David Wiseman ’10 Brings ‘Meals for the City’ to Those in Need
Little Sesame Owner Opens Community Kitchen Amid Pandemic
By Abbott Brant
When David Wiseman ’10 created Little Sesame, it was to bring authentic flavors and healthy options to Washington. Two years later, during a global pandemic, he’s delivering not just food to the DC community, but hope.
Chefs and owners Wiseman, his cousin Nick Wiseman and Ronen Tenne – whose fast casual restaurant specializes in hummus bowls, pita sandwiches, and seasonal salads – predicted that the coronavirus would impact Little Sesame’s two storefronts in many ways: a projected 25% decline in revenue, customers unable to move freely in and out of the store, wanting to keep employees safe while safeguarding their job security. But for a trio passionate about food justice and food security, the real challenge became clear.
“We realized quickly if we were shutting down, a lot of places were closing. Public transportation was shutting down. A lot of kids get their healthy meals at schools, which are now closed,” Wiseman said. “Wanting to help in a crisis – you go to what you are good at, what you can do efficiently. And what we do is provide good, nutritious food fast,” Wiseman said.
Soon after, Meals for the City was born. in partnership with nonprofit Dreaming out Loud and Chef Jose Andres' World Central Kitchen, Little Sesame's Chinatown location has transitioned into a community kitchen that provides meals for vulnerable community members in need. For every $10 gift card purchased, the restaurant serves a meal to "a neighbor in need" each weekday from 3-5 p.m. at Kelly Miller Middle School in Northeast. Little Sesame hands out between 500-700 meals each day and has served more than 50,000 meals since March. .
To Wiseman, it’s been a motivating and gratifying experience to see the way the community has embraced and supported Little Sesame’s efforts.
“It’s the power of the shared meal,” said Wiseman. “We’re lucky enough to help people in need. The reason we’re drawn to and love DC is the vitality. We are active in the community, but small businesses always are, and that’s really the value – they’re rooted in the community, and they always find a way to give back.”
Little Sesame has sprouted in popularity among Washingtonians, and has been featured in Washington Post, Thrillist, Goop, and NPR’s The Salt. But the seeds were first planted more than 10 years ago, when Wiseman was a business law student at AUWCL. Wiseman, who comes from a family of lawyers, joined the Business Law Brief and was the founding editor of the Business Law Review.
“We saw a real need to focus on business law. There was not a journal at the time in DC leading in that area,” Wiseman said. “Creating more opportunities for students to learn more about business law is something I was very passionate about.”
That passion for business continued after commencement, with Wiseman teaming up with his cousin, chef, and “business partner in life” Nick Wiseman to begin a real estate consulting company. Eventually, they began to open restaurants, including DC’s DGS Delicatessen. Little Sesame, first opened by Wiseman and Tenne in September 2018, was a way to share the power of vegetable proteins and vegetarian cuisine, which Wiseman said is better for the body and more sustainable for the environment. It’s no surprise, then, that Little Sesame’s slogan is “Celebrating Good Food.”
“It’s that physical experience of ripping the pita and dipping it, connecting with your meal, connecting with each other,” he said on what has made Little Sesame a success. “I think people gravitate toward authentic food that makes you feel good.”
And with Meals for the City, Wiseman is making sure that even amid a pandemic, good food can be celebrated by everyone.
Find this article, and many other stories of how our faculty and alumni are responding to the COVID19 pandemic, in the upcoming Fall 2020 issue of AUWCL's alumni magazine, The Advocate. View the online version of the Spring 2020 issue here.