Rise of Brunch
by Natalie Shmulik
Boston Brunchers began their mission on September 2010 thanks to social media mastermind, Renee Hirschberg. While many local dining groups have either lost interest or simply gone their separate ways, the Brunchers remain a strong force in the Boston food scene. What is most fascinating is that these bloggers focus their attention on an “in-between” meal. The concept of breakfast and lunch shacking up together is not new, but baby brunch, who typically borrows traits from mom and dad’s menus, is starting to grow up and take on a new and exciting personality, completely independent of the parent meals. No longer is brunch the provider of leftover dinners and stale coffee. Restaurants are now designing intricate dishes at their brunch tables, distinct from their usual offerings. Top chefs are hired for their innovative ideas and brunch-oriented culinary skills. Even luxury ingredients such as truffle, duck, and bourbon vanilla bean are gradually making their way into this increasingly popular mid-day meal. The weekend line-ups are growing, more fine-dining establishments are opening their doors to early morning crowds, and each of these restaurants are anxiously vying for the "Best of Boston: Brunch" title. It seems there is no slowing down this uprising trend, and the Boston Brunchers will be right there, getting a taste of what’s to come.
I accompanied the Boston Brunchers this past weekend to Catalyst in Cambridge. I couldn’t wait to dive into the modern, ever changing menu at this food-nerd hotspot. With free food flowing from the open kitchen, the 10 beaming Brunchees made a toast with refreshingly clever glasses of apple cider mimosas. We nibbled on in-house baked treats including buttery and irresistible chocolate scones, a slightly underwhelming skillet coffee cake, and maple syrup mini wings with a nice little kick.
I am a strong believer that eggs must in some form be part of a morning meal. Cracking open a pale shell to reveal a creamy, yellow yolk is the essential "break" in breakfast. I never thought it necessary to include a protein in addition to eggs, but Catalyst thinks otherwise. Egg-centered choices included; an egg sandwich with fennel sausage, a mushroom and mozzarella "omeletto", a pulled chicken frittata, and a poached farm egg with beef tournedo and parmesan cheese grits.
I took a chance on the beef and grits, though a large slab of meat in the morning is not usually my idea of a good meal. Steak for breakfast sounds like a rough start to the day. The last thing I want to do is tug at a chewy cut of meat while my eyes are still adjusting to daylight. Breakfast is meant to be delicate, relaxing and satisfying. Surprisingly, all these qualities were featured in this meaty dish.
The plate was beautifully put together. An eye-catching edible tower complete with a perfectly poached egg perched on an unintimidating slice of juicy beef nestled in a bed of pillowy grits. The 
meat was outstanding--a petite tournedo with a caramelized and slightly smoky exterior and a tender, carefully seasoned interior. All this was made even more remarkable once my fork sliced through the soft egg allowing the velvety yolk to spill over the delightful dish.
So, while eggs still reign supreme in my book of breakfast, this experience was just the catalyst needed for me to put a little quality meat on my plate every now and then.
Natalie is a current Gastronomy student and leads the Gastronomy Students Association. Boston Brunchers is featured in Foodies of New England Fall 2012 issue.
Today is Food Day
by Lucia Austria
On October 22, Oxfam America hosted “Plenty for the Planet: Sustainable Food and a Well-Fed World.” Co-hosted by Corporate Accountability International (CAI) and Small Planet Institute, the focus of the night was to illuminate the injustices present in our global food system and to discuss possible strategies to create a better one for a growing planet.
photo credit Lucia Austria
Talk about heavy. I knew that as a Gastronomy student, three hours in a classroom is barely enough time to discuss such broad-scoped issues, so I was interested to see how the two-hour event would pan out. About 150 attendees gathered together at the City Year headquarters in Boston’s Back Bay to listen to presentations and discussions by sustainable food advocate Anna Lappé, author of Diet for a Small Planet, Frances Moore Lappé, manager of Oxfam America’s Strategic Alliance work Liz Carty, and campaign director of CAI Sara Deon. Oxfam America’s Campaign Director, Judy Beals, moderated the talk, and audience members listened while enjoying a vegetarian spread of appetizers sourced from local farms and vendors.
