This year, the ¡Buen Provecho! welcomed 13 neighborhood favorites to join the restaurant crawl offering a variety of unique cuisines to indulge in.
The night began at Tynan Coffee & Tea on Irving Street NW with networking over gluten-free pumpkin chai crafted by Tynan Coffe & Tea, and a savory lentil soup prepared by NíaCentral Catering. At registration, guests were given a bag of goodies and a map to begin their tasting journey. As you can tell, we also had a chance to enjoy the photo booth set-up at the shop.
From there, my group of tasters headed to Odd Provisions gourmet markets for a tasting of pimento cheese on a Ritz cracker with Gordy’s Sweet Chip Pickles and cucumbers with hummus topped with Zesty Z Za’atar, accompanied by a selection of Teapigs teas and assorted coffees. I will personally be returning to Odd Provisions to pick up another box of their smooth, sweet Teapigs Super Fruit tea, and of course, while I’m there, grabbing a turkey and bacon jam sandwich.
Next was El Chucho – Cocina Superior, which served chips and salsa, mole smoked flauta con huitlacoche, and ceviche made fresh daily. Even on a chilly night, we had to order a round of the bar’s signature frozen margaritas dusted with a half chili salt rim.
The Coupe featured a tasting of roasted kabocha squash with garam masala, citrus honey raita and pomegranate. Particularly catering to our sweet tooth, The Coupe also sampled a pumpkin pie topped with a toasted pecan, and an Autumn’s Cider, a cocktail made of bourbon, apple cider, ginger and lime.
Shout out to The Coupe for letting us grab a second sample of the mouthwatering pumpkin pie, it was a phenomenal taste of the season!
My personal favorite was Letena, an Ethiopian fast-casual restaurant on 14th Street NW, only one block from the Columbia Heights Metro Station. #12 on the list, Letena was a VIP exclusive spot featuring a self-serve tasting of injera and pita with lentil soup and lamb stew.
Changing flavors, we headed to RedRocks, but not for the award-winning pizza. Instead, we were served a rich eggplant rotallini, meatballs al forno with pesto, and crunchy garlic bread.
Maple, a chic bar on 11th Street NW paired an eggplant caponata topped by goat cheese with a luscious semi-sweet Montepulciano d’Abruzzo red wine.
El Tio Tex-Mex Grill almost filled our stomachs to maximum capacity with self-served chicken quesadillas, queso, guacamole and House Rock’s Margaritas.
We finished our restaurant crawl at Los Hermanos, a Dominican restaurant on Park Road NW. Giving us a sampler of Dominican flavor, the restaurant served arroz gandules, pollo guisado, and plátanos maduros.
Unfortunately, we didn’t have enough time to make it to three of the crowd-pleasers on the restaurant crawl list including: Lou’s City Bar which prepared reuben bites and vegan sliders, The Wonderland Ballroom which served oktoberfest and frozen margarita sippers, and Bar Roubaix which offered a taste of schnitzel and bitterballen.
Last year, ¡Buen Provecho! restaurant crawl raised nearly $20,000 in sponsorships and sales to support CentroNía’s mission to provide high-quality, accessible, bilingual early childhood education and wrap-around supportive services for the more than 2,400 children and families in the DMV area each year.
About CentroNía
Addressing one of the DC metropolitan area’s biggest challenges, CentroNía is a nationally recognized, award-winning educational organization that offers affordable, quality early childhood education, professional educator development and family support services in bilingual and multicultural environments. Assisting more than 2,400 low-income children and families, their holistic approach ensures that these families receive the support and encouragement they need to succeed academically, develop a strong sense of community and live healthy and active lives. For more information visit the CentroNía official website