Bethesda Magazine: May-June 2014

Bethesda Magazine • BethesdaMagazine.com • May/June 2014

The Restaurant Issue May/June 2014 $4.95

# EatNew 8 trends

that are changing how we dine out

Plus: Should the county get out of liquor sales?

Parents who allow underage drinking parties BethesdaMagazine.com

Chevy Chase / Gaithersburg / Kensington / Potomac / Rockville / Silver Spring / Upper NW DC

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THANK YOU FOR A

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contents

may/june 2014 volume 11 issue 3

cover

FEATURES

64 Turning the Tables

126 Crossing the Party Line Montgomery County parents who allow their teenage kids to host drinking parties are paying the price for breaking the law—with court appearances and sometimes hefty fines.

By Carole Sugarman and Nevin Martell

By Gabriele McCormick

86 A Moveable Feast

136 Seeing the Light

Farmers markets are known for their fresh-from-the-farm produce, but increasingly they feature prepared foods and other items well worth checking out. We provide a guide to some of the best.

By Marian Burros

After suffering a massive stroke at age 12, Potomac’s Joanne Shin could have continued to rage over what she’d lost.

Instead, she started to paint. That’s when she began to see the world differently.

100 Public Spirits

By Amy Reinink

Should Montgomery County be in the business of selling beer, wine and alcohol? A number of people say it decidedly should not.

148 What Flora Singer Had to Say

By Louis Peck

114 Where the Wild Foods Are Walk outside and there’s a veritable feast at your feet. Food forager Matt Cohen of Silver Spring says all you have to know is where to look.

By Laura Hambleton

The Potomac schoolteacher never talked about her life in wartime Belgium—until a flier on her windshield inspired her to do so. A look back at the first Holocaust survivor to have a Montgomery County school named after her.

By Julie Rasicot

158 The Killer Next Door

Renowned chef José Andrés talks about bringing tapas to America, cooking at home in Bethesda and where and what he likes to eat when he’s not frequenting one of his many restaurants.

At 17, Samuel Sheinbein seemed like the All-American kid— except for the fact that he confessed to murdering a Silver Spring teenager and cutting up his body with a circular saw.

We revisit the case more than 17 years later, just as it takes an unexpected turn.

By Marian Burros

By Eugene L. Meyer

120 Bethesda Interview

stacy zarin-goldberg

Dining out is becoming an entirely different experience these days.

We catalog eight of the latest trends—from fast-casual restaurants to craft cocktails to diners Instagramming their meals.

COVER: Food photography by Stacy Zarin-Goldberg at Share Wine Lounge & Small Plate Bistro in Bethesda. Photo illustration by Amanda Smallwood.

12 May/June 2014 | BethesdaMagazine.com

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F I N E P RO P E RT I E S I N T E R N A T I O N A L

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contents 235 Health 238 Follow the Leader The Mindfulness Center’s Deborah Norris talks about how exercise and meditation have helped her remain painfree after a diagnosis of fibromyalgia.

301

240 Small Comfort An increasing number of small group homes for seniors have been opening in Montgomery County, offering more caregivers per patient and in some cases, luxury amenities.

By Archana Pyati

248 Against the Grain

203

185 hOME 188 House Appropriations It’s East meets West in home design, as Asian influences enter into the mix.

By Carolyn Weber

190 The Natural Gardener

280

Non-celiac gluten sensitivity is hard to diagnose and some doctors are skeptical it’s even real. But plenty of people say they have it all right—and they’re fueling an entire food industry.

By Rita Rubin

254 Health & Fitness Calendar

278 DINE 278 Table Talk Celebrity chef Carla Hall of Silver Spring comes out with a new cookbook; a North Bethesda resident talks about “the shortbread effect”; plus restaurant openings and closings in the area.

By Carole Sugarman

280 Cooking Class L’Academie de Cuisine’s pastry chef says cobblers and crisps don’t have to be complicated.

By Theresa Souther

Seminars, running events and support groups.

282 Dining Guide

Compiled by Cindy Murphy-Tofig

Write-ups on more than 200 restaurants.

For Silver Spring’s Edamarie Mattei, a landscaping career developed…well, organically.

By Kathleen Wheaton

196 Dressed to Sell Home stagers aren’t just helping to sell a house—they’re helping buyers imagine a way of life.

By Gabriele McCormick

203 Living Light Three local couples talk about how they downsized their homes—and discovered the joys of living with less.

By Christine MacDonald and Scott Sowers

240

212 By the Numbers A look at the most expensive home sales in the area, as well as home sales trends

by ZIP codes.

274

Darren higgins (living light); barbara l. salisbury (small comfort); stacy zarin-goldberg (cooking class)

By Leah Ariniello

14 May/June 2014 | BethesdaMagazine.com

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bethesda_Mag_march2014_wydler_ad_bethesmag12_09 4/4/14 10:58 AM Page 1

Ranked in the

TOP 100 NATIONWIDE

Readers’ Pick

Best Realtor

Out of 1.1 Million Realtors

By The Wall Street Journal

®

2012

Hans Wydler

Steve Wydler

ASSOCIATE BROKER

ASSOCIATE BROKER

PacMan

Donkey Kong

Batman

Spiderman BA-Yale

BA-Dartmouth

MBA-Harvard

JD-Vanderbilt

Comic Books

Baseball Cards

Loves Mom More

Loves Mom

Happy Mother’s Day! TM

Mom, we want to thank you – and Moms everywhere – for all you've done for us. Thanks for all your love – and for the little things, like cleaning Hans' skinned knees (he was quite klutzy), or wiping Steve's chin (he was a drooler). As for the bowl hair cuts and matching checked jumpers, we need to talk.

Mom, we love you! Steve & Hans

Maryland Office 301.986.6405 Virginia Office 703.873.5020 DC Office 202.600.2727 General 301.215.6444 x 6405

www.WydlerBrothers.com

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contents Departments 20 To Our Readers 22 Contributors 28 Letters

310

30 Hometown Three childhood friends took a little idea—offering small plates at a restaurant reminiscent of a Greek taverna—and turned it into a very big deal.

By Steve Roberts

37 Suburban•ology

299

Sometimes a dress is more than just a dress. The memories of a lifetime may be woven into its very fabric.

By April Witt

A Chevy Chase resident talks about his “rolling art”—a collection of antique cars, many of which date to the 1930s.

By Teddy Amenabar

42 People Watcher Bethesda’s Katie Ledecky sets a new record in American women’s swimming; a former Rockville resident talks about winning Olympic bronze in hockey…for Switzerland; local authors discuss their new books, and more.

By Maura Mahoney

50 Story of My Life In teaching a memoir writing class, a former TV producer from Rockville finds that everyone has a story to tell.

By Murray Schweitzer

54 Re•Invention When a Gaithersburg woman decides to leave her office job behind, she finds her new career going swimmingly.

58 60 Person of Interest For a former fencing champion from Poland, winning is not the point.

By Mike Gruss

Best-selling books in the area vs. those nationwide.

299 Shop Talk

310 Driving Range

Sandals are flat-out winners this season.

Plus: a Bethesda woman comes up with a cover-up for the pool; and shop openings and closings in the area.

A Kuchipudi dancer talks about the selfempowerment of the art form.

As told to Anya Grenier

Shepherdstown, W.Va., is a small college town with a really big personality.

By Laurie McClellan

By Cynthia Hacinli

319 Once Upon a Time

302 To-Do List

Believe it ore not: Montgomery County once had its own little Gold Rush.

The Gaithersburg Book Festival is back; Strathmore celebrates the samba; Imagination Bethesda’s family-friendly festival returns; and more happenings in May and June.

By Cindy Murphy-Tofig

By Mark Walston

320 Domestic Disturbances The unbearable sweetness of Marshmallow Man.

By Sarah Pekkanen

By Nicole Glass

58 Work Related

308 What Bethesda’s Reading

Special Advertising Sections 171 Long & Foster Ad Section

221 Builders & Architects Showcase

257 Ask the Beauty Experts

liz lynch (work related); michael ventura (driving range); Courtesy of Neiman Marcus (sandal)

40 My Stuff

16 May/June 2014 | BethesdaMagazine.com

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LUXURY CONDOS IN HEART OF BETHESDA AT THE CORNER OF BETHESDA AND WOODMONT AVENUES

TheDarcy.com

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Sales by PN Hoffman Realty

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BethesdaMagazine.com

exclusives

Subscribers get free access to the digital edition at www.bethesdamagazine.com/digital.

In this issue, read about:

Art & Soul

Explore additional artwork by Potomac’s Joanne Shin, whose inspiring story appears on page 136.

Introducing...

A redesigned BethesdaMagazine.com where you’ll be able to access additional features and exclusive content that adapts to your device, whether it’s a tablet, smartphone or computer.

While exploring the new site, check out Bethesda Beat, a daily news briefing that covers schools, politics, business, restaurants and much more.

Newsletters Sign up to receive emails from our daily news service, Bethesda Beat, and to receive special offers from local businesses. Gmail users: Add Bethesda Magazine as a contact to ensure you receive our emails.

enter to win our

what’s online

Giveaways

Archives Explore past issues and stories using our searchable database.

Social Seen Share photos from community events.

Go to calendar@ bethesdamagazine.com to submit pictures for our gallery page.

May

1

Social Media Find us on Facebook and Twitter to learn about community news, special offers and contests.

Follow us on Instagram to get the scoop on happenings in the Bethesda area at instagram.com/ bethesdamag.

JUNE

1

April showers have brought May flowers as well as a delicious giveaway.

Starting May 1, enter to win a Dine around the Square package, featuring Rockville Town Square restaurants.

Mark June 1 on your calendar.

That’s when you can enter to win any in-stock Glove It brand golf bag ($190 retail) plus coordinating accessories from Gals On and Off the Green.

HOWting!

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See wh g at pinteres in . n / g in a p is dam bethes

Enter giveaways online at: www.bethesdamagazine.com/ giveaway

self-portrait by joanne shin

digital Edition

18 May/June 2014 | BethesdaMagazine.com

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May we give you our attention, please?

Chevy Ch as e trus t wel C omes s usa n fr e e d

Susan Freed (standing) joins the growing number of Chevy Chase Trust professionals bringing their perspectives to our unique investment approach.

Also pictured (seated, left to right): Laly Kassa, Jeff Dillman, Michael Gildenhorn.

Since founding Freed Advisors in 1990, Susan Freed has earned a reputation for her commitment to client satisfaction and her personalized approach. And now, she and her team have joined Chevy Chase Trust.

So, what does this very special announcement mean for you? Simply put, it means you can continue to expect our undivided attention.

To learn more, contact Stacy Murchison at 240.497.5008 or visit ChevyChaseTrust.com

INV E ST M E N T MA N AGEMEN T

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F I N A N C I A L & E STATE PLAN N I N G

F I DUCI ARY & TRUST

FAM I LY W E ALTH S ERVIC ES

4/4/14 3:28 PM

to our

readers

#eatnew As I look back on the Bethesda-area res-

taurant scene over the nearly 10 years that we’ve been publishing Bethesda Magazine, I’m struck by two things: how many restaurants have come and gone, and how much dining preferences have changed.

The high failure rate is not unique to this area, but the risk factor here may be even more severe because most restaurants are locally owned and not part of well-capitalized and well-run chains. (That, too, is changing, though: All nine restaurants announced so far in the new Pike & Rose development on Rockville Pike are part of national chains.)

The frequent openings and closings of restaurants are also a reflection of changing dining habits and preferences. Most of the restaurants opening today are significantly different from the ones that were opening 10 years ago.

In our eighth annual Restaurant Issue, we look at eight ways the local dining landscape is being reshaped. Some of the changes are clearly a good thing—the fact that Potomac, Rockville and Silver Spring now have thriving restaurant scenes, for instance. Other changes, such as the rapid-fire replacement of full-service restaurants with fast-casual establishments, aren’t so clear cut.

Our stories on the changing restaurant scene begin on page 64.

On a recent Saturday night, my wife, Susan, and I had dinner with friends in Fairfax, Va., and then went to a nearby Wegmans.

(Hold the comments, please, about grocery shopping on a Saturday night!)

We went for one reason: The Virginia grocery store sells beer and wine; chain stores in Montgomery County do not.

Years ago, Bethesda Magazine ran a story about how the county controls the sale and distribution of alcoholic beverages and how the state prohibits their sale in chain stores. In this issue, we explore why this is the case and what would happen if the laws were changed.

It’s all about politics and money, of course, but it seems to me that our elected officials should at least study the potential impact on revenue to the county and selection and price for consumers if we let the free enterprise system take over. Our story begins on page 100.

We’ve been fortunate once again to

have had an outstanding Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School intern with us for the entire school year. When John Pearson joined us last September, he didn’t have a lot to say.

That didn’t last long. John proved that he could hold his own in terms of office repar­tee— and in terms of the work we gave to him.

John, who will head to either NYU or Syracuse in the fall, was a great addition to our staff.

I hope you enjoy this issue of Bethesda Magazine. I’d love to hear your thoughts on it and on the magazine in general. Please email me at steve.hull@bethesdamagazine.com.

Steve Hull Editor-in-chief and publisher

20 May/June 2014 | BethesdaMagazine.com

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PREFERRED LENDER

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contributors

Elegant Eco-Chic Living

laura hambleton

Luxury Realtor®

Real Experience.

Real Relationships.

Real Estate.

eugene l. meyer Breaking news can be the bane of a bimonthly magazine, as Contributing Editor Eugene L. Meyer was reminded in reporting his story on confessed murderer Samuel Sheinbein. Imprisoned in Israel for a gruesome 1997 murder in Montgomery County, Sheinbein became parole-eligible in 2013, when Meyer began reporting the story. The narrative hinged on Sheinbein’s expected release—but the story abruptly changed when he died in a shootout with prison guards and police in late February. That meant additional reporting and recasting to incorporate the startling new development in this riveting story. Meyer, who writes from Silver Spring, has a lot of experience with stories suddenly changing as a former longtime reporter for The Washington Post.

Stacy Zarin-Goldberg

Please visit my website: greenlongandfoster.com

301.758.7224 JillSchwartzGroup@gmail.com LEED AP, ECO-Broker, MD, DC & VA

#3 Individual agent in Long & Foster’s Bethesda Gateway Office • 301.907.7600

Stacy Zarin-Goldberg, whose photographs are featured prominently throughout our Restaurant Issue, has specialized in food photography for close to a decade now. “It’s all about making the subject look delicious,” she says. “Whether it’s an ooey-gooey chocolate cake or grilled lamb chops, the goal is the same—make the reader drool.” But achieving that drool factor isn’t easy, as Zarin-Goldberg can readily attest. It requires the right light, the right tools, the right eye—and sometimes even means taking a bite or two, she says. A graduate of New York’s Pratt Institute of Art, Zarin-Goldberg has had her work featured in Esquire, Washingtonian, Home & Design, Baltimore Magazine and The Washington Post, as well as in galleries in Chelsea and the BaltimoreWashington, D.C., area.

courtesy of Laura Hambleton; michael ventura (meyer); Self-portrait (Zarin-Goldberg)

Ji ll Schwartz

Writer Laura Hambleton knows something about food foraging, the subject of her story in this issue. She has picked wild persimmons and pawpaw fruit along the Billy Goat Trail near Great Falls; plucked buckets of mussels from the rocks on Peaks Island, Maine; filled pails with blackberries on Vashon Island, off Seattle; and gathered handfuls of raspberries on the back roads of Vermont and France. She also has a small vegetable garden at home in Chevy Chase, where she lives with her husband and three children. Though that last effort has met with mixed success, she easily grows clover and dandelions in her yard and adds those to her salads. Hambleton’s column “OlderWiser” regularly appears in The Washington Post Health & Science section.

22 May/June 2014 | BethesdaMagazine.com

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In Select Areas

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letters

‘Supermom’ Myth

Your March/April 2014 article, “We Don’t Know How She Does It,” is regrettable for several reasons. There is no mystery about how Missy Lesmes does it: She has plenty of household help. Only in affluent communities is this considered “doing it all.”

Missy hires out many of her parental responsibilities, which is certainly fine, but let’s not kid ourselves by acting impressed at how she does it all. “Supermom” is a myth and Missy’s lifestyle actually disproves the myth rather than serves as an example. Missy is only human, can’t be in two places simultaneously and, by definition, can’t do it all.

That is fine and no reason for guilt, but let’s not mislabel her as doing it all. It’s high time we toss the term “Supermom” and stop making mothers feels inadequate because they can’t achieve the impossible.

As a life and executive coach whose practice is comprised largely of women, many of whom are lawyers, I can tell you they feel enormous stress to be perfect. [But] perfect doesn’t exist. We all do our best and make the choices that are best for us and our families. Missy found what works for her and her family. She seems like a loving mother and certainly a successful lawyer. She is to be admired. But in the end, she is human like the rest of us, making trade-offs on how to spend the same 24 hours each day that we all have. Let’s stop elevating some mothers over others and focus instead on how to alleviate the feelings of inadequacy and guilt suffered by too many loving mothers.

Phyllis M. Levinson Gaithersburg

Enjoyed the cover story but how does one pronounce Missy Lesmes’ surname?

If it’s in the article, then I guess I didn’t read it carefully enough.

Ed Snyder Bethesda

one to two kids. But there’s much value in examining older women, too, who are still keeping up.

Brittany DeRise Washington, D.C.

Editors’ note: Our bad. It’s pronounced “less-miss.”

“The Survivors Club” (March/April 2014) is a heartwarming story, although the dentist [Dr. Arnold Friedman] at this point is the true cancer survivor (in remission beyond five years). Unfortunately, cancer survival needs more than hope and morale builders.

I am starting my fifth year with metastatic rectal cancer in the lungs, and I am in excellent health only because I jog seven days a week, take many cancerfighting supplements daily, had tumors microwave-ablated in 2013, lift weights four days a week, have refused chemotherapy since 2012, and eat a diet of cruciferous raw vegetables and fish while avoiding sugar and most carbohydrates.

The importance of regular, vigorous exercise, diet and the correct supplements cannot be over-emphasized. I wish your article had encompassed these major factors. High-dose vitamin C and oxygen therapy are also of value as treatments. With cancer stabilized, a patient can survive longer than most do with chemotherapy, surgery and radiation. If these approaches fail, one should consider immunotherapy.

Ed Battison Bethesda

‘Choice’ Comments

I read the article on “The Choices Moms Make” in the March/April 2014 issue of Bethesda Magazine (with the cover “The Nonstop Life”), and just wanted to say thanks for shining some light on this subject.

I should admit that I have no children; I am 27 and recently married. My mom, however, is the most amazing woman on the planet. She and my dad decided that nothing was as important as raising their family, so she was a stay-at-home mom for me and my seven siblings. My parents’ first home was not in the best school district, so she homeschooled three of us.

Then my fourth sibling was born with a heart defect and had to have heart-transplant surgery. We spent over a month at the Ronald McDonald House in Charlottesville, praying that he would recover.

He eventually developed into a strong, healthy man and we later went to private and then public school after we moved.

Despite the challenges, my parents have stayed strong. My mom is still very active in her “mom” role, with my sister and two brothers living at home, as well as in her role as grandmother to my two nieces. She has never complained about not having the energy, time or will to keep up.

Your article did a great job of covering women today, particularly the 30something moms juggling careers and

Survival of the Fittest

Gotta Have Art

I’ve just finished reading the 2014 “Best of Bethesda” issue (January/February 2014), and once again I am immensely disappointed to see zero coverage of the Bethesda visual arts scene. Unless one considers “Children’s Photographer”

28 May/June 2014 | BethesdaMagazine.com

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or “Food Art Contest at Walter Johnson High School” to be the best of the Bethesda visual arts scene, this huge cultural hole in your otherwise gorgeous magazine is unfortunately a trend that I’ve noticed.

Here’s a small slice of the local events that the magazine and its readers are missing: The Bethesda Fine Arts Festival is one of the highest-ranked outdoor arts festivals in the nation and is the highest-ranked outdoor fine arts show in Maryland. The Bethesda Contemporary Art Awards (also known as The Trawick Prize in honor of Carol Trawick, a Bethesda supporter of the arts who sponsors the prize) honors artists from Maryland, Washington, D.C., and Virginia and awards $14,000 in prizes.

The Bethesda Painting Awards, downtown Bethesda’s annual juried art competition, honors painters from Maryland, Virginia and Washington and

F. Lennox Campello Potomac

Tincher, I have a question. She mentioned the Ice Cream University in West Orange, N.J. I am from West Orange and know the area very well, [but] I have never heard of the university and was wondering where it is located. Sounds like a place where I would enjoy doing my degree!

Elaine Henry Potomac

After reading the great article “The Sweet Life” (July/August 2013) by Sarah

Editors’ note: The university is at 79 Edgewood Ave. in West Orange. You can learn more at icecreamuniversity.org.

awards $14,000 in prizes to the top four painters.

Bethesda Magazine can help kindle awareness (and thus develop support) for the Bethesda visual arts scene and local artists by publishing more stories on the visual arts and local artists.

Sweet It Is

Correction

Dr. Carlos Rodriguez is an active duty trauma surgeon for the U.S. Navy. The story “The Indomitable Spirit of Adam Keys” (March/April 2014) said he worked for a different branch of service. n Bethesda Magazine welcomes letters to the editor. Please email your letter to letters@bethesdamagazine.com and include your daytime phone number. Bethesda Magazine reserves the right to edit letters for length and clarity.

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STEVE ROBERTS’

hometown

The Greek Squad How thinking ‘small’ paid off bigtime for three boyhood friends

Siga siga. The Greek phrase means “slowly slowly,” and that’s how three childhood friends developed their idea for a restaurant.

Ted Xenohristos, Ike Grigoropoulos and Dimitri Moshovitis are all children of Greek immigrants who grew up in Montgomery County. They attended the same church—St. George on Bradley Boulevard in Bethesda— and played on the same basketball teams.

By 2005, Ted, now 36, and Ike, now 33, had finished college and were waiting tables at Olazzo, an Italian restaurant in Bethesda, to pay the bills. Dimitri, 35, who had dropped out of high school to become a chef, was cooking at the Tel Aviv Café, just around the corner. After their lunchtime shifts ended, the three pals would hang out, sharing coffee and dreams.

liz lynch

The Cava guys— (from left) Ted Xenohristos, Dimitri Moshovitis and Ike Grigoropoulos— feature mezze, small plates popular in Greece, at their growing chain of restaurants.

30 May/June 2014 | BethesdaMagazine.com

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“We talked about this for a good year or two,” Ted says. “Why don’t we open a restaurant that serves little mezze, small plates, like they do in Greece? All the restaurants in this area serve these big plates; we’d never seen that in Greece.

What country did they come from? Why can’t it be different?”

In another way they didn’t want to be different at all. The secret sauce in Greek cooking is not hollandaise but homeyness. The mood is as important as the menu. As the guys like to say, “Food is culture.”

Since I lived in Greece for almost four years, I know what they’re talking about.

Their model is the Greek “taverna,” an informal neighborhood place rooted in family and community.

In those tavernas that I knew and loved, one relative would supply the olive oil from his home village, another would bring the wine from his wife’s brother’s vineyard. Cousins would serve the food and sweep the floors. A grandmother, or yaya, would bake the baklava and control the cash register. And when you walked through the door, you were greeted by name.

The friends loved that tradition as well, and wanted to re-create it in America. But to their immigrant parents, their idea smacked of the Old World, not the New. The elders wanted their children stepping forward, not back.

“They helped pay for college and I had an accounting degree,” Ike says. “They were like, ‘You can work in a 9-to-5 job.

You can get your health insurance paid for. What are you doing?’ ” When the older generation first came to America, they washed dishes and waited tables. Eventually they owned construction companies and restaurants, but they always worked with their hands. Ike’s father cleaned bathrooms in his taco joint until his son was in college.

Their children were supposed to do better. To be professionals. That was the immigrant dream. “They were just disappointed that we didn’t do something beyond the restaurant business,” Ted says.

Not only that, “they thought we were

32 May/June 2014 | BethesdaMagazine.com

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little American kids,” Ted adds. Too soft, too privileged. They kept asking their sons: “Are you going to work hard enough to run your own business?”

The answer was yes. The pals found a Russian bakery that had gone bust in Rockville’s Traville Village Center. They maxed out credit cards and ripped up floors. Ted used an acid so powerful to scrub the place clean that he “was coughing up blood.”

We’re sitting at one of the tables the guys made for $4 apiece as they tell me their story. Their dads built the bar.

Dimitri’s mom made the curtains. They bought the chairs on sale at Target. They catered an event at their church and won a Jeep in a raffle and sold it for $20,000 to pay their bills. Still, an uncle had to buy them a refrigerator so they could pass inspection.

Cava Mezze opened in November 2006 with Dimitri in the kitchen, Ted waiting tables and Ike tending bar. Their first two customers looked at the menu and said, “We don’t want small plates, we want big plates. Full dinners.”

Ted raced to the kitchen. The partners consulted. We’ve talked about this for years. No big plates. Let’s just stick to our guns, they decided.

Ted delivered the news. The couple got up and left. “You should have seen our faces,” Dimitri recalls. “We were like, defeated.”

The customers who stayed presented other problems. Since the owners couldn’t afford a computer, the waiters wrote orders on little Post-it notes.

“When we put them up in the kitchen, the heat would melt the glue, so all the tickets were falling everywhere,” Ted recalls. “We were all on the kitchen floor, all three of us, trying to find the tickets.

We ended up giving half the food away because we were screwing up orders.”

Siga siga—slowly slowly—business picked up. Some regulars would stay late, drink steadily and start dancing on the bar. Heel marks are still visible from some particularly vigorous moves.

“We’d sleep here sometimes,” Ted says. “Half the time we were exhausted,

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BethesdaMagazine.com | May/June 2014 33

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hometown

and half the time it was because we were too drunk to drive home.”

Those days are over. Much has changed since they wrote orders on Postit notes and slept on two chairs pushed together. The menu for one thing. The partners now import their own wine, olive oil and cheese from Greece, but Dimitri likes to blend traditional ingredients with sharper, stronger flavors.

Take “crazy feta,” a tangy mixture of a crumbly Greek cheese made from sheep’s milk, and jalapenos, which aren’t native to Greece at all. Today, Dimitri describes his food as “Greek inspired,” and his approach is really a metaphor for the whole immigrant experience. Take a custom from the old country and add a fresh accent that creates something new.

Something American.

The partners have also cultivated local suppliers. Scallops come exclusively from a father-son team based in New Bedford, Mass. After Hurricane Sandy wrecked their boat, scallops were off the menu for months until the Cava guys could help the fishermen finance repairs.

They need a lot of scallops these days.

There are now three full-service restaurants and five Cava Mezze Grills providing quicker, cheaper meals. The first grill was located on Bethesda Avenue in 2011 specifically to commemorate those midday conversations, years ago, that incubated the original idea.

A line of dips and spreads is sold in Whole Foods Markets as far west as Ohio, and once the partners install new equipment that prolongs shelf life without artificial preservatives, their brand will go national.

The Cava guys know that rapid expansion could blemish that brand. So only friends and relatives are hired as managers. And then there’s the baklava. Every piece is still made by Dimitri’s mother.

How’s that for quality control? n Steve Roberts, who teaches journalism and politics at George Washington University, was based in Athens for The New York Times in the mid-’70s. Send ideas for future columns to sroberts@gwu.edu.

34 May/June 2014 | BethesdaMagazine.com

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april witt’s

suburban•ology

The Things We Carry

claudine hellmuth

Buying and selling objects d’heart I always sing along when I hear that country song about the man who buys a used ’66 Corvette and, in the glove box, discovers a letter from the original owner: a young soldier killed in Vietnam.

“My name is Private Andrew Malone,” I sing in the high, lonesome twang this song demands. “And if you’re reading this, then I didn’t make it home. …This car was once a dream of mine, now it belongs to you. And though you may take her and make her your own, you’ll always be riding with Private Malone.”

I drive a Honda. Yet sometimes I feel as if I’m riding with Private Malone.

A few years back, errands took me down Bradley Boulevard past an estate sale swarming with shoppers. I kept driving, figuring I had enough stuff to wrangle without mining the artifacts of other people’s lives. But as I watched an ant trail of bargain hunters struggle under the weight of their trophies— carrying lamps, chairs, end tables to their cars—I pulled over.

Busy estate sales, it turns out, look a lot like crime scenes: closet doors cast open, drawers tossed. Touring

this suburban house without its former occupants, I felt like an anthropologist studying my own tribe. Judging from the décor, the family that had lived there traveled far and lugged home tasteful art objects as souvenirs. They entertained. They owned a round dining table that seated 10— with no leaves, no apparent thought of the time when they would be just two and then one.

I bought a tribal basket, a handthrown ceramic vase, two sets of dinner napkins, three cream-colored candlesticks, a saddle-tan leather portfolio and a circa-1950s cotton shirtwaist dress.

It’s that dress that haunts me.

I pull it over my head, slide the side zipper and wonder about the stylish woman who kept it all those decades.

What did it mean to her? Did she wear it on her first date with her husband? Or on a trip to Cairo, feeling as crisp and elegant as a Hitchcock blonde as she shopped copper trays in some crowded bazaar?

Recently, I telephoned the woman who ran that estate sale, Stephanie Rigaux, owner of DC Estates, to ask about the dress’s original owner. The

estate-sale business is flourishing as boomers and The Greatest Generation downsize or die. So Rigaux was unsure which of her many estate sales I was asking about. I texted her photos of the dress. “You know,” she warned, “that dress might not have meant anything to her.”

Organizing estate sales has taught Rigaux—a former lawyer who lives in Kensington—a lot about people’s relationships with things. She has had people tell her to toss their deceased relative’s ashes into the trash. (She refused.) She has refereed a fistfight between used booksellers scrapping over a pile of old tomes in a Chevy Chase basement. She has counseled an elderly former doll collector overwhelmed by an attic full of dolls, including many she’d inherited from her mother and grandmother.

“Before I sold the dolls for her, I photographed them, printed out the pictures, tied them together with a ribbon and gave them to her,” Rigaux says. “She was like, ‘Oh, my God, this burden has been lifted. I realize all that I wanted was the memories.’ ” The work reminds Rigaux that any family’s life together in a house is temBethesdaMagazine.com | May/June 2014 37

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suburban•ology

“The stuff people held onto could just end up scattered on the floor. It’s not what’s important. It’s not what lasts, which is the love and the memories.

The stuff is just the stuff.”

–Stephanie Rigaux, owner of DC Estates Readers’ Pick, Best Podiatrist

Dr. Paul Ross

Doctor of Podiatric Medicine

Bethesda Medical Building 8218 Wisconsin Avenue Suite P-14 Bethesda, Maryland 20814 301.656.6055

www.paulrossdpm.com

porary. “You realize all this stuff doesn’t mean anything in the end,” she says.

“The stuff people held onto could just end up scattered on the floor. It’s not what’s important. It’s not what lasts, which is the love and the memories.

The stuff is just the stuff.”

Still, Rigaux rescued a tiny bird’s egg left behind in an old Chevy Chase bungalow. She found the egg wrapped in cotton wool inside a jar. The jar was in a cigar box with a note, dated 1923, from an 80-year-old woman to her infant great-great nephew. The elderly aunt said she found the egg on a Kansas prairie in 1887. She knew she wouldn’t live to see her great-great nephew grow, but hoped the egg would help him know a little something about her. “I hope you can keep it from getting broken as long as I have,” the note said.

When Rigaux found the egg, she gave it to one of her sons. He was 8 then; now he’s 15. She wonders if he’ll still want the egg after he leaves for college.

I’ve lived long enough to know that there are possessions that weigh you down and those that lift you up.

My siblings are welcome to duke it out over our grandmother’s sterling punch bowl. I have what I prize—her cake-frosting spatula. It couldn’t have cost 60 cents new. When I hold it, I remember my sixth birthday, when Grandmother made a peppermint cake. She topped it with a leftover Independence Day sparkler, which briefly

set her kitchen table on fire and sent us children running, squealing with delight.

In that country song about the used Corvette, the new owner takes a curve too fast one night and is pulled from a fiery crash by a young soldier: the ghost of Private Malone. I know what it’s like to feel guided by a friendly spirit whenever company is coming for dinner and I’m running late in the kitchen.

The doorbell rings and I’ve only just begun frosting the cake. No worries. I have my grandmother’s trusty spatula to swirl the bittersweet chocolate with the memories.

Recently, Rigaux remembered the backstory to my estate-sale dress. The original owner was a glamorous homemaker and diplomat’s wife. Preparing for the couple’s estate sale, Rigaux found a single garment bag of vintage clothes, including the dress, in the attic.

A daughter told Rigaux that her mother wore these ensembles on a romantic cruise to Italy.

I make a vow to the neighbor I never knew. The next time I see Italy, my husband and I will walk along the Arno River holding hands. I will think of her and I will be wearing our dress. n April Witt is a former Washington Post writer who lives in Bethesda. To comment on this column or suggest ideas, email aprilwitt@hotmail.com.

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myStuff The Wheel Deal Randy Denchfield doesn’t like to say how many antique cars he owns. But you can get an idea from this: Some are stored in a private, 14-car garage under a local Giant supermarket; one is at a friend’s house in Bethesda; another three are at his home in Chevy Chase.

“I have a disease,” Denchfield admits.

“I’m a car nut.”

Denchfield delivered newspapers when he was growing up in the D.C. area, and he always noticed the cars in neighbors’ driveways. He often could remember a car model more easily than a neighbor’s name. Today at 66, he owns the commercial roofing company he started 40 years ago. But antique cars remain his passion.

Denchfield refers to automobiles as “rolling art.” Many of the cars he owns— which he began collecting seriously at about age 40—date to the 1930s, when art deco was big. One of his favorites is an orange 1935 LaSalle with a rumble seat and suicide doors, which open from left to right. Only nine 1935 LaSalle convertible coupes are known to exist, according to Denchfield, and he owns two of them (the second features the classic pairing of maroon and black).

Many people see car collecting as an expensive hobby, but Denchfield says you can find a 1970s-circa running convertible for as little as $4,000. Collectors, however, can spend thousands more renovating one to factory condition.

Denchfield goes to a dozen car shows a year, in addition to local events. Two of his cars have won Grand National Awards from the Antique Automobile Club of America, and another four have won senior awards from the Cadillac Club. Car collectors are all the same, Denchfield says: “They love to show them, they love to talk about them.” n

A fire in a friend’s garage destroyed some of the man’s vintage cars. Like many car enthusiasts, Denchfield likes to collect parts, and his friend gave him this 1949 Buick grille. Denchfield figures it’s worth about $500.

This 1937 Packard 120 convertible coupe was made with a signature oxbow grille so it would stand out from competitors.

Denchfield likens it to Mercedes’ iconic star.

This 1937 Packard 115 was one of the cheapest models sold during the Great Depression, Denchfield says.

Packard sold more cars that year than any other.

Denchfield bought this 1968 Harley-Davidson FLH1200 because it was one of the last made before the company was bought out by American Machine & Foundry. Because of its custom paint job and modifications made by Denchfield, the motorcycle is often confused with an older duo-glide Harley Davidson.

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Text by Teddy Amenabar | Photo by Michael Ventura

Denchfield’s wife, Susan, enjoys the car collection nearly as much as he does. Denchfield says she often takes one of the cars out to drive around on nice days.

These teardrop headlights on the orange 1935 LaSalle convertible coupe illustrate the art deco aesthetic of the era.

In 1934 and 1935, many cars came with suicide doors, which are hinged at the rear. Denchfield says one theory behind the name was that the door would fly off the hinges if it was opened while the car was moving.

This is the second of the two La Salle convertible coupes that Denchfield owns. He loves the color scheme, which is typical of a 1930s car.

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Go Figure

people

watcher

By Maura Mahoney

262 87

Number of alcohol citations issued to individuals under age 21 in Montgomery County from Nov. 20, 2013-Jan. 4, 2014 Number of alcohol citations issued to individuals over age 21 in Montgomery County from Nov. 20, 2013-Jan. 4, 2014 Source: Alcohol Initiatives Section, Montgomery County Police Department

Montgomery Blair grad Chuck Redd worked with the famed Charlie Byrd.

Instrumental Advice Jazz vibraphonist and drummer Chuck Redd (Montgomery Blair, Class of 1976) was just 21 and a student at Montgomery College when he joined the famed Charlie Byrd Trio in 1980. Working with Byrd was “a life-changing experience,” Redd recalls. “It was wonderful of him to give me that opportunity…he taught me so much.” Redd, who now lives in Takoma Park, is paying it forward, teaching jazz percussion at the University of Maryland, College Park. He also travels around the country, performing as a soloist at jazz events. Local jazz fans can catch him at Strathmore’s Jazz Samba Project, a two-week festival beginning May 30. The festival celebrates more than 50 years of bossa nova in the United States, starting with the landmark 1962 Stan Getz and Charlie Byrd Jazz Samba album, which popularized this Brazilian sound in the U.S.

Making Waves

Katie Ledecky at the USA Swimming Golden Goggle Awards Gala in Los Angeles last November

Bethesda’s Katie Ledecky just keeps getting faster. In February, she set her fifth American swimming record by becoming the first woman ever to break the 4-minute, 30-second barrier in the 500-yard freestyle, with a time of 4:28.71 at the Washington Metropolitan Interscholastic Swimming & Diving Championships.

“It was a goal of mine for a while,” says Ledecky, who won a gold medal at the 2012

Step Up Jacqueline Akhmedova opened the Akhmedova Ballet Academy (ABA) in Silver Spring in 2011—and her students are already making their mark. In January, ABA won the Outstanding School Award for 2014 at the Youth America Grand Prix semi-finals in Pittsburgh, and in February, student Jessica Kinnaman won gold in the Classical Category in the 13-to-14-yearold age group at the International Youth Dance Festival in Berlin.

Akhmedova, a Silver Spring resident who was previously a principal dancer with the Bolshoi Ballet, the Munich State Opera and the Vienna State Opera Ballet, says she is “very proud” of her students’ accomplishments.

Olympics in London and is now a junior at Stone Ridge School of the Sacred Heart. “It felt really good to accomplish it.”

Ledecky, who trains 25 to 30 hours a week with the Nation’s Capital Swim Club in North Bethesda, says, “[I] keep setting my eyes on higher marks. …I want to continue to keep dropping my times. It does get harder, but I think I still have room for improvement.”

What’s next in her sights? The nationals in Irvine, Calif., in August.

Peter Wochniak (redd); Vihao Pham Photography (akhmedova, kinnaman); Mike Comer/ProSwim Visuals (ledecky)

Jacqueline Akhmedova with student Jessica Kinnaman

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Paul Dickson is one prolific writer. He has written more than 60 books, with his most recent, Authorisms: Words Wrought by Writers, published by Bloomsbury USA in April. In it, the Garrett Park resident tells the stories behind the words coined by such writers as Edmund Spenser (“blatant”), John Milton (“pandemonium”), Charles Dickens (“butterfingers”), and, of course, William Shakespeare, the most prolific neologizer, who is credited with creating or first using as many as 1,700 words. Dickson says he loved the detective work involved in researching the book, and that he has always enjoyed looking at language as “a plaything. …

Language can be very solemn and serious, but on the other hand, it’s what also makes us witty.”

Bethesda’s Howard Feinstein, a former civil rights activist and lawyer in the Deep South in the ’60s through the ’80s, describes his memoir as the story of “a naive suburban white kid thrust into a world of violence and hate.” Titled Fire on the Bayou: True Tales from the Civil Rights Battlefront (Foxhead Books, 2014), the book chronicles such cases as the fatal Ku Klux Klan bombing of a Florida civil rights pioneer and his wife, and a KKK rampage on the edge of Louisiana’s Cajun country.

Feinstein says he wrote the book “because I’ve done a lot of teaching, and I’m shocked at the lack of knowledge students have of this era.” Plus, “it was a time in my life like nothing else. …It’s always stayed with me.” The book was recently nominated for the Dayton Literary Peace Prize.

Sarah Pekkanen, who writes Bethesda Magazine’s Domestic Disturbances column, comes out with her fifth novel in May. Catching Air, published by Atria, is the story of two women—married to brothers—who chuck their lives and move to Vermont to open a bed-and-breakfast.

A mysterious woman shows up, and the story unfolds through the perspectives of the three women.

“I often write about relationships,” Pekkanen says, “and I’d done sisters, mothers and daughters, so it seemed like a good idea to explore the relationship of sisters-in-law.”

The Chevy Chase resident says she loves to “have an escape in my books,” and that she enjoyed researching B&Bs.

Kensington’s Lauren Francis-Sharma began writing her debut novel, ’Til the Well Runs Dry, in a class at The Writer’s Center in Bethesda. In April, it was released by Henry Holt. The story was inspired by the author’s grandmother. After the woman became ill, FrancisSharma realized she knew only the bare outlines of her life. “I knew that she had left Trinidad, leaving her children behind for a time, and immigrated to this country to work as a domestic,” Francis-Sharma says. Using that as the skeleton of the story, Francis-Sharma wrote a multigenerational, multicultural saga that is “a mother’s story, a love story, and an immigration story. …

It is also a plea from me to readers to talk to your elders.”

When Ruth Kassinger of Chevy Chase pruned a kumquat tree so badly that it died, she realized she needed to know more about plants, so she set out to learn. The result is A Garden of Marvels: How We Discovered that Flowers Have Sex, Leaves Eat Air, and Other Secrets of Plants (William Morrow, 2014).

It’s the story of the earliest botanists and how they learned about the inner workings of plants, and it weaves in Kassinger’s own visits to modern gardens, farms and labs to learn about the science behind extraordinary plants, such as 1-ton pumpkins, black petunias, a biofuel grass that grows 12 feet tall, and the world’s only photosynthesizing animal. “Plants are mysterious compared with animals,” says Kassinger, who has written eight science books for young adults as well as a previous book on botany for adults. A Garden of Marvels was named one of the “Most Anticipated Books of Spring 2014”

by Publishers Weekly.

All books courtesy of Barnes & Noble

Book Report

watcher

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You can taste the peace of mind.

(PS - It’s quite delicious!)

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Bethesda’s Darley Newman (right) enjoys the food at Mont Tremblant with ski instructor Brahm Reinblatt on Travel Like the Locals with Darley.

Matthew Haley

On the Road (Yet) Again It feels like déjà vu all over again: Bethesda’s Darley Newman has launched yet another new series. Travel Like the Locals with Darley can be seen on www.ulive.com, a lifestyle video site and distribution platform powered by Scripps Networks Interactive. The series, which debuted in February, follows Newman as she showcases culture, food and accessible travel adventures all over the globe, from dog sledding in Quebec to surfing in Ireland (“definitely very cold,” Newman says) to hot-air ballooning over the rain forest at dawn in Costa Rica.

“What I love about the show is that you can dream about going to these places while you’re sitting in your office,” Newman says, “but they are accessible enough to really do.”

Newman has garnered five Emmy nominations and traveled many miles as the host of the equestrian-themed Equitrekking on PBS and Travels with Darley, a travel and lifestyle series on the AOL On Network. Like the other two shows, Travel Like the Locals with Darley is produced by DCN Entertainment, with her husband, Chip Ward, as executive producer.

Dream Green

Alex Nasher (left) and Sam Eligwe

Boyhood friends Alex Nasher, 27, and Sam Eligwe, 28, developed their business, Green Clean, on the hunch that customers at the Westfield malls in Bethesda, Wheaton and Annapolis would appreciate being able to accomplish three things simultaneously: shop, get their cars cleaned and do a little good for the world.

“We wanted to start a business, but we also wanted to have an impact,” says Nasher, who grew up in Rockville. “We are both originally from Third World countries—I was born in Afghanistan, and Sam is from Nigeria—and we have seen the effects of not having clean water in a region.

So we came up with the idea of a waterless car wash.”

Nasher and Eligwe, who grew up in Northern Virginia, use plant-based products and donate a portion of their proceeds to Water Is Life, a nonprofit that provides clean water for those in need in developing countries. “At the end of the day, there are a lot of car washes,” Nasher says.

“We wanted to do something more than run a business.”

In winning the James Beard Foundation’s 2014 Humanitarian of the Year award, restaurateur Matthew Haley is following some heavy hitters, including Emeril Lagasse and Charlie Trotter. Haley, who grew up in Kensington, opened his first restaurant, Tommy Joe’s, in Bethesda. That establishment has since changed hands, but Haley currently owns numerous restaurants on the Delaware shore.

After struggling with drug and alcohol abuse earlier in his life, he says he’s as passionate about helping others as he is about restaurants. “I am here because hundreds of people helped me along the way,” he says.

“The only way I can stay here is to give back.”

In 2011, Haley founded The Global Delaware Fund, which supports children’s organizations throughout the world. It has raised more than $250,000 in charitable donations and has helped to build a school for 80 children in Nepal, along with a hydroelectric plant to power it. Haley also has helped the Latin community in southern Delaware, funded education for orphans, donated to economic stimulus programs in Nepal, and helped disabled women attend culinary school.

Haley received the International Association of Culinary Professionals’ National Humanitarian Award in March, and the National Restaurant Association’s 2014 Cornerstone Humanitarian Award in April. He’ll receive the James Beard Foundation award in New York City in early May.

chip ward (newman); courtesy photos (nasher, eligwe, haley)

Food for the Soul

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Exquisite Color Exceptional Prices

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The MovieMakers

Maura Mahoney lives in Chevy Chase. Send People Watcher tips to peoplewatcher@bethesdamagazine.com.

Goal-Oriented Former Rockville resident Jessica Lutz went to some lengths to achieve her goal of playing hockey in the Olympics—nearly 5,000 miles, in fact.

Lutz, who attended Washington Christian Academy in Silver Spring (the school is now in Olney), moved to Switzerland for nearly three years after graduating early from the University of Connecticut. Her father was born in Switzerland, so Lutz holds dual citizenship. The move paid off when she not only made the 2014 team, she scored the go-ahead goal in Switzerland’s 4-3 win over Sweden in the women’s bronze medal game. “Getting a medal at the Olympics was incredible,” she says.

Before the Olympics, the young athlete was back in the D.C. area, working as a barista at The Coffee Bar in Logan Circle and playing with a men’s team in Arlington, Va. Lutz, who turns 25 in May, is back now and interested in pursuing a career in physical therapy. She says she’d love to continue to be involved with hockey at some level, possibly coaching for summer camps.

Smart Idea Here’s someone we’ll likely be hearing from in the future: Rockville’s Tatiana Rypinski, a 2011 graduate of Richard Montgomery High School, is leading a team of undergraduates at Johns Hopkins University that has built a device that will monitor a patient’s vital signs and screen for diseases and infections. The prototype was designed for the Qualcomm Tricorder XPRIZE, Budding inventor Tatiana Rypinski a 3½-year global competition that will award $10 million in all to the three teams that develop a consumer-friendly device capable of diagnosing a set of 15 medical conditions as well as capturing specific health metrics.

The team’s prototype is a three-part system that includes a cloud-based smartphone interface, a small cylindrical lab box, and a wearable device for monitoring vital signs. The plastic lab box analyzes blood, urine and saliva and sends the data to the cloud.

The team will be among roughly 30 entering the first round of the competition in May. The idea behind the contest is to “put diagnostic testing and health monitoring in the hands of the consumer,” according to Rypinski, who’s finishing up her junior year and hopes to work in engineering. And what will the team do with the money if it wins? “We haven’t had time to think that far ahead,” she says. n

thinkstock; Anna Goodson (reisberg, del puppo); DANA BRAWE (giuricich); courtesy photo (rypinski)

Bethesda appears to be an incubator for filmmakers. There was Spike Jonze (Walt Whitman, Class of ’87), whose movie Her won the 2014 Oscar for Best Original Above: Big Significant Things Screenplay. And director Bryan Reisberg (right) now here comes with photography director Bryan Reisberg Luca Del Puppo. Below: Walter Johnson grad Nicholas Giuricich.

(Whitman, Class of 2006) with the film Big Significant Things, which had its world premiere at the 2014 SXSW Film Festival in Austin, Texas, in March.

Reisberg, who graduated from NYU with a degree in film in 2009, describes the movie he wrote and directed as a “dark road comedy about a guy who wants to be in a light road comedy.” It’s the story of a young man from New Jersey who goes on a road trip in the South before moving across the country with his girlfriend. The film stars Harry Lloyd (Viserys Targaryen in the HBO series Game of Thrones) and was shot in Mississippi. Reisberg says it was a class at Whitman that got him started down the filmmaking path.

Fast on Reisberg’s heels is Nicholas Giuricich (Walter Johnson, Class of 2010), currently a senior at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. In March, Giuricich directed The Commitment. He describes the short film he wrote as “an intense family drama about a divorced family and a daughter on the brink of adulthood who is trying to decide whether she can leave them behind.” Giuricich says he first became interested in filmmaking in a class he took at age 10 at Imagination Stage in Bethesda. He has been guided on his career path by professor Susan Seidelman, who directed Desperately Seeking Susan and the pilot for Sex and the City. “She’s such an accomplished director, and she’s been very generous with her time,” he says.

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story of my life

By Murray Schweitzer

Memories of Me Everybody has a story.

Sometimes we just need an excuse to write about it.

I never knew much about my par-

Murray Schweitzer, pictured here at his Rockville home, wrote his own memoir and then created a class to help others tell their life stories.

Story,” a four-week course that promised to teach seniors how to organize and write their personal biographies. All I had to do was figure out how to fill the 90-minute sessions and hope enough students showed up.

I shouldn’t have worried—eight students, mostly senior citizens, came. I began the first session by telling a story about my failure in 1964 to land a parttime, weekend news reader job at a Baltimore radio station. The boss dismissed me quickly, saying I should “go be a doctor or lawyer like your mama wants you

to.” But my failed audition wasn’t what I wanted my students to learn from the story. The takeaway? A good story requires a beginning, middle and an end.

I asked several students to tell their own stories, and then their classmates critiqued what they had heard. Everyone was hesitant at first, but we soon overcame our nervousness, understanding that any “criticism” was aimed at the work and not at the writer. From tales of foreign travel to recollections about family summer vacations, these folks filled the room with wonderful accounts of lives well-lived.

erick gibson

ents’ lives. I knew even less about my grandparents. As I approached 70, I decided that I didn’t want my two kids and three grandkids to say they knew little about me. The solution? I would write my life story for them.

When I retired in 2009 from a career as a TV news producer, Liz Crenshaw, a colleague at NBC4 TV, suggested I teach a memoir-writing course for seniors.

I had spent 15 years writing consumer stories with Liz and also taught college journalism classes for several years, so she thought working with seniors and hearing their stories would enrich my retirement. I stewed over the idea, and three years later I decided to give it a try.

I soon realized, however, that I shouldn’t try to teach others how to write a memoir until I had written one myself. So I began writing my own story and fell in love with the process of recalling events that I hadn’t thought about in decades, organizing facts and gathering the few old photos that I had of my parents and grandparents.

Five months later, I finished my memoir. I printed six copies of Pa’s Story on acid-free paper that’s supposed to survive for several generations, and bound the pages between burgundy-colored hardcovers. I put away copies for each kid and grandkid and kept one for teaching.

Then I approached Live & Learn Bethesda, a nonprofit at the BethesdaChevy Chase Regional Services Center that offers classes appealing to older folks. Director Bev Amsterdam accepted my proposal for “How to Write Your Life

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story of my life

There was Lu, 83, retired from the Foreign Service, who told fascinating stories of travel and piloting planes. And Elizabeth, 92, who grew up glamorously in France until her diplomat-father shipped her off with a strange woman to safety in America at the start of World War II. And Leo, a 91-year-old retired psychiatrist who spent much of his life battling alcoholism, which he attributes to traumatic child abuse at the hands of his oldest sister.

Two students told stories that truly grabbed our attention.

Earlene was an 80-year-old farmer’s daughter who grew up in the segregated South. She wanted to share her history with her large family of nieces and nephews, many of whom never experienced that ugly period of American history.

Earlene did not write with a sense of anger. Instead, she was a delightful storyteller, and the class became addicted to her tales of growing up, working the farm and getting an education. One of

Earlene’s most poignant stories—about the murder of her sister at the hands of her sister’s husband—was as riveting as a true-crime movie. Her memoir shows she has lived a life far richer than that of a simple farm girl.

And then there was Jill, 58, a former cancer researcher and 17-year cancer survivor who was writing “something to leave” her two grown children. Sometimes Jill was late distributing her chapters to the class because she wasn’t feeling well after receiving chemotherapy.

But she was perhaps the most upbeat, perky and helpful member of our class, never wallowing in her troubles.

Jill said there are many “things” we can leave our children, but her hope was to leave “something precious that they can hold onto long after I finally lose my battle with cancer.” Many of Jill’s chapters offered gentle lectures explaining what she had learned from her own struggles.

By the end of the four weeks, my stu-

dents had become so invested in telling their stories and listening to each other’s that they didn’t want the classes to end.

So we added four more sessions, each of us coming to see why telling our stories was so important not only for our families, but for ourselves.

My family has not yet read my memoir. I envision my children and grandchildren being in their 60s when they finally read their copies—at an age when they can understand the gift of longevity and appreciate some details of a life that helped make theirs possible. n Murray Schweitzer lives in Rockville and is a retired TV news producer who spent most of his career at NBC4 TV in Washington, D.C. Schweitzer is a graduate of American University in Washington, D.C., and has a master’s degree in nonfiction writing from Johns Hopkins University. To comment on this story, email com ments@bethesdamagazine.com.

Welcome home,

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Dr. Dana S. Greenwald Pediatric Dentistry is excited to welcome Dr. Charlie Coulter back to his hometown and to our practice, where he will help us create healthy smiles for life!

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52 May/June 2014 | BethesdaMagazine.com

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YOU HAVE 99 PROBLEMS

(BUT FINDING A SUN SOAKED PLACE TO SIP WINE AND NOSH WITH FRIENDS, ISN’T ONE OF THEM)

With over 25 dining establishments here, every hankering will be satisfied. Especially the one for a good time.

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re• INVENTION

By Nicole Glass

Bonnie Alcid—pictured here at the Quince Orchard Swim & Tennis Club—traded 60-hour work weeks for a new career teaching kids to swim through the British Swim School.

Making a Splash Bonnie Alcid walks backward in the water, arms outstretched, voice echoing through the vast Gaithersburg swim hall as a child splashes toward her from the shallow end of the pool.

“Kick, kick. …I want to see whitewater kicks!” she tells the bright-eyed 5-year-old who’s struggling to stay afloat.

“Breathe,” she reminds him, allowing his little hands to grab hold of her for a

few seconds. “Don’t panic.”

Alcid, a Gaithersburg resident, owns two British Swim School franchises in Montgomery County, providing water survival and swim lessons to children as young as 3 months.

When she glides through the water with her silver swim cap and blue water shirt, it’s difficult to imagine she ever did anything else. But for nearly 15 years,

Alcid worked for ImaTek, a now-defunct company that manufactured CDs and DVDs in Germantown. In her final years there, Alcid was the general manager, working 60-hour weeks that took a toll on her health and marriage. Determined to make a change, she “took a leap of faith” and resigned in August 2008—just as the Great Recession was putting millions of Americans out of work.

hilary schwab

A Gaithersburg woman shares her passion for the pool— and finds her own life going swimmingly

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re•invention

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“I had to do it,” she says.

With no backup plan, she turned to her childhood passion of swimming to recover from the emotional drain of working behind a desk.

“I could swim before I could walk,” says Alcid, now 40, reflecting on her childhood in Watkins Glen, N.Y. “…My father threw me into our backyard pool when I was 6 months old.”

She was exploring membership options at nearby pools when she was approached by a representative of the British Swim School, which was founded

by Manchester native Rita Goldberg more than two decades ago in Florida.

Alcid’s “year of big change” started in January 2009, when she agreed to teach children water survival skills.

In the ensuing months, her marriage strengthened, she had the first of her two children and she rediscovered her love of life—all of which she attributes to her career change. By the following January, she was managing the swim program. And in October 2010, she bought the British Swim School’s first franchise, which allows her to open pool locations from the northernmost point in Germantown to North Bethesda. She since has bought a second, which covers Bethesda to Silver Spring, has expanded to nine pool locations, and she co-owns a third franchise in Woodbridge, Va. Even as Alcid employs 32 swim instructors as head of the Maryland franchises, she still jumps into the water to share her passion with children.

“I am most passionate about infanttoddler swimming because it’s miraculous what you see these children accomplish in the water at such an early age,” Alcid says. “An infant of 3 months doesn’t know what fear is. They can stay stable on their back and float.”

In her “Tadpole” classes—for children 3 months to 3 years—Alcid teaches parents how to safely handle their kids in the water, and teaches babies how to comfortably stay afloat.

When her own daughter was only a few months old, Alcid asked her sister— who was interested in buying a franchise at the time—to take the baby to a class.

“I hadn’t brought my daughter in the water before, and I asked my sister to let go in the water while she was on her back floating,” Alcid says. “My sister was scared.

I said, ‘Take a deep breath, smile, say, “One, two, three” and let go.’ And she did.

It’s just overwhelming to see little infants help themselves in the water like that.”

Erica Tappis of North Potomac enrolled her 3-month-old daughter in a “Tadpole” class and was awestruck when her baby began propelling herself through the pool in an inner tube.

Drowning is the leading cause of accidental death in children under age 5, and 85 percent of those deaths between 2008 and 2010 occurred in residential pools or spas, according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. By bringing some 950 children to the British Swim School’s Montgomery County classes each week, Alcid sees herself as providing them with an “ability to help themselves.”

Inspired by Alcid’s work, her sister, 46-year-old Darlene Coons, quit her job as a New York-based civil engineer and moved to Gaithersburg, where she worked for Alcid before purchasing her own British Swim School franchise in Woodbridge. Another former ImaTek employee, Rana Fitzgerald, joined the British Swim School as a customer service manager in 2013.

“She drives passion into us,” Fitzgerald says of her new boss, calling Alcid’s interaction with children nothing short of pure “magic.”

After class on this particular day, Alcid takes four kids to the big yellow slide at the deep end of the pool at Quince Orchard Swim & Tennis Club.

The children climb the ladder, looking apprehensive. But they see Alcid waiting in the pool below, arms outstretched to catch them.

And as they slide down, one after another, plunging into water that’s 11 feet deep, their expressions of apprehension turn into big grins. n Nicole Glass lives in Bethesda and is editor of the German Embassy’s newsletter. To comment on this story, email comments@bethesdamagazine.com.

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work related

As told to Anya Grenier

The Kuchipudi Dancer Nilimma Devi, 69, founder of the Sutradhar Institute of Dance & Related Arts in Silver Spring I was born in 1944 in Peshawar.

Culturally it was a very Muslim area.

Then the partition [of India] came in August 1947 and it became Pakistan. We were minority Hindus in that region. My father never thought we would have to leave, but things began to deteriorate and he sent us to India, thinking the family would come back when things were less rowdy. That day never came.

We went from living a very indulged childhood to all living in one room in Delhi. My father couldn’t hold a job, so we moved from place to place. When we were 6 and 7, my sister and I would walk to a dance school in the market. Within the Punjabi community, dance was a taboo socially. My grandfather couldn’t stand the word dance; it was right next to prostitution. But my mother was always talking about the great dancers in Indian history.

By the time I was 13, everyone was saying, “Marriage, marriage, marriage.”

All I had in my head was “dance, dance, dance.” My father got sick and was bedridden, so I would get up and work at a school and come back to nurse him.

In the evening, I would go to the dance

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liz lynch

r

institute. For two hours, I would be in bliss, soaked in my own sweat.

The first time I saw [the classical dance] Kuchipudi, I was a teenager. I was totally blown away. I saw a man impersonating one of the most beautiful women I had even seen. He was 40 and broadly built—but when he got on stage, it was some kind of magic.

So I threw myself into my dream.

Every time there was a letter from my grandmother saying that a boy had proposed to me, my mother would ask quietly, “Are you interested?” But I was not interested in marriage at that age, and my parents did not pressure me.

One day, I was introduced to a Peace Corps volunteer. He started coming around a lot. He talked to my aunt, my aunt talked to my father. My father went to the library and brought me books about American divorce rates.

But in 1968 I became a bride and came to America.

I ended up in Madison, Wis., teaching University of Wisconsin extension courses in dance and theory. I was 25 when I got married. I thought I was too young to teach, but right away the Asian theater department was knocking on my door, and I began to think about how I could bring this dance to an American mindset.

Most Indian classical dance is an invocation to one god or another. The mythology and poetry and ritual are so heavily interwoven. I can try [to] express the mystical level of religion. I can dance to Sufi poetry in Persian, to black spirituals, to poetry written by Buddhist nuns.

My culture makes me more willing to see a larger human family.

Social issues have always been important to me, especially the status of women. Somewhere along the line, Indian women started being shown as weak and timid. Once when I was teaching, a girl asked me, “Why does [the character] have to be shy?” So I said, “OK, now she’s not shy.” All you have to do is take her veil away and make her walk. n

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person

of interest

By Mike Gruss

The Fencing Master A former champion teaches students that winning is not the point It’d be easy to overlook the nondescript storefront, sandwiched into a North Bethesda strip mall. But step inside the Capital Fencing Academy and you can get a lesson in the unexpected.

Students with dampened hair spar with one another as owner-instructor Dariusz Gilman, a 41-year-old former Polish fencing champion, offers pointers. Parents chat with one another on couches in full view of their kids.

A fully exposed locker area occupies one corner of the open room, eliminating a traditional hunting ground for teenage bullies. A study table in another corner sits under a sign that reads: “Either get up and fence or sit down and do your homework.”

“It’s very simple, but it’s functional,” Gilman says of the academy’s home.

The setting may be functional, but it’s Gilman’s personal attention to his students that draws families to the private training facility, where children as young as 6 learn to fence. Some kids take classes just for fun, but top students—usually teenagers who have been fencing for years—often compete in national and international tournaments.

Since opening in August 2013, the club has become a second home for Gilman’s

students and their parents, some of whom are so invested in the academy that they laid the tile floor themselves. In fact, Gilman often corrects parents who say Capital Fencing is “his club.” It’s “our club,” he says.

Gilman’s passion for fencing developed when he was a child. Growing up in Opole, Poland, he liked many sports, and by the time he was 10, his parents were ready for their energetic son to find one in which he could participate with passion and excel.

Fencing was the answer.

By age 12, Gilman had discovered that the more time he put into fencing— reading about strategy, practicing his footwork, exercising—the more he improved.

Soon he was competing in local and regional events, then in national and international tournaments. By 1998, at age 25, he was a member of the Polish national team that won a bronze medal in the Team Sabre competition at the World Fencing Championships in Switzerland. In 1999, he finished second in the Polish championships.

Gilman believed he had performed well enough to compete again at the world championships later that

year, but the team’s coaches decided otherwise. “I was so disappointed,” he says. “I had wanted to do more. I was very angry at myself.”

Soon after, the then 26-year-old quit competitive fencing and moved to the United States.

For more than 12 years, he coached sabre, first at Penn State University, then at DC Fencers Club in Silver Spring, where he taught children and teens. Last summer he emailed clients to say he was starting his own club. By the end of 2013, more than 100 families had joined Capital Fencing Academy, Gilman says.

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Former Polish fencing champion Dariusz Gilman corrects parents who refer to North Bethesda’s Capital Fencing Academy as “his club.” It’s “our club,” he says.

Parents are quick to note how much their children love Gilman and how he has created a community outside of the academy by organizing ice skating and rock-wall climbing events for students and their families. They proudly mention that Yale University accepted three of Gilman’s students last year, all of whom are members of the university’s fencing team.

Gilman acknowledges that being a fencer may make an applicant stand out to a college admissions counselor, but he’d rather highlight what students learn about themselves through fencing.

“The most important thing to me was gradually building internal motivation,” he says.

Sharon Johnson of Bethesda says she has watched her 10-year-old daughter, Honor, develop confidence and a sense of herself through fencing. And Cynthia Schnedar of Silver Spring says her son Eli, a senior at Albert Einstein High School in Kensington, has grown more focused on his goals since he started fencing in third grade. He plans to fence in college.

Gilman can be blunt when assessing students’ skills, but parents and students

say they welcome his advice because he cares and because they trust his experience.

These days, Gilman believes that failing to make the Polish team for the world championships in 1999 was a blessing. He says he tries to teach his students the lesson he learned: There is more to gain from losing than from winning. n Mike Gruss has written for newspapers in Ohio, Indiana and Virginia and now lives in Alexandria. To comment on this story, email comments@bethesdamagazine.com.

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YOU’VE GOT TO SEE THIS.

By ROBERT WIEDMAIER

the renowned chef behind Mussel Bar, Brasserie Beck, Marcel’s and BRABO This neighborhood bistro serves casual modern cuisine influenced by healthy and mindful ingredients.

Artisanal cocktails crafted by Jamie Imhof.

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stacy zarin-goldberg

Gringos & Mariachis in Bethesda is among the many restaurants embracing the “small plates� trend.

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Turning the

tables

stacy zarin-goldberg

8 ways we’re dining differently—from fast-casual to small plates to Instagramming our meals

By Carole Sugarman and Nevin Martell

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1

Beet Salad at Wildwood Kitchen

Four New Favorites Veggies Du Jour Who would have thought that beets, Brussels sprouts and kale—three vegetables whose bad reputations are often due to outdated cooking styles—would end up being the darlings of side dishes?

“Growing up, my mother used to boil the hell out of them,” says Dimitri Moshovitis, executive chef of Cava Mezze, echoing a common complaint. “Now, people are saying, ‘I can’t believe I like these.’ ”

The reason for the change in taste is that farmers are growing unique, boutique varieties of the vegetables, and chefs are coming up with inventive ways to use them. Couple that with a dining public hungry for healthy alternatives, and suddenly Mom’s dreaded dinner dishes have become top trends.

At right are three innovative takes on the vegetables, as prepared by area restaurateurs.

Mussel Mania Upscale, downscale and every restaurant in between seems to be showing their mussels.

Restaurateurs cite lots of reasons: They’re cheap, easy to prepare, versatile, appealing to those who don’t do raw shellfish, good as either a shared appetizer or main course—and definitely fun to eat.

“If you’re not a person who likes raw oysters, mussels are an easy transition,” says James Turner, chef at Blue 44 in Chevy Chase, D.C., where the mollusks have been served in a variety of ways—including with homemade Limoncello, roasted garlic butter, fresh tomatoes and parsley; or sherry saffron butter with chili flakes and garlic.

“They’re also one of the easiest things to cook and one of the most affordable shellfish out there,” he says. Like other restaurateurs, Turner pays about $2 a pound for mussels. Blue 44 charged $12 for a winter menu dish featuring about a pound of mussels served with hard cider, smoked tomatoes, roasted shallot butter, leeks and garlic.

Among our favorites are the ones at right. —Carole Sugarman

Brussels Sprouts at The Tavern at River Falls While we love Brussels sprouts crisproasted or fried, Executive Chef Brian Nussear of The Tavern at River Falls cooks up a simple sauté. The halved sprouts are quickly blanched in salted, boiling water; sautéed in a hot pan with extra-virgin olive oil, salt and pepper; and then tossed with toasted hazelnuts and topped with freshly grated shards of parmesan. Comforting and uncomplicated, it’s the restaurant’s top-selling side dish. $7. (10128 River Road, Potomac; 301299-0481, www.thetavernatriverfalls.com)

Kale, Brussels Sprouts and Beet Salad at Cava Mezze Executive Chef Dimitri Moshovitis hit the trend trifecta with this crunchy slaw-like dish, which combines shredded purple kale, shaved Brussels sprouts and roasted baby beets, tossed with olive oil, lemon juice and chunks of flavorful barrel-aged feta cheese.

The transformation from loathed vegetables of yesteryear to lovely, lively and terrific-tasting is amazing. $8.95. (9713 Traville Gateway Drive, Rockville, 301-309-9090, cavamezze.com)

The “Wicked Mussels” at Nantucket’s Reef are named after the “wicked” compound butter—spiked with a Cajun-inspired spice mixture—in which the mussels are first sautéed. Steamed in a broth with white wine, lemon juice, chorizo and pico de gallo and served with two dynamite dunkers of garlic ciabatta bread, this butteryspicy mussel dish is wicked good. $9. (9755 Traville Gateway Drive, Rockville, 301-2797333, www.nantucketsreef.com)

stacy zarin-goldberg (2)

The beet salad at Wildwood Kitchen is a particularly fine version of the now-ubiquitous vegetable.

Lots of restaurants pair beets with goat cheese, but Wildwood Kitchen achieves the creamy-tart contrast using Greek yogurt.

Under a canopy of baby greens tossed with beet vinaigrette lie chunks of red and yellow beets and spiced walnuts. The outskirts of the plate are then framed with orange wedges, drizzles of vinaigrette and dollops of yogurt. The total package is sweet, tart, spicy and acidic, all at once. $11. (10223 Old Georgetown Road, The Shops at Wildwood, Bethesda; 301-571-1700, www.wildwood kitchenrw.com)

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stacy zarin-goldberg (2)

Mussels are showing up on menus everywhere, including at Nantucket’s Reef, where these “Wicked Mussels” are sautéed in a Cajunflavored compound butter, then steamed and served with garlic ciabatta bread.

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turning the tables

Mauricio Hernandez holds a selection of dipping sauces and empanadas at Panas Gourmet Empanadas, one of the many fast-casual places in Bethesda.

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2 tf was e g a Averual check: cas

$7.40

T fast-froaditional od che ck: michael ventura

$5.30

Fast-Casual Nation Fast-casual restaurants—with their inand-out counter service, fresh ingredients, customized combinations and reasonable prices for the quality—seem to be sprouting as fast as construction cones in the Bethesda area.

Visits to fast-casual restaurants have been steadily increasing nationwide for the past five years, according to the NPD Group, a global information company. In 2013, the number of visits jumped 8 percent, while traffic to traditional fast-food and full-service restaurants remained flat.

Local fast-casual operators say the concept works particularly well in the

Bethesda area. It has “the demographics that everyone loves,” says Pam Felix, cofounder of California Tortilla, which first opened in 1995 in Bethesda. For restaurants, that means plenty of time-strapped, high-income and health-conscious diners.

Stuart Biel, leasing agent for Federal Realty’s Bethesda Row, which has gradually been transformed into a fast-casual hotbed, says the proximity of residential neighborhoods, offices and the Capital Crescent Trail provides lots of customers who may be enticed by good-quality grab-and-go.

—Carole Sugarman

Top-grossing national fast-casual chains (in order of sales) in 2013:

Panera, Chipotle, Panda Express, Jimmy John’s, Five Guys Burgers and Fries

Sources: NPD Group, Technomics; figures are nationwide from 2012-13

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turning the tables

Increase in Visits

10%

««

8%

««

Fast-Casual by the numbers

Increase in Spending

fast-casual Restaurants

0% All Other Restaurants

2% All Other Restaurants

«

fast-casual Restaurants

Local Leaders

A loaded burger at BGR

There are plenty of popular fast-casual chains, including Nando’s Peri-Peri and 100 Montaditos, in Bethesda. But among the area’s best fast-casual restaurants are those established by local people. Here’s a look at some of them.

Jetties

Opened: 2008 (Bethesda) Number of locations: 17 (three in Montgomery County) Fun fact: BGR says it’s the only local fastcasual burger joint that uses Prime, the top grade of beef, as part of its patty mix.

