A Chinese restaurant that generated buzz as soon as it opened in Vienna last year has garnered the attention of the Washington Post.
Elazar Sontag, who took over as the newspaper’s food critic in November following longtime scribe Tom Sietsema’s retirement, has ranked Chef Tan as one of the 10 best new restaurants in the D.C. area.
The first D.C.-area location of a chain started in New Jersey, Chef Tan is one of only two Northern Virginia establishments on the list released yesterday (Wednesday). It was joined by no. 10 pick Brasserie Royale, a French bistro that opened in Sterling’s Cascades Marketplace (46290 Cranston Street) last July.
Coming in at no. 6, Chef Tan stands out for its extensive, diverse menu, which centers on dishes from the Hunan province that can’t be easily found at other Chinese restaurants in the region, according to Sontag.
From his summary in the 10 best new restaurants ranking:
Though the menu includes a small section of Chinese American standbys, the best way to orient if you feel a little lost is to take stock of what neighboring tables are eating and follow their lead. This is how I first came to know the pleasure of little river snails stir-fried with pickled long beans and the grassy nuances of tender lamb cooked with cilantro. Best of all, after four visits to my new favorite Chinese restaurant, I’ve barely scratched the surface.
The shoutout from the Washington Post took owner Kevin Tan by surprise, bolstering his restaurant’s growing reputation as a hotspot for authentic Hunan cuisine.
“Being named on the Washington Post’s list was genuinely unexpected, and we deeply appreciate the recognition,” Tan said in a statement to FFXnow. “What’s meant just as much is the response from local guests. Vienna welcomed us from the very beginning, and that’s what makes the work feel worth doing.”
A native of Hengyang in Hunan, China, Tan wanted to extend his family’s 40-year legacy of working in the restaurant industry when he moved to the U.S., Chef Tan regional manager Albert Yang told FFXnow before the Vienna location opened.
Seeking to bring a taste of his old home to his new one, Tan partnered with Yang to open his first restaurant in Fords, New Jersey, in 2007. Though that location has since closed, the chain expanded to eight sites in New Jersey, Boston, Delaware and New York City.
When looking to enter the D.C. area, the team was drawn to the Town of Vienna for its central location and community of “people who are genuinely warm and curious,” Tan says.
The hope that local diners would be open to the distinctive, often spicy flavors of Hunan cuisine was soon rewarded. After soft opening in Danor Plaza at 132 Branch Road SE on July 31, Chef Tan initially needed a waitlist to accommodate guests.
“Guests here have embraced dishes that, until recently, Hunan food lovers in the D.C. region would have had to drive much further to find,” Tan said. “And the feedback we’ve heard from the Vienna Foodie community has been thoughtful and generous from day one.”
The menu has evolved a bit since the restaurant’s launch, adding specialties like Peking duck, Hengyang-style marinated rice noodles, sauteed frog, and the spicy and sour river snails mentioned by Sontag.
The Washington Post food critic acknowledged in his April 2 review that he “didn’t get wind of Chef Tan until February,” noting that the restaurant doesn’t have a website and didn’t offer takeout or delivery when it first opened.
Awarding the restaurant a three-star or “outstanding” rating, Sontag praised its attention to detail, complex flavors and emphasis on “cultural immersion,” with servers taking the time to explain ingredients and techniques to patrons.
Tan says the process of sharing the stories behind each dish and familiarizing customers with their ingredients is core to Chef Tan’s philosophy that “a great meal should offer more than just taste, it should bring culture and a real, immersive experience to the table.”
“Our small goal is for Chef Tan to become a place residents of Vienna and the surrounding communities return to again and again, a place to experience a different culture, taste something new, and find a fresh expression of Chinese cooking,” he said. “We’ll keep evolving the menu around what’s seasonally available locally and what our guests tell us, building dishes that bring authentic Hunan flavors together with a real sense of place. We hope to keep earning that trust, and to bring more memorable food experiences to Vienna, Fairfax, and the wider D.C. community for a long time to come.”
