By Lauren E Williams, Special to the AFRO
Get your calendars ready, and your stomachs emptied because the DMV is set to host Black Restaurant Week November 4-11. Focused on highlighting culinary cuisines from Black chefs, as well as cultural events and informative workshops and sessions, this year‘s restaurant is like none other held in the DMV area before.
According to DMV Black Restaurant Week website, the event “will bring Black restaurant owners, managers, chefs, caterers, thought leaders and financiers into one room to discuss options for entrepreneurial ventures and continuing education.” While modeled after Restaurant Week, an annual event displaying restaurants, hospitality, and great food in cities across the country, Black Restaurant Week has its own style and flair. Events will include happy hours, bartender competitions, conferences and panels, pop ups in various D.C. Wards, food trucks, an after party and awards brunch.
This is not the first time groups have come together to organize a version of a Black Restaurant Week in the nation’s capital. In 2015, the millennial blog site I Don’t Do Clubs put together it’s own version of a Black restaurant week, as did ABlackLife, LLC, reportedly.
Obviously there is a need for this type of event in an area that has been commonly known as ‘Chocolate City’ – alluding to the growth, strength and influence of the Black community in the DMV area. Public support for this event – and others like it – continues to grow.
Andra “AJ” Johnson, Dr. Erinn Tucker and Furard Tate are listed on the DMV Black Restaurant Week website as founders/collaborators for the event. When the AFRO reached out to the group, they did not respond for comment.
For more information about DMV Black Restaurant Week, go to dmvbrw.com.