Kanter - Great food finds washington, dc: delicious food from the regions top eateries

An imprint of The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc.

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Copyright 2018 by Beth Kanter

All photography by Emily Pearl Goodstein.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote passages in a review.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Information Available

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Available

ISBN 978-1-4930-2815-3 (paperback)

ISBN 978-1-4930-2812-2 (e-book)

The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information SciencesPermanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992.

Printed in the United States

Restaurants and chefs often come and go, and menus are ever-changing. We recommend you call ahead to obtain current information before visiting any of the establishments in this book.

For Jeff, Gabe, and Miriam

I often say that a recipe is just another way of telling a story. A narrative of time and placea recollection transcribed onto a plate rather than onto a page. Be they scribbled down on the back of an envelope or printed in a cookbook, recipes carry the potential to shift memory forward, placing the stories attached to them at the head of the table rather than hiding them away on back burners.

The idea of linking food and memory in this way is not a new one. But its a significant one, nonetheless. The act of cooking for others shows intention, introspection, and personal journey whether it is one from an office cubicle to a culinary school, or one from a war-torn homeland to a new country. Where words fail, spices, seasoning, and stewing step in to share what otherwise could fill volumes and still not communicate what comes through in a single perfect bite. How we cook for others tells something about us. It communicates who and what has held us up or brought us down. It has the power to show what has accompanied us to the kitchen. And, what has carried us to a particular moment in time.

Perhaps nowhere can this be seen more profoundly than in restaurants. Places where strangers, often unknowingly, experience the personal stories that live among those who spend their days preparing meals for others. Restaurant recipes, like the ones found in this book, are stories with many tellers. Sometimes the plots wander. One teller may pick up where another one has left off. The storylines may be strong and fierce while at other times they are delicate yarns spun as invisible threads only to be detected by a knowing palate.

It came as no surprise that the recipes collected in this book would tell two of these kinds of distinct stories. The first one being the individual stories attached to each restaurant and chef included here, so many of whom are as much storytellers and artists as much as they are cooks and bakers. The other, I knew, would be a story of our great city. A chronicle of Washington, DC, as it is experienced and seen by the community of people who live here every day by those of us who make our homes away from the crowds and the cable news crawls. But what did catch me off guard was when a third recurring arc began to appear. As I lined these recipes up side by side I couldnt help but notice that together they also told a distinctly American story. A story shaped and advanced by what we have come to think of as the American dream. A story of people overcoming hardships and stumbling blocks to move forward and embrace this country, even when it doesnt always embrace them back, while at the same time honoring their heritage, ancestors, and culture. A story that is all of us and part of us at once. Together, I like to think of the recipes in this book as a recipe for a DC seasoned melting pot. This book is a Washington, DC, tasting menu of the very best kind.

Inside it are stories, like that of Chef Seng Luangrath of Thip Khao, forming that strong and perfectly flavored American story arc. As a child, Chef Seng and her family were forced to flee their home in Laos in the middle of the night. Once across the border, they lived in refugee camps before being granted asylum by the United States. In the camps of all places, Seng, learned to cook the dishes from all over Laos, from the other Laotians forced from their homes. Creating the dishes of her homeland became her passion, one that she carried with her to this country. For decades Seng dreamed of having her own Laotian restaurant. She never gave up and now, decades later, her restaurant graces the pages of Bon Appetite and wows critics and neighbors alike. And, she is credited with leading the Lao food movement. A short walk from Thip Kaho is Taqueria Habanero where you can find a different story with similar themes, not to mention some of the best cactus sopes in town. After almost 20 years as a line cook downtown, Mirna Montero opened the Columbia Heights spot serving Mexican street food so her daughters could go to college. Her children were not the only benefactors of this move. DC now gets to experience her culinary gift at the superb taqueria she owns and runs with her husband, and kids when they are not studying.

On the Mall, the standout cafes at The National Museum of the American Indian Museum and the new The National Museum of African American History and Culture shine lights on the only other ways the non-immigrant and non-immigrant descendants among us became Americans. The first native chef at Mitsitam, Chef Freddie Bitsoie, brings his personal experience and deep academic insights to the popular cafe. He also approaches his menu with a love of cooking that began when he was a boy tinkering in the kitchen while his parents were out. I swear you can taste that passion in his food. Walking through Mitsitam as the lunch crowd begins to form, Chef Freddie still breaks out in I-made-that smiles when he sees customers digging into one of his creations. At Sweet Home Cafe, Chef Jerome Grant, a former Mitsitam chef, presents dishes near and dear to him like his oxtail pepperpot inspired by his grandmothers version of the stew. Other menu items, such as the cornbread stuffed trout in this book, grew out of his research of African Americans who migrated west after the abolishment of slavery and speak to why he calls the cafe an edible exhibit.

The stories behind dishes like these often are serious in origin but that doesnt mean enjoying them isntand should not bejoyful and fun. Be it the tricked out Fruity Pebbles laced milkshake at HalfSmoke or the Mazel Tov Cocktail at DGS, the recipes on these pages are meant to be enjoyed, loved, and used. While the stories that live among recipe instructions stand as diverse as the people who cook them, what unites them is the desire to tell that story and to tell it through food. They also are linked in the desire to share food and feed others. As you flip through these pages, I hope that you will bring some of these dishes to your own table, that you will find ways to make them your own, that you will savor what is written between and on the lines, and that you will take some time to lick the bowl before you wash it. I also hope you visit some of the restaurants on these pages and that you will allow the restaurants to visit you by cooking the dishes shared here. Whichever recipes from Great Food Finds Washington, DC you decided to add to your own story collection, please remember that each and every one of them goes down better on an empty stomach and with a full heart.