Opened: 2003 (Northwest Washington), 2011 (Bethesda) Number of locations: four (three in Northwest D.C.) Fun fact: Each sandwich shop cooks about 200 pounds of fresh turkey breast per day.

Bold Bite

Lebanese Taverna Café

Opened: 2011 (Bethesda) Number of locations: two (one in Union Station, Northeast D.C.) Fun fact: Although originally an upscale hot dog shop, Bold Bite began serving burgers in 2013; they now comprise more than half of its sales.

Opened: 1998 (Rockville) Number of locations: four (three in Montgomery County) Fun fact: The cafés serve nearly 10 tons of hummus per year.

California Tortilla

Opened: 2010 (Dupont Circle), 2011 (Bethesda) Number of locations: two Fun fact: The empanadas, five inches long and weighing 2.5 ounces, are modeled after those served in Argentina and Uruguay.

Opened: 1995 (Bethesda) Number of locations: 38 (six in Montgomery County) Fun fact: After the original Cordell Avenue restaurant moved across the street in 2012, the owners say sales shot up 50 percent.

Cava Mezze Grill A taco platter with grilled corn at Fish Taco

Opened: 2011 (Bethesda) Number of locations: five (Washington metropolitan area) Fun fact: The Bethesda location goes through more cabbage than any other restaurant in the chain—a total of 3,000 pounds a month.

Fish Taco Opened: 2013 (Cabin John) Number of locations: one Fun fact: The restaurant spends $2,200 a month on dried chili peppers from New Mexico.

Panas Gourmet Empanadas

Sweetgreen Opened: 2007 (Georgetown), 2009 (Bethesda) Number of locations: 22 (two in Montgomery County) Fun fact: In December 2013, billionaire Steve Case and his Revolution Growth firm invested $22 million in the company.

Taylor Gourmet Opened: 2008 (Northeast Washington), 2010 (Bethesda) Number of locations: eight (Washington metropolitan area) Fun fact: The Bethesda shop serves the most risotto balls; patrons gobble up more than 1,000 per week.

stacy zarin-goldberg (BGR); stephen walker (bold bites); table talk (fish tacos)

Alvaro and Alonso Roche at Bold Bite

BGR: The Burger Joint

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We look forward to serving you.

Copper Canyon’s unique approach to dining invites patrons to return to basics and and eat well - in every sense. The chef-prepared, classic American comfort food is always prepared from scratch with fresh, high quality and seasonal ingredients from local purveyors. Dishes are flavorful and delicious, so patrons can indulge in the generous portions and feel good about it! The casually upscale, energetic atmosphere atmosphere, and exquisite service ensure every visit exceeds expectations, every time.

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title turning the tables

Is a Picture Worth 1,000 Bites?

If you’re a fan of social media, you’re

guaranteed to see a lot of food photos these days. Maybe it’s a shot of an artfully plated entrée, a freshly baked muffin or even a colorful cocktail commemorating the end of a long workday. No matter. Our desire to share every detail of our lives now extends to what we eat.

These photos aren’t taken by pros; mostly they’re from enthusiastic diners and home cooks like Silver Spring’s April Fulton. About a decade ago, Fulton started documenting her dinners out and the meals she made for her family on her camera phone. “It’s opening a window into my life,” explains the free-

Alicia Griffin (2)

3

Silver Spring’s Alicia Griffin shot this photo of Shengjian Bao at The Source in Washington, D.C. Below: The hot and sour soup at The Source.

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5 Photogs to Follow

Check out the mouth-watering pics posted by these local shutterbugs:

Twitter: @FultonHere Silver Spring’s April Fulton

@SavorySimple Chevy Chase’s Jennifer Farley Shrimp & Gouda Grits at Chef Geoff’s

Veal bolognese pappardelle at Lia’s

@DMVdining Bethesda’s Brett and Rachel Gellman

Shooting Scrumptious Shots

Alicia Griffin (2)

Part-time pro food photographer Alicia Griffin has taken official snapshots for Lia’s in Chevy Chase and for The Source and the Occidental Grill & Seafood in D.C. However, the 29-year-old Rockville resident displays some of her most memorable work on Instagram (@aliciagriffin) and Twitter (@iDineDC).

She shares five easy tips for making food pics pop.

Take pictures quickly

Always go for natural light.

Find the Don’t use a right flash. perspective. It washes out

Get up close and focus on the food.

before you eat because desserts can melt, sauces congeal and greens wilt.

Try to get a seat by a window or sit outside; even candlelight will work.

If the dish has a lot of garnishes, hover over the plate to get them all in the shot.

No one cares about the place setting in the background.

lance food writer, who posts her artfully executed shots on Twitter @FultonHere.

“Plus, I wanted to capture something that’s ephemeral.”

Well-composed pics can get our stomachs rumbling, but ugly images can quickly kill those hunger pangs. Unfortunately, we’re likely to see more bad shots than good. That’s because they’re often taken in dim light—and often after a glass of wine (or two).

When those not-so-Kodak-moments go up on Instagram or Twitter, viewers can be left with a negative impression. “I wish people would think more before posting,” laments Michael Harr,

the colors in the food and distracts nearby diners.

Choco Taco at ChurchKey

Instagram: @Kay819 North Bethesda’s Kaoru Yamamoto

executive chef at Food Wine & Co. in Bethesda. “A crappy shot can make a really good dish look really bad.”

Whether the photos are appetizing or unpalatable, it seems they’re here to stay.

“Once Steve Jobs created the iPhone, there’s been no turning back,” says Geoff Tracy, owner of Lia’s in Chevy Chase and other area restaurants. “Now it’s a nobrainer to take a pic and post it to Facebook or Twitter.”

Tracy says he doesn’t mind, though.

“If I like it, I’ll retweet it,” he says. “I think it’s great that people want to take photos in my restaurants.” ­—Nevin Martell

An Astrodonuts treat

@ChezWu North Bethesda’s Mykl Wu

Red Apron Butcher

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Sidesplitting Sips Fashioning craft cocktails is an art, but that doesn’t mean mixologists can’t have a little fun with their creations.

Here are four tipples whose names give us the giggles.

What’s With All the Tattoos?

This cocktail at Range in Friendship Heights features blackberry and lemon, which help balance out doses of rye and the quininelaced aperitif Byrrh.

Satan’s Soulpatch At Quench in Rockville, bourbon is mixed with sweet and dry vermouth and a dash of citrus bitters.

I Dream of Gin-ny Scion in Silver Spring serves up gin perked up by elderflower-accented St. Germain liqueur, and lemon and grapefruit juices.

Weekend at Fernie’s

Mixologist Evan Cablayan serves up “Cinnamon and Smoke” at Roof in Bethesda.

Cocktails with a twist Forget about ordering that rum-andCoke. Today’s trendy cocktails are much more intriguing than the two-ingredient classic, and likely to be crafted with just as many ingredients from the kitchen as from the bar.

Craft cocktails provide artful alternatives to traditional drinks and neoncolored frozen concoctions made from a mix—with many featuring fresh fruits and herbs, house-infused spirits and handmade specialty ingredients, such as bitters and syrups.

“It’s the difference between baking a pizza from scratch and purchasing a DiGiorno,” says Matt Allred, bar manager at Rockville’s Quench, which offers two dozen cocktails that change seasonally.

The high-quality quaffs can be as complex as any meal. “I look at each drink as a dish rather than a cocktail,” says beverage director Dane Nakamura, who oversees the progressive bar program at Range in Friendship Heights. “I want to take cocktails to the point that you need to be in the kitchen to make them.”

Consider Range’s yellow-hued “Bloody Mary,” made with a 20-ingredient pig’s blood consommé and vodka. Or the oregano-amped “Messing with Samquatch,” featuring house-made roasted squash juice.

And there’s the “Cinnamon and Smoke” cocktail at Bethesda’s Roof, which combines fresh smoked cinnamon chips with Catoctin rye whiskey, cinnamon and orange liqueurs, Chinese Five Spice syrup and a dash of orange bitters. The concoction is served on a handcrafted poplar board with a custom-mesh receptacle for the glass of smoking chips and a carafe containing the rye mixture with an orange peel garnish.

These forward-thinking drinkeries, and other stellar spots such as Jackie’s Sidebar in Silver Spring and Co2 Lounge in Bethesda, may charge more for their creations—often $10 to $15—but you can taste the difference. Now’s the time to upgrade from that vodka soda you’ve been ordering since college. ­—Nevin Martell

erick gibson

Redwood Restaurant and Bar in Bethesda combines herbaceous Fernet Branca with rye and lemon juice.

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Drinks Decoded Understanding what’s in your craft cocktail can sometimes require a quick Google search on your phone.

Here’s the scoop on four unorthodox ingredients.

Falernum

Lemon zest, star anise and ginger perk up this tropical-minded sweet syrup, which gets a buzzy boost from a healthy dose of white rum. Try it in: the “Potomac Park Swizzle” at MoCo’s Founding Farmers.

Ghost pepper tincture

The world’s hottest pepper is infused into whole-grain alcohol, creating a boozy elixir with a glowing after-burn.

Try it in: the “Back Porch” at Quench in Rockville.

Meat ice

These icy spheres are made with an umami-rich mixture of meat scraps, tomato juice and spices, such as fennel and bay leaves. Try it in: the “Vegan Sacrifice” at Range in Friendship Heights.

thinkstock

Angostura bitters

Herbaceous and slightly spicy, this booze-backed botanical tonic adds a bite to many pre-Prohibition cocktail classics. Try it in: the Old Fashioned at the Co2 Lounge in Bethesda.

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Beyond Bethesda Diners are venturing beyond Bethesda in search of new culinary destinations, whether it’s to try innovative dishes at Urban Butcher in Silver Spring or The Grilled Oyster Company in Potomac.

Several restaurants, often offering easier parking and more interesting food, have opened in surrounding communities, including Rockville, Potomac and downtown Silver Spring. And more are coming with new developments such as Pike & Rose in Rockville and Crown in Gaithersburg.

Rick Dugan, owner of The Grilled Oyster Company, says Bethesda has lots of competition when it comes to his search for a second location for his restaurant. (continued on page 79)>>

michael ventura

5

Diners dig in at The Grilled Oyster Company in Potomac, which has become a dining hot spot.

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Copyright Š2014 Panera Bread. All rights reserved.

C

Now open in Bethesda!

7201 Wisconsin Ave. At Panera, we’ve committed to using antibiotic-free chicken in all of our salads. It takes extra work, but we think it tastes better that way. And it gives you even more reason to love your favorite salad. Learn more at panerabread.com.

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New Dining

6 5 ANN JAKABCIN

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1 Cabin John Shopping Center & Mall in Potomac This throwback shopping center has become an eating destination. The Grilled Oyster Company, Gregorio’s Trattoria, Benny’s Bar & Grill and Attman’s Delicatessen are among the restaurants worth a visit.

2 Park Potomac The development offers several eateries, including the uber-popular MoCo’s Founding Farmers and Sugo Osteria.

MICAH BONAVIRI

3 Intersection of River and Falls roads in Potomac The Tavern at River Falls and Mix Bar and Grille are two popular dining spots.

4 Downtown Silver Spring The bohemian Urban Butcher and Kaldi’s Coffee are great new additions; Denizens Brewing Co., a brewpub, is coming soon.

ADAM ABRAMOWITZ

BILL ROBERGE

5 Rockville Town Square 82 Steak Out, a French-style steakhouse, opened in February; Bonchon Chicken, the Korean fried chicken chain, opened last year.

6 Gaithersburg A second location of Robert Wiedmaier’s Brasserie Beck opens this spring in the Kentlands.

25 West Middle Lane Rockville, Maryland 20850 www.steinsperling.com

7 Takoma Park The Black Restaurant Group opened the funky and fun Republic in December.

michael ventura (urban butcher); stephen Walker (Brasserie Beck)

CAROLINE BONAVIRI

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Urban Butcher is among the new Silver Spring restaurants stealing the spotlight from Bethesda.

Brasserie Beck in the Kentlands

Thank You, Holy Cross Health (continued from page 77)

Bethesda has “gotten so big that it’s no longer the neighborhood it was 20 years ago,” says Dugan, who was scoping out locations at press time. “It’s very crowded and hard to stand out.”

Francis Namin, co-owner of Cabin John’s Fish Taco and Bethesda’s Food Wine & Co., Beer Wine & Co., Don Pollo and the upcoming City Burger, says the amount of business generated in the most-saturated sections of Bethesda can’t support the high cost of real estate there. Rents for Bethesda Row, for example, can range from $80 to $100 per square foot. Namin, who says he pays $50 per square foot at Food Wine & Co. on Wisconsin Avenue, says high rents lead either to high turnover or to minimal profits for the restaurants that do remain. That makes new destinations beyond Bethesda’s borders look all the more appealing. ­—Carole Sugarman

Montgomery College thanks Holy Cross Health for its partnership to build a highly skilled health care work force pipeline for Montgomery County. Holy Cross has donated more than $350,000 for scholarships, equipment, and faculty development. Holy Cross also designated Montgomery College to be the recipient of its $250,000 contribution to the Maryland Hospital Association’s “Who Will Care? Fund for Nurse Education” campaign to increase the number of nursing graduates.

We are pleased to welcome the Holy Cross Germantown Hospital to the College’s Hercules Pinkney Life Sciences Park as the anchor tenant and to celebrate its opening in 2014. The partnership between the hospital and Montgomery College will benefit the region for generations to come.

montgomerycollege.edu Montgomery College is an academic institution committed to equal opportunity.

Montgomerycollege.edu/healthsciences • 240-567-5000 BethesdaMagazine.com | May/June 2014 79

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Is Fine Dining Dying?

Chalk it up to the Great Recession. Or simply to people embracing a more casual lifestyle. Or maybe to both. Whatever the reason, high-end area restaurateurs are getting the message: They have to change with the times.

When Newton’s Table first opened in Bethesda in 2011, a number of the entrées cost $30-plus.

Now there are more in the mid- to upper-$20 range. Chef-owner Dennis Friedman also added a burger, and opened a fast-casual concept last year called Newton’s Noodles in Washington, D.C.; the Noodles menu is available for lunch at the Bethesda restaurant, as well.

Persimmon owners Damian and Stephanie Salvatore not only renovated their Bethesda restaurant and dropped their prices, but opened the Cheers-like Wild Tomato in Cabin John in 2011.

Francis Namin, co-owner of Bethesda’s Food Wine & Co., Don Pollo and Beer Wine & Co., chose the fast-casual Fish Taco in Cabin John and City Burger in Bethesda as his newest projects. At press time, Bethesda’s Grapeseed was

planning to expand its bar area and offer a separate menu with casual appetizers and burgers, as well.

But the former Bezu in Potomac wins the prize for the most dramatic transformation.

“In the early days of Bezu, the economy was booming and people didn’t care about the prices,” owner Eddie Benaim says. By 2013, customers were dining there mostly for special occasions, so Benaim gutted the 7-year-old, upscale restaurant, transforming it into a less fancy space with a new name, varied menu and lower prices.

“As an operator, you have to be open to what the market dictates,” Benaim says. “Life has become so much more informal…and with less expensive choices, people will come in more frequently.”

The numbers seem to bear him out: His Mix Bar and Grille, which opened last fall, does 2½ times the volume and produces about 25 percent more in sales thus far than Bezu, he says.

—Carole Sugarman

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Wild Tomato in Cabin John is a casual neighborhood spot created by Persimmon’s owners, Damian and Stephanie Salvatore.

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Potomac’s Mix Bar and Grille (below) sports a more casual look and a less-expensive menu than its predecessor, Bezu (pictured here).

The Scorecard:

Bezu vs. Mix

Bezu

Mix

Dining frequency

Special occasions

Some diners come 1-3 times a week

Dining time

2½ hours or more

45 minutes to an hour

Average check (For 2, minus tax and tip)

$120-$150

$45-$55

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7

Food Wine & Co.’s succulent lamb burger—served with tomato harissa jam—is one of the great alternatives to the traditional beef patty.

Food Wine & Co.’s Lamb Burger

Don’t be sheepish about forgoing a beefy burger and ordering instead this juicy lamb patty with piquant tomato harissa jam and a swipe of aromatic garlic mayo. $15. (7272 Wisconsin Ave., Bethesda; 301-652-8008, foodwineandco.com)

BGR’s Ahi Burger

Bold, NEW Burgers ing between a hamburger and a cheeseburger and a side of regular fries. Plenty of restaurants are playing around with vegetables and primo proteins—such as fish and fowl—plus first-class trimmings to create bold new burgers.

“We want to offer a variety of options to attract different demographics—specifically women and families—that go beyond beef burgers for guys,” says Nate Ripley, president of operations of BGR: The Burger Joint in Bethesda, which

Bobby’s Burger Palace Crunchburger offers four nontraditional patties. “Plus these different choices help a restaurant stand out from all the competition, since there are so many burger options now.”

The revamps even encompass french fries, which aren’t simply salted spuds anymore. Now they’re made with a variety of veggies, topped off creatively and paired with different dips. Here are four bunned beauties and sassy sides that can help you switch up your burger routine.

—Nevin Martell

Choose the top-tier turkey patty when gobbling up the celeb chef’s iconic Crunchburger, which comes decked out with two slices of American cheese and potato chips. $6.75. (Westfield Montgomery, 7101 Democracy Blvd., Bethesda; 301-767-3943, bobbys burgerpalace.com)

Woodmont Grill’s Veggie Burger

The hearty cut-above house-made veggie burger is packed with brown rice and black beans, and finished off with a melted square of jack cheese and sweet soy barbecue sauce. $17. (7715 Woodmont Ave., Bethesda; 301-656-9755, hillstone.com)

stacy zarin-goldberg (2)

Gone are the days of simply choos-

There’s an Eastern bite to BGR’s ahi burger, which stars a seared slab of tuna gussied up with a grilled pineapple round, teriyaki sauce and zingy ribbons of pickled ginger. $14.94.

(4827 Fairmont Ave., Bethesda, 301-358-6137; 7949 Tuckerman Lane, Potomac, 301-2991600; 229 Boardwalk Place, Gaithersburg, 301-569-7086; bgrtheburgerjoint.com)

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Fries With That?

Eggplant fries at Adega Wine Cellars & Café Imagine eggplant parmesan in fry form and you’ll get a sense of these crispy golden rods, which are even better when dipped into marinara sauce. $6. (8519 Fenton St., Silver Spring; 301-608-2200, adegawinecellars.com)

Big Greek French Fries at The Big Greek Café These slivered spuds get a Mediterranean makeover, arriving dusted with oregano and crumbled feta cheese. $2.75. (8223 Georgia Ave., Silver Spring; 301-587-4733; 4007 Norbeck Road, Rockville; 301-929-9760, biggreekcafe.com)

Yucca fries at Crisp & Juicy Starchy and satisfying, the steak-cut yucca fries are standouts, especially when paired with the slightly spicy secret sauce. $2.55-$3.15. (Multiple locations; crispjuicy.com) 8407 Kitchen Bar’s rosemary-accented frites served with malt-vinegar aioli

House Made French Fries at 8407 Kitchen Bar Deep-fried in duck fat, these rosemary-accented frites come with a winning malt vinegar aioli that adds a creamy tang. $5. (8407 Ramsey Ave., Silver Spring; 301-587-8407, 8407kb.com)

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La Malinche’s grilled lamb chops with fingerling potatoes come on a small plate, but they definitely satisfy.

Small Size, Big Flavor

8

Here’s a sampling of some of the small plates you must not miss:

Gringos & Mariachis

More than a dozen tacos vie for your attention, but hone in on the barbacoa.

Slow-braised lamb’s naturally earthen flavor is leavened by fresh cilantro, chopped onion and salsa verde. $7. (4928 Cordell Ave., Bethesda; 240-800-4266, gringosandmariachis.com)

Guardado’s

Think of the chorizo fundido as a meaty Spanish fondue. A blanket of slightly piquant Manchego cheese covers chunks of spicy chorizo sausage. $6.95.

(4918 Del Ray Ave., Bethesda; 301-9864920, guardados.com)

Small plates go by many names—tapas,

mezze, antipasti or shared bites—and these days the little dishes are making a big impression on the local dining scene. Among the newcomers embracing the trend is Gringos & Mariachis, which opened in Bethesda in February with a menu full of appetizersize Mexican fare. The restaurant joined Jaleo and other established tapas faves, including Share Wine Lounge & Small Plate Bistro, also in downtown Bethesda, and Silver Spring’s La Malinche, both of which opened in late 2012.

No matter where you go, results are the same: shrunken portions and a restaurant’s often outsize expectations that each guest will order multiple courses. Jose Nicolas Guardado, chef-owner of Guardado’s in

Bethesda, recommends three to four tapas per guest (ranging from $5.95-$11.95). La Malinche advises diners to start with two plates, though the average order is three ($4-$12). And servers at José Andrés’ Jaleo suggest between two and four tapas per diner (ranging from $2-$24).

If diners aren’t careful, all those small plates can add up to big bills and lots of extra calories. Order too little, though, and you might walk away hungry.

The good aspect of ordering small plates: Customers can try more of the menu, satisfy a variety of diets and enjoy a communal dining experience.

To really take advantage of the benefits, though, think about dining in groups of four or more. n —Nevin Martell

Buñuelos de bacalao may sound daunting, but they’re simply deep-fried rounds of mashed cod. The briny golden fritters pair nicely with the honeyed aioli. $8.

(7271 Woodmont Ave., Bethesda; 301913-0003, www.jaleo.com)

La Malinche

The slight gaminess usually inherent in grilled lamb chops is tamed with a rich, roasty cocoa reduction. A bed of fingerling potatoes helps make this a substantial small plate. $12. (8622 Colesville Road, Silver Spring; 301-562-8622, www. lamalinchetapas.com)

Share Wine Lounge & Small Plate Bistro

Spears of verdant asparagus come dressed with a salty-savory-spicy-sweet combo of honey, soy, Thai chilies and ginger. $7. (Doubletree Hotel, 8120 Wisconsin Ave., Bethesda; 301-652-2000, double treebethesda.com/Food-Drinks-Fun/ Share-Wine-Lounge-Small-Plate-Bistro)

Carole Sugarman is the magazine’s food editor. Nevin Martell is a freelance writer who frequently writes about food from Washington, D.C.

stacy zarin-goldberg (2)

It’s a Small World

Jaleo

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Shareable asparagus is dressed with a salty-savory-spicysweet combo of honey, soy, Thai chilies and ginger at Share Wine Lounge & Small Plate Bistro in Bethesda.

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Hardy’s BBQ is one of the standouts at the Potomac Village Farmers Market.

Hien Vu serves up the flavors of Vietnam at the Dalat Deli stand at the Olney Farmers & Artists Market.

a Moveable

Feast

Our picks for the best finds at

local farmers markets

By Marian Burros | Photos by Amy Moore

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Fresh seasonal fruits and vegetables from nearby farms are the core of every farmers market, but they’re not the only draw for customers. From breakfast crêpes and Chinese dumplings to baklava and pulled pork, many Montgomery County markets offer a treasure trove of prepared foods—some so superior to those sold in shops and restaurants that they are definitely worth a detour.

Farmers markets are exploding in popularity nationwide. In 2013, there were more than 8,000 in the United States, up from 3,700 in 2004, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The Montgomery County government website listed more than 20 markets in 2013, but there are at least that many additional smaller ones operating throughout the county. Some of the biggest are so successful that vendors have to wait for space to open up, according to Mitch Berliner, who co-founded the Bethesda Central Farm Market and the Pike Central Farm Market in Rockville.

As the modern reincarnation of market day in medieval towns, these markets are becoming so popular that developers consider them an amenity that will draw buyers to a new apartment complex or subdivision.

While weekday markets target customers buying groceries and lunch, weekend markets have become an integral part of some communities: a place for family outings, meeting friends for brunch or lunch, watching cooking demonstrations, listening to music and, of course, shopping. The Olney Farmers & Artists Market is a prime example. A visit to its bucolic location, with plenty of grass and large shade trees, is like spending a day in the country. Visitors can sit at tables or stroll around a section of juried artwork.

Other markets may not be as pastoral, but they, too, offer amenities, such as activities for children.

Bethesda Central Farm Market holds a pie contest for nonprofessionals in late summer.

No matter their size, markets also have become incubators for entrepreneurs, who view them as an inexpensive way to test their offerings before putting money into a brick-and-mortar site. That’s the case with Frankly…Pizza! owner Frank Linn, who brought his mobile pizza oven to the Kensington Farmers Market before embarking on plans to open a location in Kensington.

Still other vendors have learned that they can earn a decent livelihood by selling at four or five markets a week. Bakeries and restaurants also find that selling at markets is a great way to advertise their products.

After visiting about 20 markets in the Bethesda area, we’ve come up with eight that offer a variety of vendors worth seeking out. >>

Young Harvests sells packages of tender greens, arugula and pea shoots at the Pike Central Farm Market in Rockville.

Get to the Saint Michel Bakery early: Its pastries sell out at the Montgomery Farm Women’s Cooperative Market in Bethesda.

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farmers markets

Bethesda Central Farm Market Arlington Road and Wilson Lane, Bethesda; 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sundays, April to December; 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sundays, January to March; www.centralfarmmarkets.com

Patisserie Poupon’s pastries will make you think you’re in Paris.

Heirloom Kitchen: It’s hard to choose from among Christine Ilich’s collection of deeply flavored vegetarian soups. Often made with vegetables from her garden, they include: soothing sweet pea in the spring; and lively watermelon gazpacho with mint, cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers, bits of hot peppers and a cooling touch from cucumbers in midsummer. Pints are $7 each. Equally tempting is the spectacular creamy Thai, suffused with the heady fragrances of lemongrass, kaffir, galangal, chili, coriander, coconut and sesame oils and beautiful chunks of vegetables, with a touch of heat, for $8.

Ilich, who worked in New York restaurants before moving here, is planning to sell her soups in local stores.

Customers will find everything from fresh soup to wooden cutting boards at the Bethesda Central Farm Market.

Patisserie Poupon: Assume that any item with a crust from this Georgetown branch of a Baltimore bakery will be a flaky perfection of butter and flour that will certainly remind you of a little bake shop on the Left Bank.

Choose a rich, creamy leek quiche with Gruyère-like Comté cheese and custardy filling for $6; a rich, but homey individual puff pastry tart filled with apples and applesauce for $4.50; or an individual lemon tart with the perfect blend of acidity and sweetness, topped with meringue, in a pâte sucrée crust for $4.50.

Affinity Woodworks: KC Cromwell produces finely crafted maple, wal-

nut, oak and sycamore bowls, cutting boards and cheese boards, as well as larger pieces of furniture in his shop in Culpeper, Va. These handmade knockouts will improve the look of anything you put in or on them. Cromwell is a former Green Beret and Iraq war veteran with a fine eye and skilled hands. He began working with wood when he was a young boy. In 2009 he turned his hobby into his occupation. “I always wanted to be a woodshop teacher,” he says. “Now I do that, too. People always come up to me at market and ask me if I can repair this or that. I’m making a good living.”

Bowls cost $85 and up; cutting boards and cheese boards go for $35.

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Montgomery Farm Women’s Cooperative Market 7155 Wisconsin Ave., Bethesda; indoor market, 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays; outdoor market (weather permitting), 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays; and 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturdays; www.farmwomensmarket.com

Vendors sell everything from jewelry to furniture on the grounds of the Montgomery Farm Women’s Cooperative Market.

Pastries at Saint Michel Bakery

Saint Michel Bakery: This quintessential French bakery in Rockville usually sells out of its wares early. Where else can you get a croissant made with the premium French butter Charentes for $2.15 or one made with Président, the lesser-quality French butter, for 30 cents less?

Bite into the increasingly popular canelés—little cakes with crunchy caramelized sugar surrounding a custardy interior—that are just 55 cents each or the spectacularly rich version of bread pudding your mother could make if she were French, for $2.05 per serving. Breads are just as special: the miche, a country bread of white and rye flour, is perfect for sandwiches; one quarter-loaf is $3.15.

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farmers markets

Kensington Farmers Market Kensington Train Station, 3701 Howard Ave., Kensington; 8 a.m. to noon Saturdays year-round; 301-949-2424

Cara Mia Bakery: Mia Kerns has been baking since she was 10. She kept at

An assortment of treats at Cara Mia Bakery

it even when she became a lawyer and then started a family. She quit lawyering but kept on baking. “When I found out I didn’t need a commercial kitchen to bake for a farmers market, I ramped up my output and started selling in Kensington,” Kerns says. She makes cookies, summer pies, muffins and granola bars, but her pièce de résistance is a chocolate-lime cookie with cocoa nibs and a heavenly touch of lime. She also sells her grandmother’s recipe for old-fashioned cranberry ice-box cookies with pistachios, an unusual and highly addictive combination.

Chocolate-lime and cranberry ice-box cookies are $8 per dozen.

Pinch: Dan Zhu’s family has been making traditional northern Chinese dump-

lings for at least four generations, beginning with his great-grandmother. These are boiled, not steamed, and have delightfully tender skins. Filled with a savory mix of pork, chicken, lamb, beef or veggies, they are served with pickled slaw and boiled peanuts with star anise and a kicky sauce of black vinegar, garlic, soy ginger and red pepper sauce. Cost is $8 for six. The dumplings are also available at Bethesda Central Farm Market on Sundays and Pike Central Farm Market in Rockville on Saturdays.

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farmers markets

Olney Farmers & Artists Market MedStar Montgomery Medical Center, 18101 Prince Philip Drive, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sundays, May to November; Sandy Spring Museum, 17901 Bentley Road, Sandy Spring, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sundays, January through March; www.olneyfarmersmarket.org

Chef Jacob Gomes serves up traditional Indian food at Zest of Bangladesh at the Olney Farmers & Artists Market.

Zest of Bangladesh: Order from this stand and you’ll be eating like a sultan. Indian food fans will fancy the chicken biryani, with all the classic, intriguing tastes and aromas and a little heat—onion, garlic, ginger, cumin and turmeric—plus the traditional basmati rice, for $9. The puri provides an amazing, non-greasy treat of deep-fried lentils and flour stuffed with a spicy filling of carrots and onions for $1 each.

Chef Jacob Gomes, who also caters, was chef to the sultan of Oman for 30 years, according to his son, Francis Gomes.

Dalat Deli: Anyone who has ever visited Vietnam will immediately be transported there when walking by this stand

owned by Trung Nguyon; the exotic aromas that perfume the air on the streets of Vietnamese cities are just as enticing here. Give in to the compulsion to try everything, including tender grilled pork with rice served with nuoc mam (fish sauce) for $6; two summer rolls stuffed with rice noodles, shrimp and greenleaf lettuce perfumed with Thai basil and served with peanut sauce for $4; and two chicken skewers marinated in lemongrass, nuoc mam, honey, soy sauce, lime leaves, onion and garlic for $4. Trung Nguyon’s mother, Alice Vu, is one of the cooks behind the authentic food.

Go Fish: Missy Carr graduated from L’Academie de Cuisine in Gaithersburg

and now has a food truck from which she sells the best lobster roll in town: a quarter-pound of sweet lobster meat tossed with just the right amount of mayonnaise, a touch of lemon and parsley and piled into the classic New England split-top hot dog bun for $15. Another top-notch option is the shrimp taco. Served in a soft, warm flour tortilla, shrimp are bathed in a slightly spicy creamy sauce; two for $9.

“I happened into this by accident,” Carr says of her business. “I got a truck and it took on a life of its own.” Also available at Shady Grove Farmers Market on Wednesdays, on Rockledge Drive in Bethesda on Thursdays and at the Montgomery Farm Women’s Market on Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays.

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Pike Central Farm Market Rockville Pike between Old Georgetown and Montrose roads, Rockville; 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Saturdays, April to November; www.centralfarmmarkets.com

Rhita Douglass and her Rita’s Crepes

Young Harvests’ rice noodle wrappers.

Young Harvests: Gossamer-thin rice noodle wrappers hold a deeply flavored mix of tender lettuces, organic tofu and shredded carrots and red cabbage mixed with the pungent flavors and fragrances of basil, mint and cilantro, and served with snappy coconut peanut sauce. Two salad rolls go for $6. But the main product produced by Robert and Annie Young is an amazing selection of salad mixes of young tender greens, arugula and pea shoots, grown on 7 acres of what was once the home of George Washington’s nephew, Bushrod, in Charles Town, W.Va. A 5-ounce bag costs $5. “The idea is a fresh, healthy way to balance all the carbohydrates,” says Robert Young, who came up with the salad mixes about three years ago. Be sure to also get the tangy dress-

ing of extra-virgin olive oil, apple vinegar, molasses, low-sodium soy sauce and ginger and herbs; 8 ounces costs $5. The couple also sells at the Bethesda Central Farm Market on Sundays.

Rita’s Crepes: The lines can be long for Rhita Douglass’ crêpes. They are the perfect Sunday morning made-to-order brunch that can be prepared with many fillings, both sweet and savory. Order a crêpe and pay, then shop while it’s prepared. The sweetness and lightness of the 16-inch crêpe adds another dimension to the warm and satisfying hominess of the potato, zucchini, onion, cheddar and egg fillings; cost is $8 each.

Douglass also sells at the Bethesda Central Farm Market on Sundays.

Meat Crafters: The King of Sau-

sage Makers has a variety for everyone. Mitch Berliner, a fixture in the Washington-area food world for years and co-founder of both the Pike Central Farm Market and the Bethesda Central Farm Market, co-owns the business that makes these amazingly non-greasy—but flavor-infused—sausages. Favorites are Santa Fe chicken, with sundried tomatoes and a hint of heat; lamb merguez with fennel, mint and North African seasonings; and rosemary lamb. Cost is $10 to $12 for 12 ounces, depending on the type of sausage. You also can find the sausages at the Bethesda Central Farm Market on Sundays.

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Potomac Village Farmers Market Potomac United Methodist Church, Falls Road and Democracy Boulevard, Potomac; 2 to 6:30 p.m. Thursdays, May to October; potomacvillagefarmersmarket.net

Hardy’s BBQ: Last year Roxie and Corries Hardy decided to make a full-time job of cooking and selling barbecue made from family recipes. The recipe for pulled pork ($8) and ribs (half-slab for $15) comes from Roxie’s grandfather and dates back to the 1920s, while the recipe for the pulled smoked chicken and barbecue sauce used on the ribs comes from Corries’ grandmother. “Barbecue is my husband’s passion. He eats it almost every day,” Roxie says. The couple also sells at Montgomery Farm Women’s Cooperative Market on Fridays and Saturdays.

■I Heart U: The desserts sold by Samin Malik and her sisters reflect their Middle Eastern upbringing. Here you’ll find one of the more elegant baklavas that you’ll ever encounter—its classic paper-thin layers of buttery phyllo are bursting with pecans, almonds and cashews and convey just the right amount of sweetness. An ample slice is $4.99. For something much plainer, but equally well-made, try the moist pound cake made with butter and bearing the slightly exotic flavor of cardamom; a mini loaf is $5. Malik always reminds her customers that the sisters use organic ingredients. “One day my sisters and I want to have a chain of bakeries,” Malik says.

Corries Hardy mans the grill at Hardy’s BBQ.

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Shady Grove Farmers Market Johns Hopkins University Medical Center at Key West Avenue and Broschart Road, Rockville; 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Wednesdays, May to October; shadygrovemarket.org

Simply Delicious Desserts:

Keisha Sherman is following in the footsteps of her grandmother, who ran a bakery in Petersburg, Va. Don’t miss her Apple Cinnamon Streusel Coffee Cake with a brown sugar glaze. It’s old-fashioned perfection—moist with just the right amount of sweetness. The cake slices beautifully and is baked fresh every morning. A 9-inch, 1-pound loaf is $8. “I love doing the markets because you meet a lot of different people and meet the farmers from whom we buy our ingredients,” says Sherman, who began baking full time about seven years ago. Sherman also sells at Bethesda Central Farm Market on Sundays and Potomac Village Farmers Market on Thursdays.

Shady Grove features both food and wares.

Rod’s Sharpening Service:

Rod Koozmin provides same-day service, making it easy to get your knives sharpened. Drop them off at Koozmin’s stand, go shopping and pick up the sharpened knives when you leave. “No matter the length, six knives can be sharpened in

about 15 minutes, any kind including those with a serrated edge,” says Koozmin, who charges $7 for each item and also sharpens scissors and garden tools.

He says he also teaches customers how to sharpen the knives themselves, but it’s probably better to let him do the job.

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farmers markets

Silver Spring Fresh farm Market On Ellsworth Drive between Fenton Street and Georgia Avenue, Silver Spring; 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturdays, April to December; 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturdays, January through March; www.freshfarmmarkets.org/farmers_markets/markets/silver_spring.php

Praline Bakery:

Thank the White House for this splendid partnership between Susan Limb and Patrick Musel. “I met Patrick during the Clinton and George W. Bush administrations,” Limb says, when both were working with famed White House pastry chef Roland Mesnier. In 2006, the pair opened a bakery and bistro in Bethesda and branched out to farmers markets.

It’s hard to choose from among their classics, whether it’s the individual hamand-cheese quiche with custard filling flecked with nutmeg for $5; a seldom-seen pissaladiére with crispy crust, gooey cheese and just enough anchovies for $3 per slice; or a sugar-andcinnamon-topped apple-walnut Danish with buttery, browned flaky crust for $2.50. The pair also sells at the Rockville Farmers Market (Route 28 and Monroe Street) on Saturdays.

Downtown Silver Spring is lined with farmers’ booths.

Atwater’s Bakery: Mention the jala-

peno bread to anyone from Baltimore, where the bakery is located, and those in the know simply smile and nod. Toast it a little to intensify the cheddar flavor and enhance the heat from the freshly pickled jalapenos. Interestingly, the flavorful bread was created by accident years ago when one of the bakers mistakenly made a double batch of dough and didn’t know what to do with the extra. He decided to experiment and created the bread, which has gone through several iterations since, head baker Dylan Meyers says. The jalapeno bread, an organic white bread with a little whole-wheat flour and Mexican oregano, is $6 for a 1½-pound loaf. You can also find Atwater’s Bakery at the Olney Farmers & Artists Market on Sundays. n

Praline Bakery

Marian Burros is a longtime Bethesda resident and former food writer for The New York Times. To comment on this story, email comments@bethesdamagazine.com.

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This Gaithersburg warehouse, operated by Montgomery County’s Department of Liquor Control, distributes alcoholic beverages to more than 1,000 licensees throughout the county.

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Public Spirits Should Montgomery County be in the business of distributing and selling alcohol? Plenty of people say it most definitely should not.

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public spirits

Potomac’s David Trone, coowner of Total Wine & More, one of the country’s largest private retailers of beer, wine and spirits, derides Montgomery County’s alcoholic beverage control system as “a throwback to Prohibition.”

In a strictly historical sense, he’s correct.

The county’s control regimen was instituted some 80 years ago by E. Brooke Lee, soon after ratification of the 21st Amendment ended Prohibition. Lee, a former state comptroller and former speaker of the Maryland House, was a private developer in 1933—and Montgomery County’s undisputed political boss.

A rural area of fewer than 50,000 residents at the time, Montgomery County had been “dry” since voting in an 1880 referendum to ban the sale of alcoholic beverages. “Colonel Lee,” as he was known in deference to his decorated service in World War I, was not himself a teetotaler. But he nonetheless saw controlling the sale of alcoholic beverages— along with restricting other vices, such as gambling and horse racing—as good for business, according to his grandson, commentator and columnist Blair Lee IV. “For him, it was strictly practical,” says Lee, who lives in Silver Spring. “He wanted to keep the county an attractive place to live, so he wanted to [control] certain obnoxious practices.”

He adds: “The colonel’s motive was not revenue whatsoever.”

Maybe not, but money is the single greatest factor in today’s ongoing debate over Colonel Lee’s legacy. Now an urbanized area with more than 1 million residents, Montgomery County is the only such jurisdiction in the country to control both the wholesale distribution and the retail sale of beer, wine and liquor— generating $25 million to $30 million in annual profits for the public coffers.

“The challenge has always come down to the fact that it is a moneymaker for the county, and how do you replace that money?” says former County Executive Doug Duncan, who nearly 20 years ago tried to privatize the county-run

Total Wine & More’s David Trone stands amid the many wines at his McLean, Va., store, where he says Montgomery County customers come in search of better prices and selection.

retail liquor stores. Duncan ultimately dropped the issue after resistance from both the county council and several powerful members of the county’s delegation in Annapolis.

That resistance remains today, with the county’s power structure in Rockville skeptical of being able to replace the money that’s generated.

Though today’s average annual profit from the Department of Liquor Control is less than 1 percent of the county’s nearly $5 billion annual budget, “the amount of money is not trivial,” says Scott Fosler, a former council member who served on the county’s 2010-11 Organizational Reform Commission.

Even so, he favored privatization dur-

ing his council tenure back in the ’70s and ’80s. And the consuming public today appears to share that view.

“If you ever had a referendum to take down the whole system, it would pass with 90 percent,” observes one member of the county’s delegation to the state legislature.

In recent years,

state Comptroller Peter Franchot has successfully moved to dismantle a similar liquor control structure in Worcester County on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. Now he’s ready to take on the state’s largest jurisdiction, though doing so will require the approval of the Maryland General Assembly.

“Montgomery County needs to get

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out of the liquor business,” says Franchot, the first Montgomery County resident to hold the comptroller’s job since Colonel Lee. “They don’t do a good job at it.”

Franchot hits on one of the few areas of widespread consensus: The current system often doesn’t work efficiently, and it hasn’t adapted well to consumer attitudes and tastes. Until the early 1960s, you could buy liquor by the drink at just four restaurants in the entire county— Potomac’s Old Angler’s Inn and Normandie Farm, among them. Though the number of restaurants where alcoholic beverages are served has swelled to about 650 over the past half century, critics say the liquor control system has struggled to keep up in an era of craft cocktails and microbrews.

“Our model works fine if all you want is Bud or Coors,” says County Councilmember Hans Riemer. “But if you want to choose from hundreds of craft beers and craft whiskeys, then our system puts costs and risks on business owners that they don’t experience in other places.”

Jeff Heineman, the chef-owner of Bethesda’s Grapeseed American Bistro, used to work in the restaurant industry in neighboring Virginia and Washington, D.C. In Montgomery County, he says, “everything takes more time, more effort, more expense to get the same or less of what you want.”

Similar sentiments were voiced last year during deliberations of the county’s Nighttime Economy Task Force, which was created by County Executive Ike Leggett at the prodding of Riemer and fellow Councilmember Marc Elrich. The task force was formed amid concerns that Montgomery County is losing out to the District and Northern Virginia in attracting millennials, whose earning potential is seen as a key fiscal antidote to the county’s graying tax base.

Like other restaurant owners in the county, Heineman has had to deal exclusively with the county to obtain beer, wine and spirits, rather than going to a private distributor or wholesaler. As he sits at Grapeseed’s bar on a Wednesday afternoon, Heineman talks about his upcoming Friday delivery from the

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George Griffin, director of the county’s Department of Liquor Control, has been credited with improvements to the operation, though he acknowledges more stores are needed.

Department of Liquor Control warehouse in Gaithersburg—a weekly order he had to place eight days in advance.

“We’ll call today or tomorrow to find out what we’re getting this Friday,” he says. “And they can’t actually tell us with 100 percent accuracy what we’re getting on Friday. The once-a-week delivery… makes it harder to maintain our wine list.”

In Virginia, by contrast, “you call up and get your delivery the next day,” he says.

As at many higher-end restaurants in the county, Grapeseed’s wine list largely consists of labels that the county warehouse doesn’t stock; they have to be obtained by “special order.” The Depart-

ment of Liquor Control procures these labels from an outside broker, so Heineman and fellow restaurateurs pay an additional markup that has run as high as 35 percent. Critics view this as an extra layer, or “tier,” in the process that isn’t necessary when the wholesale and distribution functions are in private hands.

If all goes well, Heineman will order a particular wine one week and receive it the next, but special orders made through the county can take up to two months.

The result is an expense for added inventory to ensure an adequate selection for customers at any given time.

“I probably have $20,000 [extra] tied

up in inventory,” Heineman says, “so that floats around your bottom line.”

Heineman had experience dealing with the county’s liquor control system before opening Grapeseed in 2000 and says he knew what to expect. But some fear other restaurateurs are being scared away.

“One person came to the Nighttime Economy Task Force and said he wants to open a restaurant in Montgomery County—but that everything he hears is that it is a nightmare to deal with the [Department of Liquor Control] and that he’s not sure he’s going to do it,”

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“One thing we know about control jurisdictions is that the abuse and misuse of alcohol is lower,” says George Griffin, a claim that privatization proponents dispute.

Riemer says. “So I think there’s a perception issue that might even be worse than the reality.”

The task force considered other liquor-related issues that might be affecting the county’s nightlife, notably closing hours. But the Department of Liquor Control structure “is the clearest problem,” Riemer says. “…It’s the obvious aberration between Montgomery County and our regional competitors.

It’s a giant sore thumb sticking out.”

Like most people in county government, though, Riemer prefers reform of the current structure rather than repeal—at least for now.

“My starting point is that the [Department of Liquor Control] can be made to work,” he says. “If we go at it that way, I think we have a chance of success. But if you go at it in a way that puts $25 million and 300 union jobs up in the air…”

Indeed, periodic debates over privatization during the past three decades have run up against fierce opposition from UFCW (United Food and Commercial Workers) Local 1994 MCGEO, which represents more than 300 workers employed in both the retail and wholesale end of the Department of Liquor Control. Union officials lobbied hard to kill Duncan’s plan to sell off the retail stores nearly two decades ago, when the issue reached the county’s delegation to the state legislature.

“Let’s assume for a moment that somebody came in and privatized,” says Gino Renne, president of MCGEO, which represents about 8,000 county government employees. “The fact of the matter is that those [Department of Liquor Control] workers will lose: They’ll lose seniority credits, their health care would not look the same, and I’d argue that their wages would not be the same.”

Even so, Renne acknowledges the need to consider changes to the Department of Liquor Control.

“I have friends who own restaurants in the county, and beer and wine stores, and there’s a certain level of credibility to their arguments,” he says. “Why don’t we bring the parties to the table—representatives of the restaurant community, representatives of the [private] beer

and wine stores, representatives of the workers, George [Griffin, director of the Department of Liquor Control] and his people—and let’s see how we can fix the problem.

“This is a service industry—I get that,” he adds. “And with that comes an obligation to deliver the highest quality level of service.”

But some question how far the current structure can be improved.

“I really don’t think there’s a fix that could make it as efficient as a free market situation,” Heineman says. “There are a lot of ways they could probably move closer to it, but you could never get there.

It’s defined not to be a free market.”

The current Department of Liquor Control—a successor to the Liquor Control Board that Colonel Lee established in 1933—was created in 1951 by an act of the Maryland Legislature in conjunction with Montgomery County’s move to charter government.

Today, the enterprise encompasses nearly 350 full-time positions, a fleet of 40 trucks, and a 200,000-square-foot warehouse in a former office park just west of Interstate 270 in Gaithersburg.

The warehouse distributes alcoholic beverages to more than 1,000 licensees throughout Montgomery County, from restaurants and private clubs to delicatessens, package stores and other private establishments licensed to sell beer and wine only.

Distilled spirits, along with beer and wine, are sold in 25 county-owned retail stores staffed by department employees.

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‘Total’ Control If you want to buy from the biggest retailer of beer, wine and spirits, you’d better be prepared to drive

By Louis Peck The country’s largest privately held retailer of beer, wine and spirits is headquartered in Montgomery County— but ironically, it doesn’t have a single store here.

The county recently provided $100,000 in incentives in a bid to ensure that Total Wine & More’s “support center” staff of 370 remains here. As a result, the company will complete a move of its headquarters by next year from cramped quarters at Potomac’s Cabin John Shopping Center & Mall to Bethesda’s Rockledge office park.

But don’t expect Total Wine & More—which currently has 104 stores nationwide, including four that have debuted so far in 2014—to open a retail outlet in the county anytime soon.

The reason? Montgomery County government, in large measure.

Company officials say the firm—owned by brothers David and Robert Trone, both Potomac residents—cannot operate stores within the strictures of the county’s current monopoly over the wholesale and distribution end of the alcoholic beverage market.

“Our business model is to provide the best selection, and to be hamstrung by the selection that is currently available in Montgomery County would not fit in our business model,” says Edward Cooper, Total Wine & More’s vice president of public affairs. “And [the business model] is also to be able to provide the lowest prices. You can’t do that when you’re battling against a monopoly.”

Patrons of Total Wine & More—which boasts more than 8,000 wines, more than 3,000 brands of distilled spirits and more than 2,500 beers in a typical store—don’t have far to go, however. There’s a store in McLean, Va., about a 20-minute drive from the company’s current headquarters, and another in Laurel, about a half hour away.

They’re part of what company officials refer to as the crossborder “bleed” of consumer dollars from Montgomery County.

The McLean store is said to be the company’s second best performer in the sale of wine.

“Our store in McLean rules the Maryland cross-border market,” David Trone says. “[People in] Potomac, Bethesda, all those areas, all go over to McLean. They can’t get any selection in Montgomery County, they can’t get great pricing, and they can’t get great service, and that’s all available right across the border.”

Trone, 58, who was born in Prince George’s County, grew up in Pennsylvania and opened a beer superstore in Harrisburg in 1984 while attending the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton

School of Business. The state of Pennsylvania controls the sale of liquor and wine—a battle is now underway to privatize the system—so Trone looked just across the state line.

The first Total Wine & More outlet opened in Claymont, Del., in 1991. Today, the firm has retail stores in 16 states—the company opened its first store in Minnesota late this winter—a nationwide workforce of 3,500 and annual revenues of $1.5 billion.

Did Trone anticipate this degree of success when he and his brother launched the business?

“We certainly knew we were going to move in the right direction, but certainly not to that degree,” Trone replies wryly.

Total Wine & More outlets average 20,000 to 30,000 square feet of space, with the Claymont store the largest at 50,000 square feet. Some stores offer wine tastings, and many contain classrooms where the staff—generally 40 to 50 employees per store—learns about customer service and safety.

Trone says the Laurel outlet is the largest package store in Maryland, with the company’s Towson store, just north of Baltimore, the second largest. At the moment, state law—which allows an individual to hold no more than one license for a retail store that sells alcoholic beverages—restricts the growth of Total Wine & More in Maryland. Robert Trone, 53, holds the license for Laurel, and David Trone, for Towson. (By comparison, there are seven stores in Northern Virginia, with another seven elsewhere in the state.)

Even if the Trones succeed in their efforts to change state law and obtain additional licenses, an expansion into the lucrative Montgomery County market would still encounter the obstacle of the county’s current liquor control system.

“We’re committed to seeing Montgomery County privatized,” Cooper says. “If the question is: ‘Would you have a store here if you could have additional licenses?’—the answer is yes, but in a privatized system.”

David Trone says Total Wine & More “would be happy to sit down with anybody and work up a plan that would have the county come out ahead on taxes, selection and availability.

And the restaurants, of course, would welcome it with open arms.”

But he’s not optimistic.

“All the voters want a change. The customers, they all want a change,” he says. “But it’s the leadership that is the issue.

They’re lagging behind the people because they’ve become beholden to special interest groups, such as the labor force of Montgomery County. And that’s where we need to change.”

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A former Duncan aide, Griffin was named to head the department in 2001 and is credited by many for tackling some of the department’s shortcomings.

“I think the Department of Liquor Control has much improved since George Griffin became director,” says Looks like wood.

County Councilmember Phil Andrews, a candidate for county executive this Lasts a lifetime. year. “We on the county council have pushed him to improve the service that the department provides to restaurants, for example, and I think they’ve done a good job in being more responsive.”

Griffin was once part owner of a Bethesda tavern. An affable man, he’s not unsympathetic to the complaints of Heineman and other restaurant owners. He points to a new warehouse trackWalpole’s cellular PVC material looks like real wood and it’s maintenance free. ing system, due to go into operation See our fence, pergolas, arbors, lantern and mail posts, outdoor furnishings, window boxes soon, that should take the mystery out and planters, also offered in natural wood. Visit our store nearest you. of what will be delivered to restaurants and when.

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WW19363_ARL.BETH.MAG.Mar.indd 1 1/24/14 12:36 PM Griffin also notes that the 35 percent markup on special orders has been cut DR. RACHEL COHN’S to 25 percent—and to 15 percent for some high-priced labels—to bring prices more in line with restaurants elsewhere.

And he has moved to address perennial sore points among the county’s conEYECARE BOUTIQUE® sumers: the number and quality of the county-run liquor stores.

Franchot, a long-time resident of Takoma Park, describes the store nearest him as an “embarrassment,” wisecracking that “it was like going back into medieval times going into that store.”

Griffin says that when he took over the department, many of the stores Voted by the readers of Bethesda Magazine V “were kind of dingy, bad stores. The first “Readers’ Pick, BEST PLACE TO BUY GLASSES” thing we did was to spruce them up and move them to better locations.”

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public spirits decades ago, there were 22. Today: 25.

“I believe we are underserved with our population,” Griffin says. “We should probably have 40 stores.”

By comparison, nearby Prince George’s County, second in population to Montgomery County, has 131 fullservice beer, wine and liquor stores that operate six days a week. (The Montgomery stores added Sunday hours within the past few years, a revenue-raising move prompted by the recession.)

Elrich says he has been pushing to open “flagship stores where you [would have] a much broader selection of wine.”

He also thinks more knowledgeable personnel should be staffing the county’s retail liquor stores.

“You ought to be able to walk into a wine store and have somebody talk with you about what they’ve got, and why you’d want it with your dinner,” he says.

Notwithstanding the decades of debate over the issue, there’s never been a comprehensive economic analysis of the

costs and benefits of maintaining or privatizing the current liquor control system.

Gordon Brenne, a Silver Spring accountant and self-described libertarian, presented a privatization plan to the Organizational Reform Commission in 2010 suggesting that the county could realize more annual revenue through incremental fees and taxes than it does with the existing liquor control system. He also suggested the possibility of a one-time gain of as much as $50 million through sale of the department’s assets.

In its final report, however, the commission questioned some of Brenne’s assumptions, concluding: “The bottom line is we do not believe that privatization, at this juncture, would generate revenues sufficient to make up for the $25 [million]-$30 million that is transferred annually to the general fund, under the existing system.”

Privatization advocates say the county is actually losing out on revenue, though, by local residents crossing county and

state borders in search of better prices and selection. “[One] reason Montgomery County should be privatized is that they’re losing so many dollars out of the county in what we call cross-border leakage,” says Total Wine’s Trone. “It’s going to the District of Columbia, it’s going to other counties—Howard County and Anne Arundel County—because the consumers are voting with their feet and fleeing Montgomery County.”

According to Total Wine, more than 20 percent of sales at its McLean, Va., store come from Montgomery County residents. And nearly 25 percent of sales at its Laurel store in Anne Arundel County are made by Montgomery County visitors.

However, Griffin, a former chairman of the National Alcohol Beverage Control Association, sees social as well as fiscal benefits to the county controlling liquor sales. “One thing we know about control jurisdictions is that the abuse and misuse of alcohol is lower,” he says, a claim that

UNIVERSITY of MARYLAND

EASTERN SHORE

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“If you ever had a referendum to take down the whole system, it would pass with 90 percent.”

—a member of the county’s delegation to the state legislature privatization proponents dispute.

Elrich opposes privatization for some of the same reasons Griffin mentions. “I frankly like the idea we’re not really in the alcohol promotion business,” Elrich says, contrasting the current structure to the “blowout sales” at private retailers.

But he also acknowledges the problems of operating a business within a governmental structure.

“We’re probably somewhat more risk-averse,” he says, explaining that the county might be reluctant to have a large inventory because of the risk of not

being able to sell it to restaurateurs. “But I don’t think it’s all that risky,” he says, “and we really should work closer with folks to figure out how to supply their needs better than we do.”

George Griffin readily acknowledges areas within his jurisdiction where there is room for improvement. But he also wearily observes that the Department of Liquor Control often takes the blame for issues outside its purview. One thing Griffin doesn’t control—despite misperceptions that he does—is the sale

of beer and wine in grocery store chains.

“It is a big complaint you hear,” he says. “People say, ‘The county ought to be out of the business because I can’t go into Giant and buy beer and wine.’ Well, it has nothing to do with the county.”

In fact, supermarket chains were permitted to sell alcoholic beverages in one store in each Maryland county up until 1978. Then the state law was repealed, though certain stores already selling alcohol were “grandfathered” in. Today, three supermarket chain outlets in Montgomery County operate under this clause: a Giant in White Oak, a Safeway in Olney and a Shoppers Food Warehouse in Germantown.

The chain store sales issue, a topic of perennial debate in Annapolis, highlights a broader historical and political reality: Just as Montgomery County’s 80-year-old control structure has proved resistant to change, so have most state statutes regulating the distribution and sale of alcoholic beverages.

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for being in the vanguard of embracing change on numerous social issues.

But it retains some of the country’s most restrictive policies regarding the sale of beer, wine and distilled spirits. When the General Assembly agreed in 2011 to the relatively modest step of allowing wineries both inside and outside the state to ship directly to consumers, Maryland became merely the 38th state to do so.

Many in Annapolis attribute the state’s resistance to the traditional strength of the lobby that represents small retailers of liquor, wine and beer—the so-called “mom and pop stores.”

“Everything is really tightly controlled, and at some point I think some of that control is going to have to loosen up a little bit,” says Delegate Charles Barkley of Germantown, who has chaired the subcommittee with jurisdiction over alcohol laws since 2011.

His subcommittee is part of the pow-

erful House Economic Matters Committee, about half of whose membership will turn over in the wake of the 2014 elections. Barkley thinks that may open the way in 2015 to loosening statewide restrictions on where alcohol is sold.

Since Maryland has vested virtually all powers to change liquor laws with the General Assembly, any request from county officials to change the Montgomery County control structure would come to Barkley.

“I’ve heard from consumers saying they’d like something different,” Barkley says with a chuckle. “I’ve also heard it from the wholesalers and distributors.

Of course, they would like to get into the county, so it doesn’t surprise me to hear from them.”

But he hasn’t heard from Montgomery County officials. “If the county came and said they’d like to go in a different direction, I think most people [in the

legislature] would probably be supportive,” Barkley says. “I think the biggest concern would be: OK, what happens to those county employees? And, if you went in a different direction, could you guarantee them equivalent jobs with the same benefits?”

At this point, none of the three Democratic contenders for county executive appears likely to call Barkley with such a request.

“I think the system is working reasonably well,” Andrews says, “and I’m not supporting scrapping it.”

Duncan, whose plan to privatize county retail stores nearly 20 years ago was the last major effort to alter the system, says he’s willing to take another look. But he stops short of advocating change. “Clearly we need to look at how to provide better customer service,” he says. “Does that mean privatizing some of it? [Or] does that mean changes

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within the current department?”

Leggett, who initially backed Duncan’s plan to privatize the retail stores in the 1990s, is also open to a discussion. But he notes that when a task force looked at Duncan’s plan two decades ago, it raised doubts about the economic benefit to the county.

The one person Barkley might hear from is James Shalleck, in the unlikely event he’s elected county executive.

The Republican candidate has vowed that one of his first priorities “would be a study of the whole [liquor control] department and the feasibility of privatizing it.”

“I would say that a key ingredient that is missing is an organized and vocal advocacy effort in favor of reforming the situation,” says one member of the county’s legislative delegation who requested anonymity due to the political sensitivity of the issue. “The restaurant associa 

tion is not pushing this. The chambers of commerce are not pushing this. And the [wine aficionados] of Montgomery County are not an organized, potent political force. …If they were, it would be much more likely that someone would put this out there, put it on the table and force folks to start taking a position.”

Even as he declares that getting

rid of the current Montgomery County liquor control system will be a “major focus” if he wins a third term as expected this November, Franchot concedes it can’t be done overnight.

“There is no question there are issues like employment of the current workforce and [revenues] that go to the county…that are significant,” he says during an interview in his high-ceilinged office at the state Treasury Building in Annapolis. “That’s why I think it needs to be studied and phased in.

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“But does it have to happen? Yes. Will it happen? Eventually it will—because government in Montgomery County is doing something that it shouldn’t do and which it’s not good at, which is selling liquor.”

Franchot believes “there will be a lot more tax revenue going to the county from increased economic activity once we get rid of [the Department of Liquor Control], because it’s a considerable wet blanket over the county right now as far as restaurants and other retail establishments are concerned.”

Private industry has argued much the same in recent years, as it has pushed to privatize liquor control systems in several states.

In 2011, voters approved a referendum privatizing the liquor industry in Washington state. Seattle-based Costco, one of the nation’s largest retailers of alcoholic beverages, pumped in more than $20

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million to get the referendum passed.

According to state officials there, Washington will realize about $50 million more in revenue in the fiscal year that ends this June 30 than it did in the final year of state-controlled liquor sales and distribution. But there also have been complaints that the fees imposed on wholesalers to make up for revenue have driven up prices for consumers.

Trone, whose company owns nine stores in Washington state, says that’s not the case. “With our stores, and with others like us—such as Costco—prices went down,” he says. It was only at the small, mom-and-pop stores, he says, that prices increased.

“What it gave us was a diversity of price,” he says, “and that’s the way the free market should work. You can go to Giant and pay a certain price, or you can

I really don’t think there’s a fix that could make it as efficient as a free market situation.”

—Jeff Heineman, chef-owner of Grapeseed American Bistro in Bethesda go to 7-11 and pay more. It’s your choice.

And that’s the fair way to do it: Allow the consumer to choose.” n Louis Peck has covered politics extensively at the local, state and national levels for four decades, and covers poli-

tics for Bethesda Beat, the daily local news service on BethesdaMagazine.com.

He lives in Bethesda and is on the faculty of Boston University’s Washington, D.C., Journalism Program. To comment on this story, email comments@bethesda magazine.com.

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Sweet cicely root tastes like licorice.

Where the

Wild Foods Are Venture outside and you’ll find a veritable feast at your feet. If you don’t believe it, just ask Silver Spring’s Matt Cohen.

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Plant expert and forager Matt Cohen, holding a sprig of nettles found growing along the Potomac River, often leads foraging walks in local parks.

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where the wild foods are

When Matt Cohen looks

at a grassy field dotted with dandelions and wild garlic mustard, he doesn’t see weeds. He sees salad, tea, even pesto.

And when he stops at a grassy knoll in the Takoma-Piney Branch park near his house in Silver Spring on a temperate winter day, he knows he’ll find something tasty—something alive, in fact. He roots around in a bed of dead matter, finds a cluster of feathery leaves and plucks it.

Ah, sweet cicely. A cousin to parsley.

He eats it, savoring the delicious hints of sweet anise.

“You can’t get any fresher than this,” he says, pinching the leaves in his hands.

A naturalist, plant expert and forager, Cohen is a throwback to another era. He designs edible gardens, leads foraging walks in area parks through Matt’s Habitats, his 11-year-old company in Silver Spring, and often goes foraging by himself.

A lean, youthful man with a brown, scruffy beard, the 43-year-old Cohen loves demolishing his discoveries. He has recipes for nearly everything he picks. He adds sweet cicely to his salads.

He brews twigs from a spicebush for tea.

He makes wild garlic mustard pesto with walnuts, olive oil and nutritional yeast.

In his universe, fresh food lies around every corner, his for the picking. He marks the seasons by what’s growing in his backyard or in the woods nearby.

“I like foraging just as winter is finishing up,” he says. “The new growth returns and the morels [a kind of mushroom] start popping up.”

Cohen is hardly alone in singing the praises of a meal plucked from the wild. Author Michael Pollan devotes the last chapter of his widely acclaimed 2006 book, The Omnivore’s Dilemma, to foraging and hunting.

A few years ago, in a New York Times story, Pollan extolled the virtues of a meal he had hunted, gathered and grown himself: “The menu featured braised leg of boar; morels I’d gathered in the Sierras; greens and fava beans from my garden; bread baked from, O.K., store-bought

flour, but leavened with wild yeasts I’d gathered from the air outside my house; and a galette made from Bing cherries I’d foraged from a neighborhood tree.”

Others also celebrate the food at their feet. Euell Gibbons wrote the classic Stalking the Wild Asparagus in 1962. Steve Brill, known as the “Wildman” of New York’s Central Park, created one app called Wild Edibles for identifying wild foods and another with recipes called The Wild Vegan.

“Ninety-nine percent of the past 2½ million years, we have been directly involved in acquiring our own food,” says Bill Schindler III, an associate professor of anthropology at Washington College in Chestertown who occasionally teaches a foraging class on Capitol Hill.

Schindler believes shows such as the CBS reality series Survivor have piqued people’s interest in foraging. He grew up foraging and hunting in New Jersey.

He bakes his own bread, makes his own cheese, hunts, fishes and buys from local hunters and farmers near his house in Church Hill, Md., on the Eastern Shore.

“Foraging is not a viable way to feed people, but it is a viable way to change their perception of the world,” Schindler says.

Todd Wiss, the executive chef at Firefly in the District, thinks about local food wherever he goes. The Springfield, Va., resident has found a fig tree on the campus of Howard University; hunted for ramps, which are like wild leeks, in West Virginia; searched for tree nuts in Rock Creek Park. And he adds the purple flower from chives and orange marigolds to his salads.

Though he has never served a completely foraged meal at the Dupont Circle restaurant, he likes using wild items as accents—whether it be a mushroom or a jam made of pawpaw, a local fruit.

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Cohen shows a spicebush branch to a group of college students as they search for edible plants near the Potomac River.

Left (from top to bottom): Cohen checks out the aroma of spicebush, which was once used in place of allspice; the seeds of garlic mustard can be used as a seasoning; nettles can be dried and brewed as a medicinal tea.

Beach’s running pace has slowed considerably over the past decade due to dystonia, a rare neurological disorder.

“I like foraging just as winter is finishing up.”

—Matt Cohen, pictured here in late march Cohen doesn’t want to make

everyone a hunter-gatherer. He just wants the world to look around and savor nature.

He even sees value in those scourges of the local environment, invasive plants.

On this warm winter day, he stops before a stand of tall bamboo. “The little shoots come out in late April, early May,” he says. That’s when he brings his foraging groups to pick the short, spiky shoots. “We don’t get completely rid of them, but we beat back the bamboo.”

He boils the shoots for 15 to 20 minutes to get rid of any naturally occurring cyanide, and then stir-fries them.

“They’re better than the shoots out of the can,” he says. “If you can’t beat it, eat it.”

And the larger bamboo growth? “You can make wind chimes, cups or bamboo flooring,” he says.

Cohen grew up in Columbia, Md. He became interested in sustainable food while working as an engineer for IBM in Raleigh, N.C., in the early 1990s.

He quit his job to apprentice at a few organic farms in the South. He learned a lot about growing, but it was hunting for wild food that really excited him.

He liked the idea of foraging for mushrooms and other wild edibles more than the day-to-day work of a farmer.

When Cohen moved to the D.C. area in 1998, he built gardens at D.C. schools and taught students about growing

fruits and vegetables. He took classes in plant identification at the USDA Graduate Program. After that, he taught for Ancestral Knowledge, a nonprofit based in College Park that sponsors the MidAtlantic Primitive Skills annual gatherings, before venturing out on his own with foraging walks and landscape design in 2003.

His own quarter-acre lot in Silver Spring features a versatile garden with vegetables and fruits. He built a cold frame garden, which functions like a small greenhouse set on the ground, to grow lettuce in the winter for fresh salad year-round.

Cohen’s wife, Elizabeth Hargrave, shares his interest in nature. One of their

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where the wild foods are

Foraging for Information Here are several ways to learn about edible plants in the wild.

n Silver Spring’s Matt Cohen leads walks geared to adults that run from two to four hours in area parks in Silver Spring, Chevy Chase, Washington, D.C., and Virginia. The cost is $25. Reservations are required. For information, go to www.mattshabitats.com. n Cohen’s wife, Elizabeth Hargrave, is a health policy researcher who writes a blog about wild places and wild food in the region at www.thenatural capital.com. n Ancestral Knowledge in College Park offers classes in edible plants, beekeeping and tree tapping. Go to www.ancestralknowledge.org/event. n Bill Schindler III, an anthropology professor at Washington College in Chestertown, occasionally teaches at the Hill Center at the Old Naval Hospital on Capitol Hill in the summer. For a list of his programs, go to hillcenterdc. org/home/programs/1339.

—Laura Hambleton

first dates was a hike with the young adult group at All Souls Church Unitarian in Washington, D.C., where the two met. Cohen pointed out some wild edibles. “That scored some points with her,” he says. “She remembers me showing her yarrow and sweet cicely.”

They married in 2002, and Hargrave sometimes joins him on his guided walks. She particularly likes foraging for wild oyster mushrooms, which she fries in oil with garlic until slightly crispy.

Cohen says he leads about 18 public and a dozen private walks—for groups of about 15 people—a year.

On this particular day, he walks slowly through the woods, eyeing small specks of green hidden by a blanket of dead leaves. Hairy bittercress, which is similar to watercress, grows well in cold weather, he says, pulling out a plant at its roots. “The leaves grow on either side of the stalk, like arugula or watercress,” he says. “It has a smooth leaf, with wrinkly edges. The taste can be pungent, though right now it is moderate.”

He nibbles a leaf. The flavor is mild but distinctive, perfect to jazz up a salad.

He collects the seeds of garlic mus-

tard in the late spring and early summer to use as seasoning. It’s like pepper, he says. Wild mustard emits a chemical that suppresses growth in other plants, which is why some gardeners and native plant enthusiasts try to get rid of it.

Cohen has never become seriously ill from eating the wrong plant. “When you are foraging, you need to know your plants,” he says. “You have to do the banana test.”

Translation: You have to know that what you picked isn’t poisonous. “If you are about to eat a banana, and someone questions you about how safe it is to eat, you would laugh and say, ‘Of course it’s edible, it’s a banana,’ ” Cohen says. “In the same way, you should be that comfortable with a wild edible food before you eat it, and especially before you offer it to someone else.

“If someone asks me if I’m sure I can eat that chicken-of-the-woods mushroom, they wouldn’t be able to shake my confidence by questioning me. I eat them several times every summer when they come up. That’s the banana test.”

Cohen eats plenty of items others might regard with skepticism, including cattails, young kudzu and stinging nettles.

He wears gloves to pick nettles, which he eventually dries and boils for a medicinal tea, or steams for a vegetable that’s high in protein. Knowing the right trick, he says, they even can be eaten raw.

Rounding a turn in the forest path,

Cohen looks up and points to a locust tree, a leafless, black silhouette against a gray sky. “In late April or early May, the flowers come out,” he says. “They are hard to get, but sometimes there might be some on a lower branch. They taste like some of the sweetest fruit. Or vanilla.”

Farther along, he finds a spindly spicebush, in the laurel family, with bumps on its bark. He scrapes a twig with his thumbnail, and the plant emits a seductive scent of spice—it once was used as a substitute for allspice.

Red berries, the spiciest part of the bush, mature in September. Cohen clips spicebush twigs year-round and boils them for 15 to 20 minutes until the water turns brown. “Then smell the aroma,” he says.

He keeps a stash in his spice rack at home, along with other wild foods he has preserved, such as mulberry jam, wild persimmon preserve, garlic mustard seeds and dried mushrooms.

Then there’s sap. As the weather thaws and sap begins to run, Cohen taps maples.

