Where to Eat for the Chinese New Year in DC Based on Your Chinese Zodiac Sign

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DC restaurants are making The Year of the Pig a great time to pig out!

By AJ Dronkers, Edible DC

The Chinese New Year celebrates the beginning of the Chinese calendar year on Tuesday, February 5th. It is a very popular day to dine out for Chinese natives and fans. So how to possibly narrow down where to go? We asked area chefs, bartenders and owners what their Chinese zodiac sign was so you can find your perfect match. So first double check what your Chinese Zodiac is with this nifty search tool.

Next find your match below!

🐶Year of the DOG🐶 with Chef Russell Smith @ The Source by Wolfgang Puck USE CODE “EDIBLEDC” for $10 off the ticket price for DC’s most epic celebration! (Tuesday 2/9/19)

The upstairs dining room will feature live chef action stations with different presentations of duck, and a whole pig roast from Sloppy Mama’s BBQ pit master and owner, Joe Neuman. Downstairs, guests will enjoy Japanese whisky, an ice luge and stations featuring a variety of dumplings. Executive chef Russell Smith has tapped leading chefs from around the city, including Himitsu’s Chef Kevin Tien who will open the forthcoming Emilie’s, Poca Madre’s Chef Faiz Ally, Doi Moi’s Chef Johanna Hellrigl, Momofuku’s Chef Tae Strain, Chef Rob Rubba is opening the soon-to-come Oyster Oyster, Chef Michael Rafidi, Sweet Home Café’s Chef Jerome Grant and Dirty Habit’s Chef Kyoo Eom. These chefs will provide their own creative interpretations of Chinese-inspired dishes. Tickets, which include all food and drink, are available here for $85.

Join the party! Celebrate our 10-year anniversary at our "Day in Japan" event. Eat your way through a variety of dumplings, ramen and sushi stations, and plenty of desserts. Get your tickets with link in bio 🇯🇵🎉🥂

106 Likes, 6 Comments - The Source by Wolfgang Puck (@thesourcebywolfgangpuck) on Instagram: "Join the party! Celebrate our 10-year anniversary at our "Day in Japan" event. Eat your way through..."

🐷Year of the PIG🐷 with Chef Matthew Crowley @ Spoken English (Saturday 2/9/19)

Photo by Vina Sananikone

Photo by Vina Sananikone

Spoken English will be celebrating the Chinese New Year throughout the week, and dragon blessings will abound next Saturday night in the lobby of the LINE DC. The Year of the Pig is looking very fortuitous indeed: grab a cocktail, snag a front row seat on one of the couches, and help ring it in. This is happening in the 7 o’clock hour – calendar info here.





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🐰Year of the RABBIT🐰 with Chef Nate Beauchamp @ Tiger Fork (Thursday 2/7/19 and Saturday 2/9/19)

Tiger Fork’s Night Market has returned, this time to celebrate Chinese New Year! On Thursday, February 7th, from 8pm – midnight, Tiger Fork will team up with guest chefs Leopold Liao of Reren and Shanghai Lounge’s Chef Mao to showcase special dishes like Chengdu Spicy Wontons, Grandma Pancakes and Salt & Pepper Fish. Tiger Fork’s own Chef de Cuisine, Jong Son, will offer selections from the restaurant’s late night menu at his food stand. DC Brau will also be on hand pouring a selection of their beers. Tiger Fork’s beverage director, Ian Fletcher, will feature his Traditional Chinese Medicinal cocktails, like the 8’oclock Light Show cocktail, mixed with rum, mandarin, yuzu, cacao, ginseng and additional Chinese herbs. Traditional Chinese market items will be sold, like specialty candies, fruits, trinkets, jewelry, herbs and gifts and a DJ will curate a fun playlist throughout the night. No ticket or reservation for the event is required, as all offerings will be first-come, first-served. 

Can’t make it to the night market? Tiger Fork will celebrate the Year of the Pig on Saturday, February 9th from 2pm - 7pm, with special performances featuring Chinese lion and dragon dancers as well as Kung Fu demos from martial arts professionals and complimentary hot tea. The chefs will also feature a limited-time Chinese New Year menu from February 4th – 17th featuring specialty dishes like Lotus Root Salad, Milk Tea Custard and Pork Dumplings. The special menu can be viewed here.

