Meet the Team - HungryLobbyist.com

Brian Johnson

Founder & Editor

A DC lobbyist with a serious food addiction who founded HungryLobbyist.com after being a casting finalist for 2012 Chopped “Amateur Chefs” n The Food Network. The @HungryLobbyist Instagram page was named by Thrillist as one of the top Instagram’s in DC to follow, and has been named to the Washington Life Magazine “Young & The Guest List” in every year from 2013-2016, in recognition for his founding of HungryLobbyist.com and his day job.

Abby

Contributor

Abby's day-turned-night job is restaurants, and when she isn't hitting the corporate office of one of DC's largest fast casual groups she's hitting the DC restaurant scene. Born and raised in Maryland, she reconciles the District's lack of decent crab houses with its ever-growing plethora of delicious food.

Aida

Contributor

Aida is a true Arab at heart, where food is central to her life. She has breakfast while thinking what's for lunch. Aida was diagnosed with Arthritis in 2011 and as part of her recovery she has to be glutenfree, which if you’ve tried Middle Eastern food is very difficult to do. Follow her adventures as she finds the most satisfying dining experiences for you in DC and shows you how delicious glutenfree food can be! Yum.

Alli Tucker

Contributor

Alli Tucker (“Tuck Tuck” as some call her) is a born Hoosier, or Boilermaker, as she likes to point out. Growing up with a family in the poultry business (Duck yeah!), she was always trying new restaurants. This led to her [un]healthy obsession to try as many restaurants in Washington as humanly, and financially, possible. She has quickly checked off a lot on her long restaurant to-try list, but is always looking for someone to try the next place with. Just be careful, if you plan to join one of these meals, you will be expected to share your food with her.

Ally

Contributor

Ally is a Virginia native who has never met a food she didn't like. Often venturing into DC for the weekend or the evening to try new restaurants, Ally swears by the city's best.

Anastasia

Contributor

Anastasia’s first restaurant ever was the famous Peking Gourmet Inn in Falls Church at six months old so eating her way through the DMV has been a lifelong hobby. She loves concocting high fiber recipes and working out at Equinox to offset the deliciousness of weekends. On weekends she’s trying everything from hidden gems to Michelin starred restaurants.

Andie

Contributor

Andie splits her time between eating, photographing and dancing around DC. She has lived (and eaten) in many cities including Tel Aviv, Shanghai, Ann Arbor and Baltimore. As someone who loves to document and share what she (and other people) are eating, it makes sense that Andie created Tel Aviv's most active food Instagram account, falafullTLV. Although Andie hates carbonation, you may find her at a bar exploring her new interest in beer.

Ashley

Contributor

Ashley learned to cook and bake in suburban New Jersey, thanks to Betty Crocker. She loves to explore food and culture through travel. After a childhood of dipping chicken nuggets in honey mustard, her most adventurous meal to date was cricket tacos (okay fine, it was just a bite). She was schooled in beer culture at the finest cafés and bars in Brussels (shout out to Delirium and its 3,162 different beers). When not dreaming of drinking rosé in the Jardin des Tuileries, she satisfies her wanderlust with DC's diverse dining scene. She's still on the hunt though for a place here that can make a true Taylor ham, egg, and cheese.

Charlotte

Contributor

Charlotte hails from Carmel, California but she’s spent over a decade in DC and has enjoyed watching the city’s restaurant scene evolve. Her love of all things food comes from her French father, who was feeding her oysters and teaching her how to wield a chef’s knife by age five. She approaches both cooking and eating with equal enthusiasm, and when she isn’t experimenting with new ways to sous vide meats, she’s scoping out a new dining establishment or checking back in on some of her old favorite haunts. In between meals, she works with power companies to keep the electrical grid secure and spends time traveling (to find more food, naturally).