Any kind: sugar, silver, red, box elder, even the invasive Norway maple. “People think only maple trees in Vermont can be tapped,” he says. But “all maples can be tapped as far south as they grow.”

He knows the sap is flowing in February when he pokes a knife in a maple branch and a teardrop of sap emerges. If he’s lucky, he might see it dripping from trees pecked by yellow-bellied sapsucker birds. Sap also can seep out of twigs nibbled by squirrels or form “sapsicles.”

When the timing is right, Cohen drills a small hole in a maple, fits it with a hollow tube (perhaps a bamboo stalk) and hangs a bucket to collect the drips. In a day, he might collect a gallon. He’ll either boil down the sap for the sugar or drink it straight.

“It has a really subtle sweetness,” he says.

His list of natural bounty goes on: mulberries, wine berries, wild grapes, lamb’s-quarter, purslane, all parts of pine

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Matt Cohen (Spicebush); Wendell Smith (Lamb’s-Quarter); Emilian Robert Vicol (nettles); marja van Bochove (Wild Carrot)

trees, wild carrots (which look similar to poison hemlock), wood sorrel (which resembles clover), daylilies. He also fishes in the nearby Potomac, Rappa­ hannock and Patuxent rivers. He catches mostly sunfish and catfish. “I’m by no means a polished fisherman,” he says.

He went deer hunting just once. “It was pretty much waiting in the cold and sitting freezing my you-knowwhat off on a winter morning in a tree stand,” he says. He has since developed an allergy to red meat, so he no longer eats venison.

What about taking his foraging knowledge another step? Could he live in the wild?

“I’m pretty set on [living] here,” he says as he leaves the park for home. “…I do like the area and having people close by.” n Laura Hambleton lives in Chevy Chase and writes the “OlderWiser” column in The Washington Post. To comment on this story, email comments@ bethesdamagazine.com.

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“People are looking for new things from me, more playful, more edgy,” says José Andrés, shown here at his restaurant Jaleo in Bethesda.

“It’s what people expect from me.”

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bethesda magazine interview

My Dinner with Andrés

By Marian Burros

By the time José Andrés was 8, the future king of tapas was baking in his mother’s kitchen in their home outside Barcelona. Four years later, he was charged with cooking the family paellas over an open fire. So it’s no surprise that by 15 he was attending culinary school in Barcelona, and eventually apprenticing at Ferran Adria’s El Bulli, the avantgarde restaurant that set culinary wheels spinning around the globe before closing in 2011.

Since coming to America in 1990 and settling in Bethesda, Andrés has taken advantage of every opportunity. At 44, he manages to do 10 things simultaneously without losing track of any one of them.

He runs his company, ThinkFoodGroup; serves as chairman of the L.A. Kitchen; is founder of the nonprofit World Central Kitchen, which works in Haiti; and teaches at Harvard and George Washington University. In the past 20 years, he has opened 16 restaurants—some owned, some managed, others in partnership—with four more opening later this year.

Last year he also introduced his own line of prepared foods, including sea urchin caviar and potato chips fried in extra virgin olive oil.

Little wonder that in 2012, Time magazine named Andrés one of the 100 most influential people in the world.

I spoke with the world-famous chef at Jaleo in Washington, D.C., during a private tasting of a steady stream of prepared foods and new menu items, among them traditional fried potatoes with

liz lynch

fried egg and Galician-style mussels. The table became Andrés Central, as various people—from chefs to his partner, Rob Wilder—stopped by. It was typical of the controlled chaos that is his life.

Q&A You and your wife, Patricia Fernandez, became American citizens last year. You were sworn in twice, including by Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor at a private party for about 200 friends at the Supreme Court. Why did you decide to come to America?

The first time [I visited], I was in the Spanish navy and I came on a ship.

From my perch on the mast, I saw the Statue of Liberty. It filled my soul.

I loved American movies, especially Westerns. In Barcelona, I could go to a bar and see the NBA. There is so much opportunity here. Anyone from anywhere can work for a better life. One of the teachers in the cooking school in Barcelona offered me an opportunity to come.

You have 16 restaurants with more on the way. When will you have enough?

That’s a conversation that keeps going through my brain. Opening more restaurants keeps me alive, keeps me motivated. The last 20 years, we were learning and building momentum. I am very lucky to carry the torch for Spanish food, but in another 20 years I don’t want to have an empire of 100 tapas restaurants, [with] tapas in all the airports. I don’t want to be hostage to where I came from. You have to separate my company, ThinkFoodGroup, from me, José Andrés. My company may open 100 tapas restaurants and 20 Jaleos, but not me.

I have been breaking my brand into Chinese, Greek-Turkish, avantgarde. I am opening China Chilcano, a Peruvian-Chinese restaurant, in Washington this fall. In Washington, I have Zaytinya, which is Greek and Turkish and Lebanese. I have Oyamel, Mexican; America Eats; and Minibar, which is avant-garde; and in Las Vegas, I have China Poblano, a Chinese-Mexican restaurant.

People are looking for new things from me, more playful, more edgy. It’s what people expect from me. I want to be more known for the Minibar than Jaleo. Opening China Chilcano is more exciting than opening 20 Jaleos.

With so many restaurants, how do you keep up the quality?

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josé andrés sophisticated, organizational charts, communications. It’s about the relationship with the troops. At the end of the day, you want to pay people the best you can—any restaurant company does— and we have a very good bonus plan.

[But] sometimes it’s [about] more than money: It’s loyalty, a good work environment, the feeling you’re being treated with respect.

The quality in my restaurants has gone up in 20 years. I don’t speak to them every day—I can’t, but I don’t have to. Keeping up quality doesn’t happen in one day. Making sure you don’t lose control, this is important. I tell my people I’m patient, but I want to see improvement.

One of the dishes they served us today, the presentation was wrong. I told them: “This is a rustic dish. Why are you manicuring the bread?” My voice rose a little when I had to send it back twice.

I have learned that patience sometimes pays off—but, yes, I am demanding.

How do you choose the food you will serve?

For Spanish concepts, I bring a team of people from the restaurant and we go to Spain every summer—four or five guys.

They help me cook on my vacation; they go around to restaurants.

For the Peruvian-Chinese restaurant, I brought team members to Peru. The cuisine of Peru, melding Chinese style with native ingredients, is called chifa. It uses time-honored Chinese techniques with Peruvian ingredients. I fell in love with Chinese restaurant cooking when I first came to New York. I’ve been to China four or five times.

Do you taste every dish in every restaurant?

Yes, I need to. I eat every week in some of my restaurants. Every business meeting is in a restaurant, and I am always saying, “May I put my fork in your plate?”

You say you’re most excited about

Minibar, which serves the avant-garde cooking of El Bulli, using culinary foams, flash freezing with liquid nitrogen and sous vide (cooking in a plastic pouch).

The Washington Post’s critic was underwhelmed by the Penn Quarter restaurant, and some refer to the cooking as “molecular gastronomy,” implying it isn’t real cooking. What do you say to critics?

First, we are booked for the next five years. Minibar is my creative restaurant.

It is avant-garde. It’s like haute couture— the creations of the year; the rest is prêta-porter [ready-to-wear].

It’s not Spanish cooking per se, even though it began in Spain. We have frying in oil, roasting in ovens, boiling in water like any restaurant. We have gelatins like Escoffier. If you agree that roasted chicken is molecular cooking, then I will agree that at Minibar we do molecular.

What we have is something else that I call finesse that is very elegant. We don’t do molecular cooking; we do cooking.

It’s nonsense.

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Have you had any failures?

We opened Oyamel and Jaleo back to back in Crystal City in 2004—two big restaurants next to one another in an area that was still growing, so we didn’t do well and had to make a quick decision to close one restaurant. Oyamel was open only one year.

Location, location, location.

My partners wanted to open Café Atlántico 18 years ago in Miami. We were ill-prepared to do anything away from Washington. It lasted a year. Miami showed me [that] if you want to have multiple restaurants, you have to build the right team to give the right support. [But] even great food and great service may not be enough to have a successful business.

I have had a hard time trying to find out exactly what was the missing link. That’s why you have to be so respectful of this business. It’s part of the learning experience, an expensive learning experience.

Did you bring tapas to the United States?

I’m not pretentious, but I would accept the

title of bringing tapas to the U.S. I would never claim I invented tapas. In Spain 20 years ago, tapas was something else: It was served at a bar. Standing up. It was to be able to order quickly many different things.

I’m very proud Washington was one of the early cities to have the most small plates. It is tremendous here. I am happy to see that small plates are the wave of the future. Restaurants serving small plates are opening up everywhere. They don’t all call it tapas. The Mexicans call it antojitos. Chinese call it dim sum.

But not everyone likes to share. And you don’t have to share if you don’t want to. If you don’t like to, bring the plate 10 inches toward you from the middle of the table. Hold a fork on right and a knife on left, and everyone knows what you mean: No sharing. No problem.

In addition to philanthropic work and teaching, you’ve worked on school food in Washington and the Bronx,

and served on the board of the Foundation for the National Archives. Yet you still find time to film your PBS cooking series, Made in Spain; win a James Beard award; write an editorial for The Washington Post on immigration reform. Where do you get the time?

What suffers?

I am a little overextended. Sometimes my mental health suffers. [He laughs.] I turn down many things, but I have a big team. Remember: You are only as good as the people you have around you.

I am 44. If I can’t do those things now, I won’t be able to do them later.

You worked with Michelle Obama on her Let’s Move! childhood obesity campaign and you have professed astonishment over how badly Americans eat and over the government’s inability to find money to feed the poor. You also expressed disappointment in the 2014 farm bill that Congress passed in February.

Even in an economy that is the biggest

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josé andrés in the world, we have many millions who do not have enough to eat. It is very astonishing. We need to be asking ourselves how we can resolve the issue in our lifetimes. We have to do something different than we are doing now, because it is not working. We should be feeding people smarter. If we cannot resolve these issues here in America, it will be very difficult to solve these issues anywhere else in the world.

We’ve passed a farm bill that, if anything, is going to put more people in harm’s way than helping people. Some of the money in the farm bill goes to the bottom line of corporations and wealthy individuals, instead of going to people who need food stamps.

Mrs. Obama is a frequent patron of many of your restaurants, and you’ve cooked for the Obamas at the White House. What’s it like to cook at the White House?

I always keep things there very private.

What is your favorite restaurant?

Whatever one I am about to open.

When you’re not eating in one of your restaurants, where do you eat in this area?

Toki Underground, 2 Amys, Kaz Sushi Bistro, Clyde’s. When I have the opportunity, I go to The Inn at Little Washington and stay overnight. But I do that once a year.

Some people see the future of dining as having fewer high-end and more quick, cheap meals. Do you agree?

High-end restaurants aren’t going anywhere. It’s always the same percentage of fancy vs. ordinary places. But even high end changes: They may become more informal. I like that kind of dressedup moment, but we are more comfortable eating in jeans and a shirt. It doesn’t mean you can’t have the best meal of your lifetime in jeans and a shirt.

I also see more chef-driven restaurant

companies getting into the casual, fast-food business. Like Shake Shack and Chipotle.

More high-end restaurant people are getting into fast food. I foresee a future where more and more chefs will create successful, high-quality fast food restaurants. I hope that one day I can be one of these chefs.

There will be more and more of those restaurants where there will be a food person behind them instead of a clown.

I also see more high-end restaurants opening in the countryside, like Volt, [Bryan] Voltaggio’s place in Frederick.

If the economy holds, people will be going out to eat more and more. Unfortunately, it takes people away from cooking at home.

Do you cook at home?

Any time I am around. This weekend I made a stew of lima beans and pumpkin with boiled egg. I made oxtail stew.

I made chicken wings and noodles with tomatoes, lots of onion, chili peppers and leftover champagne and water. Every-

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thing is boiled together like a paella, but with noodles. It’s very hard for me to cook the same thing twice. I only do it when my wife asks me. I like change.

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Do you exercise?

Every two or three days I do an hour on the elliptical. I scuba dive, I play golf and I walk. I play basketball once a week, exercise every day. I love to play basketball. I play at the [private Catholic] school where my daughters go. It’s very close to here. I am trying to keep my weight down.

When you have leisure time, what do you do?

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I like to go to farmers markets—the one in Dupont Circle, one in Falls Church. I like to talk to farmers.

And you collect cookbooks, 1,500 to date, with many first editions. But seven years after moving into your home in Bethesda, your library is still unfinished. Why do you collect, and which was the first book? And when will the library be finished?

[He shrugs and smiles sheepishly.]

Books for me—this is a way of learning. Totally, this is my college education. The history of cooking is my passion and cooking is my passion. Books connect you to the past. We can explain the history of the world through food.

My first book was The Cuisine of Fredy Girardet. I bought it when I was 15, and that summer I cooked my way through half of it. My favorite is the 1826 edition of The Physiology of Taste

by Brillat-Savarin. He was a visionary.

He said: “Tell me what you eat, and I will tell you who you are.”

So what do you like to eat? What’s your favorite meal?

I like sea urchin, but I have also driven 800 kilometers [500 miles] in Spain to eat one steak. n

Marian Burros lives in Bethesda and was a longtime food writer for The New York Times. To comment on this story, email comments@bethesdamagazine.com.

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the p

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Should parents allow their underage kids to host drinking parties at home? The law says no—and anyone who doesn’t heed that may face some hefty consequences.

By Gabriele McCormick

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Just before midnight on a chilly Saturday last October, officers from the Montgomery County Police Department’s Alcohol Initiatives Section responded to a complaint about a loud party in Darnestown.

When the homeowner came to the door, she told police that she knew teenagers were drinking with her son in the basement. Officer Jeremy Smalley later noted in his report that the woman seemed unconcerned, even though the partygoers were clearly under the legal drinking age of 21.

After some deliberation, the woman allowed the officers inside, where they found some partyers in the basement and others hiding upstairs. When they gave the teenagers Breathalyzer tests, they recorded blood alcohol content (BAC) readings as high as .12. For a 160pound man, that’s the equivalent of having had five 12-ounce beers or 1½-ounce shots of hard liquor in an hour; for a 120-pound woman, it equates to three over the same period, according to Stanford University’s Office of Alcohol and Education.

It takes far less than that to affect a drinker’s reflexes and judgment. According to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), most people begin to experience mild speech, memory, attention and balance impairments at a reading of .05. At .08—the legal limit in Maryland—the average drinker’s muscle coordination and driving skills are significantly impaired. At .12, the person may experience reduced coordination and balance, loss of critical judgment, vision impairment and slower reaction times.

The officers issued 21 citations to teens that night. They also issued 21 citations to the homeowner for violating Maryland’s adult responsibility law—one for each underage person she allowed to drink in her house.

As the officers completed the paperwork for the homeowner’s son—the party’s host—they noted in their report that his mother gave him a “high five”

Fines for hosting underage parties in Maryland can be steep. …a $2,500 fine for the first underage drinker and a $5,000 fine for each additional drinker.

and wanted a picture of him signing his first alcohol citation. Not happening, the police said.

A few days later, Sgt. Mark White, who heads the alcohol enforcement unit, discovered that fake mug shots of the woman and her husband had been posted on Facebook.

Over the past few years, White and his team have seen an increasing number of underage drinking parties where parents or other adults were present. Although the Montgomery County Police Department doesn’t keep statistics on adult involvement in underage drinking parties, a search of 2013 police reports turned up 14 instances in which parents or other adults were home while teenagers were drinking there. “[Parents] know we’re drinking,” says a recent graduate of Bethesda’s Walter Johnson High School. “They just come down [to the basement] once or twice to make sure it’s all under control.”

The same month that police broke up the Darnestown party, a photo from another party cast a spotlight on parental responsibility in underage drinking. The photo, which quickly went viral, showed Maryland Attorney General and gubernatorial candidate Doug Gansler at a crowded Bethany Beach house. According to The Baltimore Sun, Gansler and other parents had rented it

for their sons’ post-graduation celebration that June. Red Solo cups, the iconic symbol of high school drinking, were visible amid the dancing teenagers, several of whom were shirtless.

Though Gansler said he had stopped by only briefly, critics say he should have investigated to see if the teens were drinking, and broken up the party if they were.

“Do I have any moral authority over other people’s children at Beach Week in another state? I say no,” Gansler told The Baltimore Sun in October when the story broke.

But days later, he admitted his failure to act was wrong.

Parents either excuse or condone underage drinking for a variety of reasons. Many see it as an inevitable part of the high school experience. Some parents—laid-back baby boomers, perhaps, who came of age in the ’60s and ’70s— allow their teenagers and their teenagers’ friends to drink in their homes because they want to appear “cool.” Others justify it as safer than the alternative.

“They’re going to do it anyway, and [letting them drink at home] is so much better than worrying that they’re driving around,” says the mother of a Walt Whitman High School senior who allows her son and his friends to drink at her Bethesda home.

“But I certainly don’t hand them the beer,”

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she says. “And I do collect their keys. No one’s going anywhere.”

A group of mothers with teens at Whitman have even discussed taking turns supervising so their kids can drink at their houses. Think of it as the teen equivalent of a play date, with Mom there to make sure everyone drinks nice.

The Whitman women have yet to follow through with a plan. But one of them explains the appeal.

“I don’t care about drinking, I don’t care about anything but the driving,” she says. “If they’re drinking at her house or her house or my house, you know nothing’s going to happen. But please don’t let them drive.”

Some parents see a drinking party as facilitating their son’s or daughter’s popularity—a tap-the-kegs-and-theywill-come philosophy. “We handled a Bethesda party in January where both parents were present,” White says. “They said they were having the party because their child has social issues.”

The divorced mother of a BethesdaChevy Chase senior says she and her ex-husband allow their daughter to host drinking parties and invite underage friends. “I feel good when athletes and a lot of the popular kids come,” the girl’s mother says.

When the girl’s father went out of town on business last year, his daughter threw a party at his house—with both parents’ knowledge. “Her father said she could have the party as long as I was there,” the mother says. “But I couldn’t hang out with them. I went home, and then popped in a couple times to check on them. No one looked too intoxicated—but the next day I did find empty cans and a bong or two.”

One Bethesda mother believes supervised drinking at home will teach her son, who’s graduating from Walter Johnson this spring, to drink responsibly and better prepare him for the party scene at college. “We’re just setting them up for trouble if they don’t know how their bodies react when they drink,” she says.

“The [minimum] drinking age of 21 is

binge Week The underage drinking party

most often condoned by parents of high school students doesn’t last a single night—it lasts seven.

For one week in June, hundreds of recent high school graduates flood the Delaware and Maryland shorelines for a week of partying that many attendees acknowledge includes drinking, drugs, sex and other reckless behavior.

“If you think your kids are going to Beach Week to lie in the sun and ride the boardwalk rides, you are really naive,” says Georgine DeBord, a longtime employee with the Montgomery County State’s Attorney’s Office and coordinator of Montgomery County Teen Court.

Most underage drinking arrests occur in June, according to Bethany Beach police Sgt. Brandon Elliott. “Many 18-year-olds are not mature enough to know what’s really going on,” he says.

“Add in alcohol and you get some very bad judgment.”

What especially concerns him are the sexual assaults, robberies and alcohol or drug overdoses that can occur when teens are unsupervised. “We’ve been to parties where no one on the lease is actually there,” Elliott says.

“Someone’s brother, sister or parent rented the house.”

As Montgomery County Teen Court coordinator, DeBord deals with teenagers cited for alcohol offenses. She’s always astounded when parents allow kids to attend Beach Week after they’ve already had trouble with drinking. Once she asked the father of a teenage girl who’d been cited for alcohol: “If your daughter came home and said, ‘Sally’s parents are going away for the weekend. We’re going to have a party on Friday night with kids from a lot of different schools—a couple of kegs, Fireball [whiskey] and some pot, too. I’ll be there until Sunday,’ would you let her go?” The father responded, “Of course not.” So DeBord asked, “Why are you going to let her go to Beach Week

and do the exact same thing?”

Many parents figure their recent graduates have earned the right to go.

“They’ve worked so hard for four years with academics, sports and other activities,” says one mother of a Walt Whitman High School student in Bethesda.

“Why shouldn’t they be allowed to go and blow off some steam?”

Another mother whose son attends Bethesda’s Walter Johnson High School points out that these kids will be off on their own soon anyway. “So, what’s different?” she asks of Beach Week. That’s why her son will be going to Bethany Beach in June.

Even parents who are apprehensive may find themselves relenting, not wanting their son or daughter to be ostracized. “There’s intense pressure from my son and his friends to let them go,” the mother of a Whitman senior says. “He wants to do what everyone’s doing.”

Former Bethesda resident Susan Coll wrote a novel about the phenomenon, aptly titled Beach Week (Sarah Crichton Books, 2010). In an excerpt that ran in Bethesda Magazine in May/June 2010, Coll depicted parents trying to plan for all the contingencies of Beach Week. A Whitman mother sounds straight out of the novel when she says, “We had a Beach Week planning meeting with the parents and the girls. I don’t think they’ll get out of hand. I went to Beach Week when I was their age and was fine.”

Right, DeBord says. “Even if your kid isn’t doing anything, chances are they’re going to be in a house or go to a house where something illegal is going on,” she says. “If and when the police come, they’re going to charge everybody. At that point, your son or daughter may be 18 and get charged as an adult. Why put them in that position?”

Elliott says the best policy is for parents to keep their teens home. “If they don’t come to Beach Week,” he says, “they’re less likely to do something stupid.”

—Gabriele McCormick

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just wrong. It makes them sneak around, which drives me crazy. It was 18 when we grew up, and we survived.”

Then there are the parents who simply don’t want to confront their teens about drinking, even if they disapprove.

“Basically I’m a wimp,” admits the mother of a recent B-CC graduate. “I myself am guilty of knowing what was going on and not stopping it. I’ve even cleaned up from a party the next day.

Because the drinking isn’t overt, I don’t say anything.”

A recent Whitman graduate’s mother says she, too, turned a blind eye to underage drinking in her house during those high school years. She still regrets it. “I knew, but didn’t want to face it,” she says. “It can just be such an ugly battle, and as long as they’re at home…”

One night in December 2012, though, she woke at 3 a.m. to a commotion in the basement. She found a partial case of beer, a half-gallon of liquor that was half empty and three teenage boys drunk, including her son.

“One of them was so drunk, he passed out on the floor and started throwing up.

I didn’t even know his mother, and my son just begged me not to call her,” the woman says. So she and her son cleaned up the boy and sat up the rest of the night watching him.

“I still regret my decision not to call his mother or 911,” she says. “It was stupid. Almost every day I think about what could have happened to him or how it could’ve easily been my son in someone else’s basement and no one calling me.”

Many parents think that as long as they don’t provide the alcohol or see the teens drink, they’re not responsible, according to Mothers Against Drunk Driving. But they are. All 50 states have laws against providing alcohol to minors.

When police arrive at an underage party, however, it can be tricky sorting out who provided the alcohol. That’s why nine states, including Maryland, have enacted “social host laws.” These hold the property owner responsible,

“I feel good when athletes and a lot of the popular kids come.”

—the mother of a B-CC senior who allows her daughter to host drinking parties

regardless of who brought the booze.

They allow police officers and the State’s Attorney’s Office to charge and prosecute parents who aren’t home during a party, as well as parents who are home and claim they didn’t know there was underage drinking.

It’s the police officers’ decision, though, whether to cite any adults for hosting and/ or furnishing alcohol to minors. White says they typically base that decision on the amount of alcohol they find, parents’ admissions, partygoers’ statements and/ or officers’ own observations. Officers also can leave a party and charge the adult hosts later.

Fines for hosting underage parties in Maryland can be steep. Adults who knowingly allow anyone under 21 (other than family members) to drink in their home may incur a $2,500 fine for the first underage drinker and a $5,000 fine for each additional drinker. Those are criminal violations. Parents who furnish alcohol to minors or violate the adult responsibility law also may be held liable for any harm those underage drinkers might cause. Imagine a teenager leaving your

house drunk and then crashing his or her car into someone. The teenager and the victim could both hit you with a civil suit.

In February, the Darnestown woman

ended up pleading guilty to two counts of violating the adult responsibility law and was fined $2,500—later reduced to $1,000—for each count. The remaining 19 citations—which could have totaled nearly $100,000 in fines—were “stetted.” That means the case won’t go to trial as long as the woman meets the terms of her twoyear supervised probation, which includes regular meetings with a probation officer, no additional legal infractions, a parenting class and 50 hours of community service.

“That was one of the best sentences we’ve received in this type of case,” the police department’s Smalley says. “Of course I’d always like more, but I’m encouraged the courts are seeing this as more of a problem and issuing stiffer penalties.”

In March 2013, James and Jennifer Kress of Bethesda were cited for allowing minors to drink on their property after police officers saw some teenage boys leave their house and get into a car while two

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urinated on the street. According to his report, Smalley approached the car just as another boy was about to get into the driver’s seat. He said he could smell alcohol on the boy’s breath, and the boy admitted he had been drinking at the Kresses’ home, where both parents were present.

James Kress, an attorney with Baker Botts in Washington, D.C., admitted to knowing underage teens were drinking in his basement, according to Smalley, but said he hadn’t planned to let them leave. As the officers administered Breathalyzer tests to the 17 teens in the Kresses’ basement, some made “smart remarks and acted unruly,” according to Smalley. Police issued 16 citations to the teens, some of whom had BACs as high as .14, the equivalent of six drinks in an hour for a 160-pound male and three to four drinks for a 120-pound female.

Both Kresses were cited for allowing underage drinking on their property. Jennifer Kress pleaded guilty in July and paid a $1,000 fine. Prosecutors dismissed charges against James Kress, who, in accordance with a plea agreement, instead made a donation to an organization that combats underage drinking.

Many parents don’t realize they’re

setting the stage for serious and sometimes long-term problems by allowing teens to drink, experts say. A 2004 study in the Journal of Adolescent Health found that teenagers who drink alcohol provided by parents are significantly more likely to drink regularly and to engage in binge drinking—defined by the NIAAA as consuming enough alcohol within two hours to reach BAC levels of .08, the legal limit of intoxication.

Binge drinking can result in teens vomiting, passing out or engaging in other risky behaviors—all while parents are home.

“When you have 40 kids in the basement drinking alcohol, bad judgment happens,” says Maura Lynch, a former assistant state’s attorney now with the Rismiller Law Group in Rockville.

“Some kid passes out and chokes and it’s over. Alcohol poisoning, date rape—the

what maryland Law says ■ If police find alcohol at a party, each underage individual—even one registering .00 on a Breathalyzer—can be charged as “a minor in possession.” Underage individuals may be fined $500 for a first offense and ordered to perform community service. Alcohol screening and education also may be required.

A second offense can carry a $1,000 fine, and the person may be determined to have a drinking problem. The Motor Vehicle Administration may be notified, and in order to retain his or her license, the person may be required to appear before the Medical Advisory Board to prove there is no drinking problem.

■ If police find an individual has a fake ID, he or she can be fined $500 for a first offense and $1,000 for a second offense.

■ Anyone who serves alcohol is required to protect an intoxicated person from harming himself, herself or others. A server may be liable if negligence is proved.

■ Buying or furnishing alcohol for someone under 21 or allowing someone under 21 to consume or possess alcohol is illegal (with the exception of the adult’s son or daughter in his/her own home). Adults are civilly and legally liable.

■ An adult who provides alcohol to someone under 21 is liable for the drinker and any damages he or she causes. Even if adults and homeowners are not on the premises or did not provide the alcohol, they’re still liable.

■ Adult homeowners can be sued, regardless of whether they were home or aware of the party, for personal injury, alcohol poisoning, sexual assault, vandalism, violence and car crashes resulting in any damage, injury and/or death.

■ Adults can be fined $2,500 for the first underage drinker and $5,000 for each additional one.

Source: Montgomery County Department of Liquor Control

stories would make your hair curl.”

Last July, police broke up a party in Olney—just 7 miles from where three underage teens were killed while riding with a drunk driver two years earlier.

The father of the girl hosting the Olney party was home all evening and denied knowing that teenagers were drinking, though police noted that one highly intoxicated teen vomited the entire time they were there. According to police, the man’s daughter finally admitted that several people had brought alcohol and that she had asked her father to stay upstairs—which he did.

Forty partygoers consented to Breathalyzer tests, and 21 were cited with BACs as high as .17, equivalent to seven drinks

in an hour for a 160-pound man and four to five for a 120-pound woman.

As with the Darnestown party, the homeowner in the Olney case opened the door to police. But not everyone does—even when there’s an obvious problem.

Last October, officers went to check on a party at a North Potomac home. They watched as a “party bus” dropped off several teens. They could hear the party and saw beer cans in the yard, but when officers went to the front door, the homeowner wouldn’t let them in. Police say he acknowledged there was a party but denied there was any drinking, despite those beer cans and the vodka-filled water bottles that officers found outside.

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crossing the party line

Even after Officer Jeffrey Innocenti told the homeowner he could see a boy throwing up inside, the man still denied them entry. When the boy continued to vomit, EMTs from the Montgomery County Fire Department were called, but the homeowner barred them from entering, as well.

Eventually, the boy’s father arrived, and he and the homeowner carried the boy up from the basement. Police gave Breathalyzer tests to the boy and another obviously drunk partygoer who had come out of the house.

After more than an hour, during which the homeowner remained uncooperative, police issued him four citations for the two teens they had tested: two for furnishing alcohol to minors and two for violating the adult responsibility law by allowing juveniles to drink on his property. He refused to sign them, and police say he denied any wrongdoing. The police finally left without knowing if the other teens in the house were OK. Charges against the homeowner are pending, with the case expected to reach court later this year.

Sometimes uncooperative parents

can make a situation volatile. Take a party this past January at a home in Damascus, where 35 partygoers, many of them allegedly underage, celebrated the 21st birthday of Nicholas Magas. The young man’s mother, Cathy Magas, denied entry to police, so, in an effort to curb the teens’ drinking, they tried to confiscate a keg and several cases of beer sitting outside.

According to Montgomery County police, Nicholas Magas tried to grab back some of the beer, allegedly assaulting the officers in the process.

George Magas, the father, then started to shove, kick and punch officers, according to police, with his 18-year-old son, Eric, joining in the fight. George Magas allegedly went for an officer’s gun. Police eventually used their Tasers on George and Eric Magas.

Meanwhile, partygoers inside the house banged on the windows, yelled and cursed at the 11 officers who had

“They’re going to do it anyway, and [letting them drink at home] is so much better than worrying that they’re driving around.”

—a Bethesda mother who allows her son, a Walt Whitman senior, to drink with his friends at home converged on the property, police said.

After subduing the Magas family, police issued underage drinking citations to 21 partygoers.

George, Cathy, Nicholas and Eric Magas each were charged with 21 counts of furnishing alcohol to minors. George, Cathy and Eric Magas also were charged with second-degree assault, and George Magas was charged with attempting to disarm a law officer. Other charges against the family members include attempting to incite a riot and obstructing and hindering law enforcement officers in the performance of duty.

Police say it could be more than a year before the case is resolved in court.

People generally look at statistics, including the crime rate and the number of arrests made, in evaluating police departments. But when it comes to underage drinking, “effectiveness also needs to be defined as what doesn’t happen,” says Cpl. Rebecca Innocenti, a Montgomery County Police Department spokesperson.

The department knows how many people have been arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol and cited for underage drinking. What it doesn’t know “is what did not happen because of those arrests—the number of collisions that were prevented, the number of injuries prevented, and the number of

innocent lives saved,” Innocenti says.

Several officers were thinking about that last December, when they were called to an underage drinking party in the Stonegate neighborhood of Silver Spring. The teenage boy who lived at the house said that his mother was at the Rehoboth Beach Seashore Marathon, according to officers, but that she knew about the party. “She joked, ‘Just keep it under 100’ as she was leaving,” the teen said. Almost all of the partygoers were students at Our Lady of Good Counsel High School in Olney, and most were underage.

In the living room, police found a girl and a boy passed out on the couch, with the boy lying facedown. The kitchen was a sea of red plastic cups, and, according to police, marijuana paraphernalia was strewn around the basement. Police gathered partygoers from the basement, as well as those hiding in upstairs bedrooms and the garage, and administered Breathalyzer tests. They issued 11 citations that night. One teen also was cited for possession of drug paraphernalia.

Around 1:30 a.m., as the last parents arrived at the house to pick up their sons and daughters, the officers received another call on their radios: a fatal drunk-driving accident less than 6 miles away. Although the accident wasn’t connected to the Stonegate party—it

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involved a 49-year-old driver—White wonders if an underage drinking citation three decades earlier might have saved the man’s life.

At the scene of the accident, where he went after the party, White watched the Montgomery County Police Collision Reconstruction Unit at work.

“When parents come to pick their kids up at parties, they ask us why we’re ruining their kids’ lives [with citations],” White said. “I want to show them this”—he gestured toward the mangled car with the driver’s body still inside—“this is why.”

Sometimes, of course, even a parent’s

best efforts to prevent underage drinking can fail. Just ask Bethesda’s E.J. Dionne and his wife, Mary Boyle.

They say they did everything they could in December 2012 to ensure that there would be no drinking at the 1920s-themed, 18th-birthday party they threw for their daughter, a Whitman High School senior at the time, and 80 of her friends.

“We were very wary about the party,” says Dionne, a Washington Post op-ed columnist. “We said 100 times that we wanted no drinking. Best we knew, [our daughter] had let all her friends know.”

Dionne hid the little alcohol he kept in the house and stationed two security guards at the front door to ensure that partygoers didn’t bring in alcohol and hadn’t already been drinking. He didn’t know that the teens had discussed the no-drinking rule over social media earlier in the day. Some made plans to meet an hour or so before the party and pregame, or drink before the party started.

One girl said she and her friends each drank several shots of hard liquor. All of them managed to slip past the security.

The party went fine at first. “Kids were dancing, and as far as I could tell there was no drinking,” Dionne says. Then an obviously drunk girl arrived, made it past security and passed out on a living room couch. “My wife and I were very worried,” Dionne says. “We tried to wake her up, we tried to reach her parents and couldn’t, so we called an ambulance.”

After that, Dionne says, “everything else just went crazy.”

The call for an ambulance triggered a call to police. Dionne acknowledges that his wife initially didn’t want to let officers inside. “We just wanted an ambulance, not the police,” Officer Jeffrey Innocenti recalls her saying. But after a teen leaving the house told the officers that “everyone inside is drunk,” Boyle relented.

At 10:30 p.m., the mother of a Whitman senior received a call from Dionne, asking her to pick up her daughter. “She’s in no condition to drive home,” he said.

When the woman arrived, “it looked like a war zone,” she recalls. “There were multiple police cars with lights flashing, an ambulance, stretchers and EMTs. It was unbelievable.” Inside the house, she found her daughter drunk and waiting for police to issue her a citation.

In the end, officers cited 33 underage drinkers with BACs as high as .23. That’s the equivalent of 10 drinks in an hour for a 160-pound male and six to seven for a 120-pound female. Neither Dionne nor his wife or daughter received citations.

“What’s scary are the kids who continue functioning with these extremely high BAC levels,” says Officer William Morrison, who retired from the Alcohol Initiatives Section in October after almost 28 years. “A BAC of .20 would put you or me on the ground. These kids are sitting around having conversations.

These are kids who’ve been drinking for a long time and built up that tolerance.”

For Dionne and his wife, the incident was devastating. They’re adamant that they’ll never host another teenage party. “We have one more teenager at home who knows that,” Dionne says. His advice to parents: Celebrate birthdays by going out to dinner. “[The birthday party] was a terrible experience,” Dionne says. “After a year, I laugh a little now—but the laughter is just covering the sadness.” n Gabriele McCormick is a frequent contributor to the magazine. To comment on this story, email comments@bethesda magazine.com.

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Joanne Shin works on a painting with her teacher, Sun Ju Choi, at her side.

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Seeing the

Light

After suffering a massive stroke at age 12, Potomac’s Joanne Shin could have continued to rage over what she’d lost. Instead, she started to paint. And that’s when she began to see the world differently.

By Amy Reinink Photos by Michael Ventura

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seeing the light

A selection of Joanne’s works

In Joanne Shin’s bright, sunny art

studio, located in the spare bedroom of her Potomac home, an oil painting depicts a country road winding through clusters of green trees and yellow fields.

The light brown path journeys into and out of the shadows before fading into the horizon.

“I call it ‘Pathway to Heaven,’ ” says Joanne, gazing at the painting with a half smile. “Like life, there are dark places along it. At the end, it’s sunny and warm, but you can’t always see that from where you are.”

At 20, Joanne is well acquainted with life’s dark places. She took up painting after a massive stroke at age 12 left her with a brain injury that makes it difficult to move and speak. Her mother, Hyoungsun, thought that doing intri-

cate brushwork would help her daughter’s stiff limbs relax, so she would position Joanne’s wheelchair in front of a makeshift easel and place a paintbrush between her clenched fingers.

The first paintings were “disasters,” Joanne says, laughing.

After a few months, however, she began to master the multiple dimensions and details of a given scene. She started to see more of the big picture—including the light shining just beyond the woods.

Joanne and her younger brother, Justin, were born in Taejon, South Korea, a small town about 100 miles south of Seoul. Their father, Dongwook, was an associate professor in the department of computer engineering at Chungnam National University.

In 1998, her parents brought Joanne to the doctor when she experienced a piercing headache that wouldn’t go away.

They were shocked by the diagnosis: Their 4-year-old daughter had suffered a cerebral hemorrhage, or bleeding on her brain. Joanne recently had taken a hard fall while playing, so doctors attributed the hemorrhage to the trauma. They assured the Shins that the bleeding was minor, with the only lasting effect some weakness on Joanne’s left side.

Around the same time, Dongwook accepted a position with the National Institutes of Health’s U.S. National Library of Medicine in Bethesda, so in 1999, the family moved to Potomac.

Once they settled in, they brought Joanne to a neurosurgeon at Georgetown University Medical Center to get his take

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Speaking of one of her paintings, Joanne says: “Like life, there are dark places along it. At the end, it’s sunny and warm, but you can’t always see that from where you are.”

ART EXHIBIT From 2 to 5 p.m. on May 17, Joanne Shin will host an art exhibit with more than a dozen of her works at the Potomac Community Center, 11315 Falls Road. To view a video of her paintings and a video of Joanne’s life, visit BethesdaMagazine.com.

on the left-side weakness. He wondered whether the hemorrhage Joanne had suffered was actually a stroke. Stroke affects roughly six in every 100,000 children in the United States, according to the National Stroke Association.

Further, the neurosurgeon wondered whether Joanne might have moyamoya, a rare and progressive brain disease that affects mostly children and young adults, in which the blood vessels at the base of the brain narrow or become blocked.

“Moyamoya” means “puff of smoke” in Japanese and refers to the tiny blood vessels that form around the blocked arteries in order to compensate for the reduced blood flow to the brain, which increases the patient’s chance of having a stroke. The disease, which is thought to have a genetic component, occurs in roughly one in 100,000 people in the United States each year, experts say.

But the neurologist said a diagnosis would require a cerebral angiogram, an invasive procedure that poses its own dangers, so the Shins opted to trust the opinion of their doctor in Korea.

Aside from regular physical therapy sessions to work on the slight leftside weakness, Joanne lived the life of an average American kid, taking swimming lessons, riding bikes, joining the softball team and playing the trumpet in the school band. She made close friends at Cold Spring Elementary School and Cabin John Middle School, and regularly attended sleepovers and birthday parties.

Then, on Sept. 22, 2006, when she was in seventh grade, Joanne came home from softball practice with a headache and asked her mother for medicine.

While Hyoungsun was walking to the medicine cabinet, Joanne passed out.

“I couldn’t do anything but scream,” Hyoungsun says.

Justin, just 9 at the time, called 911 and then his dad, crying, to tell him that Joanne was being taken to the emergency room at Shady Grove Adventist Hospital in Rockville. From there, she was flown to Children’s National Medical Center in Washington, D.C. When Dongwook arrived at Children’s, he recalls a grim scene. Doctors BethesdaMagazine.com | May/June 2014 139

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seeing the light

The Shins—Justin, Joanne, Dongwook and Hyoungsun— enjoy playing chess at their Potomac home.

told him that imaging had shown massive bleeding in Joanne’s brain, with possibly irreparable damage.

“Before I saw her, the doctor said, ‘Your daughter is in a grave situation.

You need to be prepared for the worst,’ ” Dongwook says. “I was terrified. I thought this was the end of her life.”

The family called their pastor from the Global Mission Church, a Korean church in Silver Spring, and asked him to come pray as they waited for news from the doctors in the intensive care unit.

Days dragged on, with Joanne remaining unresponsive. Hyoungsun and Dongwook developed a routine: Hyoungsun would stay at the hospital with Joanne while Dongwook cared for Justin with the help of neighbors.

“All we could do was wait,” Dongwook says.

Several days into the family’s vigil, doctors delivered more bad news: Imaging showed an aneurysm in Joanne’s brain. If it ruptured, Dongwook remembers the doctor saying, “Joanne’s life would be over.”

On Oct. 2, 2006, surgeons performed a three-hour operation to divert Joanne’s blood flow away from the aneurysm. But rather than improving, Joanne suffered another stroke, Dongwook says.

It took nearly a month for Joanne to regain consciousness. When she did, she couldn’t move or speak, marking the beginning of another angst-filled period for her family as they watched and waited for some sign that their vivacious daughter was still there.

“Doctors’ expectations were really low,” Dongwook says. “No matter what they said, my wife was adamant: ‘She’s going to

talk to us. She’s going to walk again.’ ” And then, after more than six weeks of nothing, “Joanne started smiling and giggling,” Hyoungsun says. “Can you believe that? Some people wake up cursing. She started giggling.”

After spending 50 days at Children’s, Joanne was transferred to the MedStar National Rehabilitation Hospital in Washington, D.C. Over the next four months, she slowly began to regain function. Her first words, fittingly, were “Mommy” and “Daddy.”

A self-portrait of Joanne as an elementary school student—long black hair, big smile, bright, eager eyes—hangs above her bed today. She says it makes her think of a time when she and her parents didn’t have to worry about how she would get in and out of bed or from one

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seeing the light

end of the house to another, a time when she didn’t have to struggle to form words before speaking, or to remember the train of thought she started just moments earlier.

Those became daily concerns after Joanne was released from the rehabilitation hospital on March 6, 2007. Hyoungsun, a nurse, had quit her job to care for Joanne full time, and neighbors helped by taking care of Justin. Still, the logistics of daily life were exhausting.

“We still lived in a two-story house, so anytime she needed a shower or had to go to bed or just wanted to go to her room, we’d have to lift her and move her to the second floor,” Dongwook says. “It was a very challenging time for us.”

Joanne remembers little about her hospital stays. She does recall feeling rage and despair as she began to discover her limitations back home—everything from walking to using the bathroom by herself.

“I was livid every time I thought about things I used to be able to do,” Joanne

“Elementary school was a happy time for me. This picture made me remember that I could be happy again.”

—Joanne Shin, speaking of her self-portrait

says. “I would wake up every morning and think: Lord, what have I done to you to deserve this?”

Within a few months, the Shins moved to a one-story rental home to help ease the burden, and in 2011 they bought a onestory house in their old neighborhood.

Slowly, Joanne started to make progress in physical therapy as she tried to retrain her arms and legs to move on command.

Rockville physical therapist Rebecca Leonard, who has worked with Joanne intermittently over the years, says it’s

unclear how much additional improvement she can expect. But Leonard says Joanne’s progress has been phenomenal, considering her devastating brain injury.

Leonard credits both Joanne and her parents, who are constantly striving to find new ways to unlock her tense muscles and work her mind, from walking in their in-ground swimming pool to marathon chess matches.

“She and her family are totally remarkable,” Leonard says. “Joanne is a hard worker whose spirit never wavers. No

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seeing the light

“It’s challenging, of course, but it’s a blessing for us to have her,” Dongwook says. “Since she never complains, ever, we try not to complain either.”

matter how hard of a day she’s having, her first question is, ‘How are you? How was your weekend?’ ” It’s that unwavering positivity that keeps Joanne’s parents going, too.

“It’s challenging, of course, but it’s a blessing for us to have her,” Dongwook says. “Since she never complains, ever, we try not to complain either.”

In the months after her homecoming, Joanne learned to walk with crutches and to ride an adaptive bike.

But despite her progress, her hospitalizations weren’t over.

During Joanne’s stay at Children’s, doctors confirmed that she had moyamoya. So in the summer of 2007, she traveled to California to undergo a surgical procedure called revascularization with Dr. Gary Steinberg, chairman of Stanford’s Department of Neurosurgery and an expert in the disease. The procedure aims to create a new source of blood flow to the brain by connecting a branch of a scalp artery and suturing it to a branch of the brain artery, making future strokes less likely. The surgery is the only known cure for the condition.

Joanne spent 24 hours in intensive care

after a six-hour operation, and a few more days in the hospital for monitoring. All told, the family spent six weeks in California that summer to accommodate her recovery and follow-up appointments.

By the time they left, they had received the news they so desperately wanted to hear: The procedure had been successful.

That meant that although the neurological problems caused by past strokes persisted, she is unlikely to suffer another stroke in the future.

In the fall of 2007, Joanne started attending Cabin John Middle School again with the help of an aide, going to seventh grade for half days. She also began volunteering at Jill’s House, a facility connected to McLean Bible Church in Virginia that provides respite for children with severe intellectual disabilities and their families.

In 2009, Joanne began attending Thomas S. Wootton High School in Rockville, taking a mix of standard and honors classes with the assistance of an aide who helps her take notes and move

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from class to class.

She also started to paint.

In the beginning, an art teacher came to the house and propped up scenic photos next to Joanne’s easel for her to copy.

But after several paintings, she stopped working with the teacher and started focusing on her own subject matter, beginning with that self-portrait.

“Elementary school was a happy time for me,” Joanne says. “This picture made me remember that I could be happy again.”

Today, Joanne has a bright smile and a short black bob, and she wears rimless glasses. She gets around using a motorized wheelchair, and still attends school with an aide she refers to as her “bodyguard.”

She speaks slowly and haltingly, and her memory problems often cause her to repeat herself. She has a shortened school schedule to avoid overtaxing herself mentally or physically. But after five years at Wootton, she is now slated to graduate this May.

Wootton Principal Michael Doran says Joanne’s strength, humor and artistic talent have astounded him since the day he met her. “I can’t fathom what’s been taken away from her,” Doran says.

“But still, her forward-thinking, positive attitude is evident in her artwork, in her poetry and in her smile.”

She hopes to go to Montgomery College. She also plans to continue to write—a poem of hers, “The Value of Self,” won a 2013 Maryland PTA Reflections competition.

Joanne still loves to paint pathways— country roads winding through tall cornfields, hiking trails cutting through dark woods. But she’s branching out into abstract art, too. On May 17, she will host an art exhibit at the Potomac Community Center, showing more than a dozen examples of her work.

Joanne can’t say exactly when her anger and depression faded and feelings of acceptance and peace set in. But she attributes the change to the groundswell

of support around her, from neighbors and church members to her own family.

Justin, a high school junior who now attends boarding school in Concord, N.H., regularly sends his sister cards with messages of encouragement and attends physical therapy appointments with Joanne when he’s home. There’s also her dad, who carries her piggyback to doctor’s appointments anytime the elevators are out of service.

And, of course, her mom, “the one who motivates me to live on through the raging waters, and through the waves that come and go in this life,” Joanne says. “Now, every day, I wake up and pray silently: ‘Lord, it is good to be here.

Thank you for allowing me to open my eyes to see this glory.’ ” n Amy Reinink is a frequent contributor to the magazine who also writes for many outdoor publications, including Runner’s World. To comment on this story, email comments@bethesdamagazine.com.

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A portrait of a smiling Flora Singer, taken around 2000, sits in stark contrast to her collected memorabilia representing the Holocaust and a dark chapter in her family’s life.

148 May/June 2014 | BethesdaMagazine.com

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What FloraSinger

had to say For more than a decade, the Potomac woman taught languages to Montgomery County students. But her greatest lesson—about surviving a horrific past—was one she would feel impelled to share with the world.

By Julie Rasicot | Photos by Laura-Chase McGehee

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what flora singer had to say Sandra Landsman, Flora’s daughter, grew up listening to her mother’s stories and is determined to preserve her legacy.

Flora Singer never talked

about her past to anyone but her family.

She didn’t tell people about nearly starving in Nazi-occupied Belgium. Or about listening helplessly as her mother was raped by a German officer when she was 11. Or about watching an elderly Jewish shopkeeper being beaten to death.

Or even about returning to her neighborhood to find nearly all the Jews gone, carted off by German soldiers.

But when she found a flier stuffed under her car’s windshield wiper that said the Holocaust had never happened, she knew she had to speak out.

“For me, this was the moment of reckoning,” she would later write in her memoir, Flora: I Was But a Child (Yad Vashem and the Holocaust Survivors’ Memoirs Project, 2007), “the moment of recognizing that it was up to me and others who had lived under the frightening banner of the swastika to speak up.”

It was 1981 when she found that flier, and from that day—right up until she suffered a stroke in 2006 and could no

longer speak—the public school teacher from Potomac dedicated herself to sharing her story. She spoke everywhere from The Oprah Winfrey Show to Congress to the classrooms of Montgomery County Public Schools, where she taught foreign languages for 14 years.

And she touched thousands of people during her travels as a speaker for survivors’ groups and for the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C. “The extraordinary thing about Flora was that she could connect with anybody,” says Sara Bloomfield, the Holocaust Museum’s director. “She didn’t want to burden them with her story; she wanted to touch and inspire them. She was a gifted, gifted storyteller.”

Today, more than 30 years after Flora was inspired to speak out, and more than five years after her death, new generations are learning her story at Flora M. Singer Elementary School in Silver Spring. Dedicated in 2013, it’s believed to be the first public school in the coun-

try named after a Holocaust survivor.

When students and visitors pass through the front doors, it’s Flora’s wide smile that they see first, illuminating a large portrait in the school’s lobby.

Sandra Landsman grew

up listening to her mother’s stories about her large, extended family and the terrible fear that descended upon it as the start of World War II approached.

Landsman heard the stories so often that at 59 she recalls their details almost as if she had lived in the family’s apartment on Lange Kievitstraat in Antwerp.

“During everyday, mundane activities, something would come up and remind her of a certain story,” says Landsman, who lives in Potomac. “She was always hurting and she was always longing for everyone who was lost. It was always that prewar life that she wanted.”

Landsman was so inspired by her mother’s story that she spearheaded the campaign to convince the Montgomery County Board of Education to name

150 May/June 2014 | BethesdaMagazine.com

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what flora singer had to say

the new Silver Spring elementary school after Flora. And she relived Flora’s stories again last year while sifting through her mother’s stacks of photo albums and boxes of documents, correspondences and mementos as she re-edited the memoir.

The oldest of three daughters born to David Mendelovits, a custom furniture maker, and his wife, Fani, Flora lived a middle-class life in Antwerp, attending school, practicing the violin, playing with her sisters, Charlotte and Betty, and enjoying family outings with aunts, uncles and cousins.

“It was a very lively group of people.

They would go to the local park and have picnics on weekends,” Landsman says.

In 1938, Flora’s father got a job as a ship’s carpenter and left for America, hoping to send for his family later. His departure left Fani to fend for three young girls in a city that was increasingly hostile to Jews. David finally made it to the U.S. in 1939; by then, the impending war made it too difficult for the family to get visas to join him.

Flora was 10 when the Germans invaded Belgium in 1940. Daily life grew increasingly difficult over the next two years, with Jews’ freedom restricted and food scarce. By 1941, Fani had resorted to traveling with Flora by train to northern France to smuggle food back to Antwerp. Those trips ended when Fani was assaulted one night by a German officer who had agreed to help her smuggle food across the border the next day. He forced his way into the room at the inn where Flora and her mother were staying, and pushed Flora into the hallway, where she waited helplessly as the officer raped her mother.

In Antwerp, attacks on Jews escalated.

One afternoon, Flora and her sisters watched from their apartment window as an elderly shopkeeper was dragged into the street and beaten to death by anti-Semitic youths. Several of Flora’s relatives were sent to forced labor camps and didn’t return for months.

Then, in the summer of 1942, a German soldier who was a family friend showed up one night and warned Fani that she and her daughters needed to leave Antwerp immediately. The family piled on layers of clothing to avoid carrying bags and disclosing their intentions, and fled by train to Brussels, where other relatives lived.

A few days later, Fani sent Flora back to Antwerp by train to warn the other Jews in their neighborhood. Flora would later recall how frightened she was to leave her mother, and her confusion upon finding the neighborhood empty and silent when she arrived. Discovering a few Jewish neighbors hidden in a cellar, she learned that the Gestapo had loaded most of the Jews onto trucks and taken them away.

“I was not yet 12 years old and did not yet completely grasp the enormity of what was happening,” she would later write in her memoir.

This family photo of Fani Mendelovits and her children— (from left) Charlotte, Betty and Flora—is among the reminders of Singer’s childhood.

“You’re in charge of your sisters,” her mother told the 12-year-old.

“Make sure they don’t betray themselves. … If the Gestapo catches me and I don’t come back…find your father in America and take the girls to him.”

Thus began a life of subterfuge and anxiety as the family tried to stay ahead of the Nazis. Eventually, friends helped Fani find an apartment in Brussels, and the family adopted crucifixes and a Christian last name, removing the yellow stars they’d been forced to sew onto their clothing.

“It wasn’t long before my mother learned that she would have to become proficient at lying and acting and pretending things she wasn’t,” Landsman says, “because this was for their survival.”

As the Nazis stepped up their campaign against Jews, the family grew ever more desperate.

“Little Betty was hungry all the time and complained constantly,” Flora wrote

in her memoir. “She could not understand why we didn’t give her enough food. Being but 6 years old, how could she possibly understand our situation as Jews? I had difficulty understanding it myself.”

It was around this time that Georges Ranson, a Belgian industrialist and resistance fighter, played a major role in their survival. He gave Fani a job in his factory and relocated the girls when it became too dangerous for everyone to remain in the apartment. Flora briefly went to live with Ranson’s family.

Landsman, who raised her own two daughters in a leafy neighborhood of spacious homes, has trouble imagining it.

“They were all separated. They were living

152 May/June 2014 | BethesdaMagazine.com

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what flora singer had to say

with people they didn’t know,” she says.

Ranson’s wife soon grew worried that Flora’s presence was putting her own family in danger. So the industrialist found a new place for the young girl and her sisters: a Franciscan convent in the countryside where his cousin was a nun. The girls were given false identity papers, and the convent was told they were war orphans.

Leaving their mother was unbearably hard, Flora wrote. “My sisters and I held onto Mama. …Whether we would see each other again was a question that could not be answered.”

“You’re in charge of your sisters,” her mother told the 12-year-old. “Make sure they don’t betray themselves. …Make sure that they remember their Jewish heritage. If the Gestapo catches me and I don’t come back…find your father in America and take the girls to him. God help you, Flora, if something happens to you and your sisters.”

The girls were in the convent just three months before the nuns figured out that they were Jews and decided that keeping them was too dangerous. They were sent to a Catholic orphanage outside Brussels, thanks to Ranson and Bruno Reynders, a Benedictine monk who later would be cred-

ited with hiding more than 300 Jewish children. The girls would stay there through mid-August 1943.

“Their main job was saving Jewish children and finding them places in convents,” Landsman says of Ranson and Reynders, who were recognized in 2009 as “Righteous Among the Nations” at Yad Vashem, the Holocaust memorial and documentation center in Jerusalem.

“The convents were not even told [the children] were Jewish.”

The orphanage was crowded, with too many children and not enough food.

The girls bathed in filthy water used by other kids and suffered from head lice.

“I could not remove my own lice and nits, and Charlotte and Betty couldn’t remove them for me either, because they didn’t know how,” Flora wrote. “I solved the problem by offering one of the older children a piece of bread the size of my thumb for every 10 lice or nits she removed from my head.”

Then, one night that August, the girls were awakened by the nuns, told it was no longer safe for them, and returned to their mother’s apartment in Brussels.

There, they hid out with their mother and other relatives, including a beloved aunt, uncle and young cousin.

The next month, the sisters—now 13, 10 and 7—were moved to another con-

vent, Our Lady of Seven Sorrows in West Flanders, where they would stay into 1944. The convent operated a boarding school for upper-middle-class Christian girls, and the sisters had to be constantly on guard to prevent others from realizing they were Jews.

German soldiers would sometimes ring the convent doorbell, looking for hidden Jews, and the nuns would rush the three girls downstairs to a storage cellar. One time, the girls were hiding with a nun behind a pile of potatoes when soldiers descended into the cellar and started poking the pile with their guns.

“Finally, we heard footsteps going toward the cellar steps. …None of us moved. We waited for what seemed like hours,” Flora wrote. “Finally, the nun said she thought that we were safe and we could leave.”

In May 1944, nearly eight months after the girls had last seen their mother, Fani joined them at the convent. She had fled her Brussels apartment after the relatives staying with her had been captured by the Nazis.

To prevent the family from being exposed, Fani and her children weren’t allowed to live together and could only visit secretly for less than an hour a week. Outside of that, the girls “had to pretend they didn’t know who she was,”

courtesy of sandra landsman

Today, more than 30 years after Singer was inspired to speak out, and more than five years after her death, new generations are learning her story at Flora M. Singer Elementary School in Silver Spring.

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what flora singer had to say

Landsman says.

That August, Flora turned 14. “I did not know that being 14 years old was to be young in years,” she wrote in her memoir. “…I felt old and joyless.”

A month later, Allied troops liberated the region after fierce fighting. The war was over for Fani and her daughters, but they soon discovered that many relatives had been lost.

Two years later, the family sailed to New York City to be reunited with David Mendelovits and to start a new life. Flora was just two months shy of 16.

At 19, Flora was working as a

bilingual stenographer at a major textile firm in Manhattan when she married an Army soldier named Jack Singer in 1949. Son Mark was born in 1952, and Sandra followed in 1954. Jack had gotten a job with a company that ran department stores, and the family moved outside Philadelphia in 1957.

In 1964, Jack was transferred to New York City and the family put their house on the market. An African-American minister and his family offered to buy it. That’s when Flora once again found herself the target of racial hatred. The Singers’ white neighbors egged the house and sent death threats. The police and FBI were called in to investigate.

“It reminded her of the war and the Holocaust,” Landsman says. And “my mother refused to back down.”

The sale went through. And after a short stint in New York, the family moved to Silver Spring in 1966, and later to Potomac.

Flora and Jack constantly preached the importance of education to their children, who attended Montgomery County public schools. And Flora made sure that her kids participated in all of the activities she’d missed while growing up.

“She wanted to give us everything she didn’t have—ballet, violin, piano classes,” Landsman says. “Having children and seeing them grow was the only revenge you could have towards Hitler, and she was not a vengeful person.”

When Mark was 14, Flora returned

to school, earning a bachelor’s degree in French from the University of Maryland at age 45. Two years later, she received her master’s degree in French literature and began teaching in the county’s public schools. During her 14-year career, she taught French and German at Walt Whitman and Albert Einstein high schools and at Cabin John Middle School.

Flora never shared her Holocaust memories outside the family. And whenever she mentioned at home how much she’d lost, her husband would urge her to stop thinking about it. “She was a little unhappy, and she always lived in the past,” Landsman recalls.

Then, at age 51, Flora found that flier, an ad for a book denying the Holocaust.

Museum. When the museum opened in 1993, she volunteered to speak to visitors and traveled the country through its speakers’ bureau.

“Her life was so jam-packed,” Landsman says. “There were so many organizations that she got involved in. She didn’t know how to say no.”

Over the years, Flora also kept in touch with the nuns who’d sheltered her and her sisters at Our Lady of Seven Sorrows. She traveled to Belgium to see them—with her daughter accompanying her in 2001—and had a tree planted in Israel to honor Ranson and Reynders. In 2009, Flora died of complications from a stroke at age 78 before completing her memoir. But Landsman and her father edited the manuscript

If you’re interested in learning more about Flora Singer, her family has published a new edition of her memoir, Flora: I Was But a Child, with a glossary, more photos and commentary.

Copies are $19.08 each, including shipping and tax. They can be ordered by emailing Floramsinger@yahoo.com. Proceeds will be donated to various charities.

“My mother felt a chill down her spine,” Landsman says. “Something in her changed.”

In the early 1980s, Flora collaborated with Bob Hines, who currently teaches social studies at Richard Montgomery High School, and Sue Shotel, now retired from teaching and administration, to create a course for teachers. They called it “Teaching and Learning From the Holocaust.” In addition to sharing her own story, Flora was relentless in tracking down others and persuading them to participate, says Hines, who still teaches the course.

“If we needed someone from the Nuremberg war crimes trials, she would go find them,” he says.

Flora also got involved with a local Holocaust survivors’ group, the Jewish Holocaust Survivors and Friends of Greater Washington, and with fundraising for the U.S. Holocaust Memorial

and got it published in her honor.

Flora’s work brought her awards and accolades throughout the years. More than five years after her death, her story continues to inspire others through an MCPS video posted on Flora M. Singer Elementary’s website; through the school’s annual day of activities honoring her, which last year included collaborative problem-solving games and planting the seeds of Flora’s favorite flowers; and through the portrait of her in the lobby.

“People are going to ask who Flora Singer was—I get that question a lot,” Principal Kyle Heatwole says. “It’s an opportunity for people to learn who she was and what she tried to teach others.” n Julie Rasicot is the magazine’s associate editor. To comment on this story, email comments@bethesdamagazine.com.

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The Killer Next Door 158 May/June 2014 | BethesdaMagazine.com

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Samuel Sheinbein seemed like the All-American boy. He was bright, handsome and just 17 when he and his alleged accomplice committed one of the most heinous crimes in Montgomery County history. Sentenced to an Israeli prison, Sheinbein was finally eligible for parole this year. That’s when his story took another dramatic turn. By Eugene L. Meyer No one expected it to end this way.

Samuel Sheinbein was two-thirds of the way through a 24-year sentence for murder and was eligible for parole when he died in a shootout with Israeli prison guards and police on Feb. 23.

It was a strange ending to one of the most gruesome crimes in Montgomery County history—the 1997 killing and dismemberment of Alfredo “Freddy” Tello Jr. of Silver Spring, events police quickly tied to Sheinbein and his friend Aaron Needle, both 17 at the time.

Needle hanged himself in a Montgomery County jail cell shortly before his trial was to begin in April 1998. But earlier, Sheinbein had fled with the help of his

father to Israel, where he eventually pleaded guilty and was sentenced as a minor.

Now at 33, Sheinbein is dead, too, in what Montgomery County State’s Attorney John McCarthy calls “death by cop.”

The last chapter in a bizarre and disturbing crime appears to be over. But there’s no comfort in that ending.

“At the end of the day,” says McCarthy, who was originally assigned to the case, “three young men are dead.”

And for the families, of course, it’s never over. Sheinbein’s parents, now living in a Tel Aviv suburb,“suffer,” says Orit Hayoun, his Israeli lawyer, who calls them a “very, very nice” family. “They suffer,” she says, “because they saw light at

the end of the tunnel.”

Eliette Dawes, the mother of Freddy Tello, suffers, too, nearly 17 years after her son’s grisly death. Her husband, Eric, says Dawes still sleeps with her son’s Charlotte Hornets T-shirt under her pillow in their spacious suburban home on Amberleigh Terrace, just outside the Intercounty Connector in Silver Spring. The urn containing his ashes and adorned with rosary beads remains on the fireplace mantel in the living room.

The iron doors and the “Beware—Rottweiler on Duty” sign protect against outside threats but cannot shield her from nightmarish images of her only son’s final moments. >>

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xxxxxxxx

the killer next door

Tello was 19, working at Congres-

Montgomery County State’s Attorney John McCarthy, shown here in his Rockville office with the Sheinbein files, was assigned the murder case in the late ’90s.

camp and the county’s now-closed Mark Twain School for troubled students, but ultimately dropped out. In the spring of 1995, his father, Sheldon Needle, asked the county to commit his son for an emergency psychological examination, saying the youth was addicted to pot and alcohol and was a danger to himself. At one point, Needle’s father even attempted tough love, calling police when his son stole his car.

The teenager eventually obtained his GED certificate, though, and at the time of the murder was enrolled in Montgomery College, with hopes of becoming a U.S. Marine.

Sheinbein went to John F. Kennedy High School in the Wheaton-Glenmont area, where he wrestled and was a rising senior at the time of the killing. “Sam was a bright guy, 6-foot-1 and handsome. He did very well in school,” McCarthy says. “He took a math test the

day after the murder and aced it.”

Freddy Tello lived with his mother, who is of Costa Rican descent, and with Eric Dawes and Dawes’ young son. Tello attended Springbrook High School off New Hampshire Avenue in Silver Spring, where he moved easily in different social circles and was a budding artist. “Freddy got along with everybody,” his former art teacher, Louise Runion, would recall at his memorial service. She fully expected him to open his own commercial art studio one day.

Needle, who owned an aquarium, was among Tello’s friends, and the two would hang out at the fish tank shop where Tello worked or cruise around in the Honda Accord that Needle’s parents had given him.

A week before the murder, though, the two apparently had a falling out, McCarthy says. Unhappy over how Needle treated a girl, Tello punched him in

mike olliver

sional Aquarium, a tropical fish store in Rockville, when he was killed in September 1997. The case dominated local newspapers at the time, given the unusual nature of his alleged killers and the purported motive.

Sheinbein and Needle were uppermiddle-class teens from suburban backgrounds who targeted Tello for a “practice murder,” according to Montgomery County prosecutors. And not just a slaying. They cut off his limbs with an electric circular saw and incinerated him in Sheinbein’s garage.

Needle and Sheinbein came from religious families. Needle’s parents ran a computer company out of their spacious North Bethesda home. Sheinbein was the son of a lawyer and lived in the pleasant suburban Aspen Hill section of Montgomery County. Neither seemed a likely candidate to commit such a gruesome crime. Even today, Sheinbein’s Israeli attorney talks about what a nice young man he was. But some say there were hints of trouble early on.

McCarthy recalls Sheinbein’s older sister, Nathalie, telling him: “When the kids were 4 or 5 and having birthday parties, Sam would be excluded— because even at that age, other parents could perceive he was not quite right.”

A couple of years after the killing, Nathalie told CNN that her younger brother was always troubled and that he suffered from anorexia and obsessivecompulsive behavior. She said the family didn’t know until after the murder, though, that his friends had seen “signs of schizophrenic behavior at school.”

Sheinbein and Needle were classmates and friends at the Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School in Rockville— Nathalie graduated from the school in 1989—but both were expelled after getting into trouble often. After that, their academic paths diverged.

Needle attended a series of special schools, including a military-style boot

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“This whole thing, after the discovering of the body, came together very quickly,” McCarthy says.

photos courtesy of John mccarthy

the face. At the same time, investigators believe, Sheinbein wanted to kill a romantic rival—and he and Needle decided Tello would make a good practice target.

Since neither young man’s case ever made it to trial, some of the charges outlined by prosecutors have never been tested in court. But a chronology emerged from the investigation, and today McCarthy relates the details in ticktock fashion from his Rockville office.

On Sept. 15, 1997, Tello moved from his mother’s home into his own apartment, a basement efficiency in Silver Spring. That same day, records showed, Needle and Sheinbein exchanged 22 phone calls and bought two pairs of goggles at the Toys “R” Us on Rockville Pike. (“When you are burning the body, you don’t want smoke in your eyes,” McCarthy says.)

The next day, Needle and Sheinbein spent $264.83 at the Home Depot on Georgia Avenue in Aspen Hill, purchasing a trash can, several propane cylinders, a torch kit and a Makita circular saw. An apparent shopping list of the items was later found in Sheinbein’s car. Prosecutors called it a “recipe for murder.”

At 6 that evening, Needle and Sheinbein picked up Tello from his job. Precisely where or when the killing occurred remains unclear, but evidence suggested that he was slain that night. An autopsy attributed his death to “a combination of blunt force injuries to the head, cutting wounds on the neck and chest, and lig-

From left: accused murderer Aaron Needle; the victim, Freddy Tello (below); and confessed killer Samuel Sheinbein

ature strangulation.” His body appeared to have been stuffed into a closet in the Sheinbein garage.

On Sept. 17, a horrible smell emanated from the garage. According to police interviews with the family, Sheinbein told them that a moped battery had blown up.

On Sept. 18, Sheinbein arranged to get into the garage of a vacant house for sale around the corner. He knew the owner’s son, Kevin Kalner Jr., and told him that he wanted a private place to take a girl. Kalner explained where to find the key. Prosecutors believe Tello’s remains were then driven in Needle’s car to the vacant house. Investigators found tire tracks matching the vehicle in the driveway and inside the garage.

Later that day, a neighbor saw the boys digging in the yard. That evening, neighbors saw them pull a garden cart along a walkway between the Sheinbein and Kalner houses, leaving a trail of blood droplets. The cart was believed to be carrying the murder weapons under a blue tarp.

On the morning of Sept. 19, two real estate agents went to the Kalner home to prepare it for a showing. Following a foul smell into the garage, they discovered black plastic trash bags containing the charred remains of what they assumed was a deer. The police were called, and the remains were soon iden-

tified as human. The arms and legs were never recovered.

“This whole thing, after the discovering of the body, came together very quickly,” McCarthy says.

Police reached Kalner’s mother, who then called her son. She asked if he knew who might have been to the house, and he told her about his conversation with Sam Sheinbein. Police next went to Sheinbein’s house and asked his parents who he hung out with. Told of Aaron Needle, they went to the Needle house, as well.

Neither boy had come home from school, police learned; both were missing.

In fact, Sheinbein and Needle had driven to New York in Sheinbein’s green Pontiac and then phoned their parents.

Needle’s parents wired their son money for train fare and told him to return to Maryland. He was hiding under a blanket in his mother’s car, en route to see a lawyer in the District, when police apprehended him.

Sheinbein’s father, Sol, and older brother, Robert, responded differently.

They came to New York, bringing the teenager’s passport, airfare and a change of clothes, then drove him to the airport to get on a flight to Israel. Less than a year later, Sol Sheinbein would be charged in Maryland with obstruction of justice.

In a November 1998 interview with Israeli television, Sol Sheinbein explained his thinking at the time. “Our attorney told us we were not committing any crime if we talked to him, and he made these dire threats that he planned to commit suicide if we returned him to

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the killer next door Maryland,” Sol Sheinbein said. So “I sent him to his family here in Israel, and I just wanted him to calm down.”

Sam Sheinbein was apparently anything but calm, however. His lawyer said that on Sept. 25, 1997, he attempted suicide with wine and sleeping pills in his Tel Aviv hotel and was placed in a psychiatric hospital. Israeli authorities later found what they believed to be a suicide letter in the room.

“I’m sorry for everything…that I put you through,” Sheinbein wrote to his family. “I love you so much and I hope that everything will be o.k., after I’m gone. …

Just know that you were the best family that any kid could have. …Please move on with your life and start a new one. The world is an unfair place but make the best of it.”

Back in Montgomery County, McCarthy was preparing extensively for Aaron Needle’s trial. Jury selection was to begin on April 20, 1998. But on April 18, during the Jewish holiday of Pass-

over, the young man hanged himself with a bed sheet in his cell at the Montgomery County jail on Seven Locks Road. Just an hour earlier, his lawyer said at the time, Needle had ended a session of several hours with a psychiatrist.

