Nader Baroukh,
Former City of Falls Church Mayor

1. How will you prepare for the Taste of Falls Church?
No preparation really. Just showing up with a healthy appetite! I hope to bring some friends along to help.

2. What’s your favorite restaurant that has opened in Falls Church in the past five years?
I think I’ll punt on that one and say I like them all.

3. What’s the most unusual food you’ve eaten recently and how was it?
It’s not so unusual, but I love sushi.

4. What is your favorite ingredient?
Chocolate makes everything better.

5. What was your least favorite food when you were a child?
Vegetables. Anything green.

6. How do you prefer your eggs cooked?
Scrambled.

7. What is the best entertainment you’ve experienced while dining (live music, theater, conversation, television, etc.)?
With or without dining, Bruce Springsteen live in concert.

8. If you had to prepare one dish for a cooking contest, what would you choose?
I have not worked on my cooking in the past year and it has gotten worse.

9. If you could have one dish prepared by one person, what and who would it be?
Beef Bourguignon by Julia Child. My wife’s empty promises that she will make this dish for me continue.

10. Who is your favorite celebrity chef or cook?
Ming Tsai.

11. What’s the healthiest and unhealthiest thing you’ve eaten in the past month?
Unhealthy – ice cream. Healthy – I think I had some vegetables the other day.

12. What is the most memorable thing you’ve eaten in the past month?
A smoked steak that my friends made.

Chris Capannola,
Head Coach of the George Mason High School Boys Basketball Team

1. How will you prepare for the Taste of Falls Church?
I’ll prepare by not eating breakfast.

2. What’s your favorite restaurant that has opened in Falls Church in the past five years?
My favorite is Trio. Although it’s not in Falls Church City, it’s close and it’s fantastic.

3. What’s the most unusual food you’ve eaten recently and how was it?
I had Vietnamese food for the first time. It was outstanding.

4. What is your favorite ingredient?
Garlic.

5. What was your least favorite food when you were a child?
My father used to make tripe. It was awful.

6. How do you prefer your eggs cooked?
Fried or scrambled.

7. What is the best entertainment you’ve experienced while dining (live music, theater, conversation, television, etc.)?
Good conversation is always the best dinner entertainment.

8. If you had to prepare one dish for a cooking contest, what would you choose?
My wife’s chicken cutlets.

9. If you could have one dish prepared by one person, what and who would it be?
Sauce, cooked by my mother. The best I’ve ever had.

10. Who is your favorite celebrity chef or cook?
Mario Batali.

11. What’s the healthiest and unhealthiest thing you’ve eaten in the past month?
I make my own vegetable smoothies every morning, very healthy. Had chicken wings last weekend.

12. What is the most memorable thing you’ve eaten in the past month?
Oysters at a restaurant in National Harbor.

Lori Lafave,
Member of the Falls Church Recreation & Parks Advisory Board

1. How will you prepare for the Taste of Falls Church?
I will starve myself, so I’m prepared to eat.

2. What’s your favorite restaurant that has opened in Falls Church in the past five years?
Sfizi.

3. What’s the most unusual food you’ve eaten recently and how was it?
It is a regional dish in Upstate New York called Michigans. It was fantastic.

4. What is your favorite ingredient?
Olive oil.

5. What was your least favorite food when you were a child?
Oh, liver!

6. How do you prefer your eggs cooked?
Poached.

7. What is the best entertainment you’ve experienced while dining (live music, theater, conversation, television, etc.)?
During extended family meals, my kids usually put on a show and there is always music and dancing.

8. If you had to prepare one dish for a cooking contest, what would you choose?
Homemade macaroni and cheese.

9. If you could have one dish prepared by one person, what and who would it be?
Grandma Blanche’s beef and sliders.

10. Who is your favorite celebrity chef or cook?
Rachel Ray.

11. What’s the healthiest and unhealthiest thing you’ve eaten in the past month?
The healthiest things I’ve eaten in the past month is like a salad, a good salad. And the unhealthiest I’ve eaten is ice cream.

12. What is the most memorable thing you’ve eaten in the past month?
At the beach we caught blue crabs off the pier and then steamed them. So it was an aweseome, fresh Chesapeake blue crab dinner.

Nikki Graves Henderson,
Director of History Projects for The Tinner Hill Heritage Foundation

1. How will you prepare for the Taste of Falls Church?
I’ll fast all week and Iʼll walk to errands in town. On Saturday, Iʼll ride my bike to preview of the new National African American Museum in D.C., swim back to Falls Church, then take a short nap before the eating begins!

2. What’s your favorite restaurant that has opened in Falls Church in the past five years?
Uhh, did I mention I once fasted for 21 days under the direction of Dick Gregoryʼs nutritionist?

