Natalie Delgadillo
Remember bars? Remember restaurants? Remember eating something prepared by someone with talent and/or credentials in the culinary arts?
Well, for the most part, these things are out of reach to you right now (except that you can still support a lot of local restaurants via their pickup and takeout options).
As service industry workers, restaurant owners, and loyal patrons alike struggle during the city’s mandated social distancing period, there are still ways to approximate the fun and feeling of gathering in a local joint and ordering something new and delicious to eat.
One of them is being helmed by the D.C. Hospitality Coalition, a small group of local restaurant owners and operators that mobilized to offer resources and information to people during the coronavirus outbreak. Every Friday for the month of May, the coalition is hosting a virtual live cooking series by a different local chef.
The classes are being held over Zoom, and will feature a chef showing his or her pupils how to prepare a dish. You have to register to join in, after which the recipe and ingredient list will be sent over so you can follow along with the class. The class itself is free.
The first virtual cooking session is happening Friday at 6 p.m., and will feature Chef Jocelyn Law-Yone of Thamee. She’ll be showing everyone how to make “Crossing the Bridge noodles,” a rice noodle soup, per the DCHC Instagram page.
“I had this thought like, ‘man I just really miss hanging out with my friends in their restaurants,” says Amanda Carpenter, a member of DCHC and the service and beverage director at Bad Saint. “How can we still do something like that?”
Out of that thought, Friday Night Live—the name of the cooking series—was born. Since May is Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, DCHC has decided to celebrate it with their series, says Carpenter.
The other chefs in the queue for this month include Bobby Pradachith of Thip Khao, Tom Cunanan of Bad Saint, Cizuka Seki of Izakaya Seki, and Kevin Tien of Emilie’s.
Carpenter says the only goal of the exercise is to create some joy and community during difficult times—it’s all free, and they aren’t raising proceeds.
“Everyone is so excited to cook for each other again, and with each other,” Carpenter says. “This is really just about creating and maintaining community with each other. We’re in the business of hospitality—creating places where we can commune is such an important part of our industry.”
