Ethnic Eating: Anywhere but the District

A few weeks ago, our friends organized an Asian-themed potluck dinner in honor of our friend Devin’s birthday. If I do say so myself, the spread on the table was fairly impressive for a cluster of financially strapped 20somethings—particularly with the majority of us being an unmistakable shade of lily-white. (As usual, Noah and I provided our crowd-favorite sweet potato sushi, pictured.)

But what really struck me was after dinner, when our Korean friend Linda presented the Korean cake she had picked up for the occasion. I won’t lie: My first thought was, since when does Korean fare consist of more than weird varieties of kimchi? I kid, of course, but I was definitely surprised to hear that a Korean bakery existed in the Washington area. So needless to say, my mind was pretty much blown when Linda went on to describe how after the first Korean bakery she went to was unacceptable, she merely trotted down the street to another nearby Korean bakery.

Where is this hub of Korean baked goods, you ask? Annandale, Virginia. Considering the District is home to exactly ZERO Asian markets, I found it fascinating that one of its suburbs in NoVa apparently has Korean bakeries to spare.

But when you think about it, I guess that makes a lot of sense, like an interview on DCist today reminded me. Author of Ethnic Dining Guide, local economics professor and unlikely foodie Tyler Cowen reminds us every-so-gently that immigrants go where the cheap rent is—namely, anywhere but D.C.

That’s why the “real Chinatown” is in Rockville, Maryland. Or why the only Japanese market we’ve been to since moving to D.C. is in Bethesda. In fact, of Cowen’s favorite ethnic restaurants in the Washington area, only one is actually in D.C. (Thai X-ing). The rest are hidden in places like Herndon, Silver Spring, Fairfax, Falls Church, and Wheaton (who knew they had more than the Western Hemisphere’s longest escalator?).

Of course, none of the above accounts for Ethiopian food, perhaps one of the least-widespread ethnic dining experiences you can have in the U.S. And that, my friends, is D.C.’s domain. Even Cowen agrees.