WETA’s ‘Signature Dish’ Showcases F.C.’s La Tingeria, May 11; an Interview with Host Seth Tillman
WETA’s regional Emmy award-winning TV series Signature Dish will spotlight Falls Church City’s La Tingeria restaurant at 626 S. Washington St. this Monday evening, May 11 at 9:00 p.m.
Offering unique Mexican antojitos and street food – with a halal menu – La Tingeria will be presenting show host Seth Tillman with one of its menu specialties, its “signature dish,” Tostada Tinga Chicken. La Tingeria’s founder and owner Chef David Peña will be preparing the delicious Chicken Tinga dish and describing what makes it special.
WETA, the leading local affiliate of PBS in the D.C. area, reached out to The Falls Church Independent to offer an interview with host Tillman in advance of Monday’s half-hour show (Season 4, episode 7) spotlighting three local DMV taco spots. Entitled “Taqueria Time,” the episode features visits by Tillman and the show’s crew to La Tingeria in Falls Church, Taqueria Xochi in Navy Yard, D.C., and Ixtapalapa in Gaithersburg, Md. We were delighted to have the opportunity to meet Mr. Tillman to find out more about his visit to La Tingeria, one of the City’s hidden culinary gems, ranked among Washingtonian’s “100 Very Best Restaurants” (2023, 2024) and named a Washington Post top-10 “Best Casual Restaurant” in 2022.
Per WETA, Signature Dish “showcases the region’s diverse food landscape as host Seth Tillman travels around D.C., Maryland and Virginia, taste-testing the ‘signature dish’ at selected restaurants. At each restaurant stop, Seth does more than simply taste the signature dish; he explores the backstory of the restaurant, its neighborhood and the people behind the food.”
We asked Tillman to describe his background a bit and reveal how he came to host Signature Dish. “I had worked in government and politics for most of my twenties but realized it was something I wasn’t particularly passionate about. And I always had an interest in video production and video editing – though I don’t do that now; it was just something I was initially interested in,” Tillman said. “And I made a career change at the end of my twenties and beginning of my thirties – working as a production assistant at a television production company. I worked my way up and was hired at WETA as a producer in 2016. Then I started producing historical documentaries about the D.C. area. I’m from Washington D.C. originally.”
“....Then in 2019, somebody came in who decided that the best course of action for us with our local programming would be to have more series-driven programs instead of one-off documentaries,” Tillman said. “And we should use maybe some established television brands such as lifestyle, real estate, food, or things that are popular, but to do it in our own kind of PBS way, to tell the local stories here.”
“So, I was tasked with producing and hosting a show about local restaurants in the D.C. area,” Tillman said. “We decided to call it Signature Dish. And here we are, well over 100 restaurants later, and into our fourth season. I think we’ve succeeded in our goal of trying to get out to every area of the DMV and sharing cuisines from all around the world, and just kind of highlighting [them] and making shows that are both deeply entertaining and highly informative at the same time.”
Creating the Show's Concept
Did Tillman create the concept for the show? “They came to me and said, ‘We’d like to do a restaurant show.’ I had actually made a couple of short restaurant programs – sort of one-off things. A show called Neighborhood Eats. We did two separate half-hour episodes. But we knew [Signature Dish] was going to be a series,” Tillman said. “And we knew it was going to be a bit more regular in terms of its production schedule and airing. And we knew – funny enough – that the name was going to be ‘Signature Dish.’ Actually I was kind of amazed that no one had ever taken it before – so obvious in retrospect.”
“It’s a little bit different because in most food shows, the host comes in and they try to spread the field by sampling 20 different [dishes]. And we had decided to focus [Signature Dish] around a single dish we use to tell the story. So, I guess it’s a little bit unique in that aspect. But, yeah, I started with the name and the rough outlines of the show. It’s something I, along with this gentleman Miguel Monteverde, who’s the head of all local programming, we worked on very much together. But I did pretty much take the lead in developing the feel, the pacing, the look, the style, the graphics, everything. So it is very much my show which I’m very proud of.”
We were curious whether Tillman had ever worked as a host on the other side of the camera. “As a producer I conducted many one-on-one sit-down interviews, getting out in the field, standing out behind the camera operator, asking questions from off camera,” Tillman said. “But this was my first foray into front-of-camera work. And it was quite the leap of faith. I mean, they put a lot of trust in me, considering that I had never done it before. And I had to kind of convince myself that this would work. But I think we found our groove pretty quickly. It always takes a little time to find your feel and your stride, but I think we got there.”