Meanwhile, Sheinbein remained in Israel, where he set off a diplomatic firestorm by claiming citizenship—despite having been in Israel just once, on vacation as a child—in an attempt to avoid extradition.

The Sheinbeins originally came from Stepan, a village in Ukraine where as many as 3,500 Jewish residents, including Sheinbein family members, perished during the Holocaust. Transported in carts from their hometown, they were taken to open pits where they were shot and buried, some still alive. Sol Sheinbein’s parents, however, were among those who had emigrated before the war to what was then British-ruled Palestine.

Sol was born there in 1944, but at age 6, he and his family immigrated to the U.S., where he would go on to gradu-

ate from The City College of New York, earn a law degree from George Washington University, and serve as a patent examiner for the U.S. government and as a senior patent attorney for the Navy and NASA. Throughout, he retained his Israeli passport, and that became the basis of his son’s claim.

Then Secretary of State Madeleine Albright weighed in on the matter, as did Rep. Robert Livingston (R-La.), then chairman of the House Appropriations Committee. Some $76 million in foreign aid was temporarily withheld from Israel for its refusal to extradite the teen to the U.S., where prosecutors fully expected to obtain a sentence of life without parole.

Over a period of months, McCarthy flew to Israel to observe lower court proceedings on Sheinbein’s extradition. By then, the teenager’s parents were living in the Tel Aviv area. Coincidentally, McCarthy already knew both: He’d presented cases to a grand jury that Sol served on, and tried a murder case in which Victo-

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ria, Sheinbein’s mother, was a juror.

During breaks in the Israeli hearings, McCarthy recalls, “we’d all go to lunch. I remember one time in the Tel Aviv Hilton, one day after court, having tea in the lobby bar with Sol, Robert and Mrs. Sheinbein. We sat for hours. There were conversations and tears shed. There was no animosity. We spoke as human beings.”

Among the attorneys hired to defend Sheinbein was David Libai, a former Israeli justice minister. “He did his job for his client, but was very respectful of what we were doing,” McCarthy says.

Eitan Maoz also served on the defense team, and a decade and a half later still recalls his first meeting with Sam Sheinbein. “I was stunned,” Maoz writes in an email last fall from Israel. “…He looked like a very nice guy. Very shy, very polite. His family, as well. I couldn’t dream that such a boy [would] commit such a horrible crime.”

Two courts ruled against Sheinbein.

Then the Israeli Supreme Court heard the

case, deciding in his favor in a 3-2 vote on Feb. 25, 1999. With the chief justice in sharp dissent, the majority asserted that Sheinbein’s lack of ties to Israel did not negate his claim of Israeli citizenship through his father. Chief Justice Aharon Barak worried that the majority ruling “turns Israel into a sanctuary state” for criminals.

The Sheinbein case inspired several articles in scholarly journals in this country, including the Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law, the New England Law Review and the American University International Law Review, which called it “a model of complexity.”

Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister both then and now, declared that Sheinbein’s attempt to avoid extradition “has appalled the government and the people of Israel.” So much so that the Knesset, the country’s parliament, later would enact legislation aimed at preventing individuals who committed heinous crimes in other countries from finding a

legal refuge in Israel. But the law would not be applied retroactively.

On Sept. 2, 1999, Samuel Sheinbein

pleaded guilty in Israel to 10 charges related to the slaying of Freddy Tello Jr. Earlier, Sheinbein had told his father and his Israeli lawyer that Needle did the actual killing—and that it was self-defense after Tello tried to rob them—though he confessed to dismembering and burning the body himself. But in entering his guilty plea, he admitted to fatally choking Tello with a rope and hitting him several times with a sharp object.

The sentencing judge called the murder and dismemberment “a shocking act of desecration…too horrendous to describe.”

Late the following month, Sheinbein was sentenced to 24 years, with credit for time served. After four years, he was to be granted 12-hour furloughs, followed by longer weekend “vacations.” He was to become eligible for parole in 2013.

Irit Kohn, then the director of the

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the killer next door

Department of International Affairs at the Israeli Ministry of Justice, suggested that the bar would be set high for any parole request. In a letter to Doug Gansler, the State’s Attorney for Montgomery County at the time, Kohn wrote: “The horrendous facts of this murder will be taken into consideration by the committee in making a decision on his early release from prison.”

By Israeli standards, the sentence was harsh, the maximum that could be given, since Sheinbein was a juvenile at the time of the killing. But Gansler, currently Maryland’s attorney general and a gubernatorial candidate, called it “an insult to justice.”

“He will serve his time,” Nathalie Sheinbein told CNN at the time. “He’s not going to be out walking free. Hopefully, he will get some of the help that he needs while he’s in there.”

Hayoun, Sheinbein’s attorney since 2010, says her client never did receive psychiatric counseling in prison. “They said he did not suffer from a psychological illness and he did not need treatment,” she says.

Initially held in a detention center outside Tel Aviv, Sheinbein was moved to a juvenile facility and then, when he turned 18, to a prison in Ramla, in central Israel.

Finally he was transferred to Rimonim, a state-of-the-art prison that opened in 2004 near Netanya, on the Mediterranean coast. It is Israel’s largest maximum-security prison, with 13 wings accommodating 1,133 prisoners and monitored by 700 surveillance cameras and a staff of 300.

Each wing has a dining room, court-

yard, club room, kitchenette, laundry room and canteen. An education center includes classrooms, activity rooms, a library and gymnasium. Cells are said to resemble dorm rooms, with a separate closet and bathroom, and bunk beds.

“Residents,” as prisoners are called, are allowed to have televisions, videos and CDs in their rooms. In a special televised report on Israeli prisons, MSNBC said it had a “country club atmosphere.”

Prisoners are generally housed two to a cell. There is a separate wing for ultraOrthodox prisoners, who are permitted to conduct their thrice-daily prayer rituals as a group. Among them is Yigal Amir, who assassinated Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin in 1995. At Rimonim, Amir celebrated the ritual circumcision of his son, who was conceived during a conjugal visit.

As anticipated, Sheinbein was eventually accorded weekend furloughs once a month, according to a spokeswoman for the Israel Prison Service. A report in The Jerusalem Post said Sheinbein had been given 96 furloughs, ranging from 24 to 96 hours, over his years of incarceration. Hayoun says a prisoner gets furloughs “only if he passes psychiatric, psychological tests that you are not dangerous, and if your behavior is extra, extra good.” Sheinbein was not under house arrest during his furloughs, she says. He would travel around Israel, read books and stay with his parents outside Tel Aviv. “He was very much a family boy,” Hayoun says.

In prison, Sheinbein worked in the wood shop, exercised in the gym and took university courses. Hayoun says

he earned a degree in computers. “His behavior was without any complaints,” she says. “He was a civilized, intelligent person. He was a very good prisoner.”

The prison spokeswoman said much the same, months before Sheinbein’s death. “A good prisoner,” she said, with “nothing unusual.”

Except that as he was nearing parole eligibility, a shiv was found in his cell on Dec. 13, 2012. Sheinbein lived in a section where prisoners had access to each other’s cells. And at a hearing the following March, he claimed the shiv was planted by another inmate to incriminate him. He demanded that officials take DNA samples from the metal implement and review security cameras in the hallway outside his cell, which he shared with another inmate. Both requests were denied.

A hearing officer ruled that the incident could not be held against him in his parole proceeding, though his lawyer says his furloughs were temporarily suspended.

“He was supposed to finish a rehabilitation process before continuing with his parole application,” Hayoun says. That included group sessions, “studying how to control your anger, meeting with social workers within the jail,” she says. “So we were supposed to go to the [parole] committee in a year’s time. It would be a little bit longer than two-thirds [of his sentence]. Because it was a very serious offense, you don’t go out immediately.”

Once paroled, Sheinbein would have been free to live out his life in Israeli society. But had he left Israel for any of

clippings courtesy of John mccarthy

Some $76 million in foreign aid was temporarily withheld from Israel for its refusal to extradite the teen to the U.S., where prosecutors fully expected to obtain a sentence of life without parole.

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the killer next door

Needle and Sheinbein spent $264.83 at the Home Depot on Georgia Avenue in Aspen Hill, purchasing a trash can, several propane cylinders, a torch kit and a Makita circular saw. An apparent shopping list of the items was later found in Sheinbein’s car. Prosecutors called it a “recipe for murder.” the 190 countries participating in Interpol, he would have been extradited to the United States, where he would have faced arrest and trial in Maryland.

All of that became moot, of course, on Feb. 23.

The weekend before his death, Sheinbein was arrested while on furlough for trying to purchase a gun in Ramla, in central Israel. Hayoun couldn’t fathom why he was buying a gun, given that he was about to get a chance at parole.

About a half hour before the prison shootings, Sheinbein called Hayoun at her office. “He wanted to thank me and to say goodbye,” she says. “And he told us that we will hear about him in the [next] 24 hours and he wanted to [make] some arrangements.

“I understood from this conversation that he was going to kill himself. Therefore, I called the jail, the district attorney’s office. I said, ‘You have to find him. Something bad is going to happen to someone.’

They didn’t take my request seriously.

They answered me in a [text] message: ‘If you’re worried for his life, so you should pray to God.’ One minute after I got this [text], the incident started.”

According to The Jerusalem Post, Sheinbein had locked himself inside his cell block synagogue for more than an hour on Thursday, Feb. 20. His punishment was confinement to his cell over the weekend.

That Sunday, he was being transferred to another cell block when he asked to use the bathroom. Then he barricaded himself in and, using a gun somehow smuggled

into the prison, began shooting.

“He fired at the guards and wounded one seriously and two moderately,” the Israel Prison Service said in a statement that day. A later account said he’d injured seven—three prison guards, three special forces soldiers and one fellow prisoner.

The day after the shootout, Hayoun saw Sheinbein’s body. “It was full of gunshots, maybe more than 100,” she says.

“He was alone with one gun with 12 bullets. They didn’t have to shoot him.”

Sol and Victoria Sheinbein buried the son they had tried so hard to protect two days after his death.

Their Aspen Hill home in the Strathmore at Bel-Pre subdivision had been sold in April 1998. The 1971 frame house— 2,228 square feet on a 12,500-square-foot lot—went for $180,000 to a military couple. The necessary papers were notarized at the American Embassy in Tel Aviv.

In 2002, Sol Sheinbein was disbarred from practicing law in Maryland. Now 71, he works as an “adviser” in the Tel Aviv law firm of Ehrlich & Fenster, according to its website. He declined comment about his son’s case in an email more than two months before his son’s death and requested that Bethesda Magazine not publish anything about him. After the shootout, he and his family issued a statement through Hayoun saying that they “wish all the wounded good health and [we] are in deep sorrow and shock for what has happened.”

Sam Sheinbein’s older brother, Robert, briefly moved to Chicago, and then

immigrated to Israel, where he worked in his father’s office at Ehrlich & Fenster.

He’s married, and now has a daughter and a son. He didn’t respond to messages left with a third party. He and his sister have changed their last name to Shein.

Nathalie took three courses at Montgomery College—introduction to paralegal studies, interpersonal communications and tort law. Her instructor for all three courses, ironically, was McCarthy.

“Nathalie was a very good student and got very good grades,” he says. “She first asked if I knew who she was. We actually became friends. Sometimes, if she needed advice on something, she’d even call me.

“Most of the conversation centered on her father and what a decent man he was,” he says. “She described [him as] just short of being a saint, who for years had protected the family.”

In 2011, Nathalie Shein graduated from the University of Maryland with a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice. At press time, she was working as a help desk analyst for iControl Systems USA, a data processing firm in Burtonsville, and living in Gaithersburg. Reached at work some months before Sam Sheinbein’s death, she would say only this of her younger brother: “It’s a very sad story.

We must get on with our lives.”

More than 100 mourners attended the graveside service for Aaron Needle at Mt. Lebanon Cemetery in Adelphi, according to a Washington City Paper account in May 1998.

Roslyn Needle said at the time that she

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the killer next door

About a half hour before the prison shootings, Sheinbein called Hayoun at her office. “He wanted to thank me and to say goodbye,” she says. feared for her son because the Torah forbids suicide. But she found comfort in the fact that Aaron chose to “deliver himself ” on the last day of Passover, the same day the biblical Aaron helped Moses deliver the Jews from bondage. She was glad, too, that her son strengthened his Jewish ties during his time in jail, eating only kosher food and subscribing to the Netanyahu statement that “no power on earth can rob any Jew of his identity.”

She recalled, too, what her son wrote from jail: “Life surely didn’t go as I expected it. How did I get here? Where are my dreams?”

In 1999, the Needles sold their nearly 4,000-square-foot home, located off Old Georgetown Road in Luxmanor. They live in a condo nearby and continue to operate their computer software consultancy, CTS Inc., from home.

They have had occasions to celebrate in the years since their son’s suicide. In 2006, their daughter Rena graduated summa cum laude from Stern College for Women, an Orthodox institution that is part of Yeshiva University in New York. And this past fall they welcomed the birth of a granddaughter.

Through it all, the Needles appear to have found solace in religion. Now 70, Sheldon Needle served on the board of Ezras Israel, an Orthodox synagogue in Rockville, for 15 years, four of them as president. In one synagogue newsletter, he shared his thoughts on achieving peace of mind. Foremost, he said, “be eternally grateful for what you have.”

Aaron Needle is buried in a grassy circle next to his maternal grandparents.

The inscription on the burial plaque reads, “Beloved Son and Brother.” Following that are four lines in Hebrew

from the Book of Genesis in the Bible: “Your name shall be Yisrael [Israel] because you struggled with God and with men.” It seems a fitting epitaph for the young man whose personal struggles ended with him hanging in a jail cell.

Roslyn Needle, so eloquent at his graveside funeral, declines to comment now on her son’s life and death. “He’s resting,” she says during a phone call.

There was no burial for Freddy

Tello, whose mutilated remains were cremated. But there was a memorial service at St. John the Baptist Catholic Church in Silver Spring more than a week after the murder. The Washington City Paper reported that more than 200 attended.

Lorena Tello, the young man’s aunt by marriage, recalls the service as both “sad” and “awful.”

“They talked about him, showed pictures about him, about his life, stuff he liked to do,” she says from her home in Boyds. “…His mother was, like, numbed. She said something to me I can never forget. ‘Now it’s your turn to have a baby to carry on the [Tello] family name.’ Sure enough, I got pregnant the following year. He is now 15.”

In 2001, Tello’s mother, Eliette, married Eric Dawes, a former bank executive who now works for the Federal Housing Finance Agency. She works as a customer service representative at a bank in Burtonsville, and declines to speak about the case or about Sheinbein’s recent death. “She doesn’t have any interest in reliving it,” her husband says, though it continues to haunt her.

The second Christmas after her son’s murder, McCarthy encountered Tello’s mother at the church both their families attend. It was a Christmas Eve Mass, dur-

ing the traditional “kiss of peace,” when worshippers turn to greet others sitting near them. On this occasion, McCarthy happened to be seated directly behind her.

“We looked at each other, recognized each other, we hugged, she cried,” he recalls.

It was a difficult moment. “When you do what I do,” he says, “I remind people of the worst things that happened to them in their life.”

The long-vacant house on Breeze Hill Lane where Freddy Tello’s remains were discovered finally sold in May 1998 for $180,000 to Glenn Schaible, a widely published economist for the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Schaible, now 64, says he was “very aware” of the story when he purchased the home, but “at this point, it has nothing to do with this house.”

The former Sheinbein house around the corner on Birchtree Lane was sold a second time, to a Bolivian family, in 2001.

“Fortunately, when we bought the house, we didn’t know anything about [the murder],” says owner Viviana Duran, who lives there with her elderly parents and two daughters, 12 and 20. A consultant for Booz Allen, she doesn’t dwell on the past. “It’s a nice neighborhood. There is nothing around here I can complain of.”

Still, she says, “I have that scary feeling it happened in my garage. I just prefer to think it happened somewhere other than here.” n Eugene L. Meyer is a longtime contributing editor for Bethesda Magazine. Daniella Cheslow, a journalist based in Israel, also contributed to this article. To comment on this story, email comments@bethesdamagazine.com.

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Celebrating 45 years of real estate success! Our company was founded on the principles of integrity, honesty, innovation, and customer service— values we continue to support today.

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Empty nesters are varied in how they plan their next step in life.

Some are eager to move into an active adult community where they can spend their time trying out new activities and meeting new people, while others prefer to downsize into an urban condo where they can get their fill of cultural activities. Not all empty nesters plan to downsize, though. In fact, some want to keep the same amount of space for visiting friends, family and grandchildren, but they would prefer a home with a first-floor bedroom for their future needs.

Characteristics of an Empty Nester The 2013 National Association of Realtors (NAR) Profile of Buyers’ Home Feature Preferences shows that the average size of a home purchased by people without any children at home is 1,700 square feet compared to an average size of 2,100 square feet for buyers with children at home. Sixty percent of those without children living at home opted for a one-level home compared to just 40 percent of families with children. (1) According to NAR’s 2013 Home Buyer and Seller Generational Trends, 56 percent of buyers age 58 to 66 purchased a home with 1,501 to 2,500 square feet, while 62 percent of buyers age 67 to 87 purchased a home in that size range. (2) While it might seem likely empty nesters would want a home with fewer bedrooms, just 2 percent of buyers in every age group opt for a one-bedroom home. Houses with three or more bedrooms continue to be the most popular among all age groups, although the percentage of buyers who purchase homes with that many bedrooms declines from 83 percent among buyers age 48 to 57 to 73 percent of buyers age 58 to 66. It falls even further to 67 percent with buyers age 67 to 87. (2)

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Home Features Desired by Empty Nesters In the NAR survey of preferred home features, buyers age 55 and older—an age group more likely to be empty nesters—placed much higher importance on having a single-level home than other age groups. In addition, this age group placed a slightly higher importance on having a water view. (1) The study showed the differences in preference between people with and without children. For instance, while 23 percent of buyers with children consider it very important to buy a home with a basement, only 11 percent of buyers without children think it’s important to have a basement. Some of the other trends among empty nesters from the Generational Trends survey include the following.

• While 80 percent of buyers age 57 and under bought a detached single family home, it’s more common for buyers older than age 57 to purchase townhomes and condos.

• While 14 percent of buyers age 48 and older purchased a home in senior-related housing, that number rises to 25 percent of buyers who are age 67 and older.

• Older generations of buyers are more concerned about having landscaping features for energy conservation and living in an eco-friendly community than commuting costs.

• Older buyers made fewer compromises on the price, size or condition of the home they purchased than younger buyers. (2)

An Empty Nesters’ Wish List A survey by GfK Roper Reports in 2013 divided homeowners by generation and asked them to rank features they’d want in their dream home. The features are not necessarily what they have now

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I have a swimming pool, a workshop and a garden, plus several extra bedrooms for family and guests.

or even anticipate having in their next home, but what would be ideal. Baby boomers (born between 1946 and 1964) ranked a stateof-the-art kitchen as their No. 1 priority, followed by large walk-in closets, a whirlpool bath, a fireplace and a swimming pool. Other top home features for baby boomers included a workshop, a game room and a garden. (4) A study by 24/7 Wall Street, a financial news site, looked at features homebuyers desire and whether they would be willing to pay more for those features. Central air conditioning is the No. 1 preference for all buyers, followed closely by new kitchen appliances. Buyers older than 55 were less willing than younger buyers to pay extra for granite counters, stainless steel appliances and a kitchen island, but a private master bath is important to all 55+ buyers regardless of whether they’re empty nesters or not. (3)

Marketing Your Home to Empty Nesters If you’d like to sell your home to an empty nester, consider upgrading the property with features that offer easier maintenance. Empty nesters are more likely to buy a newer home than younger buyers.

The NAR study of buyer preferences showed that as the age of the homebuyer increases, the age of the home they purchase declines.(1) Another option is to consider universal design elements such as a step-in shower, lever door handles, pull-out shelves in the kitchen cabinets, a higher toilet and even grab bars in the tub—all features that older buyers may not yet need but will appreciate in the future. (4)

I have everything you need on one level, plus lots of extra features like step-in showers and a security system.

Professional Help for Buyers and Sellers If you’re an empty nester, it pays to work with a professional real estate agent who can help you sort through your preferences and identify which home features best meet your needs. An experienced agent can help you prepare your current home for sale, get it listed and sold, and help you manage the transaction so that you achieve your goals with the least possible stress.

Consider talking to a Long & Foster agent to learn how they can help you reach your goals. Long & Foster’s agents have access to local, trusted resources such as moving companies and contractors to make every move as smooth as possible and to help you prepare your home for sale.

A representative of Prosperity Home Mortgage can be found in most in Long & Foster offices to give buyers solid financial expertise to make an informed decision about how to simultaneously buy and sell a home.

Long & Foster offers multiple divisions that can help buyers and sellers, including insurance, financing and settlement services, and the company provides a wealth of market data to agents and their clients in their Market Minute, Market Conditions and LuxInsight reports. All Long & Foster agents can leverage the company’s broad network, not only in their own office, but also across the entire firm and its global affiliates like Christie’s International Real Estate in select areas and Luxury Portfolio International.

Sources: 1. 2013 NAR Profile of Buyers’ Home Feature Preferences 2. 2013 NAR Home Buyer and Seller Generational Trends 3. 24/7 Wall Street 4. GfK Roper Reports

About the author

Jeffrey S. Detwiler is president and chief operating officer of The Long & Foster® Companies, parent company to Long & Foster Real Estate, Inc., the largest independent real estate company in the U.S., and Prosperity Home Mortgage. From extensive, neighborhood-level market information to Long & Foster’s core services companies — providing mortgage, settlement, insurance and property management services in a streamlined manner — Long & Foster offers the services necessary to make today’s real estate transactions manageable for owners and investors.

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Bethesda All Points Office

4701 Sangamore Road Bethesda, MD 301.229.4000 | LongandFoster.com

#1 W.C. & A.N. MILLER REALTORS® Office • #14 Long & Foster Office for 2013 Kat Conley Witowski

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301.943.3865

Kat@LNF.com l

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SHARRON COCHRAN - #1 INDIVIDUAL MILLER AGENT 2012 301.351.4517

SCochran@LNF.com

#2 Individual Sales—Bethesda Miller #69 Agent Companywide —Long & Foster

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#3 Individual by Units Sold—Bethesda Miller

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2011 Realty Alliance Award Recipient, Top 5 Percent North America

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www.SCochran.com

#92 Agent Companywide—Long & Foster 2012 Realty Alliance Award Recipient, Top 5 Percent North America Staging, marketing, and negotiation expert

Let my experience work for you!

Call Kat for any of your real estate needs.

Westmoreland Hills, Bethesda Lovely 5 bedroom home on large private level lot backing to woods in sought-after neighborhood near DC line.

Andy Alderdice #1 Listing Team Companywide 2013

301.466.5898

l andy4homes@gmail.com www.andy4homes.com

Outstanding Service Award Winner

Bethesda, Maryland

$1,495,000

Grand Six Bedroom Colonial – Incredible Space and Convenience! This fabulous home features a traditional floor plan on four finished levels. ½ acre landscaped yard and pool.

Anne Emmett 301.466.2515/ Anne.Emmett@LNF.com Laura Emmett 202.422.6374/ Laura.Emmett@LNF.com

A 5th generation Washingtonian assisting many MD, DC and VA residents in the sale and/ or purchase of their first and subsequent homes since 1994.

Bethesda Sparkling 5 bedroom, 3 full bath, 4 level split in desirable Springfield. Hardwood flooring and freshly painted throughout. Close to shopping, transportation and schools.

Call her to schedule a private consultation.

Ted Duncan Providing Personal Attention to Every Detail Since 1992 301.785.7966

• Commitment to excellence • Driven to succeed • Experienced in luxury estates and first-time homes

10529 MacArthur Blvd.

$1,199,000

Updated and open floorplan, this 5 bedroom 3.5 bath colonial, is ready to go. Wonderful screened porch and deck overlooking pool. Hardwood floors throughout. Close to biking and hiking on canal. Terrific River Falls location with easy access to DC, Tyson’s Corner.

WALSH RICHARDS

301-706-3151 • Walsh.Richards@LongandFoster.com Licensed in DC, MD & VA

Gaithersburg, Maryland

LYDIA BENSON

202-365-3222 • LydiaBenson@StanfordAlumni.org Licensed in DC, MD & VA

Ted@LNF.com l Knowledge and ability to clearly explain all aspects of home sale l Unparalleled pricing of homes l Countless examples of negotiating ability to get the best results for you Providing a spectacular experience in the sale of your home. l

$599,000

Original structure built prior to Civil War. Additional rooms built later continue its historical charm with today’s necessities in mind. Completely updated and renovated with state of the art kitchen, 2/3 bedrooms, 2 full baths, living room, detached garage, shed, lots of spacious storage, and sun room that looks into beautiful 2.78 acres of private property.

Rowena DeLeon 240.423.2422 Rowena@LNF.com

• Result driven • Native Washingtonian committed to finding you the perfect home.

• Professional and personal level of service • Over 45 years of diverse commercial and residential real estate experience to help you throughout the selling and buying process.

• Personal, caring, and intelligent take on real estate • Prompt, responsive,

confidential, and committed

Mary Lou Dell

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301.404.5554

MaryLouDell@aol.com I’d love to work with you.

Call me when you’re ready to buy or sell.

And watch me periodically on News Now TV at Noon talking about our local real estate market.

Licensed in MD & DC

Call Our Award Winning Managing Broker Susan Sanford to find out why top producing and new agents join our office and choose to stay! 301-320-8300 | ssanford@longandfoster.com

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Bethesda Gateway Office

www.BethesdaGatewaySales.com mobile: m.BethesdaGatewaySales.com 301.907.7600 | LongandFoster.com ® ®

SALES OVER $1.2 BILLION IN 2013 — MORE THAN $1 BILLION FOR THE 10TH YEAR

Bethesda/Charred Oak Estates

$1,395,000

Updated & light filled open floor plan home with gourmet cook’s kitchen, elegant owner’s suite with luxury bath, expansive deck with hot tub. Great room off kit has cathedral ceiling, walls of glass and scenic parkland views!

4 BRs, 4 ½ baths, 2-car garage.

Paula Nesbitt 240.731.3369

$1,199,000

Kensington/Parkwood, Maryland $1,199,900

5BR, 3 ½ bath home built in 1999 on huge, nearly halfacre lot. 4 BRs, 2 full baths up + 1BR, 1 full bath & powder room on 1st level. 1st-floor family room with fireplace, unfinished basement.

Ben Fazeli 202.253.2269 ben.fazeli@LNF.com

Totally renovated Arts & Crafts home featuring hardwood floors, gourmet kitchen, 5 BRs, 4 full + 2 half baths, garage & fenced yard. Owner’s suite has en suite bath with jetted tub.

Paula Nesbitt 240.731.3369 paula@bannerteam.com

Cabin John, Maryland

Potomac, Maryland $1,345,000

North Potomac, Maryland Potomac, Maryland

$925,000 $1,149,999

4BR, 4.5 with bathcontemporary colonial featuring gourmet Spectacular Colonial flair boasting kitchen,foyer, sun room, home theatre, 500-bottle wine cellar!

2-story gourmet kitchen with island and stunning Top-of-the lineCustom materials and superior master suite. paint, lighting craftsmanship and built-ins. throughout.

Charming brick patio bordered by evergreens.

Pat Karta 301.943.6310, patkarta@LNF.com KristenKarpa Waksberg 301.461.4676 Donna & Sharon Owens 301.215.6907 kristen.waksberg@LNF.com Donna.Karpa@LNF.com

North Potomac, Maryland

Impeccable 4-level townhouse with gourmet kitchen open to family room with fireplace, elevator, two decks, gleaming hardwoods on 3 levels.

Close to shopping, dining, 270 & 495.

Donna Karpa & Sharon Owens 301.215.6907 donna.karpa@LNF.com sharon.owens@LNF.com

$780,000

All the space you need and want! Large, livable, 6 BR, 4.5 BA colonial backing to private Tree Preserve.

Country kitchen, family room, library, hardwood floors, 2 fireplaces. Beautiful screened porch and deck.

Adrienne Deming, The Deming Group 301.215.6831 adrienne@LNF.com

H Street Area, D.C. $859,900

Potomac/Ridgeleigh, Maryland

$850,000

Wonderful 5BR, 2 ½ bath Colonial on cul-de-sac.

Eat-in kitchen, family room with stone fireplace, updated windows, roof & AC, private level yard. Pool & tennis club.

Cathy Johnson 301.980.5242 catherine.johnson@LNF.com Sondra Mulheron 301.785.9536 smulheron@LNF.com

Gorgeous, renovated and expanded 4 BR, 3.5 bath rowhouse boasting open floor plan with hardwood floors, gourmet kitchen, owner’s suite plus a rentable lower level!

Rooftop deck with monument views.

Minutes to shops, restaurants and new trolley cars!

Paula Nesbitt 240.731.3369 paula@bannerteam. com

Wesley Heights, D.C.

$720,000

Lovely, top-level 3 bedroom, 2.5 bath townhouse with updated kitchen, fireplace and hardwood floors. Pool, tennis courts. Minutes to Starbuck’s Chef Geoff’s, El Dente and other retail stores at Foxhall.

Ben Fazeli 202.253.2269 ben.fazeli@LNF.com

4650 East West Highway, Bethesda, MD

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Sharyn Goldman Pesonalized Service Beyond Expectations

FANTASTIC NEW HOME IN BETHESDA $1,879,000

RARELY AVAILABLE RIVERHILL END-UNIT TOWNHOME WITH GARAGE

FABULOUS FALLSREACH - JUST LIKE A NEW HOME ! $1,229,000

Spectacular New Home With First Floor Master Bedroom Suite And 2 Car Garage On Cul-DeSac. Four Bedroom Suites Up With Private Baths.

3 Gorgeous Finished Levels With High Ceilings - Designer Millwork. Top Of The Line Finishes Throughout. THIS ONE’S A WOW!

3 Finished Levels - 4 Bedrooms - 3.5 Baths First Floor Family Room And Office/Library Hardwood Flooring - Volume Ceilings Fabulous Finishes. Private Walled Patio.

Stunning Renovation And Expansion Of Brick Colonial On Cul-De-Sac. Renovations Include Top Of The Line Gourmet Kitchen And Master Bath. 3 Finished Levels - First Floor Family Room And Office - 2 Car Garage. Private - Beautifully Landscaped Level Rear Yard Backing To Trees.

www.SharynGoldman.com | Sharyn.Goldman@lnf.com | Cell 301.529.7555 | L&F Office 301-907-7600

®

Voted one of the Area’s Top REALTORS® by Readers of Bethesda Magazine in 2012 & 2013

Potomac

$2,375,000

Classic country farm house on a picturesque 4.75 acre lot located in the heart of Potomac Village.

Lyn Moritt, Lisa Frazier, Ying Chen, Margie Halem, Amy Gordon, Kendall Strang Unikel, Lori Silverman

301.775.4196 Licensed in MD | DC | VA Please view our listings at MargieHalemRealtor.com.

Text MARGIE1 to 87778 to download my free home-search app

Everywhere you want to be!

MargieHalemRealtor.com

MargieHalem@LongandFoster.com

#1 Billion Dollar Bethesda Gateway Office | 301.907.7600 (O)

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Wendy Banner

& The Banner Team

4650 East West Highway Bethesda, Maryland 301.907.7600 | LongandFoster.com ® ®

301.365.9090 | Wendy@BannerTeam.com | www.BannerTeam.com

Bethesda, Maryland

$2,450,000

Incredible Mediterranean with over 10,000 sq ft on 2 acres w/heated pool & spa. Grand formal spaces, chef’s kitchen, 4 fireplaces, home theater & wine cellar. 5 bedrooms, 6 baths and 2 half baths, a 3 car garage & whole house generator.

Potomac, Maryland

$2,500,000

Bethesda, Maryland

$2,250,000

Meticulous renovated by Natelli features state-of-the-art kitchen, paneled library, four fireplaces & high ceilings.

6 bedrooms and 6.5 baths include a totally remodeled owner’s suite. Patios, deck, pond & heated pool.

Potomac, Maryland

$1,650,000

North Bethesda, Maryland

$1,329,000

Updated brick colonial in sought-after Timberlawn!

Renovated gourmet kitchen with granite counters, 2-story family room with a floor-to-ceiling fireplace.

4 bedrooms, 4.5 baths.

Potomac, Maryland

$1,495,000

Walk to Potomac Village! Dramatic brick home w/ soaring ceilings in Normandy Farms w/ 8000 sq ft on 3 finished lvls. Finished sun room & screened porch overlook 1.2 acre lot on quiet cul-de-sac. 3 car garage.

5 bedrooms, 4.5 baths.

Customized colonial on 1.75 acres! Remodeled gourmet kit, 5 fireplaces, wide plank hardwood floors & main level guest bedroom. Swimming pool, gazebo, patio & deck. 6 bedrooms, 5 full baths.

Natelli built colonial on a quiet cul-de-sac in Avenel w/over 5,500 finished sq ft on three levels features updated kitchen open to large family rm! Private .3/ac w/brick patio! 4 bedrooms, 4.5 baths.

Potomac, Maryland

Potomac, Maryland

Courtyard home in Avenel built in ’01 and offers four levels of living space w/5 bedrooms and 5 baths.

Gourmet kitchen opens to family room with fireplace.

Private deck and rarely available 4-car garage.

Updated Avenel colonial featuring new stainless steel kitchen appliances, newly refinished hardwood floors.

On quiet cul-de-sac w/expansive deck perfect for entertaining. 3 bedrooms, 4.5 baths.

Potomac, Maryland

Potomac, Maryland

Potomac, Maryland

Over 13,000 finished sq ft on 2 professionally landscaped acres features an in ground pool/spa, pool house & lighted field/future tennis. Separate apartment, 7 bedrooms, 7 full and 2 half baths, 4-car gar & whole house generator.

Potomac, Maryland

$1,399,000

$1,189,000

Updated Gosnell end unit features a gorgeous remodeled gourmet kitchen, high ceilings and 2 fireplaces. Elevator rough-in. Expansive brick patio & balcony. 4 bedrooms, 3.5 baths.

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$1,395,000

$1,175,000

Steps to Potomac Village! Stately brick colonial on a ½ acre, flat lot is ideal for outdoor entertaining! Features an updated gourmet kitchen, main level study & screened porch. 4 bedrooms, 4.5 baths.

$1,295,000

$809,900

Kettler Colonial on quiet cul-de-sac in sought-after Copenhaver. Renovated gourmet kitchen open to a family room with a floor-to-ceiling brick fireplace. Patio with hot tub. 4 bedrooms, 2.5 baths.

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North Bethesda/ Rockville Office

6000 Executive Blvd., #100 Bethesda, Maryland 301.468.0606 | LongandFoster.com ® ®

Annapolis, Maryland

$1,300,000

North Bethesda, Maryland

$1,075,000

North Bethesda, Maryland

$825,000

Live the waterfront lifestyle in this quality-crafted home in historic Annapolis. As welcoming of guests by boat as by car, this custom-built residence provides anchorage in protected waters in the heart of Chesapeake Bay. Less than 1 hour from DC. Jennifer Holden 443.803.7620

Fabulous, unique open contemporary at the end of culde-sac, surrounded by trees and fronting parkland with creek views. Soaring ceilings, main level bedroom with library suite and bath, oversized glass windows and door opening to balconies and decks all around.

Emily Mintz 301.704.2913 www.EmilyMintz.com

Relax in the gazebo hot tub on the deck overlooking trees in this custom designed and built colonial.

Numerous wonderful details and upgrades in this gracious home.

North Bethesda, Maryland

Columbia, Maryland

$769,900

Bethesda, Maryland Montgomery Village, Maryland $825,000 $330,000

Home features 2-story foyer, 9’ ceilings, Palladian windows, 2 zone HVAC, 2 car garage, surround sound, gourmet kitchen with granite, wooded backyard and much more.

Meticulously maintained updated 3,000 square Welcome home to this sunand filled, spacious 4 bedroom foot home featuring 4 large bedrooms and 2.5 baths, townhome with arched doorways, special lighting, large table-space kitchen, office, family medallions, custom crown andmain-level chair molding overlooking room with stone fireplace to and exit to and deck, enormous the golf course.

Convenient bus lines shopping. master suite with luxury bath.

Karen Eaton 301.928.0516 Tom Whiteman 301.469.9111 www.KarenEaton.LNF.com Tom@TomWhiteman.com

$619,000

A four bedroom Luxmanor home on .41 acre lot at the corner of 2 cul-de-sacs by Cabin John and Tilden Parks.

Living spaces on main level open to a private yard.

Emily Mintz 301.704.2913 www.EmilyMintz.com

Mount Airy, Maryland

Ramtin Zadeh 301.775.4236 www.MetroHomeHunters.com

$349,900

Olney, Maryland

$549,000

Emily Mintz 301.704.2913 www.EmilyMintz.com

Potomac, Rockville, Maryland Maryland

$1,149,999 $545,000

Sparkling four bedroom Cape Cod on 1.69 idyllic acres with a large deck, perfect for entertaining, relaxing and taking in the pastoral views. This sun filled home has been completely remodeled from top to bottom.

Quiet and serene 2 acre property. A rambler home with new roof , gutters and a separate 2 story barn with electric. Convenient to the ICC.

Spectacular Stunning brick Colonial Colonial withfeatures contemporary foyer entry, flair sun boasting filled 2-story living room, foyer, gourmet separatekitchen diningwith room island with andgleaming stunning master hardwood suite. floors, Custom remodeled paint,table lighting space and kitchen built-ins. opens Charming to the family brick room, patio garage, bordered fenced by evergreens. yard and patio.

Molly Carter 240.676.1656 www.MollyCarter.com

Joanna Argenio 202.258.2273

MaryAnne Fiorita 301.529.0090 Donna Karpa & Sharon Owens 301.215.6907 www.MaryAnneFiorita.com Donna.Karpa@LNF.com

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Barrie Kydd Elegant Convenient Condo Living

LIONSGATE - For Sale - 7710 Woodmont Avenue, Units 1104 and 1204, Bethesda, Maryland New York Style living in the heart of Bethesda! Sculpted lions by local artist John Dreyfuss flank the entrance. Doormen and 24-hour concierge are there to greet you or park your car. 2,025 and 2000 sq. ft. respectively, these 2 bed, 2 ½ bath condos + den have S/W, S/E exposure and closets galore. The spacious corner units provide views of gorgeous sunsets for entertaining your family and friends.

Please call for private showings and prices.

Barrie Kydd

Luxury REALTOR® Licensed in MD & DC

Living, Loving, and Working Bethesda, MD and the surrounding DC Metro Area 301.325.4040 (cell) | Long & Foster Real Estate 240.497.1700 Barrie.Kydd@LNF.com

• www.BarrieKydd.com

®

CUSTOM CONTEMPORARY RAMBLER

Dennis Coleman 301.996.9344

dsc4homes@aol.com Welcome to this stunning 7700 sq ft 2 level brick rambler perfectly sited on almost an acre of of level land in the heart of a cul-de-sac in close-in Potomac. Gorgeous updates, tremendous attention to detail, dramatic high ceilings, skylights, picture windows, a gourmet chef’s kitchen, a luxurious master bedroom suite, 5 more bedrooms, 6 more baths and much more flow beautifully in a fantastic floorplan wrapped in fabulous architecture! Make this home your own! Call for an appointment, today!

Nanci Miller 301.537.7271

nancimiller316@gmail.com

The Coleman Team | Long & Foster Real Estate | 7700 Old Georgetown Rd, Bethesda, MD | 240.497.1700

®

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Chevy Chase Office 202.363.9700 20 Chevy Chase Circle, NW, Washington, D.C.

Woodley Park Office 202.483.6300 2300 Calvert Street, NW, Washington, D.C.

® ®

Bethesda, Maryland

$650,000

End unit town home with 4 bedrooms, 3.5 baths and gourmet chef’s kitchen to die for. Brazilian cherry hardwood floors and walk out basement to charming fenced patio and back yard.

Shelley Gold 202.271.5885

Chevy Chase, Maryland

$795,000

A design/build DREAM LOCATION in Chevy Chase. Move in and renovate on your schedule or build your new dream home. A large level corner lot with a 3 bedroom, 1.5 bath. Owner built the house in 1951 with a walk up attic to be able to add a second story.

Thomas Wilson 301.502.3519

Chevy Chase, Maryland

$545,000

RENOVATED - 2 bedroom, 2 bath condo. Granite/SS table-space Kitchen, hardwoods, fireplace, W/D, balcony, garage parking, indoor pool, gym. Free shuttle/walk to Metro, finest shopping & dining.

Mary McGuire 301.717.7563

Capitol Hill, D.C. $795,000

Silver Spring, Maryland

$625,000

Located in beautiful tree-lined North Hills, inside the Beltway and close to downtown SS and METRO. Updated and expanded with a generous floor plan this 3 bedroom, 3 bath home offers hardwood floors throughout. Large deck and lovely backyard, too.

Shelley Gold 202.271.5885

Cleveland Park, D.C.

$359,000

Large, bright 1 BR with old world charm; high ceilings, arches, big windows & hdwds. Updated SS Kit w/quartz counters. Move right in! Pet friendly, Low fee. Mins to everything that Woodley & Cleveland Park have to offer.

Walk to TWO METROs & RC Park!

Mitchell Story 202.270.4514

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Rockville, Maryland

Live in one, rent the other or combine both units back into a great 2000+ SF house! Nice rear deck off main & balcony. Only a few blocks from the park, and a short stroll to Eastern market and metro!

$224,900

Large updated 1-bedroom condo with garage parking, extra storage and private patio. Ideally located close to Grosvenor Metro in the full-service community of Grosvenor Park 11. Convenient to Bethesda and Rockville shopping, dining and great performances at Strathmore!

Susan Fagan 202.246.8337

Foggy Bottom, D.C.

$914,000

Luxurious corner 2 bedroom, 2 bath condo boasts streaming sunlight and sweeping views from every room.

A cozy fireplace and high-tech gourmet kitchen complete the perfect package, plus extra storage & parking!

Elaine Conroy 202.744.6291

Roby Thompson 202.238.2885

Petworth, D.C.

$749,900

New renovation of this Wardman home with all the bells and whistles. Bright and sunny this spacious home has a gourmet kitchen, large bedrooms, gleaming wood floors, huge deck, an in-law suite and parking.

Samuel Davis 202.256.7039

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Cliff Meredith Associate Broker

101 N. West Street Easton, Maryland

410.822.6272 or 410.924.0082 | cliffmeredith.com ® ®

Meredith Fine Properties Group of Lacaze Meredith Real Estate

Chester, MD

$3,900,000

Earleville, MD

$14,950,000

Easton, MD

$5,750,000

“Avalon Farm” 165 acs, 4 parcels, Crab Alley Bay, 4BR/3BA home provides nice footprint, great hunting, near Annapolis.

“Bracebridge Hall”557 acs, 106 development rights, McGill Creek/Back Creek, 9BR/10+BA manor house, guest houses, barns, tennis, dock, easy access to Balto., DC, Philly.

“Ratcliffe Manor” 46 acs, Tred Avon River, 6BR/5.5BA historic main house, caretaker/ tenant houses, pool, pool house, barns, deep water dock.

Easton, MD

Easton, MD

Easton, MD

$4,975,000

$3,475,000

$2,385,000

Easton, MD

$5,495,000

“The Willows” 12+ acres, Miles River, historic home, sauna, broad views, deep water dock, pool, mature trees, extensive landscaping, guest house, 6-car garage, stable.

Easton, MD

$1,495,000

“Cliffside” 5+ acs, Peachblossom Creek, 5BR/6+BA main house, two guest cottages, sandy beach, 2-car attached and 4-car detached garage, barn, dock. Agent/Owner.

2+ acs, Glebe Creek, 6BR/8+BA French country home, new kitchen appliances, heated pool, poolhouse, dock with lifts, private setting but close to downtown.

“Sunrise Pines” 3 acs, Trippe Creek, 3BR/ 3.5BA Hugh Newell Jacobsen contemporary, broad panoramic views, dock, boat house, sandy beach, 3-car garage.

2+ acs, Miles River, broad water views, parklike setting, riprapped shoreline, granite pillars at entrance, close to downtown.

Easton, MD

Easton, MD

Grasonville, MD

Oxford, MD

$1,220,000

$749,000

$10,900,000

$4,800,000

2+ acs, Tred Avon River, 3BR/3.5BA contemporary, first floor master, basement, two-story foyer, sunroom, deep water dock, 2-car garage, high elevation, decks.

5+ ac lot, Miles River, cleared lot, mature trees, perc approved for 6 bedroom house.

“Talisman Plantation” 819 acs, 3 parcels, Prospect Bay, 8BR/6BA main house, guest houses, pool, tennis, barns, easements, near Annapolis.

“Point Elizabeth” 4+ acs, Town Creek/Tred Avon River, 6BR/7+BA colonial, broad sunset views, pool, pool house, dock, studio, 3-car garage, generator.

Oxford, MD

Sherwood, MD

Trappe, MD

Wittman, MD

$1,285,000

2 acs, Trippe Creek, 3BR/4.5BA one-level, completely updated, dock, heated pool, mature trees, extensive landscaping, 1-car garage.

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$1,000,000

4.16 ac lot, Duns Cove, cleared and protected, deep water for sail boat, deeded tree-lined drive, easy access to the Chesapeake Bay, near St. Michaels.

$3,250,000

“Riverside Farm” 32 acs, Choptank River, 4BR/4.5BA colonial, two parcels, broad views, 3-floor elevator, dock, sunroom, 1BR/1BA apartment.

$3,900,000

68 acs, Harris Creek/Briary Cove, 4BR/ 4.5BA colonial, ponds, dock, unfinished caretaker’s house, near St. Michaels.

4/9/14 6:12 PM 4/10/14 10:57 AM

Vicki Porter SRES

“

Working with Vicki was like working with a trusted friend who had only our best interests at heart. Not only did she sell our condo quickly, in a down market, but she helped us with every aspect of the move and preparation. With community resources at her fingertips, she was able to recommend movers, house cleaners, and a carpet company. And since I was trying to manage the sale long distance, she took my place in handling all of the many on-site activities. She was always available and responsive to my many questions, and went well beyond our highest expectations.

We couldn’t possibly have had a better experience.

“

S. Dunn (Bethesda)

Long & Foster Real Estate | 4701 Sangamore Rd, Bethesda, MD | 301.229.4000 301.325.2965 | www.VickiPorter.net

Kathy McElroy and Dominique Rychlik

COMING SOON!

7300 Brookstone Court Potomac MD

$1,750,000

Whitman Schools at Bethesda/Potomac border!

Beautifully renovated and expanded home on 2.5 acre level lot! Exceptional first floor includes living room, dining room, office, gourmet kitchen, family room, sunroom, great room and first floor master bedroom suite! Walk to C & O Canal! 20 minutes to downtown DC, Bethesda, 270 corridor, Northern VA!

Lovely renovated 4 bedroom home in beautiful Brookdale.

Friendship Heights Metro! B-CC Schools!

Kathy McElroy

Dominique Rychlik

301.580.0934 | office 202.966.1400 | www.DominiqueRychlik.com | Licensed in DC, MD, VA

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4/10/14 11:06 AM 4/10/14 2:32 PM

Rehoboth Beach Office

37156 Rehoboth Ave. Ext. Rehoboth Beach, DE 302.227.2541 | LongandFoster.com ® ®

Fenwick Island, Delaware $1,499,000

Rehoboth Beach 10.3 Acre Parcel $14,900,000 Prime Commercial Property consisting of 10.3 acreslocated at the corner of Coastal Highway 1 & Holland Glade Rd in Rehoboth Beach, just opposite Tanger Outlet “Oceanside”. The last large commercial parcel left on Highway 1 in Rehoboth Beach. MLS 606648 Mike Kogler 302.236.7648 www.Mike.Kogler.com Dave Wilson 302.228.7162

Rehoboth Beach, Delaware

$1,250,000

Classic Beach Cottage. Private Community of “North Shores” Residents Enjoy Private Beach, Pool, Tennis, Yacht Basin, Marina, Tot Lot & Year-Round Security.

Expertly sited 5 Bedroom, 3 Bath. Stroll to State Park, Bike to Town, abundant outdoor living space. Incredible Rental Income. MLS 605949 Mike Kogler 302.236.7648/ www.Mike.Kogler.com

Welcome to “SouthPointe” Your Perfect Resort Getaway! Ocean Block, 3rd home from the ocean and steps to the sand! Open floor plan. 2 owner suites plus 3 bedrooms, den, and 4.5 baths.

Decorated by a top DE Interior Designer. Gourmet kitchen with granite, stainless appliances.

Multiple wrap around decks!

Great rental income, $76,490 in 2012! Owner is DE Realtor.

Linda Lizzio 202.997.1664 Linda.Lizzio@LNF.com

Sale Pending-Lewes, Delaware Bay front Lot $1,295,000 Extraordinary “Bay front” lot in the private community of Cape Shores in Lewes, DE. Amenity-Rich With Private Beach, Pool, Tennis, Bay Front Pier. Lot #92. MLS 595383 Mike Kogler 302.236.7648/ www.Mike.Kogler.com

$975,000

Views of Ocean and North Shores! $824,900

4BR/3 Full Baths/2 Half Baths. This sophisticated home, finest details throughout. Over 4600 sqft. this home offers formal dining room, living room, family room, 3 season room, rec room. Master suite with tile bath, exercise room, home office, deck overlooking landscaped yard & pool. Just Minutes to Downtown Rehoboth! MLS 609585 Bill Cullin 302.841.7147/ www.KingsCreekHome.com

Unobstructed ocean and coastline views looking towards the North to Cape Henlopen State Park. 2 bed, 2 bath condo on the boardwalk with tile baths, tile floor in kitchen, and an excellent rental history. Pool, Elevator, Security, Parking Garage. MLS 607558 Call or text: Bill Cullin 302.841.7147 See Tour at www.TheHenlopen504.com

New Price! Rehoboth Beach

Beautiful Home $329,000 4 Bedrooms and 3.5 Baths,.

2 Master Suites, Private Backyard.

Amenity Rich Active Community.

Beautiful Home Minutes to Beach! $549,900 Beautiful 4300 sq. ft. 4BR/4.5BA, home features a Cathedral Ceiling in the Great Room, Hardwood Floors, Stainless Steel Appliances, Bonus Room, 3 Car Side Entry Garage, In-Ground Swimming/ Patio. Situated on 1.87 acres. MLS 607284 Call or text: Bill Cullin 302.841.7147 See Tour at www.16132HudsonRd.com

Rehoboth Beach, Delaware

$517,500

4 Bedroom, 3.5 Baths, Location, Location, Location! 1.5 Miles to Downtown Rehoboth. 1st & 2nd Floor Master Suites, Florida Room, Full Basement, Irrigation. Clubhouse, Indoor & Outdoor Pools. Low Maintenance. MLS 611050 Mike Kogler 302.236.7648/ www.Mike.Kogler.com

Marie LaDuca 302.727.9748 Marie.laduca@ lnf.com

$319,000

Townhome w/Golf Course Views! $244,900

Lowest Price in Dewey Beach!

BONAIRE – 2 Bedroom, 2 Baths. Fabulous Ocean Front Condo in Ocean City, MD. Steps away from the beach w/recent updates. Wake up to the sound of the surf!

MLS 487952 Candy Williams/ 410.991.0999 candy.williams@longandfoster.com

3BR/2.5BA, 2 car garage. Beautiful 2380 sq. ft. Townhome on 14th hole island fairway. Stainless Steel Appliances, Corian Counters, Ceramic Tile Floors, Home Office, Full Basement, 2 Car Garage, and Golf Cart. MLS 607763 Call or text: Bill Cullin 302.841.7147 See tour at: www.BaywoodGolfHome.com

No Land Lease here. Furnished 1 Bedroom, 1 Bathroom Condo, with living room and Kitchen. Located East of Route One and only 100 steps to the Beach! MLS 605672

Ocean City - Ocean Front

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$234,900

Call or text: Bill Cullin 302.841.7147 See tour at www.deweybeachcondo.com

4/7/14 10:28 AM 4/10/14 10:57 AM

® ®

[you ] Thank

for viewing The Long & Foster® Companies’ exclusive “Showcase of Homes”

No matter what your buying, selling or investment goals are, our agents can help you take advantage of real estate opportunities. When you’re ready to take the next step, we welcome you to contact one of our sales offices or expert sales associates.

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4/10/14 10:57 AM

East Meets West | Dressed to Sell | Downsizers

Bethesda Magazine

May/June 2014

The Natural Gardener Landscaper Edamarie Mattei develops her business organically

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Bethesda Magazine

may/june 2014

michael ventura

196

188 House Appropriations

196 Dressed to Sell

It’s East meets West in home design, as Asian influences enter into the mix.

Home stagers aren’t just helping to sell a house— they’re helping buyers imagine a way of life.

By Carolyn Weber

By Gabriele McCormick

190 The Natural Gardener For Silver Spring’s Edamarie Mattei, a landscaping career developed…well, organically.

By Kathleen Wheaton Home COVER PHOTO by erick gibson

Interior Designers’ Best-Kept Secret

203 Living Light Three local couples talk about how they downsized their homes—and discovered the joys of living with less.

By Christine MacDonald and Scott Sowers

212 By the Numbers A look at the most expensive home sales in the area, as well as home sales by ZIP codes.

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BETHESDA REAL ESTATE.COM Lynda O’Dea, the top agent at the top Long & Foster office, along with her daughter Christina are lifelong residents of Bethesda and Chevy Chase.

Their unique combination of skills help clients successfully navigate the buying and selling process. With expertise in online marketing, business, technology, staging and interior design … clients receive added value services that help them fully maximize their buying and selling potential!

CONTACT US FOR A CONSULTATION Call 240 988-400 or email Lynda@BethesdaRealEstate.com

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Christina O’Dea 240 429-0444 LD O S

Somerset House, Chevy Chase $1,320,000

Visit our NEW mobile website . . . BethesdaRealEstate.com for all active & recently sold homes plus local market trends!

BETHESDA GATEWAY OFFICE 4650 East West Hwy Bethesda MD 20814 301.907.7600

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house

appropriations

By Carolyn Weber

1

Asian Accents

For centuries, Western designers have sought inspiration from Eastern cultures. From textiles to ceramics, from furniture to rugs, Asian elements add a bit of the exotic to American homes. With bold colors and intricate patterns, Eastern imports mix well with most interior styles—traditional, contemporary, even bohemian.

2

3

4

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1.

Hand-embroidered by female artisans in India, the lively scene on this pillow depicts the tree of life. It’s adorned with brightly colored peacocks and elephants, and small metal pieces form the flower centers for a bit of shine. The pillows are 16 inches square and go for $49 at Ten Thousand Villages in Bethesda (301-7183465; www.tenthousandvillages.com).

2.

Set an elegant table with Jasper Conran at Wedgwood Chinoiserie dinnerware.

An updated take on traditional patterns, the garden-inspired, green and white plates, bowls, cups and saucers feature botanicals and peacocks. Each of the nine pieces is sold separately, for $32 to $215, at Bloomingdales in Chevy Chase (240-7443700; www.bloomingdales.com).

3.

These fancy little benches from Hickory Chair work as footrests or extra seating.

The faux bamboo fretwork is designer Mark Hampton’s take on old-fashioned Chinoiserie. They are 20 inches square and available in a variety of finishes and upholstery options, from $1,350 each through Urban Country in Bethesda (301654-0500; www.urbancountrydesigns.com).

4.

The flared lines and brass-tone medallion pulls of the Shanghai bedside chest hint at Asian design without going over the top. Store all of your essentials in the drawer, and there’s plenty of space for books and magazines below. It retails for $249.95 at Pier 1 Imports in Rockville (301230-9028; www.pier1.com).

5.

Chinoiserie meets Palm Beach in this interpretation of a classic Marco Polo design in silhouette. South Sea, part of the Resort collection, is available in fabric and wallpaper. Choose from seven bright colors for $98 per yard for the fabric and $48 per single roll of wallpaper at Rockville Interiors & Fabrics (301-4241900; www.rockvilleinteriors.com).

6.

Brighten up your summer soirée with cute and casual cotton napkins. Hand-blockprinted in Jaipur, India, the Kalindi napkins come in three colors—blue, green and yellow—for $12 each at Anthropologie in Chevy Chase (301-654-1481; www. anthropologie.com).

7.

The bamboo motif and antique gold finish give this tripod lamp classic style, but the chic, oversize black silk shade makes it thoroughly modern. It stands 33 inches high, and is priced at $305 at Neiman Marcus in Mazza Gallerie in Friendship Heights (202-966-9700; www. neimanmarcus.com). n

5

6

7

Carolyn Weber lives in Silver Spring and frequently writes about architecture and home design. Send product ideas to carolyn.weber@bethesdamagazine.com.

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Natural the

Gardener

For Silver Spring’s Edamarie Mattei, a landscaping career developed… well, organically

Follow

the gravel path that winds among native perennials in garden designer Edamarie Mattei’s Silver Spring backyard, past the berm of a rain garden and toward a patio table sheltered by a screened pergola hung with tiny lights. That’s where you’ll find Mattei and her husband, Kris Colby, and their three children eating dinner most summer evenings, dining on vegetables grown in raised beds that cover what once was a driveway.

The yard symbolizes Mattei’s definition of a successful garden: a place where you want to spend as much time as possible. “It’s what makes you care about the environment and notice the world around you,” says Mattei, who

owns Backyard Bounty, an organic garden and land care business.

A high school English teacher for nine years, Mattei, 47, switched careers and established her business in 2009, after installing a garden for an acquaintance who admired her backyard.

Mattei partnered with an established landscape architect for her first professional project, but soon realized that she wanted to pursue her own vision of emphasizing native plants and avoiding invasive species, pesticides and chemical fertilizers.

“That idea became more and more powerful to me: to do gardens the way you plant vegetables—by taking care of the soil,” she says. >>

photo by erick gibson, taken on location at brookside gardens

By Kathleen Wheaton

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Backyard Bounty owner Edamarie Mattei, shown here in the conservatory at Brookside Gardens in Wheaton, believes in creating gardens “the way you plant vegetables—by taking care of the soil.”

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the natural gardener

It’s an idea that’s ripe in Montgomery County, once a bastion of chemically treated, “mow-and-blow” yards. The county now certifies organic landscapers and offers tax credits to homeowners who plant runoff-absorbing rain gardens that protect the Chesapeake Bay watershed.

Mattei says she’s “excited to be helping county residents create gardens that do good while looking good [by] recharging groundwater, keeping pollutants out of streams, building habitats that preserve the diversity in our ecosystems, and conserving energy and limited natural resources.”

And, she says, “I feel really lucky to be able to do what I love for a living.”

Mattei designed a geometric patchwork of vegetable beds framed by permeable, fixed-gravel paths in the backyard of Mary Flynn’s Chevy Chase home.

Growing up in suburban New Jersey

in the 1970s, Mattei says she didn’t pay much attention to the clipped lawns and tidy flower beds that formed the backdrop to her childhood. “I did what suburban kids do—played soccer and prepared to go to college,” she says. She attended Georgetown University, majored in English and became a high school English teacher in the South Bronx.

Mattei gained a newfound appreciation for outdoor pleasures after moving from New York City to the East Bay of San Francisco with her husband in 1990. She loved to cook, so northern California’s food culture was a revelation. Shopping for fresh, local produce at farmers markets, she says she realized that “getting organic spring mix lettuce that had just been cut was completely different from the lettuce in a box from Whole Foods.”

When the couple returned to the East Coast nearly 20 years ago, “farmers markets didn’t exist here on the scale they do now,” she says. “I started gardening because I wanted to have that food.”

Having taken time off from teaching to raise her family, Mattei discovered that gardening was a great activity to do with young children. And she found that she enjoyed digging in the dirt and watching plants grow as much as they did. She began to study gardening as a teacher and bookworm would: first by reading everything she could find on the subject, and

Mattei replaced an invasive vine in this Garrett Park yard with golden ragwort, river birch and other plants that also helped with runoff issues.

“Farmers markets didn’t exist here on the scale they do now.

I started gardening because I wanted to have that food.”

—Edamarie Mattei, on first starting a vegetable garden

then by taking horticulture and design courses, eventually becoming a master gardener through a program offered by the University of Maryland Extension.

Backyard Bounty’s signature potager— a kitchen garden that’s a mix of vegetables, herbs and flowers—reflects Mattei’s memories of the urban garden planted by her Italian immigrant grandparents. But many of the firm’s projects also tap into Mattei’s knowledge of water management, native plants and organic methods.

Her team has grown to include two other garden designers, a stonemason and three to six seasonal gardeners who install and maintain about 25 garden projects a year.

Mattei’s landscapes tend to be textured, with meandering paths and shady nooks, providing even small yards with depth, variety and surprise. She emphasizes that

a garden needn’t be unruly to be organic.

“It can be simple or traditional-looking, but with a better sense of stewardship,” she says. “For example, if a client tells me they love burning bushes, which unfortunately are terribly invasive, I’d suggest aronia, or chokeberry, that’s native to our area with beautiful fall colors and a berry that’s good for our local wildlife.”

Mattei first meets with clients—who range from beginners looking to grow lettuce and tomatoes to master gardeners with a clear vision of what they want—to discuss their tastes and needs before creating an initial design. Consultation fees are $85 an hour, and projects range in cost from $5,000 to $30,000.

Client Mary Flynn moved to Chevy Chase from San Francisco two years ago,

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and like many who are new to the area, she was daunted by the riot of weeds that took over her backyard during her first D.C. summer. Flynn turned to Mattei for help because “I knew I wanted to combine a food garden with a nice-looking space where we could enjoy being outside.”

Testing showed Flynn’s soil to be particularly acidic, which is great for blueberries but not for vegetables, so Mattei built a raised bed of asparagus and strawberries along a sun-drenched eastern fence. The tall, feathery asparagus fronds and dark green strawberry leaves also provide a visual feast. Adjacent to a stonework patio with a table and grill is a geometric patchwork of vegetable beds framed by permeable, fixed-gravel paths. Mattei got rid of an aging pond in the shade of two evergreens at the far end of the garden.

“The idea of the pond was appealing,” Flynn says. “But it was a source of mosquitoes, and dealing with the pump was a hassle—it wasn’t as natural as it looked.”

Heavy rains also tended to carve gullies into Flynn’s yard, so Mattei created a rain garden to deal with runoff, using stones from the former pond to make a meandering footpath under the trees.

Plants for a rain garden are the kind that grow well along riverbanks—able to tolerate both excess water and dry spells— so in a backyard they create the effect of being at the water’s edge without the

challenges of maintaining an actual body of water.

Flynn also wanted some lawn for her two corgis to play on, so Mattei planted the center of the yard with a drought-tolerant variety of grass that grows slowly enough to only need mowing once a month. “I don’t think of grass as the enemy, as I once did,” Mattei says. “But I do think if we’re going to have it, let’s raise it in a responsible way.”

For client Caroline Turner, it was love at first sight when she purchased her one-third of an acre property in Garrett Park three years ago, but the wooded, overgrown lot presented a steep challenge. A British-born master gardener, Turner grew up with traditional cottage gardens in England and re-created one in a previous yard in Frederick.

With this larger property, shaded by municipally protected trees (Garrett Park is officially an arboretum), she wanted a woodland garden with a slightly mysterious Secret Garden feel to it. “I wanted to plant nothing useful,” she says.

Meeting with Mattei to discuss her ideas, she says the two clicked immediately. “Edamarie listens carefully, and she’s very intuitive,” Turner says.

Mattei moved several large, old aza-

Mattei helped Caroline Turner realize her vision of a woodland garden with a slightly mysterious vibe and plenty of flowering plants (above) at her Garrett Park home.

leas to the back of the property, then created steps and paths that would lead a visitor through various garden “rooms,” including a shaded seating area at the crest of the sloping lot. A permeable driveway opened up the front yard and helps with drainage.

Reluctantly, Turner installed an 8-foot fence recently to keep deer out of her yard “after too many mornings of waking up to the sight of a great buck gazing at me with no fear and a mouthful of daylilies,” she says.

Overpopulation has resulted in deer eating many garden plants that they used to avoid, Mattei says. “They are so starved they are learning to eat plants they wouldn’t normally eat,” she says, adding that deer fences remain the best defense.

Mattei says Backyard Bounty provides garden maintenance, but won’t apply pesticides—though it will advise clients on effective products that are approved for organic gardening. For her own kitchen garden, Mattei relies on

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the natural gardener

Plant This, Not That Is that tangle of English ivy strangling everything in its path? Are daylilies taking over the garden? Backyard Bounty owner Edamarie Mattei says it’s best to replace those and other common nonnative invasive plants with a mix of native plants and nonnative, noninvasive alternatives that grow well in the MidAtlantic region and won’t consume your yard. Here are some to consider:

Replace: Japanese barberry with bayberry or ninebark varieties, such as “Diablo” or “Summer Wine.”

Maiden grass with switchgrass varieties, such as “Shenandoah” or “Northwind.”

Chinese wisteria with American wisteria, such as “Amethyst Falls.”

Honeysuckle vine with trumpet honeysuckle, such as “John Clayton.”

English ivy (groundcover) with golden ragwort or “Bunny Blue” sedge.

Daylily with spiderwort.

Autumn olive with smooth witherod viburnum varieties, such as “Winterthur” and “Brandywine.”

Yellow Flag iris with Blue Flag iris.

For more information on invasive plants and native alternatives, check out the U.S. National Arboretum’s website: www.usna. usda.gov/Gardens/faqs/InvasivesAlternatives.html.

lightweight fabric row covers, which require less vigilance because they can be deployed before bug problems emerge. “I also love growing garlic and greens, which get fewer pests,” she says.

Mattei, whose eldest child is now in college, says that lessons learned through parenting and teaching are proving useful in her gardening business.

“You build the structure, but you’re working with independent beings.

There’s a lot you won’t be able to control,” she says. “But being a good observer and listener and learner all make you a better parent, a better teacher, a better gardener.” n A frequent contributor to the magazine, Kathleen Wheaton is the author of Aliens and Other Stories (Washington Writers’ Publishing House, 2013). To comment on this story, email comments@bethesdamag azine.com.

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BEFORE

Dressed to

Sell Home staging is all about showing buyers a way of life— one that could be theirs for the right price

By Gabriele McCormick | Photos by Michael Ventura

After 25 yearS in the Bethesda area, Kenneth Hanson was

ready to return to the West Coast, where he grew up. But first, he and his wife, Luba, had to sell their three-bedroom, twobath house in Kensington.

For 200 days, the single-family home sat on the market.

Finally, in December 2012, the Hansons re-listed the house with Long & Foster. That’s when real estate agent Adam Isaacson sent certified home stager Laura Zuckerman of wowed! Home Staging and Redesign in Bethesda to take a look.

After her initial walk-through, Zuckerman gave the Hansons a five-page report of recommended changes to make the house more appealing to buyers. “We were shocked at first,” Kenneth Hanson says. The list seemed overwhelming until Zuckerman helped the couple prioritize, separating the items into what they would and wouldn’t be willing to do.

Six weeks later, after moving half of their belongings into storage, painting the interior warm shades of gray and having Zuckerman rearrange their furniture and accessories, the result was dramatic.

“The house really looked fresh and uncluttered,” Hanson says.

Within six days of staging, he had an offer. >>

HOME STAGING CASE STUDY This five-bedroom, three-bath Chevy Chase, Md., house, built in 1922, generated a lot of traffic but no sale in its first 45 days on the market. So last November, the owners dropped the price by $50,000. Then real estate agent Lynne Gorsage of Long & Foster in Bethesda hired home stager Laura Zuckerman to work a little magic.

Inspired by the flecks of “dazzling blue” (a Pantone 2014 color pick) in the kitchen countertops, Zuckerman repeated the color, along with some pops of red, in accessories

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AFTER

throughout the first floor. “The target buyer for this house is a Gen X family with kids,” Zuckerman says. “They don’t fear color.”

“A cohesive color story creates flow between the rooms,” says Zuckerman, who used neutral gray (“the new beige”) for the furnishings. “When adjacent rooms are decorated in vastly different colors and styles, the home feels disjointed.”

Within two weeks of staging, the house was under contract for more than $1 million—only about $30,000 under the reduced asking price.

The family room/living room Rather than viewing this as a formal living room, Zuckerman staged this first-floor space as a family room. “The Gen X family…wants usable spaces geared toward their lifestyle,” Zuckerman says. “They don’t want their square footage wasted by ‘show’ rooms that won’t be used in daily life.”

A bulky chair originally blocked the view and made the room appear small and awkward.

“Buyers won’t necessarily realize the chair is in the wrong place. It’s more likely they’ll sense the room is small or doesn’t function well,” Zuckerman says. She moved the chair to open up the space and added more seating and a flat-screen TV to create a functional gathering spot. “Buyers always wonder where they can put their TV,” Zuckerman says. “I don’t want to leave it to their imagination.”

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dressed to sell

BEFORE

According to a 2012 study by the

Real Estate Staging Association, both vacant and occupied homes that were staged spent 73 percent less time on the market than unstaged homes. Furthermore, HomeGain.com’s 2011 home improvement and home staging survey found that money spent on staging provided almost a 300 percent return on investment.

Local real estate agents and sellers alike say it works.

“Home staging removes all personal traces of the homeowners so that a house appeals to the largest percentage of potential buyers,” says Jody Wilens, principal designer and president of Interior Design Transformations in Bethesda. “Buyers form an opinion about a house in the first 10 seconds.

You don’t have a second chance to make a first impression.”

By using homeowners’ existing furnishings or bringing in new things, professional stagers create glimpses of a potential life for the buyer, Zuckerman says. In a vacant house, buyers have a hard time imagining how their possessions would fit into empty rooms, which can look smaller than they are. In an occupied home, the homeowners’ possessions and design choices—family photos on the mantel or purple walls in the master bedroom— can easily distract buyers and make them think the house doesn’t fit their style.

Stagers set up a home’s main living areas—most importantly the family/

living room, dining room, kitchen and master bedroom—so buyers can see themselves having coffee at the kitchen table, reading a book in a cozy corner of the den or relaxing in their bedroom at the end of the day.

“A basement is important to stage and declutter, too,” Zuckerman says.

“It’s where a lot of homeowners’ things accumulate, and it’s usually buyers’ last impression of the house.”

Many successful stagers have a strong background in design, but the industry has no formal requirements or regulations, though there are courses offering certification. Not surprisingly, prices for home staging can vary widely.

Some stagers charge flat fees based on the size of the home; others have hourly rates of $100 or more. In most cases, the price depends on the number of rooms being staged and the tasks required, including

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AFTER

the management of storage rentals, overseeing painters and contractors, bringing in and/or rearranging furniture, hanging artwork and boxing up personal items.

“A smart investment in staging should be about one-half of 1 percent to 1 percent of the home’s asking price,” Zuckerman says.

For an $800,000 home, that means $4,000 to $8,000—a fraction of the price reduction that may occur when an

The master Bedroom In the master bedroom, Zuckerman replaced a tired-looking blanket with plush bedding and throw pillows to create a luxury retreat feel. “It’s relaxing but still elegant,” real estate agent Lynne Gorsage says. Two nightstands with properly proportioned lamps show buyers how much of their furniture can fit in this room. A chair, art and other accessories balance the space, which “makes buyers feel comfortable,” Zuckerman says.

