Documenting the stories of Columbia Pike restuatrants started with
Columbia Pike Recipes for You 2016: A Community Book Art Project
In 2023, it continued with
Columbia Pike Recipes for Recovery, Restaurant Stories from Around the World in One Zip Code
Along the Pike, recovery can be found in berbere spice and Rooibos tea and chile paste, each ingredient forming part of a unique recipe and story. The 2021-2023 project Columbia Pike Recipes for Recovery shares stories of how food connected a community during a time when they needed it most, during the COVID-19 pandemic. This passion and patronage kept Columbia Pike restaurant owners in business and continues to forge a path towards individual and collective recovery.
Photo, above: Visitor response from a community engagement session, 2021
“It started with me wondering how the restaurants, which were part of my 2016 project Columbia Pike Recipes for You, (read more about it below) were doing during the COVID-19 pandemic. Were they still around? How were they faring?
When I heard about the Buy-A-Nurse-Lunch program by the Columbia Pike Partnership (CPP), I was relieved that it kept the restaurants busy and in business. So I connected with the Columbia Pike Partnership and we discussed if I could do a new version of my 2016 project and make a new book filled with new interviews and recipes. This would let me check in with new restaurant owners and see how they were doing during the unprecedented times of the COVID-19 pandemic.
As I was working in my studio, alone in a building closed to the public, I thought it would help me get out and about as well. I started the project with two community engagement events at CPP’s 35th anniversary event where I asked guests for stories of the 16 independently-owned ethnic food restaurants I had not yet interviewed. (Photos above) People shared many stories of the restaurants, staff, and dishes which they loved. It led me to doing the interviews.
It took me two years to get 13 stories, because, of course, the pandemic came and went, but here they are for you to experience, all stories from one zip code. I hope you enjoy the stories I could collect and share.”
– Sushmita Mazumdar, artist.
“The stories might be different from the ones you share around your dinner table. We invite you to savor Columbia Pike Recipes for Recovery through the eyes, ears, and mouths of those who call the Pike home.” - Kori Johnson, Editor.
You can also buy this book at any of the participating restaurants:
Rincome Thai (Recently Closed)*
Atilla’s (Relocated)*
Takohachi Japanese Restaurant
Boru Ramen
Greens ‘N’ Teff
Queen Mother’s
*Restaurants whose stories are part of the book but are not longer on Columbia Pike.
Photos from our book launch at the Columbia Pike branch of Arlington Public Library, April 2023. Photos by Alex Sakes.
Arlington, VA • 2016
Columbia Pike Recipes for You: A Community Book Art Project
It started with a visit from Cynthia Connolly, special projects curator for Arlington Arts. She brought me many ideas and on a very very cold winter morning, and we brainstormed till a one hour meeting went on for three. Her dream project was collecting recipes from Columbia Pike restaurants and creating a display board where the public could “see” the food diversity of The Pike. I added to that my interest in people’s stories and teaching people to make simple books and we had the Columbia Pike Recipes for You 2016 project, featuring restaurants and recipes for people to pick from and make their own recipe book. Oh, and they could bind the pages using a cinnamon stick, chopsticks, or a spoon. Simple!
The Event: Be there at the Columbia Pike Blues Fest on June 18, 1-8 pm, and come make your own souvenir recipe book. Details here. Enjoy photos from the event here.
Make it at Home: Here is a pdf version of the recipe book for you to download, print, and make you own book at home.CP Recipe2016Download
Read More: Read more about the project on my blog here. And for more places where the Columbia Pike Recipe Book will be made, check out this flyer col-pk-recipe-book-fall-flyernew.
We Are All Arlington! The Columbia Pike Recipes for You display and book project was on display at the Arlington Central Library as part of the We Are All Arlington! exhibit for the month of October 2016. A wonderful way to share recipes and community stories with Arlington! Photos here.
Columbia Pike Farmer’s Market: Come make your own copy of the Columbia Pike Recipes for You community book project at the Columbia Pike Farmer’s Market in Sept, Oct, and Nov. Pick recipes from down the street, and get ingredients to make them at the market itself. Also, make books to share with family and friends over the holidays. Photos here, and here.
Final count: 400 books made, at 7 events (6 in South Arlington, and 1 in Central Library), over 2 seasons!
Photos, right:
Top, left: Arlington county special projects curator Cynthia Connolly and Sushmita at the recipes display board, Columbia Pike Blues Fest, 2016
Top, right and below: Bookmaking tent and visitors, Columbia Pike Blues Fest, 2016
Below, left: Bookmaking table at Columbia Pike Farmer’s Market, 2016
Bottom, left: Columbia Pike Recipes for You bookmaking, We Are All Arlington event, Wakefield High School, 2016
Bottom, right: Columbia Pike Recipes for You DIY display, We Are All Arlington exhibit, Arlington Central Library, 2016