bulli in Spain, birthplace of molecular gastronomy (the description for food produced through scientific technique that irritates most chefs).

Gray is diplomatic about the experience. “There are limitations on how much of that you can deliver on in a restaurant like mine. We would be close-minded not to recognize or at least acknowledge the tremendous growth in the development of scientific cuisine.”

He is far more enthusiastic about the work of Thomas Keller, owner of The French Laundry in Napa Valley. “He’s arguably our greatest American chef that we have had, that we know today. His level of commitment is perfection. That and his ability to pass on his creative vision to those who work for him is why The French Laundry and Per Se remain two of the most difficult reservations in the U.S.”

Gray applauds the way that the Food Network and shows like “Iron Chef” have exposed young cooks to very different ways of cooking. “It’s great for the consumer. It’s turned the craft into regular discussion for dinner in the homes of the heartland of the U.S. We’ve never had this kind of reach before.”

But he has reservations. “I think we can’t forget who and what we are. We have a responsibility to our customers and to our craft. The important thing is we still have to
remain grounded. We have to remember we are always cooks and chefs.”

Equinox (202-331-8118; http://www.equinoxrestaurant.com) is located at 818 Connecticut Ave. NW. Main courses cost $29 to $34.

This article by Julia Watson first appeared in The NorthWest Current Newspaper. Photo Bill Petros/The Current.

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