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dressed to sell

BEFORE

unstaged home doesn’t sell, stagers say.

After a house has sat on the market for a month, Isaacson says, prospective buyers are likely to offer a lot less than the asking price—as much as 10 percent less.

The staging process starts with a walk-through and a detailed report of what needs to be done. What happens next depends on the homeowner and the stager.

Rachelle Roth and Terri Johnson of Urban Country in Bethesda typically clear everything out of a house and start from scratch with furniture and accessories from their retail store on Bethesda Row. The pair started the staging side of their business about six years ago and work mainly on homes that generally sell for $5 million and up. The oversize rooms in some of these homes can be challenging. “They just eat up the furniture so quickly,” Johnson says. “It can be hard to make a room look cozy and not like a ballroom.”

Roth and Johnson charge clients based on the size of the furniture package they bring in—anywhere from 20 to 40 pieces—plus the delivery fee. Other stagers use rental furniture and pass on the fees to the client. But many stagers maintain their own inventory of furniture, along with smaller items such as lamps, bedding and art, which they rent or provide for free as part of the service.

Although some houses require

major changes, such as new counter-

tops or carpeting, simply decluttering and adding accessories can make a big difference.

Former Bethesda resident James Hurley found that out after he accepted a job in Berkeley, Calif., early in 2013. Real estate agent Jane Fairweather of Coldwell Banker in Bethesda advised him and his wife, Sabrina, to stage the house before putting it on the market.

“We were still living there, so we didn’t want to do a full clear out,” Hurley says. “But we did put nearly half of our

stuff in storage.”

After rearranging the furniture, Fairweather’s staff brought in wall hangings, art, area rugs and even shower curtains with matching towels. “The result was dazzling,” Hurley says.

The couple took a trip to Costa Rica that spring to “get out of the way of buyers.” Hurley was in the middle of the rain forest when he received a top-dollar offer within three days of the open house.

Some sellers, however, don’t want to turn over their house to a stager and

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AFTER The PORCH It’s important to stage porches, especially in Bethesdaarea homes where the cost per square foot is so high, Zuckerman says. “Staging turns every inch of the property—including outdoor areas—into usable space for buyers. Leaving a porch empty or sparsely staged is leaving money on the table.” Here, she repositioned a wicker love seat to make the porch look wider, added additional seating and softened the look of the space with blue cushions and pillows, a red outdoor rug and plants. “It’s bright and cheerful, and encourages people to linger,” real estate agent Lynne Gorsage says.

pay full price. “After they get my initial report, about two-thirds of my clients want to do a lot of the work themselves,” Zuckerman says. “Sellers can get almost all the way there following my detailed report—but staging is really part science and part art, and the art part is hard to capture in DIY reports.”

Sellers can move furniture, declutter and paint rooms, but they don’t necessarily know how to place accessories to draw buyers into the rooms, Zuckerman says. With art, “people hang things too

high, and paintings end up looking lost in space and don’t relate to the furniture anymore,” she says. “There’s no substitute for having a professional who really understands the subtleties of staging.”

In some cases, the homeowners themselves are the biggest obstacle to staging. Many have an emotional connection to their possessions. “It’s hard to say, ‘Your grandmother’s hutch is beautiful, but it’s making the room look tight,’ ” Zuckerman says.

That’s why Wilens describes herself as not just an interior designer and a stager, but as a therapist sometimes. “A couple who’ve lived in their home for 30 years love it,” she says. “You really have to listen to what they are and aren’t OK with changing.”

Last summer, Wilens was hired to stage a house in Rockville. Although the homeowners agreed to remove rugs from the hardwood floors and to rearrange furniture, the husband wouldn’t consent to painting the home’s dark brown molding and paneling, which made the rooms look dated and small.

When the house sat for 60 days without an offer, however, he relented.

“After we painted everything white, those rooms looked dramatically different,” Wilens says. “The house sold right away.”

Real estate agent Sam Solovey of Long & Foster in Northwest Washington, D.C., had Zuckerman stage a Chevy Chase condo this past October that had sat vacant for two months with no offers.

The owner had combined two neighboring units, creating an unusual floor plan that made it difficult for potential buyers to identify the purpose of each room in the empty, 1,800-square-foot space, Zuckerman says.

She brought in furniture to define main living areas—living room, dining room, den and master bedroom. To combat the blandness of the beige walls and carpeting, she used a rich blue-green sofa in the living room and colorful accessories throughout. Solovey’s father, a local artist, contributed some of his abstract paintings, bringing life and more color to the condo, Zuckerman says.

Within days of staging, Solovey had multiple offers.

“I’m a big fan,” Solovey says. “I’m now integrating staging services into what I offer clients—at no charge. It’s a win-win for everyone.” n Gabriele McCormick is a frequent contributor to the magazine. To comment on this story, email comments@bethesda magazine.com.

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Janet Kinzer and Alan Abrams

Chris and Trish Abell

Susan and kenny Kasnett

Living Light Three Bethesda area couples enjoy the feeling of freedom that comes with downsizing their homes

By Christine MacDonald and Scott Sowers | Photos by Darren Higgins

As a nation, we do most of our moving in our younger years. Twentysomethings cross the country in pursuit of better jobs. Thirty-somethings move to bigger houses and communities with better schools. By the time most of us hit late middle age, we’ve accumulated so much stuff along the way that the idea of another move has about as much appeal as a root canal.

Still, 29 percent of Americans between the ages of 50 and 64 were planning to move within the next five years, according to The Conference Board’s 2012 Consumer Confidence Survey.

For many, doing so means jettisoning the possessions of a lifetime.

“The keyword is convenience,” says real estate agent Zelda Heller, a TTR Sotheby’s International Realty agent who has experienced the process firsthand. She and her husband, Izzy, downsized from a house in Bethesda to a condominium in the Parc Somerset complex in Chevy Chase in 2000.

To make the move more manageable, she came up with a system of colorcoded stickers that she now recommends to all her clients—a blue tag for furniture and other items they want to keep or give away to the chil-

dren; white for donations; red for items to be sold at estate sales; and so forth.

“One collects and collects when you are younger,” she says, “and suddenly your possessions are not all that important” compared to the yen for travel and enjoying life unencumbered from the pressures of maintaining a big home and garden.

Carol Walser, a partner at Bethesda Estate Service, says downsizing is definitely gaining popularity. She should know. After divorcing at age 48, she held an estate sale and downsized from a three-bedroom colonial in Bethesda’s Wood Acres neighborhood to a town

house in Carderock.

“Every situation is unique,” Walser says. She has seen people who grew up in the Depression struggle to part with their belongings. “The Depression-era folks are more concerned with passing down the family heirlooms,” she says. By contrast, “younger people are more comfortable with getting rid of their stuff.”

Some of that may have to do with this point in history. “Life is so complicated,” one real estate expert notes, “making it simpler is appealing.”

Here are three area couples who decided to downsize, and how they did it. >>

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title light living

The house around the corner Chris and Trish Abell, Chevy Chase

At 65, Chris Abell has spent

nearly his entire life in Chevy Chase Village. In fact, he has spent most of it within a few hundred yards of his childhood home on Magnolia Parkway.

Abell, formerly the president of Mater Dei School in Bethesda, and his wife, Trish, a retired reading specialist, briefly lived in Bethesda before moving to Chevy Chase in 1979 to raise a family. By 2002, their kids were nearly grown and the Abells were thinking about how they could downsize without leaving the neighborhood. That year, a small house on West Irving Street—right around the corner from their home— went on the market. So the couple bought it, rented it out for four years, and finally, in 2006, embarked on renovations before moving in.

First, though, they had to get rid of the possessions they’d accumulated—and that

alone took more than a year.

They gave much of their furniture to their four kids.

But the younger generation, whose tastes run more to Pottery Barn and Crate&Barrel, passed up antiques such as their grandmother’s Heron Fine China. That went into an estate sale, along with the gold-rimmed soup tureen Trish’s mother had given her.

“I never used it; it took me 20 years to realize I could get rid of it,” Trish says of the dish.

The Abells also held four or five garage sales, and called Goodwill to cart away the remainder of their belongings.

“You go through a purging stage and it feels kind of good,” Trish says. “It was a lot of work. I’m glad we did it when we did, because I’m not sure I’d still have the energy.”

Even as they downsized, the Abells were upsizing their new house. Zoning rules required the preservation

of at least 50 percent of the existing structure. So their architect, George Myers of GTM Architects in Bethesda, devised a plan to temporarily brace the walls, lift the house and build a foundation where there was none.

Myers also reversed the direction of the gabled roof to better blend with the neighborhood, and he opened up the interior. He created large wall openings bolstered by casings—but without the partitioning walls—throughout the first floor to maintain the sense of distinct rooms while making the most of the home’s original 1,280 square feet of living space on the first and second floors.

After adding a finished basement and an attic suite with a bedroom and full bath, the couple ended up with about 3,400 square feet of living space, considerably less than the 5,500 square feet they left behind. The result is

a traditional-looking home outside with the airiness of a contemporary design inside.

Myers and Bethesda-based interior designer Kelley Proxmire, who was called in to help, refer to it as a “big small house.” Taking into account the Abells’ desire to entertain, Myers and Proxmire converted the old living room into a more versatile space with a wet bar. The first floor also has a mudroom and den.

Upstairs, there’s a master suite and two more bedrooms, and the attic suite provides plenty of room for children and grandchildren when they visit.

There’s a media room in the basement, and the couple had an elevator shaft installed in case stairs become a problem as they get older. The Abells moved into the home in 2009.

“It’s a little gem,” Trish says of her “big small house.”

—Christine MacDonald

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As their children grew up and moved out, Chris and Trish Abell began thinking about how they could downsize without leaving their Chevy Chase neighborhood. So when a smaller house (right) came up for sale around the corner from their old home (left), they purchased it and eventually renovated it to meet their needs. Architect George Myers created large openings between rooms for an open feel while keeping distinct spaces, as evidenced in the kitchen area (left) and living area (below).

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title living light

The Little-Big Brownstone Susan and kenny Kasnett, North Bethesda

downsizing can be a relative

term.

For Kenny and Susan Kasnett, it meant moving in 2005 from a 10,000-squarefoot home in Potomac to a 7,000-square-foot house in Bethesda, and then to a 3,500-square-foot brownstone at Symphony Park in North Bethesda in 2012.

“I didn’t need a big house anymore,” says Susan, 56, who has three grown kids and two grandchildren. “This place is close to the Metro and it’s a 10-minute drive to Bethesda,” she says of the four-bedroom, 4½-bath home, which comes complete with an elevator.

Culling treasured possessions can be daunting, but Susan saw it as “a way to clean house and simplify our lives.” Having an estate sale and kids needing furniture

also eased the transition.

Kenny, 59, is an executive vice president at Embrace Home Loans in Bethesda, where he has worked since 2009, so he knows something about the real estate market. “We were one of the early buyers here,” he says of the new community, which is still under construction. “I knew the builder was putting together an excellent plan for the development.”

For the past 17 years, Susan has run Summer 365, a home-based camp consulting business, with her 28-year-old daughter, Lauren. The business requires some travel, another reason to own a self-contained home. “Living here is very flexible. You don’t have to worry about cutting the grass,” Susan says. “You just close the door and go.”

To help her prepare for a more compact life, Susan leaned on friend and interior designer Linda Mann.

“Linda has excellent taste, but she was also building her own home at the time,” Susan says, “so she eventually bowed out.”

The Kasnetts then turned to Terri Johnson, visual director of Urban Country in Bethesda, who focused on the main living area. “Susan has a fantastic art collection and isn’t afraid to step out and take some chances,” Johnson says.

A baby grand Steinway piano that Susan has had for 25 years became the focal point of the living room. The formal dining room features a custom-size, square dining table from Bolier, with elegant, off-white dining room chairs from Lillian August,

and a metallic-leaf sideboard from CR Currin.

The kitchen, located between the family and dining rooms, boasts a large island that’s perfect for casual meals, and lots of marble counter space. The stainless steel appliances are from Viking, and the painted cabinetry is by Wood-Mode.

A gas fireplace and coffered ceiling give the family room a comfortable, cozy feel. A distinctive resin table

by Oly provides “a nice twist on tradition,” Johnson says.

And a custom-made banquette provides another place for a quick meal with friends.

Large windows overlook The Mansion at Strathmore.

“Even though I don’t have as much storage as I used to, I love living here,” Susan says of her new home. “It’s just the right size.”—Scott Sowers

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Kenny and Susan Kasnett cut their square footage in half by moving from a 7,000-square-foot house with a yard in Bethesda (left) to a fourlevel brownstone at Symphony Park in North Bethesda (right). Their new home has a light, airy feel, with a kitchen island perfect for casual meals and a formal dining room with elegant off-white chairs.

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living light

Penthouse with a View Alan Abrams and Janet Kinzer, Silver Spring

When Janet Kinzer and

Alan Abrams moved into their first condo in Silver Spring’s Parkside Plaza eight years ago, they had different ideas about how to refurbish it. Both were leaving behind previous marriages and separate single-family homes to make a new life together.

“I wanted something glamorous. Alan wanted something energy efficient,” Kinzer, 57, says of Abrams, 64, a green building expert who owns Abrams Design Build in Takoma Park. “[He] asked: ‘What does glamour mean to you?’ ” she says. “And I sputtered because...I wasn’t sure. To me, it’s about sophistication, a unique space with unique, carefully chosen decorations, attention to details....and, of course, a big view.”

She wasn’t thrilled about the idea of spending a chunk of their renovation budget

on reducing the amount of energy the condo needed to operate. “I mean: Where is the glamour in that?”

High-rise apartment living, which packs more people into less square footage, generally has less environmental impact than sprawling single-family neighborhoods. But there are limits to how “green” you can make a condo in a 1960sera building like the Parkside. That didn’t deter Abrams.

Every project has the potential to be more environmentally friendly, he says. “That’s all green building is: site-specific stuff ” that works with what’s already there, he says.

The couple ultimately replaced windows, balcony doors and made adjustments to the heating and cooling, while letting eco-stylishness guide the rest of their decision-making. They found creative ways to recycle: installing shelves made of old

cedar instead of new kitchen cabinets. A pine rafter was repurposed into a countertop. Other fixtures, decorations and furniture were commissioned from artisans who specialize in salvaged wood and scrap yard metals.

Eventually, the couple— who married in 2008— decided they’d downsized a little too much. So last year they sold their 1,200-squarefoot unit on the fifth floor and purchased an 1,800-squarefoot penthouse in the same building. They reluctantly left behind custom-made pieces such as a “floating desk” that had been built directly into a wall by Kensington artisan Marcus Sims of Treincarnation. But they found that setting up house in the penthouse was easier since they’d already purged themselves of previously accumulated possessions.

A librarian for the Con-

gressional Research Service, Kinzer says she happily ditched just about everything but her mother’s fancy china and a trove of photo albums.

She misses the garden of a single-family home and the tiki lights she used to put out for the occasional late-night party. But she doesn’t miss the yard work. And the smaller, more intimate gatherings that she and her husband now host are more conducive to dinner conversation than large parties, she says.

Floor-to-ceiling windows in their 18th-floor penthouse overlook a sea of treetops in Sligo Park. With their free time no longer spent on housework and gardening, Abrams and Kinzer like to hike the park’s trails. There, they keep an eye out for nighthawks and great blue herons before returning to their cozy home.

—Christine MacDonald

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Janet Kinzer and Alan Abrams left behind two separate single-family homes (top) when they downsized to a two-bedroom condo in the mid-2000s. But they soon realized they’d gone a little too minimalist. So last year, they purchased a penthouse condominium with more square footage in the same Silver Spring building (above). The couple favor artisanal pieces made with recycled materials, as evidenced in the living area (below) and kitchen/dining area (top left).

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living light

a downsizing primer Bethesda-area professionals tell how to make the process easier

» Start six months to a year ahead of time.

“Downsizing takes time, and all of the decision making can be mentally tiring,” says Helen Montfort of Making Space for Life in Glen Echo.

“This is not a process you want to rush through.” » Make a game plan. Set aside time each week for the process. If you skip a week or session, find time to make it up during the next week. » Ask a trusted friend or family member to help out. Someone who’s not emotionally attached can provide a reality check sometimes. » Consider hiring a professional organizer to get you started. The saved time might be worth the money (typically $50 to $90 an hour). » Get rid of bulky items that obviously won’t fit in your new space. That might mean lawn mowers, holiday decorations, large tools and barbecue grills. » Inventory what’s left. Then make more cuts.

“It’s like a great party invitation list. …You want everybody to come but, in truth, there is only a select group that you really, really want to be with,” says Meredith Tapley Gordon of Gordon Organizing in Bethesda. » When considering furniture, ask yourself if what you have will fit in your new home, if it needs to be upholstered or if you want and can afford new items. Have the measurements of your new space on hand.

To off-load nicer pieces, Gordon suggests calling auction houses. Keep in mind that most donation centers will not accept mattresses and large, upholstered furniture. » When considering the small stuff, remember that the more you move, the more it will cost. Go room by room and ask: Do you use it, need it or love it? If it’s no to all three, let it go.

If you answer yes to one or two of the questions, an impartial friend can help make the final decision. » Schedule a weekend to have friends and family claim your castoffs. “Then schedule a donations pickup within the next week,” Gordon says. “Don’t hang on to items that Uncle Joe says he needs, but can’t pick up for a month.” » Digitize as much paperwork as you can.

Sign up for digital bank statements, and scan hard copies of things you need to keep into the computer.

Montfort suggests dedicating a half hour of your weekly sessions just to sorting through paperwork. n —Theresa Sintetos

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NUMBERS Data provided by

February’s Most Expensive Home Sales 20814 (Bethesda) 20816 (Bethesda)

Courtesy of HomeVisit

10 Wissioming Court List Price: $4.5 million Sale Price: $4.1 million Days on Market: 243 Listing Agent: Anne Killeen, Washington Fine Properties Bedrooms: 5 Full/Half Baths: 7/1

4523 Middleton Lane List Price: $1.5 million Sale Price: $1.47 million Days on Market: 0 Listing Agent: Jeremy Lichtenstein, RE/MAX Realty Services Bedrooms: 6 Full/Half Baths: 5/1

20815 (Chevy Chase) 136 Grafton St. List Price: $2.3 million Sale Price: $2 million Days on Market: 64 Listing Agent: David Cox, Long & Foster Real Estate Bedrooms: 5 Full/Half Baths: 5/1

20817 (Bethesda) 20854 (Potomac)

Courtesy of HomeVisit

9800 Sorrel Ave. List Price: $3.5 million Sale Price: $2.9 million Days on Market: 916 Listing Agent: Marsha Schuman, Washington Fine Properties Bedrooms: 4 Full/Half Baths: 7/0

6906 Mountain Gate Drive List Price: $2 million Sale Price: $1.9 million Days on Market: 25 Listing Agent: James Coley, Long & Foster Real Estate Bedrooms: 6 Full/Half Baths: 6/3

20818 (Cabin John) 6525 77th St. List Price: $650,000 Sale Price: $650,000 Days on Market: 117 Listing Agent: Cathy Hunter, Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage Bedrooms: 3 Full/Half Baths: 1/0

20832 (Olney) 20015 (Upper NW D.C.) 3045 Aberfoyle Place NW List Price: $2.1 million Sale Price: $2.1 million Days on Market: 32 Listing Agent: Shailya Macaya, Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage Bedrooms: 7 Full/Half Baths: 7/3

20016 (Upper NW D.C.) 5009 Sherier Place NW List Price: $1.68 million Sale Price: $1.61 million Days on Market: 48 Listing Agent: Ross Vann, Beasley Real Estate Bedrooms: 5 Full/Half Baths: 6/0

17204 Wellfleet Drive List Price: $539,000 Sale Price: $545,000 Days on Market: 68 Listing Agent: Delia McCormick, Washington Fine Properties Bedrooms: 4 Full/Half Baths: 3/1

20850 (Rockville) 215 Long Trail Lane List Price: $1.1 million Sale Price: $1 million Days on Market: 119

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February’s Most Expensive Home Sales Listing Agent: Douglas Crowley, RE/MAX Realty Group Bedrooms: 5 Full/Half Baths: 4/1

20851 (Rockville) 1912 Stanley Ave. List Price: $349,900 Sale Price: $349,900 Days on Market: 16 Listing Agent: Wendy Vasquez, A-K Real Estate Bedrooms: 5 Full/Half Baths: 2/0

20852 (North Bethesda/Rockville) 6612 Quaker Ridge Road List Price: $1.1 million Sale Price: $1.2 million Days on Market: 6 Listing Agent: Todd Harris, Long & Foster Real Estate Bedrooms: 5 Full/Half Baths: 4/1

20853 (Rockville) 16220 Monty Court List Price: $629,900 Sale Price: $610,000 Days on Market: 134 Listing Agent: Carolyn Sappenfield, RE/MAX Realty Services Bedrooms: 5 Full/Half Baths: 3/1

20855 (Rockville) 17706 Toboggan Lane List Price: $756,309 Sale Price: $756,309 Days on Market: 15 Listing Agent: Agent not on file Bedrooms: 4 Full/Half Baths: 3/1

20877 (Gaithersburg) 5 Calabar Court List Price: $450,000 Sale Price: $449,000 Days on Market: 4 Listing Agent: Debbie Hsu, RE/MAX Town Center Bedrooms: 4 Full/Half Baths: 3/2

20878 (North Potomac/Gaithersburg) 734 Still Creek Lane List Price: $975,000 Sale Price: $975,000 Days on Market: 7 Listing Agent: Jill Balow, Greystone Realty Bedrooms: 4 Full/Half Baths: 4/1

20879 (Gaithersburg) 20800 Bell Bluff Road List Price: $499,994 Sale Price: $500,000 Days on Market: 194 Listing Agent: Stephan Roth, Weichert Bedrooms: 5 Full/Half Baths: 3/1

20882 (Gaithersburg) 20922 Brooke Knolls Road List Price: $699,000 Sale Price: $695,000 Days on Market: 182 Listing Agent: J. Michael Moran, RE/MAX Realty Centre Bedrooms: 5 Full/Half Baths: 3/1

20886 (Gaithersburg) 8412 Saint Regis Way List Price: $499,950 Sale Price: $499,950 Days on Market: 0 Listing Agent: Ronald Letteney, RE/MAX Realty Group Bedrooms: 6 Full/Half Baths: 3/1

20895 (Kensington) 4016 Cleveland St. List Price: $979,000 Sale Price: $915,000 Days on Market: 42 Listing Agent: Gary Ditto, Long & Foster Real Estate Bedrooms: 3 Full/Half Baths: 4/0

20896 (Garrett Park) 10700 Keswick St. List Price: $675,000 Sale Price: $675,000 Days on Market: 3 Listing Agent: Karen Maury, MSI Realty Bedrooms: 5 Full/Half Baths: 3/1

20901 (Silver Spring) 308 Indian Spring Drive List Price: $699,990 Sale Price: $699,990 Days on Market: 75 Listing Agent: Charles Gilroy, Long & Foster Real Estate Bedrooms: 4 Full/Half Baths: 3/1

20902 (Silver Spring) 11109 Luttrell Lane List Price: $599,900 Sale Price: $605,000 Days on Market: 12

Listing Agent: Kristy Moore, Keller Williams Realty Bedrooms: 5 Full/Half Baths: 3/1

20903 (Silver Spring) 10321 Parkman Road List Price: $429,000 Sale Price: $415,000 Days on Market: 53 Listing Agent: Virginia Meredith, Long & Foster Real Estate Bedrooms: 4 Full/Half Baths: 3/0

20904 (Silver Spring) 13121 Riviera Terrace List Price: $625,000 Sale Price: $615,000 Days on Market: 72 Listing Agent: Richard Dompka, Long & Foster Real Estate Bedrooms: 5 Full/Half Baths: 3/1

20905 (Silver Spring) 1618 Maydale Drive List Price: $525,000 Sale Price: $490,000 Days on Market: 30 Listing Agent: A. Gail Lambers, Long & Foster Real Estate Bedrooms: 3 Full/Half Baths: 3/0

20906 (Silver Spring) 13343 Redspire Drive List Price: $770,000 Sale Price: $700,000 Days on Market: 43 Listing Agent: Patrick Kilner, Keller Williams Capital Properties Bedrooms: 4 Full/Half Baths: 4/1

20910 (Silver Spring) 1503 Noyes Drive List Price: $980,000 Sale Price: $967,000 Days on Market: 54 Listing Agent: Gail Edie, W.C. & A.N. Miller Bedrooms: 5 Full/Half Baths: 3/1

20912 (Silver Spring) 7209 Maple Ave. List Price: $755,000 Sale Price: $755,000 Days on Market: 25 Listing Agent: Margaret Finn, Long & Foster Real Estate Bedrooms: 3 Full/Half Baths: 2/0 Note: Some sales and list prices have been rounded off.

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The Fleisher Group Long & FosTer reaL esTaTe, Inc.

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Offering over 5400 square feet of finished space on a 9,750 square foot lot, this home features an open floor plan, 5 bedrooms and 4 ½ Baths, chefs kitchen, mud room, two car garage, covered porch and terrace.

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Features a gallery of south facing oversized windows and doors with light from every view. Ideally located on a 20,000 square foot lot backing to parkland, this home is down the street from Somerset Elementary School, and in close proximity to the community pool and tennis courts and the Capitol Crescent Trail.

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by the

NUMBERS

Real Estate Sales Trends (by Zip code) February February 2013 2014

20015 (Upper NW D.C.) Number of Homes Sold 10 6 Average Sold Price $733,520 $1.2 Mil. Average Days on Market 28 29 Above Asking Price 4 2 Below Asking Price 4 3 Sold Over $1 Million 1 4

February February 2013 2014

20818 (Cabin John) Number of Homes Sold Average Sold Price Average Days on Market Above Asking Price Below Asking Price Sold Over $1 Million

February February 2013 2014

20854 (Potomac) 0 1 NA $650,000 NA 117 NA 0 NA 0 NA 0

Number of Homes Sold 22 Average Sold Price $820,459 Average Days on Market 122 Above Asking Price 5 Below Asking Price 15 Sold Over $1 Million 7

22 $1 Mil. 136 1 18 8

20016 (Upper NW D.C.)

20832 (Olney)

20855 (Rockville)

Number of Homes Sold 22 24 Average Sold Price $726,895 $846,500 Average Days on Market 85 56 Above Asking Price 0 7 Below Asking Price 16 15 Sold Over $1 Million 4 8

Number of Homes Sold 12 14 Average Sold Price $396,210 $414,849 Average Days on Market 63 64 Above Asking Price 1 5 Below Asking Price 8 6 Sold Over $1 Million 0 0

Number of Homes Sold 12 5 Average Sold Price $360,981 $520,262 Average Days on Market 69 80 Above Asking Price 1 0 Below Asking Price 9 4 Sold Over $1 Million 0 0

20814 (Bethesda)

20850 (Rockville)

20877 (Gaithersburg)

13 20 Number of Homes Sold Average Sold Price $560,723 $491,584 Average Days on Market 60 48 Above Asking Price 1 3 Below Asking Price 10 15 Sold Over $1 Million 4 2

21 26 Number of Homes Sold Average Sold Price $488,286 $470,231 Average Days on Market 60 69 Above Asking Price 4 3 Below Asking Price 17 21 Sold Over $1 Million 1 1

12 17 Number of Homes Sold Average Sold Price $225,117 $254,011 Average Days on Market 59 37 Above Asking Price 2 4 Below Asking Price 9 10 Sold Over $1 Million 0 0

20815 (Chevy Chase)

20851 (Rockville)

20878 (North Potomac/Gaithersburg)

17 26 Number of Homes Sold Average Sold Price $921,804 $1.1 Mil. Average Days on Market 40 59 Above Asking Price 4 4 Below Asking Price 12 16 Sold Over $1 Million 5 14

8 2 Number of Homes Sold Average Sold Price $333,312 $290,950 Average Days on Market 18 26 Above Asking Price 4 0 Below Asking Price 3 1 Sold Over $1 Million 0 0

37 31 Number of Homes Sold Average Sold Price $359,018 $483,298 Average Days on Market 73 47 Above Asking Price 5 5 Below Asking Price 26 21 Sold Over $1 Million 0 0

20816 (Bethesda)

20852 (North Bethesda/Rockville)

20879 (Gaithersburg)

Number of Homes Sold 12 11 Average Sold Price $930,235 $1.1 Mil. Average Days on Market 44 79 Above Asking Price 3 1 Below Asking Price 4 8 Sold Over $1 Million 4 3

Number of Homes Sold 29 20 Average Sold Price $394,803 $436,567 Average Days on Market 39 41 Above Asking Price 4 5 Below Asking Price 18 14 Sold Over $1 Million 0 1

Number of Homes Sold 15 10 Average Sold Price $227,700 $241,089 Average Days on Market 37 68 Above Asking Price 1 4 Below Asking Price 10 6 Sold Over $1 Million 0 0

20817 (Bethesda)

20853 (Rockville)

20882 (Gaithersburg)

Number of Homes Sold 22 24 Average Sold Price $907,711 $956,457 Average Days on Market 57 67 Above Asking Price 5 3 Below Asking Price 16 19 Sold Over $1 Million 9 9

Number of Homes Sold 17 13 Average Sold Price $358,311 $417,415 Average Days on Market 63 71 Above Asking Price 3 4 Below Asking Price 11 9 Sold Over $1 Million 0 0

Number of Homes Sold 10 3 Average Sold Price $552,390 $554,833 Average Days on Market 142 90 Above Asking Price 0 0 Below Asking Price 9 2 Sold Over $1 Million 0 0

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by the

NUMBERS February February 2013 2014

February February 2013 2014

February February 2013 2014

20901 (Silver Spring) Number of Homes Sold 18 25 Average Sold Price $365,022 $416,156 Average Days on Market 92 60 Above Asking Price 3 4 Below Asking Price 11 16 Sold Over $1 Million 0 0

Number of Homes Sold 22 13 Average Sold Price $290,660 $354,506 Average Days on Market 38 59 Above Asking Price 7 1 Below Asking Price 11 9 Sold Over $1 Million 0 0

20895 (Kensington)

20902 (Silver Spring)

20905 (Silver Spring)

Number of Homes Sold 11 16 Average Sold Price $478,741 $414,581 Average Days on Market 53 78 Above Asking Price 3 2 Below Asking Price 8 11 Sold Over $1 Million 0 0

Number of Homes Sold 25 27 Average Sold Price $302,276 $350,280 Average Days on Market 43 33 Above Asking Price 3 8 Below Asking Price 20 14 Sold Over $1 Million 0 0

Number of Homes Sold 10 6 Average Sold Price $530,878 $408,817 Average Days on Market 38 56 Above Asking Price 1 0 Below Asking Price 7 6 Sold Over $1 Million 0 0

20896 (Garrett Park)

20903 (Silver Spring)

Information courtesy of MRIS as of March 1, 2014. Listing information should be independently verified. MRIS is real estate in real time™, enabling real estate professionals to list and sell more than $100 million in real estate each day in Maryland, Washington, D.C., Virginia and markets in Pennsylvania and West Virginia. MRIS powers MRIShomes.com, the only real estate home search site in the Mid-Atlantic brought to you by the Multiple Listing Service. Visit MRIShomes.com or text MRIS2Go to 87778 to download the MRIS Homes™ app for real-time local listings.

20886 (Gaithersburg) Number of Homes Sold 27 27 Average Sold Price $235,321 $232,420 Average Days on Market 47 51 Above Asking Price 8 5 Below Asking Price 14 15 Sold Over $1 Million 0 0

Number of Homes Sold Average Sold Price Average Days on Market Above Asking Price Below Asking Price Sold Over $1 Million

0 1 NA $675,000 NA 3 NA 0 NA 0 NA 0

Number of Homes Sold 7 5 Average Sold Price $320,786 $224,380 Average Days on Market 35 28 Above Asking Price 1 1 Below Asking Price 6 4 Sold Over $1 Million 0 0

20904 (Silver Spring)

Note: Some sales and list prices have been rounded off.

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4/7/14 4:57 PM

So closely captures the beauty of wood, you may be tempted to polish it.

Introducing Zuri Premium Decking. Like a beautifully crafted piece of fine furniture, Zuri is designed for people with a discerning eye for exquisite detail. No other engineered product comes close to capturing the authentic colors and natural grain textures of exotic timber. And because Zuri is so easy to maintain, it always attracts attention, but never demands it. So gather ’round. Because the closer you look, the better it looks. To learn more about Zuri Premium Decking, visit zuri.royalbuildingproducts.com.

Or contact David Macauley at 877.274.9760 or David.Macauley@royalbuildingproducts.com.

Exteriors With five timber varieties, it’s easy to create a deck that sets your home apart.

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Special Advertising Section

michael harris homes bio

9111 Old Georgetown Road, Bethesda, MD 20814 301-493-0010 | www.michaelharrishomes.com

Award-winning Michael Harris Homes is recognized for its uncompromising attention to designing unique homes, which provide the ideal balance between innovative design and modern convenience.

Our homes interpret the best in classic American architecture with a tireless emphasis on authentic detailing, quality craftsmanship and personal customer service. The results are homes of lasting value, distinction and timeless appeal.

courtesy michael harris homes

the project: Michael Harris Homes’ latest development, Bethesda Mews, comprises approximately 10 acres at the intersection of Old Georgetown Road and Cedar Lane, a block from the National Institutes of Health headquarters and just minutes from downtown Bethesda. This prized location will offer 29 elegant single-family homes, with nearly a third of the community remaining as undisturbed, mature forest. A meandering stone wall along Old Georgetown Road leading to an interior garden and mews will define the neighborhood and establish its uniqueness. The homes at Bethesda Mews will skillfully pair timeless, traditional exteriors with interiors clearly created for contemporary life. These refined and well-crafted residences will feature kitchens equipped with Viking® appliances and fittings and fixtures by WATERWORKS® and Kohler®. Bethesda Mews will be formal, yet in an understated way, to reflect the tasteful, reserved character of this unparalleled neighborhood.

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Special Advertising Section

anthony wilder design/build, inc.

Photos Courtesy of anthony Wilder Design/build, INC.

bio

7913 MacArthur Blvd., Cabin John, MD 20818 301-907-0100 | www.anthonywilder.com | info@anthonywilder.com

Our award-winning firm provides clients with an unparalleled experience in remodeling excellence- As a design/build firm, we are with you every step of the way, managing every critical project detail on your behalf. We make it our mission to ensure that the final outcome enhances your lifestyle and exceeds your expectations. AWDB is committed to the thoughtful integration of architecture, construction, interior design and landscaping. From custom homes to interior renovations, we make each project spectacular and special.

the project: Inspired design delivers universal appeal throughout this Bethesda whole-home renovation and addition; a spacious floor plan and carefully-selected materials effortlessly merge substance with style.

The new layout improves function while preserving character; newly arched room openings enhance traffic flow, and thoughtful use of trimwork establishes a striking architectural aesthetic.

A succession of large windows with cased openings and standard profiles bathe the new kitchen and family room with natural light.

Playful design takes advantage of treetop views – in the master bedroom addition, dormers are integrated into a dramatic vaulted ceiling and windows on three walls create unobstructed views while maintaining privacy.

Completing the transformation, a curved entry invites visitors into this charming home, and sets an elegant and sophisticated tone.

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Special Advertising Section

Studio z design concepts, lLC bio

8120 Woodmont Ave., Suite 950, Bethesda, MD 20814 301-951-4391 | www.studiozdc.com

Studio Z Design Concepts is solely dedicated to the practice of residential architecture. Our client base is divided between custom homeowners fulfilling a lifelong dream and builders developing unique speculative homes. Our client first philosophy has helped us develop a home environment that enhances the lifestyles of our clients.

courtesy of Studio Z Concepts, LLC

the project: The evolution of a typical Studio Z house has led us to explore a variety of architectural styles, tailored to meet the personalities of individual clients. While the architectural styles may vary, our philosophy of integrating architecture with a properties natural characteristic enables us to maximize a client’s experience throughout their home.

By working naturally with a site’s contours or seamlessly transitioning to exterior spaces, it allows our clients to enjoy a unique experience both inside and out. While our work is predominantly in the D.C. metro area, we have been fortunate to work on projects in Colorado, Connecticut, South Carolina and the coastal beach areas.

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tulacro development, LLC bio

301-455-8226 | www.TulacroDevelopment.com

Tulacro Development has been building luxury custom homes in Bethesda for over 10 years. We take pride in building each of our houses as if we were going to live in them ourselves. Our in-house designer is second to none and we strive to provide our clients with the ultimate building experience.

courtesy of tulacro development

the project: After just one meeting with us, our clients knew they were going to use Tulacro Development to build their dream home. They were new to the area and we were able to act quickly, securing them a great lot in a much sought after neighborhood. Their house was to include 7 bedrooms, elevator, wrap-around front porch, rear screened in porch, gym, theater, wine room and outdoor living complete with a hot tub and waterfall.

Our award-winning team got to work and delivered and wonderful, energy efficient, quiet home that our clients are thrilled with. We take pride using the latest building techniques and materials, and we try to be as green as possible while maintaining a reasonable budget. Our proudest achievements are our many clients that have become close friends and great sources of referrals.

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Special Advertising Section

edgemoor custom builders Edgemoor Custom Builders (ECB) is an established and award-winning custom home builder based in downtown Bethesda, serving Montgomery County and the greater Washington DC metro area. Dedicated to quality design and sound building practices, we create well-crafted homes, luxury renovations and seamless additions that reflect our client’s lifestyle. By ensuring that we listen carefully to our client’s needs, we not only meet them but provide inspired solutions and elements to their own vision, thus creating a home that exceeds their highest expectations. We know that your home is not just a place of shelter, it’s who you are.

the project: This Bethesda residence represents today’s vision of a classic estate home that provides for formal entertaining when needed but functions daily as the ideal family home. It features simple elegant detailing that creates a back drop for family activities in the home and backyard. Edgemoor Custom Builders works with leading craftsmen and vendors so that the completed home will be a source of pride for their clients for many years and provide peace of mind from lasting quality and craftsmanship. The featured home shows mastery in good building practices, quality craftsmanship in the finish trades and state-of-art home control systems—all integrated in a home of classic proportions that draws little attention to the technology but rather focuses on the spaces for living. ECB’s range of work includes integration of the exterior elements in the fabric of the whole home.

courtesy of Edgemoor custom builders

bio

7220 Wisconsin Ave., Suite 402, Bethesda, MD 20814 301-652-2775 | www.edgemoorcustombuilders.com www.ecbcommercial.com

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sandy spring builders, llc bio

4705 West Virginia Ave., Bethesda, MD 20814 301-913-5995 | www.sandyspringbuilders.com

Sandy Spring Builders has been consistently voted “Best Builder” in the “Best of Bethesda” Readers Poll since its inception. We are a national award winning full-service company—from renovations to custom homes that are welldesigned and make a lasting impression. Our team approach provides a smooth process for our clients.

michael bennett kress photography

the project: This beautiful limestone exterior house, is built on one of the prettiest streets in the Kenwood neighborhood of Chevy Chase. Our clients had exceedingly elegant taste, but at the same time they wanted a home that would be warm and inviting for their family and guests. Designed by George Myers of GTM Architects, Inc., the house is a classic center-foyer with 10-foot ceiling heights on the first floor. Some of the wonderful design features include a knotty pine Family Room with beautiful millwork, an incredibly warm Clive Christian kitchen, a barreled stair hall ceiling, a study that was built with recycled materials from an old house in Baltimore, and beautiful millwork throughout. This new home fits well in this established neighborhood. It is not only a classic beauty with wonderful features and great functionality, but a home that truly allows the family to enjoy living there!

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bowa bio

301-657-3947 www.bowa.com | info@bowa.com

BOWA specializes in luxury renovations ranging from master suites and kitchens to whole-house and whole-condo remodels.

For over 25 years, our design build experts have been looking after our clients’ best interests from the first thoughts of the project, throughout architecture and construction, and continuing through a lifetime of ownership.

Not only did the owners wish to renovate their dated kitchen, they also needed more space for their active family to enjoy. After an initial design consultation, it became evident that maintaining the abundant natural light was also a priority and BOWA’s design build team began crafting the perfect solution. Ultimately, the project included a remodeled kitchen and butler’s pantry, and a thoughtfully designed addition to the rear of the home for a family dining area, sitting room and screened porch.

While the design solution significantly improved the flow, feel and functionality of the home, the attention to detail, craftsmanship and execution exceeded the client’s expectations and met their budgetary requirements.

This magnificent transformation went on to win several first-place awards in industry competitions.

courtesy of bowa

the project:

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gtm architects bio

7735 Old Georgetown Road, Suite 700, Bethesda, MD 20814 240-333-2000 | www.gtmarchitects.com

Established in 1989, GTM is a full service, award-winning firm offering services in planning, architecture and design. With over 46 professionals, GTM offers a depth of design expertise in residential, commercial, retail, mixed-use and recreational projects. We are guided by a design philosophy that emphasizes client relations and values good design.

courtesy of GTM Architects

the project: GTM worked with the client and the HPRB to update this 1920’s stucco house, while maintaining its unique detailing and qualities that enhance the fabric of its historic neighborhood. We completely gutted the interior in order to improve the flow between spaces and to design an open floor plan. The family room opened onto a screened porch and stone terrace which cascades down the rear of the yard. On the exterior we took cues from the original house to make the addition blend in seamlessly. In addition to creating a modern living space, the house was brought up to current green building standards by using closed cell foam insulation, geothermal heating and cooling, and provisions for future solar panels on the roof.

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glickman design build bio

14516 Pebblewood Drive, North Potomac, MD 20878 301-444-4663 | www.GlickmanDesignBuild.com

Metro DC-based Glickman Design Build has completed hundreds of remodeling projects, including additions, kitchens, bathrooms, basements and more. They have won numerous design awards and most recently received the 2014 “Best of Houzz Award” for “Remodeling and Home Design.“ Their work has also been featured in a variety of local and national publications.

This suburban Bethesda home is situated on a quiet street on a large, one-acre lot with plenty of trees. The homeowners loved their home and location, but were experiencing lifestyle changes, making this the perfect opportunity to renovate their home. The main focus of these changes included addressing an existing sunroom that lacked heat and air conditioning and was therefore unusable most of the year, and an existing second floor master bedroom suite with limited space that the aging homeowners were increasingly finding more difficult to climb steps to reach. To address these concerns, twin additions were added. The sunroom was expanded and transformed into a large family room perfect for family gatherings and was completed with a vaulted ceiling.

The existing second floor master bedroom was converted into a guest suite and a new master bedroom was created on the first floor. It contained a large bedroom, sitting room, bathroom and balcony allowing for more light, accessibility, space and great views of the outdoors.

courtesy of glickman design build

the project:

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design builders, inc. bio

8315 North Brook Lane, #205, Bethesda, MD 20814 301-875-2781 www.DesignBuildersMD.com | facebook.com/DecksInMaryland

Design Builders helps home owners transform their backyards into luxurious outdoor living spaces. The company leverages technology to make the design and building process more efficient and enjoyable.

Online estimate and design meetings save time and make the consultation more thorough. Jobsite mobile cameras allow all members of the Design Builders team, including the home owner, to watch construction in real time.

courtesy of design builders, inc.

the project: This unique screen porch is great for entertaining. During the spring, when there are less bugs, the entire space acts as an open-air deck with a roof. The screen room features Phantom’s motorized retractable screen system. With the push of a button, screen mesh slides down between the columns. Infratech’s infrared heaters help condition the space and allow the home owner to use the deck in the late fall and early spring. This project features a low maintenance installation. Zuri PVC decking is installed with hidden fasteners and looks just like real hardwood without the need for yearly sanding and staining. All of the trim and columns are constructed with PVC. The railings are custom built from wrought iron and later powder coated. Additional low voltage and sconce lighting help make the project safer and more attractive.

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Introducing Dr. Tameta R. Clark in our Chevy Chase Center.

“I want my patients to understand the options that they have for treatment, so that, together, we can inprove their quality of life.”

Tameta R. Clark, MD

Providing solutions for:

• Back Pain • Arthritis Pain

• Neuropathic Pain • Neck Pain • Cervicogenic Headaches

National Spine & Pain Centers’ Chevy Chase Location welcomes Dr. Tameta Clark. Dr. Clark is board-certified and fellowship trained in pain management and understands the complexities of pain. She uses the most up to date technology and interventional techniques to treat her patients.

• Herniated Disc • Joint Pain

We schedule patients within 48 hours based on their preferences. Most major insurances are accepted, including Medicare, worker’s compensation and Tricare.

• Post-Surgical Pain

• Sports Injuries • Spinal Stenosis • Spinal Compression Fractures • Spinal Disorders • Leg Pain • Degenerative Disc Disease

• Facet Joint Pain

Services include but are not limited to: • Medication management for acute and chronic pain • Interventional therapies • Diagnostic procedures for pain Experts in Pain Management.

Now accepting patients at our Chevy Chase, MD location.

5550 Friendship Blvd., #100 Chevy Chase, MD 20815

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treatingpain.com 1.855.836.PAIN (7246)

4/9/14 4:56 PM

The Mindful Guru | Group Homes for Seniors Bethesda Magazine

May/June 2014

Grain Blame Why increasing numbers of people are eliminating wheat products from their diets

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may/June 2014

240

The Mindfulness Center’s Deborah Norris talks about how exercise and meditation have helped her remain pain-free after a diagnosis of fibromyalgia.

By Leah Ariniello

240 Small Comfort An increasing number of small group homes for seniors have been opening in Montgomery County, offering more caregivers per patient and in some cases, luxury amenities.

By Archana Pyati

COVER STORY 248 Against the Grain Non-celiac gluten sensitivity is hard to diagnose and some doctors are skeptical it’s even real. But plenty of people say they have it all right—and they’re fueling an entire food industry.

By Rita Rubin

254 Health & Fitness Calendar Seminars, running events and support groups.

Compiled by Cindy Murphy-Tofig

Health Cover photo by laura-chase mcgehee

barbara l. salisbury

238 Follow the Leader

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LEADER

As She Lives and Breathes

By Leah Ariniello

Deborah Norris at home in Rockville

How a local neuroscientist reclaimed her life through mindfulness practices was overflowing. She was a wife; a mother to an 11-month-old son and two daughters, ages 9 and 13; a neuroscientist working full time; a college professor; and a Girl Scout troop leader.

“It was just too much,” says Norris, who began experiencing such severe pain all over that she couldn’t even open a door or carry a book, never mind pick up her son.

“I could only lay on the floor and let him crawl on me,” she says.

Norris was diagnosed with fibromyalgia, a disorder that causes muscle pain and fatigue. Her doctor suggested that she shop for a wheelchair.

Instead Norris, who earned her doctorate in psychology in 1988 and currently directs the psychobiology of healing program at American University in Washington, D.C., took the news as “a profound reminder to get back to the basics of self care.” Within days, she began to re-embrace mind-body practices, including breathing strategies, meditation and various exercises that over the years have helped her regain balance, health and happiness.

Many people Norris encountered day to day had similar needs, so in 2009, the Rockville resident opened The Mindfulness Center in Bethesda to promote health and self-healing. Norris and other experts teach mind-body practices, including meditation and yoga, at the center.

At 57, Norris says she’s now pain-free, fully active and hasn’t had an illness requiring a doctor’s visit in the past 14 years. She never did need that wheelchair.

“I feel good,” she says, “and that’s the aim.”

A 2007 U.S. government survey found that about 9.4 percent of adult respondents, or an estimated 20 million people, tried meditating at least once during a 12-month period.

Source: National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine

liz lynch

By 1996, Deborah Norris’ plate

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What SHE Does Meditates Norris meditates daily, for about 10 minutes after waking and 10 minutes before going to bed. She meditates for an additional hour during the day three times a week. After taking several deep breaths, she focuses on how her breathing feels, noticing how her body moves with each breath.

She incorporates specific breathing exercises, a practice called pranayama, into her meditation, and focuses on pranayama alone for about an hour once a week. One favorite exercise, called “bumblebee,” involves placing her hands on her face while making a humming sound, which helps “defrag” the brain and “sort everything out,” Norris says.

that can improve your

Quality of Life.

The Payoff: Taking deep breaths is the easiest way to de-stress, according to Norris, because doing so short-circuits the body’s stress response and activates its relaxation response. Norris says her breath work also seems to ease the symptoms of fibromyalgia, which is in line with research indicating that people afflicted with the disorder suffer from oxygen deficiencies in their muscles. Norris says research shows that meditation appears to have widespread health benefits, including improving cancer survival rates and reducing the risk for heart disease. The breathing exercises and meditation also help clear her mind, so decision-making becomes easier, she says.

Exercises Starting with gentle stretching, Norris has built up to a routine of several exercises.

She runs for an hour once a week, practices yoga for an hour four times a week, and horseback rides once a month. She also practices qigong—a series of ancient Chinese exercises that involve graceful movements with a focus on their energy and flow—for about 45 minutes three times a week.

The Payoff: The exercises release neurochemicals that help produce positive emotions and diminish pain, Norris says. They strengthen the body and also help clear the mind, she says. And exercising helps her become relaxed enough to fall asleep at night. Norris found that increasing her nightly sleep from four hours to eight hours was pivotal in improving her physical and mental health. Sleep is “when we release growth hormone, which aids the function of the brain, the muscles, the organs,” she says.

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Eats Fresh Foods Norris keeps bees and a garden at her Rockville home, and will be moving chickens there soon from her farm in Virginia. So she gets plenty of fresh vegetables, fruits, herbs, eggs and honey. She does not eat processed or packaged foods.

She often starts her day with a smoothie containing raw nuts, fruit, greens and beets or a sweet potato. Lunch includes a salad, nuts and maybe an egg, beans or avocado. For dinner, she eats some protein, such as an egg or a little bit of meat some nights, and soup. She drinks about 75 ounces of “good, clean water” daily.

liz lynch

The Payoff: Norris feels more vibrant and vital now. A 2011 study that she conducted at American University found that students who ate more fresh foods and less processed foods experienced less fatigue and had more energy and improved moods.

In addition, drinking about half your body weight in ounces of water daily helps prevent dehydration and positively affects health, she says. ■

Leah Ariniello lives in Bethesda and frequently writes about health.

To comment on this story or suggest subjects, email comments@bethesdamagazine.com.

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Small It’s the latest trend in senior living: group homes that provide a more intimate setting and—for those willing to pay the price— even the frills of luxury living

Clockwise from top left: Resident Linda Luckas gets dancing assistance at Eden House; Aleith Thomson of Chubbs Ultimate Beauty Care does an Eden House resident’s hair; Pierre Guirand of The Angels Garden gives resident Al Hemmerdinger an assist; Ivy Banigo straightens up a room at The Angels Garden; alternate assistant living manager Felicia Pendorf (right) meets with newly hired caregivers at the Cottage at Curry Manor; music therapist Megann Greenlees reviews lyrics with Eden House resident Ruth Weinstein.

comfort For six years ,

Barbara Williamson helped her elderly father shower and dress each morning, prepared his meals and changed his diapers.

Alzheimer’s disease had stripped Jerry Fox of the ability to care for himself, so he’d been living with Williamson and her husband in Potomac since 2004.

But in 2010, Fox suffered a bout of pneumonia. To support his recovery, he spent two months at ManorCare Health Services, a rehab facility in Potomac. That’s when Williamson realized that her father needed more care than she could provide. She had promised never to put him in a nursing home.

So instead, Williamson found him a spot in an upscale assisted living group home run by Bethesda-based Eden Homes Group.

“It wasn’t until my dad moved

into Eden Homes that I realized how stressful [caring for him] was,” says Williamson, who is 59. “It didn’t seem stressful at the time.”

Now 97, Fox receives personalized attention from several nursing assistants trained in dementia. Known as Greyswood, the eight-bedroom house where he lives sits on a quiet street in Bethesda between the Beltway and Democracy Boulevard. With its wraparound porch and homemade bread baked fresh daily, Greyswood conjures up the word “home” rather than “facility.”

Williamson is among scores of adult children across Maryland who are choosing more intimate, less institutional settings for aging parents in need of 24-hour supervision. The deciding factor for Williamson was the low caregiver-to-resident ratio at

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small comfort

Caregivers Marie Djomgoue (left) and Augustine Koomson (middle) help chef and nurse educator Jim Rowe scoop out baked potatoes during a cooking demonstration before the opening of the Cottage at Curry Manor. A self-described “refined residential living” facility, Curry Manor will offer chefdesigned menus that can be adapted for specific dietary needs.

Greyswood—1-to-2.5, compared with larger facilities where it can be as high as 1-to-14.

Although several group homes opened in Montgomery County in the 1990s, it’s only in the past few years that this segment of the assisted living market has taken off. Among the roughly 200 assisted living providers in the county, 150 have 10 beds or fewer, according to state records. Last year alone, 10 new homes applied for licenses.

The choices can feel overwhelming to families, since group homes vary widely in terms of costs and amenities. Monthly fees—which

are not covered by Medicare or Medicaid and must be paid by long-term care insurance or out of pocket—range from $1,700 for a basic room with a shared bath to $14,000 for a luxurious double room with a private bath. Fees typically cover room and board, laundry, medication management and limited transportation.

“Each group home has its own model and its personality, just as every client has their own personality,” says Vicky Hulcher, a geriatric care manager and owner of Brookville-based Compassionate Care for Seniors, which helps families find the right facility.

That said, group homes aren’t for everyone, says Jonathan Edenbaum,

co-owner of Eden Homes. “The larger [assisted living] facilities are great for people who are healthier and fairly independent,” he says.

Typically owned by corporations, large facilities tend to be more expensive and have “more layers of people to pay before [making] a profit,” says Alisa Scheiner, founder and president of Loving Decisions, a senior housing referral service in Bethesda.

Edenbaum, who has spent three decades in the senior care industry, says the “more medically needy and frail” used to be handled exclusively by nursing homes, but that population has now become the niche of assisted living group homes and specialized units

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small comfort

Residents at The Angels Garden in Rockville similarly can bring their own furniture.

▲

▲ within large facilities.

At Eden and other group homes, residents receive on-site medical care, including doctors’ visits, lab work and even short-term skilled nursing services such as physical therapy or intravenous medications. Several group homes bring in hospice care workers, as well, toward the end of residents’ lives.

Edenbaum and business partners Lori Larson and Lisa Max run six homes in Montgomery County—four in Bethesda, one each in Potomac and Silver Spring—with three caregivers for every eight residents during the day.

They say most of their residents suffer from mild to severe dementia, a spectrum of diseases that impairs memory and impacts personality, behavior and mood. Nearly all need help with at least three “activities of daily living,” Larson says, like bathing and grooming, eating and taking medications.

Tanie Guirand, a registered nurse who owns The Angels Garden group homes in Rockville and Silver Spring with her husband, Pierre, has also seen a higher incidence of dementia among her residents. In recent cases, other diagnoses have complicated matters. “It’s dementia with heart failure, or dementia with MS [multiple sclerosis],” she says, or dementia with depression or anxiety.

“They do better in a smaller environment,” says Guirand, who has trained

Rooms at the Cottage at Curry Manor have been decorated by president Susan Rodgers, but residents have the option of bringing their own furnishings.

▲

Eden House residents can personalize their living space.

Do Your Own Legwork Unlike nursing homes, which are monitored by the federal government, assisted living facilities and group homes are overseen by each state, so regulations vary significantly across the country. Because of that, advocates for seniors recommend that families do their own legwork to determine if a group home would be a good fit, or hire a professional to do the research.

“You do have to be careful,” says Vicky Hulcher, a geriatric care manager and owner of Compassionate Care for Seniors in Brookville. “I would always suggest you go unannounced, [and] talk to other families with loved ones there.”

State surveys of group homes also can be found online. In Maryland, the Office of Health Care Quality (OHCQ) is responsible for surveying the facilities each year. But the office is woefully understaffed, says Christina Vogeley, OHCQ’s chief of staff. The agency employs just 10 surveyors to check on nearly 1,400 assisted living facilities across the state. On top of that, OHCQ fields calls each week from new group home providers requesting pre-licensure surveys, a requirement before opening for business.

“It’s a cause of concern,” Vogeley says, “because we’re not getting more

surveyors even though there are more homes.”

Bethesda Magazine recently requested 2013 surveys of 150 group homes in Montgomery County. Only 37 were provided by OHCQ. Of those, 27 were performed in response to a complaint or a request for re-licensure; 10 were prelicensure surveys.

Dr. Patricia Tomsko Nay, OHCQ’s new executive director, is reviewing the survey process and trying to find ways to maximize the efficiency of limited resources, Vogeley says.

In Montgomery County, the Long-Term Care Ombudsman program provides additional oversight—though its priorities are nursing homes and large assisted living facilities, not group homes. The office dispatches staff and roughly 40 trained volunteers to make unannounced visits to facilities. Program Manager Eileen Bennett says the office aims to conduct four such visits to 80 percent of the county’s group homes this year. In many cases, her office is responding to complaints from an anonymous tip line.

The program’s goal is to resolve disputes and to advocate for the residents; it doesn’t release reports on its findings to the public.

—Archana Pyati

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small comfort

Eden House co-owner Jonathan Edenbaum (right) with resident Bob Leahy

What You Should Know ● When researching an assisted living group home for your loved one, advocates for seniors suggest making an unannounced visit, talking with other families and consulting with a geriatric care manager. One key question to ask: Does the home have an awake caregiver to ensure 24-hour supervision? ● The Maryland Health Care Commission publishes a Consumer Guide to Long-Term Care on its website at mhcc.maryland.gov/consumerinfo/ longtermcare/SearchPage.aspx. You can download state survey reports on assisted living facilities in Montgomery County. ● Group homes in Montgomery County cost anywhere from $1,700 to $14,000 per month. These fees cover room and board, medication management, laundry and limited transportation. ● Average caregiver-to-resident ratios are 1-to-4 or 1-to-5 at group homes, according to interviews with providers. ● Monthly fees aren’t covered by Medicare or Medicaid. They are usually paid out of pocket or with long-term care insurance. ● You can request a list of group home providers in Montgomery County by calling the Long-Term Care Ombudsman program at 240-777-3369.

—Archana Pyati

at the Copper Ridge Institute, a dementia research center in Sykesville affiliated with the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. “There’s more structure. …

They’re seeing the same staff, the same families. When you’re already confused, it’s hard to be in a place for 400 people.”

Some conditions, though,

are considered too severe even for group homes. The state prohibits group homes from admitting anyone with an airborne communicable disease like tuberculosis or people in need of a ventilator or consistent skilled nursing or with advancedstage bed sores.

An assessment tool developed by the state is used to screen group home applicants’ ability to function. They’re scored from mild (Level 1) to moderate (Level 2) to severe (Level 3) impairment. Most homes in the county are licensed up to Level 3, since owners expect residents to decline as they age. Families often make the mistake of waiting until their loved one is a Level 3 patient before placing him or her in a home, Williamson says, making the transition more difficult.

All group homes are required by state law to develop plans for managing a resident’s medical conditions, diet and daily living needs. These plans are supposed to be reviewed every six months.

Applicants can be turned down if an owner determines they’re not a good fit with other residents. In fact, owners exercise total discretion on admissions and can discharge residents with 30 days’ notice. Pam Heir, owner of Asheir Manor, a new five-bed home in Germantown whose monthly rate for a Level 1 resident ranges from $5,550 for a room with a shared bath to $8,820 for a double room with a private bath, says one disruptive or aggressive resident can upset the balance of the entire household.

“If you’ve got two or three people who are very healthy and who can do a lot for themselves, especially mentally, and you have two that are not mentally…there, then your mix isn’t quite right,” she says.

Heir is not the only provider

in search of more upscale and independent clients. Susan Rodgers, a registered nurse and president of Capital City Nurses, a privateduty nursing company, recently opened the Cottage at Curry Manor near Bradley Boulevard in Bethesda. She says she hopes the 8,000-plus-square-foot, gated mini-mansion, which is licensed for eight beds, will become the county’s “Relais & Chateaux of assisted living,” referring to the luxury hotel-restaurant compendium.

“We’re a fussy bunch of people in this county,” she says. “We know nice things, we like nice things and we want them to continue.”

At Cottage, where all rooms include private baths, singles range from $8,500 to $12,000 per month while monthly fees for doubles start at $14,000, says Shaun Toomey, Capital City’s director of business development. Those fees cover the perks of what Rodgers calls “refined residential living.” Among them: gourmet meals, trips to museums and the Kennedy Center, and ample opportunities to pursue hobbies such as gardening, music or painting.

“We’re looking for someone social who can enjoy the amenities,” Rodgers says.

Eden Homes, too, offers more handson services thanks to fees that range from $8,000 to $9,800 a month at its Bethesda locations. In addition to contracting with an interior designer to create its photoready interiors, the company employs a full-time nurse who keeps close tabs on residents’ well-being. Its activities staff consists of a full-time art therapist and a full-time music therapist since mental stimulation can slow dementia, according to Larson.

The therapists spend time with each resident to develop an engagement plan based on “who they used to be before they came here,” says Irene Joy, Eden Homes’ vice president.

But just because someone is paying more to get all those perks doesn’t mean he or she is getting better care. “I would not say cost reflects care,” Hulcher says.

As with real estate, the group home market reflects the county’s income lev-

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Hooman Azmi, M.D. Primary Care\ Internal Medicine

els, with more affordable options in Silver Spring and Rockville. For many families, an Eden Homes facility in Bethesda will always be out of reach due to cost, Scheiner says.

Certain providers accept residents who pay a subsidized monthly rate in order to keep their beds occupied. Aberdeen House in Rockville accepts subsidized placements as long as they “don’t require much work,” says owner Kenneth Cherian. “We provide very good basic care,” he says, but “the activities are really minimal” and subsidized residents will likely share a bedroom and bath.

It’s possible to find decent care in a nofrills setting, with average costs ranging from $3,000 to $7,500 a month, Hulcher says. The rates these homes charge depend on the level of care a resident requires.

“Are they looking for a Hilton Hotel?

We’re not that…we’re very homey,” says Michele Ziafatmadary, who operates Absolute Assisted Living. A five-bed facility that she and her husband, John, run out of their home in Rockville, Absolute charges $3,700 a month for a Level 1 resident and $4,700 a month for a Level 3.

Ziafatmadary, who turns down referrals because her home is full, prides herself on celebrating birthdays and holidays with gifts, taking residents on trips to a local pumpkin patch or farm, and styling hair and nails for free.

Holocaust survivor and writer Marion Wolff, 88, was receiving hospice services when she arrived at Absolute last summer to join her 88-year-old husband, John. She has since regained her strength and spirit and no longer qualifies for hospice. She is now working on her third book. “[John and Michele] treat us like we’re family,” she says. “It’s the TLC. This place is so full of love. It’s the most unusual place.” n Freelance writer Archana Pyati lives in Silver Spring. To comment, email comments@bethesdamagazine.com.

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Against the

photo illustration by Amanda Smallwood

Grain Non-celiac gluten sensitivity is hard to diagnose and some doctors are skeptical it’s even real.

But plenty of people say they have it all right—and they’re helping to fuel an entire food industry.

By Rita Rubin

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against the grain

seven years ago, right after she returned home from a trip to Portugal and Spain.

“Every time I ate, I felt so ill,” says Amable, a 34-year-old cancer researcher who lives in Rockville. “One of my main symptoms was abdominal pain. I had extreme nausea. I would have diarrhea. It was really hard sometimes even to walk.”

At first, doctors blamed her digestive woes on drinking tap water in Europe. But her symptoms persisted for months, suggesting that something else was going on.

Amable, who stands 5-feet-8, saw her weight drop from 135 pounds to 108.

She underwent a variety of scopes and scans as doctors tried to pinpoint her problem, but everything appeared normal.

“It seemed to just be centered on what I ate,” she says. “I would get really, really sick. I would stop eating. I would feel better a little bit.”

When she stuck with chicken and salad, she’d continue to feel better. But when she started eating pizza, spaghetti and bread again, her digestive tract would resume turning flip-flops.

Finally, Amable diagnosed the problem herself: non-celiac gluten sensitivity, or NCGS.

Little-studied and still regarded

with skepticism by some doctors, NCGS is a condition whose symptoms resemble those of celiac disease, an autoimmune disorder in which eating gluten— the proteins in wheat, rye and barley and crossbreeds of those grains—triggers antibodies that attack the lining of the small intestine. This damage can prevent the absorption of nutrients and lead to life-threatening complications, such as low bone density or even intestinal cancer. Though there is no cure for celiac disease, a gluten-free diet can minimize the risk of serious complications.

About one in 100 people worldwide has celiac disease, and the percentage with NCGS could be several times higher than that. But many others are stocking up on gluten-free products or requesting gluten-free restaurant dishes under the misguided impression that they’re health-

NCGS

—Dr. Aline Charabaty, director of the Center for Inflammatory Bowel Disease at Georgetown University Hospital

ier choices or even diet foods.

“A lot of that has to do with what I call the Hollywood factor,” says Sally Lukash, a natural foods chef who serves as the healthy eating specialist at the Whole Foods store in Friendship Heights.

“These celebrities get on a gluten-free kick, they lose weight, they go on these shows” and attribute their figures to eliminating gluten from their diets.

In reality, gluten-free products such as baked goods “are not the best quality, and they’re not the most nutrientdense,” Lukash says, noting that sugar is usually one of their top five ingredients.

Yet U.S. sales of gluten-free foods and beverages jumped 44 percent from 2011 to 2013, when they totaled an estimated $10.5 billion, according to Mintel, an international market research firm based in London. More than a quarter of the people in the U.S. who eat gluten-free foods say they do so to lose weight, Mintel found.

“The celiac community did a really great job in raising awareness for patients,” says Dr. Aline Charabaty, a Potomac resident and director of the Center for Inflam-

matory Bowel Disease at Georgetown University Hospital. “That translated into the whole gluten-free diet craze.”

“Gluten-free” is such a popular claim on food products that the Food and Drug Administration decided to step in.

Last August, the FDA published a new regulation defining the characteristics of a food labeled “gluten-free,” “without gluten,” “free of gluten” or “no gluten.”

All are held to the same standard: a gluten limit of less than 20 parts per million, which, according to the FDA, is the lowest level that can be consistently detected in foods. Manufacturers have until this August to bring their labels into compliance with the new regulation.

It’s not clear how much gluten is

needed to trigger symptoms in people with NCGS or even whether gluten is to blame. Dr. Douglas Seidner, director of the Center for Human Nutrition at Vanderbilt University, spoke on the topic at the American Society for Nutrition meeting in Washington, D.C., this past December.

He told attendees that gluten is clearly the

thinkstock (2)

Lauren Amable’s symptoms began

Diagnosing celiac disease is pretty straightforward, but diagnosing is not. For that reason, “there are a lot of doctors who don’t think this is real.”

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one in 100

About people worldwide has celiac disease, and the percentage with non-celiac gluten sensitivity could be several times higher than that.

To Learn More May is Celiac Awareness Month in the U.S. If you’d like to learn more, the DC Metro Celiac Organization (dcceliacs.org) is an advocacy and education group for people with celiac disease and non-celiac gluten sensitivity and their families. Other resources include the Celiac Disease Foundation (celiac. org) and the National Foundation for Celiac Awareness (celiaccentral.org), a nonprofit that aims to make sure all people with celiac disease and non-celiac gluten sensitivity are properly diagnosed and living well on a gluten-free diet.

culprit in celiac disease, but that it’s possible another component in wheat causes symptoms in some people with NCGS. “We’re looking at maybe a spectrum of diseases or maybe the same disease where people respond differently to things [in the diet],” Charabaty says. She notes that up to 30 percent of patients diagnosed with irritable bowel syndrome—a common condition that causes bloating, abdominal pain and constipation or diarrhea, but not permanent intestinal damage—are sensitive to gluten or wheat.

Diagnosing celiac disease is pretty straightforward, but diagnosing NCGS is not, leading to some confusion and debate about who should eliminate gluten from their diet. “We don’t have a diagnostic test,” Charabaty says. For that reason, “there are a lot of doctors who don’t think this is real. This disease has been driven by patients.”

Charabaty says she frequently sees patients, especially women, who’ve been told by doctors that their symptoms— which can include fatigue and a “foggy”

brain, as well as digestive tract problems—are all in their head, not in their gut. Yet, she says, research does not support the view that NCGS is purely psychological in nature.

“The patient is having a legitimate concern and is suffering,” Charabaty says. “It’s very important to validate the patient’s symptoms.”

Researchers are looking to identify changes in the intestines of people with NCGS. If they can pinpoint them, that would help convince more doctors that the relief found in going gluten-free is not psychological, Charabaty says. “We know there are so many things we don’t fully understand yet.”

For now, determining whether someone has NCGS is a matter of ruling out every other possible explanation, including celiac disease. The Bethesda-based American College of Gastroenterology, a professional group of digestive disease specialists, recommends testing the blood of people who have celiac symptoms to see if it contains elevated levels of certain antibodies characteristic of celiac disease.

If it does, the next step is a biopsy of the small intestine to confirm celiac.

For accurate test results, a patient has to consume a tiny amount of gluten. Patients who have put themselves on a gluten-free diet are sometimes reluctant to do that, fearing how it will make them feel, Charabaty says. But others are willing to risk it because they want to know if they have the disease, which runs in families, so they can be alert to it in their children. And, she adds, some people want to be certain they don’t have celiac disease so they can be less vigilant about gluten in their diet.

“The issue is that celiac disease has other long-term consequences,” says Dr. Julia Korenman, a gastroenterologist with Capital Digestive Care in Rockville.

“That’s the downside of not knowing for sure. We’d rather have a diagnosis, but I don’t force anybody into anything.”

When patients test negative for celiac disease, Korenman says she next evaluates them for lactose intolerance, which grows increasingly common with age and is relatively easy to diagnose, at least in people who drink milk and eat cheese.

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against the grain If those patients swear off dairy products for two weeks and feel better, she says, chances are their symptoms of bloating, diarrhea and the like were due to the milk they were drinking with their cookies or cereal, not the gluten in those foods.

If they’re still experiencing symptoms, Korenman says she asks how much soda they drink and how often they eat apples and pears, all of which produce gas.

If cutting back on gas-producing foods and drinks doesn’t relieve their symptoms, Korenman says she’ll suggest a gluten-free diet.

For Amable, the Rockville woman,

repeated testing eventually confirmed that she does not have celiac disease.

Still, she thought, “I’m a scientist. There has to be some sort of scientific explanation for this.”

She began keeping a journal of what she ate. “I started realizing that a lot of processed foods, the breads, ramen noodles—I was a grad student—were really, really exacerbating my symptoms.”

She went on a strict, gluten-free diet for a week and thought: Wow, I really don’t feel so bad. So she continued it for several more weeks. It was difficult, but she felt much better.

Amable tried eating gluten-containing products again to confirm her finding. Her symptoms returned.

She hasn’t consumed gluten in nearly two years and says it has gotten easier to avoid it, thanks to the explosion of gluten-free products on the market.

“If I do want bread, there are bread options for me. It’s nice every now and then to have a cookie or cake and make cupcakes and muffins and breads and feel kind of human again,” says Amable, who’s back to 130 pounds. “They actually taste really good.”

Lukash says every Whole Foods store posts a list online of its available glutenfree products. “It’s usually updated every two weeks,” she says. “There are new products constantly coming in.”

Foods prepared in the store’s kitchen can’t be labeled gluten-free because of

the risk of cross-contamination from gluten-containing foods, Lukash says.

