Bethesda Magazine: November-December 2017

Green Award Winners | Review of the New Addie’s BETHESDAMAGAZINE.COM

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2017

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YO 60 Plu U CA W s: N A GI Y VE S BA CK

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2017 HOPE LIVES HERE | GREEN AWARD WINNERS | THE NEW ADDIE’S

Hope Lives Here Amid the county’s rapidly changing demographics, many elementary schools face major challenges. At a school in Germantown, the principal and her staff go beyond their usual roles to address the needs of students and their families.

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SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION

culture watch Take Your Pick…

Heritage Montgomery …of great places to leave your holiday stress behind — visit and shop the Montgomery County Heritage Area! Our many museums, parks, and historic sites offer unique gift shops as well as fun activities for your out-of-town guests. Let HeritageMontgomery.org be your guide to buying local, learning local, and playing local.

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The Nutcracker Maryland Youth Ballet Robert E. Parilla Performing Arts Center Montgomery College 51 Mannakee Street, Rockville, MD Fri., Dec. 15 & 22 at 7:00pm Sat., Dec. 16 at 1:00pm & 5:00pm Sun., Dec. 17 at 1:00pm & 5:00pm Mon., Dec. 23 at 1:00pm & 5:00pm Tues., Dec. 26, at 1:00pm & 5:00pm Magical dolls, dancing snowflakes, and an enchanting kingdom of sweets return to the stage this holiday season for Maryland Youth Ballet’s award winning production of “The Nutcracker.” Voted both Outstanding Production in Classical Dance and Outstanding Youth Performance

by Dance Metro DC Awards, MYB’s version of the holiday classic is a metropolitan area family favorite.

Tickets: In advance: $26 Children & Seniors; $31 Adults At the door: $31 Children & Seniors; $36 Adults Nutcracker VIP Experience — Includes pre-performance reception, behind-the-scenes tour, and more! $60 Children; $70 Adults MARYLANDYOUTHBALLET.ORG OR 301-608-2232

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Gandhi Memorial Center Open Fri. & Sat. from 10:00am-4:00pm, during special events, and by appointment The Center presents an array of cultural and educational programs of music, dance, art and literature, relating the spiritual heritage and philosophy of Mahatma Gandhi.

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Experience Something Extraordinary! CultureSpotMC.com CultureSpotMC.com is a service of the Arts & Humanities Council of Montgomery County

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SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION

29th Annual Production of The Nutcracker

Metropolitan Ballet Theatre & Academy Robert E. Parilla Performing Arts Center Montgomery College, 51 Mannakee St., Rockville Fri., Dec. 1 & 8 at 7:30pm Sat., Dec. 2 & 9 at 12:00pm & 4:00pm Sun., Dec. 3 & 10 at 1:00pm & 5:00pm “The Nutcracker Suite”: Sat., Dec. 16-17 at 1:00pm & 4:00pm @ MBT Black Box Start your holiday season with the enchanting tale of “The Nutcracker.”

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Horton Foote’s “A Coffin in Egypt” in Rep with Conor McPherson’s “St Nicholas” Quotidian Theatre Company Nov. 15-Dec. 17, 2017 “A Coffin in Egypt” recounts the dramatic life of a Texas widow, while “St Nicholas” follows a theatre critic’s dark journey into the supernatural.

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National Philharmonic Presents Bach and Bachianas Sat., Nov. 11 at 8:00pm Danielle Talamantes, soprano; National Philharmonic Chorale; Piotr Gajewski, conductor Villa-Lobos Bachianas Brasileiras Nos. 1, 5 & 9; J.S. Bach Magnificat Handel’s Messiah Sat., Dec. 16 at 8:00pm & Sun., Dec. 17 at 3:00pm Esther Heideman, soprano; National Philharmonic Chorale; Stan Engebretson, conductor Sponsor: Ameriprise Financial NATIONALPHILHARMONIC.ORG OR 301-581-5100

Cool Yule with Mark G. Meadows Arts on the Green Fri., Dec. 15, 2017 at 8:00pm Acclaimed artist Mark G. Meadows performs jazz arrangements of holiday favorites and originals. Tickets: $15-25.

Also don’t miss: “A Singer Songwriter Holiday” on 12/17!

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Frosty the Snow Man Adventure Theatre Nov. 17-Dec. 31, 2017 Do you want to build a snow man?

How about watching him spring to life in front of you for one day of adventures before he melts away? In this merry wintertime romp, chockfull of chuckles and comic antics, Frosty dances into the hearts of kids and adults alike- even the heart of one near-sighted cop- through his uproarious antics.

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Find all these events and more at CultureSpotMC.com

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Collins Investment Group is pleased to announce our new Partner and President,

Richard J. Calhoun, Jr.

Richard (Rick) Calhoun’s extensive background in wealth management and business development is a perfect complement to our team. In his role as CEO, Rick will be building upon the solid foundation that Collins Investment Group has built over the years with our clients and their families. We are confident that Rick’s vision for the future of Collins Investment Group will bring our team and our relationships with clients to greater heights.

To learn more about Rick Calhoun and how Collins Investment Group can help you meet your investment goals, please visit our website: collinsinvestmentgroup.com or give us a call at 301-915-9630.

Robert Collins of Collins Investment Group Barron’s Top 1200 Financial Advisor 2014-2017 Top 1000 2009-2013 Financial Times Top 400 Financial Advisors 2013 & 2017

6901 Rockledge Drive | Suite 730 | Bethesda | MD | 20817 301.915.9630 | collinsinvestmentgroup.com Barron’s Top 1,200 Advisors [Prior to 2014 the Barron’s Top 1,200 was recognized as the Barron’s Top 1,000 Advisors] - The rankings are based on data provided by thousands of advisors. Factors included in the rankings were assets under management, revenue produced for the firm, regulatory record and client retention.

Financial Times Top 400 Advisors - Rankings are based on data provided by investment firms. Factors include assets under management, experience, industry certifications, online accessibility and compliance record. Investment performance and financial advisor production are not explicit components.

Wells Fargo Advisors Financial Network and its affiliates do not provide legal or tax advice. Any estate plan should be reviewed by an attorney who specializes in estate planning and is licensed to practice law in your state.

Investment and insurance products: NOT FDIC-Insured NO Bank Guarantee MAY Lose Value Investment products and services offered through Wells Fargo Advisors Financial Network, LLC (WFAFN), member SIPC, a registered broker-dealer and a separate non-bank affiliate of Wells Fargo & Company. Collins Investment Group is a separate entity from WFAFN.

November/December 2017 | Volume 14 Issue 6

contents

P. 119 Guide to Giving

More than 60 ways to make a difference in our community

Principal Nora Dietz and some of the students at Daly Elementary School in Germantown

ON THE COVER Nearly three-quarters of the students at Germantown’s Daly Elementary School are from low-income families.

For the principal and her staff, academics are only part of the job.

BY CINDY RICH

COVER: Photo by Lisa Helfert

14 NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2017 | BETHESDAMAGAZINE.COM

PHOTO BY LISA HELFERT

90 hope lives here

contents P. 146 Roberto Pietrobono at his second Gringos & Mariachis restaurant, at Park Potomac

features 146 grand designs

156 Green gurus

Philanthropist of the Year Cliff White uses business strategies to help people in our community—and he’s teaching young people how to do the same thing

A restaurant’s layout and décor play a big part in the dining experience.

Local designers talk about how they come up with their concepts and most successful projects.

From Montessori school students immersed in farming to a biotech company that’s filling its headquarters with energy-efficient features, here are the winners of this year’s Bethesda Magazine Green Awards, held in partnership with Bethesda Green

BY CARALEE ADAMS

BY MIKE UNGER

BY CARALEE ADAMS

16 NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2017 | BETHESDAMAGAZINE.COM

168 Bethesda Interview Montgomery County State’s Attorney John McCarthy talks about gang violence, what happened at Rockville High School and the cases that really get to him

BY DAVID FREY

PHOTO BY DEB LINDSEY

112 A Lesson in Giving

W E ’ L L T R E AT YOU LIKE F A M I LY. . .

M AY B E E V E N BETTER

WE SELL THE MOST IMPORTANT HOME. YOURS. TM MD 301.463.7800 | DC 202.774.9800 | VA 703.270.0011 WYDLERBROTHERS.COM

contents

P. 188

DEPARTMENTS 22 | TO OUR READERS 24 | CONTRIBUTORS 30 | FROM OUR READERS

33

243

68 | HOMETOWN

good life

The president of Suburban Hospital originally wanted a theater career. She changed paths early on and now has her biggest role yet.

BY STEVE ROBERTS

home

36 | BEST BETS

188 | HOUSE APPROPRIATIONS Go for the gold this holiday season with accents that shimmer and shine

190 | FROM THE GROUND UP

Where to go, what to see

49

When renovations can’t do the job, residents are building custom homes to get what they really want

banter

people. politics. books. columns.

200 | HOME SALES BY THE NUMBERS

52 | FIGURATIVELY SPEAKING Fire and rescue by the numbers

213

56 | QUICK TAKES

health

60 | BOOK REPORT

At a tough time in her life, a North Bethesda mom found her calling as a yoga teacher

As downtown Bethesda’s Barnes & Noble closes, so goes the gathering place our community needs

BY APRIL WITT

We serve up a stuffing dish with cranberries and chestnuts

256 | DINING GUIDE

279

etc.

280 | SHOP TALK A rabbi twists silverware into jewelry. Plus, hostess gift ideas from Marigold & Grey.

From the first date to the big day, it all happened at a Bethesda country club

214 | BE WELL

64 | SUBURBANOLOGY

254 | COOKING CLASS

284 | WEDDINGS

News you may have missed

New books by local authors, literary events and more

Chef Jeff Black re-creates the beloved Addie’s at Park Potomac

What’s happening on the local food scene

187

40 | ARTS CALENDAR

244 | REVIEW

248 | TABLE TALK

art. festivals. culture. day trips. hidden gems.

Can’t-miss arts events

dine

216 | TRAINING DAYS Older athletes in the Bethesda area are taking running, swimming and biking to the next level, pushing their limits with a coach and teammates who live for triathlons

224 | WELLNESS CALENDAR

288 | GET AWAY Your cheat sheet for a weekend away

301 | PETS Some local families spend months training dogs to help others

302 | FLASHBACK If you’ve seen a UFO in the sky over Bethesda, you’re not alone

AD SECTIONS PROFILES: FAMILY BUSINESSES 73

LONG & FOSTER AD SECTION 179

SHOWCASE: KITCHEN & BATH 206

18 NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2017 | BETHESDAMAGAZINE.COM

PROFILES: SENIOR SERVICES 227

PROFILES: SALONS & SPAS 273

PRIVATE SCHOOLS 292

COURTESY PHOTO

304 | OUTTAKES

Celebrates 10 Years of Commitment to Your Success NOVEMBER

2007

FEBRUARY 2014

GR A N D O PE N I N G

$500 MILLION IN ASSETS

Revere Bank Opens for Business

75 Employees

15 employees

% SEPTEMBER 2016

MARCH 2016

Revere Bank Welcomes Monument Bank

Revere Bank Welcomes BlueRidge Bank

$1.9 BILLION IN ASSETS

$1.2 BILLION IN ASSETS

200 Employees

129 Employees

NOVEMBER

OCTOBER 2017

Named One of the

50 FASTEST GROWING COMPANIES

2017

%

$2+ BILLION IN ASSETS 208 Employees

in the Washington Region by the Washington Business Journal

Revere Bank is proud to make local decisions that benefit the communities we serve.

Founded in 2007, we provide exceptional service to customers throughout the I-270 and Washington-Baltimore corridors. With our team of experienced bankers, we have the resources and capabilities to help businesses and individuals achieve their financial goals.

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Shady Grove · 301.841.9600

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Silver Spring · 301.841.9579

Frederick · 301.620.2583

Rockville · 240.499.1190

Towson · 410.324.4300

Gaithersburg · 301.591.8099

Severna Park · 443.274.1020

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The winner will receive two tickets to five shows that are part of the global concert series Windows to the World, featuring artists such as Idan Raichel, Niyaz and Arturo O’Farrill.

To enter, go to BethesdaMagazine.com/giveaways

Online, not in line.

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to our readers

The staff of Bethesda Magazine: (Left side of photo) Jill Trone, Penny Skarupa, Cindy Rich, Jennifer Farkas, Susan Hull, Joe Zimmermann, Andrew Schotz, LuAnne Spurrell; (right side of photo) Jenny Ragone; Bethany Rodgers, Amélie Ward, Rebecca Scherr, Maire McArdle, Arliss Dellapa, Onecia Ribeiro, Andrew Metcalf, Kathleen Neary, Sarah Hogue; (not pictured) Laura Goode, Caitlin Micek, Meghan Murphy, Julie Rasicot

THE DALY CHALLENGE

22 NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2017 | BETHESDAMAGAZINE.COM

in numerous ways, providing counsel, food, clothing and furniture. They often visit the homes of the students in the mobile home park and other neighborhoods—and get to know the parents and families.

I thought the Daly story was important to tell because of the magnitude of the challenges and the extraordinary response of the staff members—and because many other schools are dealing with the same issues.

Over the past six months, Cindy Rich, our senior editor, has spent countless hours at Daly and in Germantown, interviewing Dietz, Daly staff members and the parents of students. In this issue, Rich provides an account of Daly that is both sobering and inspiring.

Her story, “Hope Lives Here,” begins on page 90.

EVERY YEAR IN OUR November/December issue we run a photo of the Bethesda Magazine and Bethesda Beat staff on this page. We do so because I want our readers to see the hardworking people who deserve credit for whatever success we have had. It’s an honor to work with such a talented and dedicated group.

I hope you enjoy this issue of Bethesda Magazine.

Please email me with your thoughts at steve.hull@ bethesdamagazine.com.

STEVE HULL Editor & Publisher

PHOTOS BY MICHAEL VENTURA

THE MAIN HALLWAY AT Daly Elementary School in Germantown is adorned with photos of nearly 30 years of graduating classes. In the first photo, about half the kids are white. But as you move down the hall and through the years, that starts to change. In the most recent photo, the vast majority of the students are of color.

“If you have blond hair you stand out,” says Principal Nora Dietz.

Daly and many other elementary schools in Montgomery County are the face of the region’s rapidly changing demographics. Today, about 73 percent of the students in public elementary schools are nonwhite; 15 years ago that number was about 56 percent.

I met Dietz several years ago, when she helped lead a tour of the Middlebrook Mobile Home Park, the last remaining mobile home community in the county.

The tour was organized by the Healthcare Initiative Foundation to highlight the difficult living conditions of the mostly Latino residents.

At the time, I thought it was unusual that an elementary school principal would be so involved in an activity that, on the face of it, wasn’t directly related to her school. But I’ve learned that Dietz is anything but usual as an educator.

About 125 of the Daly students live in the mobile home park. Some reside in trailers with other families. Most face unimaginable challenges.

Dietz decided years ago that she and her staff needed to go beyond their usual roles to address the needs of Daly students, nearly three-quarters of whom currently come from low-income households. These days, Dietz and her staff care for the students (and in many cases their families)

10 years and 5,000+ transactions.

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CELEBRATING TEN YEARS SINCE OPENING OUR DC/MD OFFICES Thank you to all of our agents and clients who have made this happen.

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Nora Burke Kathy Byars Colleen Conner Michael W. Cover Joan Caton Cromwell Chip Davis Craley Davis Leslie Dembinski Trish Diggs Nicole Donald Meghan Ellis Sabina Emerson Joan Fallows Ashley Fitzgerald

Penelope Frissell Kelly Garrett Taylor Barden Golden Katharine Gregg Gerry Gretschel Hilary Hausman Sue Hill Mark Hudson James T. Kim Dave Kolakowski Annie Koontz Rina Kunk Romain Layour Susan Leavitt Lauren Lefeve

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LISA HELFERT

MIKE UNGER

LIVES IN: Silver Spring

LIVES IN: Baltimore

IN THIS ISSUE: Photographed the cover story on Daly Elementary School. “The staff is heartwarming, and the kids are engaging and super cute.”

IN THIS ISSUE: Wrote about restaurant design. “I thought that I paid attention to the way restaurants are designed, but now I realize that the professionals put so much more thought into everything—including furniture, lighting, noise level and color schemes—than most of us diners can imagine.”

WHAT SHE DOES: A freelance photographer, Helfert shoots regularly for Bethesda Magazine and mainly photographs people.

FIRST JOB: “I was a sports photographer for the University of Maryland—basketball coach Gary Williams was one of my bosses.”

MOST INTERESTING PERSON SHE’S PHOTOGRAPHED: “I got to take photos of the Dalai Lama when he came to visit the National Institutes of Health. He was unpretentious even when surrounded by security.”

WHAT HE DOES: Unger writes about restaurants, food and drink, and sports for Baltimore magazine, and is a staff writer for American University’s American magazine.

FAVORITE RESTAURANT: “For a combination of style, service and food, it’s tough to beat the time-tested Bethesda branch of Jaleo.”

2017

Winner

americanplant.net

24 NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2017 | BETHESDAMAGAZINE.COM

COURTESY PHOTOS

contributors

Each person has their own path to good health.

Exercising to prevent diabetes

Relaxing after treatment for Parkinson’s disease

Hitting milestones after neonatal intensive care

Running again after robotic surgery

We’re on it. Ours is a vibrant, active and diverse community where life is always moving. Holy Cross Health is advancing, too, as a forward-thinking health system committed to helping our community members address their individual needs and goals to achieve a better quality of life. From hospitals and primary care sites, to specialty care and wellness programs, Holy Cross Health is accessible throughout the region to meet you on your path to good health.

Connect with us to help keep your life moving ahead.

Visit HolyCrossHealth.org or call 301-754-8800.

EDITORIAL EDITOR

Steve Hull DESIGN DIRECTOR

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Julie Rasicot BETHESDA BEAT WRITERS

Andrew Metcalf, Bethany Rodgers, Joe Zimmermann

Friendship Dermatology Specialists can help.

It’s no doggone fun being itchy and uncomfortable.

Many of our companions’ skin problems can be difficult to diagnose and manage. That’s why Friendship Hospital’s board-certified dermatologists, Dr. Darcie Kunder and Dr. Fiona Lee, receive referrals from veterinarians all over the East Coast.

Drs. Kunder and Lee received the highest-level training in this specialized field of medicine and taught at a premier veterinary college before joining the Friendship team. With great expertise and compassion, Drs. Kunder and Lee will properly diagnose and treat disorders of the skin, from flea allergies to autoimmune disease. They’ll give you the answers – and the relief – you and your companion need.

David Hagedorn CONTRIBUTING EDITORS

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Wishing You Happy Holidays!

It has been our privilege to help our neighbors in Bethesda and Chevy Chase with their real estate needs over the past 12 years.

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from our readers

I found this article mean-spirited. Peter Chang is a hardworking man building upon the American Dream. He is not alone in the struggle to make sense of

leaving a family and settling in America.

We are all too judgmental, and frankly, I think the author here is taking advantage of a man having a bad day and suffering from too much criticism. Hated this article!

Arlene Begelman, Bethesda

HOME TRUTHS Would be really interesting if any of these uber-home articles (“Nifty Shades of Gray,” September/October 2017) ever included the truth about what they actually paid; how long it took to make happen; what they screwed up; what their contractor/ architect screwed up; what else

surprised them. All we get to see in these renovation articles are the airbrushed final photos that sit there like the homeowners snapped their fingers and the results appeared.

Paul M, posted on BethesdaMagazine.com

SCHOOLS RULE In “Ranking Our High Schools” (September/October 2017), thank you for sharing the private school info from D.C. as well. This is quite helpful. We are fortunate to have so many strong schools in the Bethesda area.”

MCPS&PrivateSchoolMom, posted on BethesdaMagazine.com Bethesda Magazine welcomes letters to the editor.

Please email letters@bethesdamagazine.com and include your name, the town you live in and your daytime phone number. Bethesda Magazine reserves the right to edit letters for length and clarity.

BOARDING . DAY CAMP .

GROOMING . TRAINING .

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DULLES ROCKVILLE SPRINGFIELD “I

KNOW WHEN I DROP HIM OFF , THEY ’ LL TAKE CARE OF HIM BETTER THAN I WOULD .”- T HE N EW Y ORK T IMES

30 NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2017 | BETHESDAMAGAZINE.COM

COVER PHOTO BY MICHAEL VENTURA

ON Q I want to thank David Hagedorn for writing such a rich and interesting piece (“Q Up,” July/August 2017) on Peter Chang and his new Bethesda restaurant.

I savored every word and feel enriched by knowing more of his dramatic personal story. Now I’m even more eager to eat there again and try some of the dishes that were highlighted. I’m thrilled that Bethesda Magazine is covering the local food scene with such gusto and takes their writing talent seriously, and I look forward to reading more.

Aviva Goldfarb, Chevy Chase

JOHN SHEEHAN HEADLINE

Someone I admire...

Someone I admire is Heidi Webb.

She is just as authentic as the energy in this photo suggests.

When Heidi was in the 6th grade, she drew a floorplan for a shelter to provide men and women with a dignified place to live. Today, she is building on that core value as the Chief Development Officer for Cornerstone Montgomery.

The organization helps people with basic needs and offers job training. In some cases, temporary housing is offered to help the people stabilize. Outside of her philanthropic work, she enjoys hiking and international travel.

Someone I admire is Heidi because she is taking action to help those in grave need in Montgomery County.

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art. festivals. culture. day trips. hidden gems.

good life

A THANKSGIVING TRADITION

PHOTO BY LISA HELFERT

THEY COME IN TURKEY hats or full-on turkey costumes.

Families wear matching shirts made just for the occasion.

Others sport T-shirts from previous Turkey Chase races. One year, someone came dressed as a chef and carried a stuffed turkey on a platter.

For many runners, the Turkey Chase in Bethesda has become a tradition. “It’s just what you do on Thanksgiving,” says Karen Kirwan of Bethesda, who has been running the race with her family for more than 15 years.

The Turkey Chase, a fundraiser for the YMCA BethesdaChevy Chase and the Bethesda-Chevy Chase Rotary Club, draws about 9,000 runners across four races—a 10K, 2-mile, 1K and 50-meter—making it the largest race in Montgomery County, says Carla Larrick, who co-founded the event in 1982

and is vice president of operations for the YMCA BethesdaChevy Chase.

The throngs of runners chase turkey mascots who ride in a car or truck for the two longer races and are on foot for the others. The 10K winds through the neighborhood near the YMCA, south on Wisconsin Avenue to Old Georgetown Road and back to the YMCA. Everything wraps up by 10:30 a.m., allowing runners to get home in time for feasts and football.

The 35th annual Turkey Chase is Nov. 23. Races start and finish at the YMCA Bethesda-Chevy Chase. The 10K is $46 through Nov. 22; $52 on race day. The other races are $10-$21. turkeychase.com —Kathleen Seiler Neary BETHESDAMAGAZINE.COM | NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2017

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good life

TAKE A HOLIDAY STROLL ENJOYING BROOKSIDE GARDENS’ HOLIDAY

Garden of Lights at Brookside Gardens, Nov. 24, 2017, through Jan. 1, 2018, Sunday-Thursday 5:30 to 9 p.m. ($25 per car), Friday and Saturday 5:30-10 p.m. ($30 per car), closed Dec. 24 and 25; 1800 Glenallan Ave., Wheaton; 301-962-1400, montgomeryparks.org/parks-and-trails/ brookside-gardens —Caralee Adams

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NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2017 | BETHESDAMAGAZINE.COM

PHOTO BY LISA HELFERT

light exhibit often requires bundling up, which isn’t a bad thing. Visitors are able to see the twinkling caterpillar and larger-than-life sunflowers up close on foot rather than through a car window behind a trail of brake lights.

“There’s something magical about being in the garden after dark,” says Stephanie Oberle, director of Brookside Gardens, which makes all of its own nature-based displays, using more than a million lights. Amid 50 acres of gardens are ponds with glowing frogs, a bright storm cloud that’s paired with the sound of thunder, pergolas saturated with a single color of lights, and dozens of other displays.

After strolling the paved paths—and a few woodchip-covered routes—at your own pace, listen to live music and grab a hot cocoa in the visitors center. Or slip into the warm conservatory, where an elaborate mini-train exhibit with replicas of many local attractions weaves through the lush plants.

BETHESDAMAGAZINE.COM | NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2017

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BEST BETS

Our picks for the best things to see and do in November and December

BY STEPHANIE SIEGEL BURKE

Nov. 18

FESTIVE FLOATS While it’s not as long-running as the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City, which started in 1924, the Montgomery County Thanksgiving Parade in Silver Spring may be almost as dazzling. Marking its 20th anniversary this year, the local spectacle includes 12-foot-tall balloons, marching bands, dance performances, police on horses and motorcycles, beauty queens, fire engines, antique cars, clowns and performing dogs. Thanksgiving and Christmas-themed floats herald the start of the holiday season, along with an appearance by Santa. Looking for a holiday photo op? Head to Veterans Plaza, where you can pose with inflatable turkeys and penguins, or with Elsa from Frozen. Pictures with the hashtag #MoCoThanksParade will be broadcast on a large video screen along the parade route.

10 a.m. to noon, free, route starts at the Silver Spring Civic Building on Ellsworth Drive and moves to Georgia Avenue, then south to Silver Spring Avenue, silverspringdowntown.com

SONGS OF LOVE AND LOVELESS

Nov. 19

PIECE OF HER HEART

Singer-songwriter Lydia Loveless has a big voice that she can amplify to sound tough and angry, or tone down to sound raw and tender. Either way, Loveless, who’s been compared to greats such as Stevie Nicks and Loretta Lynn, always sounds Real, which is the title of her 2016 album.

Her honest, emotional songwriting and roots-rock musical style, which mixes country swagger with pop melodies and a bit of punk rock toughness, has earned praise from Rolling Stone and NPR. Her covers of songs by pop artists, including Justin Bieber, Kesha and Prince, highlight her talent and, ironically, her authenticity. Catch her when her tour comes to North Bethesda.

With her unmistakable voice, flower-child look and hard-living ways, Janis Joplin became an icon of the late 1960s hippie movement and the powerful rock ’n’ roll music that defined the era. In A Night with Janis Joplin, actress Mary Bridget Davies is supported by a band and a group of backup singers as she performs Joplin’s signature songs, along with the blues and soul music that influenced and inspired her.

8 p.m., $15-$20, Amp by Strathmore, ampbystrathmore.com

8 p.m., $45-$95, The Music Center at Strathmore, strathmore.org

36 NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2017 | BETHESDAMAGAZINE.COM

COURTESY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY; COURTESY OF STRATHMORE

Nov. 2

A SIBLEY BABY IS IN

We are committed to providing the best care for you and your baby.

Infants needing special care are treated by an expert team of obstetricians, neonatologists, nurses and Johns Hopkins maternal-fetal medicine specialists. The team works 24-hours a day to ensure your baby is always in great hands.

Take a virtual tour of our new state-of-the-art facilities at sibleybaby.org.

#SibleyBaby Tell us about your Sibley Baby!

good life

BEST BETS Nov. 17-Dec. 31

DO YOU WANT TO BUILD A SNOWMAN? Remember when snow days brought excitement and wonder, rather than the hassle of backbreaking shoveling and icy roads? Adventure Theatre’s production of Frosty the Snowman, directed by Jason Schlafstein of local theater company Flying V, aims to capture the sense of magic and possibility of an unexpected snow day, embodied in the famous and mischievous snowman. The show in Glen Echo celebrates the joy of winter with songs and laughs in a story for all ages. $19.50, Adventure Theatre, adventuretheatre-mtc.org

Dec. 9

Dec. 15-26

VISIONS OF SUGAR PLUMS The Maryland Youth Ballet’s production of The Nutcracker is a traditional take on the holiday favorite, choreographed

by Artistic Director Michelle Lees. It features lavish sets and costumes, a shooting cannon and a growing Christmas tree. Some of the dancers who have performed the leading roles of Sugar Plum Fairy, Snow Queen and Flower Queen in past seasons have gone on to professional dance careers. Could the next Misty Copeland be among the more than 100 dancers performing in this year’s production in Rockville? $26-$33 in advance, $31-$38 at the door, Robert E. Parilla Performing Arts Center, marylandyouthballet.org

What could be cozier than a tea party with Mrs. Claus at the Strathmore Mansion? With the building decked out for the holidays, the Mrs. Claus Tea features seasonal music, a kid-friendly menu, story time with Mrs. Claus and a visit from the big man in red himself.

10:30 a.m. and 1 p.m., $28, The Mansion at Strathmore, strathmore.org

Dec. 31

PARTY LIKE IT’S 1929 If the events of 2017 have you wishing for the glamour and glitz of a bygone era, the New Year’s Eve party featuring Doc Scantlin and His Imperial Palms Orchestra at Bethesda Blues & Jazz Supper Club offers a night of retro revelry. It’s a throwback to the Jazz Age, with the debonair Scantlin—a crooner with a pencil mustache—leading an 18-piece ensemble as it plays swing and jazz music of the 1920s, ’30s and ’40s while his wife, Chou Chou, lends some showgirl-style flair.

Welcome 2018 with a champagne toast at midnight.

9 p.m., $75 for performance only, $150 for dinner and performance, Bethesda Blues & Jazz Supper Club, bethesdabluesjazz.com

38 NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2017 | BETHESDAMAGAZINE.COM

NUTCRACKER PHOTO BY STEPHEN BARANOVICS; COURTESY OF STRATHMORE; DOC SCANTLIN PHOTO BY DANNY FOWLER

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good life arts & entertainment

CALENDAR COMPILED BY SANDRA FLEISHMAN

song—Judeo-Spanish with strong ties to Sephardic culture—but she also sings contemporary Spanish songs, often with flamenco, Turkish and Persian flair. Also on tap are the Grammy-winning Klezmatics.

8 p.m. $25-$65. The Music Center at Strathmore, North Bethesda. 301-5815100, strathmore.org.

Nov. 9 PINCHAS ZUKERMAN PERFORMS BACH. A music phenom as both violinist and conductor, Zukerman joins the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra in Bach’s A Minor Concerto, Schoenberg’s Verklarte Nacht and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 2.

8 p.m. $35-$99. The Music Center at Strathmore, North Bethesda. 301-5815100, bsomusic.org.

Nov. 10 BLACK VIOLIN. Classically trained violinists Kevin “Kev Marcus” Sylvester and Wilner “Wil B” Baptiste mix it up with classical, hip-hop, rock and R&B. 8 p.m. $26-$68.

The Music Center at Strathmore, North Bethesda. 301-581-5100, strathmore.org.

MUSIC Nov. 3 AN EVENING WITH JESSE COLIN YOUNG AND BAND. Young, who turns 76 in November, is touring again, after 50 years of singing about peace, relationships and the environment. Best known as the singer/bassist for The Youngbloods on the hit single “Get Together,” Young is readying a new album. 8 p.m. (Doors open at 6 p.m.) $35-$40. Bethesda Blues & Jazz Supper Club, Bethesda. 240-330-4500, bethesdabluesjazz.com.

Nov. 3 LIVINGSTON TAYLOR. The legendary singer/songwriter—whose hits include “I’ll Come Running” and “I Can Dream of You” and whose noteworthy siblings include James and Kate—has a new album called Safe Home. 8 p.m. (Doors open at 6:30 p.m.) $30-$40. AMP by Strathmore, North Bethesda. 301-5815100, ampbystrathmore.com.

Nov. 7 YASMIN LEVY & THE KLEZMATICS. Jerusalem-born Levy is described as the world’s leading exponent of Ladino

40 NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2017 | BETHESDAMAGAZINE.COM

Nov. 10 ELI YOUNG BAND WITH THE MORRISON BROTHERS BAND. EYB’s last album, 10,000 Towns, ranked No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart. Its newest music includes the hit “Saltwater Gospel.”

8:30 p.m. (Doors open at 7:30 p.m.) $25.

The Fillmore, Silver Spring. 301-960-9999, fillmoresilverspring.com.

Nov. 12 IRMA THOMAS WITH MEMBERS OF PRESERVATION HALL AND THE BLIND BOYS OF ALABAMA. This concert combines longtime performers from Preservation Hall: Grammy winner Thomas, “The Soul Queen of New Orleans”; and the Blind Boys of Alabama, a five-time Grammywinning gospel group that first sang together in 1939. 4žp.m. $28-$68.

The Music Center at Strathmore, North Bethesda. 301-581-5100, strathmore.org.