3. What’s the most unusual food you’ve eaten recently and how was it?
Nothing new.

4. What is your favorite ingredient?
Butter, butter and…did I mention butter?

5. What was your least favorite food when you were a child?
Liver.

6. How do you prefer your eggs cooked?
Scrambled with onions, green peppers and cheese.

7. What is the best entertainment you’ve experienced while dining (live music, theater, conversation, television, etc.)?
Breakfast while camping and watching the sunrise over the Chesapeake Bay or dining while moon watching over the Atlantic Ocean on a cruise ship’s private deck.

8. If you had to prepare one dish for a cooking contest, what would you choose?
Iʼm famous for my cheese grits, shrimp and grits, fish and grits, chicken and grits and steak and grits.

9. If you could have one dish prepared by one person, what and who would it be?
My mother’s turkey and dressing.

10. Who is your favorite celebrity chef or cook?
None.

11. What’s the healthiest and unhealthiest thing you’ve eaten in the past month?
Healthiest: vine-ripened fruit. Unhealthiest: sʼmores made in our firepit. We experimented with different gourmet chocolates.

12. What is the most memorable thing you’ve eaten in the past month?
My hometown Detroit classics: corned beef sandwich and White Castle cheeseburgers.

Patty Cigna,
Buyer’s Agent at Rock Star Realty

1. How will you prepare for the Taste of Falls Church?
I will be doing jumping jacks and lunges in preparation to eat a lot.

2. What’s your favorite restaurant that has opened in Falls Church in the past five years?
I really like Cafe Kindred.

3. What’s the most unusual food you’ve eaten recently and how was it?
The strangest thing that I’ve had recently was oysters, which were introduced to me by Tori [McKinney] in New Orleans. They were delicious. I now order them everytime I see them on the menu.

4. What is your favorite ingredient?
Cilantro.

5. What was your least favorite food when you were a child?
Asparagus. And it’s still asparagus. I had a bad encouter with it. Ever since then I’ve been scarred.

6. How do you prefer your eggs cooked?
I only eat them scrambled. I won’t eat them any other way.

7. What is the best entertainment you’ve experienced while dining (live music, theater, conversation, television, etc.)?
I’ve been to a drag brunch in D.C. It’s the one at a French bistro and they even had a peacock costume at one point.

8. If you had to prepare one dish for a cooking contest, what would you choose?
I would do pudding shots.

9. If you could have one dish prepared by one person, what and who would it be?
BBQ brisket by Bobby Flay.

10. Who is your favorite celebrity chef or cook?
Bobby Flay.

11. What’s the healthiest and unhealthiest thing you’ve eaten in the past month?
The healthiest things I’ve had is a kale salad. The unhealthiest is two huge scoops of ice cream, chocolate and vanilla.

12. What is the most memorable thing you’ve eaten in the past month?
The Shipyard Beer that’s only available once during the year. It’s pumpkin beer. I got it from Whole Foods.

Caitlin Acosta,
Assistant at Rock Star Realty

1. How will you prepare for the Taste of Falls Church?
I’m going to be fasting the night before in preparation for eating a lot of food at the Taste of Falls Church.

2. What’s your favorite restaurant that has opened in Falls Church in the past five years?
I’m going to have to say Mad Fox.

3. What’s the most unusual food you’ve eaten recently and how was it?
I had a sushi burrito from Rolls By U in Clarendon. It was pretty good. It was kind of hard to eat.

4. What is your favorite ingredient?
Goat cheese is basically the nectar of the gods, so I’m going to go with that.

5. What was your least favorite food when you were a child?
Eggplant.

6. How do you prefer your eggs cooked?
I like mine fried, over hard. Very very hard.

7. What is the best entertainment you’ve experienced while dining (live music, theater, conversation, television, etc.)?
I’ve been to a drag brunch before. That was pretty entertaining.

8. If you had to prepare one dish for a cooking contest, what would you choose?
I do like to cook sometimes and my favorite dish to make is maque choux. It’s a traditional dish from Louisiana. It’s a cajun dish that’s inspired by Native Americans, too.

9. If you could have one dish prepared by one person, what and who would it be?
I’m going to say lasagna, cooked by mom, Jody Acosta.

10. Who is your favorite celebrity chef or cook?
Emeril Lagasse.

11. What’s the healthiest and unhealthiest thing you’ve eaten in the past month?
The most unhealthy things I’ve eaten is [corndogs]. I recently had three corndogs in one day. I went to the boardwalk and you can’t find corndogs just anywhere, so I was taking advantage of it while it was there. And the healthiest thing is probably anything but corndogs.

12. What is the most memorable thing you’ve eaten in the past month?
I had a BBQ pork banh mi from Ba Le today and it was delicious. I had it with extra sriracha.