But Whole Foods has a gluten-free kitchen in North Carolina that provides frozen baked goods to all of its stores.

Matthew Newland, chef at Wildwood Kitchen in Bethesda, says he has noticed an increase in diners requesting dietary accommodations. A decade ago, when he worked in Charleston, S.C., perhaps one person a month mentioned wanting to avoid gluten.

“Now it’s five a night,” Newland says.

“Almost everything on the menu can be done gluten-free in one way or another.”

Unless you have celiac or NCGS, though, “I don’t think there’s a good reason to be off of gluten. Certainly not for losing weight,” Korenman says. “Gluten or wheat is a good part of the healthy, balanced diet.” n Rita Rubin lives in Bethesda and is a former health writer for USA Today. To comment on this story, email comments@ bethesdamagazine.com.

Congratulations

Drs. Randy Lizardo , Laurie Tyau, and Tony Resta for being amongst the first gynecologists in Maryland to receive the designation of “Center Of Excellence in Minimally Invasive Gynecology” (COEMIG) surgeons.

‘COEMIG surgeons demonstrate a commitment and ability to consistently deliver the highest level of minimally invasive gynecologic surgical care possible. Earning the COEMIG designation will signify that the facility and surgeons are amongst the best in the specialty’*.

There are currently fewer than 300 COEMIG surgeons worldwide. * From the Surgical Review Corporation Website

Darryn Band, MD Laurie Tyau, MD Heather Sine, MD Tony Resta, MD

Randy Lizardo, MD Anne Shrout, MD Beth Sosin, MD Stacey Hersh, CRNP

like us on Facebook at Capital Women’s Care Silver Spring

RANDY SAGER PHOTOGRAPHY INC

Minimally invasive gynecologists utilize techniques that allow for faster recoveries, less pain, and fewer scars. These techniques include advanced laparoscopy, da Vinci robotic surgery, vaginal surgery, and hysteroscopy in the treatment of abnormal bleeding, fibroids and other female conditions.

Call 301-681-9101 to schedule an appointment or visit our website www.cwc-mdobgyn.com Offices in Silver Spring and Rockville 10313 Georgia Avenue, Suite 202 | Silver Spring, MD 15225 Shady Grove Road, Suite 306 | Rockville, MD

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I am more than my headache.

You are more than your symptoms, your diagnosis.

At Casey Health Institute and Wellness Center, our entire practice is based on understanding and taking care of the things in your life that keep you from being as healthy as you can be.

Partner with an integrative primary care physician who sees you for who you really are — and not as just another headache.

You know there’s a better way. So do we.

Centrally located in Montgomery County 301.664.6464 learn more at

www.CaseyHealth.org

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health & fitness calenDAR

Compiled by Cindy Murphy-Tofig

RUNNING/WALKING EVENTS

entry and a T-shirt); $20 if postmarked after May 5 (T-shirts while supplies last). 301-3530200, www.mcrrc.org.

The Adventist Healthcare Walking Club, 8-9:30 a.m. Tuesdays, Westfield Montgomery Mall, 7101 Democracy Blvd., Bethesda.

The free event is open to people of all ages and fitness levels. Register to become a walking club member from 8 to 9:30 a.m. at the food court. Registrants receive a gift and invitations to free health screenings and events. 301-315-3030, www.adventist healthcare.com/walkingclub.

Run Aware 5K, 8 a.m. May 11. Cabin John Regional Park, 7400 Tuckerman Lane, Bethesda. Be prepared to get muddy on this trail run through the park. Registration is race-day only. $10; $5 for runners younger than 18; free for members of Montgomery County Road Runners Club. 301-353-0200, www.mcrrc.org.

Rise and Shine Walking Program, 8:309:30 a.m. Wednesdays, Lakeforest Mall, 701 Russell Ave., Gaithersburg. Free. 301-8963100, www.suburbanhospital.org.

Mark’s Run 5K, 8 a.m. May 4. Landon School, 6101 Wilson Lane, Bethesda. The race is held in memory of alumnus Mark Ferris. Proceeds benefit the Mark Ferris Scholarship Fund at Landon and the Joslin Diabetes Center. A 1-mile fun run will begin at 8:05 a.m. $25; $15 for the 1-mile run. www.marksrun.org.

Res1cue Run and Kids Ambulance Chase, 8 a.m. May 4. Bethesda-Chevy Chase Rescue Squad, 5020 Battery Lane, Bethesda. The 8K race benefits the rescue squad. The kids’ “ambulance chase” races start at 8:30 a.m. and are 1/10 of a mile (for kids 7 and younger) or 3/10 of a mile (for kids 8-12). $40; $30 for fire/rescue personnel; $10 for kids’ ambulance chase. www. res1cuerun.com.

Jogfest 5K, 8 a.m. May 10. Wood Acres Elementary School, 5800 Cromwell Drive, Bethesda. Enjoy the rolling hills in the neighborhoods surrounding the school.

A 1-mile fun run begins at 8:30 a.m., and half-mile and quarter-mile fun runs start at 9 a.m. $25; $16 for the 1-mile, half-mile or quarter-mile runs. www.woodacrespta.org/ activities/jogfest.

Kids on the Run and Kids Marathon, beginning at 8:30 a.m. May 10. Bohrer Park, 506 S. Frederick Ave., Gaithersburg.

The noncompetitive races are for children 17 and younger. A 100-meter Toddler Trot for kids 4 and younger starts at 8:30 a.m.

A half-mile run will begin at 8:40 a.m. and a 1-mile run will start at 8:55 a.m. Children participating in the Kids Marathon need to keep a log to show they ran 1 mile a day for 25 days; the final 1.2 miles will be run at the park. $7 if postmarked by May 5 ($12 for

Run for the Animals 5K, 8:30 a.m. May 18. Wheaton Regional Park, 2002 Shorefield Road, Wheaton. The event is a fundraiser for Poplar Spring Animal Sanctuary in Poolesville. There are also 1-mile and 1.7-mile fun walks that dogs can join. $28 until May 17; $30 on race day. 301-428-8128, animalsanc tuary.org.

Memorial 4 Mile, 8 a.m. May 26. Rock Creek Valley School, 5121 Russett Road, Rockville. Get some exercise in before the holiday cookouts start. A 1-mile fun run will start at 8:05 a.m. Registration is race-day only. $10; $5 for runners younger than 18; free for members of Montgomery County Road Runners Club. 301-353-0200, www. mcrrc.org.

Run with the June Bugs, 7 p.m. June 13. Agricultural History Farm Park, 18400 Muncaster Road, Derwood. This race is a cross-country 5K. Registration is race-day only. $10; $5 for runners younger than 18; free for members of Montgomery County Road Runners Club. 301-353-0200, www. mcrrc.org.

Run for Roses 5K, 8 a.m. June 14. Wheaton Regional Park, 2002 Shorefield Road, Wheaton. The women’s-only race winds through the park and Brookside Gardens.

Free quarter-mile and half-mile fun runs for children 12 and younger (boys and girls) will begin at 7:45 a.m. $15 through May 15; $20 from May 16 through 28; $25 from May 29 through race day. www.mcrrc.org/runroses-5k.

FITNESS EVENTS Hope Connections for Cancer Support, 9650 Rockville Pike, Bethesda. 301-6347500, www.hopeconnectionsforcancer.org.

Classes are free.

Gentle Yoga, 10 and 11:15 a.m.

Mondays and Wednesdays. Stretching, breathing and relaxation exercises can

help improve muscle tone and stress management.

Pink Ribbon Pilates, 12:30 p.m.

Wednesdays. The class for breast cancer patients helps with regaining strength and mobility in shoulders and arms, and helps improve energy levels.

Tai Chi, 9:30 a.m. Thursdays, June 12July 17. Bethesda-Chevy Chase Regional Services Center, 4805 Edgemoor Lane, Bethesda. Improve memory, balance, flexibility and coordination. Suitable for beginners. $70. 301-896-3100, www. suburbanhospital.org.

SCREENINGS Women’s Health Event, 9:30 a.m. May 10.

Holy Cross Hospital Professional and Community Education Center, 1500 Forest Glen Road, Silver Spring. Receive health screenings, including blood pressure and bone density, enjoy a seated massage and participate in health lectures. Registration begins at 9:30 a.m.; event begins at 10 a.m. Free. 301-7548800, www.holycrosshealth.org.

Health Assessment: Cholesterol Screening and Osteoporosis Screening, 4 p.m. May 20. Suburban Hospital Lambert Building, 8710 Old Georgetown Road, Bethesda. A fingerstick is used for the cholesterol screening, and a three- to five-minute heel test is used to estimate the risk of developing osteoporosis. No fasting required. Appointment required; the earliest is 4 p.m. and the latest is 5:30 p.m. $35 for a cholesterol screening; $30 for an osteoporosis screening; $60 for both.

301-896-3939, www.suburbanhospital.org.

SUPPORT GROUPS Diabetes Support Group, 6 p.m. May 6 and June 3. For patients with diabetes and pre-diabetes. Washington Adventist Hospital, 7610 Carroll Ave., Takoma Park. Free.

Call 301-891-6105 to RSVP. www.adventist healthcare.com.

Aquilino Cancer Center, 9905 Medical Center Drive, Rockville. 240-826-6297, www.adventisthealthcare.com. Free.

Thyroid Cancer Support Group, 6:30 p.m. May 6 and June 3. For patients and caregivers.

Cancer Caregivers Support Group, 12:30 p.m. May 13 and 27, June 10 and 24. For current caregivers, friends and family members.

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Breast Cancer Support Group, 6:30 p.m. May 20 and June 17. For patients and caregivers.

Better Breathers Club, 6:30 p.m. May 8. Suburban Hospital, 8600 Old Georgetown Road, Bethesda. The club supports people with chronic lung disease, including pulmonary fibrosis, asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Open to family members and friends. Free. www. suburbanhospital.org.

Ovarian and Gynecological Cancer Support Group, 6:30 p.m. May 21 and June 18. Holy Cross Hospital Professional and Community Education Center, 1500 Forest Glen Road, Silver Spring. For current patients and survivors. Free. 301-754-9124, www.holycrosshealth.org.

Bereavement Support Group, 6 p.m.

Wednesdays, June 11-July 30. Holy Cross Resource Center, 9805 Dameron Drive, Silver Spring. The eight-week group is for people who have recently lost a loved one.

Sponsored by Holy Cross Home Care and Hospice. Free, but registration required. Call 301-754-7742 to register. www.holycross health.org.

Hope Connections for Cancer Support, 9650 Rockville Pike, Bethesda. Free. 301-6347500, www.hopeconnectionsforcancer.org.

Young Adult Group, 6:30 p.m. Tuesdays.

Join peers to discuss the challenges of living with cancer as a young adult.

Advanced Cancer Support Group, 3 p.m. Thursdays. For patients whose cancer has metastasized.

Advanced Meditation Seminars, 6:30-9:30 p.m. Friday and noon-5 p.m. Saturday, May 2-3 and June 6-7. The Mindfulness Center, 4963 Elm St., Suite 100, Bethesda. Weekend meditation immersion. The class is for those interested in deepening their meditation practice, or for those taking it as part of meditation teacher training. $149. 301-9861090, www.TheMindfulnessCenter.org.

Suburban Hospital Lambert Building, 8710 Old Georgetown Road, Bethesda. 301896-3100, www.suburbanhospital.org.

SEMINARS/ WORKSHOPS

Safe Sitter, 9 a.m. May 3, June 7 or 18.

The daylong babysitting course for 11- to 13-year-olds covers handling emergencies, child-care techniques, behavior management and first aid. $95.

Guided Mindful Meditation, 11:30 a.m.

Fridays. Hope Connections for Cancer Support, 9650 Rockville Pike, Bethesda. Meditation can help lower blood pressure and reduce anxiety. Classes are free. 301-6347500, www.hopeconnectionsforcancer.org.

CPR for Friends and Family, 5 p.m. May 6. The three-hour class is designed for members of the general public to learn CPR for adults, children and infants. Automated external defibrillators also will be discussed. No credentials are earned. $75.

The Cottage at Curry Manor A ResidentiAl Assisted living PRoPeRty

The New Pinnacle of Refined Residential Living. A Welcoming, Caring and Elegant Place to Call Home.

The Cottage at Curry Manor is a one-of–a kind Refined Residential Living residence in the heart of Bethesda, Maryland. The Cottage is beautiful inside and out. It is nestled on a private street in a lush green and woodsy setting. Housed in a spectacular home on a gated estate, the Cottage at Curry Manor accommodates up to eight residents in individual Suites or shared Suites for couples, each with a private bath. A highly responsive staff and management team will anticipate and fulfill resident’s specific and individual needs.

The Cottage has been approved by the State and County as an Assisted Living Facility.

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health calendar Heartsaver AED and Adult CPR, 6 p.m.

June 3. This three-hour class is designed for those who require a CPR-credentialed class. $75.

Holy Cross Resource Center, 9805 Dameron Drive, Silver Spring. 301-754-7000, www.holycrosshealth.org.

Infant CPR and Safety, 1 p.m. May 4; 6:30 p.m. May 13 and 15 and June 9; and 9:30 a.m. May 31 and June 8 and 22. The three-hour class, designed for parents and adult family members, covers baby-proofing, car-seat safety and injury and choking prevention. $30.

Six Weeks to a Happier, Healthier You!, 7:45 p.m. Mondays, May 19-June 23. Topics will include lifestyle changes to improve blood sugar, blood pressure and arthritis symptoms, and how to enhance your immune system. $70.

Safe Sitter, 9 a.m. June 22. The daylong babysitting course, for 11- to 13-yearolds, covers handling emergencies, childcare techniques, behavior management and first aid. $65.

Infant CPR and Safety, 6 p.m. May 5,

May 22 or June 18. Destination Maternity, Westfield Montgomery Mall, 7101 Democracy Blvd., Bethesda. The three-hour class, designed for parents and adult family members, covers baby-proofing, car-seat safety and injury and choking prevention. $30.

301-754-8800, www.holycrosshealth.org.

Parent Encouragement Program (within Kensington Baptist Church), 10100 Connecticut Ave., Kensington. 301-929-8824, www.pepparent.org.

Raising Children to Be Resilient, 9:45 a.m. Thursdays, May 8-29. Learn how to help your child develop the skills to bounce back from adversity. $110; $99 for PEP members.

Managing Anger: A Parent’s Guide, 9:45 a.m. Fridays, May 9-30. Examine why parents get angry and learn how to change your thoughts, actions and words to more positive outcomes. $90; $81 for PEP members.

Suburban Hospital, 8600 Old Georgetown Road, Bethesda. 301-896-3100, www.subur banhospital.org.

Simplify Your Life, 7 p.m. May 14.

Learn techniques for de-cluttering and de-stressing your life. $20.

Let’s Beat Procrastination! 7 p.m.

June 11. Learn how to recognize your procrastination pattern, plus techniques to help get things done and reduce stress. $20.

She’s Well, 1 p.m. May 17. Bethesda Sport & Health, 4400 Montgomery Ave., Bethesda.

The wellness event will include nutrition and wellness workshops and cooking demonstrations. Attendees also will learn how to balance work and family, make time for self-care and develop healthy eating strategies. Part of the proceeds will benefit Interfaith Works. $20; www.sheswell.event brite.com.

Look Good, Feel Better, 6:30 p.m. June 12. Holy Cross Hospital Professional and Community Education Center, 1500 Forest Glen Road, Silver Spring. Female cancer patients will receive tips on skin care, makeup application and hair/wig techniques. Free.

301-754-8800, www.holycrosshealth.org. n To submit calendar items, go to www.BethesdaMagazine.com.

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Special Advertising Section

Ask The Beauty Experts

courtesy photo

A. Dean Jabs, MD, PhD, FACS Cosmetic Surgery Associates See Profile page 271 Bethesda Magazine HEALTH | May/June 2014 257

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Ask the Beauty Experts

Special Advertising Section

Sagi Levi & Naz Rahimi Oxygen Salon and Day Spa 1677 Rockville Pike, Rockville, MD 20852 301-881-5052 | oxygenhairsalon@gmail.com Facebook/OxygenSalonandDaySpa.com www.oxygensalonanddayspa.com

At Oxygen Salon and Day Spa we consider ourselves to be leaders in our industry, with the superior ability to bring the latest cutting-edge styles to our clients. This season we are seeing a big return to the grunge era of the ‘90s with a touch of glam, says Naz. Textured cuts and longish styles snipped to tussled bobs with a lot of layering, mixed with slices of color, give this look tons of flavor.

But this lived-in, urban surfer look really comes to life with a touch of blonde, says Sagi. Blonde hair is still a favorite in 2014, from dark or light blonde to all-out platinum, blondes are popping up everywhere. By using modern hair coloring techniques such as ombre and Balayage, we are able to customize standout signature look for those blondes looking to make a statement.

darren higgins

What are the hottest trends in haircuts and colors this season?

Margy McHale Aurelia Salon\Spa 317 B East Diamond Ave., Gaithersburg, MD 20877 301-926-7897 | info@aureliasalonspamd.com www.aureliasalonspamd.com

Why are natural products better for me and my hair?

Our natural products nourish the scalp using palm, coconut and babassu seed oils; have color lock in with the help of amaranth, the never-fading flower; stimulate hair regrowth on thinning hair with ingredients like cayenne pepper and peppermint; sooth brittle, frizzy curls on contact with cocoa butter; and use all-natural preservatives such as rose ether.

By using natural products, you are respecting your personal health, the earth and the environment you live in.

hilary schwab

Aurelia’s all-natural products are free of sulfates, parabens, glutens, PVPs, DEAs and TEAs, which are commonly found in traditional hair care products. These products, when heated, release harmful vapors and when massaged into our scalps and introduce our bodies (and our groundwater) to toxins.

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Special Advertising Section

Ask the Beauty Experts

Jason A. Cohen, D.D.S. 5530 Wisconsin Ave., Suite 560, Chevy Chase, MD 20815 301-656-1201 | drcohen@cosmeticdds.com www.cosmeticdds.com

I have chipped, discolored teeth in the front and I don’t like the way they look. What are my options?

Today’s top cosmetic dental treatments include direct resin bonding, lab-fabricated porcelain veneers, all-porcelain crowns and In-Office Whitening. We offer all of these services and have had great success with them.

Depending on the treatment indications and the specific situation, one or a combination of these techniques may be in order. In many of these situations, natural-looking composite resin (bondings) or thin tooth colored shells of porcelain are secured to the front of your teeth to fill spaces, cover stains and/or restore misshapen teeth. This type of treatment is generally non-invasive and can be virtually pain-free.

Our office door is open, please come in and we can decide together what options are right for you and your teeth.

“I was once told I have gum disease. Is this a big deal? What should I do?”

hilary schwab

The short answer is—“It can be.” But there are things we can do to help! Having a routine check-up and getting regular professional dental cleanings is the only way hardened plaque, commonly known as tartar, can be removed. If not removed, this can snowball quickly into poor periodontal health. If the condition continues to deteriorate, a surgical procedure may be recommended.

We want to avoid this, and proper home care is paramount to circumventing these issues. The truth is, a regular dental maintenance program goes a long way to ensuring one’s dental health for the future.

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Special Advertising Section

Margaret Sommerville, MD, FAAD, Medical Director Chevy Chase Dermatology, LLC 5530 Wisconsin Ave., Suite 830, Chevy Chase, MD 20815 301-656-SKIN | chevychasedermatology.com

What are some benefits of common cosmetic treatments not known to the general public?

Most of us know that Botox® and related toxins eliminate or soften frown lines, crow’s feet, horizontal forehead lines and accomplish a subtle brow lift.

However, there are reports in scientific literature that Botox® injected into frown lines can have lasting anti-depressant effects. Apparently, preventing frowning by relaxing the muscles involved in creating this expression leads to less facial feedback for negative emotions correlating with reduction in depressive mood. More studies need to be done, but I hear from patients that they are happier after a Botox® treatment and the reasons for this may go beyond creating a more youthful, rested appearance.

Another less-known fact about Botox® is that it can be used “off-label” in other areas on the face or neck. We can eliminate so-called “bunny lines” on the upper nose, or lift downturned lip corners.

In my practice, Botox® and other toxins are used without creating the cookie-cutter “frozen look” with upturned, Spock-like brows. Many patients are afraid of starting Botox® injections, because they don't know that natural results are achievable.

We're happy to prove them wrong.

Our Swiss, suction-free microdermabrasion (Sapphire 3® Photo Abrasion) is an extremely popular maintenance treatment that not only feels good but also gently accomplishes effective exfoliation. Fire and Ice Facial is a wonderful no-downtime treatment based on natural, botanical ingredients.

Collagen induction therapy with fractional microneedling (Dermapen®) and broadband light photo rejuvenation are also popular. Which treatment is chosen depends on patients’ unique needs and concerns. We can accomplish so much without significant down-time by stimulating natural capacity of the skin to renew and regenerate. Aging is inevitable, but increasingly, wrinkles are optional.

hilary schwab

What are the most popular no-downtime antiaging treatments at your practice?

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Special Advertising Section

Eva & Sufi Kindle & Boom 180 Halpine Road, Rockville, MD 20852 301-770-0404 | kindleandboom@me.com www.kindleandboom.com

How do you enhance your guest’s natural beauty and make them feel special during their visit?

tony lewis jr

Eva: I love creating looks for my guests that suit their own personal style. No two guests are the same and they all have special concerns. My goal is to create a customized style that brings out their inner beauty. First, the cut must fit their face shape. Next, I take it to the next level using color techniques to add dimension that perfectly complements their skin tone. I’m happiest when I can make my guests feel their best.

Being from Austria, I love being able to express myself by creating edgy looks for my more adventurous guests. But I’m happy anytime I can transform someone into the person they want to be, whether it’s hot pink highlights, blonde extensions or a simple, classic look. In the end I really don’t have a preference as long as my guest is happy with the service.

What is the latest hair color trend?

Sufi: This spring and summer, ombre hair color is still very much in fashion. I like to use a balayage technique. Balayage creates a depth and dimension to hair while creating a sun-kissed finish, too.

It is a freehand application in which the color is applied by hand instead of using the traditional foiling approach. Balayage can be used in short pixies but is best when used on hair below the shoulders. Its low maintenance feature is always a draw for the busy woman. There are many techniques to create the look. I separate the pieces with cotton wool and plastic wrap.

As with all color, you should always use salon professional shampoos and conditioners. Your color will always look its best if your hair is in good condition.

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Special Advertising Section

David Cohen David’s Beautiful People 12121 Rockville Pike, Rockville, MD 20852 301-881-2540 | www.davidsbeautifulpeople.com

I just want answers for my hair – not a hundred different products and conflicting advice. Can you help?

You might want to add volume with our human hair extensions or get a new, exciting color to blend with your skin tones.

We can also help you with your nail care, hair thinning problems, cosmetics and special occasion hair styling. We will create a styling regimen just for you and your lifestyle. Whatever your needs are we can answer your questions. Free consultations are always available. We are open seven days a week with early morning and evening appointments for your convenience.

We have been “A Top Vote Getter” twice as “Best Salon” in Bethesda Magazine’s “Best of Bethesda” reader poll.

hilary schwab

Of course we can. First, we’ve been involved with solving hair problems since 1973. We are a diverse, internationally renowned salon that is always on the cutting edge of design and fashion.

Dr. Rachel Cohn Wink Eyecare Boutique 1095 Seven Locks Road, Potomac, MD 20854 301-545-1111 | drcohn@wink.net www.wink.net

The most flattering frames accentuate facial contours. Round faces work with more rectangular frames with sharper angles.

Square faces work with softer angles. Oval faces can look good in both. Glasses should flatter but also match your personality and reflect the way you want to be viewed by the world. We encourage people to try on lots and have fun with it. Don’t be afraid of color as it adds life to your face. We’re coming into summer now, and sunglasses should also match your face size and prescription needs. My staff has a good sense of style and the optical knowledge to help you find the perfect frames for your face and vision needs.

courtesy photo

Why do I look good in some glasses styles while others make me look ridiculous?

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Special Advertising Section

Roberta F. Palestine, MD and Associates The Dermatology Center & Rockledge MedSpa 6410 Rockledge Drive, Suite 201, Bethesda, MD 20817 301-530-8300 | www.dermskin.com Three locations: Bethesda, Germantown, NW, D.C.

Summer is coming, and I need to look good in a bathing suit. Can you help?

Yes, we can definitely help! If you haven’t looked at fat reduction technologies recently, look again, and come see us for a consultation. Safe, effective and non-invasive techniques can work wonders on your waistline, thighs, buttocks, hips and other areas. We have multiple cosmetic services available, and have had great success with all of them.

hilary schwab

What are some of the cosmetic services that are available?

CoolSculpting reduces fat in areas that tend to be diet and exercise-resistant by freezing fat cells under the skin. It’s like non-invasive liposuction for areas such as love handles, and most patients resume regular activity immediately after treatment.

We also offer Vanquish, our newest non-invasive fat removal procedure that uses deep tissue heating with selective radio frequency to target fat without the cost and recovery of surgery.

It’s also extremely safe and comfortable without any downtime. You simply lie under the machine for several 30-minute painless sessions, and abdominal fat melts away.

Exilis is another innovative new treatment for skin tightening and fat reduction. It also uses radio frequency energy. Collagen production is stimulated and results in tightening of the skin, with minimal to no discomfort and no downtime. Exilis is also effective for the abdomen, jowls, neck, arms and around the eyes.

Liposuction and lipocontouring are available with our expert plastic surgeon, with a variety of treatments for your needs. It’s an excellent tool for reducing “figure faults” and giving you a thinner, healthier body.

We have the latest non-invasive fat reduction technologies, as well as liposuction, so we can customize the best treatment program for you. We look forward to discussing your treatment plan and scheduling a consultation to get you on your way to a happier, healthier summer.

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Special Advertising Section

Rachel Edelman, Aesthetician Center for Cosmetic & Clinical Dermatology 6 Montgomery Village Ave., Suite 322, Gaithersburg, MD 20879 301-977-2070 | www.fordderm.com

The first step in keeping skin looking youthful and fresh is to use high quality skin care products and daily broad-spectrum sunscreen. We can recommend a customized skin care routine that will maximize your skin health based on your skin type. We also offer treatments performed by our licensed clinical aesthetician such as facials, microdermabrasion and chemical peels to enhance your daily at-home skin care regimen. These treatments promote turn over of the skin surface cells to improve fine lines, age spots and sun damage. For individuals who prefer more intensive treatments, our three board certified dermatologists are experts in the most advanced laser procedures to enhance the look and feel of your skin. Our aesthetician and physicians are available for consultations to discuss your unique dermatological needs.

What options are available to treat unwanted facial pigmentation?

The treatment of hyperpigmentation requires a stepwise approach. We carry a variety of topical products that can help fade unwanted discoloration. Some of the most common ingredients found in fading products are hydroquinone, retinol, kojic acid and alpha hydroxy acids. A daily regimen including these products, coupled with diligent use of a broad-spectrum sunscreen, is often enough to fight discolorations. Microdermabrasion, a gentle exfoliating treatment, can enhance the penetration of topical products and lead to more significant results. We also offer a complexion blending system of mini peels that improves the overall tone and texture of the skin and lessens the appearance of pigmentation. Laser and light treatments are options to help clear more persistent cases of hyperpigmentation. Our physicians are available to discuss with you any of these procedures and create your individualized treatment plan.

darren higgins

What can I do to keep my skin looking youthful?

264 May/June 2014 | Bethesda Magazine HEALTH

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Ask the Beauty Experts

Progressions Salon Spa Store 12211 Nebel St., Rockville, MD 20852 301-231-8757 | www.progressions.com facebook.com/ProgressionsSalonSpaStore

I prefer to receive all of my beauty services in one location since I am so busy. Do you offer a variety of services?

We realize the beauty industry has become fragmented and driving from one place to another just adds one more layer of stress to an already busy schedule. We have all the resources you need in one convenient location, and becoming part of the Progressions community means you support local businesses and all of our efforts toward community service.

Progressions is known for performing excellent hair, but do you offer lashes? Last minute blowdry? Customized SprayTanning?

Yes, yes and yes. We also offer expert eyebrow measurements, body waxing and treatments, facials, skin and nail care, as well as a boutique full of unique gifts and accessories. The products we use and sell are professional and environmentally conscious.

We are committed to offering an exceptional experience when you visit with us. We are about building relationships by creating a look together.

Our professionals will listen to your needs and support you through hair cutting, coloring, nails, skin care and/or makeup. It’s fun to meet new people, share information about local stores, restaurants and current events. That’s what your experience with us will be!

Tony lewis jr

Best of all, free parking and a 10-minute walk from the Metro! “LIKE” our Facebook page and you will see a snapshot of what it is we love about Progressions. Visit with us and you will see what it is you will love about Progressions!

Tracy’s look (at right) was created by our professional team; Navan Hok for hair color, haircut

by Kevin Glass, Dani Vergara for the blow dry, Linda Gottlieb for makeup, and Ellen Wang for eyelash extensions.

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Jennifer Parker Porter, MD, FACS Chevy Chase Facial Plastic Surgery 8401 Connecticut Ave., Suite 107, Chevy Chase, MD 20815 301-652-8191 | jportermd@chevychaseface.com www.chevychaseface.com

Surgical rejuvenation with a facelift or eyelid surgery is great if you have time for recovery. For those without that time, there are many nonsurgical options that have little to no down time. Botox® and fillers are great to rid wrinkles and soften the lines of the face in an instant.

One of the newest fillers, Juvederm Voluma®, is revolutionary because it volumizes the cheeks and restores a youthful look that lasts for two years. DermaPen® is a skin treatment that can be done monthly to improve fine lines and reduce acne scars, which typically get worse with age. Broad Band Light (BBL®) treatments help fade sunspots on the face, hand and chest, thereby rejuvenating the skin. There are many other options that can be explored based on the patient’s individual needs. For instance, Viora Reaction® is a new skin tightening treatment that can be used to improve the jawline, eyelids and more.

hilary schwab

What are your go-to procedures for rejuvenation?

Richard Castiello, MD 5530 Wisconsin Ave., Suite 1418, Chevy Chase, MD 20814 301-986-1880

In your years of experience, what can I do to help my face look younger?

The public is inundated by ads promising that a product or supplement is capable of turning back the clock. In most cases, these aren’t supported by scientific evidence. Little progress has been made since snake oil was sold off the backs of wagons in the 19th century!

There’s no persuasive evidence that any “wrinkle cream” is substantive or permanent, yet these are a multi-billion dollar industry.

Ads are carefully worded to not cross into outright misstatement by using buzzwords such as “makes wrinkles appear less noticeable.”

One should view such claims with a healthy degree of skepticism.

mike olliver

Sunblock can prevent – but not reverse – photo-aging. Facelifts remove sagging skin, fillers plump up wrinkles around the mouth, chemical peels temporarily tone skin and Botox injections can temporarily smooth wrinkles by weakening muscles of facial expression into which it is injected. These, excepting facelifts, are simple office procedures.

266 May/June 2014 | Bethesda Magazine HEALTH

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Special Advertising Section

Ira Ludwick Ira Ludwick Salon

darren higgins

10400 Old Georgetown Road, Bethesda, MD 20814 301-530-3250 | www.iraludwicksalon.com

"Oh, you’re a hairdresser? What would you do with my hair?"

How do you stay inspired after so many years in the business?

I get this question all the time when I’m out and about. I guess it’s the ultimate icebreaker. There’s art, science, design and, most important, experience involved. A lot comes down to interpreting your needs and lifestyle and then taking that information and folding it into a hairstyle that suits your needs.

Another good question after 40 years of doing hair in the metro area! It’s simple: I am a perpetual student. The industry is continually changing and reinventing. One of my greatest rewards is being innovative and staying on top of change. We believe in continuous and ongoing education. We’re a member of Intercoiffure Mondial, an international organization of highly renowned hairdressers.

We’re also an ambassador salon where our stylists welcome highprofile educators and travel regularly to New York, Miami and Rome for training and research.

It’s critical to see and actively listen to who is in my chair and what they do or don’t want for a look and maintenance. It’s about creating a personal style and design for every client. My team prides itself on listening and then taking that information to create a look that’s unique. I’m excited to introduce the newest member to the team, my wife Katie Jaggers-Ludwick, who recently left Saks Fifth Avenue after 29 years. She brings added fashion knowledge, experience and passion to the salon.

As a leader of a highly talented and passionate team, I find tremendous personal and professional reward in educating others in the art of hairdressing.

Our mission is to exceed every client’s expectations. We want every client leaving the salon feeling fabulous and wanting to come back for more!

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Special Advertising Section

Gail Cohen Salon Central 10317 Westlake Dr., Bethesda, MD 20817 301-767-1077 | saloncentral@gmail.com www.saloncentralbethesda.com

Why should I choose Salon Central for my go-to beauty professionals?

beautiful, customized look for you that works for your specific needs and is effortlessly stylish.

We’re proud that our focus on excellence in service and client loyalty has earned Salon Central the honor of “A Top Vote Getter” for ‘Best Salon’ five consecutive years by the readers of Bethesda Magazine. We have also been voted into the 2014 “Salon 200,” which is an elite group of salons selected as the finest in the country.

Among our team, we have a certified Master Aesthetician with a particular strength in in-depth skin analysis and treatment. We also have a hair stylist who specializes in the “New York Dry Cut.” Dry cutting allows a stylist and guest see the shape of the hair as it’s cut, instead of waiting until it’s washed and blown dry.

But perhaps the most important reason to choose Salon Central is that it all starts with you. We take your individual features, your lifestyle and your personality into consideration before any cut or color service. Getting to know and listening to you is vital to creating a

Why should I choose Salon Central for my color service?

As owner and manager of Salon Central, I have nurtured a team of experts in hair color and design. I share the same high expectations as our guests for quality color services. Color takes years of experience to do well, and our team is very established and very professional about their work. Providing a hair color service is an art, and we take our art very seriously.

hilary schwab

First, we are a committed team of professionals who have had extensive training and continue their education. This is a tremendous part of who we are and why we have sustained a successful business for 17 years.

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Ask the Beauty Experts

Sheilah A. Lynch, MD 5530 Wisconsin Ave., Suite 1111, Chevy Chase, MD 20815 301-652-5933 | sheilahlynchmd@aol.com www.lynchplasticsurgery.com

What is a “Mommy Makeover” and who is a candidate?

The changes we see in our bodies during pregnancy are dramatic but fortunately most of them resolve after delivery. For the changes that don’t resolve (skin laxity, muscle weakness, stretch marks, and a mid-torso thickening/lack of a waist), we can address them simultaneously with an abdominoplasty or “tummy tuck.”

The combination of an abdominoplasty with breast surgery (enlargement, reduction or lift) is commonly called a “Mommy Makeover.”

The stretch on breast skin during pregnancy and breastfeeding can lead to a less firm breast and sagging (ptosis). A breast lift or removal of extra skin to tighten the skin envelope and lift the breast and/or volume replacement with an implant (augmentation) can rejuvenate the breasts and give a more youthful appearance.

The best candidates for a “Mommy Makeover” have usually completed childbearing, are healthy and in their ideal body weight, and have a combination of abdominal wall laxity, excess skin and a desire to improve their breast shape or size. We see a higher percentage of patients having this procedure who have had twin pregnancies, multiple pregnancies, and those who have had children in their 30s, when it’s more difficult to get your body back. These procedures are commonly performed in a hospital but as an outpatient, meaning you go home the same day. Recovery usually requires 8-10 days out of work and someone should be with you for the first 24 hours.

mike olliver

Our staff enjoys our patients reactions to this procedure as it rejuvenates moms' in many ways.

Our personalized care will get you back to mommy mode quickly. Visit our website for patient before and after photos and call us for a free consultation.

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Special Advertising Section

Andrea Caplan Brookville Healing Arts 7019 Brookville Road, Chevy Chase, MD 20815 301-346-5716 | www.thebodypolitic.net

How does stress manifest in my body?

Surely you’ve felt the difference when you’re relaxed and happy and when you’re tense and stressed. Just as surely, you’ve seen how you look when you’re in both states. What’s less obvious, is how tension affects how you feel and think. After 19 years in this profession, I firmly believe that stress and tension are the enemy of inner and outer beauty. How you feel greatly affects how you look in the long run. And if life is about maintenance, then perhaps the foundation of our beauty routine is on the inside.

Regularly scheduled massage and bodywork can go a long way towards staying beautiful inside and out.

darren higgins

Soft tissues of the body – muscles, tendons, ligaments and internal organs – tighten during stressful times. When they remain tight, as they will when stress is prolonged over weeks, months or years, that’s when massage and bodywork can be a perfect intervention to return you to yourself.

Kevin Burkart & Aaron Claxton The Shop Salon 8231 Woodmont Ave., Bethesda, MD 20814 301-913-5955 | theshopsalon@mac.com www.theshopsalon.com

Hairstylists talk about their art, but what does that really mean?

We will be having a Grand Re-opening this spring to celebrate our new renovation and expansion. The Shop Salon is an exclusive partner of Bumble and Bumble in New York City. See you soon!

You can learn more about us and follow us on Twitter at _@ theshopsalon, on Instagram at _@theshopsalon and by liking us on Facebook.

tony lewis jr

Speaking for our team, we all truly embrace hairstyling as art form. No one is in this business just because. Our stylists bring real happiness to people through their creative abilities, and that’s very satisfying. We believe that staying at the forefront of the constant changes in our industry and really loving what you do are two major components to the art of being a hairstylist. Most of all, we here at The Shop Salon create wonderful lasting relationships with the people that are kind enough to support our art.

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Special Advertising Section

A. Dean Jabs, MD, PhD, FACS Cosmetic Surgery Associates Camalier Building, Suite 280, 10215 Fernwood Road, Bethesda, MD 20817 301-493-4334 | www.cosmeticplastics.com

What makes you different than other area plastic surgeons?

In one word: “experience.” Cosmetic plastic surgery is all that I do. I’ve specialized in facial rejuvenation and breast augmentation since 1989 and have helped thousands of women and men look naturally younger. I’m board certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery. I am also the chairman of the Department of Plastic Surgery at Suburban Hospital.

I am proud to announce the opening of our new state-of-the-art office on the ground floor of the Westmoreland Building on Fernwood Avenue. Opening on June 1, the new office will allow us to offer complete care for cosmetic patients. This includes skin care, Fraxel laser resurfacing, non-invasive ultrasonic skin tightening (Ulthera), SmartLipo laser liposuction, facelifts, eyelids and brow lifts, as well as body contouring and breast augmentation. It will be a complete onestop service with operating and recovery rooms in one place for maximum convenience and discretion.

I don’t want to look like some movie star or celebrity who’s obviously had work done. Can you help?”

COURTESY PHOTO

Of course! A natural result that turns the clock back to your youthful appearance without looking overdone is what I specialize in. I assure you, you will not look “Hollywood.”

We are always working toward results that last a long time with less downtime and faster recoveries. The QuickLift™ is a mini-facelift procedure that offers a more youthful appearance by tightening the underlying structures as well as the skin to achieve a more youthful appearing face and neck. This benefits men and women. It is an outpatient procedure that takes just a few hours. The result is natural looking with patients recovering in a short time without having to put you in the hospital or put you to sleep. Visit my website www.Cosmeticplastics.com to learn more.

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Pantea Tamjidi, MD Tamjidi Skin Institute 5454 Wisconsin Ave., Suite 1045, Chevy Chase, MD 20815 301-652-4828 | www.tamjidiskininstitute.com

My face is getting thinner which makes me look tired and old. What can I do?

Volume loss in the cheeks is a major reason we lose that youthful profile over the years. The best way to correct volume loss in the cheeks is the new FDA-approved filler, Voluma™, by the makers of Juvederm®.

Voluma™ lasts up to two years and can also be used to enhance the overall shape of your face.

Voluma is the first and only FDA-approved filler to correct age-related volume loss in the midface. Natural-looking results can last up to two years, too. I am proud to be one of the first trained injectors in the area to offer this great new product. So far, our patients have been extremely satisfied with the results.

What are the best anti-aging products to use at home?

Please remember: The most important way to take care of your skin is with annual skin cancer screenings with your dermatologist and wearing sunscreen daily. We use this as an opportunity to educate you about your skin and how to pinpoint suspicious growths. Your skin is your largest organ and protector, so be sure to take care of it.

hilary schwab

The benefit of the products we carry in our office is that they are luxurious, cosmetically elegant and also pack a powerful punch of active ingredients to truly deliver results. My new favorite ingredient is PSP®, which stands for “Processed Skin Cell Proteins.” It was developed by Swiss researchers through years of research in wound healing. It was discovered that it helps with fine lines, firmness, and hydration and cell renewal. It’s an amazing product that delivers nourishing proteins and polypeptides to help bring state-of-the-art revitalization to your skin.

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Ask the Beauty Experts

Massimo Quartararo & Liz Ngo Eyma Salon and Spa

What has made your business thrive as one of the highest end salons in the area?

darren higgins

Massimo: My salon has a very strong relationship with our clientele. We’re always looking to bring newer inspirations in color and cutting techniques. Recently, we introduced a new hair extension technique called Skinweft. My business partner Eyal and I are obsessed with creating products that can truly repair damaged hair. We’re also owners of Research In Beauty, a company devoted to creating hair products that will better suit any hair care needs.

Liz: Customer service is so critical in the personal-care industry. Building relationships is incredibly important. Our clients have always come first and their happiness is our main goal. I am proud to say we have a talented team here at Eyma Salon and Spa. Our brand is very unique, too. Eyal and Massimo have created a product line that is very successful. We have the opportunity to deliver services that no other salon can offer.

7929 Woodmont Ave., Bethesda, MD 20814 301-986-6996 | info@eymasalonandspa.com www.eymasalonandspa.com

What is it that you love the most about your business?

Massimo: First, I believe every stylist has to love what they do. Only by having that, you can transfer this love to your clients.

And believe me, they feel it! You must also respect and value every minute with your clients by giving them 100 percent of your attention. These are the two most important lessons I share with my staff, and one of the reasons why we are so successful.

Liz: The transformation of what this industry can do has always amazed me. Every day I learn something new. Nine years later after starting at my first salon, I still feel the same. I am so grateful for all the knowledge I’ve learned over the years. I love seeing a client walk out of our salon feeling pleased.

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Special Advertising Section

Diane L. Colgan, MD, F.A.C.S. 10411 Motor City Drive, Suite 615, Bethesda, MD 20817 301-299-6644 | www.dianecolganmd.com

Often, a “total approach” is needed when thinking about the rejuvenation process. The psychological benefit of replacing volume in the face, eliminating jowls, softening deep creases in the face, and tightening loose hanging skin in the neck is an enormous first step to feeling confident and good about ourselves. Eyes are often our best feature and most noticed. When skin becomes heavy on the upper lids and bags become prominent, the blepharoplasty (eyelid lift) can be one of the most rejuvenating procedures you can do. The second step is considering post-surgical enhancements such as a new hairstyle and makeup, permanent eyeliner, eyebrows, lip color – all adding to that more youthful look. Often the combination of approaches yields the best results.

This “total approach” will help you feel your very best as you continue facing the world each and every day.

Hilary Schwab

Why consider cosmetic surgery? Why should we look old when we don’t feel old and still have so much living to do?

David J. Schlactus, DMD & Yasir A. Siddique, DDS 121 Congressional Lane, Suite 501, Rockville, MD 20852 301-881-9040 | www.drschlactus.com

Perhaps not biologically, but there are actions we can take to reverse the appearance of aging. Our dental practice offers numerous minimally invasive treatments to bring back your youthful, radiant smile. Stained teeth are, unfortunately, a common occurrence but with bleaching or masking dark stains with porcelain veneers, you can have a brighter, whiter smile. Increased crowding of teeth which also occurs with aging can be corrected inconspicuously with Invisalign. Gaps in teeth can be aesthetically fixed with natural looking implant crowns, bridges or even partial dentures. Old, darker fillings can be replaced with newer, tooth-colored porcelain and non-metal restorations. Lastly, worn or chipped teeth can be reshaped, lengthened and even strengthened with composite bonding, or porcelain veneers and crowns.

If you would like to know more about our practice, and how you can regain your smile, you can contact Dr. Schlactus and Dr. Siddique.

darren higgins

Can we reverse aging with a smile?

274 May/June 2014 | Bethesda Magazine HEALTH

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Ask the Beauty Experts

Michael Nunez Mattovich, Stylist & Mirka Misnikova, Aesthetician Lux Studios 4711 Montgomery Lane, Bethesda, MD 20814 301-907-6810 | www.yourlux.com

What’s the secret to keeping a blow-out fresh?

Michael: The secret to maintain your blowout for several days is by pulling your hair into a loose topknot or braid before bed. Use a hair tie to hold it in place or else you’ll wake up with ridges. By using a silk or satin pillowcase, it will keep it in place, smooth and decrease breakage. Keep dry shampoo on hand to absorb sweat and oil, for your ends dry oil will condition. Even if you’re in a hot spot, there’s no excuse to settle for limp locks.

stephanie bragg

We offer all hair services seven days a week and are happy to share our knowledge, techniques and more secrets to keeping a blow-out and healthy hair.

Lux Studios also offers highly skilled aesthetic services – like what?

Mirka: Besides great hairstylists, we have my services, too.

I research and work with the best professional skin care lines designed especially for aesthetic use.

Anti-aging resurfacing treatments by Rhonda Allison and the Osmosis Skin Care line are the answer to skin aging. Also, my revolutionary body wraps successfully target cellulite, fat and stretch marks, and burn calories, too. If you want to be slim, you must try my bio slim treatments. I learned my unique waxing technique 12 years ago from a famed Brazilian esthetician and successful business owner of Rosangela Spa in Manhattan.

Other services at Lux Studios include facials and hydro colon cleansing using state-of-the-art equipment.

I try to strive to create a comfortable environment with my clients, educating them about benefits of facials and how to care for their skin at home.

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Special Advertising Section

Stephanie Ramirez & Rosie Alvarenga Salon Luna 5026 Nicolson Lane, Rockville, MD 20852 301-770-5026 | SalonLuna@gmail.com www.salonluna.net

Why is communication with your stylist and staff at your salon so important?

The best communication happens when people feel relaxed and comfortable. As a mother-daughter team, we aim to create a caring, fun and happy atmosphere at Salon Luna. Good communication contributes to you having a happy, satisfying hair experience – from receiving a welcoming smile when you come in, to walking out with confidence. Communication is key!

hilary schwab

Good communication and a close relationship are essential for so many reasons. First, we listen to you to learn your likes and dislikes. We find out what complements your lifestyle and personal features as far as choosing a hair color, cut, smoothing or reconstructive treatment, shine and your at-home care. Second, we talk with you to make sure that you understand what we are recommending. We want to help you look your best and easily manage your hair at home.

Jean Bae Salon Jean 7945 MacArthur Blvd., Cabin John, MD 20818 301-320-5326 | salonjean@gmail.com www.salonjean.com

How can I prevent my hair from falling out?

The good news is that at Salon Jean,we have products that go very far in helping recondition our scalp and strengthen our existing hair follicles so we can re-stimulate growth. One of these products is “Initialiste “ from Keratase. It really works; we routinely use it as well as other products from that line for many of our clients.

shawn heifert

The reality is that it is normal and healthy to lose 80 to 100 hairs per day so that new hairs can regenerate and grow. Many of us will experience additional hair loss at some point in our lives. Lack of nutrition, sickness, trauma to the body and certain medical treatments are just a few examples that can trigger hair loss. Unfortunately, the aging process may also cause increased loss.

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WHEN BUSINESSES DO GOOD, THE COMMUNITY PROFITS. As members of Community Profits Montgomery, the following businesses have committed to give at least 2% of their net income back to the community. To learn more, or to join in our pledge, visit CommunityProfitsMontgomery.org

®

Melanie Folstad, Merrill Lynch AN INITIATIVE OF

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table

TALK

By Carole Sugarman HMSHost chefs work in the Bethesda company’s test kitchen to create dishes like these that can be prepared quickly for travelers catching flights.

Taking Off

ost HMSHa at : l g ance • • • • •

Airports served: 110

worldwide Restaurants: more than 300 brands, 2,000 individual outlets Restaurants at Reagan National, Dulles and BWI airports: 14 Employees at the Bethesda headquarters: 450 Employees worldwide: more than 30,000

spice it up Silver Spring’s own celebrity chef, Carla Hall, co-host of ABC’s The Chew, released her second cookbook in April.

Carla’s Comfort Foods: Favorite Dishes From Around the World (Atria Books, $29.99) takes familiar recipes and shows how they can be given an ethnic twist by simply altering seasonings.

All-American burgers go Persian with

cucumber yogurt sauce, lime and fragrant spices; or they get a Vietnamese vibe from pickled vegetables, scallions, ginger and cilantro. Chicken soup, stews and other dishes are similarly transformed. Hall’s first book, Cooking with Love: Comfort Foods That Hug You (Atria Books), came out in 2012; she is also co-author of a collection of The Chew cookbooks.

courtesy of HMSHost; book cover: barnes & noble

Who knew? The world’s largest airport food and beverage company, with annual sales of $2.7 billion, is headquartered in an office park in Bethesda.

HMSHost, at 6905 Rockledge Drive, doesn’t create food for airlines; it partners with other companies such as Starbucks, Harry’s Tap Room and Gordon Biersch to develop, construct and operate their restaurants in airports. The company has even created airport concepts with celebrity chefs such as Wolfgang Puck, Rick Bayless and Todd English, and most recently, opened Ink.Sack at Los Angeles International Airport with Michael Voltaggio (brother of Bryan Voltaggio, the chef-owner of Range and Aggio in Friendship Heights).

The company also has its own proprietary brands in airports, and additionally operates restaurants at 99 highway rest stops in North America. In a testing space the size of a home kitchen, HMSHost chefs develop and adapt recipes, focusing on dishes that can be prepared quickly for travelers catching flights.

To ease the challenges of running a food service establishment in an airport— such as leasing requirements, security and limitations on space and cooking equipment—HMSHost provides chefs, management and expertise.

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Coffee, anyone?

Independent coffee shops are hard to come by these days, so Kaldi’s Coffee is a welcome retreat. Owner Tsega Hailemariam’s shop, which opened last fall in Silver Spring, features a long roster of coffee drinks, a short sandwich menu, plus a taste-as-goodas-they-look array of homemade baked goods (try the bread pudding, macarons and marble pound cake). The atmosphere is earthy and serene, and chunky wooden tables provide lots of space for laptops and discussion. What’s more, the background music is just that.

918 Silver Spring Ave., Silver Spring, 1-800-607-1324, www.kaldiscoffeebar.com

FoodD FIN

Rhonda Joseph offers samples of her 3 Nanas shortbread—based on her grandmother’s recipe—at Bradley Food & Beverage in Bethesda.

thinkstock; DARYL OH (joseph)

the shortbread effect Rhonda Joseph’s life story would make an interesting movie. Raised in New Zealand, the 58-year-old North Bethesda resident traveled the world and worked as a private nurse, taking care of the Dowager Duchess of Devonshire, a countess living in a Scottish castle, and the former ruler of Dubai, among others.

After moving to the Washington area in 1986, she worked at a cardiology practice in Chevy Chase, became a stay-at-home mom and embarked on a career as a yoga instructor.

But throughout Joseph’s adventures, she always found making Nana Woodham’s shortbread a source of comfort. As a young girl in Christchurch, she would help her arthritic grandmother with the mixing, and as an adult, she

would often make the cookies for friends, family and business associates.

In 1990, Joseph briefly sold the shortbread in the Washington, D.C., area, but she put the venture on hold while raising her two children. Now that her kids are grown, she has relaunched her business— calling it 3 Nanas (after her Nana, her mother and herself). Joseph hopes to cash in on what she calls “the shortbread effect”: Anyone who tries the silken, buttery cookies isn’t likely to forget them.

3 Nanas shortbread (original and chocolate) is available at Bradley Food & Beverage and the Chevy Chase Supermarket. A box of 16 cookies costs $8.49. Or, go to www.3Nanas.com.

COMINGS & GOINGS Two splashy concepts have been announced for Lot 31, the development at the corner of Woodmont and Bethesda avenues in Bethesda. PassionFish, one of the flagship restaurants of the local Passion Food Hospitality Group, is dropping anchor sometime in 2015 with a 9,000-square-foot space and a spotlight on Maryland seafood.

And, after 25 years in business, the creators behind the Silver Diner are rolling out Silver, an upscale, urban diner with a full bar and an abridged, slightly more expensive menu.

The successful Neighborhood Restaurant Group, creators of Washington’s beer-centric Birch & Barley and ChurchKey, plus Red Apron and other restaurants, has settled on a beer garden and restaurant concept for Pike & Rose in Rockville, slated to open in mid-2015. Also coming to Federal Realty’s development on Rockville Pike is Pinstripes, a bocce, bowling and bistro venue scheduled for 2016.

Westfield Montgomery Mall’s new dining court, scheduled to open this summer, is taking shape with a host of new eateries. Among them: Blaze Pizza, a California-based fastcasual chain that offers a choice of 40 different meats, veggies, cheeses, sauces and other toppings; and Naples 45 Ristorante e Pizzeria, a Patina Restaurant Group eatery serving Neapolitan pizzas made in wood-burning ovens, plus Southern Italian specialties.

An Asian concept appears headed to the old California Tortilla space at 4862 Cordell Ave. in Bethesda. At press time, plans were being finalized to open the first franchise of Turntable, a Korean fried chicken restaurant out of New York City.

Noodles & Company, the national chain that serves internationally inspired noodle dishes, plans to open in part of the former RiRa space at 4931 Elm St. in Bethesda in October.

And corned beef is attempting a comeback in Woodmont Triangle: Heckman’s, a Jewish-style deli, opens this spring in the former Maggie’s space at 4914 Cordell Ave. Two previous delis in the area went kaput.

Meanwhile, Red Tomato Café, Bethesda’s first wood-burning oven pizzeria, closed in January after 20 years in business, due to structural damage caused by nearby construction. n

Carole Sugarman is the magazine’s food editor. Send ideas to carole.sugarman@bethesdamagazine.com.

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cooking CLASS

By Theresa Souther L’Academie de Cuisine | www.lacademie.com

The Uncomplicated Cobbler As spring moves into summer and juicy fruits become readily available, making a simple cobbler or crisp is an easy way to get dessert on the table without spending a lot of time in a hot kitchen. And one of the first vegetables of the season—rhubarb—pairs nicely with one of the first fruits of the season—strawberries—to make a delicious treat that’s sweet and tart.

Both crisps and cobblers are easy to make, but it takes a little more time and expertise to produce a cobbler’s light and fluffy biscuit topping. Crisps are a bit simpler: Fruit is topped with a crumbly mixture of flour, butter, sugar—and often nuts and oatmeal—that bakes up light and crisp.

Either dessert is delicious on its own, but no one is likely to complain if you top it with a dollop of lightly sweetened whipped cream or a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

HOMEwork

Rhubarb-Strawberry Cobbler

ingredients 2 pounds of rhubarb stalks, trimmed of leaves and tough ends, sliced ½ inch thick 1½ cups sugar for cobbler or 1¼ cups sugar for crisp 1 pound strawberries, hulled and cut to same size as rhubarb 3 tablespoons cornstarch or 6 tablespoons flour Juice of one orange 2 teaspoons vanilla extract Cream-biscuit cobbler topping (or crisp topping) Milk and sugar for sprinkling

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

2. In a bowl, toss together the rhubarb, sugar, strawberries, cornstarch (or flour), orange juice and vanilla extract. Let the mixture sit 10 to 15 minutes while prepping the topping.

3. Transfer the mixture to a 9-by-13-inch glass or ceramic baking dish (or similar 3-quart dish). Alternatively, split the filling into eight 1-cup ramekins.

4. Arrange cut biscuits on top of fruit.

Brush with milk and sprinkle with sugar if desired. If using the crisp topping, scatter it evenly over the fruit.

5. Place the baking dish on the top of a sheet pan (to catch drips) and bake for 45 to 50 minutes, until the topping is golden brown and the fruit mixture is bubbling up through the center. If the topping starts to get too dark after 30 minutes, turn down the oven to 350 degrees.

photoS by stacy zarin-goldberg

Technique

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Helpful Hint ed n be assembl The dessert ca s ur ho 12 to d up and refrigerate aking m If g. kin ba in advance of g ute that toppin a crisp, substit n. io rs ve for the biscuit

to make a Cream-biscuit cobbler topping:

1

3

ingredients 1½ cups all-purpose flour 1½ cups cake flour ¾ teaspoon salt 1 level tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon baking powder 2 tablespoons sugar 6 tablespoons cold unsalted butter 2 cups heavy cream

Technique 1. Sift together flours, salt, baking powder and sugar.

2. Cut cold butter into the flour mixture using a pastry cutter or two knives until the mixture looks like coarse meal. Butter should be peasized or slightly smaller.

3. Pour cream into flour mixture and fold together. The mixture should look a little lumpy.

4. Transfer the mixture to a lightly floured work surface and gather the dough together. Gently roll or pat dough into a ½-inch-thick round.

5. Cut biscuits with a cutter of desired shape and size.

6. Gently gather scraps and roll one more time. Cut additional biscuits.

Discard remaining scraps.

2 4

5

to make a crisp topping: ingredients 1½ sticks (6 ounces) cold unsalted butter, softened 1 cup light-brown sugar 1 cup all-purpose flour 1 cup rolled oats 1½ teaspoons cinnamon ½ teaspoon salt

Technique

Help fu Hint l

You ca n dou ble th toppin e crisp g recip e and fr half fo eeze r the n ext tim want e you to ma ke a fr uit cris p.

Combine all of the ingredients in a medium bowl. Using a pastry blender or your fingers, mix the ingredients together until large crumbs form.

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dining

GUIDE

Check out the online version of the DINING GUIDE at BethesdaMagazine.com or download our app for free at the Apple Store.

It’s browsable by category and updated frequently.

Bethesda 100 Montaditos, 4922 Elm St., Bethesda, 240-3966897, us.100montaditos.com/home. As its name proclaims, the Spanish-founded chain features 100 varieties of montaditos—mini sandwiches served on rolls.

Ranging in price from $1 to $2.50, the sandwiches sport fillings from authentic (Serrano ham, manchego cheese, chorizo) to American (Philly cheesesteak, hot dogs and burgers). ❂ L D $ 4935 Bar and Kitchen, 4935 Cordell Ave., 301-8308086, www.4935barandkitchen.com. Former Tragara Ristorante space gets a major redo, with a sleek, modern interior and a young chef-owner serving French and Indian fusion dishes such as spicy chicken confit and Tandoori pork chops. The popular upstairs private party room is now called “The Loft at 4935.” L D $$$ Aji-Nippon, 6937 Arlington Road, 301-654-0213.

A calm oasis on a busy street, where chef Kazuo Honma serves patrons sushi, noodle soups, teriyaki and more. L D $$ American Tap Room, 7278 Woodmont Ave., 301656-1366, www.americantaproom.com. Classic grill menu featuring sliders and wings, from Thompson Hospitality, the owners of Austin Grill. ❂  R L D $$ Assaggi Mozzarella Bar, 4838 Bethesda Ave., 301951-1988, www.assaggirestaurant.com. Former Café Milano executive chef and owner Domenico Cornacchia offers a warm and elegant bar featuring tastings of mozzarella, both international and local. The restaurant also features Italian-inspired main courses and an extensive wine list. ❂  L D $$ Bacchus of Lebanon, 7945 Norfolk Ave., 301-6571722, www.bacchusoflebanon.com. This friendly and elegant Lebanese staple has a large, sunny patio that beckons lunch and dinner patrons outside when the weather is good to try garlicky hummus, stuffed grape leaves, chicken kabobs, veal chops and dozens of small-plate dishes.❂ L D $$ Bangkok Garden, 4906 St. Elmo Ave., 301-951-0670, www.bkkgarden.com. This real-deal, family-run Thai restaurant turns out authentic cuisine in a dining room decorated with traditional statues of the gods. L D $

as the chef chops and cooks beef, chicken, vegetables and seafood tableside on the hibachi. This popular national chain serves sushi, too. J L D $$ Bethesda Crab House, 4958 Bethesda Ave., 301652-3382, www.bethesdacrabhouse.net. In the same location since 1961, this casual, family-owned dining spot features jumbo lump crabcakes, oysters on the half shell and jumbo spiced shrimp. Extra large and jumbo-sized crabs available year-round; call ahead to reserve them. ❂ L D $$ Bethesda Curry Kitchen (New), 4860 Cordell Ave., 301-656-0062, www.bethesdacurrykitchen.com. Former Saveur India chef-owner Anil Kumar moves across town with a new lunch buffet and Southern Indian vegan specialties, served in a spare and casual setting.

There are plenty of choices from the tandoor oven, as well as vegetarian, seafood and meat curries. L D $ Bistro LaZeez, 8009 Norfolk Ave., 301-652-8222, www.bistrolazeez.com. Terrific Mediterranean grilled dishes from local Arabic teacher Reda Asaad. ❂JLD$ Bistro Provence (Editors’ Pick), 4933 Fairmont Ave., 301-656-7373, www.bistroprovence.org. Chef Yannick Cam brings his formidable experience to a casual French bistro with a lovely courtyard. ❂ L D $$$ Black’s Bar & Kitchen (Editors’ Pick), 7750 Woodmont Ave., 301-652-5525, www.blacksbarandkitch en.com. Bethesda Magazine readers voted Black’s “Best MoCo Restaurant” and “Best Happy Hour” in 2014. Customers count on the impeccable use of fresh and local ingredients. ❂ R L D $$$ Bold Bite, 4901-B Fairmont Ave., 301-951-2653, www. boldbite.net. Designer hot dogs from the Venezuelan Roche brothers, with a menu that won “Best Menu Design” from the magazine’s editors in 2013. J L D $ Brasserie Monte Carlo, 7929 Norfolk Ave., 301656-9225, www.brasseriemontecarlo.com. FrenchMediterranean dishes and a mural of a Monte Carlo landscape transport diners to Monaco. ❂ R L D $$ Brickside Food & Drink, 4866 Cordell Ave., 301-3126160, www.bricksidebethesda.com. Prohibition-era drinks meet Italian bar bites and entrées. ❂ R D $$

Bel Piatto Pizza, 7812 Old Georgetown Road, 301986-8085, www.belpiattopizza.com. Entrées, calzones, strombolis and salads, along with a large selection of pizzas. L D $

Caddies on Cordell, 4922 Cordell Ave., 301-215-7730, www.caddiesoncordell.com. Twenty-somethings gather at this golf-themed spot to enjoy beer and wings specials in a casual, rowdy atmosphere that frequently spills onto the large patio. Bethesda Magazine readers voted Caddies "Best Bar Food" in 2014. ❂ J R L D $

Benihana, 7935 Wisconsin Ave., 301-652-5391, www.benihana.com. Experience dinner-as-theater

Café Deluxe, 4910 Elm St., 301-656-3131, www.cafe deluxe.com. This local chain serves bistro-style Amer-

Key: Price designations are for a three-course dinner for two including tip and tax, but excluding alcohol. $ up to $50 $$ $51-$100 $$$ $101-$150 $$$$ $150+

b

Outdoor Dining Children’s Menu B Breakfast R Brunch L Lunch D Dinner



ican comfort food in a fun and noisy setting with wood fans and colorful, oversized European liquor posters. ❂ J R L D $$ Cava Mezze Grill, 4832 Bethesda Ave., 301-6561772, www.cavagrill.com. The guys from Cava restaurant have created a Greek version of Chipotle.

Choose the meat, dip or spread for a pita, bowl or salad. J L D $ Cesco Osteria, 7401 Woodmont Ave., 301-654-8333, www.cesco-osteria.com. Longtime chef Francesco Ricchi relocates from Cordell Avenue, turning out his Tuscan specialties in a bigger, jazzier space. ❂ L D $$ Chef Tony’s, 4926 St. Elmo Ave., 301-654-3737, www. cheftonysbethesda.com. Chef-owner Tony Marciante focuses on Mediterranean seafood tapas in what was formerly called Visions Restaurant. J R L D $$ City Lights of China, 4953 Bethesda Ave., 301913-9501, www.bethesdacitylights.com. Longtime Chinese eatery relocates to a different stretch of Bethesda Avenue, serving the same menu of familiar Szechuan and Beijing dishes. Red walls and chocolate-colored booths give the place a darker, sharper look. L D $$ Daily Grill, One Bethesda Metro Center, 301-6566100, www.dailygrill.com. Everyone from families to expense-account lunchers can find something to like about the big portions of fresh American fare, including chicken pot pie and jumbo lump crabcakes. ❂ J B R L D $$ Don Pollo, 7007 Wisconsin Ave., 301-652-0001. Juicy, spiced birds and reasonable prices make this Peruvian chicken eatery a go-to place any night of the week.

Locations in Rockville and Hyattsville, too. L D $ Faryab Restaurant (Editors’ Pick), 4917 Cordell Ave., 301-951- 3484., farandawaycycling.com/Fary

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Look what we’re cooking up at...

Persimmon Sunset Dining 3 Course Tasting Menu $33.00 Tuesday thru Sunday 4 pm - 6 pm ■

Wine Down Tuesday Nights Select Half Price Bottles of Wine and an Exclusive List of Exceptional Steals

Happy Hour

■

at the Bar Food & Drink Specials Tuesday thru Friday 4 pm - 7 pm

Sunday Brunch 11am - 2 pm

amian D D d d n n a a ie ie n n a a h h p p e t te S S Salv attoorree S

7003 Wisconsin Avenue, Bethesda • www.persimmonrestaurant.com • 301.654.9860

Persimmon_WG_2014.indd Untitled-1 1 1

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dining guide ab/index.html. Faryab serves well-prepared Afghani country food, including Afghanistan’s answer to Middle Eastern kabobs, vegetarian stews and unique sautéed pumpkin dishes, in a whitewashed dining room with native art on the walls and attentive service. D $$ Flanagan’s Harp & Fiddle, 4844 Cordell Ave., 301951-0115, www.flanagansharpandfiddle.com. This stylish pub features live music several days a week and Tuesday night poker and Monday quiz nights. In addition to traditional stews and fried fish, Flanagan’s offers smoked ribs, salmon and traditional Irish breakfast on weekends. ❂ J B L D $$ Food Wine & Co. (Editors’ Pick), 7272 Wisconsin Ave., 301-652-8008, www.foodwineandco.com.

American fare at a stunning bistro in the old Uno Chicago Grill space. L D $$ Freddy’s Lobster + Clams, 4867 Cordell Ave., 240743-4257, www.freddyslobster.com. New Englandstyle seafood shack with fried specialties and a terrific beer menu. Bethesda Magazine readers voted its lobster roll the best in 2013. ❂ J L D $ Garden Grille & Bar (in the Hilton Garden Inn), 7301 Waverly St., 301-654-8111, hiltongardeninn3.hilton. com/en/hotels/Maryland/Hilton-garden-inn-washing ton-dc-bethesda-WASBTGI/dining/index.html. Aside from a breakfast buffet featuring cooked-to-order omelets, waffles, fruit and more, the restaurant offers an extensive menu, from burgers and other sandwiches to crabcakes, short ribs and pasta dishes. J B D $$ Geppetto, 10257 Old Georgetown Road, 301-4939230, www.geppettorestaurant.com. Sicilian-style pizza served in a casual atmosphere inside bustling Wildwood Shopping Center, plus classic Italian sandwiches and red-sauce dinners. ❂ J L D $$ Geste Wine & Food, 4801 Edgemoor Lane, 301-7181675, www.gestewine.com. Pizza, panini, subs and salads, plus a small retail area with reasonably priced bottles of wine. L D $ Grapeseed American Bistro + Wine Bar (Editors’ Pick), 4865 Cordell Ave., 301-986-9592, www.grape seedbistro.com. Chef-owner Jeff Heineman, who develops each dish on the frequently updated menu to pair with a specific wine, also offers small plates and a 10-seat wine-room table. Its private dining room tied for best in 2013. L (Tuesday-Friday) D $$$ Gringos & Mariachis, 4928 Cordell Ave., 240-8004266, www.gringosandmariachis.com. The owners of the popular Olazzo Italian restaurants in Bethesda and Silver Spring trade in the red sauce for salsa at this hip taqueria with edgy murals, dark booths and plenty of tequila. Starters include duck nachos, chorizo-stuffed dates and bacon-wrapped jalapenos, and the taco selection nears 15 different choices.

Platters available, too. L D $ Guapo’s Restaurant, 8130 Wisconsin Ave., 301-6560888, www.guaposrestaurant.com. This outpost of a local chain has everything you’d expect: margaritas and chips galore, as well as a handful of daily specials served in festive Mexican surroundings. Perfect for families and dates. J R L D $ Guardado’s, 4918 Del Ray Ave., 301-986-4920, www. guardadosnico.com. Chef-owner Nicolas Guardado, who trained at Jaleo, opened this hidden gem devoted

to Latin-Spanish cooking in 2007 and has developed a following with tapas specialties like shrimp and sausage, stuffed red peppers and paella. J L D $ Hanaro Restaurant & Lounge, 7820 Norfolk Ave., 301-654-7851, www.hanarobethesda.com. Modern dark woods and lots of light brighten the corner location, and the menu includes sushi and Asian fusion main courses. The bar offers a daily happy hour and is open on Fridays and Saturdays until 2 a.m. ❂ L D $$ Hard Times Café, 4920 Del Ray Ave., 301-951-3300, www.hardtimes.com. Good American beer selections, hearty chili styles ranging from Cincinnati (cinnamon and tomato) to Texas (beef and hot peppers), and hefty salads and wings bring families to this Wild West-style saloon for lunch and dinner. Owner Greg Hourigan is a fixture in the community. ❂ J L D $ Haven Pizzeria Napoletana (Editors’ Pick), 7137 Wisconsin Ave., 301-664-9412, www.havenpizzeria. com. Crispy-crusted, coal-fired pies like the ones they make in New Haven. The white clam pizza is a winner at this eatery, which earned “Best Pizza” honors from Bethesda Magazine readers in 2014. L D $ Himalayan Heritage (Editors’ Pick), 4925 Bethesda Ave., 301-654-1858, www.himalayanheritagedc.com.

Indian, Nepalese and Indo-Chinese fare, featuring momos (Nepalese dumplings) and Indian takes on Chinese chow mein. L D $ Hinode Japanese Restaurant, 4914 Hampden Lane, 301-654-0908. Chef Ky Khuu’s sushi specials shine in a dining room dominated by a large fish tank at this tucked-away spot that has been in business since 1992. L D $$ House of Foong Lin, 4613 Willow Lane, 301-6563427. With a (slightly) new name but the same Cantonese, Hunan and Sichuan cuisine, Bethesda’s longtime Foong Lin restaurant has relocated to the old Moon Gate space. L D $$ House of Milae, 4932 St. Elmo Ave., 301-654-1997.

