Michael Rafidi
Michael Rafidi is the chef and owner of Michelin-starred Albi, located in Washington, D.C’s Navy Yard neighborhood. The menus reflect a creative update to traditional Arabic cuisine, with modern techniques utilizing the best the Mid-Atlantic has to offer. Inspired by his family's roots in Ramallah, Palestine and grandparents' home cooking, Rafidi spent many years in some of the country's best kitchens before he opened Albi in early 2020.Rafidi was recognized as Eater DC's Chef of the Year in 2017. He was a 2018 finalist for Rising Star Chef and a 2022 finalist for Chef of the Year in the Restaurant Association of Metropolitan Washington's RAMMY Awards. In February 2022, Rafidi was named a James Beard Semifinalist for Best Chef: Mid-Atlantic, and a finalist in the same category in 2023. In May 2022, Albi was first awarded a coveted Michelin Star. In June 2024, Chef Rafidi was named Outstanding Chef by the James Beard Foundation.Before making his mark on D.C.'s restaurant industry, Rafidi spent six years working alongside Michael Mina as Executive Chef of the lauded French restaurant RN74 in San Francisco, and as the Mina Group's Corporate Chef. In this role, he supported the culinary management of the group's multinational properties and was pivotal in opening eight of those concepts. Having grown up in Maryland, Rafidi spent time at other respected East Coast restaurants, including Blue Duck Tavern in D.C. and Talula's Garden in Philadelphia. He also staged at Chef René Redzepi's internationally acclaimed Noma in Copenhagen, Denmark, an experience that fostered his appreciation for foraging and other culinary techniques from around the world.chef/owner
William Simons
wine director/director of operations William Simons is the Director of Operations and Wine Director at Albi and YELLOW. A Baltimore native, Simons brings nearly two decades of experience as a wine professional, sommelier, and restaurant manager to the team, which he joined at the outset, opening Albi as Lead Sommelier before taking the helm as General Manager - a role he filled for 2.5 years. Simons holds the Advanced certification through the Court of Master Sommeliers, and was awarded both the Walter Clore and Rudd scholarships for taking top marks on his exams.Simons' wine list draws from a wide range of sources, regions, and varieties to complement Albi's hearth-fired cuisine. Both irreverent and bookish - with perhaps a smattering of punk - he divides the list by style, featuring an impressive vertical of Chåteau Musar, quotes from Freddie Mercury, Emily Dickinson, and Estelle Costanza, grapes familiar and niche, historical asides, a bent toward artisan producers from both the Old World and New, and a brief meditation on the Big Bang.
Alicia Wang
Alicia Wang is the executive pastry chef at Albi and YELLOW, where she oversees pastry, viennoiserie, and bread productions.Wang began her restaurant career in the front of house while studying at the University of Virginia, but was immediately drawn to the action in the kitchen. After earning a degree in mathematics, she moved to Los Angeles and began working professionally in pastry, earning the title of Head Pastry Chef at Thyme Café & Market in just two years. She broadened her skillset at Craft LA as a savory cook before moving back to the D.C. area in 2016.After a stint as Chef de Partie at Michelin-starred Kinship and Métier, she joined The LINE Hotel D.C in 2017, where she managed pastry production for multiple outlets. After spending time at Tatte Bakery & Café, Wang returned to The LINE Hotel as Executive Pastry Chef in the spring of 2021, opening the fine dining restaurant No Goodbyes while overseeing both viennoiserie for the hotel's coffee shop and high-volume bread and dessert production for events. In the summer of 2022, Wang joined the team at Albi and YELLOW. She brings to the team an array of skills from her background in French fine dining, pastry production, and leadership.exectuive pastry chef 
Alex Bookless
bar director Alex Bookless brings over 20 years of experience in food and beverage service to her role as Albi's Bar Director. Bookless has worked behind some of the best bars in D.C. and beyond, including roles at the original Passenger in Shaw, Café du Nord and Flour + Water in her native San Francisco, Beverage Director of the Eaton Hotel in the District, and running all things pizza at the popular June pop-up.Bookless' recipes have been featured in publications such as Imbibe, Cosmo, NPR, Self, and more. She brings a keen eye for detail, an easy-going humility, and an appreciation for humor and irreverence to her work driving the creative bar program at Albi. Always looking to find intersections between techniques and ingredients behind the bar and in the kitchen, Bookless' cocktail program seeks to echo and to complement Chef Rafidi's seasonal menus throughout the year.
Patrick Pervola
research & development chefPatrick Pervola is Albi and YELLOW's Research & Development Chef. Born and raised outside of Baltimore in Pasadena, Maryland, Pervola's career in restaurants began at the age of 14 when a summer job at a family friend's crab shack sparked his interest in hospitality.Pervola attended culinary school in Pennsylvania, and afterward joined the opening team at the Four Seasons Baltimore in 2011, under Chef Michael Mina. In 2015 he took on the role of Sous Chef at 21c Museum Hotel in Louiville, KY, though he returned to Baltimore and MINA Group and rose through the ranks at several of the company's restaurants before accepting a position as Sous Chef at A Rake's Progress in The LINE Hotel.Pervola first worked with Chef Rafidi while they were both cooking for MINA Group in 2011. He became one of Rafidi's earliest collaborators and has been a part of Albi from day one, beginning as the opening Executive Sous Chef, and now overseeing culinary direction at both Albi and YELLOW.