The presentations focused on what the panelists considered the biggest “food myth” about our global food system—big business agriculture as the only way to feed a growing global population. Anna presented studies from the International Assessment of Agricultural Knowledge, Science and Technology for Development (IAASTD) that supported global organic agriculture, and played a video titled Food MythBusters that exposes the detriments of industrial agriculture. Frances echoed her daughter’s arguments and expressed the community benefits of organic agriculture by describing her most recent visit to an Indian village that was positively transformed by adopting sustainable agricultural practices.
I’m not a skeptic, just a critical graduate student, and though I whole-heartedly support Anna and Frances’ call-to-arms against big agriculture, I was looking for more. The Food MythBusters video is a great way to bring a once solely academic issue to the minds of all consumers, but the real question that begs to be addressed is not “Is the system broken?” because that’s quite clear, but “How can we fix it?” More specifically, how can we as every day consumers who understand these issues take actionable steps that allow us to be active agents of the food system, to be food citizens?
It was Liz Carty who addressed my questions. She explained Oxfam’s new campaign “GROW” that guides everyday people to contribute to the building of a more sustainable food system. The campaign’s slogan “Fight world hunger starting at your kitchen table,” may sound idealistic, but the explanation of “The Grow Method” combines tangible steps that a consumer can take to hopefully yield realistic outcomes. Reduce waste, support socially conscious companies, conserve energy, buy seasonal produce, eat less meat—I appreciate that these familiar ideas are grouped together in order to empower the individual or household.
CAI’s Sara Deon put into simple terms what I thought was the event’s true takeaway, “talk about food every day.” Chances are, the questions you might have about the food you eat are being asked by hundreds of other eaters, and have come together to discuss and find answers. From activist organizations focused on fair labor, to conferences and symposiums on culture and nutrition, to academic programs that take on the whole gamut—if you have a question about your food, rest assured, there’s a food movement for you to join.
Lucia Austria is a current Gastronomy graduate student at BU. Her research focuses include learning culture in restaurant and food manufacturing industries and ethnic foodways in the United States.
Alumnus Profile: Avi Schlosburg
by Lucia Austria
It was chance that alumnus Avi Schlosburg took the class American Food during his senior year at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. Little did he know that it would be taught by a pioneer of Food Studies, Dr.Warren Belasco. With a major in Ancient Studies, and an interest in American culture and policy, Avi excelled in Belasco’s class, opening him up to the gamut of topics and fields covered in Food Studies. It was Belasco who pointed Avi north to BU’s graduate program in Gastronomy.
Avi made the most of his graduate career by enrolling in challenging courses and taking on thought-provoking research projects. In U.S. Food Policy and Culture taught by Dr. Ellen Messer, Avi learned about the dynamic relationship between government policy and culture. Dr Carole Counihan’s class, Food Activism, broadened Avi’s awareness of the various organizational efforts towards creating fair foodways for our society. These courses were life-changing for Avi, “As someone who is extremely passionate about resource and information sharing as a means to push the food movement forward, I immediately connected with how the content of the courses applied to the real world.”
Outside of the classroom, Avi participated in a number of academic conferences. In 2010 he presented his research, “Representations of Hunger in America since the Recession” at the Association for the Study of Food and Society Conference (ASFS). He also participated at the 2011 Real Food Challenge/Northeast Food and Justice Summit as a panelist with other BU Gastronomes in a discussion entitled, “Redefining the Food Studies Vocabulary.” Avi’s final graduate project, “The Theory and Practice of Food Studies at the High School Level” addresses the dearth of food education programs for high school students and aims to help education professionals introduce comprehensive food pedagogy into high schools.
It’s not surprising to learn that Avi currently works for the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) as their Food Day Project Assistant. First launched on October 24, 2011, Food Day is a nationwide campaign toward more healthy, affordable, and sustainable food. It seeks to address five priority food and diet issues: promote healthier diets, support sustainable and organic agriculture, reduce hunger, reform factory farms, and support fair working conditions for food and farm workers. Events held by thousands of people across the country throughout October address each of these issues and work towards both unifying the food movement and informing sound food policies.
“There is so much incredible work being done throughout the country around food access, healthy school food, sustainable agriculture advocacy and education, and other critical issues within the food system, but much of this work is done within the silos of each of these issues and regions. The appreciation I get from connecting someone in Cleveland working on a project similar to someone else in New Jersey, both of whom are clearly stretched for resources, says so much about the current state of the food movement, and our food system. Food Day is the logical next step to connect the dots, and unify the country around these issues that affect every one of us as eaters.”
