Jesuit Kitchen Confidential

Photography by Jennifer Chase

After graduating with a degree in theology, in lieu of a traditional career path, Geoff Tracy (C’95) decided to do some soul-searching. He flew out to California with a Cannondale road bike and pedaled from the Pacific Ocean to the shores of Florida. “It was going to be my mission — my spiritual mission — to find my calling,” said Tracy. “So I rode all the way across the country and realized that I had discovered nothing other than I could barely walk. I took a Greyhound bus back to Washington, DC.” This year, Tracy, who is better known by Washingtonians as Chef Geoff, is celebrating a quarter century of his eponymous restaurant’s operation. And, as he’ll preach to anyone who will listen, he’s nearing a decade of preparing fresh, quality food for the Jesuits who live on the Hilltop.

Answering the Call(ing)

Wolfington Hall, which serves as the residence for the members of the Jesuit Order at Georgetown, is built in the style of the New College Gothic, integrating pointed arches, stone masonry and beautiful brick cladding. For those entering the Hilltop campus from Prospect St., it is a welcome sight. Underneath the surface, however, there are nearly a dozen cooks, pastry chefs and line cooks chopping vegetables, baking loaves and simmering sauces.

“We basically provide all the food service for the Jesuits at Georgetown, 365 days a year, 3 meals a day. And we’ve been doing it for eight years,” boasts Tracy, the owner and founder of Chef Geoff’s Restaurant Group, which operates three restaurants in the DC area.

Nine years ago, Rev. Ronald Anton, S.J., the superior of Georgetown’s Jesuit community, had another, more mundane, task than his usual duties: Figuring out the food service at Wolfington Hall.

Anton, who had previously served as dean of the Sellinger School of Business and Management at Loyola University Maryland, had taken a liking to Tracy’s flagship restaurant, Chef Geoff ’s, located on New Mexico Ave., a 10-minute drive from the university’s front gates.

After an initial phone call, Tracy learned that the Jesuits were looking to renew their food service contract and were hoping to have fresher, healthier options. First, Tracy visited Wolfington Hall with Anton to take a look at the food they were eating and appraise the situation.

“I went down there and it wasn’t great,” said Tracy. “Basically all of the vegetables — and most of the product — was in the freezer. When I looked at the menus, it was like a bad teenage boy’s diet, chicken fingers and hamburgers. And, you know, the average age down there would not be described as youthful.”

Anton proposed that Tracy take over the food service, but even after more than a decade in the restaurant industry, he’d never handled an operation of this kind. Just like when he’d opened his first restaurant, Tracy took a leap of faith. The first few weeks provided an opportunity to learn from customer feedback.

“We took over and received the directive to be fresh and healthy. So, we made it super fresh and super healthy,” said Tracy. “After about six weeks of it they were like ‘You know, the food is very good — thank you. It’s much fresher, it’s much healthier, but, maybe not that healthy.”

After a few tweaks to the menu, Tracy and his team were able to strike the right balance. “It’s worked out really well — we’re able to provide them with a product that’s both healthy and that people like to eat,” said Tracy.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Tracy found that pre-packaged meals and takeout options were in demand at all three of his restaurants in Washington, as they were across the country. That kind of food prep, however, requires additional kitchen space — something Wolfington Hall’s subterranean level has in droves.

In 2020, Tracy reached a new agreement with the Jesuits that allowed his team to use more of the kitchen space and reduce the cost of food service borne by the society. In addition to the daily food service on campus, Tracy’s team is producing fresh pasta, bread and sauces that are served at his restaurants, right on the Hilltop.

“Today, we have chefs and cooks over there producing products in a commissary format,” said Tracy. “The real benefit for the Jesuits, however, is we’ve got people over there working on the desserts and now the Jesuits get those desserts right away, they get those fresh burger buns right as they’re coming out of the oven, so it’s really a win-win situation for us.”

For Tracy, having a footprint on the Hilltop is special. It’s brought him back to a place and a community that shaped his life.

Left: Chef Amilcar mills tomatoes for the day’s sauce. Center: Chef Geoff and Valdemar prep ingredients. Right: Tasha and Iris knead dough for focaccia bread.

A New Course

Tracy, who was admitted to Georgetown as a student in the McDonough School of Business, originally intended to pursue a career in finance, consulting or business, just like his father, an accountant.

“There were two classes I recall taking my freshman year: The Problem of God and Accounting,” said Tracy. “I loved The Problem of God and I detested Accounting, so after my first year I put in a request to transfer to the College of Arts & Sciences.” Tracy remembers calling his dad on a payphone located outside of Vital Vittles and admitting, “I can’t do accounting. It’s so tedious and boring.”

After that fateful phone call, Tracy continued pursuing the fire that ignited within him during The Problem of God, deciding to major in theology and specialize in world religions.

“To study theology, and to do it at Georgetown, in the oldest department at the school, was very cool — I had so many great professors and classes and enjoyed it immensely,” said Tracy.

But a career in religious studies never felt quite right. After his bicycle trip across the country, Tracy returned to DC determined to figure out his next steps. One day, while walking on M St., Tracy ran into an old family friend who was the corporate chef for Clyde’s Restaurant Group.

“Right there on the sidewalk, I said ‘You have a cool job. Can I take you out to lunch someday and pick your brain?’” said Tracy. “And he kind of laughed at me and said, ‘You’re a 21-year-old kid with no job. I’ll take you out to lunch.”

The friend gave Tracy the advice to first work in a restaurant because, according to him “you have to be crazy to work in a restaurant.” If Tracy liked that, then he should pursue culinary school. After falling in love with the energy and rhythm of a working kitchen, Tracy went to Hyde Park, New York, where he attended the Culinary Institute of America. After graduating top of his class, Tracy returned to DC and worked as a sous chef and a dining room manager at 1789.

“At that point, I asked my mentor how many years I should work for others before I tried to open my own restaurant — 10, 15, 20 years,” said Tracy. “And he told me, ‘Geoff, in 20 years you’re going to be old. You’re going to have a job, a wife, kids and a mortgage. The time is now.’”

Twenty-five years, three restaurants and one Jesuit residence later, the rest, as they say, is history.

The Wolfington Hall Jesuit Residence is home to the Jesuit Community at Georgetown, where many live. They often host students and other members of the university community. Opened in 2003, it was named in memory of and in honor of the parents and other family members of Vincent Wolfington (C’62).