🐓 Year of the ROOSTER 🐍 SNAKE 🐰 RABBIT 🐀 RAT at The Royal with Chef Cable, Mixologist Jake, Chef Tim Ma, Chef Kevin Tien, and Mixologist Ian Fletcher at The Royal (Monday 2/4/19)

The Royal in LeDroit Park is ringing in the Chinese New Year with a festive “Royal Knights” cocktail pop-up, featuring the culinary talents of three of DC’s hottest guest bartenders and chefs, innovative $8 cocktails, Baijiu boilermakers, creative Chinese snacks and more. On Monday, February 4 from 8:30 p.m. to 1 a.m., special guest bartender Ian Fletcher of Tiger Fork will take over the bar, joining serving creative cocktails incorporating medicinal Chinese herbs and traditional flavors such as Szechuan pepper, sesame and 5-spice; while guest chefs Kevin Tien of Himitsu and Tim Ma of American Son at the Eaton will join Royal chef Cable Smith in the kitchen for the evening, serving a special one-night-only menu of Chinese-inspired snacks such as sweet ‘n sour pork belly steamed buns and crispy beef chow mein.

🐰 Year of the RABBIT 🐰 with Chef Peter Chang @ Q (Sunday 2/17/19)

Photo by Rey Lopez.

Photo by Rey Lopez.

On Sunday, February 17th, from 11:00AM to 2:00PM, Q by Peter Chang has announced that they will be celebrating the arrival of the Chinese New Year – the Year of the Pig - with a colorful and interactive ‘Temple Fair’ experience of which will be open to the public. Fun for all ages and priced at $20 per child (12 and under), and $50 per adult, ‘Temple Fair’ festivities will be taking place in Q by Peter Chang’s main dining room featuring holiday-inspired décor including dozens of red paper lanterns, a giant 40+ foot custom made dragon inspired with a Beijing opera face hovering above the dining room, and over a dozen stations showcasing a variety of signature food and beverages, and activities. Stations are set to include: a Peking Duck station, Chinese Calligraphy Table, a Piggy Bao station, a Paper Cutting station, a Dumpling station with live demos and tastings, a Sugar Painting station, a Candied Fruit station, and a Wok station, amongst others. This event will be all-inclusive, plenty of food options will be available for vegetarians, vegans, and carnivores, and live music featuring classic Chinese instruments will also be enjoyed by attendees throughout the celebration.

🐑Year of the LAMB🐏RAM🐐GOAT with Ice Cream Jubilee Proprietor Victoria (Saturday 2/2/19 and Sunday 2/3/19)

IceCreamJubilee.jpg

 Ice Cream Jubilee is celebrating Lunar New Year with new flavors and Asian-flavor inspired ice cream tasting flights. Tasting flight tickets ($16) include on serving of 6 limited edition flavors and an ice cream pint to take home. The tastings will occur at all Ice Cream Jubilee stores (Yards Park, 14th & T Street, Tysons Galleria) in the two weekends prior to the Lunar New Year (February 5), plus tastings on Chinese New Year and Chinese New Year Eve. Reserve seats here.







Foodhini Partners with Whole Foods to Showcase the Cooking of Immigrant Chefs

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Food delivery start-up continues to expand it’s mission of using food to create sustainable jobs

Words and photos by Jessica Wolfrom, Edible DC contributor

Noobtsaa Philip Vang prepares take out lunches at Foodhini’s new dedicated takeout counter at Whole Foods Foggy Bottom.

Noobtsaa Philip Vang prepares take out lunches at Foodhini’s new dedicated takeout counter at Whole Foods Foggy Bottom.

You can’t hate someone who feeds you.

That’s the mindset of Noobtsaa Philip Vang, founder and CEO of Foodhini, a food start-up that’s been delivering delicious meals made by immigrant chefs to the District.

Now Foodhini is reaching beyond delivery service with the debut of its first food stall this week in partnership with Whole Foods Market’s Foggy Bottom location.

Syrian Chef Majed Abdulraheem will be in charge of the Foodhini operations at Foggy Bottom.

Syrian Chef Majed Abdulraheem will be in charge of the Foodhini operations at Foggy Bottom.

Helming the grill for the kick-off is Majed Abdulraheem, a trained chef who fled Syria with his wife and two daughters in 2016. Abdulraheem will be serving up Syrian dishes like chicken shwarma wraps, hummus and jarjeer (arugula) salad, Monday through Fridays from 11:30 AM to 2:30 PM.

