DC-born pizza chain &pizza is facing growing backlash for marketing its new sugar-dusted marionberry pizza knots with references to Marion Barry’s crack cocaine arrest. But local food and drink businesses have long embraced the Oregon-grown blackberry varietal as a nod to the former DC mayor—usually in less controversial ways.
Marionberries are a real, but relatively new fruit. The sweet-tart blackberry crossbreed was developed in the Willamette Valley in 1950s by the US Department of Agriculture and Oregon State University. And although they have nothing to do with Barry, the berries have been been associated with him ever since he was DC mayor.
“Every time we have a trade show on the East Coast, that’s the primary time that people go, ‘Marion Barry?!’ ” says Darcy Kochis of the Oregon Raspberry & Blackberry Commission, which represents marionberry farmers. “And, you know, people are surprised, they’re confused, they get a chuckle.”
In 1996, when McCormick & Schmick’s opened its first East Coast restaurant in DC, owners Bill McCormick and Doug Schmick invited Barry to taste their marionberry cobbler, a longstanding menu item for the Oregon-based chain. Jill Collins, the restaurant’s publicist at the time, recalls that Barry and a group of about 20 staffers came in to try it, and that Barry returned to the restaurant many times, always ordering the marionberry dessert. Barry was apparently a fan of the fruit at home too: His widow Cora Masters Barry previously told Washingtonian that they kept marionberry jams in their cupboard.
Marionberry has also proved to be a particularly popular ice cream flavor. In 1998, as Barry prepared to leave the mayor’s office, Milwaukee Frozen Custard in Chantilly introduced a “Goodbye, Marion Berry” flavor, according to the Washington Post. In more recent years, it’s been a signature seasonal scoop at Ice Cream Jubilee. Although not explicitly referencing Barry, owner Victoria Lai has said “the name makes people laugh. Anything that can make strangers laugh is a joyful moment.”
In 2013, now-defunct DC brewery Chocolate City Beer released “Mister Mayor,” an oak-aged imperial stout brewed with marionberries, using the tagline “Beer for Life.” It was far safer slogan than one Frederick-based brewery used a year prior to promote the release of its Underdog Atlantic Lager. The beer did not contain marionberries, but it did make light of Barry’s drug use with a poster reading “Crack one open D.C.” At the behest of Barry’s lawyer, the ad was quickly taken down.
Berry spokesperson Kochis notes Barry isn’t “the cleanest person that you want to be associated with,” but if it brings some education about marionberries, “we’ll take it.”
“Just like a pink lady apple is a variety of apple, a marionberry is a variety of blackberry,” Kochis says. “And maybe Marion Barry is just a different variety of mayor.”
Jessica Sidman covers the people and trends behind D.C.’s food and drink scene. Before joining Washingtonian in July 2016, she was Food Editor and Young & Hungry columnist at Washington City Paper. She is a Colorado native and University of Pennsylvania grad.