We observed that hailing from D.C. appears to provide Tillman with a deeper connection to the restaurants and neighborhoods he covers in the show. “Absolutely,” he said. “At the beginning of the show, I say, ‘I’m Seth Tillman, WETA producer and D.C. Native.’ And, you know, it’s true. I was born in Georgetown University Hospital. Most of my childhood was in the immediate outside suburbs of Chevy Chase, but I was born in D.C. and I did live in D.C. for a few years. And as soon as I graduated from college I came back to D.C. So, I had pretty much been around the area in one way or another for my whole life.”
We were curious how many people were on the staff of Signature Dish. “Well, we have myself and an associate producer and then, typically, four to five people on a crew,” Tillman said. “So, we’re showing up typically with five or six people which by television standards is a fairly light footprint.”
We joked that the crew must also have a strong work incentive since each of the show’s episodes ends with their devouring the signature dish leftovers as the credits roll. “Haha!,” Tillman burst out. “Yes, when you asked me how much I did develop the show, I’d say I developed about 98 percent of it, with only one exception, which is that my boss, the person who suggested the idea, did come up with the idea of the crew eating during the credits. That was his idea and out of all the things people say who come up to me – one of the things I hear more than anything else is, ‘I just love the scene in the credits where the crew is getting to eat.’ I mean, who wouldn’t want to be there then?.... The show is a lot of work, but when you’re in the field and you’re actually eating, that’s a lot of fun!”
Signature Dish's Success
We wanted to know more about the awards Signature Dish has won since it launched in March, 2022. “The series has won a few regional Emmys from the National Capital Chesapeake Bay Region, one of the regional chapters of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences,” Tillman said. “So, we’ve won three regional Emmys for the program – one for writing and two for producing, and, fingers crossed, we’ll win a few more this year as well.” Last year, Tillman himself received an Emmy nomination in the category “Writer - Short Form/Long Form Content,” based on his work on Signature Dish.
We asked Tillman what accounts for the show's success. “Great question,” he said. “I mean, we’re producing a high quality show I think people can trust, because it’s for PBS. So, this is not an advertising service we’re offering to restaurants. We’re objectively trying to go out and find the best food, along with interesting stories that highlight why the communities we live in are interesting places to live…. And I do think there’s really something to be said for a local food show as well because, let’s say you did like a Guy Fieri or a cable food network type program, that’s all well and good, but he’s visiting places in Spokane or Boise. But good luck with that, I mean, when’s the next time you’re going to get up to Detroit? So the fact that it’s actually local means a lot to people. Plus the fact that we cover so much ground. I mean, if you look at a map of all the local restaurants we’ve been to – which you can see in our Restaurant Guide link Signaturedish.org – if you look at the markers on the map, we’ve been all over, all through Washington, D.C., all through Virginia and Maryland. So yeah, I think we cover a lot of ground. And we try to keep it both informational and entertaining. And I think we’ve been successful with that.”
We observed that Tillman also seems to build trust with viewers because he’s filmed taking his first bite of each signature dish. “I mean, the only thing I would say in that regard is that we’re not a food criticism show,” he said. “We’re celebrating local restaurants and local small businesses. So rather than asking ‘What does Seth really think about this?,’ our goal is that I’m actually going to direct you to places that, trust me, are as good as you’ll find anywhere else in the area.”
More Art than Science
So we were curious how Tillman decides which restaurants to feature each week. “I would say it’s more art than science. We rely on a lot of different things. One is, obviously online reviews. We also sometimes rely on work that’s been done by other food writers previously. Sometimes it’s by word of mouth. Sometimes it’s recommendations. Sometimes we’ve gone out and solicited feedback from viewers and asked, ‘Hey, where should we go in this Season Two?’ Or, ‘Hey, we’re getting started on Season 3; where do you think we should go?’ And we utilize viewer suggestions as well. Sometimes, I'll also kind of sneakily go in in advance, as if I’m a food writer – though I don’t have the budget that the Washington Post food critic might have – just to try places until I land on something good. I also don’t have that much time on my hands. I have to be able to go out and turn this around fairly quickly. But we utilize all those different techniques.”