David

Contributor

David is a DMV native, Elite Yelper and Asian food addict. Growing up Filipino, he was always surrounded by cooking and food, which he attributes his obsession to. When he's not eating, he's busy planning out his next meal. Other hobbies include hanging in Shaw with his energetic pup (@brickredaussie), Netflix documentaries, and playing just enough soccer to offset his caloric intake.

Elby

Contributor

Elby is a Native Marylander returning to her roots and Washington, D.C. following a five-year stint in the sunny city of Miami. Her love for food and a well-made cocktail run as deep as her ardent love for Old Bay, crab cakes and all things Maryland ("Crab cakes and football, that's what Maryland does!"). You can find her out on the town searching for the next great meal. Spicy margaritas and burgers are her weakness, and her hobbies include watching too much Bravo and attempting to become a master yogi.

Erik

Contributor

Erik is the Associate Editor of a financial services consulting firm website, a Virginia native, and a proud believer that you should never put ketchup on a hot dog. Erik’s hobbies include baseball, beer, bourbon, and watching Anthony Bourdain — though he’s never been one to back down from a Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives marathon. In his spare time, Erik likes to watch movies, follow what Bryce Harper is eating on Instagram, and check D.C.-area restaurants and breweries off his bucket list.

Emily

Contributor

Emily is known for two things 1. Being an incredibly terrible cook with a knack for consistently under-cooking pasta at every dinner she’s ever hosted and 2. Always having the best restaurant recommendations as a plan B for when she starts (in her defense, a very small) kitchen fire. She grew up in Florida, attended public high school at Woodrow Wilson in DC (Go Tigers!), and graduated from West Virginia University with a B.A in Communication and Media Studies. She works for one of DC’s top plastic surgeons and when she’s not at the office you can find her at happy hour with her friends.

Francesca

Contributor

Born and raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (Steeler Nation Baby!), Francesca inherited her love of cooking from her Italian grandmother. Kindergarten teacher by day, Francesca sees her fair share of cheese sticks and chicken nuggets, but by night she is trying out new restaurants that stay away from the aforementioned items(unless the nuggets are particularly delicious). When she isn’t teaching you can most likely find her elbows deep in a plate of gnocchi or at a SoulCycle class trying to burn off said plate.

Gabby

Contributor

Gabby hails from New York, land of the greatest pizza and bagels and finds herself on a never-ending quest to fulfill her love for the sweet carbs here in the nation's capital. When she isn't hustling on the Hill lobbying for one of America's largest retailers, she is reading Eater's heat map, WaPo food, and stalking Open Table and Resy for seats at the newest restaurants to call DC home. To compliment all of her eating, you can find Gabby at one of the city's fitness studios sweating it out so she can dig into a Le Diplomate cheese plate and glass of Rose later.

Hailie

Contributor

Hailie is constantly on the hunt for an authentic Caesar salad – chilled plates or bust. She believes simpler is usually better, and thinks the real Mexican food is found in strip malls off Route 1. Hailie grew up in California, where she learned to cook from her mother and grandparents, who stressed that intuition while cooking is invaluable. She believes homemade mayonnaise is extremely undervalued, and nachos are an out-and-out art. Not all food is created equal, and Hailie hopes to lift the veil on some over-hyped and not-so-bourgeois spots in the District.

Haley

Contributor

During the week you can find Haley desperately guzzling a cup o' joe in the wee hours of the morning to stay alert for her cable news job. On the weekends you'll spot her seeking out the swankiest brunch spots, wandering through Smithsonians, or hitting the links. She has lived in four states and three countries. Haley is making the most of her post-grad life by wiggling her way into the cocktail and festival scene. She has an inclination towards strong pour-over coffee, hard copy news papers, spicy bourbon cocktails, and is happiest when she lands a flawless pun.

Lizzie

Contributor

A proud Massachusetts native and even prouder DC foodie, Lizzie has been eating and drinking her way through The District since 2008. She is the founder of "DistrictFood" on Instagram, which features snapshots of DC's best food and drink, as well as her personal homecooking and culinary adventures. Hobbies include: avocado toast, bourbon, and binge watching Investigation Discovery.

