Top Chef Mike Isabella Comes to DCA with Kapnos Taverna

Posted in At the Terminal, DCA, Domestic US

The celebrity chef trend shows no signs of dying down thanks to the proliferation of food TV shows and that includes the sub-trend of celebrity chefs at airports. Top Chef Michael Voltaggio has been killing it with ink.sack at LAX for years now and Rick Bayless cemented himself at the top of the airport celeb chef pyramid with Tortas Frontera, but a new name is joining the fray and it’s going to be familiar if you’re a Top Chef fan.

Mike Isabella, the gregorious foil to the Voltaggio brothers on Top Chef Season 6 and the runner-up of Top Chef All-Stars (Season 8), just opened a new Greek option at DC’s Reagan Airport (DCA). Reagan has been slowly changing over their food and beverage outlets recently with Ben’s Chili Bowl and Grille District opening up shop, but Kapnos Taverna may just be the most exciting option yet.

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Isabella’s serving Greek small plates that aim to hit the mark between accessible airport food and modern Greek favorites. Gyros gets served on garlic flatbread (aka pita) with multiple protein options — the crispy chicken sounds interesting for non-purists — and lamb chops arrive with an ancient grain salad. It’s exactly the kind of populist chef-driven fare that should work extremely well in an airport setting. Here’s the Kapnos Taverna menu:

Kapnos Tavern 10_15_Poster menu

Sounds good, no?

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