Immigrant Food is branching out across the Potomac. The D.C.-based eatery opened its first Virginia location today at the global headquarters of the Nature Conservancy in Ballston, bringing with it a mission to help immigrants.
The fourth location of the growing chainlet, and the first outside Washington, D.C., will serve the globally inspired dishes it’s become known for since opening near the White House in 2019.
“We build these international flavors and ingredients around global classics,” Chef Ben Murray says. “We have this great fried chicken dish, but we do a Filipino fried chicken with roasted banana ketchup, and we have a great Caesar salad, but we add miso to it, we add that Japanese flare to it.”
One of the most popular dishes is the Madam VP Heritage bowl ($17), he says. It’s a nod to presidential candidate Kamala Harris’s Indian and Jamaican roots in the form of coconut-curry chicken on turmeric rice with baby spinach, plantains, chickpea and pineapple. Find it on the Ballston lunch menu, which is available Tuesday-Friday from 11 a.m.-3 p.m.
She is the first first-generation daughter of immigrants—her mother came from India and her father from Jamaica—to become vice president, “so we wanted to celebrate those two cuisines,” says co-founder Peter Schechter, an immigrant himself. Born in Rome, he moved to the United States at age 6.
A popular option at dinner—Tuesday-Saturday after 5:30 p.m.—is Around the World Dim Sum, says Murray, a native of Japan. Patrons can choose two ($28) or three ($38) small plates of tamarind barbecue ribs, crispy chicken and lemongrass dumplings, and crab beignets.
“Our food is really a mix of flavors and ingredients and spices and recipes that immigrants have brought, and then we put our own twist on it and make it into something a bit different,” says co-founder Téa Ivanovic, who’s from Belgium.
Although the menu will mirror that of the White House location, one item is unique to Ballston: a cocktail called The Kanha after a national park in central India. The $15 green-hued drink is made with Japanese shochu, basil, jalapeño, cucumber, fresh lime juice and honey.
And new menu options debut periodically, Murray adds. For instance, a whole roasted branzino with Mexican chili and burrata with Thai basil pesto, mostarda and warm za’atar ciabatta joined the lineup this summer.
Additionally, the team sometimes develops new dishes in tandem with world events, Schechter notes. “If something that we think is meaningful in the immigration world happens, we think about if we can create something [for the menu] to celebrate that,” he says.
That’s in line with Immigrant Food’s gastroadvocacy. The concept is two-fold: Pepper the menu with unique dishes blending international flavors to expose diners to diverse ingredients and recipes, and educate about and advocate for immigrants.
“The whole idea behind it is to have a restaurant that has two beating hearts,” Schechter says. “One is the gastronomy and delicious food and the ambience that every restaurant needs to have to be successful, and we have an additional part, which is the mission to educate, advocate and celebrate what immigrants have meant to this country and what they will continue to mean in the future. Unless you’re a Native American, we’re really all immigrants. We’ve all come from somewhere.”
As part of that mission, Immigrant Food has partnerships with five local nongovernmental organizations: the Asian Pacific American Legal Resource Center, AsylumWorks, Ayuda, Capital Area Immigrants’ Rights Coalition and CARECEN. They use the restaurants to teach English to non-native speakers, hold workshops and legal clinics, and offer job search services.
It also publishes a monthly magazine called The Think Table that takes an in-depth look at one immigration issue each month. “We speak with experts, so CEOs, members of Congress or immigrants themselves, and we post little videos and infographics about these issues,” Ivanovic says.
The group has a weekly Engagement Menu providing five ways for guests to engage in immigration topics, such as by volunteering, donating, signing a petition or going to a march.
“That’s has had a life on its own, and people follow that, and then hear about us through that, and then come to the restaurant,” Ivanovic says.
She expects that the Ballston location will be no different. The 3,900-square-foot space is the largest of the chainlet’s now four locations and can accommodate up to 151 diners inside and on the patio. It will be open for lunch, weekend brunch, happy hour (Tuesday-Saturday, 3-6:30 p.m.) and dinner.
“It made complete sense to move to Ballston,” Ivanovic says, for several reasons. As one of the densest neighborhoods in the DMV, it provides a mix of business and residential dwellers. Additionally, its largely young population—the average age is 34—aligns with the guest profile of Immigrant Food’s three D.C. locations.
Plus, “people in Ballston seem happy,” adds Schechter. “People seem excited to be there, happy to be there, happy with their lives.… It just gives a sense of people being very satisfied of living in a place that’s very urban, but yet it’s not in the middle of the city.”
Ivanovic describes the décor as in line with the look and feel of the restaurant group’s other locations, with textiles from around the world on the walls. A central bar is the focal point, although the spot also has a large area dedicated to takeout orders and a private dining room.
In support of its partnership with the Nature Conservancy, the restaurant also has a lot of greenery and uses eco-friendly practices, such as recyclable carry-out materials.
“You can come in, have a great meal, pick things from all over the world and yet it’s not going to break the bank,” Schechter says. “It has a really nice home feel where people feel comfortable, but that they’re eating in a really beautiful space.”
Immigrant Food is located at 4245 N. Fairfax Drive, Arlington.