Diversity on Signature Dish
“And one of the things, also, is that when we use all those techniques, we’re looking at it through the lens of, ‘How do we create as much diversity within the show – and when I say diversity, I mean, obviously there’s gender, ethnic, and racial diversity, but I’m also talking more broadly about within just a single episode, ‘How are we showcasing maybe three different restaurants at three different price points so there can be something maybe available to everyone?’ Like I don’t want three pork schnitzel’s maybe in one episode, so I mix it up so that dishes also maybe have as much variety as possible. So how do I try my best to make sure we’re not having three different restaurants in Arlington, Virginia in the same episode. How do we get to D.C., Maryland, and Virginia all in one space? So we're trying to keep as much variety and diversity as possible in one single episode as kind of the overall lens through which we look at reviews and restaurant recommendations and everything else.”
We suggested that Signature Dish’s price point diversity is similar to another WETA program ‘If You Lived Here,’ the half-hour show that explores three sequentially-priced DMV real estate offerings in each program. “Exactly,” Tillman affirmed. “You know, it’s not all hole-in-the-wall, first generation spots out in Annandale, but it’s also not three places in the Wharf every time. We’re trying to give something for everyone. I think most viewers can find something they’re both comfortable with in their interest in food and their price point.”
Selecting La Tingeria in Falls Church
So how did Tillman select La Tingeria in Falls Church for Monday’s program? And what does he recall about filming the episode? “Oh, I remember it very well,” he said. “In fact, we’re putting the finishing touches on this episode now. So they’re very much fresh on my mind. Here’s the way I’d put it, there are two different things we most often highlight when it comes to picking a dish in a restaurant. One is, a restaurant or a chef who’s doing something completely unique and one-of–a-kind that you’re not going to find anywhere else – so maybe a traditional dish, but with a very unique spin on it. That’s probably the majority of the types of places we’re featuring. But then there are other times where we’re featuring someone who’s making a dish, where they’re not maybe re-inventing the wheel, but they’re just doing it so well and so consistently, that we want to be able to highlight that excellence as well.”
Inspired by Chef David Peña's Story
“Just because you’re not coming up with a totally off-the-wall ingredient, doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be celebrating here,” Tillman continued. “And in the case of La Tingeria, the chef and owner David Peña, he has a very interesting story. You know, he grew up in the U.S. His parents are from Mexico. He was working in construction, but had an interest in food. I had a soft spot in my heart because just as I had made a career change from government and politics, he made a change from the world of construction to working in restaurants. He was working at Rustico which was a restaurant in Arlington, I believe, kind of a pizza, American restaurant. And he worked his way up to Sous Chef.”
“But the story goes that [at Rustico] they would have a family meal as they do at nice restaurants where the staff eats prior to the service time. So oftentimes he was making Chicken Tinga which was his family’s dish – they had their own recipe for it – which is a fairly traditional, Mexican-style preparation, most often for chicken. But it was just so loved by everyone on the staff. He was always being asked to make it, especially the tostados a tinga which is how it’s usually presented, on kind of a crispy fried tortilla. And somebody he was working with said, ‘Hey man, when are you going to open La Tingeria?’ And that’s kind of an invented name. You know, in Spanish, if you add ‘eria’ to something it’s a place that sells that product. So, ‘When are you going to open La Tingeria?’ And I think he realized that maybe he had something there.”
“So he started as a food truck and became pretty popular. And then at some point, for a variety of reasons, I think personal for him, he switched over to an all halal menu as well. And that kind of opened doors to maybe a new customer base that wouldn’t go into a taqueria if they had any pork on the menu or alcohol. And then during the pandemic he saw an opportunity to open at this location on S. Washington Street and has had some additional success as well. Now he has a spot at the Port City Brewing Company in Alexandria as well. I think when there’s a game at Audi field, one of their trucks pulls up. But basically the idea is while he’s doing something that seems relatively simple, he’s doing it in an excellent way on a highly consistent basis. And the food at La Tingeria is first rate. The Tostados de Tinga which is the signature dish we’re profiling is probably the best Tostados de Tinga you’re going to find anywhere in D.C. So that alone made it worth featuring in my mind.”