The Kang family, who own Milae Cleaners in Bethesda, bring simple Korean dishes to their first food foray in the old Plaza del Sol space. Chef “M&M” Kang prepares home-style fare such as bulgogi, galbi and bibimbap; also look for the Korean-style sushi known as kimbab. The kids’ menu has one item: spaghetti, made from the recipe of owner Thomas Kang’s former college roommate’s mother. L D $ Jaleo (Editors’ Pick), 7271 Woodmont Ave., 301913-0003, www.jaleo.com. The restaurant that launched the American career of chef José Andrés and popularized Spanish tapas for a Washington, D.C., audience offers hot, cold, spicy and creative small plates served with outstanding Spanish wines. Voted “Best Small Plates” by Bethesda Magazine readers in 2014. ❂ R L D $$ Jetties, 4829 Fairmont Ave., 301-951-3663, www.jetties dc.com. The first suburban location for the popular sandwich, salad and ice cream eatery, which has two restaurants in Northwest Washington, D.C. Also look for one-pot “crock” dishes and an innovative children’s menu. ❂ J L D $ Kabob Bazaar, 7710 Wisconsin Ave., 301-652-5814, www.kabobbazaar.com. The younger sister of a

popular Arlington restaurant with the same name offers kabobs in every protein possibility, plus lots of vegetarian side dishes. Music on Saturdays and Sundays. ❂ J L D $ Kadhai (Editors’ Pick), 7905 Norfolk Ave., 301-7180121, www.kadhai.com. The popular Indian restaurant formerly known as Haandi has relocated to the old Uptown Deli space. L D $$ La Panetteria, 4921 Cordell Ave., 301-951-6433, www.lapanetteria.com. For more than 25 years, La Panetteria has transported diners into a quaint Italian villa with its impeccable service and Old World atmosphere, serving such classic dishes as homemade spaghetti and veal scaloppine. L D $$ Le Vieux Logis, 7925 Old Georgetown Road, 301-6526816, www.levieuxlogisrestaurant.com. The colorful exterior will draw you into this Bethesda institution, but classic French dishes such as Dover sole meunière will keep you coming back. D $$ Lebanese Taverna, 7141 Arlington Road, 301-9518681, www.lebanesetaverna.com. The latest branch of this long-lived local chain is an elegant spot for dipping puffy pita bread into hummus and baba ghanoush. The rest of the traditional Lebanese mezze are worth a try, too, as are the slow-cooked lamb dishes.

Voted “Best Mediterranean Restaurant” by Bethesda Magazine readers in 2014. J L D $$ Louisiana Kitchen & Bayou Bar, 4907 Cordell Ave., 301-652-6945, www.louisianabethesda.com. Former Louisiana Express chef José Blanco and veteran waiter Carlos Arana continue the tradition of the popular Bethesda institution in a larger, spiffier setting. The prices and Cajun- and Creole-style menu are pretty much the same, the fried items are still divine and the pain perdou and beignets remain a great way to start a Sunday morning. B R L D $ Luke’s Lobster, 7129 Bethesda Lane, 301-718-1005, www.lukeslobster.com. An upscale carryout with authentic lobster, shrimp and crab rolls; the seafood is shipped direct from Maine. ❂ L D $ Mamma Lucia,4916Elm St.,301-907-3399,www.mamma luciarestaurants.com. New York-style pizza dripping with cheese and crowd-pleasing red sauce, and favorites like chicken Parmesan and linguini with clams draw the crowds to this local chain. ❂ J L D $$ Markham’s Bar and Grill, 7141 Wisconsin Ave., 240800-4700, www.markhamsbar.com. A brick-and-mortar eatery from the owner of the former One3Five Cuisine food trailer, Markham’s is a neighborhood spot offering many of the popular sandwiches and salads from the mobile operation. Look for Pakistani tacos, banh mi and a marinated flank steak sandwich, plus nightly comfort-food specials. The beige-andblack interior sports a handsome wine cabinet and photographs of old Bethesda. An outdoor patio includes a pergola and a 5½-foot waterfall. ❂ L D $$ Matuba Japanese Restaurant, 4918 Cordell Ave., 301-652-7449, www.matuba-sushi.com. Detail-oriented sushi chefs and attentive service perk up this otherwise plain white-and-blond-wood Japanese restaurant that has been doing a steady business in downtown Bethesda for 30 years. L D $$

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Max Brenner Chocolate Bar, 7263 Woodmont Ave., 301-215-8305, www.maxbrenner.com. It’s sweetsonly at the newest location of this international chain.

Chocoholics and dessert lovers will have a field day with the restaurant’s milkshakes, coffee drinks, hot chocolate, crêpes, waffles, fondue, ice cream and chocolate pizza. There are also “Fast Max” items to go, and a retail section offers fashionably packaged bonbons, praline wafers and caramelized nuts rolled in hazelnut cream and cocoa powder. $ Mia’s Pizzas (Editors’ Pick), 4926 Cordell Ave., 301718-6427, www.miaspizzasbethesda.com. Mia’s woodburning oven turns out Naples-style pies with a variety of toppings; homemade soups and cupcakes in a cheery dining room with yellow, green and orange accents. ❂ J L D $$ Moby Dick House of Kabob, 7027 Wisconsin Ave., 301-654-1838, www.mobysonline.com. This kabob takeout/eat-in mainstay was one of the first kabob places in the area. It makes its own pita bread. L D $ Mon Ami Gabi, 7239 Woodmont Ave., 301-654-1234, www.monamigabi.com. Waiters serve bistro classics such as escargot, steak frites and profiteroles in a dark and boisterous spot that doesn’t feel like a chain. Voted “Best French Restaurant” by the magazine’s readers in 2014. Live jazz Tuesday and Thursday nights. ❂ J R L D $$ Morton’s, The Steakhouse, 7400 Wisconsin Ave., 301-657-2650, www.mortons.com. An ultra-sophis-

ticated steak house serving pricey, large portions of prime-aged beef and drinks. The restaurant is known for a top-notch dinner experience but also offers lunch and a bar menu. D $$$ Mussel Bar & Grille, 7262 Woodmont Ave., 301215-7817, www.musselbar.com. Kensington resident and big-name chef Robert Wiedmaier serves his signature mussels, plus wood-fired tarts, salads and sandwiches. Wash them all down with a choice of 40 Belgian beers, which won “Best Beer Selection” by the magazine’s readers in 2013. ❂ R L D $$ Nest Cafe, 4921 Bethesda Ave., 301-718-6378, www.nestwinebarcafe.com. Nest offers simple salads, pasta and pizzas. Among the best eats, however, are the crispy calamari and artichokes appetizer and the mussels and fries entrée. ❂ J R L (Wednesday-Saturday) D $$ Newton’s Table (Editors’ Pick), 4917 Elm St., 301718-0550, www.newtonstable.com. Modern American cuisine from up-and-coming chef-owner Dennis Friedman, whose creations were voted “Best Example of Plating as Art” by the magazine’s editors in 2013. ❂ J L D $$$ Oakville Grille & Wine Bar (Editors’ Pick), 10257 Old Georgetown Road, 301-897-9100, www.oakville winebar.com. Fresh California food paired with a thoughtful wine list in an elegant, spare setting may not sound unique, but Oakville was one of the first in the area to do so, and it does it well. ❂ J L D $$

Olazzo (Editors’ Pick), 7921 Norfolk Ave., 301-6549496, www.olazzo.com. This well-priced, romantic restaurant is the place for couples seeking red-sauce classics at reasonable prices. Voted “Best Italian Restaurant” and “Best Fried Calamari” by our readers in 2014. ❂ L D $$ Original Pancake House, 7703 Wisconsin Ave., Store D, 301-986-0285, www.ophrestaurants.com. Dozens of pancake dishes, as well as eggs and waffles galore.

Named “Best Breakfast” by the magazine’s readers in 2014. ❂ J B L $ Panas Gourmet Empanadas, 4731 Elm St., 301657-7371, www.panasgourmet.com. Baked, not fried, empanadas with a modern twist—think chicken pesto, smoked eggplant and chipotle steak. L D $ Parker’s American Bistro, 4824 Bethesda Ave., 301654-6366, www.parkersbistro.com. An all-American menu with vintage local sports posters, Parker’s offers a wide-ranging food and wine list, upbeat soundtrack and servers who take an interest in your happiness. ❂ J R L D $$ Passage to India (Editors’ Pick), 4931 Cordell Ave., 301-656-3373, www.passagetoindia.info.

Top-notch, pan-Indian fare by chef-owner Sudhir Seth, with everything from garlic naan to fish curry made to order. Elegant ivory screens shield diners from street noise. Voted “Best Indian Restaurant” by Bethesda Magazine readers in 2014. ❂ R L D $$

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dining guide Penang Malaysian Cuisine, 4933 Bethesda Ave., 301-657-2878, www.penangmaryland.com. At this Malaysian spot decorated with exotic dark woods and a thatched roof, spices run the gamut of Near and Far Eastern influence, and flavors include coconut, lemongrass, sesame and chili sauce. L D $$ Persimmon (Editors’ Pick), 7003 Wisconsin Ave., 301-654-9860, www.persimmonrestaurant.com.

Chef-owner Damian Salvatore’s popular restaurant hes reopened, with more casual décor, lower prices and less formal fare. ❂ L D $$ Pines of Rome, 4709 Hampden Lane, 301-657-8775.

Local celebrities and families gather at this downhome Italian spot for traditional food at prices that are easy on the wallet. The white pizza is a hit, and don’t forget the spaghetti and meatballs. L D $ PizzaPass, 4924 St. Elmo Ave., 301-657-5522, www. pizzapass.net. Waiters, or “pizza passers,” circulate with a variety of hot slices of pizza on their trays, allowing diners to choose their preferred topping. Informal and very kid-friendly, the restaurant also offers pasta and a salad bar. It’s all-you-can-eat for a set price, with substantial discounts for the kids. ❂ L D $ Pizza Tempo, 8021 Wisconsin Ave., 240-497-0003, www.pizzatempo.us. Pizza with a twist, which includes toppings such as sujuk (Mediterranean beef sausage), pistachio mortadella and spicy beef franks, plus a wide selection of pides (boat-shaped pizzas). Salads, wraps, panini and entrées also available. Limited seating; delivery within about a 3-mile radius. L D $ Pizzeria da Marco (Editors’ Pick), 8008 Woodmont Ave., 301-654-6083, www.pizzeriadamarco.net. Authentic Neapolitan pizzas fired in a $15,000 Italian brick oven. ❂ L D $ Positano Ristorante Italiano, 4940-48 Fairmont Ave., 301-654-1717, www.epositano.com. An authentic Italian, family-run restaurant popular for private events, large and small. Colorful rooms are decorated with Italian landscapes, copper pots and hanging plants, and the outdoor patio is one of the most beautiful in the county. ❂ L D $ Praline Bakery & Bistro, 4611 Sangamore Road, 301-229-8180, www.praline-bakery.com. Two former White House pastry chefs opened this sunny restaurant with a tempting bakery takeout counter, full dining service and a patio. The food, which includes chicken pot pie and pralines, is French with an American accent. The magazine’s editors voted its desserts the prettiest around in 2013. ❂ J B R L D $$

ers market dinners. The interior décor makes the most of recycled redwood and “green” materials. ❂ J RL D $$ Rice Paddies Grill & Pho, 4706 Bethesda Ave., 301718-1862, ricepaddiesgrill.com. This cute copper-andgreen eat-in/carryout makes quick work of Vietnamese favorites like pork, beef and vegetable skewers infused with lemongrass and the classic beef noodle soup known as pho. L D $ Rock Bottom Brewery, 7900 Norfolk Ave., 301652-1311, www.rockbottom.com. The award-winning beers are crafted in-house and the menu is vast at this cavernous yet welcoming chain. The burgers are the real deal. ❂ J L D $$ Roof Bethesda, 7940 Norfolk Ave. 240-245-7663, www.roofbethesda.com. Bethesda’s first full-service rooftop restaurant and bar is a two-level extravaganza with a casual glass-enclosed dining room and bar on the second floor and a large rooftop space—serving drinks and lighter fare—directly above it. The modern American menu focuses on familiar dishes such as sea scallops, pork chops and shrimp and grits, elevated with simple twists. Craft cocktails and homemade desserts are taken seriously, too. ❂ J R L D $$ Ruth’s Chris Steak House, 7315 Wisconsin Ave., 301-652-7877, www.ruthschris.com. A dark and clubby feel makes this elegant chain popular with families as well as the happy-hour crowd. Don’t skip the fresh seafood choices. D $$$ Sala Thai, 4828 Cordell Ave., 301-654-4676, www. salathaidc.com. This Thai mainstay cooks the classics and offers diners a nearly panoramic view of Woodmont Avenue through huge, curved windows. Live jazz Friday and Saturday evenings. L D $$ Saphire Café, 7940 Wisconsin Ave., 301-986-9708.

A relaxing spot for tasting everything from Maryland-style crab soup to Argentine skirt steak, Saphire pumps it up a notch on Friday and Saturday nights with drink specials and DJs. Tiki bar open Wednesdays through Saturdays. ❂ J L D $ Satsuma, 8003 Norfolk Ave., 301-652-1400. Bethesda’s first yakiniku (Japanese barbecue) restaurant has built-in grills at each table. Diners select a cut— short rib, chuck rib, skirt or tongue—and prepare it themselves. There’s also an extensive sushi and sashimi menu, as well as interesting cooked dishes. L D $$ Shanghai Village, 4929 Bethesda Ave., 301-654-7788.

Owner Kwok Chueng prides himself on personal attention and recognizing regulars who have been stopping in for his classic Chinese cooking for more than 25 years. Order the secret recipe Mai Tai. L D $

Raku (Editors’ Pick), 7240 Woodmont Ave., 301718-8680, www.rakuasiandining.com. Voted “Best Sushi” by the magazine’s readers in 2014 and “Best Bethesda Restaurant” in 2013, this casual restaurant has bamboo walls that do little to dampen the noise, but the menu satisfies with everything from sushi to kung pao chicken. ❂ L D $$

Shangri-La Indian and Nepalese Cuisine, 7345-A Wisconsin Ave., 301-656-4444, www.shangrilaus.com.

Northern Indian and Nepali specialties such as butter chicken and fresh flatbreads known as naan shine here. J L D $

Redwood Restaurant & Bar, 7121 Bethesda Lane, 301-656-5515, www.redwoodbethesda.com. An upscale wine bar featuring fresh, local food and California-centric wines in the heart of Bethesda Lane. Voted “Best Private Dining Room” by the magazine’s readers in 2013 (in a tie), Redwood features a frequently changing menu and in-season farm-

Share Wine Lounge & Small Plate Bistro, 8120 Wisconsin Ave. (in the Doubletree Hotel), 301-6522000, www.doubletreebethesda.com/Food-DrinksFun/Share-Wine-Lounge-Small-Plate-Bistro. Share some buffalo chicken sliders or avocado bruschetta, or go for main courses ranging from Yankee pot roast to cedar plank-roasted salmon. B L D $$

Smoke BBQ Bethesda, 4858 Cordell Ave., 301-6562011, smokebbqbethesda.com. Pulled pork, beef brisket, smoked chicken, ribs and all the fixin’s at Bethesda’s only sit-down barbecue joint. L D $ South Street Steaks, 4856 Cordell Ave., 301-2157972, www.southstreetsteaks.com. Even transplanted Philadelphians will admire the cheesesteaks at this local chain’s third location. The shop also offers chicken cheesesteaks, hoagies (that’s Philly-talk for cold subs) and sandwiches called “Phillinis,” a cross between “Philly” and “panini.” J L D $ Steamers Seafood House, 4820 Auburn Ave., 301-718-0661, www.steamersseafoodhouse.com.

Steamers brings Bethany Beach to Bethesda, especially if diners sit on the wraparound porch in warm weather with a bucket of crabs and some beer.❂ J L D $$ Stromboli Family Restaurant, 7023 Wisconsin Ave., 301-986-1980, www.strombolisrestaurant.com. In addition to a large selection of delectable hot Italian sandwiches called stromboli, this proud family restaurant/carryout features pizzas, subs and pastas at reasonable prices. L D $ sweetgreen, 4831 Bethesda Ave., 301-654-7336, www.sweetgreen.com. Founded in 2007 in Washington, D.C., by three newly graduated Georgetown students, the sweetgreen fast-casual chain—with its focus on local and organic ingredients—has expanded rapidly. The menu concentrates on salads and wraps (devise your own, or pick from a list), plus tart frozen yogurt. Look for eco-friendly décor, a healthy sensibility and a hip buzz. ❂ L D $ Tako Grill, 7756 Wisconsin Ave., 301-652-7030, www. takogrill.com. Families and sake connoisseurs seek out this eclectic spot where sushi, sashimi and other Japanese treats are fresh, and waiters are knowledgeable and friendly. L D $$ Tandoori Nights, 7236 Woodmont Ave., 301-6564002, www.tandoorinightsbethesda.com. Indian cuisine returns to the former Delhi Dhaba space. ❂ L D $$ Tara Thai, 4828 Bethesda Ave., 301-657-0488, www. tarathai.com. Thai goes high style at Bethesda Magazine readers’ pick for “Best Thai Restaurant” in 2014.

With colorful murals of ocean creatures looking on, diners can try dishes ranging from mild to adventurous. ❂ L D $$ Tastee Diner, 7731 Woodmont Ave., 301-652-3970, www.tasteediner.com. For more than 70 years, this crowd-pleasing if slightly sagging spot has served up everything from breakfast to burgers to blueplate specials like steak and crabcakes. Open 24 hours. J B L D $ Taylor Gourmet, 7280 Woodmont Ave., 301-9519001, www.taylorgourmet.com. Upscale takes on Philadelphia hoagies and sandwiches. Italian flavors and top-notch ingredients. L D $ The Barking Dog, 4723 Elm St., 301-654-0022, www. thebarkingdogonline.com. A fun place for young adults, with drink specials nearly every night and bar food such as quesadillas and burgers. Salsa dancing on Tuesdays, trivia on Wednesdays, karaoke on Thursdays and a DJ and dancing Fridays and Saturdays. L D $

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The Burger Joint, 4827 Fairmont Ave., 301-358-6137, www.bgrtheburgerjoint.com. The burgers are good and the vibe is great at this frequently packed eatery next to Veterans Park. The non-beef burgers are good, too. ❂ J L D $ The Corner Slice, 7901 Norfolk Ave., 301-907-7542, www.thecornerslice.net. New York-style pizza, available by the slice or as a 20-inch pie. ❂ L D $ The Parva, 7904 Woodmont Ave., 301-312-6488, www. theparva.com. Latin-fusion cuisine with offerings from Argentina, Peru, Colombia and Venezuela. ❂ D $ Tia Queta, 4839 Del Ray Ave., 301-654-4443, www.tia queta.com. This longtime family and happy-hour favorite offers authentic Mexican food like moles and fish dishes, as well as the usual Tex-Mex options. ❂ J L D $$ Tommy Joe’s Restaurant, 4714 Montgomery Lane, 301-654-3801, www.tommyjoes.com. Hot wings and drink specials abound at this friendly restaurant/ bar/nightclub featuring 20 big-screen TVs for game time. ❂ J L D $$ Trattoria Sorrento (Editors’ Pick), 4930 Cordell Ave., 301-718-0344, www.trattoriasorrento.com.

This family-run Italian favorite offers homemade pastas, baked eggplant and fresh fish dishes. Halfprice bottles of wine on Wednesdays. Opera dinners at 6 p.m. on the first Sunday of each month feature a four-course meal and a performance for $50 per person. D $$

Tyber Bierhaus (New), 7528 Old Georgetown Road, 240-821-6830, www.tyberbierhausmd.com. Czech, German and Belgian brews served in an authentic beer-hall setting, furnished with the same benches as those used in the Hofbrau brewhouse in Munich.

Pub menu features mussels, hearty sandwiches, familiar entrées, and some schnitzel and goulash, too.

R L D $$ Uncle Julio’s Rio Grande Café, 4870 Bethesda Ave., 301-656-2981, www.unclejulios.com. Loud and large, this Tex-Mex eatery packs in families and revelers fueling up on fajitas, tacos and more. Kids love to watch the tortilla machine. ❂ J R L D $$ Union Jack’s, 4915 St. Elmo Ave., 301-652-2561, www.unionjacksbethesda.com. This authentically decorated British-style pub is partially below street level. English dishes such as Welsh rarebit cozy up to burgers, salads and crabcakes. DJ and dancing weekends until 2:30 a.m. ❂ J L D $$ Vapiano, 4900 Hampden Lane, 301-215-7013, www. vapiano.com. Worldwide Italian chain offers reasonably priced pizza, pasta and panini in a chic cafeteriastyle setting. ❂ J L D $ Vino Volo, 7247 Woodmont Ave., 301-656-0916, www. vinovolobethesdarow.com. First non-airport location for the wine bar and shop that also features a rustic café serving small plates, salads, sandwiches, pizza and a few entrées. ❂ L D $$ Wildwood Kitchen (Editors’ Pick), 10223 Old Georgetown Road (in the Wildwood Shopping Cen-

ter), 301-571-1700, www.wildwoodkitchenrw.com.

Attractive neighborhood bistro serving fresh and light modern cuisine from well-known chef Robert Wiedmaier. L D $$ Woodmont Grill (Editors’ Pick), 7715 Woodmont Ave., 301-656-9755, www.hillstone.com. Part of the Houston’s chain, offering such classics as spinach and artichoke dip and the famous burgers, but also house-baked breads, more exotic dishes, live jazz and a granite bar. ❂ J L D $$$ Yamas Mediterranean Grill, 4806 Rugby Ave., 301312-8384, www.yamasgrill.com. Gyros, souvlaki, lemon chicken and other Greek specialties at this friendly and sunny café. ❂ J L D $ Yuzu, 7345-B Wisconsin Ave., 301-656-5234, yuzu bethesda.com. Authentic Japanese dishes, including sushi, sashimi and cooked tofu, vegetable, tempura, meat and fish dishes, prepared by sushi chef and owner Yoshihisa Ota. L D $$

Cabin John Fish Taco, 7945 MacArthur Blvd., 301-229-0900, www.fishtacoonline.com. This counter-service taqueria from the owners of Bethesda’s Food Wine & Co. features a full roster of seafood as well as nonaquatic tacos, plus margaritas and other Mexican specialties. The eco-chic décor is casual and attractive, and there are rolls of paper towels on every table to

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dining guide sop up sauce-stained fingers. Don’t miss the bread pudding. ❂ J L D $ Wild Tomato (Editors’ Pick), 7945 MacArthur Blvd., 301-229-0680, www.wildtomatorestaurant.com. A family-friendly neighborhood restaurant from Persimmon owners Damian and Stephanie Salvatore, serving salads, sandwiches and pizza. Voted "Best Fish Tacos" by our readers in 2014. ❂ J L D $

Chevy Chase Alfio’s, 4515 Willard Ave., 301-657-9133, www.alfi os.com. Owner Anastasios “Tasios” Hatzitanagiotis welcomes families and casual diners to the elegant dining room of this northern Italian classic, located on the first floor of the Willoughby Condominium.

The salad bar, pastas and homemade desserts are popular. L D $$ Capital Grille, 5310 Western Ave., 301-718-7812, www.capitalgrille.com. The upscale steak-house chain, known for its he-man-sized portions and extensive wine list, is located in The Shops at Wisconsin Place. L D $$$$ Clyde’s, 5441 Wisconsin Ave., 301-951-9600, www. clydes.com. Features a frequently changing menu of American favorites and a collection of vintage airplanes and cars, as well as a model train running on a track around the ceiling. ❂ J R L D $$

Indique Heights, 2 Wisconsin Circle, 301-656-4822, www.indiqueheights.com. Sumptuous silks, a fountain and sweeping vistas from the windows behind the bar heighten the feeling of an Indian palace, but it’s the cooking of chef-partner K.N. Vinod that keeps patrons coming back. ❂ R L D $$ La Ferme (Editors’ Pick), 7101 Brookville Road, 301-986-5255, www.lafermerestaurant.com. This warm and charming Provence-style restaurant is a popular choice for an intimate dinner or a celebration in one of several private rooms or on the heated patio terrace. Perhaps that’s why the magazine’s readers voted it the “Most Romantic Restaurant” in 2014 and editors named it “Best Restaurant for Ambience” in 2013. Classic French cuisine from onion soup to sweetbreads. ❂ R L D $$$

in Greece and homemade mozzarella on pizza and subs. ❂ J L D $ Meiwah Restaurant, 4457 Willard Ave., 301-6529882, www.meiwahrestaurant.com. This modern restaurant on the second floor of a Friendship Heights office building offers top-quality Chinese dishes that are hard to beat. A fountain sparkles on the outdoor patio. Sushi bar. ❂ L D $$ Mi Cocina, 5471 Wisconsin Ave. (in The Collection), 301-652-1195, www.micocinarestaurants.com. A Dallas-based chain serving Tex-Mex staples such as enchiladas, tacos and fajitas in stylish surroundings.

L D $$ Potomac Pizza, 19 Wisconsin Circle, 301-951-1127, www.potomacpizza.com. This cheery, casual dining room provides a break from the ultra-posh shopping surrounding it. In addition to pizza, subs and pastas are popular. Beer and wine available. ❂ J L D $

Lia’s (Editors’ Pick), 4435 Willard Ave., 240-2235427, www.liasrestaurant.com. Owner Geoff Tracy focuses on high-quality, low-fuss modern ItalianAmerican fare at this funky and modern space with a wine room. Pizzas, house-made pastas and fresh fish please business lunchers and dinner crowds. The magazine’s readers chose it as “Best Chevy Chase Restaurant” in 2013. ❂ J R L D $

Sushiko (Editors’ Pick), 5455 Wisconsin Ave., 301961-1644, www.sushikorestaurants.com. Washington, D.C.’s oldest and most respected sushi restaurant, opened in Glover Park in 1976, continues its tradition in a bigger, sleeker suburban outpost. ❂ L D $$

Manoli Canoli Restaurant, 8540 Connecticut Ave., 301-951-1818, www.manolicanoli.com. Italian and Greek specialties at a fun family eatery that features a large prepared foods section, dishes made with olive oil from owner Stavros Manolakos’ family farm

Tavira, 8401 Connecticut Ave., 301-652-8684, www. tavirarestaurant.com. Fish stews and several versions of bacalhau (salted cod) figure prominently on the menu of this intriguing Portuguese restaurant, which manages to be charming and attractive

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despite its location in an office building basement.

L (except Saturday and Sunday) D $$

salmon with a lemon dill sauce and lamb kabobs are cooked behind the counter on a hardwood grill. L D $

The Tasting Room Wine Bar & Shop, 5330-A Western Ave. (The Shops at Wisconsin Place), 301-6649494, www.thetastingroomwinebar.com. A project of John Kent Cooke, son of Jack and owner of Virginia’s Boxwood Winery, the Tasting Room offers Boxwood as well as European wines, plus olives, nuts and charcuterie and cheese plates. Live music Saturday nights. ❂ L D $

Bonefish Grill, 82 Market St., 240-631-2401, www.bone fishgrill.com. While fresh fish cooked over a wood fire is the centerpiece of this upscale Florida chain, the steaks, crabcakes and specialty martinis make it a fun option for happy hour and those with hearty appetites. Bethesda Magazine readers selected it as the “Best Gaithersburg Restaurant” in 2013. R L (only on Sundays) D $$

GarretT Park Black Market Bistro (Editors’ Pick), 4600 Waverly Ave., 301-933-3000, www.blackmarketrestaurant. com. Sublime American bistro fare served in a restored Victorian building next to railroad tracks; the building once served as a general store and still houses a post office. ❂ J R L D $$

Glen Echo Irish Inn at Glen Echo, 6119 Tulane Ave., 301-2296600, www.irishinnglenecho.com. This historic tavern has been a family home and a biker bar, but its incarnation as the Irish Inn has been bringing smiles to faces and hearty food to bellies since 2003. Traditional Irish music on Monday nights and The 19th Street Band on every other Wednesday night. ❂ J R L D $$

Kensington K Town Bistro, 3784 Howard Ave., 301-933-1211, www.ktownbistro.com. Beef Wellington, duck breast à l’orange and other classic continental dishes from this eatery owned by Gonzalo Barba, former longtime captain of the restaurant in the Watergate Hotel. L D $$ Savannah’s American Grill, 10700 Connecticut Ave., 301-946-7917. A casual sports bar serving American bar food, including wraps, burgers, salads and ribs, and brunch on weekends, which spills out onto a 50-seat patio. ❂ J R L D $ Sub*urban Trading Co., 10301 Kensington Parkway, 301-962-4046, www.suburbantrading.com. Earthy, neighborhood bistro and market in a small strip shopping center features creative seasonal dishes. Think cured duck leg sandwich with shaved onions and fig preserves, roasted sausage and rice-stuffed shallots, vegetable pot-au-feu, plus homemade sweets. Limited seating and coffeehouse atmosphere. R L D $$

North Potomac/ Gaithersburg Athens Grill, 9124 Rothbury Drive, 301-975-0757, www. athensgrill.com. This casual, friendly, family-run restaurant in Goshen Plaza specializes in authentic Greek cooking, using recipes handed down through generations. Specialties like rotisserie chicken, chargrilled

Buca di Beppo, 122 Kentlands Blvd., 301-947-7346, www.bucadibeppo.com. The Kentlands outpost of this national chain serves huge, family-style portions of Italian specialties amid a sea of Italian kitsch.

J L D $$ Burma Road, 617 S. Frederick Ave., 301-963-1429, www.burmaroad.biz. A good place to sample pickled tea leaf salad and other Burmese specialties. L D $ Coal Fire, Kentlands Square, 116 Main St., 301-5192625, www.coalfireonline.com. Homemade crusts fired by anthracite coal and topped with your choice of three different sauces, plus toppings. Salads, sandwiches and pasta also available. Full bar. ❂ L D $ Copper Canyon Grill, 100 Boardwalk Place, 240-6310003, www.ccgrill.com. Large portions of American classics like salads, ribs and rotisserie chicken at family-friendly prices are the bill of fare at this spacious chain restaurant. J L D $$ Dogfish Head Alehouse, 800 W. Diamond Ave., 301963-4847, www.dogfishalehouse.com. The first Maryland outpost of the popular Rehoboth Beach brewpub, the restaurant is packed with revelers and families clamoring for the Dogfish Head brews, burgers, pizzas and ribs. ❂ J L D $$ Famous Dave’s, 917 Quince Orchard Road, 240-6830435, www.famousdaves.com. This local outpost of a national chain offers smoked meat and hearty portions of classic sides such as baked beans and creamy coleslaw. ❂ J L D $ Growler’s, 227 E. Diamond Ave., 301-519-9400, www. growlersrestaurant.com. This turn-of-the-century building in downtown Gaithersburg is now a brewpub with regular and seasonal house brews and a full menu including pizzas, burgers, sandwiches and entrées such as Cajun rigatoni and steak frites. Live music Wednesday through Saturday. ❂ R L D $ Guapo’s Restaurant, 9811 Washingtonian Blvd., L-17, 301-977-5655, www.guaposrestaurant.com.

See Bethesda listing. ❂ J R L D $ HaKuBa Restaurant, 706 Center Point Way, 301-9471283, hakubakentlands.com. An elegant, modern Japanese sushi spot that also serves fresh fish and teriyaki and tempura dishes. Wood stools and a silver bar elevate the décor. Dollar-sushi happy hours Monday through Thursday; sake bottles half-price on Mondays. L D $$ Il Porto Restaurant, 245 Muddy Branch Road, 301590-0735, www.ilportorestaurant.com. A classic redsauce menu, elegant murals of Venice and an authentic thin-crust pizza at a friendly, unfussy Italian restaurant tucked in the Festival Shopping Center. L D $ Joe’s Crab Shack, 221 Rio Blvd., 301-947-4377, www. joescrabshack.com. This is one of three Maryland locations of the chain, which offers blue crabs from

April through August and other varieties year-round, as well as chicken and burgers for landlubbers. Popular with families and young couples. ❂ J L D $$ Le Palais, 304 Main St., Suite 1, 301-947-4051, www. restaurantlepalais.com. Chef-owner Joseph Zaka trips lightly through the dishes of Brittany and Burgundy, adding a modern twist here and there. D $$$ Not Your Average Joe’s, 245 Kentlands Blvd. (in Kentlands Square Shopping Center), 240-477-1040, www.notyouraveragejoes.com. Massachusetts-based chain serving creative casual cuisine. ❂ J L D $$ Potomac Pizza, 625 Center Point Way, 301-9779777, www.potomacpizza.com. See Chevy Chase listing. J L D $ Red Hot & Blue, 16811 Crabbs Branch Way, 301948-7333, www.redhotandblue.com. Hickory-smoked barbecue and a Southern attitude at a chain popular for its office party takeout and its family-friendly, kitschy roadhouse décor. J L D $ Rio Grande Café, 231 Rio Blvd., 240-632-2150, www. unclejulios.com. See Bethesda listing under Uncle Julio’s. ❂ J R L D $$ Romano’s Macaroni Grill, 211 Rio Blvd., 301-9635003, www.macaronigrill.com. Standard Italian-American fare served in a lively, family-friendly setting.

Pastas, pizzas and house-label wine. ❂ J L D $$ Sardi’s Pollo a La Brasa, 430 N. Frederick Ave., 301977-3222, www.sardischicken.com. Yes, there’s chicken, but don’t miss the other Peruvian specialties, especially the ceviche. L D $ Star Diner, 705 Center Point Way, 301-921-8222, www. mystardiner.com. A modern diner with a ’50s feel. The massive menu includes everything from gyros to pancakes, chicken noodle soup and wraps. Tiki Bar on Thursdays. Live music Fridays and Saturdays. ❂ J B L D $ Tandoori Nights, 106 Market St., 301-947-4007, www.tandoorinightsmd.com. Downtown martini lounge meets modern curry palace in the Kentlands.

A feast for the eyes as well as the palate, Tandoori Nights specializes in marinated meats baked in the eponymous clay oven. ❂ L D $ Tara Thai, 9811 Washingtonian Blvd., L-9, 301-947-8330, www.tarathai.com. See Bethesda listing. ❂ L D $$ Thai Tanium, 657 Center Point Way, 301-990-3699, www. thaitaniumrestaurant.com. Authentic Thai food laced with lots of chilies and garlic as hot as you like. ❂ J L D $ The Melting Pot, 9021 Gaither Road, 301-519-3638, www.themeltingpot.com. There’s nothing like dipping bits of bread, vegetables and apples into a communal pot of hot cheese to get a date or a party started. The Melting Pot chain also offers wine, oil or broth to cook meat tableside and chocolate fondue for dessert. J D $$ The Wine Harvest, The Kentlands, 114 Market St., 301-869-4008, www.thewineharvest.com. Popular Cheers-like wine bar locally owned by the Meyrowitz family, with salads, sandwiches and cheese plates. It also has a Potomac location. ❂ L D $ Vasilis Mediterranean Grill, 353 Main St., 301-9771011, www.vasilisgrill.com. With soaring white pillars and a spate of inviting outdoor tables, the Greek restaurant serves the usual souvlaki and gyros as well

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dining guide as more interesting dishes such as grilled branzini (sea bass) and lamb chops. ❂ J L D $

All natural breads made from scratch

Opening in Rockville this Summer!

Yoyogi Sushi, 328 Main St., 301-963-0001. A nononsense neighborhood sushi place with bright fish tanks, offering the familiar sushi, teriyaki, tempura and green tea or red bean ice cream. L D $ Ziki Japanese Steak House, 10009 Fields Road, 301330-3868, www.zikisteakhouse.com. This large steak house on a busy corner charms patrons with its fountains, stone Buddhas and geisha mannequins. Food offerings include sushi, as well as meats cooked on a tableside hibachi. J L D $$

Potomac Amici Miei, 1093 Seven Locks Road, 301-545-0966, www.amicimieiristorante.com. Chef Davide Megna and manager/partner Roberto Deias have created an upscale Italian neighborhood gathering place, with wood-fired pizzas, homemade pastas and creative salads. Happy Hour held Monday through Friday. ❂ R L D $$

4961 Elm St Bethesda, MD 20814 301-654-7970 Located in Bethesda, Gaithersburg, and Barracks Row (Capitol Hill)

Sit outside.

Have a cocktail.

What better way to welcome back the sun?

Attman’s Delicatessen, 7913 Tuckerman Lane (in the Cabin John Shopping Center & Mall), 301-765-3354, attmansdeli.com. After getting its start on Baltimore’s Corned Beef Row in 1915, the landmark Attman’s Deli made an historic move and opened a second location in Potomac in July 2013. The menu at the nearly century-younger sibling offers the same legendary corned beef, pastrami and other deli specialties. Thirdgeneration owner Marc Attman is at the helm. J L $ Benny’s Bar & Grill, 7747 Tuckerman Lane (in the Cabin John Shopping Center & Mall), 301-299-3377.

Familiar American favorites and old-time cocktails served amidst 1940s-era décor. L D $$ Brooklyn’s Deli & Catering, 1089 Seven Locks Road, 301-340-3354, www.brooklynsdelimd.com. From chopped liver to chicken soup, Brooklyn’s serves all the deli specialties, plus more. ❂ J B L D $ Elevation Burger, 12525-D Park Potomac Ave., 301838-4010, www.elevationburger.com. Fast-food burgers go organic and grass-fed at this Northern Virginia-founded chain. Veggie burgers, salads and grilled cheese available, too. ❂ L D $ Gregorio’s Trattoria, 7745 Tuckerman Lane (in the Cabin John Shopping Center), 301-296-6168, www. gregoriostrattoria.com. “Our food is like a warm hug with spaghetti sauce” is the slogan for this familyowned restaurant, where proprietor Greg Kahn aims to make everyone feel at home. The extensive menu reads like a hit parade of traditional Italian favorites, with all the familiar pasta, pizza, chicken, veal and seafood dishes; the gluten-free menu offers pizza, cheese ravioli and quinoa spaghetti and penne. J L D $$

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Mix Bar and Grille, 9812 Falls Road, Potomac, 301299-3000, www.mixbarandgrille.com. The former Bezu restaurant has been transformed into a more casual concept, serving charcuterie and cheese plates, brick-oven flatbreads and other light fare. The space was gutted and renovated into a modern, hip and totally different-looking dining room, with Plexiglas chairs, tall white banquettes, oak walls made from

old whiskey barrels, five big screen TVs, cobalt blue light fixtures and a 20-seat bar. Look for lots of wines by the glass and beers on tap. L D $$ MoCo’s Founding Farmers, 12505 Park Potomac Ave., 301-340-8783, www.wearefoundingfarmers. com. Farm-inspired fare in a modern and casual setting; this is the sister restaurant to the phenomenally popular downtown Founding Farmers. Bethesda Magazine readers chose it for “Best Brunch” and “Best Craft Cocktails” in 2014 and as “Best Potomac Restaurant” in 2013. ❂ B R L D $$ Normandie Farm Restaurant, 10710 Falls Road, 301983-8838, www.popovers.com. A fine-dining French restaurant, open since 1931, that strives to preserve its classical heritage while embracing new traditions. It offers quick service and crayons for children, a casual café option and a violinist at afternoon tea. ❂ J R L D $$ Old Angler’s Inn, 10801 MacArthur Blvd., 301-2999097, www.oldanglersinn.com. Open since 1860 and known for its refined American food and beautiful fireplaces and grounds, it features live music on weekends. ❂ R L D $$$ Potomac Pizza, 9812 Falls Road, 301-299-7700, www. potomacpizza.com. See Chevy Chase listing. L D $ Renato at River Falls, 10120 River Road, 301-3651900, www.riverfallsmarket.com. The classic Italian restaurant has added more wine and greatly improved fish dishes to its menu of pastas and classics such as osso bucco and linguini with clams and eggplant parmigiana. ❂ J L D $$ Sugo Osteria & Pizzeria, 12505 Park Potomac Ave., 240-386-8080, www.eatsugo.com. The Greek guys who own Cava Mezze and Cava Mezze Grills partner with Mamma Lucia restaurants to serve Italian small plates, meatballs, sliders, pizza and pasta. Bethesda Magazine readers chose Sugo as the “Best New Restaurant” in 2013. ❂ R (only on Sundays) L D $$ Tally-Ho Restaurant, 9923 Falls Road, 301-2996825, www.tallyhorestaurant.com. A local fixture since 1968 serving a diner-style menu with Greek and Italian specialties. ❂ J B L D $ The Grilled Oyster Company (Editors’ Pick), 7943 Tuckerman Lane (in the Cabin John Shopping Center), 301-299-9888, www.thegrilledoystercompa ny.com. Chesapeake-style seafood eatery, featuring small plates, salads, sandwiches and entrées. Happy Hour from 3 to 6:30 p.m. Monday through Friday in bar only. Named “Best New Restaurant” by Bethesda Magazine readers in 2014. ❂ J R L D $ The Hunter’s Inn, 10123 River Road, 301-299-9300, www.thehuntersinn.com. A Potomac institution and a popular English hunt-themed spot for a big salad or hamburger lunch with friends or a filet mignon dinner with the family. ❂ J R L D $$ The Tavern at River Falls (Editors’ Pick), 10128 River Road, 301-299-0481, www.thetavernatriverfalls.com.

Seafood-heavy pub menu served in a rustic setting; the tavern is owned by the adjacent Renato’s at River Falls and River Falls Seafood Market. ❂ J L D $$ The Wine Harvest, 12525-B Park Potomac Ave., 240-314-0177, www.thewineharvest.com. The sec-

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See Gaithersburg listing. ❂ L D $ Zoës Kitchen, 12505 Park Potomac Ave., Suite 115, 240-328-1022, www.zoeskitchen.com. First Maryland outpost of a Birmingham, Ala., fast-casual chain, Zoës features Mediterranean dishes such as kabobs, hummus and veggie pita pizzas. Specializes in takeout dinner for four for under $30. ❂ J L D $

Rockville/ North Bethesda 82 Steak Out (New), 101-C Gibbs St., Rockville Town Square, 240-428-1295, www.82steakout.com. Parisian-style steakhouse offers steak, salad and French fries for a set price in a hip, industrial setting. American touches include options of a blue cheese chopped salad and sweet potato fries. L D $$ A & J Restaurant (Editors’ Pick), 1319-C Rockville Pike, 301-251-7878, www.aj-restaurant.com/main. html. Northern dim sum, more bread, less dumplings, is the specialty at this hard-to-find spot tucked in the Woodmont Station shopping center. Warm-colored walls and modern lighting surround the young crowd as they dig into thousand-layer pancakes and fresh tofu. Named “Best Dim Sum Brunch” by the magazine’s editors in 2014. L D $ Al Carbon, 200 Park Road, 301-738-0003, www. alcar bonrestaurant.com/. Serving authentic Latin American fare across the street from the Rockville Metro station, this unassuming roadhouse has a loyal following for its arepas, empanadas and more. ❂BLD$ Amalfi Ristorante Italiano, 12307 Wilkins Ave., 301770-7888, www.amalfirockville.com. A family-run, redsauce Italian restaurant with specialties like white pizza and lasagna. The gazebo is a charming spot to dine during the summer. J L D $ Amina Thai Restaurant, 5065 Nicholson Lane, 301770-9509. Pleasant and bright, Amina Thai is run by a husband-and-wife team and bills itself as the first Muslim Thai restaurant in the area, using only halal meats and serving familiar Thai dishes. L D $ Benjarong Thai Restaurant, 885 Rockville Pike, 301424-5533, www.benjarongthairestaurant.com. This Thai food stalwart has a reputation for above-average food served in a gracious setting reminiscent of an upscale country home. L D $ Bombay Bistro, 98 W. Montgomery Ave., 301-7628798, www.bombaybistro.com. Bombay Bistro opened in 1991 as one of the first Indian restaurants in the area to combine high style, reasonable prices and a fresh take on traditional Indian, and it has been packed ever since. J L D $ Bonchon Chicken, 107 Gibbs St., Unit A, 301-637-9079 and 301-637-9379, www.bonchon.com. International fried chicken franchise with Korean roots serves up wings, drumsticks and strips with soy-garlic or spicy hot garlic sauce, plus other traditional offerings, such as bulgogi, bimbimbop and scallion seafood pancakes.

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BRIO Tuscan Grille, 20 Paseo Drive, 240-221-2691, www.brioitalian.com. Look for Tuscan specialties served in a handsome setting. ❂ J R L D $$ Carbon Peruvian Chicken & Grill, 100-F Gibbs St., 301-251-1944, www.carbonperuviangrill.com. A Peruvian grilled meat mecca from the owners of the popular La Canela, also in Rockville Town Square. ❂ L D $

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Cava (Editors’ Pick), 9713 Traville Gateway Drive, 301-309-9090, www.cavamezze.com. The dark and elegant Cava offers small plates of fried Greek cheese, octopus and orzo in cinnamon tomato sauce and martini specials. ❂ R L D $$ Cavo’s Cantina, 4007 Norbeck Road, 301-929-3501.

Traditional Tex-Mex fare, from nachos to enchiladas and fajitas. J R L D $$ Chef Geoff’s, 12256 Rockville Pike (in the Towne Plaza), 240-621-3090, www.chefgeoff.com. Geoff Tracy branches out with his fourth eponymous restaurant featuring contemporary cuisine and something for everyone. ❂ J R L D $$ Cuban Corner, 825 Hungerford Drive, 301-279-0310, www.cubancornerrestaurant.com. Pork and empanadas shine at this small space brimming with ethnic pride (there’s a tribute wall to famous Cuban-Americans). Don’t skip the Cuban coffee or the Cuban sandwich, a sub bursting with ham, pickles and tangy mustard. L D $ East Pearl, 838-B Rockville Pike, 301-838-8663. www. eastpearlrestaurant.com. Hong Kong cuisine, including familiar dishes, as well as those for adventurous tastes. L D $ El Mariachi Restaurant, 765-D Rockville Pike, 301738-7177, www.elmariachirockville.com. Serving TexMex and South American food in a bright, pleasant space made lively with colorful art. In addition to the usual enchiladas, tacos and burritos, look for Peruvian seafood and Cuban beef specialties. ❂ L D $

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El Patio, 5240 Randolph Road, 301-231-9225, www. elpatiointernational.com. This bustling café with pretty green umbrellas on the patio serves up the traditional meat-heavy dishes of Argentina, as well as pizzas and freshly made baked goods. Look for mouth-watering empanadas, beef tongue and sausage specialties. ❂ J B L D $ Far East Restaurant, 5055 Nicholson Lane, 301-8815552, www.fareastrockvillemd.com. This classic Chinese restaurant greets customers with two royal stone lions out front and sticks to the familiar Chinese-American basics. Check for daily specials. L D $$ Fontina Grille, 801 Pleasant Drive, 301-947-5400, www.fontinagrille.com. A trendy spot with its curvy maple bar and wood-burning pizza oven, Fontina Grille is a favorite gathering place for the King Farm neighborhood. Pizza, pasta and salads are the main attractions.

Two-dollar pasta dishes on Monday nights, half-price bottles of wine on Tuesdays and ladies’ night on Thursdays with half-priced alcoholic drinks. ❂ J R L D $$ Gordon Biersch, 200-A E. Middle Lane, Rockville Town Square, 301-340-7159, www.gordonbierschrestau rants.com. The national brewpub chain prides itself on house beers and friendly service. The shiny bar is

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dining guide boisterous, and the menu includes bar favorites with some barbecue and Asian touches.❂ J R L D $$ Grand Fusion Cuisine, 350 East Fortune Terrace, 301-838-2862, grandfusionrestaurant.com. Something for everyone seeking a taste of the Asian continent, a full sushi bar, and Chinese, Malaysian and Singaporean specialties. ❂ L D $ Hard Times Café, 1117 Nelson St., 301-294-9720, www.hardtimes.com. See Bethesda listing. J L D $ Hinode Japanese Restaurant, 134 Congressional Lane, 301-816-2190. See Bethesda listing. L D $$ Il Pizzico, 15209 Frederick Road, 301-309-0610, www. ilpizzico.com. Setting aside the strip mall location and lack of pizza (il pizzico means “the pinch” in Italian), chef-owner Enzo Livia’s house-made pasta dishes, gracious service and extensive wine list make even a weeknight meal feel special. L D $$ India Garden, 1321-C Rockville Pike, 301-838-0000, www.india-garden.com. Decorated in warm shades of orange and yellow, India Garden offers northern Indian specialties such as tandoori chicken and the flavorful flatbread called naan, as well as vegetarian options. Daily lunch buffet. ❂ J L D $ Joe’s Noodle House, 1488-C Rockville Pike, 301-8815518, www.joesnoodlehouse.com. Despite the barebones service and dingy interior, Chinese ex-pats and many other customers consider the Szechuan

specialties (soft bean curd with spicy sauce and hot beef jerky) among the area’s best examples of gourmet Chinese cooking. L D $ La Brasa Latin Cuisine, 12401 Parklawn Drive, 301468-8850, www.labrasarockville.com. A bold, yellow awning marks the unlikely industrial location of the popular La Brasa. Customers rave about the rotisserie chicken, lomo saltado (Peruvian marinated steak), Salvadoran pupusas and Tres Leches. ❂ L D $ La Canela (Editors’ Pick), 141-D Gibbs St., Rockville Town Square, 301-251-1550, www.lacanelaperu. com/. Sophisticated, modern Peruvian cooking shines in a yellow stucco building graced with curvy black ironwork. ❂ L D $ La Limeña Restaurant, 765 Rockville Pike, 301-4248066. Diners can choose dishes such as beef hearts, tripe and homemade pastries in this tiny but wellappointed eatery. And of course, there’s rotisserie chicken to go. L D $ La Tasca, 141 Gibbs St., Suite 305, Rockville Town Square, 301-279-7011, www.latascausa.com. The Rockville location of this regional chain strives to keep things interesting with 45 tapas dishes and six kinds of paella. ❂ J L D $$ Lebanese Taverna Café, 1605 Rockville Pike, 301468-9086; 115 Gibbs St., Rockville Town Square, 301309-8681; www.lebanesetaverna.com. A casual and pleasant family spot for lunch or dinner after shop-

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ping at Congressional Plaza or Rockville Town Square, Lebanese Taverna Café is a more casual offshoot of the local Lebanese Taverna chain, serving hummus, pita, falafel, chicken and lamb kabobs. J L D $ Lighthouse Tofu & BBQ, 12710 Twinbrook Parkway, 301-881-1178. In addition to numerous tofu dishes, diners at this Korean stalwart can try barbecue, stirfried specialties and kimchee, the national dish of pickled cabbage. L D $ Mamma Lucia, 12274-M Rockville Pike, 301-7704894; 14921-J Shady Grove Road, 301-762-8805; www.mammaluciarestaurants.com. See Bethesda listing. ❂ J L D $$ Matchbox Vintage Pizza Bistro (Editors’ Pick), 1699 Rockville Pike, 301-816-0369, www.matchbox foodgroup.com. Mini-burgers and thin-crusted pizza in a super-cool space in Congressional Plaza. ❂ J R L D $ MemSahib, 4840 Boiling Brook Parkway, 301-4680098, www.memsahibrestaurant.com. Patrons eat the Indian country way, with their hands. MemSahib offers a buffet lunch and a six-course prix fixe dinner while belly dancers entertain customers. L D $$ Michael’s Noodles, 10038 Darnestown Road, 301738-0370, www.michaelsnoodles.com. Extensive Taiwanese menu at this popular strip mall eatery includes dim sum, mixed noodle dishes, noodle soup and unusual specialties. L D $ Mi Rancho, 1488 Rockville Pike, 240-221-2636, www.mi ranchotexmexrestaurant.com. A boisterous party atmosphere every night at a place serving standard Tex-Mex fare at good prices. The outdoor patio, strung with colorful lights, is the place to be in nice weather. ❂ J L D $ Moa, 12300 Wilkins Ave., 301-881-8880. A welcoming Korean restaurant in the midst of an industrial stretch. Try the seafood pancake appetizer—a satisfying, crispy frittata bursting with squid, clams, shrimp and scallions. L D $ Mosaic Cuisine & Café, 186 Halpine Road, 301-4680682, www.mosaiccuisine.com. A diner with a soft European accent. Try the fresh Belgian waffles for breakfast.

For those with hefty appetites, the waffle sandwiches are worth the trip, but don’t overlook the homemade soups or light dinner entrées. J B R L D $ Mykonos Grill, 121 Congressional Lane, 301-7705999, www.mykonosgrill.com. An authentic Greek taverna with whitewashed walls on a busy street, Mykonos Grill turns out legs of lamb and fresh seafood expected at any good Greek restaurant. ❂ J L D $$ Nagoya Sushi Japanese Restaurant, 402 King Farm Blvd., Suite 130, 301-990-6778. Cheery yellow walls decorated with shelves of Japanese knickknacks greet customers at this unassuming sushi spot in King Farm. L D $$ Nantucket’s Reef, 9755 Traville Gateway Drive, Rockville, 301-279-7333, www.nantucketsreef.com. Located in the former Stella’s restaurant, this casual New England-style eatery offers a wide range of reasonably priced seafood dishes, including raw and baked oysters, stuffed cod, fried Ipswitch clams, fish and shrimp tacos, tuna and salmon salads, and several lobster items. The décor is bright and nautical, with baby blue walls, white wainscoting, model ships and

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other seafaring décor. Signature cocktails are made with Nantucket Nectars juices. ❂ J L D $$ Nick’s Chophouse, 700 King Farm Blvd., 301-9268869, www.nickschophouserockville.com. Aged Angus beef cooked over an open fire is the specialty at this upscale spot, but seafood lovers can get their fill from big crabcakes. Separate bar menu. ❂ J L D $$ Niwano Hana Japanese Restaurant, 887 Rockville Pike, 301-294-0553, www.niwanohana.com. Clean Asian décor and elegant wooden screens greet diners at this friendly and busy sushi spot located in Wintergreen Plaza. Niwano Hana serves the usual sushi rolls, plus more creative options such as a Spicy Scallop Roll with mayonnaise and chili peppers, noodle dishes, teriyaki and yakitori, as well as a special crêpe for dessert. L D $$ Old Kimura Sushi, 785 Rockville Pike, Unit D, 301251-1922, www.oldkimura.com. A small restaurant serving an extensive sushi menu, along with noodle soups, rice dishes and tempura. L D $$ Original Pancake House, 12224 Rockville Pike, 301468-0886, www.ophrestaurants.com. See Bethesda listing. J R L $ Oro Pomodoro, 33-A Maryland Ave., Rockville Town Center, 301-251-1111, www.oropomodoro.com. Freshly made Neapolitan-style pizzas, cheese and charcuterie are the draw at this modern, airy, gold-accented space. ❂ J L D $ Paladar Latin Kitchen & Rum Bar, 11333 Woodglen Drive, 301-816-1100, www.paladarlatin kitchen.com. This small Cleveland-based chain covers the spectrum of Latin cuisine, with dishes from Cuba, the Caribbean and Central and South America. From Brazil, there’s feijoada stew; from Cuba, ropa vieja; and from Jamaica, curry shrimp and jerk chicken. The extensive bar selection includes 50 varieties of rum, 15 tequilas and six types of mojitos, plus sangria, margaritas and specialty cocktails.❂ J R L D $$ Pho 75, 771 Hungerford Drive, 301-309-8873. One of the Washington area’s favorite spots for the Vietnamese beef noodle soup known as pho. Soup can be customized with bean sprouts, Thai basil, chilies, lime, and hot and hoisin sauces. L D $ Pho 95, 785-H Rockville Pike, 301-294-9391, www. pho95md.com. Pho, the Vietnamese beef noodle soup, is king here. Other offerings include fat ricepaper rolls of shrimp, noodles and herbs with a sweet and spicy peanut sauce. L D $ Pho Hoa Binh, 11782 Parklawn Drive, 301-770-5576. This pleasant pho restaurant offers the full gamut of variations on the beef noodle soup, plus about a dozen grilled entrées. The Vietnamese iced coffee is divine. L D $ Pho Nom Nom, 842 Rockville Pike, 301-610-0232, www. phonomnom.net. As the name suggests, the specialty is pho, but there are also grilled dishes, noodles and the Vietnamese sandwich known as banh mi. L D $ Pitchfork, an American pub, 800 Pleasant Drive, 301355-4979. American food with an emphasis on burgers. ❂LD$ Pizza CS, 1596-B Rockville Pike, 240-833-8090, www. pizzacs.com. Authentic Neapolitan pies offered in a sub-shop atmosphere. ❂ J L D $

Potomac Pizza, 9709 Traville Gateway Drive, 301279-2234, www.potomacpizza.com. See Chevy Chase listing. ❂ J L D $ Quench, 9712 Traville Gateway Drive, 301-424-8650, www.quenchnation.com. Urban bar scene in the suburbs, with unique cocktails and contemporary American cuisine. ❂ J R L D $$ Rocklands Barbeque and Grilling Company, 891-A Rockville Pike, 240-268-1120, www.rocklands.com.

John Snedden has perfected the art of barbecue since he first opened Rocklands in Washington, D.C., in 1990.

This location serves all-American pork ribs, smoked chicken, brisket and lamb cooked exclusively over red oak and hickory. ❂ J L D $ Rolls ‘N Rice, 1701 Rockville Pike (Shops at Congressional Village), 301-770-4030, www.rollsnrice.com. This Asian café serves more than 25 varieties of rolls, from a volcano roll (spicy tuna, white fish, salmon, tomato, jalapeno, fish eggs and vegetables) to a Philadelphia Roll (smoked salmon, cream cheese and avocado). J L D $ Sadaf Halal Restaurant, 1327-K Rockville Pike, 301424-4040. An elegant alternative to the run-of-the-mill kabob places dotting the Pike, Sadaf is pristine, with lace curtains and glass mosaic tiles in front. In addition to kabobs, it offers Persian curries and fish dishes. ❂ J L D $ Sam’s Café & Market, 844 Rockville Pike, 301-4241600, www.samcafemarket.com. After filling up on the kitchen’s juicy skewered meats, have a gelato and check out the hookahs. ❂ J L D $ Seasons 52 (Editors’ Pick), 11414 Rockville Pike, 301984-5252, www.seasons52.com. A fresh, seasonal menu featuring items under 475 calories. Nightly piano music.

Voted “Best Rockville Restaurant” in 2013. ❂ L D $$ Seven Seas Chinese Restaurant, 1776 East Jefferson St., 301-770-5020, www.sevenseasrestaurant. com. An elegant restaurant popular with politicians and local chefs and known for its fresh seafood and impeccable service. Specials include the paper hot pot, meals using ancient Chinese herbs and afternoon tea. Sushi, too. J L D $

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Sheba Restaurant, 5071 Nicholson Lane, Rockville, 301-881-8882, www.shebarockville.com. Authentic Ethiopian cuisine, with lots of vegetarian and vegan options. L D $ Sichuan Jin River, 410 Hungerford Drive, 240-4037351, www.scjinriver.com. Terrific Sichuan cuisine served in a no-frills setting. Take the plunge with the authentic Chinese menu. L D $ Silver Diner, 12276 Rockville Pike, 301-770-2828, www.silverdiner.com. Shiny new digs replace the local chain’s first location a few traffic lights away.

The latest food trends (think quinoa coconut pancakes) share company on the enormous menu with diner staples such as meatloaf and mashed potatoes. J B R L D $ Spice Xing, 100-B Gibbs St., Rockville Town Square, 301-610-0303, www.spicexing.com. Started by Sudhir Seth, chef and owner of Bethesda’s Passage to India, this location offers lower prices, smaller plates and dishes reflecting the history of culinary influences on India. ❂ J R L D $$ Super Bowl Noodle, 785 Rockville Pike, 301-738-0086.

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Sushi Damo, 36-G Maryland Ave., Rockville Town Square, 301-340-8010, www.sushidamo.com. A slice of New York sophistication, this elegant restaurant offers sushi à la carte or omakase, chef’s choice, plus beef and seafood entrées and an impressive sake list. L D $$ Sushi House Japanese Restaurant, 1331-D Rockville Pike, 301-309-0043. A tiny, plain restaurant serving fresh sushi. Lunch specials for under $7. It’s popular, so be prepared to wait. L D $$ Sushi Oishii, 9706 Traville Gateway Drive, 301-2511177, www.sushioishii.com. Charming sushi bar in the Traville Gateway Center offering friendly service and 24 specialty sushi rolls, bento boxes and a few grilled items. ❂ L D $$ Taipei Tokyo, 14921-D Shady Grove Road (Fallsgrove Village Center), 301-738-8813; 11510-A Rockville Pike, 301-881-8388; www.taipei-tokyo.net. These sister restaurants offer a sizable roster of Chinese, Japanese and Thai dishes. Opened in 2003, the Fallsgrove Village location is the younger and sleeker of the two, with full sit-down service. The older sister, opened in 1993 across from White Flint Mall, is more like a noodle shop/cafeteria. L D $$ Tara Asia, 199-D E. Montgomery Ave., 301-315-8008.

A pan-Asian offshoot of the Tara Thai family, dominated by a floor-to-ceiling mosaic and an 82-item menu that spans the cuisine from Japan to Thailand and the tiny islands in between. ❂ J L D $$ Tara Thai, 12071 Rockville Pike, 301-231-9899, www. tarathai.com.com. See Bethesda listing. ❂ L D $$ Taste of Saigon (Editors’ Pick), 20-A Maryland Ave., Rockville Town Square, 301-424-7222, www.tasteof saigon.com. This neighborhood favorite focuses on elegant Vietnamese preparations. Tamarind soft-shell crab and lime steak topped with an egg are specialties, but a variety of noodle dishes and lemongrass skewers are also offered. ❂ L D $$ Ted’s 355 Diner, 895 Rockville Pike, 301-340-0088, www.teds355.com. The former Broadway and Holly-

Thai Farm, 800 King Farm Blvd., 301-258-8829, www. thaifarmrestaurant.com. A tastefully modern dining room soaked in a soothing yellow light. The usual suspects are on the menu here, but chef’s suggestions include an intriguing broiled fish wrapped in banana leaf and stir-fried duck. L D $$ Thai Pavilion, 29 Maryland Ave., Unit 308, Rockville Town Square, 301-545-0244, www.thaipavilionrestau rant.com. The soaring ceilings decorated with red chandeliers shaped like giant, stationary spinning tops give the feel of a modern museum. When the menu says spicy, believe it. ❂ J L D $$ That’s Amore, 15201 Shady Grove Road, 240-2680682, www.thatsamore.com. This local chain focuses on family-style portions of classic Neapolitan dishes like lasagna and chicken Parmesan in a more elegant setting than might be expected. Good for groups and large families. J L D $$ The Original Ambrosia Restaurant, 12015 Rockville Pike, 301-881-3636, www.theoriginalambrosia.com.

When Ambrosia Restaurant lost its lease after 30 years, the original employees opened this location, which features an eclectic menu of breakfast, gyros, pizza, crabcakes and soups. J B L D $ The Potomac Grill, 1093 Rockville Pike, 301-7388181, www.thepotomacgrill.com. A spacious, nautical-themed restaurant with a fireplace, Potomac Grill specializes in seafood but also features serious steaks, burgers and salads. Look for daily specials featuring a catch of the day and several desserts of the day. J R L D $$ Timpano Italian Chophouse, 12021 Rockville Pike, 301-881-6939, www.timpanochophouse.net. A chain steak house with an Italian accent, Timpano is a favorite of wheeler-dealer business lunchers and nighttime diners looking for a high-quality steak or wellprepared pasta. ❂ J R L D $$$ Tower Oaks Lodge, 2 Preserve Parkway, 301-294-0200, www.clydes.com. The Clyde’s version of a lodge in the mountains. Well-prepared food runs the gamut of American desires, from burgers to fish. J R L D $$

Woodside Deli, 4 N. Washington St., 301-444-4478, www.thewoodsidedeli.com. A second location of the venerable Silver Spring eatery and caterer that has been dishing up matzo ball soup since 1947. This one has a pickle bar. ❂ J B R L D $ Yekta, 1488 Rockville Pike, 301-984-0005, www.yekta. com. Persian cuisine served in a beautiful dining room. Check out the adjacent market after polishing off your kebab. L D $$ Yuan Fu Vegetarian, 798 Rockville Pike, 301-762-5937, www.yuanfuvegetarian.com. From tea-smoked “duck” to kung pao “chicken,” the whole menu is meatless, made from Chinese vegetable products. L D $

Silver Spring 8407 Kitchen Bar (Editors’ Pick), 8407 Ramsey Ave., 301-587-8407, 8407kb.com. With new chef Ed Witt, this sleek space across from the Silver Spring Metro prides itself on stellar service and from-scratch preparations, such as house-smoked salmon and home-cured charcuterie. It tied for “Best Silver Spring Restaurant” in 2013. J R L D $$ Addis Ababa, 8233 Fenton St., 301-589-1400 or 301589-1999. Authentic Ethiopian-style vegetables and fiery meats served atop spongy bread in communal bowls. Traditional woven tables and a roof deck add to the ambience. ❂ R L D $ Adega Wine Cellars & Café, 8519 Fenton St., 301608-2200, www.adegawinecellars.com. This light and bright blond wood dining room serves creative sandwiches and allows customers to choose from a small selection of wines by the bottle to take home.

A fine place to stop for lunch, if only to try the eggplant fries. ❂ L D $ Asian Bistro Café, 8537 Georgia Ave., 301-589-0123, www.asianbistrocafe.com. A bevy of choices, from Japanese sushi to Chinese noodles and vegetarian dishes. L D $ Austin Grill, 919 Ellsworth Drive, 240-247-8969, www. austingrill.com. Fun and friendly service welcomes families and couples to this noisy, colorful Tex-Mex favorite. ❂ J R L D $$

Urban Bar-B-Que Company, 2007 Chapman Ave., 240-290-4827, www.iloveubq.com/. Urban Bar-B-Que Company, a tiny joint run by a couple of local friends with a winning formula, features finger-licking ribs, burgers and wings and a friendly staff. J L D $

Azúcar Restaurant Bar & Grill, 14418 Layhill Road, 301-438-3293, azucarrestaurantmd.com. The name means sugar, and it fits. A colorful Salvadoran spot decorated in bright purple and orange with Cubiststyle paintings. The pork-stuffed corn pupusas are stars. Also look for more elegant dinners, including fried whole trout. L D $$

Urban Burger Company, 5566 Norbeck Road, 301460-0050, www.iloveubq.com. Urban Bar-B-Que’s Black Angus burgers were so popular, its owners decided to open another location in 2007. The fullservice restaurant also offers killer fries, salads and wings. ❂ J L D $

Blair Mansion Inn, 7711 Eastern Ave., 301-588-1688, www.blairmansion.com. The graciously restored, 19th-century mansion (formerly the residence of Abigail and Charles Newman) is best known for its participatory mystery dinner theater shows, but it also serves dinner à la carte for private events. J L D $$

Villa Maya, 5532 Norbeck Road (in the Rock Creek Village Center), 301-460-1247, www.villamayarestau rant.com. Traditional Mexican and Tex-Mex food for the whole family. ❂ J R L D $$

Bombay Gaylord, 8401 Georgia Ave., 301-565-2528, www.bombaygaylordsilverspring.com. A neighborhood favorite serving respectable Indian fare for years.

Lunch buffet. ❂ L D $

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Cubano’s, 1201 Fidler Lane, 301-563-4020, www. cubanosrestaurant.com. The brightly colored tropical dining room of greens, blues and reds and the authentic Cuban cooking evident in dishes such as ropa vieja (shredded beef in onions, peppers and garlic) and fried plantains keep customers coming back. ❂ J L D $$

Kao Thai, 8650 Colesville Road, 301-495-1234, www. kaothairestaurant.com. This recently expanded restaurant turns out top-notch curries, noodle dishes and vegetarian options, plus house specialties, such as Siam Salmon with Spicy Thai Basil Sauce. ❂ L D $$ La Casita Pupuseria & Market, 8214 Piney Branch Road, 301-588-6656, www.lacasitapupusas.com.

Homemade pupusas, tamales and other Salvadoran specialties, plus a full breakfast menu and a small selection of grocery items. B L D $ LacoMelza Ethiopian Cafe, 7912 Georgia Ave., 301326-2435, www.lacomelza.com. Traditional Ethiopian cuisine served in a modern and attractive setting. J R L D $

Da Marco Ristorante Italiano, 8662 Colesville Road, 301-588-6999, www.damarcorestaurant.com. This full-service restaurant has been a fixture in Silver Spring for years, with an intimate ambience for classic Italian pasta suppers. J L D $$

La Malinche, 8622 Colesville Road, 301-562-8622, www.lamalinchetapas.com. Interesting selection of Spanish and Mexican tapas, plus a full Saturday and Sunday brunch featuring huevos rancheros, variations of tortillas Espanola and more. R L D $$

Eggspectation, 923 Ellsworth Drive, 301-585-1700, www.eggspectations.com. This Canadian import features fresh and creative egg plates in an elegant yet casual dining room complete with a fireplace and colorful Harlequin-themed art. It also serves great salads and dinners. ❂ J B L D $$

Langano Ethiopian Restaurant, 8305 Georgia Ave., 301-563-6700, www.langanorestaurant.com/. Named for the popular Ethiopian vacation spot, Lake Langano, this longtime restaurant offers fine Ethiopian cuisine such as doro wat (spicy chicken stew) and tibs (stewed meat) in a cozy white- and red-accented dining room. Lunch specials on weekdays. L D $

El Aguila Restaurant, 8649 16th St., 301-588-9063, www.elaguilarestaurant.com. A cheery bar and generous plates of Tex-Mex favorites such as enchiladas and Salvadoran seafood soup make this popular with families and others looking for a lively night out. ❂ J L $

Mamma Lucia, 1302 East West Highway, 301-5620693, www.mammaluciarestaurants.com. See Bethesda listing. J L D $$

El Golfo, 8739 Flower Ave., 301-608-2121, elgolfores taurant.com. Friendly, home-style Latin service is the hallmark, as attested to by the many Salvadorans who stop in for lunch and dinner. Pupusas, soups and beef dishes such as carne asada as well as more adventurous choices can be found in the charming, raspberry-colored dining room. ❂ J R L D $

McGinty’s Public House, 911 Ellsworth Drive, 301-5871270, www.mcgintyspublichouse.com. Traditional Irish pub and restaurant features corned beef and cabbage, live music and dancing. Early-bird special, three-course menu for $15, from 5 to 7 p.m. Happy Hour from 3 to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday. ❂ J R L D $$

Fenton Café, 8311 Fenton St., 301-326-1841. An out-of-the-way crêperie serving 31 kinds of sweet crêpes and 16 varieties of savory crêpes. B L D $

Mi Rancho, 8701 Ramsey Ave., 301-588-4872, www. miranchotexmexrestaurant.com. See Rockville listing. ❂ J L D $

Fire Station 1 Restaurant & Brewing Co., 8131 Georgia Ave., 301-585-1370, www.firestation-1.com.

A historic firehouse has been given a makeover as an eatery serving 21st-century pizza, sandwiches, meat, seafood and vegetarian entrées. J R L D $

Mrs. K’s Restaurant, 9201 Colesville Road, 301-5893500, www.mrsks.com. An elegant, antique-filled option for special occasions and sublime Sunday brunch.

