Rooster & Owl’s Yuan Tang Still Relies on Breakfast Food and Shift Drinks
To-Go Takes is Resy’s regular feature wherein we quiz the folks behind some of our favorite restaurants about all things related to takeout.
In this edition, we speak to Yuan Tang, the chef behind Rooster & Owl, a creative restaurant flecked with Asian flavors on 14th Street Tang co-owns with his wife Carey, currently open for pickup and delivery. Below, he shares some of his favorite takeout tips, tricks, cocktails, and regular stops.
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Restaurant: Rooster & Owl
Name + Title: Yuan Tang, Chef & Co-Owner
Tang: Right now, my favorite dish from our takeout menu is the Cornish hen. I had it the other night and the flavors are well put-together. I’m proud of that one.
Where are you getting takeout from and what are you ordering?
Ordering breakfast food is a weekend tradition in our house. We like City Diner for things like pancakes and French toast. I order sushi and ramen from Ichiban Sushi in Shirlington. And of course, Good Fortune Chinese Takeout. Everyone should have a great local Chinese takeout spot in their Rolodex, in my opinion.
Now that temperatures have dropped, what cold-weather food are you looking forward to ordering the most?
I’ve been craving the kimchi tofu soup from Lighthouse Tofu in Annandale.
What’s your favorite place for cocktails to go?
Am I allowed to say Rooster & Owl? With a new baby in our house, we haven’t been drinking a ton of cocktails, but we try to keep the shift drink tradition alive at the restaurant.
What single restaurant dish would you walk miles for?
I miss the omakase experience — ordering takeout sushi isn’t the same as watching a chef carefully put it together at a sushi counter. Sushi Ogawa is one of our favorites.
What was your meal back once restaurants reopened?
We really enjoyed Unconventional Diner for both dinner and brunch.
What do you miss the most about restaurants?
It’s the human interaction for me. Being able to eat without a mask on eventually will be great, too.
Rooster & Owl is offering a special prix-fixe menu for takeout and delivery Tuesday through Saturday starting at 5 p.m. Order here.
