PODCAST · arts
Dish City
by WAMU 88.5
Dish City explores the iconic foods of D.C., Maryland, and Virginia to understand local history and how we live today. Join hosts Patrick Fort and Ruth Tam as they learn the origins of Old Bay in Maryland, explore the roots of Vietnamese cuisine in Virginia, and investigate whether D.C.'s bottomless brunch is actually a good deal. From WAMU.
Episodes
-
Bottomless Brunch
The only meal D.C. loves more than a power lunch is a bottomless, boozy brunch. Most weekends, unlimited mimosas, and bloody marys are flowing as Washingtonians splurge on late breakfasts, often after late nights. But brunch has equally impassioned critics and fans. Ruth and Patrick learn why...
-
Fried Fish
Crispy golden filets of whiting, croaker, or catfish on white bread are sold all over the D.C. region at small carryouts. For years, fried fish businesses like Horace and Dickie’s and Fish in the Neighborhood have been pillars in their community. But, as D.C. rapidly gentrifies, classic fried…
more -
Little Saigon & Eden Center
The center of Northern Virginia’s thriving Vietnamese community is Eden Center in Falls Church. It’s the biggest Vietnamese commercial center on the east coast and draws visitors from all over the DMV region and the country. But before Eden Center, the local Vietnamese community was based in…
more -
Stuffed Ham
Stuffed ham: IYKYK This hyper-local delicacy from southern Maryland has been a part of life in St. Mary’s County for generations. But, unless you grew up there or have a family connection, you probably have no idea what it is. Patrick and Ruth explore what goes into a stuffed ham, its...
-
A Chinatown In Name Only
D.C.’s Chinatown has all the hits. A giant archway. Dragons painted on the streets. Chinese characters in its storefronts. But…where are all the Chinese people? For all of its traditional iconography, D.C.’s Chinatown doesn’t feel very Chinese. For years, the remaining Chinese restaurants and…
more -
Maryland Blue Crabs
Blue crabs are messy, time-consuming, and expensive to harvest and eat. And yet, no summer on the Chesapeake Bay is complete without a crab feast. Many Washingtonians are happy to set aside a couple hours, and maybe a few hundred dollars, to enjoy this meal with loved ones. But how many of us…
more -
The Old Bay Obsession
Old Bay is everywhere in the Chesapeake Bay region. It’s on chips, popcorn, ice cream, beer, and even chocolate. You can even find the brand tattooed on people’s bodies. But, most importantly, it’s associated with the state’s favorite food: blue crabs. Ruth and Patrick dive into Old Bay’s origin...
-
Carryouts
Asian carryouts are longtime fixtures of D.C.’s Black neighborhoods. Where else can you get a quintessential order of chicken wings and mambo sauce? Despite how loved they are by District natives and transplants, they’ve also gotten a lot of bad press. For years, Black customers have experienced...
-
Trailer: Dish City Is Back
We’re back! After covering the pandemic’s effect on food delivery and our local restaurant scene, Dish City is dining out again. Behind every iconic food of the Washington region is a story of city change. On the latest season of Dish City, join hosts Ruth Tam and Patrick Fort as they sample…
more -
Solutions Mode
There are problems with food delivery. There's the reliance on gig laborers who say they are underpaid. Restaurants have to pay high commission fees on top of most orders. And delivery companies wind up operating on threadbare margins and still haven't turned an annual profit. Oh, and soggy…
more -
Gig Work: The Fine Print Of Food Delivery
"Quick sign up! Flexible hours! Be your own boss!" The perks of gig work are well-known, but do they actually reflect the reality of drivers working for food delivery apps? Patrick and Ruth try driving for DoorDash to find out. Plus, they interview three drivers in D.C., Seattle, and Denton…
more -
The Rise And Farce Of Third-Party Delivery Apps
DoorDash started a decade after its competitors, but now controls half of the food delivery market in the U.S. What can we learn from the very first order its founders delivered? And how did all these third-party platforms reshape the way we think of food delivery? Ruth and Patrick explore the...
-
How Big Pizza And Big Tech Made Hot Delivery Possible
In the '60s, delivering pizzas meant wrapping hot pies in a blanket or driving them to customers over open flames. With those humble (and, uh, life-threatening) beginnings, how did we get to the quick and easy delivery everyone knows and loves today? From heatproof bags to rotating ovens, Patrick...
