Food

Spotted: Richard Gere at Rasika Penn Quarter

The actor orders some of our favorite dishes.

Actor Richard Gere dined on some of Rasika’s signature dishes. Photograph via Shutterstock.

If you were dining at Ashok Bajaj’s popular Penn Quarter spot last night, you may have caught a familiar face in the crowd. A source confirms that actor Richard Gere attended a dinner at Rasika for the International Campaign for Tibet; Gere is the chairman for the nonprofit advocacy group. 

The famed actor is known for his vegetarian-leaning tendencies, though he’s stated in past interviews that his diet isn’t entirely meatless. The table sampled a variety of chef Vikram Sunderam’s greatest hits, including palak chat (crispy spinach with yoghurt and date chutney), tandoori lamb chops, black cod, rice-based chicken biryani, and lentils. Chances are he knew the proper forks to use. 

Food Editor

Anna Spiegel covers the dining and drinking scene in her native DC. Prior to joining Washingtonian in 2010, she attended the French Culinary Institute and Columbia University’s MFA program in New York, and held various cooking and writing positions in NYC and in St. John, US Virgin Islands.