Ann Cashion facts for kids

Ann Cashion is a famous chef and restaurant owner in Washington D.C.. She has even won a special award called the James Beard Award for her amazing cooking!

Ann grew up in Jackson, Mississippi. She went to Harvard University and finished in 1976. After that, she studied at Stanford University for two years. But then, she decided to follow her dream of becoming a chef! She started by working in a bakery in Berkeley, California. Ann also learned a lot about cooking by training in Italy and France. In 1984, she moved to Washington, D.C. There, she worked at famous places like Restaurant Nora, Austin Grill, and Jaleo. At Jaleo, she even hired another well-known chef, José Andrés.

Ann Opens Her Own Restaurants

Cashion's Eat Place: A Big Hit

In 1995, Ann Cashion opened her very first restaurant. It was called Cashion's Eat Place and was in the Adams Morgan area of D.C. People loved it right away! A magazine called Gourmet voted it the "Best New Restaurant." A food writer from The Washington Post, Phyllis Richman, also put it on her list of 50 favorite places.

Many important people visited Cashion's Eat Place. This included famous chefs like Jean-Louis Palladin and Ferran Adrià. Even President Bill Clinton came to eat there! In 1997, Ann Cashion was named "Chef of the Year" by a local restaurant group. She was also invited to cook at the special James Beard House. This is a big honor for chefs!

Johnny's Half Shell: A Seafood Favorite

Ann Cashion teamed up with her partner, John Fulchino, to open a second restaurant in 1999. They called it Johnny's Half Shell. This small restaurant had only 35 seats and was in the Dupont Circle neighborhood. Gourmet magazine once again recognized Ann's work. They named Johnny's Half Shell one of "America’s best new restaurants."

In 2004, Ann Cashion won a very important award. It was the James Beard Foundation Award for Best Chef: Mid-Atlantic. This award shows she was one of the best chefs in her region!

New Locations and New Ideas

Moving Restaurants Around D.C.

Ann and John sold Cashion's Eat Place in 2007. It stayed open under the same name until 2016.

Johnny's Half Shell moved to the Capitol Hill area in 2006. The new spot was much bigger, with space for over 400 people! It became a popular place for events, even for members of Congress. In 2007, Ann opened another restaurant right next door to Half Shell. This new place was called Taqueria Nacional. A magazine called Bon Appétit said it was one of the five best Mexican restaurants in the whole United States!

Taqueria Nacional moved to the Logan Circle neighborhood in 2013. Then, Johnny's Half Shell moved back to Adams Morgan in 2016. It even took over the same building where Cashion's Eat Place used to be! In 2019, Taqueria opened another location in Mount Pleasant. The Logan Circle Taqueria closed in 2020. Johnny's Half Shell also closed in 2020. This happened when many restaurants had to close because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Ann Cashion's Legacy

Ann Cashion was one of the chefs featured in a 1997 book called Women of Taste. In 2016, Bon Appétit magazine named Washington, D.C. its "restaurant city of the year." They specifically mentioned Ann Cashion as one of the city's "incredible chefs." This shows how much she has influenced the food scene in D.C.!