Tillman's Eclectic Tastes
We were curious how eclectic Tillman’s culinary tastes might be, given that he’s sampling so many signature dishes in the series. “I think I’m pretty eclectic,” he said. “I think I’ll eat just about anything. I mean, in this same episode – this is not so much relevant to a Falls Church audience – but we go to a taqueria in Gaithersburg and the signature dish there is called pancita which is a regional variety of menudo which is a Mexican soup that’s made with cow stomach, like a stomach tripe, as well as cow feet that adds the gelatin and the body. And, you know, that’s not going to be for everybody. But I loved it [Laughs] and I think maybe I’ll go back there and try it again. So I think one of the reasons the show’s been successful is, besides all the reasons I highlighted earlier, the fact that I’m obviously a capable television producer, but also, I actually do really love food. I mean I will probably eat just about anything. And so there’s really nothing I’ve ever shied away from trying on the show. And I’m racking my brain trying to think of something where I drew the line and said no. But I don’t think there is.”
So Tillman has never done a spit-take while filming? “No, I’ll eat anything,” he said with a laugh. Fortunately, Tillman also has no food allergies. And he does enjoy cooking and being his own chef at home. “I do,” he said. “I have two younger children. They’re seven and 10 years old so there are a lot of extracurriculars. And work keeps me pretty busy, so I don’t have quite as much free time as I once did to do all the gourmet, epicurean cooking I’d like to be able to do. But I think I’ll get back to it. I was very into cooking in my twenties. I was kind of getting into the foodie renaissance maybe at an earlier age."
Any Mishaps Filming?
Now we were curious whether the show had ever suffered any mishaps during filming, perhaps a chef burning himself or someone dropping the signature dish platter as it’s being delicately served? “I would need to rack my brain on this for a second,” Tillman began hesitantly. “.... People do sometimes come up to me and ask, ‘Hey, when you take a bite of food and say how good it is, has there ever been a time when you say that and then realize… ?’ And the answer I give – and I'm really kind of consistent in telling this story – is that right now, we’re really a pretty well-oiled machine. I think we’ve filmed well over 100 and 20-some odd restaurants at this point, so we’ve got this down to a pretty good science. But when we first started we were kind of feeling our way through and there were definitely some times when there was a long, long wait between when the food was finished cooking and when I would go ahead and take a bite. So, – and this is Season 1 talk here – something that was supposed to be piping hot soup ladled fresh out of the pot, I was eating it and it was essentially ice cold. [Laughs]. But we’ve come a long way since those early days.”
Connections Between Neighborhood Culture and Food Scene
We were interested in the connections Tillman often explores between a neighborhood’s evolving food scene and its local culture. “I think when you travel through D.C. – and D.C. when I was growing up had the reputation of being a sort of ‘meat and potatoes’ kind of town with no good food. [Laughs]. And I think that reputation was a little bit overstated. Obviously we’ve come a long way in the city of Washington proper. And you know, that all started around the 2000s as Michelin-starred chefs started showing up and opening places and there was just a big transformation in the city.”
“But I think if you go back, there do tend to be communities that grow up through migration. I’m thinking in particular of Annandale and the Korean community there, or the area around the Eden Center, very close to you. Although that’s kind of shifted now. But at least at first, the large Vietnamese communities [in Clarendon and now in Falls Church]. Closer to where I live in Montgomery County, the preponderance of the Chinese restaurants in the Rockville, Maryland area. I think one of the ways people tell their cultural stories is through food. And that's not just now but for a long time in D.C., if you venture outside the borders of the fairly tiny city of Washington, D.C., you can find lots of places with communities with chefs who have a story to tell, both about themselves and about their culture of food. And I think that’s probably most true in the northern Virginia area more than just about any place I know around here. I’m not just saying that to butter you up as the Falls Church reporter [Laughs], but in my experience it’s just a very vibrant, rich, culinary area, if you’re willing just to get in your car and drive around a little bit…. And as I said in the beginning, that’s the goal of the show, to tell those stories, using a vehicle that most people love. I mean who doesn’t love good food? But telling those stories in a very PBS way.”
Stay tuned for Part II of this story, our interview with Chef David Peña of La Tingeria.
For a WETA preview of Signature Dish, Season 4 see below:
For Signature Dish's Restaurant Guide see below:
By Christopher Jones
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