‘Spices in the Spice/Egyptian Bazaar’
courtesy of ‘acaaron816’
If so, here’s your opportunity. Local social entrepreneur John Sorial is looking for about 50 people to help refine some menus for a specialty food line of Middle Eastern entrees. You show up and eat a free meal in exchange for providing some honest feedback.
I asked John what restaurants he’d say served similar cuisine, hoping to provide you some guidance about whether it’s something you’d like. “I don’t know of any high profile restaurants that feature authentic Egyptian cuisine. ” He says that in a pinch you could think of it as somewhat of a mash-up of Lebanese Taverna, Zaytina and Cava Mezza.
All you really need is an interest in the cuisine of that region. Familiarity is almost a downside for their purposes. “Many Egyptians have biases for how it should taste according to what they grew up eating… we are looking for “virgin palettes” if you will,” Sorial says.
If you’re game for a little taste-testing and socializing send an email to John at johnsorial at yahoo dot com. The event will be Thursday at 7:30pm on the 17th of December and will kick off with an explanation of the venture, followed quickly by the tasting and talking. It’s out in Fairfax at St Mark’s Coptic Orthodox Church, so it’ll be a bit of a drive from the city, but did I mention free?
Well I used to say something in my profile about not quite being a “tinker, tailor, soldier, or spy” but Tom stole that for our about us page, so I guess I’ll have to find another way to express that I am a man of many interests.
Hmm, guess I just did.
My tastes run the gamut from sophomoric to Shakespeare and in my “professional” life I’ve sold things, served beer, written software, and carried heavy objects… sometimes at the same place. It’s that range of loves and activities that makes it so easy for me to love DC – we’ve got it all.
Should we not be observing the fast my brothers,
Anba Bishoy where are you? lol
John is a great chef. Whatever he’s serving up, you’ll want to devour. If I lived closer, I would certainly attend. Bon appetito!
Don, thanks for posting this article. The response has been tremendous to say the least. You have some heavy pull there my friend (ok we’re not really friends, I just met you over email but it sounds better that way). This posting sent dozens of people my way and the event is now at capacity. Even though you were very clear in you post I did want to clarify this is not for a restaurant opening. I received a couple of emails from people thinking that it was.
Any-who, if you or any of you WeLoveDC cronies would like to attend I can arrange for a special tasting table.