For Food Day events happening in your area, search here. Hosting your own, fellow gastronome? Tell us about it! Send your story and photos to laustria[at]bu.edu.
Spooniness: Mary Beaudry Serves Up Spoon’s History
by Lucia Austria
Forged metal, seven inches, thin and slender, teardrop shaped bowl.
Wood, round bowl, letters “KP” carved into the handle.
Sterling Silver, embossed flowers, bowl with diamond shaped perforations.
Each of the three objects described above are as unique as the purposes they serve, yet all three are known by one name--spoon. On September 24th, department of Archaeology chair at BU, Mary Beaudry, presented the evolution and myriad uses and designs of the spoon in a lecture called, “There's a Spoon for That! The Lives and Times of a Ubiquitous Utensil.” Beaudry’s lecture kicked off this academic year’s Pépin Lecture Series hosted by Metropolitan College’s office of Lifelong Learning.
What started as a graduate school assignment at Brown University, Mary Beaudry shared her vast knowledge and fondness of the seemingly quotidian spoon. Some of the oldest, spoon-like tools date back to the Paleolithic period made of animal tusk and bone. Since then, spoons have evolved into highly customized eating utensils, with spoons made for infinite uses like steeping tea, eating olives, or drinking absinthe.
Beyond the breadth of functions a spoon serves, Beaudry discussed its cultural representation as a personal artifact. Since medieval Europe, it was customary to engrave initials in one's own spoon. Personal spoons were rarely shared with others and used throughout life. The gifting of “apostle spoons” to newly christened babies was a common Christian tradition during the English Tudor period. Mini representations of Jesus’ twelve apostles adorned the handles of these silver spoons. From this design, you can infer that each use of an apostle spoon reminded its owner that it is God that nourishes and sustains the human body. This integration of religious beliefs and utility within the design of a spoon supports an archaeological value of analyzing the mundane: achieving a broader understanding of the cultural ideals of past societies.
Finally, Beaudry took a brief, semiotic analysis of the word “spoon.” From the Anglo-Saxon word sponmeaning “sliver of wood,” the term signifies a number of different ideas today. Beaudry investigated the idea of “spooniness,” that which has spoon-like qualities. To be “spoony” is to act silly or foolishly. A person who “spoons” for another openly shows their love and affection. And of course, the act of “spooning” involves close, full-body contact, similar to two spoons nestled neatly together.
Mary Beaudry’s analysis of the ubiquitous spoon was an opportunity to engage in a fun, light-hearted discussion about culture and technology. Her research was not just about the spoon, but also of the individuals who used them, for a culture’s beliefs and ideals manifest in the objects they create.
Learn more about Dr. Mary Beaudry's research here.
Celebrating Sustainability: Boston Local Food Festival
by Lucia Austria
Brisk winds and sporadic showers were no match for the glowing enthusiasm and high-energy of the participants of the annual Boston Local Food Festival that took place October 7th on the Rose Kennedy Greenway near Boston’s waterfront district. Hosted by Sustainable Business Network of Massachusetts, the festival brought together vendors and exhibitors eager to show off their products to passerby. Farm stands, food trucks, and booths featuring local restaurants, food manufacturers, and exhibitions filled four large parcels of the greenway forming a large market of organizations focused on creating sustainable foodways for the greater Boston area.
For six hours, crowds filled the greenway, taking time at each booth to taste free samples, purchase local products, and learn about each organization’s mission. The proximity of the festival to the popular Boston tourist point, Quincy Market, brought in not only the locals but also out-of-state and international tourists, curious to investigate the lively commotion happening off the cobblestone sidewalks. One could only imagine how similar the spirit of the event was to the Quincy Market of the past, a brick edifice once filled with farmers and grocers hawking their wares and building relationships with the local community.
Organizations like Cape Cod Fish Share and John Crow Farm engaged passerby with details of their meat and fish shares, presenting opportunities for local citizens to be a part of their sustainable missions. Enterprise Farm, from South Deerfield, Massachusetts, caught crowd attention by inviting you to board their Mobile Market, a farm stand on wheels that resembles a school bus more than a farm stand. Its interior is lined with a few rows of boxes filled with fresh and affordable produce and decorated with photos of community members the Mobile Market services. Enterprise Farm’s Mobile Market aims to bring farm-fresh produce to underserved neighborhoods in Somerville and Springfield. Participation in Enterprise Farm’s year-round CSA contributes to this project, adding yet another factor in the dynamic of a sustainable and accessible food system.
