Chef Miller of Mei N Yu. Photo courtesy of Mei N Yu.
Digging his culinary talons into the Year of the Tiger, Chef Tim Miller fuses the trade fare of the Ancient Silk Road with locally farmed produce. Supporting the community through his commitment to the sustainable, Miller cuts out the middleman to dish up the delish at Mie N Yu.
On Tap: What’s it like heading the kitchen at a District favorite like Mie N Yu?
Tim Miller: Very demanding, but very rewarding as well.
On Tap: What’s your signature dish?
TM: The Tokyo-style ray and oyster dish. It’s inspired by the struggle of the rapidly depleting wild Chesapeake oysters who are trying to survive the over-population of the predatory cownose stingray. Our hope is to help develop a market for the Chesapeake ray in efforts to keep the population at sustainable levels.
OT: Signature brunch dish?
TM: Mango Lassi: dolcezza mango sorbet, banana, mint, yogurt and honey.
OT: What makes brunch at Mie N Yu unique?
TM: We serve brunch on Fridays as well as Saturday and Sunday. This gives people who work in the Georgetown area the opportunity to enjoy brunch without having to come into Georgetown on the weekends.
OT: You recently launched the “Year of the Tiger” dim sum menu. What inspired this menu?
TM: Our partnership with the National Geographic Museum’s Terra Cotta Warriors exhibit, as well as our recurring partnership with the Shen Yun Traditional Chinese Performing Arts Company’s Chinese New Year performance at the Kennedy Center.
OT: With Mie N Yu, you are very involved with the National Cherry Blossom Festival. What does that involvement entail?
TM: Our GM, Oren Molovinsky, is very involved with them from a planning standpoint. It gives us an opportunity to work with Japanese cuisine, and we feature a Cherry Picks tasting menu highlighting spring flavors from the Far East. Every now and again, we will participate in the Sakura Matsuri Street Festival.
OT: How do the broad culinary influences of Asia, the Middle East, North Africa and the Mediterranean merge to inform your dishes?
TM: We used to “fuse” ingredients and flavors from several cultures into a single dish. Now, through research and reaching out to people of specific ethnicities, we try to create an experience that would be similar to what they would experience if they were actually visiting that region or culture. Also, the wide array of ethnic cuisine is a perfect opportunity to utilize even more sustainable cuts and less mainstream pieces of meats, which directly benefits the farm-to-table movement.
OT: You put a great deal of emphasis on sustainable ingredients, even visiting the local farms you source. How does that impact your prowess as a chef and the quality of the Mie N Yu fare?
TM: I’m very proud that Mie N Yu engages the farmers in “whole animal” purchasing, which has allowed me to be a steward of good wholesome food for our guests and give more business to local farmers. We pay 100 percent for quality because there are no middlemen between us and the farms; in this way we can assure our guests that we not only trust our farmers, but know them and their families personally. The quality of these products cannot be beat in the DC area.
OT: What message do you hope your focus on local and healthy ingredients delivers to your diners?
TM: That instead of shopping around for the best deals in town, diners will choose restaurants that have a conscience and that serve primarily local and sustainable foods. If that means that they eat out a little less, then that’s ok.
Mie N Yu: 3125 M St. NW, DC; 202-333-6122; www.mienyu.com
[googleMap name="Mie N Yu" width="770" height="235"]3125 M St. NW, DC[/googleMap]
Chef Miller is one of the greatest Chefs I have met. His style of cooking is unique.