Ruth Tam

Hey all, Dish City's first episode just dropped! You can subscribe on your favorite app of course, but it's also online if you prefer the web experience: https://wamu.org/story/19/09/12/dishcity-half-smokes.

If you have thoughts...you can share them with me in person! I'll be at The Passenger with my co-host Patrick next Tuesday to chat about the episode. In fact, every Tuesday for the next two months, we'll be at a different local bar to discuss our most recent episode. We figured it would be a fun way to meet listeners and hear feedback. Hope to see you there!

Here are the details: dishcity.org/sidedish

Here's our trailer, if you're interested! At this point, you can subscribe to Dish City on whatever podcast app you use.

For those saying "don't judge me" or "laugh if you will": All tips about queso are good tips. Thank you!

I'm looking for delicious-by-Texas-standards queso in the Washington region. Chile con queso, not queso fundido. 

The only queso I've had in D.C. was from Chipotle, and it was so disappointing, I angry Tweeted at the company, which is not a habit of mine.

The Tex Mex places I can think of: Lauriol Plaza, Guapo's, Republic Cantina, Texas Jacks, Cactus Cantina. Does anyone have experience with the queso at these places, or others? Thanks!

5 minutes ago, DonRocks said:

Have you considered the trend of non-immigrant restaurateurs opening up places which feature "ethnic" cuisines? Here's Mark Kuller posing the issue (I miss Mark being here (has it really been almost five years?), and wish he could defend himself - we got into extended, detailed, lively arguments about places such as Pok Pok being "standard bearers" (which, I've always contended, was the influence for his having opened Doi Moi) but that's yet another band ("White Boys Who Whitewash") whose current lead vocalist is Andrew Zimmern).

Dec 29, 2018 - "Travel Channel Chef Faces Backlash for Comment about Midwest Chinese Restaurants" by Gina Martinez on time.com

Here are some other links of interest:

Desperately Seeking Strip Malls

Going really far back to eGullet:

Cuisine Native to the District

Yes, I've certainly considered the trend, but as far as my reporting for this particular episode on Salva-Mex food, that's not really what I'm looking for. I'm more interested in what drives a recent immigrant restaurateur to cook a more 'established' cuisine for businesses reasons. From what I've seen, it's usually a cuisine that is somewhat regionally closer to their own (Central Americans cooking Mexican. Southeast Asians cooking Chinese, etc.) I'm also curious about when they decide to integrate their native cuisine's dishes on the menu. Perhaps this can be a separate thread since we're getting further away from Zabver's!

On 7/26/2019 at 12:49 PM, DonRocks said:

I'm not sure this is "why" they ended up closing, but when Zabver closed, new owners opened Sabydee fairly quickly, so it's possible that the owners just didn't want to do this anymore - maybe they moved, or didn't want the grind.

What on earth made you ask about this particular restaurant?

I'm looking for immigrant restaurateurs who can talk about why they feature cuisines other than their own when they open up shop. It's a business strategy that I'm curious about since I'm covering Salva-Mex cuisine in my podcast, Dish City!

Reupping this old thread to ask...does anyone know why Zabver wound up closing?

23 hours ago, Bart said:

I'm surprised no one has responded yet.

This sounds great!  I'd like to hear about the big chefs that put DC on the food map, from Jean Louis Pallidan, to Jose Andres, to Aaron Silverman.  (Apologies to the dozens of great chefs I omitted.)  Also the recent (20 years or so!) explosion in the quantity and quality of restaurants.

Also, I'd like to have you interview Don.

We're planning on interviewing Don next week! I'm really excited. We don't know where he fits best in the series yet, but it's nonetheless valuable to our reporting process to talk to as many local food experts and figures as possible. I've already learned a lot just from our informal chats. 

We are definitely speaking to chefs (some of them of the celebrity variety). Our plan is to use longtime local dishes and cuisines to explore how things have changed rapidly in the past few decades. Each episode will focus on a different food and answer a question about how things have shifted in regards to neighborhood development, demographic shifts, etc. We'll do that by interviewing a wide range of Washingtonians: diners, restaurant owners, suppliers, chefs, etc. and welcome any more thoughts on who you think we should chat with.

23 hours ago, ktmoomau said:

I would definitely listen.  I am not a big podcast person, but I like gaining local food knowledge.  I always like hearing about how things came to be- who started the trends, etc.  I would also love to hear tips on making things at home, or good recipes people like.

That's great to hear! So far, Dish City is more of a food history project than a cooking project. But my cohost Patrick and I love to cook so perhaps recipes can be part of what we share on WAMU.org or on Twitter.

23 hours ago, curiouskitkatt said:

I'd love to hear more about the places of yesteryear. I'm completely into nostalgia, so places and people  that have paved the way for the new guard, is what I would be interested in learning. 

Good news: We'll definitely be covering places that play a role in local history and have been around for decades. Let me know if there are specific institutions you're interested in!

23 hours ago, Bart said:

Great idea!  Continuing this thought, maybe you can discuss how to make some classic dishes around here like the Lychee Salad at Rose's or the Roast Chicken at Kinship.

Interesting idea! I think for some folks, the lychee salad at Rose's or the roast chicken dish at Kinship might be classic. But for others, they may be relatively new, or not as accessible, as other so-called classics.

Our series focuses on dishes or cuisines that could be considered iconic because of their history with the District (half smokes, Ethiopian cuisine, pupusas, Jumbo Slice, mumbo/mambo sauce, etc.). While restaurants like Rose's and Kinship are certainly a part of D.C.'s story, we are opting for a populist approach to what could be considered "classic."

Hi all, I'm a producer at WAMU working on a new show called Dish City. With my co-host Patrick, I'm exploring city change in Washington, D.C. through the District's iconic foods (think: half smokes, Ethiopian food, mumbo sauce, pupusas, jumbo slice, etc). 

There are food & food history podcasts out there, but I don't know of one that zeroes in on D.C. specifically. Would you listen? What kinds of foods do you think we should be covering and what kinds of questions do you hope we explore? We're really open to feedback. 

We launch in September. It'll be just one season of 7 episodes --around 20 minutes each. If you like, you can follow us on Twitter to see what we're reading and what we're up to. 

Anyone know a pupusa super-fan or expert?

I'm a producer at WAMU working on a new podcast called Dish City. One of our episodes will focus on pupusas and the marriage of Salvadoran and Mexican food at so many local restaurants. So far, I've interviewed an academic about Salvadoran migration to DC, and the manager at El Tamarindo in DC. Are there any specific restaurateurs, historians, food fans, etc. that you would want to hear discuss pupusas and Salva-Mex food? 

If you were to listen to this episode, what questions would you want us to discuss?