PHOTO BY JOSEPH LLANES

Catch country group Eli Young Band at The Fillmore on Nov. 10.

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good life Nov. 16

Falstaff and Christopher Theofanidis’ Dreamtime Ancestors. 8 p.m. $35-$99.

The Music Center at Strathmore, North Bethesda. 301-581-5100, bsomusic.org.

STEPHEN WADE. Wade, whose Banjo Dancing show ran for a decade at Arena Stage, will perform his magnum opus, The Beautiful Music All Around Us, detailing the backstories of 13 field recordings by the Library of Congress from the Southern Appalachians, Mississippi Delta and the Great Plains. 8 p.m. (Doors open at 6:30 p.m.) $25-$35. AMP by Strathmore, North Bethesda. 301-581-5100, ampbystrathmore.com.

Nov. 18

MENG SU. The Chinese classical guitarist, winner of the Parkening International Guitar Competition in 2015, performs as part of the John E. Marlow Guitar Series. 8 p.m. $35-$45. Westmoreland Congregational Church, Bethesda. 301654-6403, marlowguitar.org.

Nov. 17 BERNARD/EBB SHOWCASE. The evening showcases the winners of the Bethesda Urban Partnership 2017 Bernard/Ebb Songwriting Awards. 8 p.m. $15-$25. AMP

by Strathmore, North Bethesda. 301-5815100, ampbystrathmore.com.

Nov. 18 ANDRE WATTS RETURNS FOR RACH 2.

The renowned pianist joins the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra in Rachmaninoff’s most popular piano concerto—the Piano Concerto No. 2 in C Minor. Also: Elgar’s

works by Bernstein, Mendelssohn and Schumann. 7:30 p.m. $35-$45. Bender Jewish Community Center of Greater Washington, Rockville. 301-348-3779, benderjccgw.org.

Nov. 19

BACH, BEETHOVEN AND THE BOYS! A classic pops concert by the Rockville Concert Band. 3 p.m. Free. $5 donation requested. F. Scott Fitzgerald Theatre, Rockville. 240-314-8681, rockvilleconcertband.org.

Dec. 3

Dec. 4

DAVE KOZ: 20TH ANNIVERSARY CHRISTMAS TOUR. Joining the smooth-jazz saxophonist in Christmas and Hanukkah classics is an all-star band of pianist David Benoit, trumpeter Rick Braun, guitarist Peter White and singer Selina Albright.

8 p.m. $48-$88. The Music Center at Strathmore, North Bethesda. 301-5815100, strathmore.org.

Dec. 5

TEMPEST TRIO & DANIEL GETZ. The trio and Getz—a Boston Symphony Orchestra violist and former Bethesda resident and music student at the Bender JCC—perform

GAITHERSBURG CHORUS 30TH ANNIVERSARY CONCERT. 7:30 p.m.

Free. Rosborough Cultural Arts Center, Gaithersburg. 301-258-6394, gaithersburgmd.gov.

Dec. 8

LANDAU MURPHY JR.’S HOLIDAY SHOW. The West Virginia native’s Sinatra-inspired

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voice wowed America’s Got Talent in 2010.

His third album, Landau, showcases his takes on popular standards and classic R&B songs, plus original compositions.

8 p.m. $35. Bethesda Blues & Jazz Supper Club, Bethesda. 240-330-4500, bethesdabluesjazz.com.

Dec. 10 BOHEMIAN CAVERNS JAZZ ORCHESTRA: A BOHEMIAN CHRISTMAS. The 17-piece big band carries on the legacy of the now-shuttered D.C. club with a holiday concert of classics from Ellington, Basie and Strayhorn. The band recorded its holiday album, A Bohemian Christmas, in Strathmore’s mansion in 2012.

3 and 7 p.m. $30. The Mansion at Strathmore, North Bethesda. 301-5815100, strathmore.org.

Dec. 13 ROBYN HELZNER TRIO. The trio kicks off the Festival of Lights with Helzner on vocals, Dov Weitman on mandolin and guitar, and singer-instrumentalist Matt Holsen performing songs in Hebrew,

Yiddish, Ladino and English. 7:30 p.m. $20. The Mansion at Strathmore, North Bethesda. 301-581-5100. strathmore.org.

Dec. 15 COOL YULE WITH MARK G. MEADOWS. The jazz composer, pianist and vocalist harmonizes pop, gospel, R&B, hip-hop, funk and jazz. 8 p.m. $15-$25. Kentlands Mansion, Gaithersburg. 301-258-6425, gaithersburgmd.gov.

Dec. 16 and 17 HANDEL’S MESSIAH. The oratorio is performed by the National Philharmonic Orchestra and Chorale with special soloists. 8 p.m. Saturday; 3 p.m. Sunday. $28-$88; children ages 7-17 attend for free with a paying adult. The Music Center at Strathmore, North Bethesda. 301-5815100, strathmore.org.

Dec. 17

Theatre, Rockville. 240-314-8681, rockvilleconcertband.org.

Dec. 17 HOLIDAY CONCERT. An evening of holiday favorites by the Rockville Chorus. 7:30 p.m. Free. $5 donation requested. F. Scott Fitzgerald Theatre, Rockville. 240-3148690. rockvillemd.gov/theatre.

DANCE Dec. 2-10 THE NUTCRACKER. The Rockville Civic Ballet stages its annual performances.

2 and 7:30 p.m. Saturdays; 2 p.m.

Sundays. $17; $13 seniors and children 12 and younger. F. Scott Fitzgerald Theatre, Rockville. 240-314-8690, rockvillemd.gov/ theatre.

Dec. 12-13

TIS THE SEASON. Seasonal favorites by the Rockville Concert Band. 3 p.m. Free. $5 donation requested. F. Scott Fitzgerald

E H T E P A C S E L L A M G N I P P SHO VER AT O C E K TA M U E S U M Y P S E H T

THE HIP-HOP NUTCRACKER. After selling out a show last year, Strathmore has scheduled two family-friendly performances

A NEW HOLIDAY TRADITION YOUR FAMILY WILL ENJOY SPYMUSEUM.ORG

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good life

that reimagine Tchaikovsky’s classic score as explosive hip-hop in New York City, with a dozen dancers, an electronic violinist and rapper Kurtis Blow. 7:30 p.m. $28-$58.

The Music Center at Strathmore, North Bethesda. 301-581-5100, strathmore.org.

Dec. 22-23 MOSCOW BALLET’S GREAT RUSSIAN NUTCRACKER. Now in its 25th North American tour, this version features highly praised dancers, spectacular costumes and a 60-foot growing Christmas tree.

8 p.m. Friday; 2 and 7 p.m. Saturday. $28$88. The Music Center at Strathmore, North Bethesda. 301-581-5100, strathmore.org.

Through Nov. 12 WHITE CHRISTMAS. Rockville Musical Theatre presents Irving Berlin’s musical comedy, based on the 1954 film with Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, Rosemary Clooney and Vera-Ellen. 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays; 2 p.m. Nov. 5 and 12. $20$22. F. Scott Fitzgerald Theatre, Rockville.

240-314-8690, rockvillemd.gov/theatre.

Through Nov. 18 THE BRIDGES OF MADISON COUNTY. Kensington Arts Theatre produces the D.C.-area community theater premiere of the 2014 Broadway musical. 8:15 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays; 2 p.m.

Sundays. $17-$25. Kensington Town Hall, Kensington. 240-621-0528, katonline.org.

Nov. 15-Dec. 17 A COFFIN IN EGYPT/ST NICHOLAS. For its 20th anniversary, Quotidian Theatre Company presents two works in repertory: Horton Foote’s A Coffin in Egypt, about a 90-year-old Texas widow; and Conor McPherson’s early monologue about a Dublin theater critic who runs into vampires. See website for dates and times. $15-$30. The Writer’s Center, Bethesda. 301-816-1023, quotidiantheatre.org.

Nov. 25-Dec. 10 A CHRISTMAS CAROL. The Kensington Arts Theatre and Arts on the Green present the Christmas classic. 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays; 2 p.m. Sundays. Also 2 p.m.

Rachel Schmidt’s artwork “Ingrown,” which combines cast tissue paper and video projection, is part of her exhibit “Shadow Builders,” opening Dec. 1 at VisArts at Rockville.

Saturday, Nov. 25. $20; $12 for ages 14 and younger. The Arts Barn, Gaithersburg.

301-258-6394, gaithersburgmd.gov.

Nov. 29-Dec. 24 THE BOOK OF WILL. Why did Shakespeare’s works survive? The play offers a “hilarious and heartfelt” look, based on a true story, at how, after his death, two members of his acting company devoted themselves to finding and publishing his plays. See website for days and times. $36-$51. Round House Theatre, Bethesda. 240-644-1100, roundhousetheatre.org.

ART Through Nov. 19 ARTWORKS FOR FREEDOM. The exhibit uses all forms of artistic expression to raise awareness about modern-day slavery and human trafficking. Noon-4 p.m. Wednesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays; noon-8 p.m. Fridays. Free.

VisArts at Rockville, Rockville. 301-3158200, visartscenter.org.

Through Nov. 27 DIGITAL WONDERS. Explore visual art through digital technology. 10 a.m.-5 p.m.

Monday-Friday; 1:30-5:30 p.m. Saturday.

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Artists’ reception 7-8:30 p.m. Nov. 16.

Free. The Arts Barn, Gaithersburg. 301258-6394, gaithersburgmd.gov.

Through Jan. 28 RONI HORN. The four-decade retrospective of the internationally known American multimedia artist fills the museum’s 9,000 square feet of gallery space. This is believed to be Horn’s first solo showing in the Washington, D.C., area. 10 a.m.3 p.m. Thursday-Sunday. Free. Glenstone, Potomac. 301-983-5001, glenstone.org.

Nov. 8-Dec. 2 PHOTOGRAPHY & DIGITAL ART. Works include photography and digital art by Bob Bradford, Bob Elliott, Allen Hirsh and Sam Shin. Noon-6 p.m. Wednesday-Saturday.

Free. Gallery B, Bethesda. 301-215-6660, bethesda.org.

Nov. 18-Jan. 6 FINE ART IN MINIATURE. More than 700 mini-masterpieces from around the world fill the 84th annual exhibition curated by the Miniature Painters, Sculptors & Gravers Society of Washington, D.C. 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays; 10 a.m.-9 p.m.

Wednesdays; noon-4 p.m. Sundays. The Mansion at Strathmore, North Bethesda.

301-581-5100, strathmore.org.

COURTESY OF RACHEL SCHMIDT

THEATER

Dec. 1-Jan. 7 SHADOW BUILDERS. Rachel Schmidt’s mixed-media installation explores a world of post-climate collapse (including a “future myth about the last elephant,” seen walking on rows of houses). Noon-4 p.m. Wednesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays; noon-8 p.m. Fridays.

Opening reception and artist talk 7-9 p.m. Dec. 1. Free. VisArts at Rockville, Rockville. 301-315-8200, visartscenter.org.

Dec. 3-29 ROCKVILLE ART LEAGUE JURIED MEMBERS’ SHOW. 9 a.m.-4:30 p.m.

Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays; 9 a.m.-9 p.m. Thursdays. Opening reception, with the Rockville Singers, 1:154 p.m. Dec. 3. Free. Glenview Mansion Art Gallery, Rockville. 240-314-8660, rockvillemd.gov.

Dec. 6-30 BETWEEN SILENCES: PAINTINGS BY LORIANN SIGNORI. The local artist says her works are “an emotional response to the landscape.” Noon-6 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday. Free. Gallery B, Bethesda. 301-215-6660, bethesda.org.

CHILDREN AND FAMILIES Through Nov. 17 PINOCCHIO. The story is told in 45 minutes with half-life-size rod puppets.

Recommended for ages 5 and older.

11 a.m. Thursdays and Fridays; 11:30 a.m. and 1 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays. $12. The Puppet Co. Playhouse, Glen Echo. 301-634-5380, thepuppetco.org.

Nov. 4 SATURDAY FAMILY STORY SESSIONS. Dovie Thomason is the last in this series in which local storytellers teach kids how to weave narrative tales, using music, movement, art and interactive play to explore different cultures. Recommended for ages 3-8. 11 a.m. $10 in advance; $12 at the door. The Mansion at Strathmore, North Bethesda. 301-581-5100, strathmore.org.

Nov. 4 “SHEL” WE DANCE: BALLET INSPIRED

BY THE WORKS OF SHEL SILVERSTEIN. The Metropolitan Ballet Ensemble brings

to life Silverstein’s whimsical poems.

Recommended for ages 4 and older.

11 a.m. $12. The Arts Barn, Gaithersburg.

301-258-6394, gaithersburgmd.gov.

Nov. 9-11 MIRACLE ON 34TH STREET. The Arts Barn teams up with Sandy Spring Theatre Group in a retelling of the holiday classic in the tradition of a live 1940s-era radio broadcast. Recommended for ages 8 and older. 8 p.m. Thursday; 1 and 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday. $20; $12 for ages 14 and younger. The Arts Barn, Gaithersburg. 301258-6394, gaithersburgmd.gov.

LYDIA LOVELESS {Alt-country singer-songwriter}

THU, NOV 2

LIVINGSTON TAYLOR {Folk rock royalty}

FRI, NOV 3

Nov. 10-Dec. 3 ¡CAJAS!¡CAJAS!¡CAJAS!. In the bilingual version of Boxes, Boxes, Boxes!, two friends use their imaginations to build bridges, birds, a train, a plane—and even a castle—from cardboard boxes.

After the show, audience members build their own creations, using show props.

Recommended for ages 1-5. 10 and 11:15 a.m. Saturdays and Sundays. $14.

Imagination Stage, Bethesda. 301-2801660, imaginationstage.org.

Nov. 18-Jan. 7 CHARLOTTE’S WEB. Presented with live music, the beloved classic recounts how farm girl Fern forms an unlikely bond with Wilbur, a charismatic pig, and how Charlotte, a clever spider, saves the day.

Recommended for ages 5 and older. 1:30 and 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday; selected Saturdays at 11 a.m. and some weekdays during the holidays (check the website). $10-$35. Imagination Stage, Bethesda.

301-280-1660, imaginationstage.org.

Nov. 24 TURKEYPALOOZA. Maryland-based VF Dance Theater presents a comedic Thanksgiving dance performance in which an ordinary house turns into an exciting adventure. The interactive story encourages children to count, read, move and solve problems. Recommended for ages 3 and older. 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. $15.

The Arts Barn, Gaithersburg. 301-2586394, gaithersburgmd.gov.

Nov. 24-Dec. 31 THE NUTCRACKER. This show has been a Washington puppet tradition for 29 years. The story is told in 50 minutes with

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SUN, NOV 19

AMP & COMEDY ZONE PRESENT

LARRY XL {Sirius XM}

THU, NOV 30

Sons of Serendip {America’s Got Talent finalists}

Tue, Dec 5

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BETHESDAMAGAZINE.COM | NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2017 45

good life

marionettes and costumed characters.

Recommended for ages 5 and older. Check the website for dates and times. $12. The Puppet Co. Playhouse, Glen Echo. 301634-5380, thepuppetco.org.

Dec. 10 STRATHMORE CHILDREN’S CHORUS: PEACE, PAZ, SHALOM. The chorus performs sacred and secular selections from Sibelius, Britten, Engelhardt and others to celebrate unity, peace and joy. 4 p.m. $18. The Music Center at Strathmore, North Bethesda. 301-5815100, strathmore.org.

Through March 11 SKATING AT THE SQUARE. Lace up and glide across the outdoor rink in Rockville Town Square. Noon-11 p.m. Fridays, 10 a.m.-11 p.m. Saturdays, 10 a.m.-10 p.m. Sundays, noon-10 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays. 10 a.m.-11 p.m.

Thanksgiving Day, Dec. 24-30 and Jan. 1. 10 a.m.-9 p.m. Dec. 31. $9 for two hours of skating; $8 children, seniors and military; $5 skate rental. Rockville Town Square, Rockville. 301-545-1999; rockvilleiceskating.com.

Through April 1 ICE SKATING AT VETERANS PLAZA. Take a spin around the outdoor skating rink. 10 a.m.-10 p.m. Sundays, noon10 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays, noon-midnight Fridays, 10 a.m.-midnight Saturdays. 10 a.m.-midnight Dec. 23-Jan. 2. $9 for a two-hour session; $8 children and seniors; $5 skate rental. Veterans Plaza, Silver Spring. 301-588-1221, silverspringiceskating.com.

Nov. 11 VETERANS DAY CEREMONY. The mayor and city council honor military veterans. A wreath-laying ceremony and 21-gun salute is planned. 11 a.m. Free. Rockville. 240314-5022, rockvillemd.gov.

Nov. 11 VETERANS DAY OBSERVANCE. City officials pay tribute to those who served in the military. Donations of money and items to support homeless veterans will be

Artists will sell their wares at the Sugarloaf Crafts Festival from Nov. 17 to 19.

collected. 11 a.m. Free. City Hall Concert Pavilion, Gaithersburg. 301-258-6300, gaithersburgmd.gov.

Nov. 17-19 HOLIDAY SUGARLOAF CRAFTS FESTIVAL. More than 450 artists will be displaying and selling photography, glass, sculpture, pottery, jewelry and other creations. 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Friday and Saturday; 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Sunday. $8 online, $10 at the event, free for 12 and younger. The admission fee is good for all three days. Montgomery County Fairgrounds, Gaithersburg. 301990-1400, sugarloafcrafts.com.

Nov. 24-Dec. 31 WINTER LIGHTS FESTIVAL. Drive through 3.5 miles of sparkling light displays and beautifully lit trees. The season kicks off with special events including S’more Lights (Nov. 17), featuring campfires, trolley rides and Santa; Wine Under the Lights (Nov. 19), which includes wine tastings, live music and trolley rides; and a Leashes ’n’ Lights dog walk (Nov. 21).

6-9 p.m. Sundays-Thursdays; 6-10 p.m.

Saturdays and Sundays. Closed Dec. 25. $12 Sundays-Thursdays per car, SUV or minivan; $15 Fridays and Saturdays; see website for large vehicle fees. Seneca

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Creek State Park, Gaithersburg. 301-2586350, gaithersburgmd.gov.

Nov. 28 DEEPAK CHOPRA: THE FUTURE OF WELLBEING. 7:30 p.m. $45-$95. The prolific author and thought leader on integrative medicine and wellness shares insights from his February 2017 book, You Are the Universe. Book signing follows presentation. 7:30 p.m. $45-$95. The Music Center at Strathmore, North Bethesda. 301-581-5100, strathmore.org.

Dec. 2 JINGLE JUBILEE AND TREE LIGHTING. The 90th anniversary of the tree-lighting ceremony includes music and Santa.

Donations of money and items to support homeless veterans will be collected.

6-7:30 p.m. Free. City Hall Concert Pavilion, Gaithersburg. 301-258-6350, gaithersburgmd.gov.

Dec. 2 WINTER WONDERLAND. The annual Bethesda Urban Partnership event includes live entertainment, ice sculpting and a visit from Santa. 1-4 p.m. Free.

Veterans Park, Bethesda. 301-215-6660, bethesda.org.

COURTESY OF SUGARLOAF CRAFTS

SEASONAL/SPECIAL EVENTS

Dec. 2-3

BREAKFAST WITH SANTA. Enjoy a breakfast buffet, holiday music and some time with St. Nick. 9 a.m. $20; $15 for ages 12 and younger. Kentlands Mansion, Gaithersburg.

301-258-6425, gaithersburgmd.gov.

Dec. 2-30

HOLLY TROLLEYFEST. Santa joins passengers on rides; also check out the toy trains in Santa’s Garden. 12:30 to 4:30 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays (closed Dec. 24 and 31; no Santa on Dec. 30). $7; $5 children and seniors. National Capital Trolley Museum, Colesville. 301384-6088, dctrolley.org.

Dec. 3, 10 and 17

HOLIDAY OPEN HOUSES. Musical performances (plus Santa and Mrs. Claus on Dec. 10). 1-4 p.m. Free. Glenview Mansion, Rockville. 240-314-8660, rockvillemd.gov.

Dec. 9

GINGERBREAD HOUSE WORKSHOP. Fee includes a gingerbread house and decorations, cookies and drinks. Register through Rockville Recreation and Parks Fall Guide; course 1044. 10:30 a.m.1 p.m. $50 for Rockville residents; $55 nonresidents. Thomas Farm Community Center, Rockville. 240-314-8770, rockville.gov.

Dec. 16

COOKIES WITH SANTA. Bring a camera for a photo with Santa, and participate in holiday crafts, cookie decorating, writing letters to Santa at the North Pole and more. For ages 1 and older; children must be accompanied by an adult. 2-4 p.m. $4.

Thomas Farm Community Center, Rockville.

240-314-8770, rockville.gov.

Dec. 30

SALUTE TO VIENNA NEW YEAR’S CONCERT. For 17 years, the Strauss Symphony of America concert has blended European singers and dancers with exceptional local symphonies. The performance features dancers from the Kiev-Aniko Ballet of Ukraine and international ballroom dancers.

3 p.m. $49-$125. The Music Center at Strathmore, North Bethesda. 301-5815100, strathmore.org. ■

Readers’ Pick, A Top Vote Getter Best Dentist 2013 | 2015 | 2017 Readers’ Pick, Best Dentist 2011

To submit calendar items, or to see a complete listing, go to BethesdaMagazine.com.

BETHESDAMAGAZINE.COM | NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2017 47

people. politics. current events. books. columns.

banter

MUSIC MAKERS A Silver Spring couple, who are classically trained performers, reinvent the symphony experience

PHOTO BY LIZ LYNCH

BY JANELLE HARRIS

IN AN OPULENT ROOM inside the Mexican Cultural Institute, a jewel in D.C.’s Meridian Hill neighborhood, Grace Cho is planning an October event for Día de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead, a Latin American celebration of ancestors. The one-night-only performance of Mozart’s Requiem by the New Orchestra of Washington (NOW), a nonprofit arts organization she co-founded with her husband, Alejandro Hernandez-Valdez, is set to feature an ensemble of

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Alejandro Hernandez-Valdez, artistic director of New Orchestra of Washington

undergraduate scholarship to Shenandoah Conservatory in Winchester, Virginia. In their combined experience, they’d witnessed arts organizations struggle financially, so they implemented a leaner model.

On an initial $40,000 budget, they launched their first season in 2012 with a pilot concert—a rendering of Aaron Copland’s Appalachian Spring—at Westmoreland Congregational United Church of Christ in Bethesda, where Hernandez-Valdez was music director.

“By the end of that performance, people gave a long ovation. Some were in tears,” remembers Cho, who is executive director of NOW, while Hernandez-Valdez serves as artistic director. Their work has earned increased grant support from the Arts and Humanities Council of Montgomery County and the Ryuji Ueno Foundation, which together fund a third of NOW’s projected $180,000 budget for its sixth season.

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2017 | BETHESDAMAGAZINE.COM

Together, Hernandez-Valdez and Cho deliver four to six yearly performances and occasional salon concerts like one this past June at the residence of Kenichirō Sasae, Japan’s ambassador to the United States.

In 2015, Hernandez-Valdez left Westmoreland to accept an appointment as director of music at the Unitarian Church of All Souls, an almost 200-yearold institution on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. The opportunity was a game-changer artistically and financially, but it meant they’d have to make a sacrifice. Relocating with their newborn son, Santiago, and operating an organization more than 200 miles away forced a re-evaluation.

“In the second year, we decided Grace would return to Washington and I would travel to New York every week.

It isn’t easy,” he adds, “but I think that was the right decision. The orchestra is stronger than ever.” n

COURTESY SHANNON FINNEY PHOTOGRAPHY

musicians in skull face paint and usher in the organization’s 2017-2018 season.

In a series of deft decisions, Cho mentally configures audience seating and confirms where the best acoustics are, then points to a gleaming swath of hardwood floor in the belly of the spacious room. “This is where the orchestra will play,” she says.

Creating an intimate musical experience for patrons is important work for the pair, who met in graduate school at The University of Texas at Austin and married 11 years ago. Instead of hiring 100 players for a symphony, NOW recruits 25 to 27 musicians—from countries such as Japan, South Korea and Germany—to pour themselves into more personal performances for audiences of 150-200. Hernandez-Valdez captionthe “classical music” category, resists calling it elitist and historically inaccurate. He refers to the compositions they play and sometimes commission as “great music without labels.” The result is a global sound that embodies artistic diversity for both player and listener, he explains.

“When you’re in an orchestra setting at a concert hall, you’re in a cavernous space. There’s a wall between the audience and performers,” he says. “We take that away. Audience members get to interact with the players in a more personal way. We sometimes perform in the middle of the audience to make them part of the experience.”

The idea for NOW emerged during a cross-country trip in 2012 from their home in Silver Spring to the Oregon Bach Festival in Eugene, Oregon. Cho is a formally trained pianist originally from South Korea and a former assistant conductor of The Washington Chorus. Hernandez-Valdez is a conductor, composer and fellow pianist who was discovered at a small recital in his native Mexico and earned a full

Bal

Coming up at

FALL

2017

YASMIN LEVY THE KLEZMATICS

A NIGHT WITH JANIS JOPLIN

Tue, Nov 7

Sun, Nov 19

BLACK VIOLIN

CLASSICAL BOOM TOUR Fri, Nov 10

Broadway musical celebrates Joplin.

DEEPAK CHOPRA Tue, Nov 28

IRMA THOMAS

WITH MEMBERS OF

PRESERVATION HALL AND BLIND BOYS OF ALABAMA Sun, Nov 12, Matinee

DAKHABRAKHA

Bestselling author shares insights from his latest work.

CANADIAN BRASS

CHRISTMAS TIME IS HERE Fri, Dec 8

THE HIP HOP NUTCRACKER

WITH SPECIAL GUEST MC KURTIS BLOW Tue & Wed, Dec 12 & 13

DAVE KOZ & FRIENDS

CATHERINE RUSSELL & JOHN PIZZARELLI

Mon, Dec 4

Fri, Jan 5

20TH ANNIVERSARY CHRISTMAS TOUR

A SALUTE TO BILLIE HOLIDAY & FRANK SINATRA

Fri, Nov 17 Ukrainian quartet creates a world of unexpected music.

Easy Me t

ST

R

AT

NOW HM

O R E .O

y parking tar en

ess • Compli m acc ro

RG

L–R: Yasmin Levy, Black Violin by Colin Brennan, DakhaBrakha, Irma Thomas, Deepak Chopra, Dave Koz, Catherine Russell, The Hip Hop Nutcracker courtesy of United Palace of Cultural Arts, Canadian Brass by Bo Huang

5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda, MD 20852 | 301.581.5100 | STRATHMORE.ORG

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BY JEFF CIRILLO

FIGURATIVELY SPEAKING FIRE AND RESCUE BY THE NUMBERS

$47,089

The Montgomery County Fire & Rescue Service (MCFRS) is charged with helping county residents in emergencies ranging from house fires and car crashes to cardiac arrests. The service’s 1,286-person staff includes firefighters, paramedics and technical rescue squads, plus 1,500 volunteers. Here’s a look at Montgomery County’s emergency responders by the numbers.

Starting annual salary for firefighter recruits

37

Fire and rescue stations operated by MCFRS countywide

$214,862,420

16

MCFRS budget for fiscal year 2018, which started July 1

35

Fire engines

41

Ambulances

70,000

Ladder and bucket trucks

Approximate number of people transported to hospitals by MCFRS annually

6

6

Fire deaths reported in Montgomery County in 2016

Rescue vehicles

LECTIONS

693 Work-related injuries reported by MCFRS in fiscal year 2016

Fire hydrants in Montgomery County

9 minutes, 9 seconds or less Fire engine arrival time for 90% of incidents in metropolitan areas (defined in the county as more than 3,000 people per square mile) in 2016

52

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2017 | BETHESDAMAGAZINE.COM

116,823 Emergency incidents MCFRS handled in fiscal year 2016 16,347 fire incidents 92,271 medical incidents

12 minutes or less Fire engine arrival time for 90% of incidents in rural areas (defined in the county as fewer than 1,000 people per square mile) in 2016

Sources: Montgomery County Government, Fire & Rescue Service, Office of Management and Budget

INFOGRAPHICS BY AMANDA SMALLWOOD

32,377

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CARRYING ON A LEGACY Three emerging philanthropists have built a scholarship fund to help women and to memorialize their mentor

BY JANELLE HARRIS

54

WHEN TWIN SISTERS AND Bethesda natives Maggie and Meredith Moore sit around the dining room table of their childhood home with lifelong friend Rebecca Davis from Chevy Chase, the conversation indulges a few moments of reminiscing about their adoptive godmother, B.A. Rudolph. A political firebrand, she worked on Bill Clinton’s successful gubernatorial campaigns in 1978 and 1982. After moving from Arkansas to Washington, D.C., she became deputy chief of staff to the transportation secretary, Rodney Slater, and later chief of staff to the U.S. Agency for International Development Administrator Brady Anderson. Rudolph made fast friends in her adopted city and, when those friends had children, she took them

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2017 | BETHESDAMAGAZINE.COM

under her tutelage.

“B.A. once took us on a field trip to the White House during the Clinton era.

There’s a really cute picture of us in the press room,” says Davis, scrolling through her phone to produce a photo of three grinning girls behind a podium with the presidential seal. “Apparently we were playing around and being too loud, and the Secret Service asked us to leave.”

“Then, when we got back to the car,” Maggie chimes in, “we accidentally locked her out.” The trio laughs at the memory, evidence of the enduring friendship that’s the nucleus of their present-day relationship as co-founders of the B.A. Rudolph Foundation.

They remember Rudolph as a living example of public service, always willing

PHOTO BY DEB LINDSEY

From left: Meredith Moore, Rebecca Davis and Maggie Moore started the B.A. Rudolph Foundation with a $1 million inheritance.

to make a networking connection or offer someone new to D.C. a spare bedroom in her home. She was especially passionate about empowering women.

After being diagnosed with terminal throat cancer in 2011, she summoned Rebecca, Maggie and Meredith, all 25 years old at the time, to her home in Tenleytown. She’d chosen them as heirs apparent to her philanthropy. (Two other young women will join the board after they turn 21.) Unmarried and without children, Rudolph asked them to use the approximately $1 million in investment, savings and retirement accounts that she would leave behind to create a foundation dedicated to helping women.

“How do you want us to help women, B.A.?” Meredith recalls asking. “She looked at us, smirked and said, ‘Put on your big girl panties and figure it out.’ ” This year, the B.A. Rudolph Bethesda Magazine 1/2 page horizontal | 7˝w x 4.625”h

Foundation funded 19 scholarships for young women in the D.C. area who are completing internships and establishing careers in public service. The awardees are up-and-coming politicos, attorneys and leaders in science, technology, engineering and math. They are ethnically, culturally and racially diverse. Three have earned Fulbright scholarships, and one has been a Rhodes Scholar. To date, 57 women have received scholarships from the foundation. Mentoring is a critical component of the scholarships, and students are paired with one or two women from a growing roster of 100 mentors in fields ranging from journalism to law.

Applications have doubled every year, so managing the foundation and balancing demanding full-time careers is consuming work. Rebecca, a genetic counselor, and Maggie, a

communications officer for USAID, are part-time members of the foundation staff, and Meredith, who teaches chemistry and psychology at the Washington International School, serves as a board member.

“We refuse to have founder’s syndrome, when the founders are like, ‘No, I’m going to stay in charge and nothing’s ever going to change,’ ” says Davis. So to grow the foundation, they’ve hired a full-time staff member and are eagerly searching for an executive director.

The learning curve has been the hardest challenge to negotiate. “None of us came in having any experience with nonprofit management, fundraising, running an organization,” Meredith says. “B.A. just told us, ‘Congratulations.

You’re going to have a foundation.’ And as scary as that is, it’s a legacy I’m proud to have.” ■

Holiday happiness.

Imaginative events inspired by the splendor of the season.

Elegant and impressive service.

Culinary excellence your guests will always remember.

PHOTO BY DEB LINDSEY

I T ’ S J U S T W H AT W E D O.

