After hosting our wildly successful Taste Talks NYC in April, we thought we couldn’t let the Big Apple have all of the fun, so we brought the party to DC.

On June 17, we loaded up our Zipcar minivan and made the 4-hour trek to the good ‘ol capital, with a much needed stop at Wawa in Delaware.

taste talks

Photo by random lady in Wawa parking lot

Just a few hours later, little over 200 guests gathered in DC’s coolest coworking space, 1776. Behind the rows and rows of chairs set up for the panel that would happen later in the evening, vendors dished out the best food in the DMV area (that’s DC, Maryland, Virginia for all you out-of-towners).

taste talks

Photos by Megane Simoes

taste talks

Photo by Becky Hughes

taste talks

Photo by Megane Simoes

The lineup started with a Luke’s Lobster bar, which turned out lobster rolls on the double. The line was endless as we unashamedly went back for seconds—cough—thirds of the fresh lobster sandwiched between buttery toasted buns.

 

taste talks

Photo by Becky Hughes

Founding Farmers kept the fresh seafood theme alive with its drool-worthy ahi tuna bites. It was a little explosion of big flavor on crunchy chip, and our tastebuds have truly never been happier.

taste talks

Photo by Megane Simoes

Guests munched on refreshing salads from sweetgreen and sipped on Capital Kombucha drinks as they made their way through the fast moving lines. Thunder Beast Root Beer also served icy cold root beer which was much needed at the end of the sweltering 99°F summery day.

taste talks

Photo by Becky Hughes

taste talks

Photo by Becky Hughes

taste talks

Photo by Becky Hughes

From Baba’s pickles to Blind Dog Cafe’s cookies, the crowd satisfied both their salty, savory and sweet cravings.

taste talks

Photo by Becky Hughes

taste talks

Photo by Becky Hughes

Speaking of the latter, District Doughnuts offered a variety of doughnuts including key lime pie, which tasted like heaven baked in citrus and sugar dusted morsels.

taste talks

Photo by Becky Hughes

taste talks

Photo by Becky Hughes

After every single piece of food was devoured (seriously everything was gone) our amazing panelists took the stage. The first panel showcased Chris Vigilante, founder of Vigilante Coffee; Greg Menna, partner, District Doughnut; Summer Whitford, founder of The Food & Wine Diva; Jonas Singer, founder of Union Kitchen and Blind Dog Cafe. Jonas led the panel in a discussion of the nitty gritty aspects of working in the food industry.

taste talks

Photo by Becky Hughes

taste talks

Photo by Becky Hughes

The second panel was made up of Luke Holden, founder of Luke’s Lobster; Jennifer Motruk, VP marketing for Founding Farmers; Jimmy Edgerton, 2Armadillos; Susan Able, editor-in-chief and publisher of Edible DC. Susan opened up the topic of sustainability. To hear what these industry professionals had to say about entrepreneurship and all things food, watch the video below.

taste talks

Photo by Becky Hughes

taste talks

Photo by Becky Hughes

After our lovely panels concluded, guests continued to network and snag a couple bags of 2Armadillos crispy chickpea snack on their way out.

taste talks

Photo by Becky Hughes

taste talks

Photo by Becky Hughes

taste talks

Photo by Becky Hughes

Taste Talks is traveling the country, so be sure to stay in touch to find out if it’s coming to your city. Post below to recommend a thriving food city for us to visit!