-
How American Chinese Food Became Delivery Food
On a cold November night in 1976, a New York City restaurateur named Misa Chang started sliding delivery menus under her neighbors’ doors for her Chinese restaurant in Manhattan. Chang wasn’t the first to offer delivery, but when delivery gained traction in U.S. cities, Chinese restaurants were...
-
Why Is Delivery A Thing?
When you really think about it, delivering food from restaurants to homes is kind of strange. Nothing about the process saves money and it doesn't make the food taste any better! And yet, platforms like DoorDash and Grubhub doubled their revenue during the pandemic. So, what's the history of this...
-
Introducing Dish City’s Delivery Season
On a new season of Dish City, hosts Patrick Fort and Ruth Tam discover how food delivery became normal in America and ponder if it actually benefits restaurants, couriers and diners during the pandemic.
-
The Foodie With No Taste
Most people who contract coronavirus recover, but we still don't know much about the lingering side effects – including the loss of taste and smell. Patrick talks with a local foodie who survived the virus but hasn't fully regained his ability to taste and smell. We're taking a break, but send us...
-
Winter Is…You Know
As Game of Thrones nerds can tell you, "winter is coming" is more than a seasonal weather forecast –it's a warning. With that in mind, what are local restaurants with outdoor dining doing to prepare for the harshest season? And, given the limits in federal and local coronavirus financial relief,...
-
The Restaurant From The Future
What does the future hold for restaurants? To predict what a restaurant in 2022 will look like, Patrick and Ruth time travel to see what lessons we can learn from previous pandemics. [email protected] Twitter: @dishcity Instagram: @dishcity Leave us a tip at wamu.org/supportdishcity.
-
It’s Fall, Eat A Mooncake
Now that fall is here, Patrick is enjoying his cozy flannel shirts and crisp pumpkin beers. But for Ruth, entering this season is bittersweet. Cultural holidays like the Mid-Autumn Festival are normally comforting this time of year. But for Asians who observe this harvest celebration, there's no...
-
The Decision To Dine Out
As bars and restaurants in the Washington region continue to reopen, diners are flocking back looking for a sense of normalcy. For Patrick, the decision to dine out is a lot more complicated than it was pre-pandemic. In his attempt to find a safe way to dine, he learns how others are making that...
-
Closing Time: A Farewell To Eighteenth Street Lounge
When Eighteenth Street Lounge closed permanently in June 2020, Washingtonians mourned the "end of an era." Ruth and Patrick look back on the nightclub's 25-year legacy, its mark on the underground music scene and the ways D.C.'s nightlife scene has changed since it opened. Listen to music…
more -
Call Your Landlord
Rent is due in a week! And restaurants are still struggling to make it through the pandemic. If they don’t renegotiate their leases, restaurants and bars won’t survive. But, landlords are hurting too. Patrick and Ruth continue their exploration of negotiating rent during coronavirus with real...
-
When Restaurants Can’t Pay Rent
Even before the pandemic, restaurants struggled to pay rent. And now, whether they're starting to re-open, only doing takeout or remaining closed...they still owe rent! Patrick and Ruth take a look at one restaurant's challenges, and their attempt to negotiate with their landlord. Note: This...
-
When D.C. Burned In 1968
Following the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, D.C. has been gripped in protest for five days straight. As demonstrations intensify, local food businesses downtown have been broken into and burned. This isn't the first time Washingtonians have protested the loss of black life, and...
-
The Big Pivot
No surprises to anyone listening: Dish City has had to pivot. But, it's nothing compared to what local restaurant owners and workers are dealing with. On week 11 of working from home, Patrick and Ruth turn to the owners of Compass Coffee and Hank's Oyster Bar to see how they made decisions during...
-
The Moral Calculus Of Buying Food During A Pandemic
Before the pandemic, getting takeout or going to the grocery store didn't seem too complicated. Now, the coronavirus is revealing new challenges, as well as old vulnerabilities. With the help of restaurant owners, grocery workers and small farmers, Patrick and Ruth navigate the moral minefield…
more -
Cooking Under Quarantine
Stopping by the corner store for an extra onion or a last-minute bottle of wine is just not going to cut it anymore. Many of us are quarantined or sheltering-in-place with fewer food options. So, how are Patrick and Ruth making the most with what they have? They talk to Charles Duan and Jenny…
more -
Introducing: Dish City Season 2
Ruth and Patrick are setting aside their original plans for Dish City Season 2. For the foreseeable future, Dish City will cover the coronavirus pandemic's affect on the D.C. area's local food systems. Here's a sneak peek of what you can expect every other Thursday. [email protected] Twitter:...