C E L E B R AT I O N S

WEDDINGS

CO R P O R AT E

&

MAJOR

EVENTS

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QUICK TAKES

News you may have missed

BY BETHANY RODGERS, ANDREW METCALF AND ANDREW SCHOTZ

FASHION RULE

IN THE MONEY

A RARE PEEK INSIDE

The Maryland Lottery said a Gaithersburg woman “wept tears of joy” when she learned that she had won a $1 million prize in a Powerball drawing in August ($662,500 after federal and state taxes). The top prize in that drawing was $758.7 million, which went to a Massachusetts woman. The 59-year-old Gaithersburg winner—who posed for a photo but asked the Lottery not to release her name—planned to help her adult children, bolster her retirement fund and maybe do something special to celebrate her 35th wedding anniversary.

When a two-year renovation project is complete, the Mormon temple in Kensington will allow the public inside for the first time in about 46 years. Construction of the 160,000-square-foot building started in 1968, and the dedication took place about six years later. The last open house ended on Nov. 2, 1974. The visitors center will stay open during the renovation process, which is scheduled to begin in March.

MOVING WARES First, the former Community Paint and Hardware building was cut in half. Then it was moved from its longtime home on Wisconsin Avenue in Bethesda to its new location on Middleton Lane. The move happened on a Saturday night and Sunday morning this summer. Each half was loaded onto a large flatbed trailer for the half-mile drive. Carr Properties paid to relocate the store to make way for a redevelopment project at the Apex Building.

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NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2017 | BETHESDAMAGAZINE.COM

ILLUSTRATIONS BY MARY ANN SMITH

Washington Redskins apparel is no longer welcome at Green Acres School in North Bethesda. In a message over the summer to families of its students, the school said it “cannot continue to allow children or staff members—however well intentioned—to wear clothing that disparages a race of people.”

In an interview, Head of School Neal Brown said, “I think it’s only honest to acknowledge the times when the need to be respectful and thoughtful and sensitive overrides people’s ability to express themselves as they’d like.”

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MR. HOT WHEELS

Bruce Pascal of Potomac takes collecting to the extreme. He has 3,000 toy cars, related items and a warehouse.

BY EUGENE L. MEYER

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NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2017 | BETHESDAMAGAZINE.COM

THERE ARE CAR COLLECTORS, and then there are toy car collectors.

Jay Leno is known for his collection of, at last count, about 130 cars and 90 motorcycles, housed in a massive garage in Burbank, California. Bruce Pascal is known for his Hot Wheels collection, which consumes most of the fourth floor of his Potomac townhome.

Mr. Hot Wheels of Potomac, as he is sometimes known, has earned “extreme

PHOTO BY MICHAEL VENTURA

Bruce Pascal shows off his Hot Wheels collection, which includes about 3,000 toy cars, in his Potomac home.

collector” status on YouTube. He has more than 3,680 Instagram followers.

His collection, containing about 3,000 Hot Wheels and more than 2,000 related items, was last valued at $1.8 million.

But, he insists, “I don’t look at value. I look at historical significance.”

Maybe so, but these tiny cars don’t come cheap, and money feeds his mania.

He spent $200 per square foot—a total of $50,000—on architects (Wingate

Hughes), an artist (Paco Lane) and craftsmen (DFS Construction Corp.)—to redo a room on the fourth floor. There are four wooden tracks arching up to the ceiling, one side lined with Hot Wheels cars, and a classic Hot Wheels poster filling another wall. Pascal has 10 Hot Wheels cars on display at Cushman & Wakefield, the commercial real estate firm where he serves as executive managing director, but for his collection, there’s no place like home (and a 4,000-square-foot warehouse he bought in Gaithersburg).

Pascal’s man cave is the attic, where he displays 1,100 of his cars in acrylic cases along one wall. Each car is wrapped in acid-free translucent material.

His “desk” is a glass and steel display case containing collectibles that include a Hot Wheels watch, toothpaste, shampoo, temporary tattoo and coins that Shell Oil once dispensed with gas.

Hot Wheels first hit the market in 1968, the product of toy-maker Mattel, which was owned at the time by Elliot and Ruth Handler. Before her husband decided to improve on Matchbox cars with the more mobile Hot Wheels toy, Ruth had already gained fame as creator of the Barbie doll. Mattel, no longer a family business, also owns Matchbox now, and both are collectible.

So much ado about something so little (the original Hot Wheels that came out in 1968 were 1/64th the size of the real car), and to many so inconsequential, but not to Pascal.

For him, the collecting frenzy began in 1999, when his parents were decluttering his boyhood home in Bethesda’s Kenwood Park. They handed him a box

of Hot Wheels he’d played with as a kid.

For Pascal, 38 at the time, the flame was reignited. Within six months, he had purchased perhaps the rarest of the rare, a 1969 pink “Beach Bomb,” a prototype of the Volkswagen van, for $72,000. It is valued today at more than $150,000.

He admits he has a “serious addiction,” especially to the so-called “Redline” models of his youth, made from 1968 to 1977 with distinguishing red lines on the tires. His website is redlineprotos. com. On eBay, he is HWPascal. Within the hobby, he is known as the Indiana Jones of Hot Wheels for his dogged pursuit of the most obscure and esoteric Hot Wheels items.

In addition to his Hot Wheels cars, he has obtained original designer drawings, blueprints, and even 10 foot-long wooden models from which the miniatures were made. Early on, he attended a Mattel alumni reunion in California. He met the Handlers there, and someone gave him a 1968 employee directory.

Soon he was tracking down the former employees and adding such Hot Wheels ephemera as factory badges and internal newsletters to his collection.

Pascal has yet another distinction of which he is especially proud. In 2009, he was inducted into the Diecast Hall of Fame. He shares this honor with Leno, world champion race car driver Mario Andretti, former NASCAR championship driver Richard Petty, and Michael Zarnock, who worked with Pascal on his self-published 2011 book Hot Wheels Prototypes. Pascal says only 200 copies remain from a 2,000-book print run.

One of Pascal’s most prized possessions is a photograph of Elliot Handler holding his book a few days before he died at age 95 in 2011. “I’m beyond excited to have that picture,” Pascal says.

Pascal’s wife, Amy, who has her own business selling colorful leggings, is an enthusiastic enabler of his addiction.

“He’s sort of the adventure sportsman of collecting,” she says. “I’m pretty proud of him. He wants to reach the peak.” n

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BOOK REPORT

The Shadow List (G.P. Putnam’s Sons, September 2017) by Todd Moss is the fourth novel in a series featuring Judd Ryker, a state department crisis manager. In this thriller, the Bethesda author sends his main character to Nigeria to look for an American banker who fell for an email scam. Meanwhile, Ryker’s wife goes undercover to hunt a Russian mob boss connected to the scandal.

Moss, a former deputy assistant secretary of state who now works at a D.C. think tank, says he draws on his own experiences inside government, taking readers to the White House Situation Room to hear how officials arrive at decisions. “I try to bring some of that realism about how policy is actually made,” he says.

“The sausage machine is actually worse than you can imagine.”

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The novel Who Is Rich? by Matthew Klam (Random House, July 2017) tells the story of a love affair between Rich Fischer, a married artist who teaches cartooning, and Amy O’Donnell, a painter and the wife of a Wall Street billionaire. Away from their families at an annual arts conference, the two share a moment of passion, exchange texts for a year and meet again the next summer. Klam, who lives in American University Park in the District and teaches fiction writing at Johns Hopkins University, says it can be hard to manage marriage, raise children and have artistic ambitions.

“A lot of us have those conflicting responsibilities to ourselves, and I wanted to say to readers: I hear you. It’s complicated. And here’s a way that this crazy madman character fumbled through it,” he says.

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2017 | BETHESDAMAGAZINE.COM

Lulu Delacre began working on her latest book by clipping newspaper articles about young Latinos from The Washington Post.

The Silver Spring children’s author and illustrator put the stories into folders by theme—police confronting illegal immigrants, Central American children moving to Maryland without their parents, diabetes rising in the Latino population.

She used the news events as a basis for a collection of coming-of-age short stories, Us, in Progress: Short Stories About Young Latinos (HarperCollins, August 2017), geared for readers ages 8 to 12. In this, her 38th book (written and/or illustrated), Delacre says she hopes readers get a nuanced view of who Latinos are in the U.S.: “We are not a monolithic group.

We bring both texture and richness to the American fabric.”

Royce Hanson chaired the Montgomery County Planning Board, part of The Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission, from 1972 to 1981, then moved to Minneapolis and the Dallas area before returning to lead the board again from 2006 to 2010. Those experiences gave him a unique take on what has and hasn’t worked with local development, which he chronicles in Suburb: Planning Politics and the Public Interest (Cornell University Press, June 2017). Hanson, who lives in Montgomery Village and is a research professor at The George Washington Institute of Public Policy, says Montgomery County’s autonomous planning board, which forwards proposals to the county council for decisions, is a model approach that has promoted innovation.

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WHAT BETHESDA’S READING Barnes & Noble BETHESDA

THE LESSANS FAMILY LITERARY FESTIVAL. The festival offers multiple events, with an opening talk Thursday

by New York Times best-selling novelist Jennifer Weiner (Who Do You Love), Friday night dinner with Nathan Englander (What We Talk About When We Talk About Anne Frank) and Saturday night storytelling with Story District. Check website for times and prices.

Bender Jewish Community Center of Greater Washington, Rockville. benderjccgw.org/ litfest.

Nov. 4 BEVERLY DANIEL TATUM. President emerita of Atlanta’s Spelman College, Tatum has revised and updated her 1997 classic study of the psychology of racism, Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?

And Other Conversations About Race. She will answer questions and sign books.

3:30 p.m. Free. Politics and Prose, Washington, D.C. 202364-1919, politics-prose.com.

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BN.COM

Barnes & Noble NATIONWIDE/bn.com

1. A Legacy of Spies, John le Carré

1. A Column of Fire, Ken Follett

2. A Column of Fire, Ken Follett

2. The Girl Who Takes an Eye for an Eye, David Lagercrantz

3. Y Is for Yesterday (Kinsey Millhone Series, #25), Sue Grafton 4. Glass Houses, Louise Penny 5. The Girl Who Takes an Eye for an Eye, David Lagercrantz 6. A Gentleman in Moscow, Amor Towles 7. Sing, Unburied, Sing, Jesmyn Ward 8. My Absolute Darling, Gabriel Tallent 9. Enemy of the State (Mitch Rapp Series, #16), Vince Flynn, Kyle Mills 10. Secrets in Death (In Death Series, #45), J.D. Robb

HARDCOVER NONFICTION

Nov. 2-5

3. Enemy of the State (Mitch Rapp Series, #16), Vince Flynn, Kyle Mills 4. A Legacy of Spies, John le Carré 5. Secrets in Death (In Death Series, #45), J.D. Robb 6. Y Is for Yesterday (Kinsey Millhone Series, #25), Sue Grafton 7. Glass Houses, Louise Penny 8. The Right Time, Danielle Steel 9. Camino Island, John Grisham 10. To Be Where You Are, Jan Karon

1. What Happened, Hillary Rodham Clinton

1. What Happened, Hillary Rodham Clinton

2. Back to Balance: The Art, Science, and Business of Medicine, Halee Fischer-Wright

2. The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F***: A Counterintuitive Approach to Living a Good Life, Mark Manson

3. Guinness World Records 2018 4. Why Buddhism Is True: The Science and Philosophy of Meditation and Enlightenment, Robert Wright 5. Fantasyland: How America Went Haywire: A 500-Year History, Kurt Andersen 6. Unbelievable: My Front-Row Seat to the Craziest Campaign in American History, Katy Tur 7. Multipliers, Revised and Updated: How the Best Leaders Make Everyone Smarter, Liz Wiseman 8. Giant of the Senate, Al Franken 9. Conscience of a Conservative: A Rejection of Destructive Politics and a Return to Principle, Jeff Flake 10. Astrophysics for People in a Hurry, Neil deGrasse Tyson

(Fiction and Nonfiction)

EVENTS CALENDAR

PAPERBACK

LITERARY

HARDCOVER FICTION

Beverly Daniel Tatum

DATA PROVIDED BY:

3. Braving the Wilderness: The Quest for True Belonging and the Courage to Stand Alone, Brené Brown 4. Astrophysics for People in a Hurry, Neil deGrasse Tyson 5. Make Your Bed: Little Things That Can Change Your Life...and Maybe the World, William H. McRaven 6. Hillbilly Elegy, J.D. Vance 7. Al Franken, Giant of the Senate, Al Franken 8. Why Buddhism Is True: The Science and Philosophy of Meditation and Enlightenment, Robert Wright 9. The Big Lie: Exposing the Nazi Roots of the American Left, Dinesh D’Souza 10. The End of Alzheimer’s: The First Program to Prevent and Reverse Cognitive Decline, Dale Bredesen

1. All the Light We Cannot See, Anthony Doerr

1. It, Stephen King

2. It, Stephen King

2. The Glass Castle, Jeannette Walls

3. Milk and Honey, Rupi Kaur

3. The Woman in Cabin 10, Ruth Ware

4. The Nightingale, Kristin Hannah

4. Milk and Honey, Rupi Kaur

5. Lilac Girls, Martha Hall Kelly

5. In a Dark, Dark Wood, Ruth Ware

6. The Woman in Cabin 10, Ruth Ware

6. Ready Player One, Ernest Cline

7. In a Dark, Dark Wood, Ruth Ware

7. You Are a Badass: How to Stop Doubting Your Greatness and Start Living an Awesome Life, Jen Sincero

8. Born to Run, Bruce Springsteen 9. Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End, Atul Gawande 10. The Pigeon Tunnel, John le Carré

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2017 | BETHESDAMAGAZINE.COM

8. The Handmaid’s Tale, Margaret Atwood 9. All the Light We Cannot See, Anthony Doerr 10. The Fix, David Baldacci

COURTESY PHOTO

TOP-SELLING BOOKS as of Sept. 15 at the Barnes & Noble Bethesda, compared with Barnes & Noble stores nationwide and at bn.com

banter | SUBURBANOLOGY

BY APRIL WITT

END OF AN ERA I’M SEARCHING MY DESK drawer for a Barnes & Noble gift card. I want to use it before the bookseller shutters its store in downtown Bethesda at the end of this year. I know the gift card is here somewhere. I remember my youngest niece giving it to me last Christmas. Suddenly I realize that I haven’t bought anything but the occasional cappuccino there since the holidays.

It isn’t that I haven’t bought lots of books this year. I’ve bought stacks and stacks of books. I just didn’t buy them at Barnes & Noble.

Legions of people who live in or visit Bethesda are anguished that this Barnes & Noble is slated to close. Many view the closing of the last remaining bookstore in educated, well-read Bethesda as a kind of death knell for the community as we know it.

“They are ripping the heart out of this place,” Francisco Aguirre-Sacasa, a former Nicaraguan ambassador to the United States, lamented recently.

He divides his time between Nicaragua and his Virginia horse farm. When he’s anywhere near downtown Bethesda to

give a speech or attend a football game at Georgetown Preparatory School—his alma mater—he detours to Barnes & Noble, at the corner of Woodmont and Bethesda avenues, to shop for books. “I won’t have any reason to come to downtown Bethesda after this is gone,” he says.

More than 5,400 people have signed a Change.org petition imploring the bookseller’s landlord, Federal Realty, to strike a fair leasing deal to keep Barnes & Noble in Bethesda. The petition says the bookstore has been the heart and soul of this community for two decades. Petitioners threaten to boycott the next business to rent the space from Federal Realty (Anthropologie & Co.—the quirky fashion and home goods chain—announced this summer that it plans to open a store and restaurant there in 2018). Still, the number of people signing the petition to try to save the bookstore continues to grow. The petitioners’ grief and fury at the prospect of its loss are unmistakable.

I’m feeling more philosophical. At the end of any relationship, there’s usually plenty of fault to go around. In this parting, some of the fault is mine. Judging by

64 NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2017 | BETHESDAMAGAZINE.COM

the number of Amazon boxes I see on doorsteps around Bethesda, some of it might be yours as well. And some of the blame surely falls on Barnes & Noble.

On a recent Thursday afternoon I met Marilyn Rosenberg, 74, a retired elementary school teacher, in the bookseller’s children’s department. She was with her daughter and 4-year-old grandson. She tenderly patted the covers of the books that she perused. She loves books. She has spent her life spreading her love of books. “This is just so sad,” she says of the store’s planned closing. “This shouldn’t be happening.”

Her family comes to Bethesda regularly. Daughter Lindsay Ellenbogen likes that she can walk here from her home in Chevy Chase. For Ellenbogen, bringing her young son to a bookstore is not merely a commercial transaction, it’s an experience, she says: “I can see how he reacts to the colors on the book cover.

We can sit down and I can read to him.

We can share a real moment.”

This afternoon she’s on a mission. Her son will attend a birthday party in two days. She’s planning to buy a book from

ILLUSTRATION BY ANNE BENTLEY

As downtown Bethesda’s Barnes & Noble closes, so goes the gathering place our community needs

DCPS_BethesdaAugustAd.pdf

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the Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile series as a gift.

She’s already bought a stuffed crocodile to present with the book.

The children’s series is so beloved she couldn’t imagine that the giant bookstore wouldn’t stock a single copy. But they don’t. It was published decades ago, the clerk tells her, as if this is a reasonable explanation for its absence from the shelves.

“It’s a classic,” Ellenbogen says sweetly.

She whips out her phone as she walks away from the clerk. “I didn’t go 10 steps before I’d bought it on Amazon,” she says.

It will be at her doorstep the next day.

She looks at her mother sheepishly. They have a long-running debate about the pleasures and dangers of Amazon.

As I listen to them, I notice that we are standing in a section of the children’s department that is filled with row after row of toys for sale. It occurs to me that the bookstore lost this sale because it was confused about its mission. Maybe they should have stocked fewer toys, more children’s books.

We are all, in the age of Amazon, trying to find our way. Nationally, Amazon is opening new brick-and mortar bookstores as Barnes & Noble is closing several beyond Bethesda. Independent booksellers, once predicted to become extinct because of competition from Amazon, are now flourishing. The resurgence is driven in part by millennials who don’t like big chain stores any more than I do.

When I moved to Bethesda in 2000, there was still an independent bookstore here, Olsson’s. For a couple of years after Olsson’s closed, I tried to give Barnes & Noble my business. When they didn’t have the book I wanted, I asked someone to order it for me. Then, without ever making a conscious decision to abandon the only remaining bookstore within walking distance of my home, I slipped into the easy expediency of Amazon.

Never once, in thousands of clicks, has Amazon ever given me anything but a flawless transaction.

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In between clicks I salve my conscience by making pilgrimages to the independent bookseller Politics and Prose in Upper Northwest D.C. The bookstore is owned by two former journalists.

They live in Bethesda. I’ve discovered countless authors, books and ideas at Politics and Prose, where the selection of merchandise is smart and the advice is expert. I don’t think of it as a bookstore; I think of it as a cultural treasure.

Just because I never thought of Barnes & Noble as a cultural treasure doesn’t mean I don’t appreciate its meaning to our community.

It functions splendidly as downtown Bethesda’s front porch. Friends meet one another by the fountain out front because everyone knows where that is.

Well-behaved gaggles of teens gather after school near the third-floor café to study or socialize. Throughout the day and evening, all sorts of people go there to spend a quiet, comfortable few hours with a book or open laptop. When a stranger asks me for directions to someplace in downtown Bethesda, I usually describe the location in terms of how far it is from Barnes & Noble.

Gerald Oberndorfer, who lives in Cleveland Park, treats the store like his comfortable home den. The former Marine was director of humanitarian programs at the State Department for 25 years until his recent retirement.

He used to buy books closer to home, at Borders in Friendship Heights, until the chain went bankrupt. Now, at 78, he visits the Bethesda Barnes & Noble about twice a week. He buys two or three hardbacks, often international thrillers or military histories. He buys a cup of coffee at the store’s café. Then he spends the next few hours sipping and reading.

At his actual home, too many distractions interrupt his reading, he says. He feels so at home at Barnes & Noble that when he wanders away from his table he leaves his eyeglasses, backpack and other stuff unattended. The employees know him by name. He feels comfortable

FAMILY LAW

enough to indulge in a favorite prank.

When he comes across a book with Hillary Clinton’s face on the cover, he turns it backward. On the rare occasion a fellow customer intrudes on his solitude by talking loudly on a cellphone, he tells him or her to be quiet. “Usually, they shut up,” he says with a smile.

This curmudgeonly stranger let me sit with him for the longest time as we talked about politics, the books he’s reading, the military authors he knows. I told him that Anthropologie is scheduled to move into this space in 2018. He says he won’t be back to see that.

I won’t boycott Anthropologie, although I probably won’t spend much time there unless they have something to offer me beyond stuff. We don’t need another place just to buy things in Bethesda. We need a place to discover books and each other. We need a place to exchange ideas. We need a bookstore.

I have faith that someone will find a way to bring a bookstore back to Bethesda. I don’t know whether it will look like Amazon, Politics and Prose or some entirely new venture that I can’t yet imagine. I do know that I’ll never again make the mistake of taking the local bookstore for granted.

As the number of people signing the Change.org petition grows—despite Anthropologie’s plans to move into the bookstore’s space—I’m reminded of something a smart retail planner once told me. Customers feel a sense of ownership for the businesses they frequent, but they don’t have ownership. For privileged customers accustomed to getting pretty much what they want when they want it, this is a hard truth: The landlord giveth and the landlord taketh away.

Next year, whenever a stranger stops to ask me for directions to someplace in downtown Bethesda I expect I’m likely to say: “Do you know where Barnes & Noble used to be?” ■ April Witt is a former Washington Post writer who lives in Bethesda.

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banter | HOMETOWN

BY STEVE ROBERTS

TAKING THE LEAD

JACKY SCHULTZ WORKED her way through nursing school by singing on Saturday nights at Eddie’s Horseshoe Bar and Grill in Queens. She took the subway from Manhattan, performed for four hours and made $15 plus tips. Her favorite musical was Funny Girl, based on vaudeville star Fanny Brice, and one notable song from that show is “Don’t Rain on My Parade.” One verse goes: Don’t tell me not to fly— I’ve simply got to.

If someone takes a spill, It’s me and not you.

Who told you you’re allowed To rain on my parade!

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NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2017 | BETHESDAMAGAZINE.COM

PHOTO BY LISA HELFERT

Suburban Hospital’s president originally wanted a theater career. She changed paths early on— and now has her biggest role yet.

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banter | HOMETOWN Today, Schultz, 67, is the president of Suburban Hospital in Bethesda. Many people have told her not to fly, and she’s taken plenty of spills. But no one has rained on her parade.

She attended three colleges before earning a degree. She’s been fired twice.

She’s faced discrimination as a Jew, a woman and a nurse. But overcoming those obstacles has given her the resilience and resources to deal with a rapidly changing medical environment that aims to cut costs by keeping people out of hospitals, not in them.

“Hospitals are great places because you have a lot of concentrated resources, but you should encounter a hospital only when you absolutely need it,” she tells me.

“Right now we are focused on disease and illness, but really the focus for health care has to be prevention and wellness, and that’s a rather new focus for us. Can we think beyond the walls of the hospital?

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Because we’re going to have to.”

Schultz’s father was a Jewish immigrant from Eastern Europe who became a chemist and settled his young family in the New Jersey suburb of New Providence. “It was a typical Norman Rockwell kind of town,” she says, but after one high school show, the cast party was held at a country club that barred Jews. “I was 15 or 16, and when I found out I didn’t go,” she recalls. “I think it had an influence on me.”

She identified with Fanny Brice, the daughter of Jewish immigrants who became a huge star. And at her first two colleges, Rutgers and New York University, she majored in music and yearned for a stage career. But after many auditions, and no parts, she began to think, “What if that ‘be a star’ thing just doesn’t work out, which was highly probable, and I knew it.”

Jacky’s father suggested nursing

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2017 | BETHESDAMAGAZINE.COM

school, and transferring to Cornell was “the best decision of my life,” she says. But the transition was not easy. When told to give an injection for the first time, she panicked and said, “Are you kidding me?”

“It was a challenge, it was intimidating, but it was incredibly rewarding,” she says of her new career. “You get to serve people, you’re learning something completely new, and there’s something about the camaraderie on a [hospital] floor, doctors and nurses and technicians, that’s very engaging and draws you in. You’re part of something, and I really liked it.”

Her first job was at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, and she recalls a 16-year-old patient who was terminally ill: “We were talking every night and she said to me, ‘Jacky, I was always a good girl, I did things right, why is this happening to me?’ I was 24 years old and I didn’t have an answer to that.”

She chokes up telling the story: “Even

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banter | HOMETOWN now you could see it makes me very emotional. It’s the school of real life. You get your perspective on what’s important and what’s not.”

Jacky married Harvey Schultz, had two children, moved back to New Jersey and cycled through several nursing jobs.

At some point she “got bit by the management bug,” and when I ask why, she replies: “I have no idea. I just looked around at these people running floors and I thought, I want to do that.”

She applied for a job as a hospital vice president but was told, “You’re not much of a leader.” Schultz, who was “initially devastated” by the rejection, learned an important lesson. “It was about confidence. I had to be more sure of myself,” she says.

When her hospital in Newark closed for financial reasons in 2005, she moved here to become chief nurse at Suburban.

Four years later, the hospital joined the

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Johns Hopkins system and eventually the presidency came open. “I applied for the job and didn’t get it,” she admits.

Schultz says she doesn’t know why she didn’t get the job. “It got down to three finalists, myself and two physicians, and right away I was like ‘Uh-oh, I probably won’t be completing medical school by the time this happens,’ ” she says.

She actually faced two prejudices, she says, and one was gender. Johns Hopkins did not have a great record of female leadership—the hospital recently named its first woman president in 125 years and “125 years is a long time,” cracks Schultz.

“Then there’s the nursing part,” she adds.

“What do nurses know about business?

They’re nurturing, loving, but people don’t see that as the image of the decisive leader who’s going to be able to make quick decisions.”

But the male doctor who got the job did not stay long, and after a year as

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interim president, Schultz was named to the permanent post last year. She believes her nursing background is a big plus, because “nursing is [a] team sport” and so is running a hospital—one reason she lives only 10 minutes away in Rockville. That camaraderie she first felt early in her career, that sense of being “part of something” important and worthwhile, is at the core of her leadership style.

She doesn’t sing much anymore, but she’s promised to perform for her staff if they reach certain goals and maybe she’ll include these lyrics from “Don’t Rain on My Parade”: I gotta fly once I gotta try once Only can die once, right, sir? n Steve Roberts teaches journalism and politics at George Washington University. Send ideas for future columns to sroberts@gwu.edu.

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The Machin Law Firm, LLC See Profile page 81

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TONY J. LEWIS

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John F. Bowis

TONY J. LEWIS

PRESIDENT & OWNER, CHEVY CHASE CARS Bethesda was a rural town when Art Bowis opened his Chevrolet store in 1939, across the street from a small farm. Chevy Chase Automotive, which celebrated its 78th Anniversary this year, is the oldest business in a continuous location in Bethesda.

“It was the sticks,” says John Bowis, third generation president and owner. “Wisconsin Avenue was two lanes. My grandfather spent an hour walking the property and not a single car drove by. Today, 60,000 cars pass us every day.”

Chevy Chase Automotive is a full-service, new and used vehicle dealership, featuring an extensive selection of Acura cars and SUVs. Providing Acura service and parts, an online inventory, outstanding financial options and daily special vehicle offers, Chevy Chase Automotive has become the Washington, D.C. area’s preferred Acura dealer. The company also sells all brands of used vehicles, both international and domestic, and handles mechanical service and body repair of all brands. And Chevy Chase Automotive still handles Chevrolet and GM service business, honoring obligations to prior customers, says John.

“People ask if I’m nostalgic for Chevrolet; I’m nostalgic for the history and tradition, but the market decides what will sell today,” says John. “I love Acuras and so do our buyers.”

Art’s son Fred took over the family business in the 1960s. John credits his father with the company’s growth, particularly the iconic building finished in 1967, and the parking garage and service center, in 1980.

7725 Wisconsin Ave. Bethesda, MD 20814 301-657-4000 www.chevychasecars.com

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Bethesda Sedation Dentistry DEBORAH KLOTZ, DDS AND ROBERT SCHLOSSBERG, DDS

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“We specialize in individual care…only seeing one patient at a time.”

10401 Old Georgetown Road, Suite 200 Bethesda, MD 20814 301-530-2434 sleep@bethesdasedationdentistry.com www.bethesdasedationdentistry.com

TONY J. LEWIS

Taking good care of oral health can lead to better overall systemic health. Bethesda Sedation Dentistry’s (BSD) exceptional husband and wife team—led by doctors Robert Schlossberg and Deborah Klotz—acknowledges not everyone enjoys, or can find time for a trip to the dentist chair.

The practice is committed to providing the highest quality comprehensive, cosmetic and restorative dental care, and offers the latest in gentle, holistic sedation dental care, giving patients the beautiful, healthy smile they want and deserve.

Whether reaching the most phobic, high dental-need patient, anyone simply too busy for traditional multiple visit dental care, or for any of countless other reasons, Bethesda Sedation Dentistry comfortably and seamlessly creates an environment that enables everyone to receive their necessary care in a way unlike any they have experienced before; most often, in just a visit or two.

The BSD team is expertly trained, has cared for thousands of patients together and holds themselves to standards far exceeding those set by the State of Maryland.

Doctors Klotz and Schlossberg are invested in their patients’ well-being and believe in building meaningful, long-term relationships. That, they agreed is how they’ve maintained so many patients from generation to generation.

“We are a very unique, highly capable practice,” says Klotz. “We excel at delivering individual care by simply caring for one patient at a time. We are always reachable, by text or email, constantly communicating with our patients. Adds Schlossberg: “It’s amazing how meaningful direct access to your doctor can be, as patients will often text or email us directly with questions. Everyone deserves this level of comfort and care!”

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Brett, Erik and Todd Shorb

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AMERICAN PLANT For 90 years, American Plant has served as a popular garden center for the D.C. area, offering organic, earth-friendly gardening solutions as well as a strong family legacy of quality service and personal attention.

“Our grandfather built American Plant treating his customers like they were guests in his own home,” says Brett Shorb, who co-owns the company with brothers Erik and Todd.

“We’re the third generation, and now that's second nature to all of us.”

With two Bethesda locations, a Landscape/Design/Build/Maintain division and a Lifestyle Boutique—Tinge, which offers home décor, furniture, accessories, candles, jewelry and beauty products—American Plant has evolved into more than a Garden Center.

While maintaining the company’s core values, Brett, Erik and Todd continue to expand the business and provide customers with something fresh each year.

“We are a one-stop shopping destination with a wide selection of garden supplies, annuals, perennials, trees and shrubs,” says Brett. “Tinge is the perfect gift destination, and our greenhouses have exquisite orchids, houseplants and creative custom arrangements.”

American Plant’s knowledgeable and experienced in-house Landscape Design/Build/ Maintain team works with customers looking to transform—or custom-create—outdoor spaces, turning visions into reality. Features include beautiful natural stone walls, European styled pergolas, ponds and much more.

In addition to selling the most beautiful flowers, plants, trees and shrubs, the Shorbs are committed to providing environmentally friendly gardening solutions—they’ve been at the forefront of the industry’s environmental movement since taking the lead in 2000.

“A trip to American Plant should be an experience, not just an errand you have to run,” says Brett. “Our locations offer a piece of tranquility and excitement all wrapped up in one visit!”

“Our grandfather built American Plant treating his customers like they were guests in his own home…that’s second nature to all of us.”

7405 River Road Bethesda, MD 301-469-7690 5258 River Road Bethesda, MD 301-656-3311 www.americanplant.net Landscape Design | Build | Maintain 301-762-6301 www.americanplantlandscape.com

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Dino, Steve and Richard Pampillonia PAMPILLONIA

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“A passion for perfection yields the finest designed jewelry— far more valuable than the sum of its precious parts.”

5300 Wisconsin Ave. NW Washington, D.C. 202-363-6305 www.Pampillonia.com

ADAM FREEDMAN

Pampillonia, a family owned and operated jewelry firm, is very excited about its relocation to Bethesda Row in March 2018. The new store will be full service, offering custom jewelry design and manufacturing as well as contemporary and modern signed designer estate jewelry. Co-owners Dino, Richard and Steven Pampillonia are fifth generation jewelers—and gemologists. Steven’s son Michael recently joined the firm, becoming the sixth generation.

The family has been a source of fine jewelry and exquisite craftsmanship since a Pampillonia served as jeweler to King Victor Emmanuel of Italy. The Pampillionias take pride in carrying on their ancestor’s reputation for providing personalized service and using the finest quality materials. “We have passion for jewelry,” says Dino. “We sell the most beautiful things made by man and nature.”

