The Business of Butterworth's, the Hottest New Restaurant in Washington DC

Odd Lots

Bloomberg

Business News, News, News Commentary, Business, Investing

4.5 • 2K Ratings

🗓️ 2 January 2026

⏱️ 57 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

When the Odd Lots team was down in Washington DC earlier this year, we had a phenomenal meal at a restaurant called Butterworth's. As it turns out, the restaurant is one of the hottest hangouts for the MAGA crowd, with Steve Bannon and others frequently seen in its dining room. Of course, restaurants are difficult businesses in normal conditions, but in DC, you have the added factor that political cycles are changing all the time, and different bars and restaurants become associated with specific parties who go in and out of power. On this episode, we speak with Bart Hutchins, the chef-owner at the restaurant. We talk about everything from sourcing ingredients from small Amish farms, to acquiring beef tallow, and dining room logistics. We also talk about food costs, labor availability, and how the intense worker shortages and price inflation of the post-2020 period still affects how the restaurant is run today.

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0:47.7	Bloomberg Audio Studios, Podcasts, Radio News.
1:03.6	Thank you. Podcasts Radio News. Hello and welcome to another episode of the Oddlaws podcast. I'm Joe Wisenthal.
1:08.3	And I'm Tracy Allaway.
1:09.5	Tracy, we were down in D.C. several weeks ago.
1:12.2	We were at that IIF conference. And we had a great meal when we were in town. We did indeed. You were a really good meal. Yeah, we went to a place called Butterworths, which is getting a lot of buzz. Has been getting a lot of buzz for a while. and sort of serves, I don't want to say farm to table, because
1:28.3	that's not really it, but like an emphasis on organic, maybe like rarer cuts of meat. I remember
1:36.4	we had bone marrow. Which you love. I love bone marrow. The first time I ever ate bone marrow
1:42.0	was at an all you can eat buffet in Las Vegas. So it wasn't even the best bone marrow was at an all-you-can-eat buffet in Las Vegas.
1:44.9	So it wasn't even the best bone marrow, but like I ended up with a mountain of empty bones on my plate.
1:51.2	I think both of us like sort of rich fatty foods.
1:53.8	Well, I would say it's like sucking the life force out of an animal.
1:57.1	I love it.
1:57.6	It's animal essence.
	...

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