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Ann Cashion
James Beard Award winner
- Discipline
- Other
i. Biography
Coming Up
Training at Harvard University and Stanford University did not place Ann Cashion in the kitchen; it gave her a broader academic frame before she entered one. Her culinary career began as a trainee at Bakery in Berkeley, California, a start that put technique and discipline ahead of any self-mythology. From there, Washington, D.C. became the field of work, with early roles that moved quickly through the city’s kitchens. In 1984, Ann Cashion became chef at Restaurant Nora, then moved into the role of head chef at Austin Grill in 1984, and also served as executive chef at Jaleo in 1984. The sequence matters: each post added range, and each kept her inside the daily demands of a capital restaurant scene where reputation is built service by service. The shift from kitchen leadership to ownership is where the work became more legible as a body of restaurants. In Adams Morgan, Washington, D.C., Ann Cashion founded Cashion's Eat Place (1995–2007), a place tied closely to her name and to a twelve-year run in the neighborhood. She later co-founded Johnny's Half Shell in Dupont Circle, Washington, D.C. (1999–2020), extending that presence into another part of the city and maintaining it for more than two decades. The progression from trainee to chef, then from chef to founder, marks a career built not around a single room, but around repeated commitments to rooms that could carry her standards. Since 2007, Ann is founder of Taqueria Nacional, continuing work rooted in Washington, D.C. and shaped by the same practical discipline that marked her earlier posts. The line through her career is plain: formal study, exacting kitchens, and a long habit of building places where the restaurant itself is part of the craft.
Where They Are Now
Her Washington, D.C. work includes Cashion’s Eat Place in Adams Morgan and Johnny’s Half Shell in Dupont Circle.
Honors
Ann's honors include James Beard Foundation Award for Best Chef: Mid-Atlantic (2004) and Chef of the Year (1997).
Profile updated July 2026
FAQ
Asked of Ann
Where did Ann Cashion train or study?
Ann Cashion trained at Harvard University and Stanford University.
What recognition has Ann Cashion received?
James Beard Foundation Award for Best Chef: Mid-Atlantic (2004).