“Our family is very mindful of the environment,” says Dino. Using recycled materials, Pampillonia manufactures their own jewelry with 100 percent recycled Harmony platinum and gold. Major diamonds are recycled from estate jewelry, recut to modern standards and featured in new designs. Recognized by Global Witness in 2004, Pampillonia was also at the forefront of the conflict-free diamond movement.

Pampillonia holds itself to the highest standards, says Dino. “We are perfectionists and take tremendous pride in everything that leaves the store.” Pampillonia designs are handmade without reliance on computer assistance therefore producing truly customized outcomes and avoiding the stiffness of computer-assisted manufacturing.

For decades the Pampillonia family has been the premier source for signed authentic designer and vintage estate jewelry. These pieces are curated from estates and private clients worldwide. “High end is not necessarily expensive,” says Dino. “Our store in Bethesda will feature jewelry from modest to extraordinary; we look forward to our grand opening.”

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Matt, Nick and Alex Markoff

MICHAEL VENTURA

CALLEVA Experiencing the outdoors is the best way to learn life skills, says Calleva co-founder Matt Markoff.

“Our goal, specifically, is to get kids outdoors,” he says. “It’s easy to be comfortable; you learn more about yourself when you’re uncomfortable.”

Calleva, founded by Matt with brothers Nick and Alex in 1993, began as a small summer camp. In the 24 years since, the family business has grown to encompass a variety of summer camps, wilderness educational experiences, environmental education and small-scale sustainable farming.

“We do outdoor education for 80 schools in the Washington, D.C. area, working with about 1,000 kids a week, from kindergarten through 12th grade,” says Matt.

The nearby Potomac River and C&O Canal National Historic Park serve as an artery to the outdoors. “It’s unbelievable how many times we take students who live or go to school right around the corner from the Potomac River but are just seeing it for the first time with us. Exposing kids to the outdoors, it’s awesome,” says Matt.

From snow club—ski with Calleva on Friday nights this winter—to liquid adventures (kayaking and more), rock-climbing, survival skills, art in nature, horseback riding, camping, woodland adventures and farm fun, Calleva offers something year-round for everyone, ages 3-18. And these outdoor adventures enable kids to be someone different, do something different and learn something deeper about themselves, says Matt.

“Kids go to school and everything feels scripted—their roles and social scenes,” he says. “You have a clean slate at Calleva, you don’t have to act like you do at school.

Sometimes the most reserved, soft-spoken kids have tremendous leadership qualities and we love bringing them out. We encourage kids to show different sides of themselves.”

“Sometimes the most reserved, soft-spoken kids have tremendous leadership qualities and we love bringing them out.”

13015 Rileys Lock Road Poolesville, MD 20837 301-216-1248 www.calleva.org

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Chris, Christy and John Scango CAPITOL HARDSCAPES Capitol Hardscapes is a family owned—and family focused—hardscaping business, specializing in driveways, walkways, patios, stoops and stairs, pool decks, walls, outdoor fireplaces and more. Whether a project is residential, commercial or institutional, Capitol Hardscapes operates as a boutique-style firm. In fact, spending more time with and focus on customers—something they felt the hardscaping industry was missing—is what drove owners Chris and Christy Scango to start their own company in 2010.

Together with Chris’s brother John, the Scangos assembled a team of project managers with more than 40 years of combined experience, committed to providing a superior level of availability. From job estimates, through visits to stone companies for selection of materials and project completion, Chris or John is present on every site—every day—to walk customers through details and answer all questions and concerns, ensuring clients stay fully informed.

“As a family run business, we’re a natural team,” says Chris. “We have a level of trust that allows us to talk freely and openly, providing seamless management of our projects.”

Capitol Hardscapes provides a wide variety of creative and budget friendly services that solve difficult site conditions, such as poor drainage, elevation changes, limited access installations, unusual material acquisition and historic restorations. Project managers simplify what can be an overwhelming process by breaking it down into segments customers can clearly envision, and work closely with clients on all aspects of a project, including choosing the best stones/colors/textures to complement their style.

“We strive to maintain customers’ vision throughout each project,” says Chris. “It brings us great pleasure when our clients thank us for helping them manage the process to create the outdoor space they’ve always wanted.”

Bethesda, MD 20824 301-887-1880 www.capitolhardscapes.com 80

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JAMES KIM

“As a family run business, we are a natural team.”

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Rada A. Machin, Esq. and Manuel D. Machin, Esq.

HILARY SCHWAB

PRINCIPALS, THE MACHIN LAW FIRM, LLC “The reason we came together personally, is why we work so well together professionally,” says Rada Machin, partner with husband Manny at The Machin Law Firm, LLC. “When you’re looking for a partner in life, you want dependability, trustworthiness and someone who complements you. Where one of us ebbs, the other flows, which enables us to analyze all cases with a holistic approach. Clients often tell us we provided the most comprehensive representation for their matter.”

The Machin Law Firm is a full-service firm, with focus areas in business law, family law, DUI/DWI, immigration and wills and estates. The Machins are “the team that works for you,” combining their efforts—and knowledge—on all cases. The husband and wife team is dedicated to strongly advocating for clients and providing cutting edge—and individually tailored—solutions to all legal matters.

As a family-run business, the Machins’ entire life is fully invested in their firm’s success and reputation, which they deeply value.

“Our home is being supported by helping other people get through the worst and best times of their lives,” says Rada. “And that’s what we love most about what we do, being able to touch peoples’ lives. That’s a huge motivator.”

The Machin Law Firm is extremely available to clients, who are all given direct lines and email access to both Rada and Manny. The Machins are also active on Facebook and Instagram and are very responsive through all channels.

The innovative client portal—through which clients can pay bills, send messages, write notes and insert tasks of any kind—helps streamline communication and drastically cut costs. With a low overhead, Machin Law Firm offers reasonable rates and can work with clients’ payment needs.

“Clients often tell us we provided the most comprehensive representation for their matter.”

One Research Court, Suite 450 Rockville, MD 20850 301-519-8033 info@machinlawfirm.com www.machinlawfirm.com

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Evelyn McEwan VALLEY MILL CAMP “Valley Mill campers can achieve anything they set their minds to”, says Evelyn McEwan, whose parents Bob and May founded the camp in 1956. Through a myriad of fun and challenging activities—kayaking, canoeing, gymnastics, horseback riding, archery and air rifle and more—“Valley Millers” spend their days communing with nature in the rugged outdoors, learning about selfsufficiency and resilience. Those qualities translate into self-confidence in all walks of life. Some campers have gone on to compete in kayaking and canoeing on National and Olympic Teams!

“We offer many challenges for young people to try, to experience and be successful,” says McEwan. “When you’re ready to try something, we’re ready to help you learn. It’s a casual atmosphere, but we’re always eager to have people try something they think they can’t do and watch them succeed and feel wonderful about themselves.”

The core values of the camp are the same as they were 61 years ago, says McEwan, who now runs Valley Mill with other family members.

“There’s a consistency about our camp that I find very important,” McEwan says. “The traditions my mother and father had, the values of why they started the camp— love and stewardship of the natural environment and a community that’s all for one and one for all—and what they wanted it to be, that’s what makes Valley Mill so special.”

With second and third generation campers, many young ones arrive for their first day ready to jump in on all the old songs they learned from their parents. And while campers pursue mostly individual goals, they never lose their sense of community.

“If one person reaches the top of the wall, we’ve all had success,” says McEwan.

15101 Seneca Road Germantown, MD 301-948-0220 www.valleymill.com 82

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“When you’re ready to try something, we’re ready to help you learn.”

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Tom, Dan and Ilan Fulop

TONY J. LEWIS

ROCKVILLE INTERIORS Rockville Interiors—managed by founder Tom Fulop with sons Dan and Ilan—has been the D.C. area’s premier fabric workroom since 1971. They specialize in the design, fabrication and installation of custom window treatments, re-upholstery, slipcovers, pillows, cushions, bed ensembles and more.

Rockville Interiors operates in locally owned workrooms where its team of artisan tailors, seamstresses and carpenters pair state-of-the-art technology with old world craftsmanship.

Everything is made by hand, using only the world’s finest home fashion fabrics.

“Our design team travels from Milan to Mumbai, collecting gorgeous home design fabrics,” says Ilan. “The breadth of style options and richness of patterns and textures infuses our products with unsurpassed beauty.”

Customers can meet with interior designers in the showroom or at home for guidance on selecting perfect fabrics for their projects. “Our workrooms bring those designs to life,” says Ilan. Factory-trained technicians oversee delivery and installation.

Tom founded Rockville Interiors at age 22 after emigrating from Hungary. He studied architecture back home but struggled to get his career off the ground in the U.S. without speaking English. Eager to support his family, he began knocking door-to-door offering a craft his grandmother taught him—sewing plastic slipcovers.

“People were so amazed by his exquisite craftsmanship they began requesting his assistance on related home projects, including furniture upholstery, draperies and pillows,” says Ilan. He and Dan admired their father’s determination, as he worked tirelessly to keep up with demand. Soon Tom’s burgeoning business required more hands, so he began assembling his team.

“We watched our dad pour his heart and soul into his craft,” says Ilan. “He’s inspired us to lead Rockville Interiors into the future, focusing on industry-leading quality, unrivaled service and stunning results.”

“Watching our dad pour his heart and soul into his craft inspired us to lead Rockville Interiors into the future.”

5414 Randolph Road Rockville, MD 20852 301-830-6447 hello@rockvilleinteriors.com www.rockvilleinteriors.com

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Alex Petukhov, Shannon Petukhov, MD, and daughter Julia BEST SENIOR CARE

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“Building trust with the family is essential as most seniors are naturally hesitant to invite a caregiver in their home, much less help them shower.”

17830 New Hampshire Ave., Suite 302 Ashton, MD 20861 301-717-2212 alex@bestseniorcare.us www.bestseniorcare.us

LISA HELFERT

“We’re more like a friend than an agency,” says Alex Petukhov of Best Senior Care.

“Building trust with families is essential as most seniors are naturally hesitant to invite a caregiver in their home, much less help them shower. Our strategic approach is successful even with the most anxious of seniors and their adult children.”

Offering a compassionate alternative to retirement homes, Best Senior Care helps seniors live confidently and age gracefully in the comfort of their own home. Since 2002, they have been building special life-long relationships with clients and their families.

“We’re a trusted company you can depend on,” says Petukhov. “Your satisfaction is our primary goal.”

Working with a true family owned and operated company has many perks. “All communication is open, direct and productive, with no bureaucracy to get in the way of solutions,” says Petukhov. “As a private company with an A+ BBB rating, we avoid high franchise fees our competitors pay, and therefore we’re able to offer the most competitive rates to our clients.”

Best Senior Care offers phone consultations and free in-home assessments for seniors or any individuals whose circumstances require assistance to avoid moving to a care facility. There are no fixed plans or packages, but each client has an individually tailored care plan to meet their specific needs. Caregivers can assist for a few hours a day or deliver 24-hour care, as needed.

Caregivers are chosen carefully. Most have worked in hospitals, assisted living homes or skilled nursing facilities and are certified nursing assistants. Supervised by registered nurses and thoroughly assessed, their backgrounds and references are excellent. It’s a multicultural staff and all are fluent in English. The company is fully licensed, bonded and insured.

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Rick and Valerie Dugan

TONY J. LEWIS

THE GRILLED OYSTER COMPANY Through years of working—and gathering valuable experience—in all aspects of the restaurant industry, Washington, D.C.-area natives Valerie and Rick Dugan always had plans to open their own place in the region when the time was right. In September 2012, the husband and wife team introduced The Grilled Oyster Company to Montgomery County.

With the Potomac location’s massive success, Valerie and Rick, whose complementary strengths enable them to work together seamlessly, opened a second restaurant in Washington, D.C.’s Cathedral Commons.

In short, the Grilled Oyster Company is a regionally inspired fresh seafood restaurant and raw bar. But it’s so much more. As frequenters of the Eastern Shore—where they spend much time on the water and know many local fishermen—Valerie and Rick are passionate about conservation of the Chesapeake Bay and the surrounding wildlife. The Grilled Oyster Company is a member of the Oyster Recovery Partnership’s Shell Recycling Alliance and recycles its oyster shells in an effort to help raise new oysters and restore oyster reefs.

The Dugans, as local restaurateurs, prioritize partnering—and have cultivated prosperous long-term relationships—with local farmers, fishermen and breweries in an effort to harvest and provide ethically grown seafood ad produce for their customers.

As suggested by the moniker, the Grilled Oyster Company’s menu includes oysters— cooked, grilled, fried or in the half shell—along with all the seafood options patrons could imagine; there are also plenty of options for those who don’t eat seafood. And the restaurant’s atmosphere is just as fitting for special occasions as happy hour with a few friends at the bar.

The Dugans cherish seeing familiar faces and catching up with longtime customers— considered friends and family—says Valerie.

“We spend a lot of time on the Eastern Shore and know many of the crabbers and fisherman; it’s important for us to support local businesses.”

Cabin John Shopping Center 7943 Tuckerman Lane Potomac, MD 20854 301-299-9888 Cathedral Commons 3701 Newark St., NW Washington, DC 20016 202-362-1719 www.thegrilledoystercompany.com

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Betty Barati and Sherri Hatam BELINA BOUTIQUE In today’s fast-paced society not every woman has the time—or desire—to hop around from clothing store to clothing store, to meet her wardrobe needs. Belina Boutique’s mother-daughter team—Betty Barati and Sherri Hatam—is eager to help.

A contemporary women’s boutique founded in 2003 by two fashion loving women at career crossroads, Belina Boutique offers a carefully selected collection of apparel—from t-shirts and jeans to cocktail dresses— and accessories from both known designers and young, emerging designers.

“We know our merchandise—we’ve been doing this for 14 years—and we’re good at putting things together,” says Hatam. “So, we can be a huge help for those who don’t like to shop or are looking for assistance.”

Barati, who spent years in retail, and Hatam, who worked as a CPA before becoming a mother, strive to provide clients with a highly personalized shopping experience. For customers’ convenience, Hatam and Barati are also available for off-hours personal shopping appointments and wardrobe consultations.

“This is about much more than selling clothing,” says Hatam, whose background in accounting comes in handy. “We spend a lot of one-on-one time getting to know our clients, their life story; we go above and beyond to ensure the most personalized experience.”

With knowledge and eclectic taste from multiple generations of fashion, Belina Boutique features a versatile selection appealing to a wide age range. “When we go buying, my mother will look for items for women in her age range and I’ll shop for mine, so we have merchandise for women of all ages.”

10215 Old Georgetown Road Bethesda, MD 20814 301-897-2929 www.belinaboutique.com 86

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HILARY SCHWAB

“We go above and beyond to ensure the most personalized experience.”

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Gail Linn, AuD, CCC-A Tricia Riley Terlep, AuD Therese. C. Walden, AuD Amy Rothermel, AuD POTOMAC AUDIOLOGY Nearly 50 million Americans—from babies to older adults— experience significant hearing loss. Yet approximately 80 percent of those who could benefit from wearing hearing aids or other assistive hearing devices, opt not to. Potomac Audiology offers state-of-the-art hearing evaluations and the most innovative hearing technologies and treatments to help people recapture the sounds they’ve been missing, greatly improving their quality of life.

The team of experienced doctors—Gail Linn, Tricia Terlep, Therese Walden and Amy Rothermel—collaborate to provide personalized, advanced hearing care through a wide variety of services including, diagnostic hearing tests, hearing aid fittings, real-ear/probe microphone measurements, tinnitus evaluation and treatment, cerumen management and custom earplugs/swimplugs.

Potomac Audiology strives to be at the forefront of cutting-edge methods and technology, says Dr. Linn, and constantly looks for new ways to improve the practice.

“Real-ear or probe microphone measurement is something we do when fitting hearing aids that is not widely done,” says Dr. Linn. “This equipment allows us to put a tiny tube into the ear canal that is attached to a microphone, to measure what a hearing aid is delivering to the ear. We calculate a target or prescription using the results of the audiogram and program the hearing aid with a computer to match the target.”

Dr. Terlep—Dr. Linn’s daughter—was able to experience unusual cases in her eight years in Georgetown University’s Audiology Department, says Dr. Linn. “She also did a great deal of pediatrics. We are set up to test babies from birth—using Auditory Brainstem Response—to toddlers, using Conditioned Play Audiometry and Visual Reinforcement Audiology.”

Potomac Audiology is also equipped to deliver treatment to an individual’s home, “so there is almost no patient we cannot care for,” says Dr. Linn.

HILARY SCHWAB

“There is almost no patient we cannot care for.”

11300 Rockville Pike, Suite 105 Rockville, MD 20852 240-477-1010 | www.potomacaudiology.com BETHESDAMAGAZINE.COM | NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2017

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Bill and Ashlee Edelblut O’DONNELL’S MARKET

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“Our name is synonymous with quality and care; our customers are more than a number to us.”

1073 Seven Locks Road Potomac, MD 20854 301-251-6355 www.odonnellsmarket.com

HEATHER FUENTES

The O’Donnell family has been sharing its original recipes and delicious Norfolk style of cooking with Montgomery County for nearly a century. In December 2015, Bill Edelblut and daughter, Ashlee—a fourth generation O’Donnell—opened O’Donnell’s Market in Potomac, where customers continue enjoying the same quality of food and service associated with the family name.

“We are so proud of our history as a quality seafood restaurant and are excited to bring our new concept to the families who have supported us all these years,” says Bill.

Ashlee adds: “Our name is synonymous with quality and care; our customers are more than a number to us. Not only is our business based on four generations of employed family members, but four generations of customers.”

O’Donnell’s Market offers fresh seafood, the finest cuts of meat and healthy prepared dishes to accompany any meal. The aroma of fresh pies and pastries—including those famous O’Donnell’s rum buns—made from scratch daily by the pastry chef emanates from the bakery.

Customers can also dine in—O’Donnell’s Market’s raw bar and grill serves meals using the same fresh ingredients from the cases. Whether it’s happy hour and shucked oysters with co-workers, an afternoon snack or a celebratory dinner, O’Donnell’s Market is the perfect spot.

While O’Donnell’s has a great history, staying current and fresh are vital to success, says Ashlee. O’Donnell’s strives to blend the comfort of its signature items with modern cuisine.

Through nearly 100 years, O’Donnell’s has built a large extended family, which includes all employees and customers. Bill and Ashlee cherish every connection to O’Donnell’s.

“We have 90-year-old connections with so many members of the community,” says Bill.

“Hearing their stories touches our hearts.”

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PHOTO BY LISA HELFERT

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Hope Lives Here Nearly three-quarters of the students at Germantown’s Daly Elementary School are from low-income families.

For the principal and her staff, academics are only part of the job.

BY CINDY RICH

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O

On a Thursday in late August, five days before the start of school, Montgomery County teacher Carlos Altamirano is driving through a trailer park in Germantown with the rest of the fifth-grade team. After nearly a week of meetings, where he and his colleagues talked about everything from student proficiency rates to what they should do when a child needs food at home, the Daly Elementary School staff is out visiting the places that affect their students most: the neighborhoods where the kids live; the nearby Boys & Girls Club; Neelsville Middle School, where they’ll go next.

Principal Nora Dietz came up with the idea for a staff scavenger hunt

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about five years ago, when Daly was on the cusp of becoming a Title I school, because she wanted her teachers to get a sense of where their students came from. Today, about 75 staff members are divided into small groups by grade level, and every team has a “puzzle” to complete. Each puzzle piece contains a different instruction.

Home to many of our families, you will find it on [Route] 355; grab a group photo at Middlebrook Mobile Home Park when you arrive, one reads.

The trailer park, just off Frederick Road a few miles from Wegmans, is the teachers’ third stop so far. They’ve already gone to the Plum Gar recreation

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center, where some of their students go to summer camp. Then they stopped at Seneca Ridge, a public housing community that feeds into Daly. Dietz was there, too, handing out books and snacks to the children she saw. Nearly three-quarters of her students live in low-income households, and some of their parents are illiterate. You’ve got to get the books into kids’ hands, she likes to say.

About 125 of the 615 Daly students live at Middlebrook, the only remaining trailer park in Montgomery County. Some share a mobile home with one or two other families; a few students have told teachers that they sleep on the floor. There’s a beer and wine store near the entrance, and another

PHOTOS BY LISA HELFERT

This past summer, Daly staff members visited the Middlebrook Mobile Home Park (above) to distribute donated backpacks to their students. Principal Nora Dietz (holding baby) knows a lot of the Daly families who live in the trailer park.

She’s often struck by the fact that so many of the parents there don’t speak English—and some can’t read in Spanish—-yet they put their children on the bus every morning and entrust her staff to take care of them. “I’m always humbled by that,” Dietz says.

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near the pawn shop across the street. It’s not unusual to find broken beer bottles on the grass where some kids stand to wait for the school bus.

“I’ve always wanted to drive down here,” second-year teacher Sydney Rossano says as her group passes the two metal swing sets and seesaw the kids play on. She’s been to the trailer park 94

before—yesterday the Daly staff came to distribute donated backpacks and brought pizza for all the kids—but she hasn’t seen all 25 acres of it. The predominantly Hispanic neighborhood is bigger than it looks.

“Alexa lives at the front-front, and she’s always the first one to text [other kids], like, ‘hey, ambulance just came in,

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let me know what’s going on down there,’ or ‘police are here,’ ” Altamirano says as he drives. (Some students’ names have been changed to protect their identities.)

He stops his SUV in front of a mobile home. “Is he there?” he asks, leaning over in his car to get a closer look. “Daniel lives right down here, used to at least.”

Altamirano, 41, grew up in Silver

PHOTO BY LISA HELFERT

Dietz often jokes that she has six children of her own and 600 others at school.

“Kids are my life,” says the grandmother of six. One of her proudest moments each year is the Clarksburg High School graduation, when she gets to see her former students walk across the stage.

Spring and didn’t know the county had a mobile home park until he started working at Daly five years ago. Now he can point out his students’ trailers. “It’s funny because you’ll be driving around and sometimes the families will, like, look at you as you’re driving through like, who are you?” he tells his colleagues.

“Then, all the sudden they recognize you

as a teacher and they’re like, ohhh.” He knows that some of his fifth-graders are the grown-ups at home, waking their younger siblings in the morning and getting them ready for the bus. So when they get to school he gives them extra time to settle in before he asks them to do any work. Most of his kids have breakfast in the classroom—they go crazy over the cinnamon rolls on Fridays, he says—and if they don’t eat their Craisins, he’ll have them save the unopened packages for snack time so nothing goes to waste.

“I feel like at our school there’s a whole nother level that’s not just academics,” teacher Carole Pinckney says in the car later. There are 26 children on her class list this year; 22 of them receive free and reduced-price meals (FARMS), and 10 are ESOL students. “If you go somewhere where there’s a lot of parent involvement, you’re kind of just their teacher,” Rossano adds. “Some of my students last year would be like, ‘You’re like my family.’ ” At a place like Daly, the teachers say, you don’t stop thinking about the kids when you get home. You can’t.

A FEW THINGS struck Dietz when she left Daly in January 2015 and spent six weeks at Rachel Carson Elementary School in the Kentlands. At the time, she had a principal intern at Daly who was required to take over as acting principal, so she was temporarily moved to another school. Her first week there, she walked into the cafeteria and saw students with bento boxes and all sorts of fancy lunches. Some had thermoses filled with hot soup. Look at what they’re eating, she thought.

It seemed like everyone was wearing Under Armour, Dietz says, which she wasn’t used to seeing. Kids stepped out of their parents’ cars holding one, sometimes two instruments, and stayed for lessons after school; at Daly, some third-graders need help paying the $5

fee for the recorders they use in music class. The families were lovely, Dietz says, and the teachers worked hard, but it felt like a different world. For Valentine’s Day, the PTA sponsored a party for the fifth-graders, complete with a DJ, photo booth props and cotton candy.

Dietz looked around in awe—her PTA is struggling, and Daly teachers often end up covering a portion of the cost of their classroom holiday parties. This is amazing, she kept thinking. My kids would love to have something like this.

When Dietz started as principal at Captain James E. Daly Jr. Elementary in 2007—the school is named after a fallen county police officer—about half of her students received FARMS, an indicator of poverty. Now the school’s FARMS rate is nearly 73 percent. “That’s a huge change in a short amount of time,” she says. About 40 percent of all elementary school students in the county qualify for FARMS. In order to be eligible, the annual income of a family of four cannot exceed $45,510, or $3,793 a month; some Daly families bring in less than half of that. “[From the outside] we look beautiful—you drive by and go, this is a Title I school?” says Dietz, 62. “But you have to look inside the walls to know what’s going on.”

Like much of the county, Germantown has been changing for a while, and that shift can be seen in the fifth-grade class photos hanging in the hallway at Daly, not far from a banner that reads Hope Lives Here. Fifteen years ago, white students made up 32 percent of the school’s population; 24 percent of students were Hispanic, 31 percent were black and 14 percent were Asian. According to 20162017 data from Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS), fewer than 7 percent of students at Daly are white, while 44 percent are Hispanic, 40 percent are black and 6 percent are Asian.

“Many people still think of Gaithersburg

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Fifth-grade teacher Sydney Rossano helps coordinate breakfast in her classroom at Daly.

The school’s motto is, “Where every student is a Daly success!”

[and] north as being highly homogenous, still very white, still very rural—and it’s none of those things,” says Mike Knapp, a Germantown resident who served two terms on the County Council.

Dietz says there are people within the school system that don’t necessarily understand the level of need in other parts of the county. Daly is the only Title I school in the Clarksburg High School cluster; five of the six other elementary schools that feed into Clarksburg have significantly lower FARMS rates. An administrator from a middle school a few miles away was surprised to hear that some of Dietz’s students didn’t have winter coats. “We used to have 96

some schools, some of the more affluent schools would adopt another school,” says Dietz, who lives in Germantown and often runs into students on weekends. “I guess that’s kind of gone away.”

Early on, Dietz decided she wanted to turn Daly into what she calls a “community school.” She envisioned a place where students and their parents felt safe and knew they could ask for help, where grades and test scores weren’t the only thing that mattered. She knew the job wouldn’t be easy. From the beginning, it was challenging to get through to families who don’t speak the language to make sure they sent their kids to school on time and showed up for meetings.

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After Donald Trump was elected president, Dietz says, some immigrant parents started telling staff that they didn’t want to put their names on any school forms. A few were concerned about sending their children to school at all. A crying third-grader approached Dietz and said, “That man’s gonna take my mom away.”

One student came to the U.S. as an unaccompanied minor when she was 5 or 6; her mother was already here. “She was held in Texas by herself for a few months. By herself,” the child’s ESOL teacher says. “She came here and she didn’t speak for three months.” A few years ago, a second-grader who’d never

PHOTOS BY LISA HELFERT

Teacher Carlos Altamirano focuses on building relationships with students. “If I can get them to understand that I actually care about them, then they tend to care about themselves a little bit more," he says, “and work a little harder.”

been in trouble was sent to Dietz’s office because he had a toy gun in his backpack.

When Dietz asked him why he’d brought it to school, the boy said there were a lot of people living in his house—including some he didn’t know—and it was his favorite toy, and if he didn’t keep it with him, somebody would take it. “It broke my heart,” she says. A police officer who works with the school called Dietz once to warn her that a SWAT team would be raiding one of the mobile homes that morning. Two of her students were inside. “The father got arrested, with them there,” says Dietz, a grandmother of six. “That was a tough day.”

Of the 133 public elementary schools

in Montgomery County, 25 receive federal funding through Title I, a program designed to improve the academic achievement of disadvantaged children.

As a Title I school, Daly has reduced class sizes in grades K-2 (kindergarten classrooms have 16 to 18 children); summer learning programs that are free to students; family involvement funds to cover things like food for school events; and additional staff positions, including a math content specialist, a parent community coordinator and a primary talent development coach.

Recently, Dietz has had extra help: In early 2016, the Germantown-based Healthcare Initiative Foundation (HIF),

a grant-making organization that supports health care nonprofits serving Montgomery County residents, began the process to develop a five-year pilot program called Thriving Germantown (TG), specifically for the Daly community. “There isn’t an anchor nonprofit in Germantown, and there isn’t a municipality, but here we have the fastest-growing population and poverty rate in the county,” says HIF President Crystal Carr Townsend, who has spent much of her career overseeing social service programs. “How do you make headway on this? How do you catch this tide before Daly becomes a 90-percent FARMS school?”

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Of the 133 public elementary schools in Montgomery County, 25 receive federal funding through Title I, a program designed to improve the academic achievement of disadvantaged children.

After meeting with Dietz and hearing about Daly, Townsend, a Germantown resident, was shocked to learn about the challenges the school was up against. Twenty-nine county schools have a Linkages to Learning (LTL) program, a community-school partnership designed to assist low-income students and their families by connecting them to services and resources; nine sites have school-based health centers. Over the years, Dietz has requested a LTL program, but says funding hasn’t allowed it.

“Your role is to educate,” Townsend told her when they met. “We can identify and bring community resources to do the rest.”

With support from several funders, Family Services Inc. operates the Thriving Germantown Community HUB, designed to help Germantown families connect to health care, early child care, food assistance, workforce development, ESOL classes and more. The focal point is Daly: Each school year, families with a child in pre-kindergarten or kindergarten will be eligible to enroll in the program, and by the end of the pilot the entire Daly community will have the option to participate, Townsend says.

Through the TG planning, HIF has brought together local nonprofits—including Germantown Help, Aspire Counseling, Holy Cross Health and EveryMind—and provided the 98

necessary funding to begin offering coordinated services for Daly students and their families. Because of TG, the Columbia Lighthouse for the Blind, a nonprofit based in Silver Spring, parked its mobile eye care van at Daly last year and performed vision screenings on 188 children; 44 of them needed glasses.

This will be the second year that about 20 Daly third-graders get to participate in an after-school program with Identity, a nonprofit that provides academic support and social services to Latino youths.

Manna Food Center is working with TG to offer hands-on nutrition education classes for Daly students and increase access to fresh produce; the new Manna Mobile Kitchen & Pop-Up Pantry is scheduled to make several visits to the school and the mobile home park over the next year.

Even with all the support, Daly can be a tough place to work, Dietz says, and she often tells that to applicants in their interviews. The school has enrichment opportunities and classes for advanced students, but with so many disadvantaged children in a classroom, it can be hard for teachers to make time for the accelerated group. “What are you doing for our kids?” parents have asked.

Last spring, Dietz found herself involved in a family conflict concerning a mother who had barely seen her son grow up, a father who’d been deported,

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and a grandmother who didn’t want to lose the boy she was helping to raise.

Daly staff had worked with the child for two years—at one point he was calling his Hispanic teacher “Mom”—and then one day his mother showed up at school asking if she could see him. Dietz knows she could have said “not here, not on school grounds,” but then what? She’d been told the boy’s father had a history of gang involvement, and she knows what can happen to at-risk kids who don’t get the help they need.

“I just worry for this little boy—what’s going to happen to him?” Dietz says. “I can’t say, ‘Go away.’ I can’t do it. I just can’t. And I don’t know, I really believe that in our county many principals are doing the same thing. This is the whole other side of the work we’re doing.”

It’s the small victories that keep the staff going: an ESOL student jumps a level in reading; they track down furniture for a family or help a parent find a job; a child who spends a lot of time in the

About 125 of the 615 Daly students live at the Middlebrook Mobile Home Park, the county’s only trailer park, just off Frederick Road (Route 355) in Germantown.

PHOTO BY STEPHANIE WILLIAMS

office doesn’t get into trouble all month.

Staff members cried recently when a second-grader with selective mutism had a conversation with her teacher. You have to look beyond the data, Dietz says. Many of her kids aren’t “rock stars” with their test scores, but they’re making progress.

She’s had people tell her it doesn’t seem fair that her students are expected to meet the same benchmarks as kids in other parts of the county when they don’t have the same opportunities. “I guess I could get hung up on that, and probably have at times,” she says. “But what we talk about in staff meetings is: We have six hours a day. We’ve got to make every second count.”

AT A MEETING in February, the principal of Cold Spring Elementary School in Potomac told colleagues from other schools that her students had brought in a thousand cans of soup for a “Souper Bowl of Caring” drive, and she hadn’t decided what to do with them. It was the

good soup, Dietz says, the thick, chunky kind that could serve as a meal for her families. She held up her hand. “I’ll take them,” she said.