-
Epilogue: A Very D.C. Thanksgiving
Surprise! It's a special Thanksgiving episode of Dish City. Thanksgiving is one of the few holidays with a set dinner menu. Despite the obvious dishes, families and friends all over D.C. put their own spin on tradition every year. Patrick and Ruth interview one Washingtonian who tried to make…
more -
Power Lunch
From high-powered creatives and business executives in New York, to lawyers and politicians in D.C., the power lunch has long been a staple for the wealthy and powerful. And the classic steakhouse has always been the quintessential setting for these meals. But as more and more young people move…
more -
Soul Food
D.C. has historically been part of the American South. But as D.C.'s population has grown and diversified, its obvious ties to the South are starting to fade. Patrick and Ruth dine at the Florida Avenue Grill and Succotash, and take a detour through local football history, to learn what D.C.'s...
-
Pupusas
The pupusa is one of the most recognizable dishes in El Salvador and one of the most delicious street foods in the world. It's loved locally and yet restaurants that serve and celebrate just Salvadoran food seem underrepresented in the District. Ruth and Patrick sample local Salvadoran Mexican...
-
Mumbo Sauce
Washingtonians have been pouring blood red, sticky-sweet mumbo sauce over chicken wings and fries for decades. That's why, when the D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser said it "annoyed" her and hadn't heard of the sauce until she was an adult, she caused an uproar. What would it mean if mumbo sauce wasn’t...
-
Jumbo Slice
Jumbo slice is divisive. A single, floppy slice is longer than most diners' forearms. While it's a favorite among late night partiers, especially in Adams Morgan, it's often derided as "drunk food" and has historically been blamed for all the fights and litter on 18th street on weekends. Ruth and...
-
Ethiopian Cuisine
Ethiopian cuisine is a D.C. mainstay, so when Ruth and Patrick taste "fast-casual Ethiopian" at Union Market, they have questions. What does it mean when a chef tries to put a new spin on dishes that are thousands of years old? We visit a family restaurant that's sticking to tradition, talk to a...
-
Half-Smokes
The half-smoke is the first food that comes to mind when we think about D.C.'s "iconic" foods. But when Ruth and Patrick take a trip to Ben's Chili Bowl, which made the half-smoke famous, Ruth orders a hot dog by mistake and realizes she doesn't really know what a half-smoke is. We take a trip to…
more -
Introducing Dish City
A new podcast from WAMU asks what we can learn about Washington, D.C. through its iconic foods. Hosts Patrick Fort and Ruth Tam trek around the city and meet the people eating, making, and fighting for the city's staples. New episodes on Thursdays starting September 12th.
We're indexing this podcast's transcripts for the first time — this can take a minute or two. We'll show results as soon as they're ready.
No matches for "" in this podcast's transcripts.
No topics indexed yet for this podcast.
Loading reviews...
ABOUT THIS SHOW
Dish City explores the iconic foods of D.C., Maryland, and Virginia to understand local history and how we live today. Join hosts Patrick Fort and Ruth Tam as they learn the origins of Old Bay in Maryland, explore the roots of Vietnamese cuisine in Virginia, and investigate whether D.C.'s bottomless brunch is actually a good deal. From WAMU.
HOSTED BY
WAMU 88.5
Loading similar podcasts...
Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does Dish City have?
Dish City currently has 38 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is Dish City about?
Dish City explores the iconic foods of D.C., Maryland, and Virginia to understand local history and how we live today. Join hosts Patrick Fort and Ruth Tam as they learn the origins of Old Bay in Maryland, explore the roots of Vietnamese cuisine in Virginia, and investigate whether D.C.'s...
How often does Dish City release new episodes?
Dish City has 38 episodes. Check the episode list to see recent publication dates and frequency.
Where can I listen to Dish City?
You can listen to Dish City on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts Dish City?
Dish City is created and hosted by WAMU 88.5.
URL copied to clipboard!