Sunday, November 13, 2016




The second Emporiyum festival/event was held this past weekend at the Union Kitchen in DC. Once again, it was a definite showcase for some local restauranteurs, artisans, and food creatives to display their independent brands and build awareness. The first Emporiyum was really eye opening with the array of vendors that were there building new interesting food businesses.

The location of the DC Emporiyum was really tight and compared to the Baltimore event was severely lacking in parking space. I get it, all areas are not built the same and hopefully for Union Kitchen, some of the new construction going on in the area will have some parking but it doesn't seem that way. Maybe a normal weekend isn't that bad but for us, it was a bit of an issue, although we did get lucky and find a 'spot' there was a fear of getting towed possibly. The signage in the area was definitely confusing.

Inside the event, the first area which was outside in a tent was a bit condensed, with tables for sitting and eating at either end but crammed together. The crowd I would say wasn't as overwhelming, but I will say that the crowd itself was one where people either were not aware of their surroundings or didn't care. Being bumped into or crossed in front of rudely was the norm, now it's not the fault of the Emporiyum and it's organizers itself but it's worth noting it took away from the experience
a bit.




The selection of vendors wasn't bad, there were several I was looking forward to seeing such as Ramen Burger and Jeni's Ice Cream. I also was glad to get to try out Prescription Chicken, Bushwick Kitchen, and an official slice of the infamous "crack pie" from Momofuku Milk Bar. I also ended up being surprised by the Crab roll from Luke's Lobster which was smaller than I expected, but damn good and tasty. It was so good my wife went back for a second helping.


I have a lot of people who say I should have let them know about it and next time I will put out the APB before I get my tickets. The Emporiyum events have been great to attend even though this second one wasn't as exciting as the first, and maybe it was the drive and parking situation, or the fact it wasn't brand new anymore, but I still had a good time and will be going to the next one to see what gems can be unearthed.

My next post will be more specific about some of the food that I tried, but the small bites I had from Route 11 chips - I will be looking for them in stores locally. They had a great crunch and good flavor to the varieties that I tried. Bushwick kitchen has a unique set of honey and syrups that they make. The honey is exceptionally fresh and has subtle hints of flavor in it. I'm looking to order some of their items to try them out further. They would probably be great on some wings.

Be sure to check out the Emporiyum page for their next event.

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