Local gourmands and all things artisan gathered in the buzzing arena of Union Market for Washington’s second annual Emporiyum, a food festival full of vendors from around the country and foodies eager to get a taste.
At the event on Nov. 14-15, vendors shucked oysters, torched s’mores and skillfully wrapped sushi burritos, hoping to grab the attention of the DMV’s most illustrious foodie crowd. From big names like Graffiato, Momofuku and Blue Hill to smaller hyperlocal vendors like ‘Chups, Kate Bakes Bars and Whisked, the Emporiyum brought together creators of high-quality gourmet products with about 7,000 energetic epicureans for a weekend full of gastronomic greatness.
The Emporiyum happens twice a year: once in the spring in Baltimore, and once in the fall in D.C. This fall the Emporiyum boasted 83 vendors, most of whom are central to the D.C. food scene — a newer, yet burgeoning forum for chefs, restaurants, companies and the food community.
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“I think [the D.C. food scene] is budding, and I also think it’s untapped,” said Emporiyum social media manager Georgia Tollin. “You look at cities like New York, L.A., Boston and the foodie scene is so oversaturated. Already in the last year I’ve seen the D.C. food scene blow up. More and more chefs are coming here, opening restaurants in the Baltimore and the DMV area, because I think they’re seeing a real need for it.”
The Emporiyum, said Tollin, is a way to bring all these entities together to not only share a love for food, but to discover new faces in the growing food community and exchange stories. The event gives the general public unprecedented access to vendors and allows them to share the personal stories behind their brands.
For D.C. resident Kate Dylewsky, this vendor-to-customer interaction was what stood out to her.
“I love how enthusiastic all the vendors are,” she said. “A lot of these people this is their own personal business and some of these things are handmade, clearly by the people handing them out so it’s really cool to talk to people about what made them do it.”
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This personal access to customers is a huge boost for companies trying to get their names out there. For Dave Burton, owner of The Capital Candy Jar, the best parts of the event were the energy that reverberated throughout the venue and everyone’s excitement about food and their desire to try new things. Burton opened The Capital Candy Jar about two years ago but has been making his famous lollipops since he was 14, when he sold them at his junior high school.
“I was the richest kid in school for four months, and then the principal shut me down because I was taking too much money from the vending machine,” Burton said.
Personal stories like these were common at the event, where the sense of community and authenticity was undeniable.
“We have a lot of other friends that are also running booths here like ‘Chups, Runningbyrd Tea and Timber Pizza,” Burton said. “They’re all friends of ours, so it’s kind of fun to see everybody here, together and succeeding and getting the word out about their businesses.”
While at typical food festivals a ticket only gains you entrance, a ticket to the Emporiyum gave you entrance as well as access to samples, live music and some free products. Most vendors had food not only for consumption at the event, but packaged and prepared foods to take home and try later.
“A lot of food festivals, you go around and your eyes are always bigger than your stomach, you’re not able to taste everything you want to taste and it leaves you wanting more and feeling regretful that you couldn’t have this or that,” Tollin said. “At the Emporiyum you can walk away with so many products that you can taste later, you can take home, you can give as gifts to other people, so it’s kind of the gift that keeps on giving.”
Coordinating all 83 vendors, however, was no easy feat. Accommodating the specific needs of each vendor as well as arranging a layout that made everyone happy was extremely difficult, said Tollin, who spent a week setting up the space and changing the layout five times. The outreach and follow-up that goes into coordinating so many vendors and getting the right permits for the space also requires months of preparation.
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“Since we wiped our hands off of the April event we got started on this one,” Tollin said.
Ensuring that the vendors know how much product to prepare was also a challenge, as it depends on customer preferences. Tollin said coordinating the vendors was difficult but the largest test was dealing with the huge volume of people who swarmed the booths eager for tastes of each vendor’s samples. To ensure that everyone was fed and wasn’t waiting too long, the Emporiyum team implemented a tiered ticketing system, in which different waves of customers came at different times. Despite this, the crowds were oppressive and barely thinned out by the time the next wave started to arrive.
Although the crowds were thick, the energy was positive as eager customers moved from one booth to the next, hungry for the next thing. It was a place packed with life. D.C. resident Alex Tzavellas said he wouldn’t change a thing about the event.
“I love supporting local businesses, I love the artisanal aspect of the entire event here, and it’s great to come out to support the local food scene … and I’m trying to impress her,” he said, pointing to a girl smiling in the corner.
