WASHINGTON — Osman and Joe’s Steak ’n Egg Kitchen, a 24-hour staple of the Tenleytown neighborhood, is where Clauton Kum has spent the last three years learning to cook.
“It’s fun to have a staff that works with you,” Kum said. “We goof around with each other all the time, making jokes. It makes the night go faster.”
The 24-hour restaurant features outdoor seating, which looks out on Wisconsin Avenue, and is surrounded with a white picket fence. Eight white tables that can seat about 50 people fill this patio, and if this and the 12 seats at the counter inside aren’t enough, employees make more, said Kum.
The rising sophomore at the University of Maryland came to the United States in 2005 from Cameroon seeking a better education. Osman Barrie and Joe Vamboi, the store’s owners, who befriended Kum’s family, gave him the opportunity to work for their business when he was a sophomore in high school in Silver Spring, Maryland. Through the job, he learned how to cook, working on weekends during the school year and now more hours in the summer months .
Staffers often juggle more than one task— cooking, working the cash register, waiting tables. And Kum’s favorite part of the work is interacting with customers, especially with local college students who frequently come after a night on the town.
“This is the place at the late hour when you’re trying to sober up,” he said. The college crowd energizes the place, adding an entertaining atmosphere filled with spontaneous rap performances and comedic conversations, he added.
The counter, reminiscent of a classic diner, is just inches away from the kitchen, where the staff labors over hot grills. Kum and his fellow staff members work fast; on a recent weekday morning there was a steady stream of people both coming and going.
Kum and other employees are always chatting with customers, laughing with them and trying to make them feel comfortable.
At 10:30 a.m. on a recent weekday, the Jost family, visiting from Indianapolis, arrived after reading a review on Yelp, and ordered biscuits and country fried steak with gravy. Chris Jost described his meal as “great,” while his wife, Candace, said her French toast was “delicious” and daughter Elizabeth pronounced her funnel cakes “the bomb.”
Kum served their table, then dashed back to the kitchen to keep cooking. One of his favorite dishes — and a customer favorite — is the Tennessee Scramble, which features ham, bacon and sausage, and is served with biscuits and gravy. He said, “the omelettes are a little of a struggle,” but in his time behind the counter, he has now mastered the egg-and-cheese sandwich and pancakes.