The Roosevelt’s Executive Chef Leah Branch loves a culinary deep dive. It’s probably why she and culinary historian Deb Freeman have such synergy.

“I always get really excited when I get to work with Deb,” says Branch. “I know that she has all of this incredible information for us, and we can really put the food behind what she is going to share.”

The two have collaborated on a 10-course, all-inclusive history dinner, The Rise, in honor of Black History Month and America’s 250th birthday. The Rise will take place Wednesday, Feb. 25 and Thursday, Feb. 26 at the restaurant, with wine pairings by sommelier Troy Hancock and cocktails by the Roosevelt bar team.

Freeman and Branch frequently merge their expertise, with events always selling out. They stretched The Rise over two nights for this reason, and, well, it still sold out in record speed.

Freeman says the dinner will be a walkthrough of the history of Black foodways in America. While the two have homed in on the legacy of Virginia culinary figures and traditions in the past, this dinner they’ll broaden their scope.

“When we first talked, I was thinking we would try to keep it small and just focus on Reconstruction and the Great Migration periods,” says Freeman. “But Leah said ‘No, we’re going big.’”

Branch admits she did “stretch out the menu” a bit more than what was originally planned but,“If we’ve got Deb Freeman in the house we have to take advantage,” says Branch.

The 2026 James Beard Award nominated chef (Best Chef Mid-Atlantic) says that she has recently been collecting WPA slave narratives from different states. The narratives talk about slave life, emancipation and what enslaved men and women were eating during slavery.

“I’m really excited that we get to take this conversation all the way up to modern times,” says Branch.

For those who weren’t able to snag tickets to The Rise, diners can reap the rewards of Branch’s research any given night of the week — The Roosevelt celebrates Black History Month year-round.

For the month of February, Branch is honoring chef Patrick Clark, a Brooklyn-born, European-trained chef and a competitor on the original “Iron Chef” representing American cuisine. In 1994, he was the first Black chef to win a James Beard Award (Best Chef Mid-Atlantic). He was only 42 when he died.

“It’s been really fun finding all these facts about his life,” says Branch. “You see a lot of life experiences in the recipes he leaves.”

Branch has made a “play on Clark’s Christmas dinner menu” with a duck leg, sunchoke bisque, roasted squash, confit cherries and fried greens dish as well as his double dipt crème brulee.

“One of his dishes is a play on the idea of a club sandwich, so we’ll definitely play with that at some point,” says Branch.

The Roosevelt menu always features Deb’s Nana’s collards, an homage to Freeman’s family, served with a seasonal entrée — right now it’s being served with the Mississippi pot roast with buttermilk braised brisket, Sub Rosa grits, padrone peppers and Postum barbecue sauce — or as a side.

This winter Branch is also running a warm fig cake dessert inspired by her grandma Peggy “Shug’s” baking.

“She would make a cookie she called a Fig Newton,” says Branch. “I think most people know them as snowballs though. Hers contained walnuts and dried figs — it was a really moist, dense, fruit cookie rolled in sugar. She was famous for burning a wood oven year-round and keeping the house insanely hot. I don’t think these are meant to be served warm, but everything in the house generally was.”

For those lucky enough to score tickets to The Rise, Freeman says feel free to get amped about Branch’s barbecue course.

“I feel like I talk about barbecue once a week at this point,” laughs Freeman, an inveterate supporter of Virginia ‘cue and its first and finest origins (you can find some of her thoughts here).

“This [Branch’s barbecue dish] is pulling in a different layer and different area that relates back to Virginia but also shows the expansion of what Black food can be,” says Freeman. “It will be interesting [for diners] to see the tendrils that come out of Virginia and where those go.”

Branch says she’s looking forward to the libations that will add yet another layer to the story of Black foodways.

“Troy [Hancock] is great at finding Black-owned companies and wine makers,” she says. “And I know there are some Black-owned spirits we haven’t worked with before, so that will be part of it as well as finding historic drinks and historically Black ingredients and incorporating those into the cocktails.”

The Rise: A History Dinner by Debra Freeman is sold out. Make a reservation at The Roosevelt (623 N. 25th St). for dinner 5-10 p.m. Monday-Saturday and 5-9 p.m. Sundays.

Tickets are still available for Night Bloom, the ICA Gala after-party, where Branch will be serving a late-night treat (or two). The event is Saturday April 18 and runs from 9 p.m. to midnight.

Up for a road trip? The National Museum of American History will be screening Freeman’s Emmy-winning “Finding Edna Lewis” documentary film March, 19 at 7 p.m. Freeman will discuss the film with Joanne Hyppolite from the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture after the screening. Tickets are $15 and include a special “Edna Lewis treat” you can take with you into the film.