Washington DC

Some of my earliest memories as a Washingtonian were born of watching the Chinese New Year festivities on H Street when I was a child. I distinctly recall being yelled at by both my mom and the man standing between me and the floats, after I weakly hurled a couple handfuls of whipper snappers in the general direction of the other, more robust, fire crackers going off. Since then, the MCI Center, dropped smack dab in the middle of Chinatown, has changed the face of the neighborhood forever. The ornate gateway to H Street and the Chinese New Year celebrations remain, but much of the rest of Chinatown has been renovated or rebuilt. So it eases my mind that Tony Cheng’s Seafood Restaurant abides as well. In fact, the food may well be better now than it was in my youth. Weekends, the dim sum still rolls by on carts (weekdays it has to be ordered off the menu), and the Cantonese roast duck still puts me in a state of Shangri La. Although I’d like to think I’ve changed enough that I wouldn’t throw tiny bombs at the backs of people’s heads anymore, at least Tony Cheng’s remains an institution.

Photo:  David Freedenberg