Tracy O’Grady has spent her career in restaurants, from DC institution Kinkead’s to her longtime Clarendon restaurant Willow, and most recently, Clarity in Vienna. These days, you’ll find her at the Falls Church farmers market, where she’s launched a business selling some surprising spins on chili crisp, drawing inspiration from the Chesapeake, Lower East Side, Basque Country, and beyond.
O’Grady says it all started when Hank’s Oyster Bar chef-owner Jamie Leeds, a longtime friend, asked her to help with the initial development of Hank’s Pasta Bar’s build-your-own pasta menu. In the process of brainstorming pasta toppings, O’Grady made a Calabrian chili crisp with garlic, onion, shallots, fennel, oregano, porcini, red pepper, smoked paprika, and of course a lot of Calabrian chili flakes.
“Then I thought, ‘Well, no other cultures are represented in this condiment. It’s only Asian,'” O’Grady says. “‘Well, why stop with Calabrian? Let’s keep going.'”
O’Grady now has a lineup of 11 chili crisps (and counting). She’s named the brand Travelers Chili Crisp for its globe-spanning flavors. Most of them aren’t as spicy as Asian chili crisps. O’Grady says she wanted to focus on flavor development instead.
A “Lower East Side” chili crisp incorporates everything-bagel seasonings and pops of caraway, dill, and coriander. A Greek version channels the flavors of Greek diner-style vinaigrettes. And then there’s the “steak” chili crisp—O’Grady’s answer to Stachowski’s Market owner Jamie Stachowski inquiring about a steak sauce. She went heavy on the black pepper, then added crispy potato bits (a nod to steakhouse potatoes) and molasses, which clumps into another textural goody. She describes the flavor as somewhere between A1, Heinz 57, and au poivre.
Garlic, dehydrated onion, and shallots are in almost all the recipes. O’Grady tries to add culturally appropriate crunchies too, whether its crispy tortilla bits in a Mexican chili crisp or crispy lentils in an Aleppo version.
All the condiments are mixed with sunflower oil and olive oil, but some use clarified butter too. The idea to add the butter came while she was developing an Old Bay-infused Chesapeake crisp, which is meant to be paired with seafood. Her husband Maxwell Brian Wolken, also a former chef, pointed out that if you’re eating crabs, you’re dipping them in butter. O’Grady has also used clarified butter for a schmaltz-like richness in the Lower East Side crisp.
Her newest flavor is the only Asian one: a Thai peanut chili crisp inspired by a peanut dipping sauce from her days working at Kinkead’s. Her version is sweet, sour, and spicy with Thai chilies, lime, coconut, and puffed rice. Indian, Moroccan, and Provencal-inspired crisps are coming later this year.
O’Grady has teamed up with her former business partner from Willow, Kate Jansen, to sell the chili crisps at the year-round Falls Church Farmers Market (300 Park Ave., Falls Church) on Saturdays. The jars cost $12 to $14 each. She’s currently working on getting the approvals to sell the chili crisps for retail across state lines. In the meantime, you can also find the Calabrian chili crisp on the menu at Hank’s Pasta Bar, whose kitchen O’Grady uses for her production. (The brand does not yet have a website.)
“I love the restaurant industry. But given the economics of it, it’s so stressful. I really didn’t think things could get more difficult after Covid, but somehow it seemed to manage that,” O’Grady says. “This gives me the ability to use what I’ve learned through all my years, have a creative outlet, and I get to stand at a farmer’s market and talk to people about food. It’s kind of a chef’s dream job.”
Jessica Sidman covers the people and trends behind DC’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.