Lizzy

Contributor & Beauty and The Beet Columnist

Lizzy is a West Coast girl with a Southern heart who has somehow found herself living on the East Coast. She’s a law school graduate, Senate committee staffer, model and a former Miss DC USA pageant queen. Don't worry, she's smarter than she looks. Her column, Beauty and the Beet, is an entertaining guide to travel, food and fashion that both men and women alike can look to as their all-encompassing going out guide in DC and beyond. Beauty and the Beet is food, booze and clothes that like Lizzy, won’t take itself too seriously! (Boomer Sooner and Go Nats!)

Macy

Contributor

Macy is a true lover of all things food, which is why she dedicated her career to it. She is a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist at both a hospital and a med-spa. She is from a small town in Central Illinois, but just recently moved from the West Coast where she learned to love craft beer and a good burrito. Her hobbies include beer tasting, yoga, her puppy, fighting the never-ending battle against fad diets, foodtography, and working out to eat. {Everything in moderation, that's what I live by!}

Meghan

Contributor

Born and raised in south Mississippi, Meghan has been an expert on all things fried and/or pickled for more years than she will admit. Like everyone else in DC she's "technically a lawyer" but "doesn't really practice". Having lived in Los Angeles, Italy, and Uganda, her love for good food and good drink is far reaching. When she's not experimenting with fermentation or homemade hot sauce, she's posted up taking full advantage of Fiola's happy hour menu.

Hangry Michelle

Contributor

Hangry Michelle is a DC local with a knack for cooking and an obsession for tasty local restaurants. She developed a passion for food at a young age, while watching Julia Child on Saturday mornings, and taught herself how to cook during college (after one too many hot pockets). From there, Michelle worked her way from assistant to Chef/Instructor at Culinaria Cooking School, where she has been teaching hangry people since 2015. She is passionate about supporting all things local and sustainable, but understands that when the hanger sets in, anything is possible. You can keep up with Michelle and her recipes on her blog at hangrydistrict.com.

Raquel

Contributor

Born and raised in the Caribbean, Raquel enjoys sharing with friends and family how she satisfies her cravings! She is always (and when I mean always, I mean it) hungry and ready to try new restaurants. She is passionate about how food intertwines with history, culture, and the personal stories of the Chefs who created it. You can find more about the places she has tried here in DC and other cities around the world at @cravingsland.

Shelbi Renae

Contributor

Shelbi has worked in healthcare software for eight years, the last five of which have her working for a startup based in DC. While traveling for work and pleasure, she makes sure to check out the best places to eat all over the country. Solidifying her willingness to fly for food, she once confirmed a reservation at Noma and found she needed to get to Copenhagen. When she's not eating she's golfing, running, or playing soccer - mostly to be hungry enough to get Boundary Stone gnocchi on the way home. If you ask nicely, she'll bake for private events.

Sibel

Contributor

Texas born and raised with Turkish, Panamanian and Chinese in her blood, Sibel’s recipes span the globe. Her passion for cooking started at a very early age. Growing up, her father taught her how to make almost every Turkish dish in the book and her mother taught her South and Central American staples from her mother’s childhood. When Sibel is off the clock from her day job, advocating for the worlds coolest fighter jet, she’s in the Kitchen cooking up a storm with Julia Child with a Bon Appetit podcast playing in the background. Most of her recipes are low-carb as she swears by Keto—so if you love meat, you’re in for a culinary treat!

Sumayya

Contributor

Sumayya Tobah is a freelance journalist, living in Washington DC. She used to be all work and no play -- until she married a chef! Now food gets top billing and she is not willing to compromise. Part Egyptian, part American but total foodie. Growing up with a fusion of Eastern and Western cuisine, Sumayya knows the best of both worlds.

Mike O.

ARCHIVED (FORMER COLUMNIST)