This historic restaurant beckons a younger crowd with the Wine Press, a European-style wine bar downstairs, which has its own more casual menu. ❂ J R L D $$$

Jackie’s Restaurant (Editors’ Pick), 8081 Georgia Ave., 301-565-9700, www.jackiesrestaurant.com. This lovable eatery serves modern American cuisine in a former-auto-repair-shop-gone-1960s-hot-pink. The Sidebar is a cocktail lounge; Jackie’s Back Room has live music and private parties. The restaurant tied for “Best Silver Spring Restaurant” in 2013. R D $$ Jewel of India, 10151 New Hampshire Ave., 301-4082200, www.jewelofindiamd.com. Elegant décor and

Olazzo, 8235 Georgia Ave., 301-588-2540, www. olazzo.com. The Silver Spring location of the Bethesda restaurant draws crowds to its dark and intimate space with classic Italian-American fare and Tuesday martini specials. ❂ J L D $ Oriental East Restaurant, 1312 East West Highway, 301-608-0030, www.orientaleast.com. Be prepared to wait for a table and maneuver around carts filled

t of Lebanese

Setting the Gold Standard in Middle Eastern Cuisine for Three Decades

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Mandalay Restaurant & Café, 930 Bonifant St., 301585-0500, www.mandalayrestaurantcafe.com. The modest dining room is packed most evenings with families and large groups who come for the Burmese food, a cross between Indian and Thai. L D $

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El Gavilan, 8805 Flower Ave., 301-587-4197. The walls are bright, the music’s upbeat, the margaritas are fine and the service is friendly. The usual Tex-Mex fare is here, as well as Salvadoran specialties such as tasty cheese- or pork-filled pupusas. Live music on Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday. J L D $

Lebanese Taverna Café, 933 Ellsworth Drive, 301588-1192, www.lebanesetaverna.com. See Rockville listing. ❂ J L D $

Tr

Crisfield Seafood Restaurant, 8012 Georgia Ave., 301-589-1306. With its U-shaped counter and kitschy, oyster-plate-covered walls, this landmark seafood diner has customers lining up for the Eastern Shore specialties such as oysters and crabmeat-stuffed lobster that it has served since the 1940s. J L D $$

top-notch northern Indian cuisine make this shopping center restaurant a real find. ❂ L D $$

The

Copper Canyon Grill, 928 Ellsworth Drive, 301-5891330, www.ccgrill.com. See Gaithersburg listing. ❂ J R L D $$

Bacchus of Lebanon

Monday-Tuesday 1/2 Price Bottles of Wine Friday Belly Dancing

Come sit outside, our patio is now open!

7945 Norfolk Avenue Bethesda, MD 301.657.1722 www.bacchusoflebanon.com

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dining guide with dumplings, noodles and spare ribs at this popular dim sum restaurant that caters to families and groups on weekends. Chinese standards for dinner, plus tripe and jellyfish. L D $

Pho Hiep Hoa, 921-G Ellsworth Drive, 301-588-5808, phohiephoa.com. Seventeen kinds of Vietnamese soup called pho can be customized to taste in this upbeat restaurant overlooking the action in the downtown area. L D $

that manages to feel special, with soothing wall murals and high-quality service, despite a basement location inside the Double Tree Hotel. Ravioli with asparagus and cheese in a tarragon sauce is popular. L D $$

Pacci’s Neapolitan Pizzeria (Editors’ Pick), 8113 Georgia Ave., 301-588-1011, www.paccispizzeria.com.

This stylish eatery turns out top-notch pizzas from a wood-burning oven. ❂ J (upon request) L D $

Piratz Tavern, 8402 Georgia Ave., 301-588-9001, www. piratztavern.com. Decorated to the hilt with scabbards, skeletons and booty, this pirate-themed tavern opened by husband-and-wife graphic artists offers frequent live entertainment and a secluded back terrace. ❂ J L D $

Sushi Jin, 8555 Fenton St., 301-608-0990, www. sushijinnextdoor.com. Spare, clean and modern, with terrific udon noodle soup and impeccable raw fish. L D $$

Pacci’s Trattoria & Pasticceria, 6 Old Post Office Road, 301-588-0867, www.facebook.com/Paccis Trattoria. Classic Italian dishes, including homemade meatballs and sausage, from the owner of Pacci’s Pizzeria, also in Silver Spring. L D $$

Quarry House Tavern, 8401 Georgia Ave., 301-5878350, www.quarryhousetavern.com. A great dive that serves organic burgers and dozens of beers; frequent live music. D $

Parkway Deli & Restaurant, 8317 Grubb Road, 301587-1427, www.theparkwaydeli.com. Voted “Best Deli” for 2014 by Bethesda Magazine readers, Parkway features a bustling back dining room, around for decades, that makes this popular spot so much more than a deli. Longtime waitresses greet regular customers and kids with hugs during busy weekend breakfasts. All-you-can-eat pickle bar. ❂ B L D $ Pete’s New Haven Style Apizza, 962 Wayne Ave., 301-588-7383, www.petesapizza.com. Sporting more stylish décor than its other locations (see Upper NW D.C.), Pete’s fourth and latest restaurant offers the same crunchy-crusted New Haven-style pizzas, plus pasta, panini and salads. This branch is the only one so far to offer fried calamari. J L D $

Romano’s Macaroni Grill, 931 Ellsworth Drive, 301562-2806, www.macaronigrill.com. See Gaithersburg listing. J L D $$ Samantha’s, 631 University Blvd. East, 301-445-7300, This white-tablecloth, Latin-Salvadoran spot in an industrial neighborhood is popular because of its welcoming attitude toward families with young children.

The steak and fish specialties are good. L D $$ Scion, 1200 East West Highway, 301-585-8878, www. scionrestaurant.com. A contemporary American eatery from sisters Joanne and Julie Liu, who also own a popular Dupont Circle restaurant with the same name. Look for everything from wasabi Caesar salad to lobster reuben to spicy yogurt chicken. R L D $$ Sergio’s Ristorante Italiano, 8727 Colesville Road, 301-585-1040. A classic red-sauce Italian restaurant

sweetgreen, 8517 Georgia Ave., 301-244-5402, www. sweetgreen.com. See Bethesda listing. L D $ Tastee Diner, 8601 Cameron St., 301-589-8171, www. tasteediner.com. A 1930s-era lowbrow classic open 24 hours and featuring friendly service and typical diner food. ❂ J B L D $ Thai at Silver Spring, 921-E Ellsworth Drive, 301-6500666, www.thaiatsilverspring.com. The Americanized Thai food is second to the location, which is superb for people-watching on the street below. A modern and stylish dining room with a hip bar in bold colors and good service add to the appeal. ❂ L D $$ Thai Derm, 939 Bonifant St., 301-589-5341, www. thaidermusa.com. This local favorite serves homestyle Thai food in a pleasantly modest dining room off a quiet street near downtown. The large menu includes noodle dishes like pad Thai and savory-sweet salads. Lunch specials daily. ❂ L D $ The Big Greek Café, 8223 Georgia Ave., 301-5874733, www.biggreekcafe.com. Owned by the Marmaras brothers, whose family operated the decadesold Golden Flame restaurant, the café serves a hit

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parade of Greek specialties, including a top-notch chicken souvlaki pita. ❂ J L D $

of yesteryear breeds. Space includes a lounge, bar, meat curing room, retail counter and dining area. B D $$

The Classics (Editors’ Pick), 8606 Colesville Road, 301-588-7297, www.theclassicsdc.com. The restaurant features great steaks and seafood served without the pomp in a basic white dining room. Serious drinks and fresh seasonal American fare. D $$$

Vegetable Garden, 3830 International Drive (in Leisure World Plaza), 301-598-6868, www.vegetable gardensilverspring.com. Popular vegan, vegetarian and macrobiotic Asian restaurant relocates from Rockville to a fresh-looking dining room done in pink and green. The health-focused menu features a wide variety of eggplant and asparagus dishes, plus vegetarian “beef,” and “chicken” dishes often made with soy and wheat gluten. L D $$

The Daily Dish, 8301 Grubb Road, 301-588-6300, www. thedailydishrestaurant.com. A neighborhood favorite serving seasonally inspired, locally sourced comfort food. Full-service catering, too. ❂ J R L D $$ The Greek Place, 8417 Georgia Ave., 301-495-2912, www.thegreekplace.net. Big portions of better-than-average food at reasonable prices. The bifteki pita sandwich, a seasoned ground lamb and beef patty with tzatziki, tomatoes and red onions, is especially good. ❂ J L D $

Vicino Ristorante Italiano, 959 Sligo Ave., 301-5883372, vicinoitaliano.com. A favorite neighborhood redsauce joint that hasn’t changed in decades, featuring some fine seafood choices in addition to classic pasta dishes. Families welcome. ❂ L D $

The Society Lounge, 8229 Georgia Ave., 301-565-8864, www.societyss.com. Former collegiate and professional basketball player Jason Miskiri opened this restaurant and lounge with a Caribbean accent. ❂ L D $$

Woodside Deli & Restaurant, 9329 Georgia Ave., 301-589-7055, www.thewoodsidedeli.com. Famous for its matzo ball soup, terrific clubs and Reuben sandwiches since 1947. J B L D $

Urban Bar-B-Que Company, 10163 New Hampshire Ave., 301-434-7427, www.iloveubq.com. A fast and friendly spot to meet for smoked meats, especially the ribs. See Rockville listing. J L D $ Urban Butcher (Editors’ Pick), 8226 Georgia Ave., 301585-5800, www.urbanbutcher.com. Hip, eclectic setting provides the backdrop for this New Age steak house, with its home-cured salamis, sausages and other charcuterie, plus imaginative meat dishes made from local animals

Upper NW D.C. Aggio (New), 5335 Wisconsin Ave. NW (in the Chevy Chase Pavilion), 202-803-8020, www.volt-aggio.com.

Located in the former private party room at Range, this formal and sophisticated space is celebrity chef Bryan Voltaggio’s “restaurant within a restaurant.”

Look for modern takes on Italian standbys like steak Florentine, prawns with polenta and pasta carbonara, and inventive combinations such as lentils with charred octopus and sprouted wheat berries or beef cheek with farro and bone marrow. D $$$ American City Diner, 5532 Connecticut Ave. NW, 202244-1949, www.americancitydiner.com. Retro diner complete with blue-plate specials such as Salisbury steak and stuffed peppers; malts and egg creams.

Classic movies free with dinner. ❂ J B L D $ Arucola, 5534 Connecticut Ave. NW, 202-244-1555, www.arucola.com. Authentic Italian in a casual setting, with a changing menu that includes creative treatment of traditional dishes, homemade pasta and pizza from the wood-burning oven. ❂ J L D $ Blue 44, 5507 Connecticut Ave. NW, 202-362-2583, www.blue44dc.com. Classic American favorites in the old Senor Pepper space. ❂ J R L D $$ Buck’s Fishing and Camping, 5031 Connecticut Ave. NW, 202-364-0777, www.bucksfishingandcamping. com. Hip takes on comfort food such as roast chicken (locally raised) and “camp” steak, with fun twists that include grilled chorizo and tempura squash blossoms, in an artsy-chic setting. D $$$ Café of India, 4909 Wisconsin Ave. NW, 202-244-1395, www.cafeofindiadc.com. Cute corner café with two levels of dining. Features an extensive menu, including vegetarian and Tandoori entrées, dosas, samosas, tikkas, curries and kabobs. ❂ L D $$

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dining guide Chads Friendship Heights, 5247 Wisconsin Ave. NW, 202-362-8040, www.dcchadwicks.com. Neighborhood hangout sometimes compared to Cheers, but with a full menu beyond bar food, including salads, steaks, seafood and sandwiches. ❂ J R L D $$ Comet Ping Pong (Editors’ Pick), 5037 Connecticut Ave. NW, 202-364-0404, www.cometpingpong.com.

Landmark fun spot where you can play ping-pong or admire local art while you wait for your wood-fired pizza. ❂ R L (weekends only) D $ DeCarlo’s Restaurant, 4822 Yuma St. NW. 202-3634220, www.decarlosrestaurant.com. Family-owned neighborhood staple, with traditional Italian menu and upscale/casual atmosphere. Signature dishes include agnolotti, veal Bolognese, broiled salmon and hand-made pasta. ❂ L D $$ Eurasian Hotpot, 4445 Wisconsin Ave., 202-9667088, www.eurasianhotpot.com. The extensive Vietnamese menu features pho, egg and rice noodle soups, vermicelli dishes, entrée salads, broken and fried rice entrées and choices for vegetarians. You can also devise your own soup by choosing among broths, meat, vegetables and starches. Then you do the cooking in hotpots brought to the table. ❂ L D $ Guapo’s Fine Mexican Cuisine, 4515 Wisconsin Ave. NW, 202-686-3588, www.guaposrestaurant.com. See Bethesda listing. ❂ R L D $$ Jake’s American Grille, 5018 Connecticut Ave. NW, 202966-5253, www.jakesdc.com. Burgers, steaks and sand-

wiches in a restaurant named after the owner’s grandfather, an accomplished Navy test engineer. J R L D $$ Le Chat Noir, 4907 Wisconsin Ave. NW, 202-2442044, www.lechatnoirrestaurant.com. Cute, cozy neighborhood bistro run by French restaurateurs, with traditional fare like steak frites, bouillabaisse and braised lamb cheeks. R L D $$ Maggiano’s, 5333 Wisconsin Ave. NW, 202-966-5500, www.maggianos.com. Old-style Italian fare that’s a favorite for large groups and private celebrations. J L D $$ Masala Art (Editors’ Pick) 4441-B Wisconsin Ave. NW, 202-362-4441, www.masalaartdc.com. Fine Indian dining featuring tandoor-oven specialties and masterful Indian spicing. L D $$ Murasaki Japanese Cuisine and Sushi Bar, 4620 Wisconsin Ave. NW, 202-966-0023, www.murasakidc.com.

Wide variety of specialty sushi rolls plus full menu, including teriyaki, tempura, noodle soup and other authentic Japanese dishes in tastefully understated décor. ❂ L D $$ Parthenon Restaurant, 5510 Connecticut Ave. NW, 202-966-7600, www.parthenon-restaurant.com. Neighborhood eatery taken up a couple notches, with an extensive menu full of authentic selections familiar and exotic, including avgolemono (egg/lemon soup), tzatziki, moussaka, dolmades and souvlaki. ❂ J L D $$ Pete’s New Haven Style Apizza, 4940 Wisconsin Ave. NW, 202-237-7383, www.petesapizza.com. New Haven-inspired pizza with crusts that are crunchy on the outside, chewy on the inside. Salads, pasta and panini also served. ❂ J L D $

Range (Editors’ Pick), 5335 Wisconsin Ave. NW, Suite 201, 202-803-8020, www.voltrange.com. Celebrity chef Bryan Voltaggio’s extravaganza, featuring multiple open kitchens, 300 seats and an enormous wine list. The restaurant was chosen for “Best Cocktail” in 2014 by the magazine’s editors. L D $$$ Rosa Mexicano, 5225 Wisconsin Ave. NW, 202-7779959, www.rosamexicano.com. Upscale Mexican chain known for its tableside-prepared guacamole and stylish decor. J R L D $$ Satay Club Asian Restaurant and Bar, 4654 Wisconsin Ave. NW, 202-363-8888, www.asiansatayclub. com. Comfortable/casual with a menu that spans Japanese sushi, Chinese moo-shi vegetables, Thai curries and Vietnamese spring rolls. L D $ Tanad Thai, 4912 Wisconsin Ave. NW, 202-966-0616, www.tanadthaicuisine.com. Extensive menu includes noodles, rice, curries and vegetarian entrées, and even a Thai lemonade cocktail. ❂ L D $$ Tara Thai, 4849 Massachusetts Ave. NW, 202-363-4141, www.tarathai.com. See Bethesda listing. ❂ R L D $ Terasol (Editors’ Pick), 5010 Connecticut Ave. NW, 202-237-5555, www.terasolartisans.com. Charming French café serving soups, salads, quiches and a few entrées, along with jewelry and pottery from local artisans.

Live music on Fridays and Saturdays. ❂ J B L D $ The Dancing Crab, 4615 Wisconsin Ave. NW, 202-2441882, www.thedancingcrab.com. Informal family restaurant that looks as if it has been relocated from the beach, with a fresh seafood menu that includes hardshell and soft-shell crabs in season. ❂ J L D $$

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shop

talk

FWinners lat-Out

By Cynthia Hacinli

Toss the heel out. The flat sandal is back, and this summer it looks right with everything: cutoffs, miniskirts, rompers, maxi dresses, cropped jeans and American Hustle-style bell-bottoms. When dressed up with crystals and metallics, flats can even go out at night. Here are some flats we’d like to slip our feet into right now.

▲

All Courtesy Photos

Bea mixed-media leather and metallic raffia sandal from Sophia Webster, $295 at www.saksfifthavenue.com

▲ “Picon” matte-leather thong sandal from K. Jacques, $255 at www.neimanmarcus.com

▲ Suede sandal with crystal and gold studs from Miu, $695 at www. saksfifthavenue.com

▲

▲

Crystal-embellished satin thong sandal from Pedro Garcia, $525 at www. neimanmarcus.com

Studded leather sandal from Dolce Vita, $80 at Sassanova in Bethesda and at www. sassanova.com

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shop

talk

Red Carpet Ready

Mack & Jane leather cuffs

and beachy), Holly Would (curly and bouncy), Executive Suite (skyscraper straight) and Red Carpet Classic (smooth with lots of body). You can also go for a fishtail braid, a high perfect ponytail or a chic bun. Extensions, head massages, updos, and blow-outs for men and children are also options. Prices range from $40 for

Diving into

Design

Cuff Love Cuffs are everywhere this year (see our March/April “Shop Talk” column). Now Jane Makransky has come out with a Mack & Jane line of leather beauties that are an inexpensive way to get in on the trend.

Ranging in price from $44 to $72, these adorned leather cuffs come in various colors, sizes and shapes.

Makransky, who grew up in Silver Spring and attended Montgomery Blair High School, makes each cuff in her home studio outside Philadelphia—cutting, shaping and sewing the leather and adding vintage bits, bobs, jewelry and ribbon so that no two bracelets are alike.

A lawyer by day, Makransky decided to take her jewelry-making hobby up a notch after battling a serious illness seven years ago. Now recovered, she began by selling metal and semiprecious stone jewelry on Etsy and at juried crafts shows until a year ago, when she started focusing on leather designs.

The leather bracelets have taken off in the six months since—they were even included in 50 swag bags at the 2014 Academy Awards—and are now carried in 13 stores nationwide, including Brilliants in Potomac. They also can be custom-ordered online at www.mackandjanejewelry.com.

DePandi the Makransky, who still has family in store and the Potomac andman does frequent (upper left) trunk shows in the area, hopes to do a bridal line of bracelets next.

a wash and blow-out to $65 for an updo.

Sharing space with Blo Blow Dry Bar is a new concept from the company: Body By Blo, which will offer nail and waxing services to men and women.

317 Ellington Blvd., Gaithersburg, www. blomedry.com

Dianne Brickman’s colorful tunics are made with fabrics from India.

Sometimes all it takes is a trip to the pool to get a good idea.

Bethesda’s Dianne Brickman worked for Barneys New York and Niketown before taking a few years off to be a stay-at-home mom. One day, she threw on a new tunic as a cover-up at the pool—and got a load of compliments. “I thought: There’s got to be a market for these garments,” she says.

Using hand-blocked fabrics from India, Brickman began selling tunics, clutches, scarves and headbands for $8 to $48 at home parties in the area and on her website (www.theshinecollection.com) last year. She plans to add shorts, pants and pajamas to her line soon.

Openings & Closings Three new stores have landed at Westfield Montgomery Mall, including Talbots, the preppy women’s clothing store devoted to classic clothes, which has relocated from White Flint Mall.

Also new: Another big name in the prep world, Lilly Pulitzer, the women’s clothing store known for bright florals and palm prints. Third is the trendy True Religion, selling men’s, women’s and children’s jeans, tops, outerwear and accessories with a vintage boho feel. …

Things are also starting to percolate at two new developments in Montgomery County: At Pike & Rose in White Flint, City Sports, the national sportswear and sports gear chain, will be opening in October along with a 32,000-square-foot outpost of the Sport & Health exercise club. And LA Fitness, a sports and exercise facility with a heated lap pool, already has opened at Downtown Crown in Gaithersburg. Zagg, which sells mobile device accessories, and V.Eye.P. Eye Care, which offers eye exams and sells contacts, designer eyeglasses and sunglasses, are scheduled to open at Downtown Crown in mid-July. ...Ranger Surplus store, a Bethesda fixture for 18 years, has closed that location. The Rockville store remains open, however, and a new store has opened in Frederick. n

Cynthia Hacinli lives in Chevy Chase and has written for GQ, The New York Times and National Geographic Traveler. Send Shop Talk ideas to editorial@bethesdamagazine.com.

christine setaine (blo); Jane Makransky (mack & jane); karen london photography (brickman)

Maybe you’d like to indulge in Pillow Talk. Or perhaps you see yourself as the Holly Would type. Blo Blow Dry Bar is the place to go.

This Canadian-based chain of blow-dry outlets (no color, no cuts) is scheduled to open a salon in Gaithersburg this June or July. The menu of blow-dries includes Pillow Talk (messy

Blo Blow Dry Bar

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beAUtY—It’S oUR nAtURe Nature, artistry and well-being are a part of every Aveda cut, color and facial we offer. Each appointment begins and ends with at least one of our five free Aveda rituals of renewal–from a tea ritual to a stress-relieving neck and shoulder ritual. Plus, Aveda Concept Salon/Spas carry the entire Aveda line, so you can find what you need to continue the experience at home. We have the perfect gift for Mother’s day, an Aveda bethesda Gift Card!

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to-do list

Compiled by Cindy Murphy-Tofig

MaY | JUne

$84; children 7-17 admitted free with adult ticket purchase.

Strathmore Children’s Chorus Concert, 7:30 p.m. June 3. The chorus closes out its second season of performing in the Music Center. $15.

May

10-11

Evermay Chamber Ensemble, 8 p.m.

June 5. The ensemble’s program includes Souvenir de Florence by Tchaikovsky and Saint-Saëns’ Carnival of the Animals. $25; $22.50 for Stars members.

Sergio Mendes and Eliane Elias, 8 p.m.

June 6. The Grammy-winning pianist/composer and singer/songwriter Eliane Elias present an evening of bossa nova. $30-$69; $27$62.10 for Stars members.

John Prine, 8 p.m. June 13. The singer/songwriter infuses traditional music with social and political import. $45-$65; $40.50-$58.50 for Stars members.

Looking for the next Van Gogh or Georgia O’Keeffe? Check out the Bethesda Fine Arts Festival on May 10 and 11, when more than 120 artists will display and sell their original works in downtown Bethesda. The 11th annual event, which takes place in Woodmont Triangle along Norfolk and Auburn avenues, features booths filled with jewelry, paintings, ceramics, photography and other media.

Live entertainment and children’s activities round out the festival, which begins at 10 a.m. each day. The two-day event is free and produced by Bethesda Urban Partnership. For more information, go to www.bethesda.org or call 301-215-6660.

Bethesda Fine Arts Festival, Woodmont Triangle, along Norfolk and Auburn avenues, Bethesda

MUSIC The Music Center at Strathmore, 5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda. 301-581-5100, www.strathmore.org.

Defiant Requiem: Verdi at Terezín, 8 p.m.

May 1. The multimedia concert tells the story of Jews at the Theresienstadt concentration camp who performed Verdi’s Requiem. Copresented with the Defiant Requiem Foundation. $35-$100; $31.50-$90 for Stars members.

4 Girls 4, 8 p.m. May 2. Broadway performers Faith Prince (Guys and Dolls and Bells Are Ringing), Donna McKechnie (A Chorus Line), Andrea McArdle (Annie) and Maureen McGovern (The Pirates of Penzance and Nine) unite for an evening of vibrant performances. $29$70; $26.10-$63 for Stars members.

Neil Sedaka, 8 p.m. May 16. The singer/ songwriter’s 50-year career spawned the hits “Breaking Up Is Hard to Do” and “Calendar Girl,” among others. $45-$98; $40.50-$88.20 for Stars members.

Sarah Chang Plays Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, 8 p.m. May 17 and 3 p.m. May 18. Violinist Sarah Chang performs The Four Seasons, a collection of four short violin concertos that is Vivaldi’s most popular work. Also on the program is Strauss’ Metamorphosen. Presented by the National Philharmonic. $28-$84; children 7-17 admitted free with adult ticket purchase.

Strauss Masterpieces, 8 p.m. May 31.

The National Philharmonic celebrates the 150th anniversary of Strauss’ birth with performances of Don Juan, Burlesque, Wandrers Sturmlied and Death and Transfiguration. $28-

Jewish Community Center of Greater Washington, 6125 Montrose Road, Rockville. 301-8810100, www.jccgw.org/concerts.

The United States Air Force Band Chamber Players Series, 8 p.m. May 1, 8, 15 and 22. The series of concerts will feature the Langford/Brandon Jazz Quintet (May 1), the Percussion Ensemble (May 8), the Contemporary Music Ensemble (May 15) and Celtic Aire (May 22). Free.

Chee-Yun, 7:30 p.m. May 18. Violinist CheeYun will perform works by Franck, Saint-Saëns, Vitali and Piazolla. $35-$40.

Yotam Silberstein and Friends, 7:30 p.m.

June 10. The Israeli guitarist and his trio perform jazz, Brazilian, bebop, blues and world music. $20 in advance; $25 at the door.

Audrey Andrist, 8 p.m. May 3. Westmoreland Congregational UCC Church, 1 Westmoreland Circle, Bethesda. Presented by the Washington Conservatory of Music. Pianist Audrey Andrist’s program will include Francis Poulenc’s The Story of Babar, Piano Sonata No. 3 in C Major by Beethoven and pieces by Chopin. Free; donations accepted. 301-320-2770, www.washingtonconservatory.org.

Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, The Music Center at Strathmore, 5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda. 301-581-5100, www.bsomusic.org.

Yefim Bronfman, 8 p.m. May 3. The program includes Symphony No. 12 by Shostakovich and Bronfman’s performance of Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 5. $31-$94.

emma patti

Real Original

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Saturday, June 7 • 10am-3pm Bethesda Urban Partnership presents

A Children's Street Festival Celebrating the Arts!

Live entertainment, hands-on creative activities, face painters, roving performers, balloonists and more!

Produced by Sponsored by

For more information, call 301-215-6660 or visit www.bethesda.org.

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to-do list | May | June

Book It

17

Find a good book—or get tips on writing your own—during the fifth annual Gaithersburg Book Festival, beginning at 10 a.m. May 17 on the grounds of City Hall. Featured authors include big names from the world of nonfiction, fiction, children’s and teen’s books. Those scheduled to appear include Tom Angleberger (the Origami Yoda series for adolescents), Washington Post reporter Dan Balz (Collision 2012: Obama vs. Romney and the Future of Elections in America, Viking Adult, 2013), Gregg Easterbrook (The King of Sports: Football’s Impact on America, Thomas Dunne Books, 2013), Erika Robuck (Fallen Beauty, Penguin, 2014) and Bethesda’s Alice McDermott (Someone, Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2013). The free festival also features writing workshops, children’s workshops and the winners of a short-story contest for high school students. For more information, go to gaithersburg bookfestival.org or call 301-258-6350.

Gaithersburg Book Festival, on the grounds of Gaithersburg City Hall, 31 S. Summit Ave., Gaithersburg All That Jazz: A Symphonic Celebration of Kander and Ebb, 8 p.m. May 15. The songwriting team’s Broadway hits include Cabaret, Chicago, Kiss of the Spider Woman and New York, New York. $31-$94.

Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto, 8 p.m. May 24. Ray Chen performs Tchaikovsky’s concerto; the evening also includes a performance of Rachmaninoff’s Symphony No. 2. $31-$94.

A Midsummer Night’s Dream: In Concert, 8 p.m. May 29. Actors perform Shakespeare’s comic romance while the orchestra plays Mendelssohn’s score. $31-$94.

Beethoven’s Ninth, 8 p.m. June 7. The eve-

$18; $16 for students and seniors 62 and older.

240-314-8690, www.rockvillemd.gov/theatre.

Casablanca: Music and Movie, 8 p.m. June 14. The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra performs the soundtrack during a screening of the classic film. $31-$94.

Ordinary Days, 7:30 p.m. Tuesdays-Thursdays, 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 3 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays, May 28-June 22. Round House Theatre Bethesda, 4545 East West Highway, Bethesda. When Deb loses the notes to her graduate thesis, she starts a chain of events that affects the lives of four New Yorkers looking for love, fulfillment and taxicabs. The musical, written

by Adam Gwon, played off-Broadway in 2009. $20$45. 240-644-1100, www.roundhousetheatre.org.

Mozart’s Journey from Prague to Jupiter, 8 p.m. May 10. Cultural Arts Center at Silver Spring, Montgomery College, 7995 Georgia Ave., Silver Spring. Works to be performed include Symphony No. 38 in D Major (nicknamed the “Prague” symphony), Serenade in G Major and Symphony No. 41 in C Major (nicknamed “Jupiter”). Presented by the Bach Sinfonia. $30; $27, seniors; $15, students; free for kids 14 and younger. 301-362-6525, www.bachsinfonia.org.

The Robert E. Parilla Performing Arts Center, Montgomery College, 51 Mannakee St., Rockville.

240-567-5301, www.montgomerycollege.edu/pac.

Colin Blunstone, 8 p.m. May 10. The lead singer of the Zombies performs. His latest album is On the Air Tonight. $22; $20 for seniors and students.

Bill Medley, 8 p.m. May 23. Bill Medley gained fame as half of the Righteous Brothers, and is also known for the duet “(I’ve Had) The Time of My Life” with Jennifer Warnes. $55; $53 for seniors and students.

DANCE Spring Dance Concert, 8 p.m. May 2 and 3, and 2 p.m. May 4. The Robert E. Parilla Performing Arts Center, Montgomery College, 51 Mannakee St., Rockville. The Montgomery College Rockville Dance Company’s program will feature original works by Montgomery College students and faculty. $10; $8 for seniors and students. 240567-5301, www.montgomerycollege.edu/pac.

Conservatory Concert, 7:30 p.m. June 16. The Music Center at Strathmore, 5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda. CityDance Conservatory dancers will perform original choreography and showcase their range of technique. $20. 301-5815100, www.strathmore.org.

THEATER Faith Healer, 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 2 p.m. Sundays, through May 24. The Writer’s Center, 4508 Walsh St., Bethesda. Irish faith healer Frank Hardy’s life is fraught with deception and selfdenial, and the audience learns how this affects him and those loyal to him. Presented by Quotidian Theatre Company. $30; $25 for seniors and students. 301-816-1023, www.quotidiantheatre.org.

The Miser, 8 p.m. May 2, 3, 9 and 10, and 2 p.m. May 4 and 11. F. Scott Fitzgerald Theatre, Rockville Civic Center Park, 603 Edmonston Drive, Rockville. In this comedy by Molière, a man obsessed with making money from the marriages of his children courts a woman secretly in love with his son. Presented by Rockville Little Theatre.

ART A-RTS at Rockville Town Square, 11 a.m.

May 3 and 4. Rockville Town Square, 200 E. Middle Lane, Rockville. About 175 artists will display ceramics, drawings, jewelry and metalworks, as well as art in other media. Live entertainment also is scheduled on the outdoor stage in the square.

Free. 301-637-5684, www.a-rts.org.

Masterworks 2014: A Shared Vision, May 3-June 1. Popcorn Gallery, Glen Echo Park, 7300 MacArthur Blvd., Glen Echo. Gallery hours are noon-6 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays. The exhibition will feature works by Jeff Kirk, Glen Echo Pottery’s artistic director, and pottery instructors and advanced students. Reception from 3-5 p.m. May 4. 301-229-5585, www.glenechopottery.com.

Glenview Mansion Art Gallery at Rockville Civic Center Park, 603 Edmonston Drive, Rockville. Gallery hours are 9 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays and 9 a.m.-9 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays. Free. 240-314-8682, www. rockvillemd.gov.

Rockville Art League Juried Members’ Show, May 4-23. The show will include works in various media. Reception from 1:303:30 p.m. May 4.

Pierre Ruffieux and Ray Jubela, June 1-20.

Ruffieux will be exhibiting his work in sculpture; Jubela’s photography will be on display.

Waverly Street Gallery, 4600 East West Highway, Bethesda. Gallery hours noon-6 p.m. Tuesdays-Saturdays. Free. 301-951-9441, www.waverly streetgallery.com.

Polymer on the Wall, May 6-June 7. Artist Fran Abrams pieces together brightly colored polymer clay shapes on a fabric-covered canvas. Reception from 6-9 p.m. May 9.

Weeds and Wild Things, May 6-June 7.

Inspired by her study of nature and of Chinese and Japanese bird and flower pictures, Janet Gohres uses her etchings to show landscapes and creatures in their natural surroundings. A reception will be from 6-9 p.m. May 9.

The Fashionable Container, June 10-July 5. Artist Yonina Blech-Hermoni’s exhibition of her clay creations grew from a visit to China.

Reception from 6-9 p.m. June 13.

jamie schoenberger

Alice McDermott

May

ning also includes On the Transmigration of Souls by John Adams. $46-$109.

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May

5 24-2 Performers fill the night with music during Hometown Holidays in Rockville.

Rock On, Rockville

Can you keep a seCret?

Forget the R.E.M. song (“Don’t Go Back to Rockville”)— it seems that everyone will be there to kick off the summer with Hometown Holidays at Rockville Town Square.

More than 30 music performances will light up five stages during the free festival, which runs from 2 to 10 p.m. May 24 and 25. Scheduled performers include the bands Lloyd Dobler Effect, Jah Works and the Nighthawks, plus dancers Yolit Flamenco and the Sofia Zhong Dance Group. Don’t forget to check out the children’s activities, including carnival rides and climbing walls, or sample foods from about 20 local restaurants at the Taste of Rockville while waiting for your favorite band to play. For more information, go to www.rockvillemd.gov.

- Melissa Boyle Mahle, CIA, Operations Officer

Hometown Holidays, Rockville Town Square, 200 E. Middle Lane, Rockville Under the Influence: Street Musicians, June 10-July 5. Acquaetta Williams’ sculptures are clarinets, horns or other instruments deconstructed and reinterpreted. Reception from 6-9 p.m. June 13.

Bethesda Art Walk, 6-9 p.m. May 9 and June 13. Various galleries in downtown Bethesda open their doors on the second Friday of every month.

Free. 301-215-6660, www.bethesda.org.

VisArts at Rockville, 155 Gibbs St., Rockville.

301-315-8200. www.visartsatrockville.org.

courtesy of the city of rockville

Cocktails and Canvas: Starry Night, 7 p.m.

May 8 and June 23. Practice acrylic painting skills with a partially sketched canvas of Van Gogh’s iconic image. $40.

Mud and Merlot: Mugs, 7 p.m. May 9, 27 and 28, and June 5, 8 and 25; noon May 17; and 2 p.m. June 21. Bring in lace, leaves, fossils or personal memorabilia to add texture to and personalize your mug. $60.

Cocktails and Canvas: Red Calla, 7 p.m.

May 10 and June 21. Learn the basics of acrylic painting or brush up on skills with the partially sketched canvas. $40.

The Bethesda Painting Awards Exhibition,

June 4-28. Gallery B, 7700 Wisconsin Ave., Suite E, Bethesda. Gallery hours noon-6 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday. The juried art competition honors painters from Washington, D.C., Virginia and Maryland. Public reception from 6-9 p.m. June 13. Free. 301-215-6660, www.bethesda.org.

All Day Draw-a-thon, 9 a.m. June 15. Capitol Arts Network, 12276 Wilkins Ave., Rockville. Come and go at your leisure. Nude models will rotate every three hours until 9 p.m. $35; fee includes food, drink and model fee. 301-661-7590, www. capitolartsnetwork.com.

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CHILDREN AND FAMILIES Imagination Stage, 4908 Auburn Ave., Bethesda. 301-280-1660, www.imaginationstage. org. $10-$22, unless otherwise noted.

Cinderella: The Remix, 1:30 and 4 p.m. Saturdays, through May 25. Also 11 a.m. May 3, 10, 17 and 24 and 7 p.m. May 16. Cinderella lives in the basement of her stepmother’s house, mixing beats and dreaming of being a DJ. But girls aren’t allowed to be DJs, so she disguises herself as a boy. Will she ever be allowed to DJ as her true self? Recommended for kids 5-10.

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to-do list | May | June June Saturdays and Sundays. $10. 301-634-5380, www. thepuppetco.org.

Pinocchio, May 1-June 8. Follow the classic tale of a puppet who wants to become a real boy. Recommended for children in kindergarten through sixth grade.

Creating crafts is part of the fun at Imagination Bethesda.

The Wizard of Oz, June 13-July 19. Embark on an adventure with Dorothy and her friends.

This year marks the 75th anniversary of the release of the film.

Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, The Music Center at Strathmore, 5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda. $10. 301-581-5100, www.bso music.org.

Moo, Baa, Neigh, 10 and 11:30 a.m. May 3.

A clarinet quintet celebrates barnyard noises with lively music from Mozart. The performance is part of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra’s Music Box Series, geared toward children 6 months to 3 years.

Imagine That Leave the iPads and Xbox behind and take the kids to downtown Bethesda on June 7 for the annual Imagination Bethesda, a family-friendly arts festival that caters to kids 12 and younger.

Children can sing and dance along with live performers and create crafts in tents that line Del Ray, Norfolk and Auburn avenues. Face painters and roving performers add to the action.

The free event runs from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. and is produced by Bethesda Urban Partnership. For more information, visit www.bethesda.org or call 301-215-6660.

Summertime Movin’ & Groovin’, 10 and 11:30 a.m. June 7. A brass quintet will use music by Joplin and Handel to explore what makes summertime great. The performance is part of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra’s Music Box Series, geared toward children 6 months to 3 years.

The Puppet Co.’s Tiny Tots program, the Puppet Co. Playhouse, 7300 MacArthur Blvd., Glen Echo. Performances begin at 10 a.m. and are 30 minutes. Recommended for children up to age 4. $5 per person, including babies in arms. 301-6345380, www.thepuppetco.org.

Clowning Around, May 3 and June 4. Join Burlington the Bear, Bingo the Dog and a clown named Gus under the big top.

Imagination Bethesda, along Del Ray, Norfolk and Auburn avenues, Bethesda

Baby Bear’s Birthday, May 7 and 17. Join Baby Bear as his friends perform circus tricks as a birthday surprise.

The BFG, 10:30 a.m. Wednesdays-Fridays, 1:30 and 4 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays, June 25-Aug. 10. Sophie is surprised to see a giant outside her window, and the giant is surprised to see her. Together, Sophie and the Big Friendly Giant embark on a journey to save kids from equally big—but much less friendly—giants. Based on the book by Roald Dahl. Recommended for kids 4-10.

World on a String, May 11 and June 25. Go on a whirlwind tour of the world with French poodles dancing the can-can and a Russian dog act, among other animals.

Old McDonald’s Farm, May 21 and 31.

Meet Al E. Cat and his barnyard buddies.

Penguins’ Playground, May 24. Come explore a super-secret playground hidden on the South Pole.

Mouse on the Move, 10 and 11:15 a.m.

Saturdays and Sundays, June 28-Aug. 10.

Christopher and Dana Reeve Studio Theatre. Mice Nellie and Amelia want to explore the world outside their mouse hole, so they decide to go to the moon since it’s made of cheese. Recommended for ages 1-5. $10$12; $5 for a lap seat for children younger than 12 months.

The Puppet Co. Playhouse, 7300 MacArthur Blvd., Glen Echo. Performances are 10 and 11:30 a.m. Thursdays and Fridays, 11:30 a.m. and 1 p.m.

Snow Show, June 14. A snow bunny on skis, snowmen, snowwomen, a penguin and other friends salute snow.

Teddy Bear’s Picnic, June 21. Baby Bear’s friends bring food for a picnic and entertain each other.

Merlin’s Magic, June 28. The famous magician and his dragons put a new spin on old tricks.

The Robert E. Parilla Performing Arts Center, Montgomery College, 51 Mannakee St., Rockville.

240-567-5301, www.montgomerycollege.edu/pac.

The Teacher from the Black Lagoon and Other Story Books, 11 a.m. May 10. Young Hubie faces his fears and realizes that his new teacher just might be human after all. Presented

by Theatreworks USA. Recommended for kids 4 and older. $7; $6 seniors, students and children.

The Monster Who Ate My Peas, 11 a.m.

May 17. A boy makes a deal so that the monster under the kitchen table will eat his peas.

But pretty soon, the monster is asking for more of the boy’s toys in return. Based on the book

by Danny Schnitzlein. Presented by ArtsPower. $7; $6 seniors, students and children.

Just Imagine: The Annual Children’s Ball, 4 p.m. May 10. Imagination Stage, 4908 Auburn Ave., Bethesda. The afternoon includes a performance of Cinderella: The Remix, a buffet reception, children’s activities, dancing and other fun.

Doors open at 4 p.m.; performance begins at 4:30 p.m. $80; $275 for a family of four. 301-280-1660, www.imaginationstage.org.

LITERARY David Laskin, 4 p.m. May 4. Jewish Community Center of Greater Washington, 6125 Montrose Road, Rockville. The author will discuss his book, The Family: Three Journeys into the Heart of the Twentieth Century (Viking, 2013). Free. 301-8810100, www.jccgw.org.

Café Muse, 7 p.m. May 5 and June 2. Friendship Heights Village Center, 4433 S. Park Ave., Chevy Chase. Monthly literary program with open readings following featured readers. In May: Jessica Garrett and Barbara Goldberg. In June: Pat Davis. Free. 301656-2797, www.wordworksdc.com/cafe_muse.html.

SEASONAL Kentlands Day, 10 a.m. May 3. In and around Kentlands Market Square, 821 Center Point Way, Gaithersburg. The parade begins at 10 a.m. and travels Main Street, Market Street West and Center Point Way. Other activities will include a car show, Taste of Kentlands and live performances.

Free. www.kentlandsday.com.

Paws in the Park Dog Walk & Fest, noon May 4. Bohrer Park, 506 S. Frederick Ave., Gaithersburg. The 16th annual event will include a 1-mile walk, pet-friendly vendors, games, demonstrations, rescue groups and foster animals.

Proceeds benefit the Montgomery County Humane Society. $20; $35 for a family. www. mchumane.org.

Strut Your Mutt, 10 a.m. May 17. Norfolk Avenue between Woodmont and Cordell avenues, Bethesda. A dog parade will start at 10:45 a.m.

Other activities during the annual street festival include a children’s play area, training shows, an adoption show and contests for best owner/ dog lookalike, best singer, best costume and other

emma patti

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May 3 0 June 15 categories. Organized by the Rotary Club of Bethesda-Chevy Chase; a portion of the proceeds will go to the Montgomery County Humane Society. $25 (covers parade entry, contest entry, a T-shirt and goody bag), www. strutyourmuttbethesda.org.

City of Rockville Memorial Day Ceremony and Parade, 9 a.m. May 26. The Rockville Concert Band and Chorus will perform at 9 a.m. in Rockville Town Square. A Memorial Day ceremony and wreath laying will begin at 9:30 a.m. in the square, and the parade will start at 10:30 a.m. at Martins Lane and North Washington Street. Free. 240-314-8620, www.rock villemd.gov/events.

Celebrate Gaithersburg, noon June 8. In Olde Towne Gaithersburg. The annual event will include children’s activities, live entertainment and food. Free. www.gaithersburgmd. gov. n To submit calendar items, or to see a complete listing, go to BethesdaMagazine.com.

Blame It on the Bossa Nova

Grammy-winning pianist and composer Sergio Mendes

The 1962 album Jazz Samba, by Stan Getz and Charlie Byrd, brought Brazil’s bossa nova to the United States. Now The Music Center at Strathmore will celebrate Brazilian music and its influence on American music and culture during its two-week Jazz Samba Project. Highlights include the world premiere of the documentary Birth of Bossa on June 2 and performances by the Ron Kearns Quartet in The Mansion at Strathmore on May 30 and Grammy-winning pianist/composer Sergio Mendes in the Music Center on June 6. Also included are a multimedia exhibition of photographs, concert programs and interviews with performers, a June 7 symposium on Jazz Samba’s legacy and a free June 8 family event with dance and music performances, activities and workshops. For more information on events and for ticket information, visit www.strathmore.org or call 301-581-5100.

The Music Center at Strathmore, 5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda; The Mansion at Strathmore, 10701 Rockville Pike, North Bethesda

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what Bethesda’s

reading

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Hardcover Fiction

1. The Goldfinch, Donna Tartt 2. Allegiant (Divergent Series, #3) (B&N Exclusive Edition), Veronica Roth 3. The Invention of Wings, Sue Monk Kidd 4. Still Life with Bread Crumbs, Anna Quindlen 5. One More Thing, B.J. Novak 6. Sycamore Row, John Grisham 7. Hollow City: The Second Novel of Miss Peregrine’s Peculiar Children, Ransom Riggs 8. The Husband’s Secret, Liane Moriarty 9. Private L.A., James Patterson, Mark Sullivan 10. Someone, Alice McDermott

1. Missing You, Harlan Coben 2. Night Broken, Patricia Briggs 3. The Invention of Wings, Sue Monk Kidd 4. Words of Radiance, Brandon Sanderson 5. The Goldfinch, Donna Tartt 6. Be Careful What You Wish For, Jeffrey Archer 7. The Bootlegger, Clive Cussler, Justin Scott 8. Stone Cold, C.J. Box 9. Power Play, Danielle Steel 10. Private L.A., James Patterson, Mark Sullivan

Hardcover Nonfiction

1. Glitter and Glue: A Memoir, Kelly Corrigan 2. The Blood Sugar Solution 10-Day Detox Diet, Mark Hyman 3. Duty: Memoirs of a Secretary at War, Robert M. Gates 4. Grain Brain: The Surprising Truth about Wheat, Carbs, and Sugar, David Perlmutter, Kristin Loberg 5. The Virgin Diet Cookbook: 150 Easy and Delicious Recipes to Lose Weight and Feel Better Fast, JJ Virgin 6. HRC: State Secrets and the Rebirth of Hillary Clinton, Jonathan Allen, Amie Parnes 7. One Year to an Organized Life, Regina Leeds 8. David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants, Malcolm Gladwell 9. Things That Matter: Three Decades of Passions, Pastimes, and Politics, Charles Krauthammer 10. My Promised Land: The Triumph and Tragedy of Israel, Ari Shavit

1. The Blood Sugar Solution 10-Day Detox Diet, Mark Hyman 2. Grain Brain: The Surprising Truth about Wheat, Carbs, and Sugar, David Perlmutter, Kristin Loberg 3. Uganda Be Kidding Me, Chelsea Handler 4. The Body Book, Cameron Diaz 5. Killing Jesus, Bill O’Reilly, Martin Dugard 6. The Future of the Mind, Michio Kaku 7. David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants, Malcolm Gladwell 8. Unbroken, Laura Hillenbrand 9. Success Through Stillness, Russell Simmons, Chris Morrow 10. I Can See Clearly Now, Wayne W. Dyer

Paperback (Fiction and Nonfiction)

Top-selling books in March at the Barnes & Noble in Bethesda compared with Barnes & Noble stores nationwide and at www.bn.com

1. The Reboot with Joe Juice Diet: Lose Weight, Get Healthy and Feel Amazing, Joe Cross 2. Cockroaches (Harry Hole Series, #2), Jo Nesbo 3. The Book Thief, Markus Zusak 4. Divergent (Divergent Series, #1), Veronica Roth 5. I’ve Never Been to Vegas, but My Luggage Has: Mishaps and Miracles on the Road to Happily Ever After, Mandy Hale 6. The Woman Upstairs, Claire Messud 7. My Beloved World, Sonia Sotomayor 8. 12 Years a Slave, Solomon Northup 9. The Monuments Men: Allied Heroes, Nazi Thieves, and the Greatest Treasure Hunt in History, Robert M. Edsel, Bret Witter 10. Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail, Cheryl Strayed

1. Shadow Spell (Cousins O’Dwyer Trilogy, #2), Nora Roberts 2. Divergent (Divergent Series, #1), Veronica Roth 3. A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life’s Purpose, Eckhart Tolle 4. Cancer: Step Outside the Box, 6th Edition, Ty M. Bollinger 5. The Truth About Retirement Plans and IRAs, Ric Edelman 6. Percy Jackson and the Olympians, 5-Book Boxed Set, Rick Riordan 7. The Book Thief, Markus Zusak 8. The Hunger Games Trilogy Boxed Set, Suzanne Collins 9. A Game of Thrones, 5-Book Boxed Set (Song of Ice and Fire Series), George R.R. Martin 10. The Real ACT Prep Guide, ACT Inc.

Source: Barnes & Noble Bethesda

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Owner Jay O’Hurley mans the front counter of O’Hurley’s General Store, which offers an eclectic assortment of goods. He was born right upstairs.

A Little Town with a

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Big Personality This bank shows the distinctive architecture of Shepherdstown, which is said to be the oldest town in West Virginia.

At historic Shepherdstown, the locals put visitors at ease

By Laurie McClellan Photos by Michael Ventura

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Lost Dog Coffee makes for an inviting hangout.

With its quirky boutiques, German Street is a great place to meander and shop.

I

drive into Shepherdstown at 10 a.m. on a Saturday. By 10:15, I’m already being treated like a local.

My first stop is O’Hurley’s General Store on Washington Street, just a few blocks off the main drag. While chatting with owner Jay O’Hurley, I mention that I’m headed to the historical society to see the museum. (It seems like an appropriate starting point in a place that’s reported to be West Virginia’s oldest town, chartered in 1762.)

“The Hysterical Society? Would you mind dropping these off for me?” he asks, handing me a stack of old calendars. “We’ve been selling them as a fund​raiser. Tell them I’ve got an envelope with the money around here somewhere, but I can’t find it right now.”

Pressed into service, I run the errand.

“Money?” snorts the woman on the receiving end of O’Hurley’s message.

“We wouldn’t know what to do with that around here.”

I’ve been in town for less than an hour, and already I’m deep into fundraiser gossip. It’s like going to see a play, and then getting invited to climb on stage and join the actors.

By the end of the weekend, I realize this friendly, laid-back attitude is part of the town’s appeal, and a salve for the many power brokers who come to escape the frenetic pace of the D.C. area.

Jimmy Carter fished here, Nancy Reagan dropped by for lunch and Bill Clinton visited to attend peace talks.

These former inhabitants of the White House might be onto something. While Shepherdstown can be overshadowed by its famous historical neighbors—Antietam Battlefield, just five minutes away, and Harper’s Ferry, 12 miles down the road—it’s also a great place in its own right to enjoy the outdoors, have a bite to eat, do a little shopping and bask in the peaceful atmosphere of a small college town. Most everything here is within walking distance.

After completing my assigned errand, I wend my way through the Entler Hotel, home of the Historic Shepherdstown Museum. Revolutionary War troops once drilled on the land where the museum now stands before setting off on the famous Bee Line March, walking 600 miles in only 24 days to reach

The public library sits in the middle of King Street, forcing cars to detour to either side.

George Washington and his Continental Army in Boston. (A few Revolutionary War soldiers can still be found downtown, buried in the Episcopal Cemetery on North Church Street.)

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Sarah Kuhns offers a platter of treats at the Shepherdstown Sweet Shop Bakery.

The campus of Shepherd University sits at the center of downtown Shepherdstown.

The Historic Shepherdstown Museum features a half-scale replica of a steamboat built 20 years before Robert Fulton claimed credit for the invention.

Parts of the museum date to 1786, and period furnishings on the first floor re­create the heyday of the hotel, when lodging cost 25 cents—although, according to volunteer tour guide Vicki Smith, that quarter purchased only space in an available bed, which you might have to share with strangers.

Upstairs, the focus shifts to the Civil War, when wounded men from the nearby Battle of Antietam swamped the town, turning it into one vast, overwhelmed hospital. Local lore holds that the operating room was located on the

floor above today’s Sweet Shop Bakery.

For days, amputated limbs rained down from the open windows and fell into a waiting cart below.

A red barn behind the museum houses the handiwork of a mysterioussounding organization called the Rumseian Society, including a half-scale replica of the steamboat designed by engineer James Rumsey, which launched on the Potomac at the edge of Shepherds­ town in 1787, a good two decades before Robert Fulton took credit for inventing a similar craft. (Although Rumsey’s legacy now languishes in Fulton’s shadow, Thomas Jefferson reportedly called Rumsey “the greatest mechanical genius I have ever seen.”) A mural behind the boat depicts a crowd cheering Rumsey and his groundbreaking experiment.

Smith pauses to mention that the faces in the painting are based on those of area residents.

Before I leave, I stop by the visitors center that adjoins the museum to pick up a walking tour brochure. It’s a helpful guide to many of the intriguing buildings scattered throughout downtown,

like the public library, which stands smack in the middle of King Street, forcing cars to detour to either side.

Constructed in 1800, the narrow white-brick building started life as a public market, complete with a whipping post and hog pen. The second story was built by the International Order of Odd Fellows in exchange for an optimistic 999-year lease. It’s hard to miss the Odd Fellows’ symbol, a giant eye surrounded by fiery rays, staring from the library’s façade. An alarming line in the walking brochure states that “some say the eye moves,” although when I ask the volunteers in the visitors center to confirm that fact, they burst out laughing.

One finally admits that the eye might come to life “if you’re a college student heading home from the bars on Saturday night.”

The campus of Shepherd University, a public liberal arts university with some 4,000 undergraduates, sits at the center of downtown, and the school is responsible for another oddity, the aptly named Little House on Princess Street. A miniature yet detailed stone house that measures 10 feet

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The Bavarian Inn offers fine dining, with German specialties such as spaetzle and wild game.

high, it was originally built in 1929 as a lab where student teachers could observe children playing. Although it’s no longer in official use, this overgrown dollhouse is often open for tours during festivals.

Strolling past the quirky boutiques, gardens and historic homes along German Street, I take a left on Mill Street, and eventually reach the Rumsey Monument, which celebrates former resident James Rumsey and his steamboat. The tall stone column occupies a wonderful perch on the bluffs above the Potomac.

From this viewpoint, the trains chugging across the river on a long trestle bridge look like pieces of a toy train set.

If Shepherdstown

had an official verb, it might be “meander.” German Street, at the center of the compact downtown, is an inviting place to wander in and out of shops. Popping in for a drink at the funky Lost Dog Coffee, I’m greeted by a unique taxidermy display featuring a squirrel holding a cellphone and a pheasant being ridden by a troll. The many varieties of biscotti here are homemade.

German Street is also home to Four Seasons Books, an independent bookstore with a maze of snug rooms, comfy armchairs and used books upstairs.

Other stores are strong on housewares,

including D’Accord Boutique (French goods), Dickinson & Wait Craft Gallery (some regionally sourced crafts) and Coffee & Candlery (where candles share space with regional wines and cheeses).

While any shopkeeper can recommend a good spot for lunch, the staff at Pedal & Paddle can also tell you how to work off those midday calories. The outfitter is a convenient spot to rent kayaks, canoes and bikes to use on the C&O Canal and its towpath, located just outside town. If even thinking about exercising makes you feel like you deserve a treat, try the lavender vanilla cupcakes at the Shepherdstown Sweet Shop Bakery across the street.

A few blocks away on Washington Street, O’Hurley’s General Store stocks an eclectic assortment of goods, from old-fashioned toys to fair-trade mittens from South America, along with local honey, cowbells, antiques, handmade chairs, birdhouses, decorative knobs and a few bins of hardware thrown into the mix. Owner Jay O’Hurley was born upstairs, back when his father ran the store. Now he mans the front counter next to an enormous woodstove that keeps the building toasty on chilly mornings. The great room at the back of the store is the place to be on Thursday nights, when O’Hurley’s hosts a jam

session of Appalachian and traditional music in front of the fireplace.

Snatches of music drift through the streets of Shepherdstown after dark, adding to a surprisingly lively nightlife scene. It’s not unusual to find someone strumming a guitar or picking a banjo on a bench in front of a coffee shop. Impromptu performances aside, the Blue Moon Café, a popular restaurant, hosts live music on most weekend nights. The intimate and historic Mecklenburg Inn has changed little since the late 1790s, and is now a pub with a large garden, where I was allowed to cuddle the resident orange cat, B.K. (for Bar Kitty).

Local organizations and Shepherd University also host events ranging from contra dancing to plays and free screenings of independent films. Another popular concert venue is the Opera House on German Street, a former movie theater that showed films from 1909 to 1956, and today is mostly devoted to music.

With all this cultural activity, Shepherdstown may be a small town, but it’s anything but sleepy. Even after 9 p.m., the streets are fairly full of people sipping coffee, chatting, heading to a pub or leaving a concert.

The small-town spirit is still alive at four-way stops, however, where the welcoming vibe of the place prevails. I keep getting caught in a polite version of a standoff that could be called a nice-off, as other drivers take turns waving from their cars and insisting that I go first.

After spending two days in Shepherds­ town, I’m not surprised when I hear Jim Ford, one of the innkeepers at the Thomas Shepherd Inn Bed and Breakfast, say, “Many of our guests decided to move to Shepherdstown after visiting for the weekend.”

So come for the music, the hiking, the history or the cupcakes. Just watch out for that scary giant eye. n Freelance writer and photographer Laurie McClellan was so smitten with Shepherdstown that she checked its real estate listings as soon as she got home. To comment on this story, email comments@bethesda magazine.com.

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If YOu GO GETTING THERE

Shepherdstown is about 66 miles from Bethesda. From the Capital Beltway, take I-270 North toward Frederick. In 28 miles, merge onto I-70 West, drive 1.3 miles and merge onto U.S. 340 West toward Harper’s Ferry. After 21 miles, turn right on WV-230, Shepherdstown Pike, and continue 10 miles into town.

WHERE TO STAY

Thomas Shepherd Inn Bed and Breakfast, 300 West German St., 304-876-3715 or 888-889-8952; www.thomasshepherd inn.com. This comfortable 1868 house is located downtown, within walking distance of all the shops and restaurants.

Many of the generously sized rooms have sitting areas. Fans of claw-foot bathtubs should book Room No. 6. Rates: $170-$205; includes full breakfast, afternoon snacks, WiFi and access to the living room, guest library and porch with rocking chairs.

Bavarian Inn, 164 Shepherd Grade Road, 304-876-2551; www.bavarianinn wv.com. Although a little corner of Germany might be the last thing you’d expect to find in West Virginia, wait a moment before you cue the oompah music. More elegant than kitschy, the Bavarian Inn is perhaps best known for fine dining, with an emphasis on German specialties like spaetzle and wild game.

Many of the inn’s rooms are equipped with antiques, gas fireplaces and balconies with a lovely view of the Potomac.

Rates: $99-$349.

WHERE TO EAT AND DRINK

Blue Moon Café, 200 East High St., 304876-1920; www.bluemoonshepherds town.com. Open daily from 11 a.m.-9 p.m. for lunch and dinner. Relaxed and friendly, this classic college town eatery offers a large menu of salads and sandwiches, plus comfort foods such as pizza, Mexican dishes and meatloaf. A good selection of microbrews populate the beer list. When weather permits, ask for a table in the garden. Entrées, $8 to $15.

Yellow Brick Bank, 201 East German

German Street’s Four Seasons Books has been “matching people and books since 1991.”

St., 304-876-2208; www.yellowbrickbank. com. Open from 11 a.m.-9 p.m. TuesdaySaturday (lunch is served until 4 p.m.).

Housed in a 1906 Beaux Arts bank (the old bank vault now holds a wine cellar), this is the restaurant where Nancy Reagan used to lunch with George Will. Lunch is served in an informal seating area near the bar, with dinner in the main dining room. The menu emphasizes seafood and steaks, with some vegetarian options. Lunch entrées, $9 to $17; dinner, $20 to $31.

Shepherdstown Sweet Shop Bakery, 100 West German St., 304-876-2432; wvbakery.com. Open from 7 a.m.-6 p.m.

Monday-Friday; 8 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturday; 8 a.m.-4 p.m. Sunday. Serving pastries for breakfast and soups and sandwiches for lunch, this bakery really shines at providing customers with an afternoon sugar rush, thanks to a wide range of cake slices, cupcakes, doughnuts, éclairs and fancy cookies, as well as a coffee bar.

Lost Dog Coffee, 134 East German St., 304-876-0871; www.lostdogcoffee. com. Open 6:30 a.m.-6 p.m. MondayFriday; 7:30 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturday; 7:30 a.m.-5 p.m. Sunday. This independent coffee shop serves up an offbeat attitude and dozens of whole-bean coffees and loose teas. According to its website, it also will “fix bike tires and help little old ladies across the street.”

Mecklenburg Inn, 128 East German St., 304-876-2126. Hours vary. The beer garden is a highlight at this pub, which dates to 1793. Ornate, tin-covered walls and a woodstove are reminders of its long history. Brave souls can take a seat on one of the tree swings out back. It hosts frequent open-mic nights and live music.

Blue Moon Café’s grilled chicken and avocado salad

WHERE TO SHOP

Dickinson & Wait Craft Gallery, 121 East German St., 304-876-0657. Open from 11 a.m.-5 p.m. daily. Roughly 20 percent of the American crafts here come from the Appalachian region. The stock ranges from the small and portable (art cards and jewelry) to the truly hefty (handcrafted furniture). Recent treasures include a fetching tape measure housed in blue maple wood and a lamp made from river stones.

D’Accord Boutique, 134 West German St., 304-876-8003; daccordboutique. com. Open 11 a.m.-6 p.m. weekdays and Sunday; 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturday. If you can’t jet to Paris to shop for housewares, this shop is the next best thing. French linens, pottery and glassware are interspersed with dozens of small treasures, from Eiffel Tower key chains to caramels from Brittany.

Four Seasons Books, 116 West German St., 304-876-3486; fourseasons books.com. Open 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Monday-Thursday; 10 a.m.-8 p.m. Friday and Saturday; 1-5 p.m. Sunday. An independent bookstore with new and used books, operating under the motto “matching people and books since 1991.”

German St. Coffee & Candlery, 103 West German St., 304-876-1106. Open 10 a.m.-5 p.m. most weekdays (closed

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If YOu GO Tuesday); 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturday; 11:30 a.m.-6 p.m. Sunday. If you’re packing a picnic, stop here for a wide selection of local cheeses, wines, snacks, dips and chocolate. True to its name, the shop also sells whole-bean coffees, candles and candle chandeliers, and other gifts, such as bath products and kitchen towels.

Pedal & Paddle, 115 West German St., 304-876-3000; thepedalpaddle.com. Open noon-7 p.m. Monday-Friday; 10 a.m.-7 p.m. Saturday; 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Sunday, April–December (shorter hours in winter months). The rental fleet here includes mountain and road bikes, kids’ bikes, kayaks and canoes. The shop also provides shuttle service to the Potomac River and hosts group bike rides every weekend.

O’Hurley’s General Store, 205 East Washington St., 304-876-6907; www. ohurley.com. Open 9 a.m.-9 p.m. daily.

Stop by to pet Milo the cat, warm up by the fireplace, add a piece to the half-finished jigsaw puzzle, or attend the weekly heritage music jam sessions on Thursday nights from 7:30-11 p.m. You’ll also find an unusual collection of hardware, housewares, local products and assorted things you never knew you always needed.

C&O Canal: To reach this level hiking and biking path about a mile from town, follow North Duke Street across the Potomac River. There are parking lots just over the bridge.

ANNUAL EVENTS

Contemporary American Theater Festival, 304-876-3473; catf.org. Now in its 24th season, this year’s event runs WORTH CHECKING OUT from July 11-Aug. 3. Last year, more Shepherdstown Visitors Center, 129 than 13,000 people attended this highly East German St., 304-876-2786; www. regarded festival, which showcases five shepherdstownvisitorscenter.com. Open or more new American plays, along with 9 a.m.-4 p.m. daily. There’s a lot going on workshops, lectures and discussions. Sinin Shepherdstown, so be sure to check gle tickets, $30-$59; special rates for stuthe online calendar of events before you dents, seniors and military. Multiple-show visit. During the summer, when town passes also available. parking is tight, you might want to print Mountain Heritage Arts and Crafts out the parking map at www.shepherds Festival, 304-725-2055, www.jefferson town.us/?page_id=4832. countywvchamber.org. The 2014 festival Historic Shepherdstown Museum, takes place Sept. 26-28, featuring some 129 East German St., 304-876-0910; 200 juried artisans, along with area wines www.historicshepherdstown.com. Open and bluegrass music. Advance tickets: $5 April-October: 11 a.m-5 p.m. Saturday; for adults; $2 for children. n 1-4 p.m. Sunday. Call to arrange a private tour during the off-season.

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Once Upon a

time

By Mark Walston

Going for the Gold Alice kresse; National Park Service, C&O Canal National Historic Park

Prospectors once swarmed the Potomac: Believe it—ore not

In 1849—just as the California Gold Rush was picking up steam— Samuel Ellicott discovered a gold nugget in a stream on his farm just north of Brookeville, along today’s aptly named Gold Mine Road. Word spread, and the hunt was on.

Isolated finds occurred in Triadelphia, Olney, Dawsonville and Rockville. But the real pay dirt was struck in a quartz vein that ran along the Potomac River from Georgetown up through Bethesda and down to Great Falls.

Gold seekers panned the streams, dug trenches to expose the quartz vein and burrowed deep into the ground, hoping for riches. One mine eventually yielded 6,000 ounces of gold—the equivalent of nearly $8 million at today’s price.

By 1867, the outfit that became the

Maryland Mining Company had dug a 100-foot shaft near the corner of Falls Road and MacArthur Boulevard. The most productive of the mines that eventually dotted the Potomac area, the enterprise continued off and on until 1940, eventually encompassing 2,200 acres with a huge honeycomb of 200foot shafts connected by tunnels. Remnants of the mines still exist along interpretive trails within the C&O park property; other shafts lie beneath the River Falls subdivision.

More than two dozen mining operations were underway in the BethesdaPotomac area by the turn of the century.

Many were run by small prospectors with big dreams of striking it rich. One of them, Charles Miller, purchased land along present-day Whittier Boulevard in

Bethesda in 1889. He worked the land for the next decade, eventually sinking a main shaft 325 feet long with intersecting tunnels in the form of an “F.” He dug it all by hand, with pick and shovel. But as his daughter, Mary Uranium Hymes, would later note, the yield was negligible.

By the 1920s, the mine had been abandoned and the opening closed. The tunnels filled with water. However, the shaft would reemerge in the 1970s, when developers sought to build new houses on the property. Area residents tried to block the construction, arguing that the existence of the mine would make the houses susceptible to “subsidence,” or sinking.

When the entrance to the shaft was reopened and the water pumped out, an abandoned ore car was discovered deep inside. Local history buffs tried to have it removed and preserved, but the cost and planning board resistance were insurmountable. The mine was resealed and allowed to fill up again with water, and the houses eventually were built—with Charles Miller’s ore car remaining below.

Today, the land is worth more than any gold that could be found beneath it.

Meanwhile, the vein running along the Potomac was never played out.

Even today, there are reports of gold being found in area streams. Mounds of excavated quartz can still be seen in the woods.

Methods used in the 19th and early 20th centuries to separate the gold from the rock weren’t as advanced as today, so gold flecks often remained in the crushed quartz. Later, some of the discarded quartz was used on MacArthur Boulevard—making it literally a road paved with gold. n Mark Walston is an author and historian raised in Bethesda and now living in Olney. To comment on this story, email comments@bethesdamagazine.com.

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sarah pekkanen’s

domestic

disturbances

Marshmallow Days crumpled piece of paper I’m holding. It doesn’t seem to be anything special— just a few small thumbprints depicting a flower and a shaky-looking oval that could be a leaf. Or an alligator. Or a spaceship. Or an alligator riding a spaceship made from a leaf, because that’s the way little kids see the world. They’re like miniature Willy Wonkas set loose in a fun house after downing three espressos.

I place the artwork into the “toss” pile and reach again into the big envelope that accompanied my preschooler home. Here’s a sketch that appears to be of a person with marshmallow limbs and tiny jazz hands. He lies sideways, hovering high above the ground. Another candidate for the toss pile.

We don’t have room for any of this stuff. As it is, my closets should sport an “Enter at Your Own Peril” sign.

But then I see the teacher’s note on the back of that horizontal marshmallow person drawing. “Me Doing Karate,” it reads, a title dictated by my 5-year-old, Dylan.

He started karate two months ago, and he struts around in pants that are comically big (come to think of it, they do make his legs look like marshmallows), held in place by a white belt tied around his little tummy. Yet this is how he sees himself: soaring through the air, about to unleash an Olympic-caliber kick. Spider-Man’s got nothing on him.

What I should do is bring all of this artwork upstairs, into the attic. I’ll save it for a few years, then maybe I’ll be ready to toss it.

I pull down the stairs and begin to climb into the musty, creaky space we so rarely enter.

I pass the empty corner that used to hold the wooden glider on which I rocked all of my kids. The glider came

in a giant box that showed a picture of a pretty mother smiling at the slumbering infant in her arms. That woman and her baby really pissed me off. Whenever I sat in that chair, I was slumped over in exhaustion, something foul-smelling stuck to my shoulder, my feet in mismatched socks. I gave our rocker to my nanny’s daughter when she had her first child, hoping it wasn’t cursed.

In another corner are plastic bins of baby clothes. I’ve given away most of the outfits my kids have outgrown, but these are the pieces I can’t bear to part with. I see a flash of pink and yellow and realize I’m looking at a bin with old Halloween costumes. My boys were Winnie the Pooh and Piglet one year, holding hands and shrieking with delight over their unbelievable good fortune in scoring a mini Hershey’s bar.

I peek into the bin, wondering if it has enough room for the artwork, and see the tiny clip-on tie my sons wore when they were baptized. I catch my breath and sit down on the floor, remembering their grandparents’ tears of pride, and the soft, heavy feel of those babies in my arms.

Those days are bittersweet now, but back when we were in the thick of them, my friends and I were stunned by the blurry, constant exhaustion we faced.

Sometimes we’d brew a pot of coffee and list all the ways being a parent of toddlers was similar to being a rock star.

Sometimes you got to go to bed with two or three people! Sometimes you woke

up covered in vomit! And forget the fad diets of glamorous movie stars: A-listers could keep their organic cleanses— we moms existed on nothing but mac ’n’ cheese and old pizza crusts for three days running. And who needed personal trainers? We could summon the speed and agility of an Olympic athlete anytime we spotted a toddler dangling from a tall play structure, calling for help.

I tuck the artwork into the bin and start to close the lid. Then I reach back in and pull out Marshmallow Dylan. Soon he’ll graduate from preschool and climb aboard a big yellow bus, heading to allday kindergarten. The tiny shoes stacked in the holder by the front door will be replaced by bigger ones, with real laces instead of Velcro. Alligators and leaves and spaceships will no longer consort.

One day he’ll decide he’s too old to trick or treat.

I pin the picture to the refrigerator, as a reminder of a time when magic was everywhere. n Sarah Pekkanen’s latest novel is Catching Air (Washington Square Press, 2014).

She can be reached at sarah.pekkanen@ bethesdamagazine.com.

PAUL HOSTETLER

I really need to throw away the

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1 3 5 9 B E V E R LY R D . 7 0 3 - 7 3 4 - 6 1 0 2 LORTON

ANNE ARUNDEL SHOWROOM B A LT I M O R E S H O W R O O M

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10440 FURNACE RD. 703-690-4045

8 0 3 1 R I T C H I E H W Y. 4 1 0 - 7 6 1 - 5 7 0 0

1858 REISTERSTOWN RD. 410-486-0500

www.stuartkitchens.com

4/2/14 3:07 PM