Bob Kinkead's professional goal is simple -- to be remembered as a chef and restaurateur who consistently provides excellent food and service to the public, while engendering respect from his peers for creative proficiency. A three-time James Beard Award nominee for "Best Mid-Atlantic Chef", Bob Kinkead has proven adept at fulfilling this goal.
He describes his restaurant, Kinkead's, as "an American brasserie with a heavy emphasis on seafood." And while categorized as a "Modern American chef, " Bob Kinkead is not restricted by boundaries -- his signature dishes include Wild Mushroom Strudel, Portuguese Style Roast Monkfish with Chorizo, and Pepita Crusted Salmon with Crab, Corn and Chilies. He adapts unique dishes from around the world to American ingredients and tastes, resulting in a light, yet intense and full-flavored, experience.
Kinkead's, located on Pennsylvania Avenue's historic Red Lion Row, is a two-story, 220-seat restaurant offering a choice of two menus and settings -- the more casual street level bar and cafe, and the upstairs dining room featuring a kitchen open to full view. It is from this vantage point that Bob Kinkead, wearing a headset, acts as player/manager, directing the chefs down the line, thus ensuring that every dish emerges as a culinary masterpiece. Kinkead's opened in September 1993 to immediate critical acclaim, quickly taking its place among Washington's premier dining establishments.
Kinkead has received numerous prestigious awards in addition to his three James Beard Award nominations, including the 1992 Washington Magazine "Restaurateur of the Year Award", the 1992 Chefs in America "Washington-Area Chef of the Year Award" and the 1992 Restaurant Association of Metropolitan Washington "Chef of the Year Award," among many others.
His prior success stories include Twenty-One Federal, the well-known Washington restaurant that launched him into national prominence. Before moving to Washington, he was head chef, and later a partner, at Twenty-One Federal in Nantucket. His other restaurant experiences include Joseph's in Boston, the Sheraton Commander Hotel in Cambridge, and Chilllingsworth in Brewster Massachusetts.