Of course, you can’t think about sustainable food without considering waste. Restaurant booths and food trucks provided patrons with compostable utensils. Composting and recycling receptacles dotted the festival grounds. One notable festival exhibitor, Bootstrap Compost based in Jamaica Plain, enlightened festivalgoers with the how-to’s and benefits of composting. Bootstrap’s pick-up service collects kitchen scraps from residences, dormitories, and food establishments from all over the Boston area. A portion of the compost is then delivered to participants, local gardens, and area farms. Bootstrap Compost shared their booth with a recipient of their compost, The Buckle Farm from Dighton, Massachusetts, who sold beautiful produce grown from the kitchen scraps of Boston locals.
The only downside of the Boston Local Food Festival is that it happens but once a year. However, this annual event hopes to create awareness among Bostonians of the variety of ways they can become connected to their food. Patronizing local farmers markets and socially conscious businesses is an opportunity for all to become an active member in a sustainable foodway.
Lucia is a current BU Gastronomy student. She works for Taza Chocolate based in Somerville as the Senior Shift Leader and Purchasing for the production team.
The Fight for Fair Food: Taranta’s Collaboration with CIW
by Alex Galimberti
For over a year Taranta dedicated itself to learning and supporting what can be considered the most important element to creating a sustainable food system: ensuring good work conditions for our nation’s farmworkers. It all started during the Chef’s Collaborative Annual Summit that took place last September in New Orleans. There, the Taranta crew met Gerardo Reyes from the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW). Through the connection established with the CIW, Chef Jose Duarte, general manager Chris Titus, and I took a trip to Immokalee where we became aware of exploitative conditions and cases of modern day slavery in the tomato fields of Florida. By understanding the scale of the issues addressed by CIW’s Fair Food campaign, we realized that chefs and restaurant workers represent the final link connecting the food system from farmworker to consumer. Our position as restaurant professionals enables us to raise awareness to our consumers and also question the practices of large food producers.
Through the support of Star Chefs, Chef Duarte assembled a panel entitled “The Human Cost of Food.” Panelists included Gerardo Reyes, author of Tomatoland Barry Estabrook, and Chef Duarte. Together, they presented at the Starchefs International Chefs Congress in New York City. Discussed was CIW’s key strategy--requesting the largest tomato buyers in the country to sign into the Fair Food Agreement. Some of these buyers include Whole Foods Market, Trader Joes, Aramark, and Sodexo. These buyers promise exclusive purchasing from producers who are inspected and verified by an independent auditor. Approved producers comply with a basic set of standards, such as zero tolerance for physical abuse and sexual harassment of farmworkers, just to name a few.
One of the main points of contention during the three-day congress was Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc.’s stance on the Fair Food Agreement. When the congress was held, Chipotle had not signed the agreement. The company’s research and development chefs Nate Appleman and Joel Holland debated with Reyes over the level of involvement of chefs with labor and human rights issues. Both sides left the congress with a wider scope of awareness of the variable viewpoints of industry chefs. This debate struck a chord with the Taranta crew, for sustainable food cannot exist without the fair treatment of farmworkers. On October 4th, Chipotle chairman Steve Ellis signed the Fair Food Agreement with representatives from the CIW. The Taranta crew and I are happy that such an important company in our industry is now an ally in this cause. The battle is far from over, but we believe our efforts sharing this story with the chef community have paid off.
Alex is a Gastronomy graduate student. He is currently the Beverage Director and Chef Instructor at Taranta Restaurant, Boston. Read Alex's complete post and learn more about Taranta's visit to Imokalee here.
Longhouse Food Writer’s Revival
by Katherine Hysmith
Food writing organization Cook n’ Scribble, host of the Longhouse Food Writer’s Revival, posted a tweet a few days before the event proudly boasting that the upcoming weekend would be like "’Burning Man meets Oxford Symposium’: food, photography, writing, blogging, video, spoken word, painting. #foodrevival.” After learning about food freaks and the communal food revivals in Warren Belasco’s books and classes, this conference seemed less scholarly by the tweet. With the promise of a “pop-up” magazine and a network of eager food writers, the conference seemed worth it.