On a typical Friday, about 100 Daly students leave with small bags of nonperishables, such as applesauce and microwavable mac ’n’ cheese, which are donated to the school by the Women Who Care Ministries in Gaithersburg.

Some kids start opening the snacks before they get on the bus to go home, which they aren’t supposed to do, but when you’re chronically hungry, you eat when you can, one teacher says.

A few years ago, Dietz started a “kids’ fund” to help families in crisis. Most of the money—there’s rarely more than a few hundred dollars in it—comes from members of her own family; a portion is from other donors. Dietz has tapped into the fund to help parents pay overdue electric bills—she’s called Pepco and asked them to turn a family’s lights back on—or to buy gift cards to Giant. She’s

had parents walk into her office and tell her they had no groceries.

“Imagine going to somebody, not a family member, and standing in front of them going, ‘I have no food to feed my kids,’ ” Dietz says. Her eyes fill with tears. She hears this several times a year, at least, but never gets used to it. “Sometimes [people] will say to me, ‘Are you sure? Are you sure they really need it?’

I’m not going to make that judgment. If you’ve come to me in that state, and you are putting yourself out there like that… then I have to help you.”

She’s never shied away from telling Daly parents about her own struggles, she says, how she had six small children to care for before she had a college degree and how her family came close to the poverty line. Or how one of her daughters had a learning disability.

“You have to put yourself out there,” says Dietz, who keeps a stuffed bulldog, the school mascot, in her office. “If you have yourself up here, they hold you at

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an arm’s length. That’s never been me.”

She doesn’t give out cash, she says, and she’s never felt like a parent was lying to her. “I always say to my staff, ‘You have to think, would you do that?

Just for [a] $50 gift card?’ I don’t think many of us would,” she says. “You can tell, too, when people are really struggling. You can tell.”

Some students show up wearing clothes that are too small or shoes with broken soles. Last year, Daly’s parent community coordinator, Veronica Palleres, put in an application for the Rack Room Shoes’ “Shoes That Fit” program, and received a $2,400 gift card to use on kids’ sneakers and boots. She called parents for permission, then measured each child’s feet in her office. It’s Palleres’ job to support Daly families, which can mean tracking down a crib for a new mom, connecting parents to the Charles W. Gilchrist Immigrant Resource Center so they can sign up for English classes, or going to the trailer park to distribute handouts about immigrants’ rights. In May, she organized a visit from the Smile Programs’ mobile dentists, which offers in-school dental care—including cleanings, fluoride treatments and sealants—and has a grant program to cover the cost for 100

children who don’t have insurance.

Palleres hugs every mom she meets— “they just need that,” she says—and keeps a Maya Angelou quote on her office wall that reads, We may encounter many defeats but we must not be defeated. She’s worked with mothers who are coming out of domestic violence shelters and need a place to go. She refers some parents to the Watkins Mill Cluster Project—a joint effort between Montgomery County Public Schools and the county government—where they can apply for food stamps, housing assistance and other services. Last spring she met a Daly mom who said her child didn’t have any medical coverage.

“Write down your name, number and address,” Palleres said. “We’re going to

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PHOTOS BY STEPHANIE WILLIAMS

Veronica Palleres, Daly’s parent community coordinator, connects families to county services and community resources, and helps organize school events such as Donuts for Dads (right).

get your daughter health insurance.”

Two years ago, a family of four from Honduras moved into the mobile home park but could only afford to rent one bedroom. Another man, a stranger to the family, rented a second room, and an older woman who owned the trailer lived there, too. Teacher Sara Kelley, then Daly’s parent educator, had been working with the son, who had significant speech and academic delays. When the parents finally got their own place to live, the mother called Kelley. “That’s awesome,” Kelley said in Spanish. “What do you need?”

“Everything,” the boy’s mom told her.

Kelley, a mother of three who grew up in Germantown, talked to her colleagues. “Listen, we have this student who’s moving into a new trailer with nothing,” she said. “Nobody has a bed. They don't have a table. They don't have anything.” Teachers looked around their own houses and asked friends what they might be willing to donate. It was winter break.

“We had probably five staff members that drove over with carloads of stuff, and two with trucks that brought beds,” Kelley says.

Counselor Loren Felsher almost took a job at a school in Bethesda, but thought she could make more of a difference at Daly. In her first year, she had to call Child Protective Services a handful of times to report allegations of abuse, and two brothers told Felsher that their mom said they weren’t allowed to speak to her anymore. Sometimes she finds herself looking on case search websites to see if a parent has a criminal history. Seven Daly students have a parent who is incarcerated. “I just ordered a book for next year, My Daddy’s in Jail,” she says during

a conversation in May. “I never thought I would order that book.”

Kids often come into Felsher’s office for impromptu “lunch bunches,” where they’ll talk to her about their weekends, or a fight they’re having with a friend.

She’s had conversations with first-graders worried about being deported. When she returns home to her own kids, it can be difficult to stop thinking about what she’s heard at work that day. She often reminds her son and daughter how lucky they are. “It’s hard to sleep at night sometimes. It’s hard to separate,” she says. “I need to figure that out so I don’t burn out. …And it’s not just me, it’s all the teachers. They’re all so passionate.”

Felsher, who lives in Gaithersburg, says many of her friends there have no idea what life is like for some kids who go to school 15 minutes away. Her husband was upset last year that they couldn’t go on a trip for spring break. “Come on,” she said. “Are you not hearing my stories?”

THERE’S ORDER IN the hallways at Daly, where students walk in neat lines along red paths on the floor and some of the younger ones pretend they’re carrying a bubble in their mouth so they don’t talk too much. Kids quietly check out books in the library, which has a reading shelf dedicated to Dietz’s mother, a former county principal who volunteered at Daly, and use their “bulldog bones”—tokens they earn for good behavior—to buy small toys from the school store.

But the behavior issues are there, like at many schools, both in the classroom and on the playground. Fights break out at recess, sometimes stemming from problems between families who live in the same neighborhood. Kids use inappropriate language that they’ve picked up from adults at home.

“It’s really hard when you have to look at an 8-year-old and say, ‘You’re the one who’s going to have to rise above, you’re

the one who’s going to have to make better decisions,’ ” says Dietz, who was a finalist three years ago for the Edward Shirley Award for Excellence in Educational Administration and Supervision, named for a former MCPS educator. For a few months last year, she and another Daly administrator took turns riding the school bus home with one group of students because the driver was having problems keeping the kids under control.

“It was embarrassing,” Dietz says. “That’s what I told the parents: I’m embarrassed—because they’re my kids, too.”

A staff member says some substitutes don’t like to come to Daly because the days can be so stressful. One teacher recently left after a year. About 67 percent of the professional staff has worked at Daly for five years or longer; most of the county’s Title I elementary schools have a higher retention rate. Still, some staff members don’t want to leave. The music teacher has been there for 26 years; one of

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hope lives here the counselors started in 1997. A teacher who’s worked at other county schools says she’s happiest at Daly.

“It takes a special type to work at Daly,” one staff member says. “We have so many kids whose home lives are a disaster. …But it’s my job to serve these kids, and I’m not going to give up on them. I don’t care how much of a jerk this kid is being—he needs unconditional love. He needs someone who’s never going to give up on him. How’s that cycle going to get broken unless somebody never gives up on him?”

Dietz, who calls her teachers “unsung

met or exceeded the county benchmark for reading. “If you look at a kid who’s made a year and a half growth in reading, and [the child is] an ESOL student— could be ESOL, FARMS and special education—and they’re making some gains, that’s a success for us,” she says.

Success also comes in other forms.

Mustapha Saine, last year’s student council president, couldn’t wait to get up and tell his story at the school’s fifthgrade promotion ceremony in June.

Altamirano, his teacher, had asked his students to write a memoir about their time at Daly; four kids from the fifth

“Imagine going to somebody, not a family member, and standing in front of them going, ‘I have no food to feed my kids,’ ” Dietz says. heroes,” admits that staff morale isn’t as high as she’d like it to be. They get together for group outings—several staff members, including Dietz, went to Ocean City together after school ended in June—but a recent employee survey showed that some feel they aren’t getting enough feedback and recognition. That falls on her, Dietz says. “It came down to, the teachers really want to hear from me, they want written notes,” she says. “I was thinking about how often I did that last year—probably not as much as I should have.”

Part of the problem with morale, Dietz says, is that teachers work long hours and give their students everything they have, but the school still struggles to keep up academically. “When you have kids that are very challenging, that can bring you down,” she says. “Then, when you have on top of it the milestone data you’re held accountable for, and we don’t quite meet those benchmarks, it can be really demoralizing.”

Dietz tries to emphasize the positives.

Last year, 90 percent of kindergartners 102

grade were selected as speakers. The day of the ceremony, Mustapha, who still refers to Altamirano as a role model, wore black slacks and a blue buttondown shirt with a tie. “I was taught that education was the only way to make it through this world,” he started. He talked about how fourth grade wasn’t his best year, how his grades were good but his behavior wasn’t. “I would talk in class, run around, do all sorts of mischiefs I shouldn’t have been doing,” he said. “Until one day—ring, ring—it was a phone call home.”

His parents didn’t punish him that night, he told the audience. Instead, they talked to him and inspired him to do better. And soon, with Altamirano’s help, he turned things around. “Now I have a legacy to look back on,” he said, “from fourth-grade troublemaker to fifth-grade leader.” The 10-year-old, who wants to be a teacher, a lawyer or a U.S. president, went on to paraphrase Walt Whitman. “I guess the quote that fits me is, ‘Keep your head towards the sunshine,

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and the shadows will fall behind you.’ ” Before his speech ended, Mustapha talked about the time he wore a white T-shirt to art class in second grade and learned never to do that again, and how cool it was that one of his teachers brought her dad to a class pizza party. “I’m really going to miss this school,” he said.

THE TV IS ON, in English, but the little boy watching doesn’t seem to understand what anyone is saying. He has toy figurines to play with—one from Toy Story, another from PAW Patrol—but he doesn’t know their names. He’s still new here. He and his mother crossed the Mexican border into Texas earlier this year because she feared for their lives. “We’re going on a trip,” she told her 5-year-old son.

His mom is sitting on the edge of the boy’s bed, where he keeps his prized Captain America quilt, in the cramped mobile home they share with her friend and another family. There’s a bulky black ankle monitor just below her right pant leg that allows immigration officials to track where she goes, and lately she’s been asking God, please get this off of me.

They had to get out of El Salvador because the boy’s father was abusive and once hit her so hard while she was pregnant that she almost lost the baby, she says through tears. Palleres, who met the woman when she came to register her son at Daly, is translating the conversation. “He was in gangs and stuff,” the young mom says. “I’m afraid he’ll do something to me and my child.”

In February, she filled two small backpacks—one for each of them—and they left the home she’d shared with her mother and siblings. She knows people who’ve gone to the U.S. without their children, planning to have them come later, but she couldn’t do that. “He’s my whole life,” she says of the boy. “So wherever he is, I am.”

Their trip took a month, she says, and she paid a man known as a coyote to help them. She never saw the man, though, only the people working for

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him. “All right, you go 10 miles north and stay at this little shack,” they’d say.

“You’re sleeping on the floor. Now tomorrow you’ll go another 20 miles.”

They traveled mostly in cars and buses, and sometimes had to walk a long way in the heat. “Mom, I wish I had a fan,” the little boy told her.

They ate one meal a day, the woman says, and she brought a little extra money to buy her son snacks. Once they crossed the border, they were detained in “la perrera,” which is like a jailhouse, the woman explains: “There’s a place that they call the dog pound, and that’s where they stick everyone.” Then they spent time at a family detention center, she says, and it was nicer there. They had a room with a bed, and all she wanted was a good night’s sleep. “The path to get here is not an easy one—we suffered a lot,” she says.

She doesn’t know what’s going to happen to them now. She wants to work—she likes making enchiladas for her son and thinks maybe she could be a chef someday—but she knows she won’t get a job with the monitor on her leg. (It was removed two months after a June interview.) Her immigration case is still pending, and she isn’t sure what that means, or if they’ll even be able to stay.

“I want him to study, and I want to help him with what I can,” she says of her little boy. He knows a few English phrases already: thank you, you’re welcome and good night. “I want him to have a future, I want him to go to a university.”

Sometimes Dietz worries about how she’s dealing with traumatized students.

That wasn’t part of her training to become a principal, she says, and she can’t possibly imagine what it’s like for children who are escaping violence in other countries, or dealing with other forms of trauma— hunger, separation anxiety, abuse and neglect—at home. “You think you’re handling something the right way,” she says, “but you might not be.”

The school offers an “alternative recess” so that kids who are having a rough day can hang out in the office and

When Dietz knocked on doors at the trailer park a few years ago with a group of community leaders, she kept hearing parents say the same thing: “We need a dentist.” Now Daly works with a program that provides in-school dental care for kids.

read or use a computer instead of being with peers, and she’s often referring children to the school psychologist and other mental health professionals for help. But she never really knows, in the moment, what’s going on with a child and what she should say. Last spring, Townsend, president of the Healthcare Initiative Foundation, told Dietz that Thriving Germantown could provide training for Daly staff on a “traumainformed approach” to working with children. The training, scheduled for this school year, will be administered

by Family Services, Inc. in Gaithersburg and covered by a grant. “That’s going to be really valuable,” Dietz says. “When we have a family that flees from a country at war, how do you deal with them?”

DIETZ NEVER PICTURED herself in education. Her mother, Marie Heck, taught at an international school in Rome while the family lived overseas— Dietz’s father was in the Navy—and started working for MCPS soon after they moved back to the U.S. in 1962.

Heck often encouraged her daughter to

consider a career in the classroom, but Dietz always had the same response. “I don’t want to be a teacher,” she’d say.

An only child, Dietz was 9 when her family settled in Rockville. She attended the old Hungerford Elementary School and Gaithersburg Junior High School (now Gaithersburg Middle School) before her parents enrolled her at D.C.’s Georgetown Visitation. She liked school, she says, and realized she had leadership qualities when peers elected her president of the senior class, but she didn’t think of herself as a great student. She’d planned to pursue a career in graphic arts.

“My second year in college I got pregnant and moved home,” Dietz says.

“I thought I’d never go back to school. I was done.”

She got married too young, she says, and the relationship didn’t last. She spent the next few years working in purchasing at Fairchild Industries and raising her son, Ryan, before marrying again. Dietz had three more children—she’d always wanted lots of kids—and was staying home to raise them when her husband

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hope lives here lost his job and went to work as a paraeducator for MCPS. He wasn’t making much money. Then Dietz had twin girls.

“No twins on either side of the family,” she says. “I was like, oh my goodness, we need more income…we were struggling.”

Even with help from her family, Dietz knew that with six kids at home—five of them under the age of 5—she had to go back to work. Her mom, then an administrative assistant to former MCPS superintendent Paul Vance, suggested

young—there’s no way I’m going anywhere,’ ” Dietz says.

She didn’t know how she’d ever afford college or find the time to take classes.

The job was physically draining, and life at home was chaotic. “But this principal didn’t let me go,” she says. “He kept saying: ‘Go back to school, go back to school.’ That’s the one thing I took from those two principals—they saw something in me I did not see in myself.”

When Dietz’s father, James Griffin,

“We have so many kids whose home lives are a disaster,” one staff member says. “But it’s my job to serve these kids, and I’m not going to give up on them.” that she get a job as a paraeducator because she could work flexible hours around the kids’ child care schedules.

Her first job in Montgomery County was at Beverly Farms Elementary School in Potomac, where she worked part time in the school’s program for emotionally-disturbed children. She had 10 kindergartners in her classroom, and it was her job to support the teacher, which often meant running after kids and restraining them during crises.

A few months into her time there, the principal stopped her in the hallway. “I saw you teach today,” he said.

“Oh, I was just doing what the teacher told me to do,” she replied.

“No, no, I saw you teach today,” he said again. “You did a good job.”

The following year, Dietz transferred to Cedar Grove Elementary School in Germantown, which was closer to her home in Frederick. “I can’t pay you what you’re worth,” the principal there told her. “You have to go back to school.”

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passed away a few years later, he left her a few thousand dollars. “Your father would have loved it if you’d gone back to school,” her mom told her. “Maybe now’s the time.” She enrolled at Frederick Community College. “My mother, God bless her, she said, ‘Start with one class because you haven’t been in school for a while—don’t overdo it,’ ” Dietz says. “I went to school for like 10 years straight.”

After earning her associate degree, Dietz started commuting to Mount St. Mary’s University in 1997, which offered a weekend program that allowed her to take classes while working and raising her kids. Her second marriage was failing, she says, and if it weren’t for that program she doesn’t know if she would have gone back to school. “Mount St. Mary’s saved my life,” she says. “I’d go back and forth, and I managed to get through.”

Dietz received her bachelor’s degree in elementary education in 1999, at the age of 44, and took a job at Ronald McNair Elementary School in Germantown, where she spent the next seven years teaching second, third and fourth

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grade. She kept analyzing how the school operated, which wasn’t part of her job, and thinking about what the staff might do differently—the way a school leader would. She got her master’s degree in education administration from Bowie State University in 2005, and spent a year as assistant principal of Summit Hall Elementary School in Gaithersburg.

Dietz was a principal intern at Cannon Road Elementary in Silver Spring before coming to Daly in July 2007.

“Nor, I’m just so proud of you,” she remembers her mom telling her. Heck, who’d served as principal of Clarksburg Elementary School and Mill Creek Towne Elementary School in Derwood, had retired from MCPS a few years after her daughter started teaching. “She was beaming,” Dietz says.

WHEN THE DALY third-graders went on a field trip to the Catoctin Wildlife Preserve & Zoo in Thurmont, Maryland, last spring, one of the mothers who was supposed to chaperone had to cancel at the last minute. A neighbor in the mobile home park offered her $10 for three hours of baby-sitting, and the woman couldn’t turn it down. She makes tortillas and tamales and sells them out of her trailer, and her husband is a day laborer. They have three kids, and the five of them share a bedroom.

“He works in construction, but he’s third tier, so he might work two or three days and make $200 in a week,” says a Daly teacher who knows the family well.

The couple left their country, where they lived with the woman’s parents, because things happened there that they have trouble talking about—things so graphic and upsetting that the teacher won’t share them publicly because she doesn’t want to break the family’s trust.

“This is why people leave,” she says.

“You need to get your kids out.”

The teacher, who does not want to be identified, visits families in the mobile home park a couple times a week, often on weekends. She wants to. She started going there her first year at Daly because

PHOTOS BY HEATHER FUENTES

Families gathered in the Daly gymnasium after the fifth-grade promotion ceremony in June.

she needed to meet with a parent who wouldn’t come to school. “Can I just come see you?” the teacher asked.

She’d only been there once before, when she was student-teaching in the mid-’90s, she says, and back then the families living in the trailers were mostly white like her.

She wasn’t sure what to expect. She pulled in, looked around and felt like she was in another country. This is like Mexico, she thought. The teacher, who’s bilingual and had lived in a Spanish-speaking country, kept going back. In her own Germantown community, she’d rarely see neighbors talking to each other, she says, but people at the trailer park would hang out together, cooking and playing music. “In the summertime there’s a watermelon truck that drives around and sells watermelon,” she says. “How awesome is that?”

As time went on, she started loading up her car a few times a month to drop off food and clothes for families she knew; friends often gave her donations to pass along. She and her husband helped one couple build a chicken coop. She found

herself picking up mothers who didn’t have cars and bringing them back to Daly for meetings, or giving them rides to church. She started getting texts about graded assignments that come home in a child’s Wednesday folder. Families would rely on her for help translating or dealing with a behavior problem at school.

“They need some hand-holding,” says the teacher, who allows one boy to eat breakfast in her classroom every morning, instead of his own, so she can check in on him. “I think I can anticipate what people are going to need and how hard it is to ask for that, and I think I have kind of an understanding for, this person is not going to know that this is about to happen. Or, this is going to scare them.”

Soon, her students’ families were inviting her to baby showers and other celebrations. She went to the trailer park one night last January for a 10th birthday party (which was held on Three Kings Day, a widely celebrated holiday in Hispanic communities), and the girl’s parents hung a piñata between two

Mustapha Saine, who graduated from Daly last year, has a special connection to Dietz’s family.

After Dietz’s mother, Marie Heck, retired from MCPS, she signed up to volunteer at Daly. Heck, who passed away last year, worked closely with Mustapha when he was younger, and helped him with his reading.

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hope lives here mobile homes. It didn’t matter that it was freezing cold outside—a couple of guys parked their trucks in the middle of the street and turned on their headlights so the kids could see where they were swinging. There’s a side to living in that community that people don’t understand, she says, and she loves that the kids she teaches aren’t ashamed to say they live there. But that doesn’t mean it’s a safe place for children to run around.

She recently told a Daly parent that it

community in which it is understood that every single student has value—and that’s not a universal thing. I’ve been in places where that was not understood.”

Last winter, the teacher and a Daly colleague distributed holiday gifts to families in the mobile home park that had been donated by Adventist HealthCare through Thriving Germantown.

Afterward, the teacher sent an email— without using names—describing the reactions she’d seen.

Sometimes Dietz worries about how she’s dealing with traumatized students. That wasn’t part of her training to become a principal, she says. wasn’t a good idea for her two boys to be riding bikes there by themselves. She’s worried about one girl who doesn’t live in the mobile home park but has been going there to meet up with certain boys.

When the teacher hears about someone in the community getting in trouble, she doesn’t ask questions the way she used to. She stopped doing that after a few people said: “You don’t want to know.”

There’s been gang activity in the mobile home park, and she has kids of her own, so there are some situations she has to stay away from.

“It’s better that I’m protected from that,” the teacher says. “One family I was involved with, I got the impression I needed to let them go. That was hard, but I felt like God was saying, give yourself some space.”

Sometimes parents just want to talk, she says. Once in a while, a mom will walk into her classroom crying, and if she doesn’t have students she’ll stop to listen. “That climate of compassion starts at the top,” says the teacher, who has worked in eight county schools.

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“On Christmas Eve, in cold rain, I visited T’s house—a 2nd grade boy with no mom, whose dad is in prison and whose step-grandpa is about my age but looks 20 years older from working outside,” one note read. “T’s grandma had set up a little Christmas tree. It had clearly been salvaged, leftovers from a tree lot shutting down maybe, and decorated with paper ornaments. But there was not a single gift under that tree. T was squirmy and wriggly with delight as I left food and gifts for him and his family.”

FOUR YEARS AGO, after the county made some changes to its curriculum, teachers at Daly started getting lots of questions from parents about what their kids were doing in math. Students were learning to “decompose a ten” and using something called a “break apart strategy” to add and subtract. “I don’t really get it,” parents would say. “What is this?”

“We have to take parents through the building,” Dietz announced one day.

“We’ve got to get them into classrooms and show them what this looks like.”

The plan was to have parents observe

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some math lessons and take notes, then bring everyone together to reflect on what they’d seen. Her staff looked at her like she was crazy. “How are we going to do this?” teachers asked.

“I don’t know, but let’s try it,” Dietz said. They decided on a date, got the word out to families and did some planning. One parent showed up.

“Well,” Dietz said. “Welcome.”

They took the woman into different classrooms, and afterwards she told Dietz that the school should do it again.

“Really?” Dietz asked. “Should we?” That fall, the staff spent more time advertising the instructional tour, and 54 people came to the next one. “We’ve run them ever since, three times a year,” Dietz says.

She tells parents they can bring their babies because she knows many of them can’t afford sitters. “Just as long as you come,” she’ll say.

For Dietz and her staff, language and cultural barriers have always been daunting. One teacher used to visit the mobile home park for “form fiestas,” where she’d help parents fill out paperwork. Last year a teacher sent a student home with a note and some ChapStick after the little girl told her that her parents had taken her to the ER the night before because her lips were chapped.

The family had come from Africa just a few weeks earlier and wasn’t used to the cold temperatures. The girl’s parents thought something was wrong with her.

At Back to School Night a few years ago, the kindergarten teachers gave out small gift bags that included a deck of alphabet cards. A Hispanic mom came into school later and said, “Thank you so much for this, but I just don’t know what to do with them.”

How did we miss that? Dietz thought.

Some parents used to complain to Dietz about the main office. “They wanted to have somebody in the office who spoke Spanish,” she says. “I hear you,” she’d tell them, “but it’s not as easy as you think.” It took time, but in 2014 she hired a bilingual school secretary, and that’s helped. Dietz has so many Spanish speakers in the building now

PHOTO BY LISA HELFERT

Maira Garcia Thompson, Daly’s building service manager, often talks with students at lunchtime and reminds them to work hard in school.

“You have to inspire these kids,” she says. “I always tell the kids, and the [building service] workers and everybody, ‘Do the extra mile.

You want something? Do the extra mile.’”

that language is rarely a barrier, she says.

Still, sometimes the phone will ring when she’s in her office late and most of the staff has gone home, and that’s when things can get tricky. Dietz can understand some Spanish, but she doesn’t speak it much. She grew up fluent in Italian, and then studied French; she still tends to mix the three languages together. “Oh, please try in English,” she’ll tell the person on the phone. “Or can you put a child on the phone?”

About six years ago, Marcus Dixon walked into Daly and introduced himself as the new community services officer for the Germantown area. A county police officer since 2002, he told Dietz that he’d been looking into some issues at the mobile home park, and he wanted to do more with students and their families. Soon he was sitting with the kids in

the cafeteria at lunchtime and speaking at school meetings.

“When I first met with the PTA and I did something in Spanish, they were overwhelmed that a police officer would take the time to go talk to them in their language,” Dixon says. “I was like, ‘You guys are the ones that have it hard, working two or three jobs trying to make ends meet.’ ” He told the students that his mother is from El Salvador and his father is from Nicaragua. “The kids were shocked. …

Oh, wait a minute, you know what it’s like to be translating for your parents.

You know what it’s like to not have all the money in the world,’ ” says Dixon, who lives in Clarksburg and has four children (two sets of twins) in county schools.

“I’m like, ‘Absolutely.’ And my whole theme with them was: No excuses.”

He knew parents wouldn’t feel comfortable with him right away. He was still a man in a uniform, and there was fear among the residents about Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). “I think one of the smartest things [Nora] did was to have me go in and talk to the parents [and] say, ‘Hey, that’s not Montgomery County, this is our reality,” Dixon says.

Still, he’d hear about problems in the community, but there weren’t many calls for service coming into 911. “If you don’t call, then we can’t help you,” he told parents at one of Daly’s Hispanic outreach meetings in 2014. He offered to give parents his cell number, and some of them took it. “That’s huge,” he told Dietz.

The hardest part of community policing is the buy-in from the people you’re trying to help, Dixon says, and Daly families have given him a chance

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hope lives here because Dietz has told them that he can be trusted. “They’ll take her at her word,” he says. Last spring he received an email about two girls from the Seneca Ridge development whose families had gotten into a physical altercation. They’d reached out to Dietz before they called the police or property management.

“Why’d you guys call Nora first?” Dixon asked the girls at their group mediation.

“Well, that’s who you go to,” they said.

place is really calling me, she thought. A school has to feel welcoming, she says.

The grass should be cut and the bushes should be trimmed. There can’t be any trash on the ground outside. The building has to have clean walls and shiny floors. “One thing we did [was] change all of the lights in the hallways, because it is very important to have the lenses and the lights clean,” says Thompson, who taught children with special needs in her

“That climate of compassion starts at the top,” a teacher says.

“I think Nora is brilliant at creating a community in which it is understood that every single student has value.”

IN JANUARY 2016, after county schools had been closed for three days because of a blizzard, Dietz received a call from Marla Caplon, then director of the MCPS Division of Food and Nutrition Services, asking if she’d want to open the building so students could come in for lunch. MCPS had decided to offer free meals at several of its Title I schools, where many kids get breakfast and lunch. Dietz loved the idea, but said she’d only do it if the school could serve both the kids and their families— she wasn’t turning anyone away. Caplon told her that was the plan. “We know you, Nora,” she said. The school served about 300 people over a three-day period; many walked there to eat.

Maira Garcia Thompson, Daly’s building service manager, still a keeps a photo on her office wall of the staff members who showed up at the school to help during their snow days. “Everybody said, ‘I’ll be there,’ ” she says. “Those kids, they was hungry. Some parents, they ask [to] take it home.”

When Thompson came to Daly in 2011, she knew she had work to do. This 108

native El Salvador. “We started cleaning much better [at] the school, passing all of the inspections that we should pass.”

Dietz often hears visitors say they can’t believe Daly isn’t new. “No, she’s 28 years old,” she’ll tell them. “I’m a stickler for a good building,” says Dietz, who calls Thompson “a blessing.” Dietz remembers seeing a broken picnic table out front when she arrived at Daly. “The children deserve a comfortable learning environment—warm in the winter, cooler in the summer, and clean. I’ve been in buildings that aren’t clean. I couldn’t stand it.”

When she took the job, Thompson didn’t know anything about Daly’s demographics, she says. She wasn’t expecting to find so many children who spoke the same language as she did. As time went on, she got to know the kids because she’d see them in the cafeteria every day. “Are you new here?” she’ll ask when she sees a face she doesn’t recognize. “Welcome aboard.”

Sometimes Thompson notices new kids crying at the lunch table, and they

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usually tell her the same thing: “I want to go home.” She tells them that she did, too, but everything will get better: “Don’t worry, you’re gonna learn the language—I did, and I’m older than you.”

Other kids talk to her about the things they wish they had. “There is one student, she’s going into fifth grade now, she told me, ‘You know I live in a trailer park,’ ” Thompson says. “I said, yeah, and?”

It’s not that she doesn’t understand, she says. She does. But she doesn’t want the kids to dwell on what they don’t have. When she was growing up, her family had a restaurant in El Salvador, and every day after school she’d put on her apron and help her mother prepare and serve food. The kids at her private school were wealthier—she was there on a scholarship—and one day some of them saw her at the restaurant and laughed. “You working in here? That’s your mother?” they asked.

“My mother told me that day, ‘Never feel embarrassed at where you coming from, or what kind of job I am doing, because I’m not stealing—I’m working,’ ” Thompson says.

With four kids, her mother had a choice: food or toys. Thompson never had dolls to play with, she says, and for Christmas the family had a nice dinner.

At Daly, she’s had kids come to her and say, “Ms. Maira, my mom is cleaning houses.” That’s OK, she’ll tell them, that’s not a bad job. “But you know what? You need to study. You need to go to school, you need to go to university,” she’ll say.

“And then, if you don’t want to do that job…you can do better.”

In a way, it’s the same thing her principal has told her, she says. When Dietz called Thompson last year and said, “I need to talk to you,” she got nervous that maybe she’d done something wrong. But Dietz wanted to talk about the future. She knew that Thompson had taken English classes for three years when she arrived in the U.S., but that it had been more than a decade since she’d worked on her language skills. She was doing great at her job, but the meeting wasn’t about that.

“Your English is fine,” she remembers Dietz telling her. “But your English

has to be better. And your writing [has] to be better.” They talked about other things Thompson might do one day, like county maintenance inspections, or maybe teaching like she’d done in El Salvador. “You’re very smart,” Dietz told her. “Don’t stop.”

AT A STAFF MEETING this past summer, the team leaders for each grade level were asked to talk about how students performed on the previous year’s proficiency tests. Altamirano, who helps run an after-school club called the Bulldog Boys, stood up to share data on the incoming fifth-graders. Of 104 students, he said, 46 percent had not met the benchmark on their MAP-R (Measures of Academic Progress—Reading) tests in fourth grade. The achievement test is given to county students in grades 3 through 8. A colleague talked about the PARCC (Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers) results, which weren’t good, either.

“When we look at this data, 24 percent are not meeting any benchmark—that means not MAP-R, not MAP-M [math] and not PARCC,” Altamirano said. “But we have hope for these guys, you’ve got to have hope for these guys.”

He pointed out some of the lowest scores: fourth percentile, first percentile, sixth percentile. “Those are single-digit percentiles these kids are scoring in,” he told colleagues. “Yes, it’s going to be difficult to get them up to benchmark, but can we get them into the 20th percentile?

Can we get them into the 25th percentile?”

Altamirano came to Daly by accident.

He was applying for his first teaching job after having worked as a sandwich chef and an insurance salesman, and for some reason he thought he had a meeting scheduled with the principal there. He showed up, hit the buzzer, and Dietz came to the front door. “I’m not expecting an interview,” she said. He’d applied to Daly but hadn’t heard back yet; he was at the wrong school. “But I just saw your résumé—do you want to come in and talk?”

