New Book Celebrates Georgetown Saloons

Meet Me at the Bar, I’m Hungry features over four decades of experiences during the Golden Saloon Era of Georgetown.

Mike Soper, D.C. chef and veteran bartender, wrote the cookbook-memoir to provide signature recipes and tell stories from the 1970s Georgetown saloon scene.

Soper attended Georgetown University before transferring to the Culinary Institute of America where he graduated second in his class in 1977. Soper has opened a dozen places in D.C. and is currently a part-time chef-consultant in the Dupont Circle area.

The following is an excerpt from the 156-page book Meet Me at the Bar, I’m Hungry:

“My first chef job in DC, after graduating Culinary Institute of America, was in a new saloon at the edge of Georgetown proper called Marshalls. Owned by two bartenders, with roughly equal seating in the bar and dining room, it was a classic saloon setup. I had a ground-floor opportunity to implement my spin on an Italian menu garnished with some saloon basics. It turned out to be a great start to my DC chef career—popular and profitable with a great saloon atmosphere and a menu fun to execute. Subsequent jobs were more of a restaurant nature, but all featured bars serving full menus. I enthusiastically encouraged the bar staff to sell food and tried to make my presence felt with the regulars to promote a collegial atmosphere while they were eating and drinking at the bar. Even though I enjoyed visiting friends and favored customers in the dining room, I always felt more comfortable at the bar. My bar conversations were more casual and less edited than those in the dining room, where I made sure to rein in some of my commentary. While compiling the recipes gleaned from my thirty years as a chef, I tried to find those that are a little different but approachable.”

To order a copy of the book visit Mike Soper’s website and get more information on Facebook.

Photo Credit: MeetMeattheBarImHungry.com