Lamb Jam DC

If it’s springtime in the District, then it’s time for the latest iteration of DC’s best bang for the buck food event, Lamb Jam. Like the last two Lamb Jams, the 2014 edition was held at Eastern Market, which served as a near perfect venue for the event especially given the perfect weather on this particular Monday night. Keeping with my previous reviews of the event, I’ll use that template for this one.
The «If I Were A Judge This Would’ve Been the Best in Show»:
Jackson 20/​Maketto (tie). Both Chef Brian McPherson’s Lamb Shank Tamales with crema and salsa, and Chef Eric Bruner-Yang’s Cumin Lamb Shank Chow Fun were well executed, aesthetically presented, and enormously flavorful successfully highlighting the lamb. I hope that both of these dishes will eventually make their way onto Jackson 20 and Maketto’s respective menus.
The Inexplicable:
Art & Soul winning Best Ground Lamb category. I apparently was an outlier, but I found Chef Morton’s Curried Lamb Sausage inedible. In fact, I spit out my bite of the lamb sausage as I found it excessively salty to the point of drying out my tongue like it was a garden slug. However, in talking to others, they said they didn’t share the same experience as me. Oh well. My bad luck.
The «A Bridge Too Far»:
Clifton Inn… While certainly a novel preparation of lamb shoulder, Chef Yoder’s Lamb Shoulder Terrine with coffee, fermented ramps, and burnt brioche fell far short of being up to the level of the competition. It was dense, bland, and not memorable.
The «What a Shame»:
Where were the Washington State wines? Previous Lamb Jams have showcased some great Washington State winemakers and their delicious wines. Okay, I understand it may not be possible to have Washington State wines every year, but on the whole, it would’ve been far preferable to most, if not all, of the Virginia wines that were on hand.
The 2014 DC Lamb Jam was a rousing success in my mind and belly. The VIP session was better organized and much improved over last year’s. Gina Chersevani and Owen Thomson’s Green Hat Gin based cocktails were delicious. The selection of locally/​regionally-​produced craft beers was exceptional. The cost for the event may have increased slightly over last year, but it still remains the area’s best bargain for a food event based on price, quantity, and quality of food and drink. DC Lamb Jam 2015 can’t get here soon enough!

Man was that Lamb Jam great! Talk about chefs putting out their best. I’m gonna admit it right now, I’m not even the biggest fan of lamb. I know, I know, sacrilege. But, I had some lamb dishes there that made me much more of a fan than I used to be.
Highlights included:
The Roosevelt’s: Smoked leg of lamb, SC farro «dirty rice», red onion marmalade, and green tomato relish.
Pizzeria Orso: Braised Lamb Belly with Tomato Jam
Art & Soul’s: Smoked lamb breast scrumpets– crushed english peas, spring garlic, preserved lemon & mint.
Taco Bambas: Lamb clam taco — roasted boarder springs, lamb shoulder, grilled and smoked clam salsa verde
and one more
I cant find the the description: But its the picture with the blue table cloth. That lamb was totally by jam. It had like pickled onions and mustard greens on it.
The humid evening was made a little more enjoyable by the Goodies 50’s style ice cream truck serving up old fashioned custard and the Don Ciccio & Figli Limencello Drink mixed with Lemon Soda. Everyone had one of those!
It was truly an adeventure in delicious. I can’t wait to go next year!

I came here for VIP but arrived a little after when it started (around 5:30-ish), right when everything was done being set up so we could feast asap. And it was awesome. I did a thorough review of the dishes on my blog (
) so I’m just reviewing the event itself:
Pros:
— Most of the food was excellent! A few were meh, but nothing was terrible.
— Relatively short wait for the food, even after general admissions opened.
— So much food! Around 8PM, you can tell that people were too stuffed to eat more, but the chefs were still churning out more dishes and practically begging people to take some.
— Wide assortment of drinks, although I didn’t really take advantage of this
— Indoor area was cool with live music and cute swag, i.e. mixing your own spice rub!
— They had a demo on how a lamb is butchered, and they passed out free lamb meat afterwards so I took some home…
Cons:
— T-​shirt was cute although I wish it was bundled into the price of admission instead of having to pay extra for it. Like I’d rather have a T-​shirt instead of the free bag they gave out.
— I could not find the promised cake pops. But I wouldn’t have eaten one anyways since I was too full after trying everything, so nbd.

I bought the VIP pass and the first 20 – 30 minutes were a waste as none of the vendors or restaurants were ready.
However, from 5:30 –6:30 we got only 1 minute waits for all the restaurants so it totally redeemed itself.