He was a little frightened when he first started teaching at Daly. He’d spent his whole academic life in private school.

His father had a stroke and a brain aneurysm when Altamirano was 4 or 5, which left the man unable to move or talk. His dad’s sister thought it would be good for Altamirano, an only child, to go to school with his cousins, and she helped his mom look after him while he attended St. Andrew Apostle School in Silver Spring. Then Altamirano went to St. John’s College High School in D.C. “That was my dad’s wish,” says Altamirano, who is Latino. “He used to work in D.C. as a mechanic, and he would drive home, and he used to always say, ‘See those kids over there in the military uniform? That’s gonna be my son one day.’ ” Altamirano had some tough students in his first year, and he was strict because he had to be. “That’s one of my things; if I set the expectation to be high, [they] usually fall right in line,” he says. Midway through that first year at Daly he was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, and he had to take an extended leave of absence. A couple of his students got into fights in his classroom while he was out, which hadn’t happened before, and another got caught writing a note to the long-term substitute. I hate you, it read.

But Altamirano knew the boy was just having trouble adjusting to his teacher being gone. “I tried to come back and visit, but after a while it got kind of hard. I came in and I was bald, and I’m sure that wasn’t easy for them to see,” he says. “I came back for their graduation though.”

Altamirano, whose cancer is now in remission, fills one of his classroom walls with photos of his students that he takes throughout the year, documenting everything they do. He has a store in the corner of his classroom where kids can use their bulldog bones to get little toys or decorative pencils he picks up for them. In the winter, he’ll bring in hats and gloves from Target or a dollar store.

“By the time Christmas comes, they’re buying stuff for their sisters and for their brothers and for their moms,” he says. “It starts to become a little less about them.”

Every year he gives his kids a Popeyes party when they’ve done something really good. They’re fifth-graders now, he says, and all they’ve had at parties for the last

four years is pizza, so he spends about $100 of his own money, and each child gets two pieces of chicken and some fries.

When he was ordering last year, a woman who works at the restaurant walked up to him and said, “You taught my son in fifth grade, and you gave him a Popeyes party.

The fries are on me.”

You have to build relationships with kids at Daly, Altamirano says. That’s something he learned early on. Every Monday he tells the kids about his weekend. He asked his class to vote on whether they thought he and his wife, who were expecting their first child in October, were having a boy or a girl.

The University of Maryland graduate has Terps memorabilia all over his classroom. “These kids, college is something that isn’t put on the table for a lot of them,” Altamirano says. “Some of the respect that I get here is, here is a Latino man, just like my dad, just like my uncle, that has gone through education, who has a college degree.”

Three years ago he taught a young girl who was reserved with her emotions at school and struggled with self-esteem problems. She was really bright, and lived in the trailer park. “It doesn’t matter what your background is, what your financial status is, I know you—you’re going to go to college. You’re going to do great things,” he’d tell her. “Nobody can take that away from you.” You can’t get through to every kid, he’s realized. Or maybe you’re getting through but you just can’t see it right away. This girl broke down on the last day of school, and her friends told Altamirano that they’d never see her cry before.

She didn’t want to leave.

AT DALY’S FIFTH-GRADE promotion ceremony in June, the graduates were seated in rows in the gym, and the kindergarten students were lined up on the steps of the stage. “I hope that this year the fifth-graders have come home and spoken about being a buddy to their kindergarten friends,” Dietz told parents.

“Now you get to see the end result of that relationship.” Then came the moment that gets her every time: when the big kids and the little ones sing to each other.

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hope lives here

The fifth-graders started, then the kindergartners repeated after them.

So long, So long.

Goodbye, Goodbye.

See you soon, See you soon.

My friend, My friend.

Dietz stood on the stage with her staff, tearing up as she mouthed the words.

So long, So long.

Goodbye, Goodbye.

Till we meet, Till we meet.

Again.

After the ceremony, families gathered in the back of the gym for cake.

One mom, Fily Aw, whose son was heading to middle school, gave Dietz a hug and didn’t seem to want to let go. Aw, who has seven children, grew up in Senegal and stopped going to school after fourth grade. She’s leaned on the Daly staff since her 14-year-old son was in kindergarten there. The school gave her a gift card for groceries when her husband was in Africa and she didn’t have a job. They helped her understand what ADHD meant, and guided her through the process of getting extra support for one of her boys. At one point, Aw considered sending that son to live with family in Africa, where she thought he’d be happier and get more attention.

“No, don’t send him,” she remembers Altamirano telling her. He’d already taught her older son. “I’m going to have him in fifth grade, and I’ll take care of him. Don’t worry.”

A few years ago, one of Aw’s boys turned to her in the car and said he’d been thinking about how much it bothers him that she didn’t know how to 110

read. Aw, now 47, started to cry. The next morning she went to Daly and asked to see Dietz. She didn’t have an appointment, Aw says, but she rarely does.

“Yesterday, [my son] told me one word, and I never can forget that word in my life,” Aw told the principal. “He told me, ‘I wish my mom can read.’ ” “You can’t read, Ms. Aw?” Dietz asked.

“No, because I don’t do education,” she said. “I don’t go to school in this country. My English is poor.”

Aw remembers Dietz telling her that she needed to believe in herself, that she could learn to read and she could learn how to help her kids with their homework.

We’ll find you a place to go, Dietz said.

In Senegal, the principal was in charge of education and nothing else, Aw says. But Dietz always asks her, “What do you need?” Aw once tried to register her sons for a program at the Boys & Girls Club, but missed the deadline and found out it was full. Dietz stepped in. “I went there and said, ‘Mrs. Dietz told me to come,’ ” Aw says. “They [enrolled] my children. Can you believe it?”

Last year, a Daly parent who lives in public housing told Dietz that she wanted to intern at the school as part of her workforce development program.

The woman was trying to get her life on track, and needed experience to put on her résumé. Dietz spoke to the program’s director and worked out a schedule.

“Oh my God, I’m so excited,” Dietz told her husband, Pat, that night after work. “I met with this mom and she’s going to come work 36 hours a week. …

If she does this right, I bet I can get her into building services, or food services.

And she’d get benefits.”

Pat, Dietz’s husband of 11 years, smiled. “You’ve got her whole life planned,” he said. He was used to hearing things like that. He’s had to remind his wife that she shouldn’t go to the mobile home park alone at night, and that even though she wants the property owner to install more lighting and build a covered bus shelter—so her kids have a safe place

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to wait, instead of lining up along Frederick Road—she can’t make him do it.

He teases Dietz sometimes because she gets so involved with Daly families. This is what she wanted, he likes to remind her, a community school.

Two days later, the internship was over. The woman gave a child from her neighborhood a mean look in the hallway, and the student’s mother got upset.

“It fell apart,” Dietz says. “She tried, but she couldn’t do it.”

There are some situations you can’t fix, she says, and those are the ones that keep her up at night. She can make sure the boy whose family is homeless feels safe at Daly, and remind him that he doesn’t have to worry about anything else when he’s at school, but she can’t give him a place to live. Her staff can tell families where they can get help, and make sure they know the bus routes, but that doesn’t mean they’ll go.

DIETZ WASN’T PLANNING to participate in Daly’s annual student-staff basketball game last June. She’d be up against fifth-graders, and her husband had warned her not to play because he didn’t want her to get injured. But as the staff warmed up, she grabbed a ball and started dribbling. The students, seated on both sides of the gym floor, cheered and clapped. Some sat on their knees to get a better view. “Go, Miss Dietz!” they chanted. “Go, Miss Dietz!”

Dietz, wearing her blue “Daly Class of 2017” T-shirt, attempted a running shot first, and missed. But she got her own rebound and tried again. No luck. Then she got fancy and took a backward shot, which went off the rim. On her fourth try, she got closer to the basket, dribbled twice, focused, and let the ball go. When it hit the backboard and fell through the net she threw her arms into the air and the whole gym erupted. “I still have a little game,” she said later with a laugh.

It’s hard for Dietz to imagine being anywhere but Daly. Retirement, she says, is the only thing that would pull

her away. “I think for some principals you get to a point in your career where it’s like, you’ve accomplished what you wanted to—and they usually say it takes seven or so years to get to that point,” she says. “I think by my year seven I’d made a pretty good change, and the programming was going the way I wanted, but I still am not done yet.”

When she does go, she says, there are certain things in her office that she’ll take with her and hold onto. Treasures, she calls them. One is the cup of faux flowers, with their tags still on, that were given to her last year by two students who live in the mobile home park. Another is a jeweled frame with a picture of a little boy on one side and a message on the other.

The boy, who has autism, came to Daly in kindergarten from a special education program at another school.

“They didn’t know if inclusion was

going to be good for him,” Dietz says.

“We were like: Bring him on.” He was brilliant, she says, probably one of the smartest children she’s ever known.

There were challenges socially—he was rigid in his behaviors—but he could read anything they put in front of him.

He’d decided he wanted to learn other languages, and by second grade was teaching himself Chinese and picking up Spanish from his teacher. “He was almost at the point where we couldn’t keep up with him anymore,” Dietz says.

She eventually told the boy’s parents, whom she’d gotten to know well, that the staff thought the best place for him was Diamond Elementary School in Gaithersburg, which has a program for children with Asperger’s syndrome. “We all sobbed when he left that day at the end of the year,” she says. “It was hard for the parents, because he had done

Two things in life that once gone, never come back.

Time and opportunity.

really well here and they wanted him to continue. But I told them the principal at Diamond is a friend of mine, and they would take good care of him.”

Before he left, the boy walked into Dietz’s office and handed her the frame, which she’s kept on her desk ever since.

The words run vertically, in mismatched lettering. a great Principal Builds character Inspires Dreams Encourages Creativity Builds Confidence Instills A Love of Learning Touches Our Hearts & Changes Our Lives Forever. ■ Senior Editor Cindy Rich can be reached at cindy.rich@bethesdamagazine.com.

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Philanthropist Cliff White visits Manna Food Center in Gaithersburg. He’s given the food pantry several grants, most recently to build and deploy a mobile kitchen that reaches people in the area who lack transportation.

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A LESSON IN

GIVING Philanthropist of the Year Cliff White uses business strategies to help people in our community—and he’s teaching young people how to do the same thing

BY CARALEE ADAMS | PHOTO BY SKIP BROWN

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I

IN THE SPRING OF 2016, Cliff White invited a group of students he knew to lunch in Rockville. All of the students had received scholarships from White, and this was a celebration for the first three to graduate from Montgomery College with associate degrees. He told them how proud he was of their accomplishment, and gave each of the three a $500 check and a surprise gift of a new laptop—a gesture he hoped would serve as an incentive to the other dozen in attendance.

Sara Ruiz cried. Her computer had just broken and she didn’t want to ask her parents for help. “We were honestly in shock.

Giving us a laptop made me feel like he really cares,” says the 22-year-old who was born in El Salvador and, like most of 114

the scholars, is the first in her family to go to college. “He wants us to succeed.”

White and his wife, Debbie, who have been married nearly 25 years, created a class of 20 scholars through Growing Academic Potential (GAP) ACES Scholarship, a program funded by The Cliff and Deborah White Family Foundation that works with Montgomery College and The Universities at Shady Grove (USG). The White Family Foundation covers the balance of tuition after financial aid at Montgomery College and then through the acquisition of a bachelor’s degree from one of the nine University of Maryland System schools at the USG campus in Rockville. College administrators wanted to name the scholarship

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in White’s honor when he established the class three years ago, but the selfdescribed “semiretired” businessman declined. “Cliff is a very private person.

He didn’t want visible recognition,” says Stew Edelstein, executive director of USG. “He’s serving as a model—if not by name, by action—of what we should all be doing to support the future in our community.”

It’s White’s commitment to the community and local nonprofits serving Montgomery County that has earned him the 2017 Philanthropist of the Year award from The Community Foundation in Montgomery County (CFMC).

White’s most recent giving through his donor-advised fund at CFMC includes

PHOTO COURTESY OF AOTA CREATIVE GROUP

Cliff and Debbie White take their scholarship students to Washington Nationals games.

PHOTO COURTESY OF AOTA CREATIVE GROUP

$100,000 in separate multiyear grants to Montgomery Moving Forward (MMF), Crossroads Community Food Network, Interfaith Works, Identity Inc., and GAP Scholars at Montgomery College and The Universities at Shady Grove. His early efforts focused on helping people in the county who were struggling in emergency situations. “After a couple of years, I realized that we were just treating the symptoms and not curing the illness,” says White, who expanded his philanthropy to education and workforce development.

When he meets with his college scholars, White offers words of encouragement and tries to inspire them to help others. “I make a point to them to remember how they felt about [the scholarship experience] and to be sure as they go through life they help spread the word of what an education can do,” he says.

Ruiz, now a student at the University of Maryland on the Shady Grove campus, wants to be an accountant, open her own business and follow White’s charitable example. “He didn’t even know us, but he was willing to do all these things for us,” she says.

Before the Whites met the students in their first class of scholars, they requested a booklet with the individuals’ photos and bios. They wanted to know them by name.

Since then, the Whites have hosted the scholars at their Potomac home around the holidays, and have taken them to Washington Nationals games.

“The guys start out talking to Cliff about sports and then it segues into talking about starting a business,” says Debbie, who taught first and fourth grades in Montgomery County public schools for 10 years. At another gathering, a scholar asked to take a selfie with the couple, and a line soon formed of other attendees who also wanted photos.

THE MIDDLE CHILD OF three boys, White, now 57, describes the family of his youth as “corporate gypsies,” moving every few years (they spent time in Allentown, Pennsylvania, Wayne, New

Jersey, and Cleveland Heights, Ohio) for his father’s work as an accountant and an executive with various companies, including Arby’s and Royal Crown Cola.

His mother was a homemaker. During one stretch he attended six different schools in six years, an experience he says was rough, with all eyes on the “new kid,” but it served him well because he had to be friendly and get along with others.

White’s father, who was the first in his family to go to college, instilled in his son the value of education and helping others. He attended Lehigh University

work so hard and don’t end up with the right breaks and the right opportunities.

I’ve been fortunate enough to do things that will help my family and take care of them in the future; with the rest, I feel a need to help others.”

When White started at N.E.W. in 1986, he was one of six employees. By the time he left in 2009, the company had 6,000. “It would never have happened without Cliff. He was the financial backbone,” Schaufeld says.

White oversaw N.E.W.’s foundation, which was established soon after Sept. 11.

“The guys start out talking to Cliff about sports and then it segues into talking about starting a business.” —DEBBIE WHITE, ON HER HUSBAND’S RAPPORT WITH THEIR SCHOLARSHIP STUDENTS in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, and, like his dad, studied business and majored in accounting. After graduation, White worked at a large accounting firm in New York City for a few years until college fraternity brother Fred Schaufeld recruited him to become chief financial officer at N.E.W. Customer Service Companies, a growing enterprise in Sterling, Virginia, that sold extended warranties for consumers.

Now, White is a partner with Schaufeld and Tony Nader, the third company founder, in SWaN Investors, a diversified private investment fund with a partial ownership in the Nationals. White is one of several co-owners of Monumental Sports & Entertainment, which owns and operates the Washington Capitals, Wizards and Mystics.

“I’ve been blessed with so much more than most, it just feels like the right thing to do,” White says of his charitable efforts.

“I feel lucky for where I’ve ended up in the world. There are so many people who

“Cliff put it together and made it happen.

He was the passion behind it,” Schaufeld says. “Through his leadership, people in the company rallied behind it—adding money and time, and [they] got actively involved in projects.”

As he transitioned out of the corporate world in 2006, White set up a fund at the Community Foundation, preferring to pool his money with others in order to give anonymously. He met in 2007 with Sally Rudney, founding executive director of CFMC and now an independent philanthropy consultant. “He is someone who was very humble and caring,” she says. “From the beginning, he really wanted to put his money where it would make the biggest difference.”

WHITE SERVED ON A CFMC grant committee, visiting many of the nonprofits in the area when the recession turned bad in the fall of 2008. “I realized a lot of our neighbors in Montgomery County were going to lose their jobs and struggle,”

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a lesson in giving

White says. “Their lives were going to be turned upside down.”

Kevin Beverly, a fellow foundation board member and president and CEO of Social & Scientific Systems in Silver Spring, says people listened when the quiet and unassuming White spoke up to urge support of those at risk during the economic downturn. White is “not the guy who is in a constant stream of consciousness,” says Beverly, who has known him since 2008. “He really does practice the art of listening first, versus those who try to listen while talking. When he com-

to figure out solutions to why people are food insecure,” DeCarlo says.

White also likes to maximize the impact of his gifts and is known for challenging nonprofits to match his donation. “I’m the match king,” he says with a laugh. “Everybody loves when they give a dollar that it’s really two dollars.”

Last year, NIN gave a $50,000 grant to the Crossroads Community Food Network (CCFN) in Takoma Park to help prepare for the launch of a shareduse community kitchen for low-income entrepreneurs—including one who

“I’m the match king. Everybody loves when they give a dollar that —CLIFF WHITE it’s really two dollars.” ments, you know he has been thoughtful and deliberative. He’s like the old EF Hutton commercial. When Cliff White talks, people listen.”

At the foundation, White started the Neighbors in Need (NIN) Montgomery Fund in 2008 to assist county residents with food, shelter and utilities. One of NIN’s first grants went to Manna Food Center. The Gaithersburg food pantry had experienced a spike in need, serving about 9,100 households in 2008 and 13,000 in 2009. The $20,000 grant provided an infusion of resources so no one was turned away, says Jackie DeCarlo, Manna’s CEO. Last year, White and NIN helped pay some of the initial costs for Manna’s new $80,000 mobile kitchen—a school bus that was retrofitted in order to bring food to people in the area who lack transportation. The NIN fund gave $50,000 for the buildout of the bus last year and has committed another $50,000 to help deploy the pop-up pantry this year. “It’s a tribute to [White] because he doesn’t just want to put a Band-Aid on it—he wants 116

makes ice cream with Central American fruits, a cake baker and a retiree who makes candied nuts.

White made a personal contribution to the network’s annual campaign and offered to double the gift of any new or existing donors who increased their gifts. “No one ever approached us like that. It was creative and stretched us just enough,” says CCFN Executive Director Christie Balch, who saw campaign contributions increase 50 percent from 2015 to 2016, reaching $30,000 after White’s involvement.

When the community kitchen was almost complete, a snag put the project $15,000 over budget. Balch turned to White, who offered to pay for half if she could raise the rest—and she did.

FOR 10 YEARS, WHITE has invested in Venture Philanthropy Partners, which uses a venture capital model to help Greater Washington, D.C., organizations build capacity to help more people in need. White likes to find leaders with passion and to support them with

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unrestricted gifts for the long term.

He’s given a three-year matching grant to Identity, a Gaithersburg-based nonprofit that provides social-emotional support, education and workforce-development programs for Latino youths.

“He has been generous not just with his money, but also his time, knowledge and humanity,” says Diego Uriburu, the organization’s executive director. Most funders support direct service, he says, but White was the first person willing to invest in advocacy, in response to the nonprofit’s request. White has met with staff members and helped them ramp up efforts, including a push for better Latino representation in decisions related to the county school budget, closing the achievement gap and improving transportation.

White’s investment has helped Identity mobilize in response to current events. When last year’s presidential election unleashed anxiety and fear among immigrant youths, Identity was able to quickly organize events for hundreds of parents, helping them learn where to obtain information and assistance. This resulted in members of the county council, law enforcement and Montgomery County Public Schools vowing to protect, educate and value all children as their own.

Sharon Friedman, director for MMF, an initiative of Nonprofit Montgomery, says White has been a funder and strategist since her organization’s inception five years ago. MMF brings together leaders from business, government, nonprofits and education to tackle county problems. “He encouraged us to think about what we do from a system’s perspective,” she says. “You can have many good programs, but they have to be well coordinated.”

When deciding which issue to confront first, White suggested that MMF do some outreach. “He feels very strongly that we need to listen to the voices of the community—parents, businesses, schools, nonprofits and government,”

Friedman says. MMF conducted focus groups, surveys and meetings, receiving feedback from nearly 500 residents. As a result, MMF decided to focus its efforts on early childhood education. White was also instrumental in helping MMF work with the county to make its workforce development system more efficient.

White says he’s interested in trying innovative approaches to improve nonprofits, a mindset that stems from his work at a startup. “I understand risk,” he says.

WHITE HAS SERVED AS treasurer of St. Dunstan’s Episcopal Church in Bethesda for 15 years. Leadership positions at the church typically don’t extend beyond three years, but the Rev. Jeffrey MacKnight, the church’s rector, jokes

with White that he’s appointed for life.

White has brought order to the church’s finances, funded an endowment and led successful capital campaigns to raise money for building renovations, MacKnight says. But in the way that White doesn’t want his name on a scholarship, he doesn’t want his name on anything at the church, either.

In 2014, a husband and wife who were longtime parishioners were seriously injured in a car crash in Seattle while on vacation. “The adult children were gathering there, trying to make decisions about care,” MacKnight recalls. He mentioned the situation to White, who anonymously covered the rector’s travel expenses so he could be at the couple’s bedside. The wife recovered; the husband died. “I felt I was where I needed to be,”

MacKnight says of the days he spent in the hospital with the family.

MacKnight says he admires how the Whites have taught their children, Jeremy, 23, and Rachel, 20, to give back.

Growing up, they volunteered at homeless shelters and soup kitchens, and always had a donation bin by their front door to collect clothing to give away.

Jeremy, an accountant at Ernst & Young in Los Angeles, says people his age often think they are too busy to get involved in charitable giving, but he wants to do what he can. “Definitely as I progress in my career,” he says, “I want to slowly build up my presence in the kind of charitable work my dad is doing.” ■ Caralee Adams is a freelance writer in Bethesda.

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Celebration of

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2017 AT 6:30 PM HYATT REGENCY BETHESDA

For more than 40 years, the Greater Washington Community Foundation has mobilized the generosity of individuals and organizations who want to improve our community around the causes that matter most to them. We are proud to serve as their trusted partner to make charitable giving easy, tax-smart, and deeply rewarding. Together, we have galvanized more than $70 million annually in support of nonprofits working to strengthen the Greater Washington region.

We hope you will join us on November 30th, along with business, government, and philanthropic leaders to celebrate the donors and nonprofits who are making our community a healthy and more vibrant place to live. The evening also will honor Cliff White, 2017 Montgomery County Philanthropist of the Year, who has invested his business acumen and generous spirit in nonprofits that support struggling families and help people build pathways out of poverty.

FOR TICKETS & MORE INFORMATION

CELEBRATIONOFGIVING.ORG Learn more at THECOMMUNITYFOUNDATION.ORG.

GUIDE GIVING

FEED THE HUNGRY

to

IMPROVE SOMEONE’S HEALTH

More than 60 ways to make a difference in our community GIVE A CHILD A CHANCE

HELP BUILD COMMUNITIES

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G U ID E to G I V I NG

It could be as small as volunteering for one day to sort canned goods, or as big as paying someone’s college tuition— here are concrete ways to get involved, whether it’s with your time or money.

All of the organizations below have been recommended by either The Community Foundation in Montgomery County or the Arts and Humanities Council of Montgomery County. If an organization offers Student Service Learning SSL hours or internships, we noted that in its volunteer opportunities. For more local nonprofits vetted by these organizations, go to BethesdaMagazine.com.

Give a Child a Chance COMMUNITY BRIDGES

(communitybridges-md.org) empowers girls in elementary, middle and high school from diverse backgrounds to become exceptional students, positive leaders and healthy young women. Each year the organization supports more than 250 girls at 11 public schools in discovering their unique identity, voice and potential through leadership development, college and career readiness, family support and mentoring.

HEADQUARTERED: Silver Spring SERVES: Montgomery County WHAT A DONATION BUYS: • $250 covers annual activity fees for 10 girls in the program.

• $1,000 pays for two college visits for 15 juniors and seniors.

• $10,000 supports the annual Community Bridges Career and Innovation Fair.

SSL VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES: • One day: Become a volunteer for oneday events and field trips.

• Monthly: Serve as a mentor to a high school girl.

• Internships

CRITTENTON SERVICES OF GREATER WASHINGTON

(crittentonservices.org) works to help teen girls achieve academic success, 120

make healthy choices and chart bright futures. Through proven curricula, Crittenton helps teen girls believe in their ability to succeed, even in the face of significant challenges. Its schoolbased programs work with 400 teen girls, teaching them to value their education, build healthy relationships and explore a successful path toward college and careers.

HEADQUARTERED: Silver Spring SERVES: Metro region WHAT A DONATION BUYS: • $250 allows a first-generation student to participate in a college tour program.

• $1,000 underwrites the costs of a Crittenton teen for an entire year.

• $10,000 sends 15 teen girls to Crittenton’s Leadership Academy.

VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES: • One day: Help with Crittenton’s supply drives for students.

• Internships

THE GEORGE B. THOMAS SR. LEARNING ACADEMY’S SATURDAY SCHOOL (saturdayschool.org)

supports more than 3,000 students with K-12, grade-appropriate, low-cost academic tutoring and mentoring services. The Saturday School also offers parent workshops and financial literacy in English and Spanish.

HEADQUARTERED: Silver Spring

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2017 | BETHESDAMAGAZINE.COM

SERVES: Montgomery County WHAT A DONATION BUYS: • $450 underwrites one Saturday School student for one semester.

• $1,000 underwrites tutors who will assist K-12 students who could benefit from additional academic support or additional acceleration through the STEM Curiosity Academy.

• $10,000 underwrites transportation for students who lack access.

SSL VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES: • One day: Share experiences in your professional life during a motivation session with students.

• Weekly: Volunteer in a classroom, working with a certified teacher.

• Internships

GIRLS ON THE RUN OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY, MD (girlsontherunofmoco.org) provides more than 130 schools with a positive youth development program that incorporates running. Over the course of the 10-week program, girls in third through eighth grade develop essential skills to help them navigate their worlds and establish a lifetime appreciation for health and fitness. The program culminates with a celebratory family 5K event.

HEADQUARTERED: Rockville SERVES: Montgomery County WHAT A DONATION BUYS:

spotlight

Maylin Quintero (third from left) and other Horizons Greater Washington participants work on a robotics project.

HORIZONS GREATER WASHINGTON

PHOTO BY HUGO HENTOFF

Working to close the achievement gap

BY RACHAEL KEENEY

MAYLIN QUINTERO, A SEVENTH-GRADER at Kensington’s Silver Creek Middle School, is a fearless and outgoing 12-yearold who likes to play “grudgeball” (a classroom game in which a correct response subtracts points from the other team’s score) while participating in Horizons Greater Washington’s summer program. Maylin was a rising second-grader when she started in the Horizons program at the nonprofit’s Norwood School location in Bethesda, and she likes the combination of fun and learning.

“They’ve taught me how to read and do math and swim, so I think they’ve showed me a lot of things that I haven’t done before,” says Maylin, who lives in Silver Spring.

Horizons Greater Washington, part of Westport, Connecticutbased Horizons National, strives to close the achievement gap by providing low-income first- through ninth-graders with a sixweek summer program that’s supplemented by a school-year program on Saturdays. Typically, students start as rising firstgraders and return each year until completing the program as rising ninth-graders.

Horizons National has 52 affiliates, including three through Horizons Greater Washington: Norwood School, serving Chevy

Chase’s Rock Creek Forest Elementary School, Bethesda’s Westland Middle School and Silver Creek Middle School; D.C.’s St. Patrick’s Episcopal Day School, serving D.C.’s Bancroft Elementary School; and Maret School in D.C., also serving Bancroft Elementary plus D.C.’s Brightwood Education Campus.

Last summer, 340 students participated in Horizons Greater Washington’s programs. These programs typically feature a 5-to-1 student-teacher ratio and include project-based learning, field trips and swim lessons.

“Many low-income children do not know how to swim,” says Renée Stikes, the executive director at Horizons Greater Washington. “If you take a 5- or 6-year-old, they are really afraid to get in the water and do a basic dog paddle. We help them conquer that fear of learning something new, doing something different, and that translates into the classroom.”

There isn’t data yet on Horizons Greater Washington’s impact (the first students in the program at Norwood just entered high school), but nationally Horizons boasts a 99 percent high school graduation rate, and 91 percent of Horizons students pursue some sort of post-secondary education.

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• $250 provides the curriculum for 20

teams.

• $1,000 provides running shoes for 25 girls, enabling them to participate.

• $10,000 covers program costs for 60 girls.

SSL VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES: • One day: Volunteer at one of the celebratory 5K events.

• Weekly: Volunteer as a coach for 10 weeks in the spring or fall.

• Internships

HORIZONS GREATER WASHINGTON (horizonsgreater

washington.org) provides academic and recreational programs designed to empower students to realize their full potential. Through year-round programs (meeting in summer and during the school year on Saturdays), Horizons seeks to prevent learning loss

for the 330-plus kids it serves. Activities are geared to help kids strengthen problem-solving skills, foster awareness of community responsibility, instill respect for themselves and others, and encourage a lifelong interest in learning.

HEADQUARTERED: Washington, D.C. SERVES: Metro region WHAT A DONATION BUYS: • $250 provides a classroom with supplies and healthy snacks.

• $1,000 covers the cost of all classroom supplies for one summer program.

• $10,000 hires two additional teachers.

SSL VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES: • Weekly: Volunteer at the Saturday Program to assist teachers and support students.

• Internships

IDENTITY (identity-youth.org) cre-

ates opportunities for more than 3,000 at-risk Latino and other young people (ages 7 to 24) and their families living in high-poverty areas. After school, in the community and on the playing fields, Identity works to improve social and emotional learning, academic achievement and workforce success.

HEADQUARTERED: Gaithersburg SERVES: Montgomery County WHAT A DONATION BUYS: • $250 provides healthy snacks for 30 low-income, academically struggling elementary school students in afterschool reading programs.

• $1,000 provides 30 at-risk ninthgraders with extra educational, social and emotional support as they transition to high school.

• $10,000 helps 20 disconnected

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spotlight

Sofia Reyes (pictured with two of her daughters) speaks with Carlos Iglesias of IMPACT Silver Spring at the Flower Branch apartment complex.

IMPACT SILVER SPRING

PHOTO BY MICHAEL VENTURA

Building neighborhood networks to strengthen communities SOFIA REYES AND HER three young children had already turned in for the night on Aug. 10, 2016, when one of the buildings in their Silver Spring apartment complex, Flower Branch, was rocked by a natural gas explosion. The blast and ensuing fire tore through two of the complex’s 24 buildings, killing five adults and two children, injuring 39 others, and leaving 63 families homeless.

In the immediate aftermath of the disaster, the Reyes family faced another setback: Like many of the complex’s residents— who are predominantly Hispanic and low-income—they only spoke Spanish, while most emergency responders and social workers only spoke English. Reyes says the language barrier caused confusion during the evacuation and in the following days. “People didn’t know where to go to get help,” she says.

IMPACT Silver Spring, a nonprofit, empowered the community to help itself. Staffers spend years building social networks and bonds among neighbors. The ultimate goal is to create tight-knit communities where neighbors work together to meet each other’s needs—regardless of differences in culture, ethnicity or income level.

After the explosion, the existing IMPACT network in the neighborhood sprang into action. About 30 bilingual volunteers, joined by Carlos Iglesias, who’s in charge of IMPACT’s network

BY JEFF CIRILLO

building in the Long Branch community, knocked on doors to inform residents of emergency resources. Others passed out food vouchers or drove injured neighbors to medical appointments. “Everyone came together and supported one another,” says Reyes, who stayed with friends and family for a few days after the accident before returning to her apartment, which was undamaged by the explosion and fire. Her children, who are now 4, 8 and 9, were traumatized, but activities for kids that were set up by neighbors offered some relief.

Iglesias says the volunteers took time to listen to tenants’ concerns about their relationships with management at the complex and county police. IMPACT hosted forums, with translators on hand, for tenants to air their concerns directly to local politicians and Montgomery County Police Chief Tom Manger. Reyes says the conversations with officials dramatically improved the community’s relationship with local law enforcement.

Reyes, 32, says that since the explosion the Flower Branch community has become the most interconnected it’s been in her seven years living there. “Before the explosion, no one knew the people who lived in the same building as them,” she says. “Today we know everyone’s names, and we are ready as a community to support one another.”

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youths gain an internship with stipend, plus helps with a reconnection to school or their GED work.