A few hours away in the sleepy little hamlet of Rensselaerville, a hundred or so people gathered in a renovated red barn, complete with an improvised kitchen, to talk about food. Among them were famous writers like Molly O’Neill, world-traveled photographers like Penny de los Santos, Edible Magazines publisher Brain Halweil, NPR host Kathy Gunst, representatives from various food companies such as local Taza Chocolate and ConAgra Mills flour, food bloggers, culinary scholars, and a handful of eager young students from food programs across the nation.
Huddled in the drafty old barn away from the windy fall weather, we watched a screen 
made from a swath of burlap tacked up to one wall with a projector set up in the hay loft above. The theme of the conference was “Mexican Diaspora in the Hudson Valley” which was highlighted by sentimental oral history interviews, a guacamole presentation, a poem read dramatically from iPhone screens, and finally a traditional Oaxacan pig roast prepared by Mexican Chef Neftali Duran.
The morning schedule flew through presentations about multimedia, photographic storytelling, the edible soundscape (the sizzle of sliced nopales or prickly pear hitting a hot frying pan), and the challenges of the printed word in today’s online media. The heart of the conference was a round table discussion themed, “The Revival.” Sitting in a large circle, we embarked on a multi-hour discussion of the merits of media and the false divide between the older generations and the new. Perhaps it was inexperience with the “third screen” (aka the smartphone), or maybe the smoke that now filled the barn to the rafters, but the round table discussion quickly became a blame game with ample finger pointing. Finding, and keeping, a job was the theme of the afternoon, dotted here and there with useful tips on blog marketing and self-branding from a few attendees eager to reroute the conversation. In the end, we found common ground in collaboration and using each other’s strengths to build a reliable and well-written medium.
We learned that the collective model is like making a meal together; we each make a dish, prep ingredients, set the table, clean the dishes or even compliment the food profusely after all is said and done. Ultimately, future successes in food writing will be a combination of the gumption founded in old media mingled with the savvy sleekness of new media. Despite our differences in the barn, once the doors opened we found camaraderie in pulled pork, smoky starlight, and food stories from around the table.
Katherine Hysmith is a second year Gastronomy graduate student and a food blogger at www.youngaustinian.com. She also writes and does freelance photography for the Boston Globe.
Gastronomy Students Association: Festivals, Food, & Fun
On September 28, BU Gastronomy student Natalie Shmulik lead the first Gastronomy Students Association meeting of the semester. Together, the students tossed around ideas and have scheduled a list of upcoming outings of exciting Boston culinary lectures and events. Currently, the association has a group of 12 dedicated members and welcome more to the community.
The BU Gastronomy Students Association is a group of graduate students who are passionate about learning valuable and current culinary trends and techniques, while also promoting awareness of food issues within the local community. The association dedicates its time to combining academic works with real-world tastings. Through the association, the students come together to share unique experiences in Boston and surrounding food scenes. These events expose students to the local cuisine and culture while providing the opportunities to network and build on their knowledge of local fare.
Meet Natalie and other Gastronomy students through these fun events!
OCTOBER EVENTS:
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 6, 11am-6pm
Sustainable Seafood Festival
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 7, 11am-5pm
Boston Local Food Festival
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 27, 11am-6pm
Boston Vegetarian Food Festival
October Events
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 7
Sustainable Business Network of Massachusetts presents the 3rd Annual Boston Local Food Festival. The free festival is Boston's premier food festival promoting the joys of eating local food and includes local farmers, some of the best restaurants in New England, specialty foods, Fishstock and a “Seafood Throwdown”, Meat Cutting Demos and Chef Demos.
11 am - 5 pm, The Rose Kennedy Greenway, Boston
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 13
Support local business at the Food Truck Throwdown. Food trucks from Boston and New York City will compete against each other in various contests all day long for a chance to win “Best Food Truck.” Admission is free.
11am-9pm, Dewey Square on the Greenway, Boston
MONDAY, OCTOBER 15
Culinary Historians of Boston present Andrew F. Smith, author of American Tuna: The Rise and Fall of an Improbable Food will provide a lively account of the American tuna industry over the past century.
Smith relates how tuna went from being sold primarily as a fertilizer to becoming the most commonly consumed fish in the country. In his book, American Tuna, the so-called "chicken of the sea" is both the subject and the backdrop for other facets of American history: U.S. foreign policy, immigration and environmental politics, and dietary trends.