But if chicken isn’t your thing, don’t despair. Foodhini’s chefs will work on three-month rotations at Whole Foods, highlighting chefs from a vast array of food cultures.

“Because of the diversity of our chefs,” Vang said, “we are able to have a diversity of menu. We have a great vegan menu, we have a great vegetarian menu. We even have gluten-free options.” Foodhini’s team consists of chefs from all over the world, including the Philippines, Syria, Tibet, Iran, Isreal, Eritrea, and Laos.

Syrian Chicken Shwarma wraps created by Chef Majed.

Syrian Chicken Shwarma wraps created by Chef Majed.

Syrian-style hummus and handmade pita, one of the comfort foods Foodhini prepares.

Syrian-style hummus and handmade pita, one of the comfort foods Foodhini prepares.

It was Laotian food that gave the jumpstart to Foodhini. Although Vang grew up in Minnesota, his parents immigrated to the United States from northern Laos. Vang grew up eating Hmong food, but when he moved to D.C. to pursue an MBA at Georgetown, he found himself craving his mother’s cooking. “You can always find great food in your mom’s kitchen,” he said.

This is very much Vang’s attitude toward the menus he and his chef’s put forth at Foodhini. Vang isn’t interested in dining that’s been dressed up. Instead, Vang asks his team, “What do you cook for your family? What do you make for parties? What do you serve to the people at home?” Home cooking is what he’s after.

“One of the things that you hold onto through all the traveling and the journey here,” Vang said of immigrant communities, “is the food. And that travels pretty well.”

Now, Washingtonians don’t have to travel far to find comfort foods from all over the world.

To Vang, the District was the perfect place to jump-start his business and help his team of chefs lay down some roots. “At the end of the day, D.C. is a melting pot. It’s a great mixture of people and cultures,” he said. “People here are adventurous. They are open-minded, and they want to try different stuff.”

The Foodhini team itself is an unlikely mishmash of people. It is a community that does not share a common language or religion, but have found common ground in the diversity and universality of food.

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@jessicawolfrom

Jessica is a freelance writer covering food, wine, farming and the environment in and around Washington D.C. She's also a graduate student at Georgetown University, getting her masters in journalism. When she's not in school, you can likely find her sipping on something sparkling somewhere in the District.


Federal Employees Receive $25 at Local Farm Markets!

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World Central Kitchen who has been providing thousands of free meals to furloughed federal employees is now partnering with FreshFarm Markets to provide $25 in market credit to federal employees. All federal employees need to do is visit FreshFarm Silver Spring market this Saturday 2/2 or the iconic FreshFarm Dupont Circle market this Sunday 2/3 to receive credit for use at the market.

As the #ChefsForFeds program ends this Friday this creative partnership with FreshFarm extends the impact of providing access to fresh and nutritious food to federal families in our region.

Learn more about World Central Kitchen.

Learn more about FreshFarm.

*$25 certificates are only available for federal workers, with a federal employee ID, and may only be spent at FRESHFARM farmers markets the weekend of Feb. 2nd and 3rd. While supplies last.

Weekend ready

204 Likes, 6 Comments - FRESHFARM (@freshfarmdc) on Instagram: "Weekend ready"

MLK Brunch and Lunch Specials

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Edible DC’s roundup of where to dine

Pancakes at brookland’s finest. photo by Scott Suchman.

Pancakes at brookland’s finest. photo by Scott Suchman.

Brookland’s Finest will be serving brunch on Monday featuring new items by co-owner and chef Shannan Troncoso. Think Blueberry & Ricotta Waffles with bourbon maple syrup, lemon zest and fresh fruit, Fried Green Tomato Benedict with Pecorino Romano cheese, hollandaise sauce, English muffin, poached eggs and mixed green salad. 3126 12th St NE.

Buena Vida
Craving Mexican? Why not try new Buena Vida’s “Bottomless Latin Brunch,” which features unlimited small plates and drinks in an airy, colorful space? Think margaritas, sangria and mimosas and Mexican specialties made with white corn tortillas and chips that are hand made daily in house from organic masa and ingredients that are sourced locally when possible from partner farms that include Cheshire, Langenfeller and Roseda farms. $35 per person, hours are from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. 8407 Ramsey Avenue, Silver Spring Maryland.