SSL VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES: • Weekly: Tutor struggling readers.

• Occasional: Conduct mock job interviews with older youths.

• Internships

MAKING A NEW UNITED PEOPLE (MANUP) (manupnow.

org) develops youths into resilient and healthy leaders by providing support, resources and training. MANUP provides in-school and communitybased mentoring programs focused on building job readiness and decisionmaking. MANUP supports more than 400 Montgomery County youths annually.

HEADQUARTERED: Takoma Park

SERVES: Montgomery County and Washington, D.C. WHAT A DONATION BUYS: • $250 covers one month of materials for MANUP’s teen drop-in center.

• $1,000 provides a month of programming targeted at academically at-risk kids.

• $10,000 covers programming at a single school for a year.

SSL VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES: • One day: Serve as a guest speaker to share your story and advice with a group of youths.

• Ongoing: Become a mentor to an aspiring leader.

• Internships

VOICES FOR CHILDREN MONTGOMERY (casamontgomery. org) supports abused and neglected children by providing them with

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trained advocates (called CASAs) to ensure that their best interests are represented in the legal and social services systems. CASAs work with nearly 300 children each year.

HEADQUARTERED: Rockville SERVES: Montgomery County WHAT A DONATION BUYS: • $250 covers the cost of recruiting and training four new child-advocate volunteers.

• $1,000 provides ongoing support and supervision for volunteer advocates to serve three children for one year.

• $10,000 covers the full cost of providing volunteer advocates for seven children for one year.

VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES: • One day: Donate household items to support older youths transitioning out of foster care.

• Weekly: Train to become an

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advocate (must be 21 or older).

• Internships

Help Build Communities IMPACT SILVER SPRING (impactsilverspring.org) builds communities that are healthier, more economically stable and more engaged in civic participation. By creating opportunities for diverse residents to connect into a supportive network of relationships and opportunity, IMPACT supports groups of people in coming together to form new businesses and improve their neighborhood conditions.

HEADQUARTERED: Silver Spring SERVES: Montgomery County WHAT A DONATION BUYS: • $250 pays for soccer jerseys for 15 youths.

• $1,000 pays for two resident-led neighborhood improvement projects.

• $10,000 pays for 10 low-income residents to participate in a leadership development program.

SSL VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES: • Weekly: Coach an elementary or middle school soccer or basketball team.

• Weekly: Volunteer as an English teacher.

• Internships

Help Someone Go to College ACHIEVING COLLEGIATE EXCELLENCE AND SUCCESS (ACES) (montgomerycollege.edu/aces) is a collaboration among Montgomery County Public Schools, Montgomery College and The Universities at Shady Grove that aims to increase college enrollment and completion among students underrepresented in higher education.

The program provides academic coaching, interventions and support to 2,600 students while they are enrolled in the 126

three institutions.

HEADQUARTERED: Rockville SERVES: Montgomery County WHAT A DONATION BUYS: • $250 covers the cost of a college tour for 10 students.

• $1,000 covers three staff training sessions.

• $10,000 provides scholarships for 10 students.

SSL VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES: • One day: Share your own career story as a guest speaker.

• Ongoing: Take on an intern at your company.

• Internships

COLLEGETRACKS (collegetracks.

org) helps students navigate the college application and financial aid process and then enroll in, persist at and graduate from college or technical school. The 1,200 students served annually are often from low-income backgrounds and/or the first in their families to apply to college.

HEADQUARTERED: Bethesda SERVES: Bethesda-Chevy Chase, Wheaton and Watkins Mill high schools WHAT A DONATION BUYS: • $250 allows three recent high school graduates to attend college success skills workshops.

• $1,000 provides one year of college admissions advising for a high school senior.

• $10,000 provides college success coaching for seven college scholars.

VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES: • Weekly: Become a trained volunteer to help students during lunchtime and after school with the admissions and financial aid process (must be a college graduate).

FUTURE LINK (futurelinkmd.

org) empowers disadvantaged young adults through career exploration programs, academic advising, scholarships, internships and mentors. Its

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individualized, intensive program emphasizes persistence in post-secondary education; teaches workplace, self-advocacy and personal decisionmaking skills; and helps young adults develop a concrete plan for a meaningful career pathway to enable self-sufficiency.

HEADQUARTERED: Rockville SERVES: Montgomery County WHAT A DONATION BUYS: • $250 provides textbooks for a Future Link student attending college.

• $1,000 provides career planners for three classes of Future Link students for a semester.

• $10,000 funds the semesterlong, career development college-level seminar for 12 students.

VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES: • One day: Provide informational interviews in your career field to help students understand your career path.

• Short-term: Offer a shared-cost internship or job-shadowing opportunity.

• Internships

GENERATION HOPE

(supportgenerationhope.org) empowers teen parents to complete college by providing tuition assistance, mentoring and crisis support. To date, more than 148 scholars have enrolled in the program.

HEADQUARTERED: Washington, D.C. SERVES: Metro region WHAT A DONATION BUYS: • $250 provides gas cards to help 10 scholars attend class for one week.

• $1,000 provides an academic skills training course for 37 scholars.

• $10,000 provides a complete fouryear sponsorship for one scholar.

SSL VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES: • One day: Serve as a Snack Crew, providing healthy snacks to scholars’ children while parents attend training.

• Ongoing: Become a volunteer tutor

spotlight

The Moundou family (Pierre is in the back row, far left; Justine is seated far left) with AmeriCorps member Cathryn Ann Paul (in white CASA T-shirt), who helped them during the citizenship process

CASA

PHOTO BY MICHAEL VENTURA

Helping immigrants with citizenship, jobs and more IN NOVEMBER 2016, Silver Spring residents Pierre and Justine Moundou knew they were approaching a critical milestone: Jan. 25 would mark the end of their fifth year living in the United States after arriving from Cameroon—the day they’d become eligible to apply for full U.S. citizenship.

For the Moundous, who have eight children ranging in age from 7 to 23, U.S. citizenship would mean much more than being able to vote or serve on a jury. They could apply for better private sector and government jobs, access public benefits, and travel freely around the world with a U.S. passport. But first they would each have to complete a 20-page paper application that includes questions about everything from work history to alcohol habits, followed by a 100-question interview-style citizenship test. The Moundous sought help from CASA, a nonprofit based in Hyattsville with offices in Montgomery County. CASA offers legal aid and support for immigrants seeking citizenship, as well as a wide range of services, such as job training and language classes.

At CASA’s citizenship center in Rockville, CASA staff and AmeriCorps service members help about 1,200 immigrants navigate the citizenship process every year. Each pays a fee of $50 plus a $35 annual membership. Earvin Gonzalez, the

BY JEFF CIRILLO

citizenship program director at CASA, helped the Moundous fill out their applications and prepare for their interviews, and got them off the hook for thousands of dollars in application fees by applying for a waiver. Pierre says the waiver allowed the couple and their three adult children to all apply, which they thought would be financially impossible. Through CASA, they also received about 10 hours of mentoring on U.S. history and civics from Cathryn Ann Paul, one of the 13 AmeriCorps members who works with CASA. “People come here for the comfort that someone with expertise can do [their application] for them,” Gonzalez says.

“It’s such an important document; they don’t want to mess anything up.”

After six months of work and preparation, the Moundous each passed the test in May and took the oath of allegiance, officially becoming U.S. citizens.

Gonzalez, who started working with CASA as an Americorps member four years ago, says he’s passionate about helping aspiring citizens because his parents—his mother is from El Salvador, his father from Mexico—had to fight for citizenship. “I remember how hard they studied,” he says. “They would walk to citizenship classes and stay late. I know how hard it is, how complicated it is.”

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or sponsor a Generation Hope scholar.

• Internships

UNIVERSITIES AT SHADY GROVE—CAREER EXPERIENCE OPPORTUNITIES (CEO)

(shadygrove.umd.edu/student-services/ career-and-internship-center/careerexperience-opportunities) provides low-income and underrepresented students with experiential learning and career exploration opportunities to build competencies and skills necessary for career success. Through CEO, employers can help shape student experiences and equip students to meet their specific industry requirements.

HEADQUARTERED: Rockville SERVES: Montgomery County WHAT A DONATION BUYS: • $250 covers a job shadowing/career exploration day for five students.

• $1,000 covers one career skills training session for 20 students.

• $10,000 covers scholarships for 10 students.

VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES: • One day: Host CEO students for a tour of your company.

• Ongoing: Sponsor an internship and/ or mentor a student.

• Internships

Support Those With Special Needs RED WIGGLER COMMUNITY FARM (redwiggler.org) is an organic

farm where people with and without developmental disabilities come together to work, learn and grow healthy food. Annually, more than 1,500 volunteers and workers harvest more than 34,000 pounds of organic vegetables. Produce is distributed to the public, with 30 percent going to low-income people in the county.

HEADQUARTERED: Germantown SERVES: Primarily Montgomery County

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WHAT A DONATION BUYS: • $250 provides one delivery of fresh vegetables to 10 group homes for adults with disabilities.

• $1,000 provides ergonomic hand tools for growers and volunteers.

• $10,000 supports winter greenhouse educational programming and job opportunities.

SSL VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES: • One day or weekly: On-farm education and volunteer opportunities (must be at least 12 years old).

• Internships

SUNFLOWER BAKERY (sunflower bakery.org) prepares young adults with learning differences for employment through the pastry arts and Café Sunflower employment training programs.

The pastry program includes 26 weeks of professional instruction, skills training and a paid in-house internship, and serves 20 to 22 students annually. Café Sunflower offers a nine-month onthe-job training program serving eight young adults and four to six interns annually.

HEADQUARTERED: Gaithersburg SERVES: Montgomery County WHAT A DONATION BUYS: • $250 covers tools for one student to practice skills.

• $1,000 buys instructional ingredients/supplies for one student.

• $10,000 underwrites program fees for two low-income students.

VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES: • One day: Introduce Sunflower at career/high school fairs for students seeking workforce training.

• Weekly: Assist employees at Café Sunflower.

Feed the Hungry CROSSROADS COMMUNITY FOOD NETWORK (crossroads

communityfoodnetwork.org) educates community members about

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healthy food and strives to create universal access to healthy food.

Programs include microenterprise development, healthy eating education and farmers market nutrition incentives at the popular Crossroads Farmers Market, which serves 3,000 people annually.

HEADQUARTERED: Takoma Park SERVES: Takoma/Langley Park WHAT A DONATION BUYS: • $500 covers ingredients for a series of Healthy Eating sessions for local fifth-graders.

• $1,000 provides one session of business training for 15 low-income food entrepreneurs.

• $5,000 doubles SNAP (food stamp) farmers market purchases for eight eligible families for the whole 31-week market season.

SSL VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES: • Weekly: Give cooking demonstrations at local schools.

• Weekly: Volunteer at the market to help elderly customers shop for produce.

• Internships

MANNA FOOD CENTER (manna

food.org) distributes food to help ensure that approximately 35,000 lowincome individuals and families in the community have enough to eat. During the school year, 2,850 students receive healthy foods to sustain them over the weekend. Community Food Rescue and Nutrition Education programming round out Manna’s multifaceted approach to ending hunger in Montgomery County.

HEADQUARTERED: Gaithersburg SERVES: Montgomery County WHAT A DONATION BUYS: • $250 provides weekend bags for 50 elementary school children.

• $1,000 provides 40 families with fresh, frozen and shelf-stable food for one month.

• $10,000 supports weekend bags at one elementary school for one year.

Voted Best Financial Advisor VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES: • One day: Adults (17 and older) can help prepare food boxes and sort canned goods.

• One day: Host a food and funds drive.

• Internships

by readers of Bethesda Magazine 2010, 2012, 2014 & 2016

SSL

Winner

Improve Someone’s Health ASPIRE COUNSELING (we-aspire.

org) offers mental health services to Montgomery County’s diverse citizens.

Aspire works to ensure that its mental health services are affordable and accessible to all. The organization serves the insured, the uninsured and those with Medicaid, Medicare and Tricare. Services take place in trusted and accessible locations, including primary-care clinics, senior housing venues or patients’ homes. Aspire ensures that vulnerable individuals get treatment where they are most comfortable.

HEADQUARTERED: Gaithersburg SERVES: Montgomery County WHAT A DONATION BUYS: • $250 helps fund support groups for seniors with aging-related depression.

• $1,000 provides 12 sessions of inhome therapy to a very low-income mother with postpartum depression.

• $10,000 provides a year of mental health counseling to 40 uninsured children.

SSL VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES: • Ongoing: Provide Spanish translation assistance.

• Internships

David B. Hurwitz

MARY’S CENTER (maryscenter.

Private Wealth Advisor

org) provides health care, education and social services to more than 40,000 people throughout the D.C. metro region. It uses a multipronged approach to help participants access individualized services that set them on the path toward good health, stable families and economic independence.

CFP®, CRPC®, CRPS®, RICP®, APMA®

Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards Inc. owns the certification marks CFP®, CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ and CFP (with flame design) in the U.S. Ameriprise Financial Services, Inc. Member FINRA and SIPC. © 2016 Ameriprise Financial, Inc., All rights reserved.

6400 Goldsboro Road, Suite 550 Bethesda, MD 20817 Direct: (301) 263-8509 Email: david.b.hurwitz@ampf.com davidbhurwitz.com

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HEADQUARTERED: Silver Spring and Washington, D.C. SERVES: Metro region WHAT A DONATION BUYS: • $250 pays for a complete dental visit.

• $1,000 covers 20 school counseling visits with a mental health provider.

• $10,000 pays for complete prenatal care for nine months for three moms.

SSL VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES: • One day: Volunteer at special events, such as the annual Noche Tropical gala, holiday drives, a golf tournament and the Taste of Adams Morgan.

• Weekly: Volunteer to tutor or read to young children.

• Internships

MERCY HEALTH CLINIC (mercy healthclinic.org) is a community-based health clinic that provides free medical care, health education and medications to uninsured low-income adult residents of the county. The clinic’s medical services are delivered primarily by volunteer physicians and other health professionals.

HEADQUARTERED: Gaithersburg SERVES: Montgomery County WHAT A DONATION BUYS: • $250 covers the cost of a mammogram and follow-up support for five patients.

• $1,000 provides ongoing coordinated treatment, nutrition education and support for 100 patients who are managing diabetes and hypertension.

• $10,000 provides free medications and primary care for 100 patients.

VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES: • Daily, weekly or monthly: Volunteer to provide administrative support for front desk check-ins and patient eligibility screening.

• Internships MOBILE MEDICAL CARE (MOBILEMED) (mobilemedicalcare.

org) provides primary health care for 130

more than 4,000 low-income, uninsured and underinsured Montgomery County residents.

MobileMed’s commitment to accessibility is achieved through multiple clinics and mobile van locations throughout the county, extensive outreach in collaboration with faithbased and ethnic organizations, and a policy of never turning anyone away for inability to pay. Staff and volunteer clinicians deliver linguistically and culturally sensitive care, integrated behavioral health and wraparound support.

HEADQUARTERED: Bethesda SERVES: Montgomery County WHAT A DONATION BUYS: • $250 provides patient education for 25 individuals with chronic conditions.

• $1,000 supports one week of mobile van operations.

• $10,000 supports medical visits for 200 patients.

SSL VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES: • Weekly or monthly: Serve as a volunteer in a clinic or at headquarters.

NATIONAL ALLIANCE ON MENTAL ILLNESS MONTGOMERY COUNTY (NAMI MC) (namimc.org) provides

comprehensive support, education, advocacy and public awareness to promote recovery so all individuals and families affected by mental illness can build better lives.

HEADQUARTERED: Rockville SERVES: Montgomery County WHAT A DONATION BUYS: • $250 pays for a NAMI MC class for individuals living with mental illness and their caregivers.

• $500 pays for vital outreach to providers and hospitals to increase awareness of NAMI MC programs for those who need them.

• $1,000 pays for two days of suicide prevention training at a local school.

SSL VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES: • Weekly: Facilitate a class and

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2017 | BETHESDAMAGAZINE.COM

support group.

• Monthly: Host an awarenessbuilding presentation.

• Internships

Put a Roof Over Someone’s Head HOUSING UNLIMITED (housing unlimited.org) provides 192 individuals with affordable homes at 69 fully furnished properties. Housing Unlimited empowers people in mental health recovery to live on their own and learn the skills they need to be successful and confident members of the community.

HEADQUARTERED: Silver Spring SERVES: Montgomery County WHAT A DONATION BUYS: • $250 provides pots, pans, plates and tools for a new home.

• $1,000 covers the cost of living room furnishings for a new townhome.

• $10,000 supports an AmeriCorps intern to help serve 192 residents.

SSL VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES • One day: Help landscape or mulch a yard.

• Weekly: Provide administrative help at the Housing Unlimited office.

MONTGOMERY COUNTY COALITION FOR THE HOMELESS (mcch.net) supports

1,600 men, women and children annually in emergency shelters and permanent housing, creating a community where everyone has a safe, stable and affordable place to call home.

HEADQUARTERED: Rockville SERVES: Montgomery County WHAT A DONATION BUYS: • $250 provides one month of after-school care for formerly homeless children.

• $1,000 provides one month of psychiatric support for two homeless veterans.

• $10,000 provides a month of meals to 200 homeless men while they

connect to services they need to move on to stable housing.

SSL VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES: • One day: Organize a collection drive for household items, hygiene products or holiday gifts.

• Weekly or monthly: Prepare and deliver meals for clients of the emergency shelter.

• Internships

MONTGOMERY HOUSING PARTNERSHIP (mhpartners.org)

is the largest private, nonprofit developer of affordable rental housing in the county, managing more than 1,750 affordable homes. MHP houses people, empowers families and strengthens neighborhoods.

For more than 25 years, MHP has acquired, rehabilitated, built and managed quality affordable housing for low- and moderate-income families, and provided Community Life programs for its residents.

HEADQUARTERED: Silver Spring SERVES: Montgomery County WHAT A DONATION BUYS: • $250 provides supplies for an after-school homework club.

• $1,000 helps cover the cost of two field trips for 72 children to the National Zoo. • $10,000 covers the stipend for one AmeriCorps member to support community life programs.

SSL VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES: • One day: Participate in a neighborhood cleanup.

• Ongoing: Wrap/deliver gifts for the holiday toy drive.

• Internships

Help Seniors HOME CARE PARTNERS

(homecarepartners.org) provides in-home services to low-income elderly, chronically ill and disabled residents in the metro region. It

provides home care aide services to more than 1,000 adults, supports family caregivers and offers caregiver education for aides and the community through its Training Institute.

HEADQUARTERED: Washington, D.C. SERVES: Metro region WHAT A DONATION BUYS: • $250 enables certified aides to help five low-income elders with personal care, housekeeping and meal preparation.

• $1,000 pays for mental health first aid training for 20 home care aides.

• $10,000 supports home care services for a year for seven frail elders or persons with disabilities.

SSL VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES • Weekly: Volunteer as an intake worker.

• Long-term: Volunteer as a marketing or development coordinator.

• Internships

SILVER SPRING VILLAGE

(silverspringvillage.org) offers services and programs to help people remain in their own homes and be engaged in the community as they age. Trained, vetted volunteers offer Village members transportation, friendly visits and phone calls, home repairs, help with chores and errands, decluttering, medical note-taking and more—plus a full calendar of social and educational activities.

HEADQUARTERED: Silver Spring SERVES: Silver Spring WHAT A DONATION BUYS: • $250 provides background checks for 10 volunteers.

• $1,000 provides Village services and programs for four low-income seniors.

• $10,000 supports professional staff managing volunteers.

VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES: • Weekly: Provide rides for Village members to social events.

• Long-term: Visit Village members at their homes.

Offer Those in Need a Safety Net FAMILY SERVICES (fs-inc.org) pro-

vides prevention and early-intervention services to 27,000 low-income children, individuals and families, including emergency assistance, mental health and substance abuse services, earlychildhood programs, domestic violence services and community outreach.

HEADQUARTERED: Gaithersburg SERVES: Montgomery and Prince George’s counties WHAT A DONATION BUYS: • $300 provides financial literacy training for a family to help pave the way to financial security.

• $1,000 provides a full year of case management for a student with social service and/or behavioral health needs.

• $10,000 furnishes a playroom at the Betty Ann Krahnke domestic violence shelter.

SSL VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES: • Weekly or monthly: Prep food and/ or serve lunch in Family Services’ commercial kitchen.

• One time: Volunteer at one of Family Services’ special events.

• Internships

INTERFAITH WORKS (iworksmc.

org) helps more than 16,000 residents each year, equipping homeless and low-income neighbors to lift themselves from poverty through integrated prevention, stabilization and empowerment programs. Interfaith Works’ programs change lives with the help of 5,500 volunteers and 165 congregations.

HEADQUARTERED: Rockville SERVES: Montgomery County WHAT A DONATION BUYS: • $250 provides four students with backpacks filled with quality school supplies.

• $1,000 provides job counseling and a workforce readiness class for the unemployed.

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• $10,000 provides housing for a

homeless family for seven or more months, together with professional case management and supportive services to help them toward independence.

SSL VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES: • One day: Donate or sort goods at the IW Clothing Center.

• Ongoing: Mentor families by providing tutoring, job coaching and parenting skill training.

• Internships

SHEPHERD’S TABLE (shepherds

table.org) serves more than 2,400 individuals experiencing homelessness in the county every year, providing meals, clothing, a mailing address, prescription assistance, information and referrals, as well as other social services. The bimonthly eye clinic provides vision screenings and prescription eyeglasses for the uninsured.

HEADQUARTERED: Silver Spring SERVES: Montgomery County WHAT A DONATION BUYS: • $250 provides prescription eyeglasses for five low-income, uninsured adults.

• $1,000 provides medical prescription assistance for 50 individuals.

• $10,000 covers the cost of more than 6,000 meals.

SSL VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES: • One day: Prepare and serve a nutritious meal.

• One day: Sort donations in the Clothes Closet.

• Internships

Help Someone Find a Job CAREERCATCHERS (careercatch ers.org) provides career counseling and job-skills training for 400 unemployed and underemployed adults annually. Its customized approach helps 132

low-income domestic violence victims, recent immigrants and homeless clients obtain employment that pays a living wage.

HEADQUARTERED: Silver Spring SERVES: Montgomery County WHAT A DONATION BUYS: • $250 provides help for a client to develop a résumé, cover letter and skills assessment.

• $1,000 provides intensive support from intake through job retention for one client.

• $10,000 provides intensive support for 10 to 15 clients.

SSL VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES: • One day: Help complete online job applications, conduct mock interviews or lead a workshop.

• Weekly: Assist with the Job Club, acting as a workplace mentor.

• Internships

CASA (wearecasa.org) works to

improve the quality of life in lowincome immigrant communities.

For its 90,000-plus members, CASA provides job placement, vocational training, citizenship assistance, family social services, and other critical legal, education and health services.

HEADQUARTERED: Hyattsville SERVES: Maryland, Northern Virginia and South Central Pennsylvania WHAT A DONATION BUYS: • $250 provides assistance to three legal permanent residents to become U.S. citizens.

• $1,000 provides 12 weeks of English for speakers of other languages (ESOL) instruction to eight low-income immigrants.

• $5,000 supports teen community leadership training for 30 immigrant adolescents.

SSL VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES: • Weekly: Serve as a mentor to immigrants studying to take the citizenship exam.

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2017 | BETHESDAMAGAZINE.COM

• Monthly: Assist with a résumé workshop.

• Internships LATIN AMERICAN YOUTH CENTER/MARYLAND MULTICULTURAL YOUTH CENTERS (layc-dc.org) reaches 4,500 at-risk youths in the region through job readiness training, paid internships, work experience, GED instruction, college preparation, case management, mentoring and leadership development. LAYC helped 165 county teens obtain paid summer internships in 2015 at local businesses, government offices and nonprofits.

HEADQUARTERED: Washington, D.C. SERVES: Washington, D.C., and Montgomery and Prince George’s counties WHAT A DONATION BUYS: • $250 provides public transportation fare cards for three young people for a year.

• $1,000 allows 20 youths to take the GED exam.

• $10,000 pays for Microsoft certification for low-income youths.

SSL VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES: • One day: Become a motivational guest speaker to the youth program.

• Weekly: Tutor a high school student or someone taking the GED tests (background clearance required).

• Internships

LATINO ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CENTER (ledcmetro.org)

equips Latinos and other underserved D.C.-area residents with the skills and tools to achieve financial independence and become leaders in their communities. The organization’s small-business services include technical assistance and micro-loans for aspiring and existing low- to moderate-income entrepreneurs.

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Its housing services prepare families for responsible homeownership.

HEADQUARTERED: Washington, D.C. SERVES: Maryland and Washington, D.C. WHAT A DONATION BUYS: • $250 helps establish tenant associations to preserve affordable housing.

• $1,000 helps a low-income family or senior in crisis remain in their home.

• $10,000 helps capitalize an aspiring low- to moderate-income entrepreneur.

VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES: • One day: Offer expertise related to personal and business financial management.

• Weekly: Help with survey administration.

• Internships

PER SCHOLAS (perscholas.org/

nationalcapitalregion) opens doors to technology careers for individuals from often-overlooked communities.

Through its tuition-free IT Support job training courses, Per Scholas annually equips 130 individuals with certifications and connects them to in-demand IT jobs in the region.

HEADQUARTERED: Silver Spring SERVES: Metro region WHAT A DONATION BUYS: • $250 pays for the professional IT certification that makes a student a certified tech.

• $1,000 supports career skills training for graduates to impress future employers.

• $10,000 covers 10 weeks of ITSupport/A+ Certification training for two students.

VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES: • Ongoing: Speak to the class on industry-specific and/or career development topics.

• One day: Edit résumés or participate in mock interviews.

• Internships 134

Support the Arts and Humanities ARTS FOR THE AGING (aftaarts.org) engages older adults in health improvement and life enhancement through frequent and professionally led multidisciplinary participatory arts programs. The organization’s primary focus is on older adults living with aging-related physical and cognitive impairments in community and residential care settings.

HEADQUARTERED: Rockville SERVES: Metro region WHAT A DONATION BUYS: • $250 partially underwrites teaching artist fees for a multidisciplinary program.

• $1,000 supports creation of an arts program customized for older adults in a community setting.

• $10,000 supports multiple artsbased programs for older adults who are socially isolated and might not otherwise have access to highquality arts experiences.

SSL VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES: • One day or weekly: Assist with events and programs, including AFTA’s 30th anniversary gala and tennis fundraisers.

• Internships

ARTS ON THE BLOCK (artsonthe

block.com) offers creative youths the opportunity to learn firsthand about art, design and business by engaging them as apprentice artists on real-world projects. Through the organization’s programs, youths learn the value of self-expression, the practice of leadership and teamwork, and the benefits of creative skills for their careers and in their communities. More than 150 apprentice-created works of art and design grace spaces throughout the region.

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2017 | BETHESDAMAGAZINE.COM

HEADQUARTERED: Kensington SERVES: Metro region WHAT A DONATION BUYS: • $250 supports a daylong field trip to D.C.-area art museums.

• $500 trains 20 apprentices to write a dynamite résumé and “ace” an interview.

• $1,000 sponsors an apprentice artist for a full workshop season.

SSL VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES: • Weekly: Provide support with data entry, filing and art studio organization.

• Internships

ARTSTREAM (art-stream.org)

helps more than 1,200 people with intellectual and developmental disabilities—including autism— develop communication, self-advocacy and social skills through social skills classes, performing arts classes and acting companies. ArtStream also holds arts sessions at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center to promote healing for 2,350 wounded service members, and for nurses and caregivers each year.

HEADQUARTERED: Chevy Chase SERVES: Metro region WHAT A DONATION BUYS: • $75 funds a costume for one actor in an Inclusive Theatre Company.

• $150 finances art supplies for nursing staff at Walter Reed arts sessions.

• $500 subsidizes classes to build social skills, friendships and confidence.

SSL VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES: • One time (three hours): Practice with ArtStream participants at a social skills workshop.

• Weekly for six months: Perform onstage alongside participants in an Inclusive Theatre Company.

• Internships

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spotlight

Alyssa Berrios, front left, collaborates on a film project with other Gandhi Brigade members and executive director Evan Glass (standing).

GANDHI BRIGADE YOUTH MEDIA ALYSSA BERRIOS, 17, HAS strong views on immigration. The 12th-grader at Montgomery Blair High School was born in Silver Spring, but her father is a native of El Salvador. So when she was working on a documentary as part of Gandhi Brigade Youth Media’s Documentary of Conscience in Summer (DOCS) program, she interviewed an executive at a nonprofit that seeks to reduce immigration.

“There are some relatives of mine that are undocumented.

They haven’t committed any crimes. They work and pay their taxes. So you’re willing to deport them for not doing anything wrong?” she asked. His answer was that it was their choice to violate U.S. laws, and there are consequences to that choice.

Since she began attending Gandhi Brigade meetings last year, Alyssa, who also narrated the immigration film, has created other documentaries and short public service announcements about social issues that she and her peers feel passionately about.

Helping youths’ voices be heard is the main goal of Gandhi Brigade, says Evan Glass, the Silver Spring nonprofit’s executive director. “In today’s climate, there’s a lot of fear and a lot of concern among middle school and high school kids— they see what’s happening in the world, and there are few outlets for them to productively share their thoughts,” he says.

During the school year, Gandhi Brigade’s nearly 200 136

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BY RACHAEL KEENEY

middle school and high school students meet in Montgomery County public libraries and schools for lessons in videography, video production and graphic design. In those weekly 2½hour meetings, students also make 30-second to threeminute video clips about issues they find important. During the nonprofit’s five-week DOCS program, a select group collaboratively creates a seven-minute documentary.

This past summer, Alyssa and seven others made the immigration film The Fabric of America, which premiered in October at Montgomery College’s Cultural Arts Center in Silver Spring. All Gandhi Brigade films are uploaded onto the organization’s YouTube page and some are shown each spring during the Montgomery County Youth Media Festival at Silver Spring’s AFI Silver Theatre.

Sophia Lucarelli, a homeschooled Takoma Park 10thgrader who also worked on the immigration film, says she became “obsessed” with documentaries after watching some at the Silver Spring Black Box Theatre, where Gandhi Brigade is based.

“Documentaries can make you say, ‘Whoa, I want to do something about that,’ ” says Sophia, 15. “I want to do that to other people so that when they see our documentary they’re going to be like, ‘I want to help with immigration. I want to do something about this.’ ”

PHOTO BY MICHAEL VENTURA

Teaching students to share their voices through filmmaking

BEL CANTANTI OPERA (belcantanti.com) is a Montgomery County nonprofit designed to provide performance opportunities to young opera singers, and to bring these opera performances to the community at an affordable price.

Bel Cantanti Opera has presented opera seasons since 2004.

HEADQUARTERED: Silver Spring SERVES: Metro region WHAT A DONATION BUYS: • $100 pays for printing programs for a production.

• $150 pays for an orchestra member for a performance or rehearsal.

• $1,000 sponsors the honorarium for a stage director.

SSL VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES:

• Weekly: Assist with advertising and •

fundraising, or help with production management Short-term: Provide housing for visiting performers.

CLANCYWORKS DANCE COMPANY (clancyworks.org)

serves as a resource and community partner for programs that highlight dance as a way to advance positive social action. The organization’s programs “shift” perceptions through performance, making personal connections among diverse participants of every age and income level.

ClancyWorks’ programs include K-12 in-school and out-of-school programs; higher education

residencies; professional development for artists, educators and administrators; senior citizen programs; quality performances; and keynote speeches.

HEADQUARTERED: Silver Spring SERVES: Metro region WHAT A DONATION BUYS: • $150 supports one workshop for up to 40 senior citizens.

• $500 provides costumes for 50 students.

• $1,500 covers school assemblies for up to 1,000 students.

SSL VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES: • One day: Help with special events.

• Weekly: Provide administrative or fundraising support for specific projects.

• Internships

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Other ways to

GIVE SHARING MONTGOMERY FUND thecommunityfoundation.org

Created more than 20 years ago, the Montgomery County arm of the Greater Washington Community Foundation was set up to make it easier for county residents and businesses to give to the causes most dear to their hearts, anywhere in the world. The organization also pools contributions from hundreds of families through Sharing Montgomery, a fund which supports local nonprofits that serve our low-income neighbors. The foundation’s staff and donor-led committees conduct a vigorous annual vetting process that evaluates each applicant for strong leadership and program excellence. Sharing Montgomery donations support safety-net services that address the basic needs of the most vulnerable residents, educational opportunities that help youths to succeed, and workforce-development programs that enable adults to secure living-wage jobs.

