Food lovers flock to the Smithsonian’s National Zoo each spring -- not to feed the animals, but to sample a variety of delicious bites from some of the best restaurants in the Washington area.
ZooFari is local favorite. People wait all year for this event. Some people skip lunch and even breakfast for the day, so they can make the most out of their ZooFari experience. You leave full. Sometimes you leave so full, you wish someone would carry you out of the Zoo in a wheelbarrow.
This year, the chefs brought their A game, bringing interesting and diverse dishes to highlight their restaurants. Of course Rosa Mexicana brought guacamole and chips. And Georgetown Cupcake brought well, cupcakes. ZooFari wouldn’t be the same without those staples.
This year, though, Mike Isabella from Graffiato made a salted cod dish from his upcoming Greek restaurant Kapnos and teased us with descriptions of his soon-to-be-famous chicken parmesan sandwich from G.
Haidar Karoum the chef at Proof, Estadio and upcoming Doi Moi cooked a Vietnamese pork belly with pickled vegetables, which was delicious. Aaron McCloud cooked a beautiful rabbit sausage with chive blossoms.
Hank’s Oyster Bar brought back one my favorites, grilled oysters.
After all the savory dishes, or perhaps before, people line up for all the sweet treats. You’ll probably find the longest line at Edward Marc Chocolatier, who debuted its Snapples snack at ZooFari this year. But the family company’s awesome chocolate is always worth standing in line for. Try the dark chocolate almond bark. /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";}