Farmer’s Fishers Bakers on the Georgetown waterfront will be featuring their Farmers Market Buffet Brunch on Monday, January 21st featuring a spread that has it all: carved meat stations, tacos, fried chicken, a veggie and salad station and of course, a dessert table. 3000 K Street NW.

Fiola Mare will be hosting their new Champagne Brunch which features three-courses, a warm bread basket and bottomless mimosas for $65. Brunch starts at 11:30 a.m. Fiola Mare brunch service starts at 11:30 a.m., reservations through their website or on OpenTable. 3050 K St NW.

Shaw’s Tavern will host the Tavern Drag Brunch with Queen Kristina Kelly. With two seatings at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m., diners can make reservations can be made by emailing dragbrunchshawstavern@gmail.com. Order off the the a la carte Southern-inspired brunch menu. 520 Florida Ave NW.

Scotts DC, DC’s new British import will be serving lunch starting at noon. Chef Will Artley has perfected the art of the Scotch egg, which involves an egg, rolled in sausage, then deep fried. It is golden brown and crispy on the outside with a deliciously runny yolk on the inside, and absolutely delicious. Pick a plush corner seat at the bar and a dram of single-cask spirits from the Scotch Malt Whisky Society and have a lovely, Londonesque way to spend a Monday. 927 F Street NW.

Khachapuri. Photo by Jennifer chase.

Khachapuri. Photo by Jennifer chase.

Georgian restaurant Supra will be offering their Restaurant Week Brunch menu on Monday, January 21 (MLK Day) from 11:30am-3pm, and also offering their Restaurant Week menu for lunch the rest of next week. Think Georgian appetizers, kebab sandwiches and of course, Georgian signature dish, khachapuri. 1205 11th St NW.

Three of Edible DC's Best Soups for Surviving Winter Storm Gia

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By Thomas Martin, Edible DC Intern

Winter Storm Gia is bearing down on the District this weekend, and there’s only one way for Washingtonians to endure the storm’s wrath: soups. Three of them, to be exact. We’ve rounded up some of our best soups from our recipe box to share with you a second time around this weekend. If you’re going to be snowed in all day, why not try your hand at White Bean Soup with Chorizo, or Eastern Shore-Style Oyster Stew, or Lamb and Barley Stew with Rutabaga and Kale?

White Bean Soup with Chorizo

From chef Seth Brady (formerly of Rustik Tavern), this recipe for White Bean Soup with Chorizo “has strong Proustian powers that take me immediately back to those sweet times kibitzing with a dear friend over life’s possibilities,” writes our publisher and editor-in-chief.

Eastern Shore-Style Oyster Stew

Corporate Executive Chef Jason Miller of Balducci’s delighted in his grandmother’s Eastern Shore-Style Oyster Stew all throughout his childhood. Featuring the region’s most famous spice mix — Old Bay — this hearty stew is sure to cure any and all Jack Frost blues this weekend.

Lamb and Barley Stew with Rutabaga and Kale

A 2015 Snow Day recipe winner, this Lamb and Barley Stew from Taste of Place’s Kathryn Warnes’ kitchen has everything you could ask of a winter soup: seasonal veggies, a savory broth, and tender, flavorful lamb. Check out Amanda Delabar’s Lemon Blueberry Bread, also a 2015 Snow Day recipe winner, for another weekend culinary project.

Heirloom Inspiration from the Smithsonian's Secret Garden

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By Whitney Pipkin

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The next time visitors you’re hosting want to see the Smithsonian National Museum of American History again, don’t bother going inside. 

Instead, head over to the east lawn of the building to glean plenty of history—and food-growing wisdom—from the immaculate Victory Garden and its knowledgeable keeper, horticulturist Joe Brunetti.

Unlike the neglected one floundering in pots on your back porch (just me?), this garden harkens to a time when growing food was more necessity than hobby. Planted across the country during World War II, Victory Gardens made good use of empty lots and grassy front yards as civilians worked to ensure an adequate food supply for troops abroad and at home.

“I’ve read that World War II Victory Gardens were the largest volunteer movement that has ever been seen,” Brunetti says during a walk through the garden, where visitors can often find him pruning or harvesting herbs for the museum’s Stars & Stripes Café. “Nobody has ever fought that statement, and I could believe it based on the stats.”

