This week, VICE's food channel MUNCHIES is releasing its five-part Guide to Washington video series. The first two episodes are available now, with the rest following over the next three days. In Episode 1, host Tarik Abdullah does the Seattle classics: Fish 'n' chips at Ivar's, coffee at Victrola, teriyaki from Nasai off the Ave, and, of course Dick's Drive-In. (Abdullah does his best to mask his supreme discomfort when producers make him visit a bikini barista stand, where he orders a Chai tea, at the start of episode.)

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I love that VICE chose Abdullah, a charismatic South End chef whose terrific Morning Star and Midnight Mecca pop-ups draw inspiration other cultures and cuisines well beyond the Pacific Northwest, to rep Seattle. Abudllah's ties to our community are strong: He teaches a series of children's cooking classes, In the Kitchen with Chef T, at the Hillman City Collaboratory.

"We gotta give kids that Thing. Kids do petty crime because they don’t have that Thing," Abullah said of his cooking classes in City Arts this May. "Am I worried about trying to get a fat check because I’m doing this? No, man! I’m thinking about later, 10 years down the road. Like, some kid might be running this class. Seattle, South Seattle, don’t wanna be anywhere else."