Chef and Proprietor Wiedmaier developed a strong passion for the culinary arts at a young age while growing up in Germany. A family subscription to the French newspaper "Le Monde" provided him with key insights into the lives of famed chefs. Born to a father who is 100% Belgian and a mother who is Californian, Wiedmaier was given a chance to see and experience ingredient-based cuisine with the freshest produce, meat and dairy.

Wiedmaier attended the Culinary School of Horca in the Netherlands. His apprenticeship at the Thermidor Restaurant, a Michelin two-star establishment in Hulst, Holland, brought him to Brussels to work with famed Chef Eddie Van Maele. In 1986, he took the position as Saucier at Le Chardon D'Or in the Morrison House in Old Town Alexandria, Virginia, bringing him to the United States for the first time in his culinary career.

In 1988, Wiedmaier joined the team at the renowned Le Pavillion as Chef Poissonnier, which featured the finest nouvelle French cuisine in the city. A year later, the Four Seasons Hotel, the most prominent hotel in Washington, D.C., offered Wiedmaier the Sous Chef position for their Aux Beaux Champs restaurant under the tutorial direction of Chef Douglas McNeill. For over seven years, Wiedmaier's European experience contributed to the upscale French cuisine of this prestigious restaurant and the hotel's catered events.

Chef Wiedmaier opened Café on M at The Grand Hotel in 1994. This restaurant gave Wiedmaier a personal venue for utilizing his culinary roots and is where he established his critically acclaimed French Cuisine flavored with a Flemish Flair.

In June of 1996, The Watergate Hotel asked Wiedmaier to oversee and manage the culinary operations for the hotel. He also undertook the re-design of the kitchen and opened their then-new restaurant, Aquarelle. Wiedmaier replaced Executive Chef Jean-Louis Palladin, whose tenure at the hotel had been immensely successful as well as having been a strategic mentor to Wiedmaier.

In March of 1999, Robert Wiedmaier opened Marcel's restaurant, named after his first-born son who was born in December 1998. Wiedmaier's fine dining establishment has received significant acclaim for his cuisine; the Fine Dining Restaurant of the Year award by the Restaurant Association of Metropolitan Washington in 2004, annually maintains top ratings from Washingtonian magazine and The Washington Post dining guides and is rated in the Top Five Food category by Zagat. Wiedmaier along with his two sons, appeared in his own segment, "Rockfish Round-Up in the Chesapeake Bay" on PBS's award-winning series, Chef's a Field, Kids on the Farm, Season Three.

Eight years later, in April of 2007, Wiedmaier opened his second restaurant, the instantly successful Brasserie Beck, named after his younger son, located only one mile away from Marcel's. Brasserie Beck boasts the region's most comprehensive Belgian beer list that complements his classical, Belgian casual fare of Mussels & Frites, Carbonnade and Waterzooie in a contemporary, atmosphere. Esquire magazine named Beck's as one of the Best New Restaurants in America, 2007.

In 2008, Wiedmaier forged a partnership with the San Francisco based, Kimpton Hotel & Restaurant Group to open three distinctive food and wine experiences at the new, Lorien Hotel and Spa in Alexandria, Virginia. Designed by acclaimed Vicente Wolf, the hotel's restaurant, Brabo will feature a traditional 105-seat dining room, a wine tasting room with a wood-burning oven and Alexandria's first gourmet retail store. Wiedmaier will also oversee the hotel's entire food and beverage operations for meeting and banquet spaces. This new project is slated to open in early 2009.

In his free time, Wiedmaier enjoys fishing and hunting with his two sons and riding his Harley-Davidson. He and his wife Polly live in Kensington, MD with their two sons, Marcel and Beck.

2 Alaska salmon 6oz., scaled, filet and pin-boned
1 cup orange juice, strained
1/2 cup lemon juice
1/2 vanilla bean pod, split
1/4 extra virgin olive oil & 2 Tbsp. for searing
4 ounces fish stock (or water)
1 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar
2 Tbsp. honey
1/4 cup coriander seeds, toasted
1/4 cup fennel seeds, toasted
Kosher salt, fresh black pepper

1. In a saucepan over medium heat, add orange and lemon juices, vanilla extract and reduce by three-quarters.
2. Cool down and place in blender and add olive oil, fish stock, vinegar, honey and blend until smooth
3. Take salmon filets and season both sides with salt and cracked black pepper and coat with toasted seeds.
4. Heat Teflon pan with olive oil and sear skin side down. Push gently on fish to prevent skin from curling up. After skin is crisp, turn off heat.

Place salmon, skin side up in center of plate and drizzle sauce lightly on top and around. Sprinkle with a little salt. Download this recipe