What do Jaleo, China Chilcano, Oyamel, and Zaytinya: what do these restaurants have in common? They are all owned and operated under acclaimed chef and restaurateur, José Andrés! And, all three participated in the chef’s Dine N Dash event earlier this week on Tuesday, June 9^th, 2015.

Chef José Andrés’ 3^rd annual Dine N Dash is an extraordinary event in which participating restaurants and food trucks gather together and serve limitless dishes and drinks to Dine N Dash’ers. Of course, many of José Andrés’ restaurants partook in the event (China Chilcano, Jaleo, Oya, Oyamel, Pepe, and Zaytinya), making it a total of 17 businesses in Penn Quarter of Washington D.C. serving hungry Dine N Dash’ers this year. Proceeds from this event will benefit World Central Kitchen, a humanitarian organization (which the chef is an active Chairman in) that passionately trains people to develop and nurture skills to build “smart kitchens.” Coming together for the love of food to support a great cause to help others? Pure brilliance.

I was determined to hit all the Dine N Dash restaurants from 6pm to 9pm, but ultimately failed and hit 13 out of 17. Which honestly, in my opinion, is still pretty good for a first-time Dine N Dash rookie. Also, due to early morning work priorities, I was unable to attend the after-party at Carnegie Library (close to Ping Pong, Dine N Dash’s starting point), so I am intrigued to see photos and hear about what happened. I will be Dine N Dash’ing next year for sure, including the after-party.

Cheers!

-EHY