Culinary Tour Aims to Boost Small Business Before Redevelopment Hits

With redevelopment just over the horizon in Wheaton--and already underway at the Safeway and luxury apartments complex at the corner of Georgia Avenue and Reedie Drive--those who want to preserve Wheaton’s small businesses are getting creative.

Janet Yu, president of Local First, led 25 people on a gourmet culinary walking tour of Wheaton on Nov. 12, stopping at nine different markets and cafes. But the Saturday tour was not just an opportunity to sample ethnic food, said Yu.

“When redevelopment comes, landlords will charge higher rent,” Yu said. “If we can try to make small businesses stronger right now, they’ll know how to stay on their feet.”

Angela Diop, a self-identified foodie who came on the tour, said she treasures these small businesses.

"To me, they're the character of Wheaton," Diop said. "I would hate to see that go away."

A big step toward preserving these small, ethnic businesses is diversifying their customer base, according to Yu.

“If they are dealing with only their own ethnic group, they may not survive,” Yu said.

Yu, who owns a Chinese restaurant in the Wheaton Westfield shopping mall called Hollywood East, belongs to the D.C. chapter of Les Dames d'Escoffier, which organized the culinary walking tour.

Les Dames d’Escoffier is an international non-profit whose members are female leaders in food, beverages and hospitality. The group is named after French chef Auguste Escoffier (1846-1935).

Saturday's tour began shortly before 10 a.m. at By Brazil, a Brazilian grocery and cafe where the walkers tasted cheese breads and drank Brazilian coffee.

“It’s a little local place that you would never imagine what they have inside,” Yu said.

For most of the walkers, that described all of the stops on the culinary tour.

Ann Stratte, the treasurer of the D.C. chapter of Les Dames d’Escoffier, extolled what she called “this wonderful Mecca of places that people don’t know about in their own backyards.”

“We were looking for an opportunity to learn about Asian cooking,” said Pat Hanrahan of Takoma Park, who came on the tour with her neighbor, Mary Joel Holin.

The third stop on the tour was at Hung Phat Asia Market, where walkers could buy food items like preserved duck eggs or large tins of sardines.

“The tour was an opportunity to find out more about our community--and eat well,” said Holin, who recently returned from a trip to China.

Bob and Debby Wulff live in D.C. and they love to eat. They said they drive by Wheaton’s ethnic markets and bakeries all the time, but always feel a little intimidated going in.

“This was an expert tour to get behind the funny signs that we can’t understand,” Debby Wulff said.

The tour group went around to nine different locations in Wheaton--a Bolivian bakery, an Asian market, a Filipino grocery, an Italian deli and more--without ever getting in their cars.

“The beauty here in Wheaton is that it’s all within walking distance,” Bob Wulff said. “It’s not like it’s a secret, but it’s not well advertised.”

Bruce Adams, the director of the Montgomery County Office of Community Partnerships, came along on the tour.

“This is our next important great community revival,” said Adams, who grew up in Montgomery County. He called Wheaton and Silver Spring “the hearts of our ethnic communities.”

Yvonne and Doug Carney have lived in the area for about a year and found out about the culinary tour through a neighborhood list-serve email.

“We drive through here all the time, but you never know where to stop,” Yvonne Carney said.

And the framework of a culinary tour removed some of the awkwardness of entering an unfamiliar cultural setting.

“It’s nice to be able to go in with others,” Doug Carney said. “If I just walked into the store, I wouldn’t have any clue.”

Angela Diop agreed.

"I always feel like I'm a gawker when I'm in these stores, and the tour gives you the chance to say 'What's that?'" she said.

Walkers ended the tour around 2:30 p.m. with full shopping bags, most having bought food at multiple stops.

Veronica Ingram, a D.C. foodie who had been invited by Diop, said that she had been on the look-out for a good culinary tour and was glad she had found this one.

“Now I feel a little more familiar with these stores, and I feel comfortable enough to go back and do some more shopping,” Ingram said.

Want to see more photos from the tour?