Chef Skip’s Carryout Serves Takeout Boxes of Fried Seafood in a Blast of Cajun Spice

When the cashier palms Christopher Skipper a customer’s buy on a sheet of paper, he does not call on a member of his staff members to complete the request. Alternatively, the Virginia Beach front indigenous grins ear-to-ear and will get to perform. In less than 10 minutes, he’s ready to-go packing containers of fried seafood, wings, or salmon bites from the hottest place of Chef Skip, a modest carryout kitchen near Howard University’s campus. Just about every box comes with a signature purple flower and a facet of his creamy, sweet secret sauce. Skipper watches in delight when consumers come to a decision to tuck into hot filets, properly-seasoned shrimp, or crabcakes from the ease and comfort of their cars and trucks, being aware of that freshness won’t be guaranteed if they’re consumed even fifty percent an hour just after they go away.

What is in that secret sauce, anyway? “Can’t tell you,” Skipper states, only half-joking. He did reveal it has the consistency of a mayonnaise-primarily based aioli, with garlic powder and other Cajun spices mixed in. Skipper doesn’t intend on maintaining the sauce inside the confines of the restaurant for as well lengthy. He needs to start off bottling it shortly.

Chef Skip 202 is the fourth restaurant from the namesake head chef and co-proprietor — and his 1st in D.C. Skipper has has sister places in equally Virginia Seashore and Portsmouth, Virginia, and took on a D.C. expansion with encouragement from Chantel Skipper, his cousin and enterprise lover. The District department opened a several months in the past, executing a brisk takeout organization correct out of the gate.

Nestled in involving residential qualities at 715 Euclid Avenue NW, the carryout appeals to a numerous community. Pupils from the South who show up at the historically Black college may come to feel nostalgia for their favourite hometown places soon after sampling from a menu full of fried food stuff that Skipper blasts with Cajun spice. The store opens from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Saturday.

Skipper graduated from the Culinary Institute of Virginia and started off his organization as a kitchen area on wheels. The intention was generally to “bring the great dining knowledge to food stuff vans,” he claims. He attempted out hamburgers, pizza, and seafood, but the latter group sooner or later became the focus due to the fact it cooks promptly and often bought effectively.

At Chef Skip, customers can order combination platters divided into baskets or sandwiches. Skipper endorses the crabcake and shrimp platter for initially-time company, even for individuals who aren’t supporters of shellfish. Jumbo lump crab meat will get a dash of breadcrumbs and a coating of a cornmeal seasoning with hints of garlic, onion, and pink pepper. The crabcakes commit no longer than three minutes in a fryer. Oyster and shrimp po’ boys aspect golden-brown seafood and sweet slaw atop a hoagie roll.

“If you like fish, then you are going to gravitate toward the fish sandwich or fish tacos,” Chantel Skipper claims. “If you like our breaded shrimp as a standalone, you are going to like it even more in the shrimp tacos or po’ boy sandwich. Our menu is seriously customizable dependent on what you like to consume.”

A chopped rooster Philly was Chantel’s concept. In an endeavor to lower down on bread, she also encouraged her cousin to come up with a deconstructed edition. His respond to was to serve rooster and sweet peppers on a bed of Cajun fries with melted American cheese and a liberal drizzle of magic formula sauce.

In addition to the chicken and steak Philly, other non-seafood solutions contain wings and mac and cheese bites. Skipper options to incorporate specials like crab fries and is participating in around with the plan of a brunch menu.