More than 20 million Victory Gardens supplied close to 40% of the country’s food during a peak in 1943, Brunetti adds.

At the garden he runs in memory of that era, production isn’t as important as poignancy. Sesame seeds and bird peppers find a place not because they’re a necessity but because they have a story to tell. Lush cardoons and purple hyacinth beans add beauty and dimension to the landscape, while strongly scented herbs help drive pests away—instead of the chemicals they used in the 1940s. 

“Most Victory Garden pamphlets that I’ve read say, basically, ‘If you see a bug, nuke it,’” says Brunetti, who keeps a “Murder flying pests” poster in the garden’s shed for posterity. “Now, we try to attract beneficial insects to control pests, or other methods.”

Though almost all the varieties planted in the Victory Garden would have been available during World War II (the better-tasting Cascadian hops notwithstanding), the pressures Brunetti faces to grow them have stood the test of time. Birds and squirrels like to wait until his Arkansas Traveler tomatoes are nearly ripe to peck a hole in them or drink their juice. Invasive bug species lay eggs on the underside of leafy greens and nibble on the hibiscus blooms. 

But the Victory Gardeners would have faced those, too, without the help of modern varieties, so it feels fitting. 

We talked to Brunetti about what this blast-from-the-past garden still has to teach us.

Edible DC: What do people ask you when they’re wandering in the Victory Garden? 

Joe Brunetti: I get a lot of questions like, “Did people actually grow sesame seeds in their Victory Gardens?” 

We have it here. Yes, it existed and people had the option of getting seeds and growing it. But were people really worried about supplying sesame plants for their families? No.

I also get people saying, “I didn’t know it grew like that,” and then I get to tell them the story: When the pods turn brown the plant spills its seeds, which is where the term “Open sesame” came from. But modern varieties are bred to keep their seeds in place.

That’s how I draw people in to get them thinking about gardens. Then they’re, like, “What else is there?”

EDC: What unique opportunities come with running a garden at the Smithsonian? 

JB: Well, we grew Cascade hops in the garden this year, and we have a beer historian inside. She is working with Charlie Papazian, who is the godfather of home brewing in this country. He started the Home Brewers Association and wrote this book that is a bible for home brewers. 

He donated some of his products to the museum, and I gave him a tour and said, “Wouldn’t it be cool if we harvested our hops and he did something with them?”

So we did. He’s brewing a special beer with our Smithsonian garden hops that we’ll serve at an event in December. 

EDC: Have you had people who lived through World War II visit the Victory Garden? 

JB: Yeah, in the past. They’d be in their 80s and 90s. When they hear about it being a Victory Garden, they get more nostalgic about the memories of that time and the stories being told through the plants. They really just appreciate that it’s still being talked about. 

When they see us growing some of the crops—if I’m growing, say, a type of tomato that somebody during the war was growing—it’s just the nostalgia, the happy memory of it. 

And most people love talking about canning. That was a huge learning curve: How do you take all this food we’re growing and how do I get my family through the winter? Cabbage, potatoes, gourds were all key. And then the tomatoes and beans had to be canned. I think the canning stuck with people, because there was a very real fear of contaminating your family, or not being able to feed them. 

EDC: Was the Victory Garden era the peak of American gardening culture? 

JB: Yeah, food security was big. A big part of the gardens was being able to free up enough food to send some to our troops and Allies, and then every man, woman and child could contribute to the war effort by planting their own garden in their backyard or on their balcony. 

It could be as small as one tomato plant in a pot on the fifth floor in New York City, or it could be a multi-hundred-acre farm. The size didn’t matter, it just mattered that you were trying to contribute and grow your own food. 

EDC: How do you define heirlooms for your purposes?

JB: The beauty of heirlooms is not only do they tell all these stories, but we’re keeping that genetic diversity alive.

It gets tough to define, though. If a plant is open pollinated, you can call it an heirloom by the true definition. Some people say it has to be 50 or 100 years old. 

I don’t like dates because if you’re putting a certain date cutoff, every year we advance. What’s happening to that cutoff date? 

There can be something that’s technically an heirloom because it’s open pollinated, but it came out in the ’80s. Like the Green Zebra tomato. People think that’s super old, because it’s technically an heirloom. 

It turns out, the word heirloom is very loaded.