6 pm, Schlesinger Library, 10 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA
MONDAY, OCTOBER 22
As part of the Pèpin Lecture Series in Food Studies and Gastronomy, Darra Goldstein, Francis Christopher Oakley Third-Century Professor of Russian at Williams College and founding editor of Gastronomica: The Journal of Food and Culture will present The Progress of the Fork: From Diabolical to Divine.
She traces the evolution of forks over the centuries and shows how developments in fork design reflect changing ideas about food fashions, hygiene, table manners, and table service in Europe and the United States.
Please register here.
6 pm, 808 Commonwealth Avenue, Room 117, Boston
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 24
Gordon Shepherd, author of Neurogastronomy: How the Brain Creates Flavor and Why it Matters will present a special lecture, titled, “Neurogastronomy: What is it, and why does it matter?”
6 pm, SHA Auditorium, 928 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston
--AND--
Learn about the Food Day celebration, a nationwide movement toward more healthy, affordable, and sustainable food. Food Day is powered by a diverse coalition of food movement leaders, organizations, and people from all walks of life. The ultimate goal of Food Day is to strengthen and unify the food movement in order to improve our nation’s food policies.
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 27-28
Join the Boston Vegetarian Society for the 17th annual Boston Vegetarian Food Festival. Meet with chefs, network with food producers, and sample vegetarian dishes and products current on the market.
10/27: 11am-6pm, 10/28: 10am-4pm
Reggie Lewis Athletic Center, 1350 Tremont St, Boston
Dr. Warren Belasco Asks, “Can Food Save Washington?”
by Miki Kawasaki
On September 17th, members of the BU Gastronomy community had the pleasure of attending a lecture by visiting professor Warren Belasco entitled Can Food Save Washington? Inventing Terroir for the Nation’s Capital. Dr. Belasco spoke from the perspective of an “angry Washingtonian” who has lived in the city for four decades. In his research, Dr. Belasco ponders why Washington lacks its own distinct food identity in comparison to other gastronomic hubs such as New York City or New Orleans. He asks what can be done to establish terroir in the city. As the nation’s capital, Washington has the potential to set a standard and influence local food trends in the rest of the country. If terroir can be created there, it can happen anywhere.
In considering why Washington does not have a stronger food identity, Dr. Belasco pointed to the lack of a grounded population as well as the aspects of city planning that inhibited the growth of a more visible local culture. The development of present-day Washington involved the transformation of a landscape that divested it of its natural food-rich ecosystems. Pierre L’Enfant’s designs to fashion Washington as “the Paris of the new world” ultimately turned its grassy, wet land into a grid of monumental architecture. In the
National Museum of American History, Transportation Collections
1930s, centers of culture and commerce were quashed to make way for governmental buildings, including Center Market, which at the time was one of the largest public markets in the world. Washington has long played host to a sojourner population, coming in and out with the political tides and rarely establishing roots. Lacking a native landscape and population, the growth of a distinct regional identity was ultimately stunted.
Despite the historic ambivalence of Washingtonians toward their own city, Dr. Belasco does have hopes for elevating an indigenous food culture there. He pointed to recent attempts to reclaim the commensal landscape, the prominence of local entrepreneurs, and the possibility of constructing a foundational mythology based on historical figures such as Thomas Jefferson, who was deeply involved in the maintenance of a vegetable garden during his residency at the White House. It is also necessary to consider Washington’s significant black population, as well as the more recent arrival of immigrants from El Salvador, Ethiopia, and other countries in contributing to the social and cultural makeup of the city.
When visiting the city today, there are signs that Washington’s food culture is overcoming its faceless past and possibly even flourishing. There is a thriving network of farmer’s markets and community gardens, widespread embrace of hometown brands such as DC Brau and Five Guys Burgers, and even local culinary celebrities like Jose Andres and Derek Brown. If one is able to look “beyond the marble” of the Mall, they might discover that Washington has a vibrant food scene which cannot be observed from the seat of a tour bus. There is no shortage of inspirational movers and shakers within the food industry who are committed to making changes in Washington today. It is possible that through their efforts and the embrace of Washington’s forgotten resources, a food identity can be created in our nation’s capital and maybe one day recognized throughout the world.
Miki Kawasaki is a native New Yorker who arrived in Boston this September by way of Washington, DC. Prior to entering the Gastronomy program, she obtained her BA in Art History and East Asian Studies and spent several years working in DC’s restaurant industry.