Part of the menu for the upcoming downtown Silver Spring restaurant Citizens & Culture has debuted in the most unlikely of places: a birthday party for society scammer Anna “Delvey” Sorokin.
Delvey, the Russian-born convicted con artist and the subject of the Netflix series Inventing Anna, defrauded New York socialites and financial institutions of a combined $275,000 between 2013 and 2017. She is currently under house arrest following her release last fall.
Chef Ryan Hackney, a Beat Bobby Flay alum whose résumé includes stints at D.C.’s Macon Bistro & Larder, Charlie Palmer Steak, and most recently Valor Brewpub, cooked a five-course test run of the dishes that he plans to serve at Citizens & Culture, according to a report from Eater D.C. (and also reported by Mashed):
For starters, the group ate “Bagel ‘n Luxe” (everything bagel toast points, whipped cream cheese, smoked trout roe, micro herbs, and espelette pepper), followed by crudo sourced from NYC’s Fulton Fish Market, barbecue squash salad, and creamy asparagus bisque. A Godfather-inspired “Luca Brasi Sleeps With the Fishes” dish featured pan-seared Atlantic salmon, fire-roasted butternut squash puree, and roasted squash, and the main event—dubbed “The Delvey”—involved braised short rib, maple bourbon-glazed carrots, and edible flowers (with a 72-hour marinated mushroom cap as the vegetarian option).
Citizens & Culture is the latest restaurant venture from Kaldi’s Social House owner Tsega Hailemariam, who acquired the former Pacci’s Pizzeria space at 8113 Georgia Ave. in 2019. The restaurant is expected to open in the spring.
Rendering courtesy Tsega Hailemariam