Food tour stirs interest in Wheaton’s markets

Partnership with Smithsonian to bring gastronomes and other guests to downtown shops

Wednesday, Sept. 27, 2006

Click here to enlarge this photo Brian Lewis⁄The Gazette Toan Nguyen’s An-Binh Grocery and Sandwich store will be part of two ethnic market tours in downtown Wheaton.

The tours, which cost $25 and are limited to about 25 people, are being sponsored by a joint effort between Montgomery County and a Smithsonian program. Tour-goers will visit a handful of Wheaton’s 15 markets while learning about cooking techniques and sampling unique foods.

Leslie Maxam, marketing and special events manager for the Wheaton Urban District at the Mid-County Regional Services Center, said the Smithsonian Resident Associate Program, the program’s co-sponsor, is very involved in culinary arts. The Smithsonian Resident Associate Program is a continuing education program for adults.

‘‘We consider culinary arts a unique artist category for our particular downtown,” said Maxam. ‘‘... Food is at the heart of Wheaton.”

Christine Cimino, a spokeswoman for the Smithsonian Resident Associate Program, said in her five years with the organization, she cannot recall a similar event in the Washington, D.C., area.

Many communities, including Wheaton, hold events focused on food, including the annual Taste of Wheaton, which occurs in May and focuses on restaurants. But Maxam said she wanted to highlight the other culinary segment of Wheaton’s downtown.

She also said the Smithsonian group’s expertise and experience with other tours could attract people interested in learning about food, cooking and Wheaton.

Gail Foreman, a food expert, freelance writer and college professor, will lead the tours.

‘‘Wheaton is a very interesting part of our region,” Foreman said. ‘‘It’s very diverse and the markets reflect the diversity of that area and Montgomery County in general, which is amazingly diverse and getting more and more exciting by the moment.”

Forman said she would make sure to focus what ingredients make certain ethnic food taste so distinctive.

‘‘What I’m planning to do is pick out a few ingredients that people see in these markets ... and explain what they are and how they use them,” Foreman said.

Owners and managers say the event should help boost business and bring in customers from outside the Wheaton area.

The markets included in the tour are the Brazilian Market, La Salvadorenita Grocery, Hung Phat Asian Grocery, An-Binh Grocery and Sandwich, Filipino Home Baking & Grocery Store and Marchone’s Italian Deli.

Mui Ta of An-Binh Grocery and Sandwich on Georgia Avenue hopes to open people up to Vietnamese culture and food. Ta also said she would offer tour participants samples of shrimp samurai rolls. ‘‘It should boost sales a little because right now business is kind of slow.”

Silvania Martins, owner of Brazilian Market on Grandview Avenue, also said she thinks the tour is a good idea, especially on a Sunday morning when it shouldn’t interfere with regular business.

‘‘If the people like it, they’ll come back,” Martins said.

Filippo Leo, owner of Marchone’s Italian Deli on Triangle Lane, said the tour should help give ethnic food markets the exposure they need.

‘‘... Even if [the markets] have been open for many years, a lot of people don’t know we exist,” Leo said. ‘‘It would be great for business.”

He also said he is looking forward to offering the tour participants a taste of his deli.

‘‘I would offer to them whatever they want — cookies, subs, cannoli — just to make them feel welcome and comfortable,” he said.