Cooking Up Success

Falcons in the Culinary Space

Food has always brought people together, from holiday feasts to picnics to a simple meal shared with friends. Across the country, alumni from Our Lady of Good Counsel High School are using food to reach out and find delicious common ground.

▲ A meal at Xiquet by Danny Lledó ▲ Danny Lledό ’96 is a Michelin Star chef in Washington, D.C. Lledό finds inspiration in his Portuguese and Valencian heritage to create memorable culinary experiences at Slate Wine Bar and Xiquet by Danny Lledó, which has held a Star in the Michelin Guide since 2021 and earned the Guide’s Sommelier of The Year Award in 2022. Lledό was recognized as a Chef Ambassador for the Valencian Community for his commitment to the region’s cuisine and products.

“My love for cooking comes from times spent cooking with my father, who had a career as a renowned chef himself. I have wonderful memories of him teaching me how to do everything his way; cutting an onion, making a sauce, cutting meat,” Lledó says. “Those are the moments that have influenced my life and career.” What he finds most fulfilling about his work is seeing a guest’s reaction when they taste the dishes he has created. “I’m lucky to see that firsthand from my glass-enclosed kitchen at Xiquet. Hearing their reaction, especially if it brings back memories for them - there’s nothing like that. That’s what keeps a chef going,” he says.

At Slate, Lledό specializes in small plates that pair well with wines. To achieve a high level of quality, he emphasizes execution with his cooking team. “The fundamentals are the most important thing. You can put 15 different ingredients on a plate, but if the star of the dish isn’t cooked correctly, the guest won’t leave happy,” he says.

A unique method he and his team employs is using wood fire to provide another ingredient to dishes, he says. “We actually use a variety of methods for cooking with fire in our kitchen at Xiquet: direct flame, grill or plancha for meat and fish and a Green Egg smoker to provide tenderness and applewood smoke flavor to duck and pork. During service, we use the smoker with vegetable charcoal to cook the turbot fish dish with

▲ A Chef Danny Lledó dish

a skewer. When using wood fire or charcoal or smoking, it provides a complexity of flavor, gives tenderness to meats and creates structural integrity of the proteins.”

Lledó’s ongoing inspiration comes from his love for cooking. “When you’re happy, you’re able to be creative and open yourself up to new ideas,” he says. “I find inspiration in nature, travel, other fine dining restaurants, even backyard barbeques with friends. You never know what will spark something 10 steps removed. When you’re in the right state of mind, you can find inspiration all around you.”

For food blogger Charlie DeSando ’74, cooking has always been a family affair. He grew up in a house with parents who were excellent cooks, spent time in his father’s D.C. restaurants— Randy’s, The Channel House and DeSando’s—worked in other kitchens as a young adult and became the primary cook in his own household after his sons were born.

DeSando’s blog, “Cooking Secrets for Men,” started out as a hobby to fill his free time. He honed his recipes and writing over time. “My experience became a lot more fun when my content became a lot better,” he says. Recently, the blog was ranked 18th out of the top 30 men’s cooking websites based on Internet traffic and social media response.

“Cooking Secrets for Men is a place for men and other cooks to learn shortcuts and secrets to everyday cooking. More than half of our subscribers are women, it’s not just for men,” says DeSando, who is a former championship-winning Good Counsel swim team coach. Today, he also makes cooking videos for his YouTube channel, which has more than 1,500 subscribers, and a presence on other major social media platforms. He even collaborates with other YouTubers on challenges like creating a burger recipe based on each cook’s geographical area. DeSando lives in Milwaukee, so he made a Wisconsin Stuffed Cheeseburger using local cheese.

“The most creative thing I do in life is to cook. I’ve become very good at looking in the fridge, seeing what’s there and just making a meal out of it,” DeSando says. That is the point of his blog and cooking videos.

“I found 77% of chefs are men, but most men don’t like to cook other than to grill a steak or burger. Why is that? My theory is they feel like they have to be perfect or make a great meal, and it doesn’t have to be that difficult,” he says. In a recent recipe for a curry chicken salad, for example, he tells readers to use a rotisserie chicken.

“The tips and shortcuts I put in are built in for people to make easy, quick weeknight meals. You want to put something forward that someone will think, ‘I can do that.’”

“I have a love of eating and I have developed a love of cooking,” says Bart DeCoursy ’90, who opened the well-known Brooklyn restaurant, Sidecar, with his brother, John, in 2007. John served as executive chef, and Bart worked in the front of the house.

The bar and grill quickly gained popularity and was featured on the Food Network’s “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives” in 2012. Their menu featured popular items such as fried chicken, duck poutine and a Cuban sandwich.

“John and I would discuss the menu together,” Bart says. “Our mother was a very good cook when we were kids.” He remembers watching over her shoulder while she made dinner; his interest in food grew from there.

“The food we made at Sidecar was unpretentious but done with strict technique and adherence to the recipes,” he says. “The food was fairly complex to make, but easy to enjoy."

He has enjoyed putting together gatherings for people since high school. “And I enjoy sitting down to a really nice meal. I really like creating the atmosphere, and I like the idea that I can create a space where people will remember it as a good time,” DeCoursy says.

Changes in neighborhood dynamics and the seasonal exodus of New Yorkers each summer caused Sidecar to close in early 2022. The pandemic didn’t help, either.

“Good Counsel came up for a basketball game and held a happy hour at Sidecar in December of 2021” he says. “It was a lot of fun. I was really tickled we got to do that before we closed.”

Earlier this year, DeCoursy transitioned his efforts by opening Rullos, a bar that offers tamales, pulled pork and a grandfathered Sidecar dish, oysters on the half shell. “It’s a little tip of the cap to the place,” he says.

▲ Charlie DeSando

▲ Bart DeCoursy with GC alumni and staff at Sidecar