Cathal Armstrong

Experience

Cathal Armstrong's began his professional culinary journey as a waiter turned pinch-hitting cook at a Dublin pizzeria. By age 19, he had ditched his college studies to pursue a full-time career as a chef, eventually moving to Washington D.C. in 1990.

Armstrong honed his craft in the kitchens of New Heights, Gabriel, Vidalia, and Bistro Bis before embarking on his first personal venture, Restaurant Eve, in 2004. Building on the resounding success of Restaurant Eve, he co-founded The Eat Good Food Group with his wife, Meshelle, expanding his holdings to include Dublin chipper Eamonn's, speakeasy PX, epicurean food hall Society Fair, American seafood restaurant Hummingbird, pan-Asian restaurant Kaliwa, and Irish pub Maddie and Eddie's. Cathal's dedication to culinary excellence, farm-to-table ethos, and health advocacy has been featured by The New York Times, BBC News, The Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Oprah, and Martha Stewart Living, among others. Armstrong is a leader in the local sustainable food movement, recognized by Washingtonian magazine with its Green Giant Award and with the National Restaurant Association's Neighborhood Community Award. When he is not in one of his kitchens, Cathal can be found working out six days a week in a Taekwondo studio. He won the 2015 US Open Taekwondo Championships and the USA National Taekwondo Championships in 2014 and 2013.