WTOP News’ Post

Transcript

Happy hour is just all about chilling with your furriest friends. It's the unlikeliest of cocktail combos here. So freaking fluffy, so sweet, and great for selfies. And they're working the public up into a fleeced frenzy this summer. All I know is that they saw they cute and some of them spit. If you walk by La Cosecha Latin Market in Northeast this summer and see alpacas, no, you're not in heaven. You're just at alpaca happy hour. When I saw that they were here, I drove an hour and 15 minutes to get here and see. These alpacas, it's all thanks to a local DMV staple restaurant chain, Peruvian Brothers. So we wanna bring the alpacas to show a little bit of our culture. co-owner Giuseppe Lanzone, who is from Peru, says they started with just one food truck 11 years ago. Now he and his brother Mario have four and two restaurants, a testament to how popular they are in the community. It probably also helps that they have these two. So this is Teddy and this is Truffle Truth. Sean Jackson is a co-owner of My Pet Alpaca. When you have 3 stomachs and the only thing you care about is food. Simple, simple life. He says he and his wife, who is also Peruvian, own a farm in Delaplane, Virginia, that will soon be open for business. But for now, they're collaboration with Peruvian brothers is raking in the hay. My wife, she asked if she could get if we could get alpacas. I said maybe. She heard yes. Now we have 11 of them. They were trained so that they don't care at all about strangers aside from being alpaca adorable. Jusepe and Sean say Teddy and Truffle are bringing an important slice of Peru to the DMV. Whenever they grace the runway with their presence, they have like an entourage. This is unbelievable. Any place of business, especially a restaurant that can connect the culture to what they're doing and show people what that's about it. I think it's always a plus. And that's what Giuseppe says their goal is at the end of the day, if using that heritage into a culinary love. And I want him to come see the alpacas, eat the food, fill the atmosphere and be like, hey, you know, I want my my my next trip with my family or by myself or with my partner. I want to go to Peru and actually experience all their culture there. I've never heard of this before. Yeah. And I think that there should be more of it around here at La Cosecha with Giuseppe and some of our furry friends. I'm Matt Kofax. For more, you can check out episodes of Mad About Town Tuesdays and Thursdays on WTO. Any news? We'll see you soon. Want more Mad about town? Hear me on the radio and before my videos are available online. Listen every Tuesday and Thursday morning at 7:45 and airing throughout the day on 103.5 FM, the WTO P App, or your SMART speaker.