ARTS AND HUMANITIES COUNCIL OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY (AHCMC) creativemoco.com Established in 1976, AHCMC is a nonprofit organization that works to cultivate and support excellence in the arts and humanities, expand access to cultural expression, and contribute to economic vitality in Montgomery County. As the region’s designated Local Arts Agency, AHCMC’s largest program is the administration of Montgomery County Government-funded grants for the region’s arts and humanities community. Donations to AHCMC support programs that bring arts education to local classrooms, promote arts awareness, conserve public art and build capacity for cultural nonprofits.

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CREATE ARTS CENTER (createartscenter.org) is a visual arts nonprofit that has been bringing the arts to the region for 30 years through art education and art therapy. Since its founding, CREATE has reached more than 30,000 artists through classes, camps and art therapy.

HEADQUARTERED: Silver Spring SERVES: Metro region WHAT A DONATION BUYS: • $75 covers teaching a new form of expression to an autistic child through a session of art therapy.

• $250 gives a low-income child a week of summer art camp.

• $500 empowers a struggling elementary school student to improve his/ her attitude toward self, school and learning through a semester of CREATE’s smARTkids after-school program.

SSL VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES: • One day: Help reorganize art classrooms.

• Weekly: Provide general office support.

• Internships

DOCS IN PROGRESS (docsin progress.org) builds community through programs for youths and adults, including documentary film screenings and filmmaking classes and camps. This includes the Community Stories Festival, which showcases short documentaries about people and places from local neighborhoods and communities.

HEADQUARTERED: Silver Spring SERVES: Metro region and beyond WHAT A DONATION BUYS: • $100 helps make it possible to keep the Community Stories Festival screenings free and open to the public.

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• $250 helps underwrite stipends for

summer interns to mentor youths in documentary production.

• $500 provides one video production class or youth summer camp scholarship for a student in financial need.

VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES: • One day: Help with photography, videography or the check-in table at special screening events.

• Weekly: Provide support with data entry and grassroots street marketing.

• Internships

FLYING V (flyingvtheatre.com) is a pop-culture-infused theater dedicated to the development of vibrant original work and off beat contemporary plays

that inspire theatergoers to have an adventure of their own. Flying V strives to build the bridge between pop culture and high culture, acting as a gateway for people who may or may not know that there’s theater out there for them.

HEADQUARTERED: Bethesda SERVES: Metro region WHAT A DONATION BUYS: • $500 pays for one artist’s show stipend for one production.

• $5,000 sponsors the season by paying for all sets for the year.

• $12,000 sponsors a part-time employee.

VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES: • One day: Be part of a street team for marketing, or provide front-ofhouse services/ushering or technical production.

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• Weekly or long-term: Work on

special projects, marketing or grant research/writing.

FORUM THEATRE (forum-theatre.org) produces adventurous, relevant and challenging plays from a diversity of voices, inspiring discussion and building community. Outside support helps to keep ticket prices low, and to provide time and space for artists to take risks on new work. Forum Theatre’s Forum 4 All program removes financial obstacles to theatergoing by offering pay-what-you-want pricing an hour before each show.

HEADQUARTERED: Silver Spring SERVES: Metro region

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WHAT A DONATION BUYS: • $50 defrays the cost of pay-whatyou-want tickets.

• $100 covers an actor’s salary for a weekend workshop to develop new work.

• $500 provides an honorarium to three post-show discussion facilitators.

VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES: • One day: Serve as a front-of-house volunteer.

• Internships

GANDHI BRIGADE YOUTH MEDIA (gandhibrigade.org) offers

free after-school programs that teach youths to be community leaders through digital media. Participants, most of whom are immigrant and underserved middle school and high school students, learn 21st century media skills and tools for civic engagement—using this knowledge to create documentaries and public service announcements on issues of importance to them. Programs are offered in schools and public libraries throughout Montgomery County.

HEADQUARTERED: Silver Spring SERVES: Montgomery County WHAT A DONATION BUYS: • $50 provides 75 after-school snacks.

• $125 buys a GoPro camera for student use.

• $250 covers the cost for one student.

VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES: • One day: Help with the Montgomery County Youth Media Festival in April 2018.

• Internships

THE GLORYSTAR CHILDREN’S CHORUS (GCC) (glorystar.org), in

its 22nd season, provides music education to children and youths in the joy of choral art. Through a rich repertoire of Asian and Western music, GCC promotes music appreciation and builds

Montgomery College President Selected for Carnegie Corporation Award The Montgomery College Foundation Board of Directors congratulates Dr. DeRionne Pollard, president of Montgomery College, for being selected by the Carnegie Corporation of New York to receive its prestigious Academic Leadership Award.

The award includes $500,000 to be used to fund initiatives that benefit students, institutions, and communities.

Dr. Pollard has chosen to support scholarships for students in the Achieving Collegiate Excellence and Success (ACES) program and the College’s Innovation Fund.

montgomerycollege.edu/foundation Carol Rognrud Executive Director of the Montgomery College Foundation carol.rognrud@montgomerycollege.edu 240-567-7493 BETHESDAMAGAZINE.COM | NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2017

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bridges in a diverse community.

HEADQUARTERED: Potomac SERVES: Metro region WHAT A DONATION BUYS: • $50 provides music materials for one student.

• $100 covers a pianist for one rehearsal.

• $250 pays for the venue rental for one rehearsal.

SSL VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES: • One day: Help with concerts and special events.

• Weekly: Provide support at rehearsals and with data entry and administration information.

THE HIGHWOOD THEATRE (thehighwoodtheatre.org) is a nonprofit theater company that puts together a season of more than 100 student and professional productions, improv shows and studio events, as well as classes, private lessons and the TheatreFIT program (combining theater games and physical fitness). The Highwood Theatre also works in dozens of local public and private schools, mounting productions, teaching classes and providing equipment and services for free or below-market prices.

HEADQUARTERED: Silver Spring SERVES: Metro region WHAT A DONATION BUYS: • $250 sends a professional teaching artist to a local school for a workshop.

• $500 allows a class of 40 to 50 public school students to take a field trip to Highwood.

• $10,000 funds a student production.

SSL VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES: • Ongoing: Volunteer as an usher.

• Internships

INSCAPE CHAMBER ORCHESTRA (inscape.org) is

pushing the boundaries of classical music with performances that reach 142

across genres and generations, and transcend the confines of the traditional classical concert experience.

Founded in 2004 by Artistic Director Richard Scerbo, Inscape Chamber Orchestra has a flexible roster and unique brand of programming. The critically acclaimed, Grammy-nominated group of master musicians has established itself as a premier ensemble.

HEADQUARTERED: Bethesda SERVES: Metro region and beyond WHAT A DONATION BUYS: • $250 provides the performance license for one piece of music.

• $1,000 covers two musicians for a performance of innovative classical music.

• $10,000 pays for the commissioning of a new work for Inscape.

INTERACT STORY THEATRE EDUCATION ASSOCIATION (interactstory.com) is a touring theater company that provides educational arts programs for nearly 30,000 children, families and educators each year. Programs include interactive performances for students in grades pre-K to 12; artsintegrated classroom workshops and residencies; professional development for educators; and the Wheaton Family Theatre Series, a free performing arts series.

HEADQUARTERED: Wheaton SERVES: Maryland and the mid-Atlantic region WHAT A DONATION BUYS: • $75 provides 20 students with a day in InterAct’s after-school program, where literacy through drama is taught.

• $250 gives a full grade level an InterAct Story Theatre field trip, or brings an InterAct teaching artist to their classrooms.

• $500 allows 600 to 800 students to see a professional play in their

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2017 | BETHESDAMAGAZINE.COM

elementary or middle school.

VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES: • One day: Help with community events.

• Weekly: Provide administrative support or serve on the board or advisory board.

SSL

THE INTERPLAY ORCHESTRA (interplayorchestra.org) is an inclusive organization that brings together adults with moderate cognitive and physical disabilities and amateur trained musicians to learn and perform serious music for the wider community.

InterPLAY performs year-round public concerts that are augmented by professional musicians. The orchestra plays all genres of music, including original scores by local composers. Instruments include symphonic percussion and traditional instruments, enabling each orchestra member to fully engage in each musical selection. Rehearsals are weekly at The Music Center at Strathmore.

HEADQUARTERED: Bethesda SERVES: Metro region WHAT A DONATION BUYS: • $100 helps pay for sheet music.

• $500 buys two percussion instruments.

• $1,000 covers one annual tuition scholarship.

SSL VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES: • Weekly: Serve as a “bandaide” (must be able to play an instrument).

• Internships

LUMINA STUDIO THEATRE (lumi nastudio.org) provides opportunities for young and adult actors of all levels of experience to perform Shakespeare and other classic theater in a professional setting.

HEADQUARTERED: Silver Spring SERVES: Metro region WHAT A DONATION BUYS: • $50 buys show tickets for a

scholarship actor’s family.

• $250 pays for half of a scholarship for participation in a spring or fall production.

• $950 covers a full scholarship for summer, or for both spring and fall sessions.

SSL VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES: • One day: Assist with box office or backstage duties.

MARLOW GUITAR INTERNATIONAL (MGI) (marlowguitar.org)

creates community through music, drawing people together for entertainment, education and inspiration. MGI offers an international classical guitar concert series, master classes, performances and speaking engagements in the local schools and libraries, as well as a four-day free classical guitar competition for students ages 18 and younger.

HEADQUARTERED: Chevy Chase SERVES: Metro region WHAT A DONATION BUYS: • $250 provides bus transportation and free tickets for 45 students to attend a concert.

• $500 sponsors a free concert and discussion in a local school or public library.

• $1,000 sponsors a master class for advanced guitar students.

VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES: • One day: Help with MGI’s special events.

• Weekly: Work with the MGI team to support administrative activities.

• Internships

THE NATIONAL CAPITAL TROLLEY MUSEUM (dctrolley.

org) brings the sights and sounds of the trolley era to visitors of all ages.

Museumgoers experience early 20th century transit while traveling 2 miles aboard a Washington streetcar, an American trolley or a European tram.

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SERVES: Metro region WHAT A DONATION BUYS: • $60 buys a new standard-grade railway crosstie.

• $100 hires the worker to install a crosstie.

• $500 places 80,000 targeted advertisements online to grow museum visitation.

SSL VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES: • One day: Help with the maintenance of buildings and grounds, and the restoration of museum collections, working with the museum’s shop crew Tuesdays and/or Saturdays from 8 a.m. until noon. No previous experience is required.

NEW ORCHESTRA OF WASHINGTON (NOW) (neworchestraofwashington.org) is a flexible ensemble with the intensity of an orchestra and the intimacy of a string quartet. Through imaginative performances and intimate settings, a familiar genre becomes new again.

HEADQUARTERED: Rockville SERVES: Metro region WHAT A DONATION BUYS: • Any amount offsets the cost of free children’s tickets to all NOW concerts.

• $250 provides percussion equipment rental and transportation.

• $1,000 provides the rights and rental fees for a genre-defying musical program.

VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES: • One day: Be an usher—greet guests, pass out programs, then enjoy the concert. Time commitment is 30 minutes before and after the performance.

• Internships

THE SANDY SPRING MUSEUM (sandyspringmuseum.org) is a place where people make connections 144

to community history through the cultural arts. The museum is a catalyst for community building by providing opportunities for creative engagement in a range of cultural activities; artists and community members are able to create and host events, activities and exhibits that engage, stimulate and bring people together.

HEADQUARTERED: Sandy Spring SERVES: Sandy Spring region WHAT A DONATION BUYS: • $250 underwrites one History Happy Hour.

• $1,000 provides funding to an individual artist to create original work that is inspired by the Sandy Spring Museum’s collection of photos and artifacts.

• $10,000 helps keep the annual strawberry festival affordable.

VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES: • One day: Help with special events.

• Weekly: Serve as a front desk receptionist.

• Internships

SILVER SPRING TOWN CENTER INC. (SSTCI) (silverspringtown

center.com) produces more than 100 arts and entertainment programs and events year-round at the Silver Spring Civic Center and Veterans Plaza, as well as throughout downtown Silver Spring. SSTCi works to educate, entertain and inspire residents of all ages by activating public spaces with arts and cultural events that embrace the region’s diversity and build community connections.

HEADQUARTERED: Silver Spring SERVES: Silver Spring WHAT A DONATION BUYS: • $250 provides sponsorship for one of SSTCi’s festivals or events.

• $1,000 helps SSTCi present four of 40-plus outdoor performances.

• $10,000 provides major support for

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2017 | BETHESDAMAGAZINE.COM

SSTCi’s 90-plus free arts and entertainment events.

VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES: • One day: Help with event management.

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tapestries.com) is a network of artists, educators, business people and community members. Story Tapestries collaborates with communities in need to custom design arts-integrated programs to directly impact children through in-school and after-school programs, train and coach adults to be more effective leaders of learning, and develop parents’ abilities to understand and engage in their children’s lives.

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THE VICTORIAN LYRIC OPERA COMPANY (VLOC) (www.vloc.

org) provides performances of classic operettas for audiences of all ages, as well as unique hands-on education opportunities for students. VLOC is the only 501(c)(3) production company in the metro region performing Gilbert

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and Sullivan favorites, Victorian composers, European operettas, grand operas and even the premiere of new operas. VLOC is known for producing historic operatic works that provide rare artistic experiences for local theater audiences.

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PREPARE YOUR BUSINESS FOR AN EMERGENCY

Business owners know they should have a plan in place for their business in the event of unexpected long-term incapacity or death, but few follow through to take action.

By creating a temporary modifiable transition/succession plan, or emergency succession plan, you are able to preserve the maximum value of your business while providing a more secure future for your family and key employees.

The foundation of the plan is simple: • Transfer ownership in the company into a separate “revocable trust,” with yourself as Trustee.

• Identify and appoint an appropriate panel of individuals from various disciplines to serve as substitute trustees to succeed you in the event of your long-term incapacity or death. This panel will exercise ownership responsibilities, oversee and work with the management team and make strategic decisions.

• Establish a reasonable period and parameters (i.e.

3-5 years), that can be extended with proper consents, for the substitute trustees to divest the trust of the ownership interests which could including selling to employees, third parties or liquidating the assets.

While the foundation for an emergency succession plan may be simple, one size does not fit all and, as such, each “hit by the bus” transition/succession plan needs to be specially crafted to fit the unique facts and circumstances associated with each business and individual owner.

25 West Middle Lane • Rockville, Maryland 20850 301-340-2020 • www.steinsperling.com Millard Bennett is a founding principal of Stein Sperling Bennett De Jong Driscoll PC. His practice is concentrated in the areas of business organization, business ownership disputes and controversies, conflict resolution, transition of ownership interests and estate planning.

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Grand Designs A restaurant’s layout and décor play a big part in the dining experience. Local designers talk about how they come up with their concepts and most successful projects.

BY MIKE UNGER 146

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PHOTO BY DEB LINDSEY

s Roberto Pietrobono has designed five restaurants, including his second Gringos & Mariachis, which is at Park Potomac.

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The murals at Gringos & Mariachis in Bethesda were inspired by Mexican street art.

IT’S EARLY AUGUST, AND Roberto Pietrobono is standing in what will be the dining room of his fifth restaurant when it opens in a few months. A bit of a rarity, Pietrobono is an owner who designs his own restaurants, and this second outpost of Gringos & Mariachis, at Park Potomac, looks nothing like he originally envisioned.

For starters, the bar. Made with colored plywood, it’s quartz-topped and appointed with attractive white and black tile. It is not, however, circular, the shape Pietrobono wanted. Then there’s the mezzanine. Or the lack of one. After 148

his initial visit to the space, he scrapped the concept.

“The minute I walked in here I knew my design was completely wrong,” he says. “I was given a corner space, and I’ve always liked a circular bar. I’ve never had one, so that’s the way I designed this first. But I started imagining a busy place, and the flow just didn’t work. So I changed the whole plan. Moved the bar up to the window, had open windows where I have an indoor/outdoor bar. It drove everyone crazy, it delayed us, but in the long run who’s going to remember that 10 years ago it took us a year and

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a half rather than six months to open?”

Restaurant design is both a technical and artistic endeavor, and Pietrobono’s ability to create functional interiors and atmospheres that are pleasing to his customers is one reason why his Montgomery County establishments—two Olazzos, Gringos & Mariachis and Alatri Bros.—remain popular. In a cutthroat market like suburban Washington, D.C., a place with uncomfortable chairs, a cold color scheme, or a deafening dining room can quickly become an afterthought, no matter how delectable the food is.

“In Bethesda, the guest is way too

PHOTOS BY VIOLETTA MARKELOU

At Alatri Bros. in Bethesda, above the pizza oven (left), there’s a coat of arms of the Italian province Frosinone, where Alatri is located. Below: The bar at Alatri Bros.

sophisticated not to pay attention to everything you’re doing,” says Chris Meers, a president and executive partner of Lettuce Entertain You, which owns local eateries Summer House Santa Monica, Stella Barra Pizzeria and Mon Ami Gabi. “We view the food, service and design as critically important. You have to bring all three to the game.”

Doing so isn’t cheap. Hiring a topnotch designer can cost up to $500,000, Meers says (although his firm employs its own). Pinching pennies is one reason Pietrobono designed the first Olazzo himself after he and his partner, his brother Riccardo, bought the old South Beach Restaurant & Bar on Norfolk Avenue in Bethesda for $60,000 in 2001.

The restaurant design arms race

Finding stylish and comfortable bar stools is a challenge, says Roberto Pietrobono, owner of Olazzo (the Bethesda location is pictured here).

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Duk Kim, a principal and practice group leader at Streetsense

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DESIGNING RESTAURANTS HAS been Streetsense’s bread and butter for years. Headquartered in a former food court above the Bethesda Metro stop, its lobby is decorated with items from the past. Macintosh monitors. Bottles of Fanta. Old-school bowling pins. It’s a loving nod to recent pop history from a company that is on the cutting edge of design.

The 180-person firm employs interior designers, architects, graphic designers, brand professionals and even a chef. It has helped design some of D.C.’s hottest restaurants, including All-Purpose Pizzeria, Daikaya and Tail Up Goat. Its consulting fees can run anywhere from tens of thousands of dollars for smaller projects to the mid-six figures for larger ones.

When Streetsense starts working on a new project, it takes a few weeks to understand the client’s goals, vision and history (which it calls an immersive process) before proceeding with specific design plans. A Streetsense designer accompanied the owner of downtown Washington, D.C.’s Tiger Fork on a tour of restaurants in Hong Kong when the concept was being formed.

Duk Kim is a principal and practice group leader at Streetsense. Trained as an architect, he joined the firm in April 2016 after working on restaurant and hotel interiors around the world for The Gettys Group.

“Setting the creative vision first is of the upmost importance,” says Kim, who lives in Bethesda Mondays through Thursdays, and in Chicago on weekends.

PHOTO BY DEB LINDSEY

started to heat up in the mid to late 1990s, when the Food Network began making pop stars out of chefs who previously toiled in anonymity.

“I first started seeing a lot of it when we opened Mon Ami Gabi in Vegas in 1998,” says Meers, who lives and works in Chicago but grew up in Bethesda.

“The TV chefs of the world started opening these big, beautiful restaurants.”

PHOTO BY FRED LIEBERMAN

Streetsense designed the Coastal Flats location in Downtown Crown in Gaithersburg.

“Then you look at a lot of logistics. A restaurant is nothing without the operations working. Your kitchen layout—does it work? Are your lines crossing or do they operationally make sense? Once the food is ready, how is it delivered to customers? Where are the service stations located? When a customer needs to go to the restroom, are you crossing lines with service staff? Something as mundane as where are you putting your floor drains in your kitchen. You better know where those are going, because if any of those things fail from an operational standpoint, your restaurant will fail to some capacity.”

Designing a restaurant that starts as a shell is different from taking over a second-generation space, as chef Mike Isabella did at his Bethesda Row

eatery, Kapnos Kouzina (Streetsense designed Kapnos restaurants in Arlington, the District and College Park, and while several elements from those locations found their way into the Bethesda branch, the firm did not design it).

Moving infrastructure such as exhaust systems did not make economic sense, so he kept the location of the kitchen and bar and focused on subtly dividing its interior to create diverse spaces. In the front, shelving displays bottled gourmet food products, which helps grow Isabella’s brand and separates two areas of the dining room—one with booths, the other with tables.

“You want to create enough experiences within the collective mold that different people with different desires can enjoy,” says Herb Heiserman, a

managing principal at Streetsense. “You might be a see-and-be-seen kind of person, you might like that center table, whereas I just want to observe, so I might want to be in a booth on the side. That gets you down to how many tables, what are the fixtures, what kind of music are you going to play. What kind of restaurant do you want to be? All those things start to contribute to design.”

THE SON OF ITALIAN immigrants, Roberto Pietrobono, 45, started working in restaurants as a dishwasher at the age of 14. In his mid-20s, he moved to Southern California, where he worked at a day-trading firm.

“I was trying to figure out what I was going to do with my life,” says the Silver Spring native. “I always knew I wanted to

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keen sense of style, his brother Riccardo says. As his interest in design evolved, he began traveling to see renowned restaurant designs firsthand. He often visits establishments in New York, has been known to fly to Los Angeles just to check out the latest and hottest eatery, and once hopped on a plane to Chicago to visit Davanti Enoteca, where the interior lighting intrigued him.

“A designer is a very underappreciated job. The reason I don’t usually get one is because I have my own style,” says Pietrobono, who describes that style as rustic. “A lot of them don’t know— when you’re rushing to the bar, do you

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really need 7 feet, or can you cut it to 5 feet? Those little things matter. As a restaurant owner, every little bit of space means money. I kind of embed myself to the task and play around with the size of the bar, where can I cut a foot, when can I cut 6 inches. I don’t think any designer is going to do that without charging a boatload of money.”

The Pietrobonos’ father was a bricklayer, and their older brother, Romano, works in construction. Each has lent a hand during construction of the restaurants, and much of Roberto’s knowledge of building and materials comes from simply having been around construction

PHOTO BY WAYNE EARL CHINNOCK

open a restaurant, but it wasn’t the right time yet. When my brother was getting ready to get out of college, I figured it was time to take a shot. We got lucky and we found a space [being vacated by a restaurant] that was moving two blocks away.

It was reasonable and the rent was cheap enough. I was waiting tables for 10 years by that time, so I figured I could pay the rent by just serving tables. My brother took a stab in the kitchen. That was it.”

Pietrobono had no formal design training or experience when he opened Olazzo on Norfolk Avenue, but he had a passion for the discipline. He was a good drawer in school, and he’s always had a

COURTESY OF MATCHBOX RESTAURANT GROUP

PHOTO BY WAYNE EARL CHINNOCK

Streetsense, based in Bethesda, has helped design local restaurants including All Set Restaurant & Bar in Silver Spring (left) and Matchbox in Rockville (above). Its consulting fees can run from tens of thousands of dollars for smaller projects to the mid-six figures for larger ones.

projects for much of his life, he says.

Nonetheless, his learning curve was steep, and to this day he still navigates his projects largely through trial and error.

The wine storage rack he built at the original Olazzo was too narrow, so the one he installed above the bar at the new Gringos is wider, allowing for more bottles. He’s found that a foot and a half is the right distance between tables—it allows a favorable number of seats, which helps with revenue, but doesn’t crowd servers or diners. He favors cushioned chairs, even though some restaurateurs don’t want their customers to be too comfortable, lest they linger too long.

Bar stools often throw him for a loop.

Finding models that are stylish and comfortable is a challenge. His basement at home is a graveyard of dusty stools that never made the cut.

On the other hand, marrying the food and design of the restaurants was easy, the brothers say.

“For Gringos & Mariachis, we wanted to have a dive bar with good food, so we did authentic Mexican tacos,” Riccardo Pietrobono says. “We started off figuring out what type of food and what type of atmosphere we wanted, and he went from there. I like the brick look. I think it makes the restaurant cozy. The murals [done to resemble Mexican street art] set it apart from other places.”

At the original Olazzo, Roberto Pietrobono hired an artist friend he worked with at a restaurant in Huntington Beach, California, to decorate the dining room walls. Pietrobono gave him a blank slate.

“I’ve dealt with artists, and I can tell

you that you can’t really rush them,” he says. “It seems like every time I’ve dealt with one, they work on their own time.

He didn’t do much of anything the first couple of days, and then he started beating a hammer against the wall.”

The outcome was the weathered look that the restaurant has today. After applying a tin-colored stain for a faux finish, Pietrobono added family photos and hung a single TV that often shows nothing but a fire. This somewhat odd combination of elements somehow works.

“It was a minimalist, rustic look, and at that time no one was doing that,” he says. “Everybody had red tablecloths and was playing Frank Sinatra. That wasn’t my look. When we first opened, people were coming in and saying, ‘This is not an Italian restaurant. Where’s the Dean Martin?’

If I listened to those people, I think we just would have been a normal place. I think the mistake restaurant owners make is they listen to other people too much.

They don’t follow their own instincts. You have to love your own place.”

Pietrobono labored over just about every detail. He sanded the tables and chairs himself, and when the restaurant later expanded, he bought booths that are raised 2½ feet off the ground so

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grand designs people could relax at a more comfortable height in the busy bar area.

“Obviously you have to have good food, but if you want to be in someone’s head when they decide to go out, the atmosphere is very important,” he says.

“There’s nothing better than walking into your place and seeing a busy restaurant and people having a good time, but there’s nothing worse than walking into your restaurant and seeing it empty. If you’re in an empty restaurant, it’s not like there’s some place you can go or hide.”

YOU NEVER GET A second chance to make a first impression, and in the restaurant world, that’s not only true of the food.

“Every space that we design, we try and create an experiential connection to people who engage in it,” says Heiserman, of Streetsense. “The reason somebody has a great experience is because they emotionally attach themselves to it somehow,

be it at the Apple store or the crab shack on Bethesda Avenue. What you’re doing is trying to create the customer journey through touch points. Sometimes people adorn the walls with art that speaks to the heritage. Other places have art done by local artisans because they want a connection through that. When we talk about telling a story, we’re talking about how you link the [restaurant] to the customer journey. It has to go beyond just good food and good service.”

At Kapnos Kouzina, wooden tables and floors trigger a feeling of eating at a casual tapas restaurant in Greece. The open kitchen shares the authenticity of what’s being cooked. “[Mike Isabella] wants the place to draw you back to his family heritage,” Heiserman says. “It’s more like you’re sitting in his kitchen. He wants to invite you into his environment.”

When the Pietrobonos took over

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Mia’s Pizzas in August 2016, they hoped to impart a feeling of a family-run Italian pizzeria to a location that became Alatri Bros., named after their parents’ hometown near Rome. Next to the front door, Roberto hung a 32-by-36-inch photo of his grandfather aboard the Andrea Doria, bound for the United States shortly before the ship famously sank in 1956. In the back, above the pizza oven, is a coat of arms of the province Frosinone, where Alatri is located.

BETHESDA’S JOSÉ ANDRÉS expounds on restaurant design with the flair of a matador. Even as the Spanish-born chef’s burgeoning empire, ThinkFoodGroup, is opening restaurants around the world, Jaleo remains a beloved favorite.

The Bethesda location was the second to open, after the original in the District’s Penn Quarter. Designwise it’s somewhat whimsical, from the

bull head that looks out over the dining room to the colorful wall-length mural that features, among other things, a guitar, a pair of red heels, and a green pig. Words relating to fiestas, like “sangria” and “cerveza” are printed in capital letters on some of the tables and walls.

“Every restaurant starts with a story—the story I want to tell through the food, the design, the experience,” Andrés says. “My culinary and design teams work together to tell that story in the most exciting, delicious way possible. Every detail—the plates, the lights, the art—adds to your experience in the restaurant, so we want everything to transport you while you are eating.

“The name ‘Jaleo’ comes from a painting by the painter John Singer Sargent called El Jaleo, of a Spanish dancer,” Andrés continues. “So the story of the restaurant, it is a dance, a party. We want the feeling to be fun

and lively. Bethesda—where I live with my family—has a lot of energy, so we wanted to make the space feel exciting and comfortable for the people of Bethesda. Every time I go, I feel like there is a party.”

In this digital era, creating an indelible physical landmark that will resonate on social media is a goal for many restaurant designers. “I can’t tell you how many clients have said, ‘I want an Instagrammable moment,’ ” Kim, of Streetsense, says. “My philosophy is I don’t like to create an Instagrammable moment for the sake of creating an Instagrammable moment. I want our designers to create designs that have their own Instagrammable moments just by the natural process of doing great design. It’s very important to make it look really cool. People love to snap selfies and say, ‘Hey, look where I am.’ ” The keyhole-shaped door at The

Riggsby, and the mosaic in Columbia Room, two hot D.C. restaurants that Streetsense helped design, are examples of this phenomenon. Perhaps the best in Bethesda is the giant topless mermaid who looms outside of PassionFish.

Just before Labor Day, Pietrobono is back in Gringos at Park Potomac, this time dealing with HVAC and water pressure issues that are pushing back the projected opening date to October.

The interior is nearly finished.

“One thing I’ve noticed in the past is that I sit in the space or I work in the space so long that after a while you question whether it looks good or not, and I’m at that point now,” he says.

He pauses, then can’t help but gush: “But I think this looks great.” n Mike Unger is a writer and editor who grew up in Montgomery County and now lives in Baltimore.

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Butler Montessori students explore in a dry creek bed that supports stormwater management on the campus.

RAISING GARDENERS Rubber boots are at the top of the school supply list for students at Butler Montessori.

They’re essential for the 150 preschoolers through eighth-graders who often traipse through the mud on the private school’s 22acre campus in Darnestown, next to Seneca caption Creek State Park. There are plants to tend in the organic garden, eggs to collect from the

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chickens, forts to build and trails to explore.

“I don’t say to my teachers, ‘Everyone needs to be working in their classrooms at 9:15.’ Teachers decide what routines would be healthiest for the children,” says Head of School Laura Manack, whose mother founded Butler in 1970. “Many start their days outside hiking or on the playground.”

After beginning in the basement of a

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2017 | BETHESDAMAGAZINE.COM

nearby church, the school moved in 1983 to its current location, where buildings were designed to blend into the rural landscape.

Natural, sustainable and recycled materials were used in recent renovations. Classrooms are filled with reclaimed furniture. The school installed bamboo composite decking and permeable boardwalks in place of concrete sidewalks to filter water and reduce pollution.

green

GURUS From a Montessori school whose students are immersed in farming to a company that’s filling its headquarters with energy-efficient features, here are the winners of this year’s Bethesda Magazine Green Awards, held in partnership with Bethesda Green

BY CARALEE ADAMS | PHOTOS BY DARREN HIGGINS

In the farm area, students feed chickens with lunch scraps they’ve collected from composting pails, and learn about crop rotation and caring for the soil. The seventhand eighth-graders participate in a microeconomy program, selling to the school community vegetables from their garden and products they make with their harvest, such as jam and pesto.

Kids are given responsibility and a chance to share their vision, says Bridgette Downer, environmental education guide at Butler.

“We ask them: ‘What do you see that can be improved to better our economy?’ We let them take that project and run with it.” They researched and designed a fulcrum to move a 1,000-pound log. When they wanted an easier way to raise and lower lights in the

indoor grow room for seeds they looked at pulleys on YouTube, talked about the physics behind them and then built a pulley system.

Having hands-on environmental experiences makes it easier to understand why science lessons matter. Says Downer: “It’s almost like the facts fill in for that fascination and discovery that they’ve already made through their senses.”

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GREEN RELIGION When Joelle Novey begins working with a church or synagogue, she typically meets after services with a small group in a circle of folding chairs for a discussion about climate change. The 38-year-old director of the D.C.-based affiliate of Interfaith Power & Light hopes the participants will be inspired to share what they learn, go green and advocate for policies to protect the environment.

Novey, who is Jewish and studied religion at Harvard University, frames environmentalism as a moral issue, rather than a partisan one, bringing people together to do what they can to save the planet.

A Silver Spring resident, Novey has been at the helm of the nonprofit for eight years. She says her organization has worked with more than 1,000 congregations in the area, including Silver Spring United Methodist Church, the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Rockville and Bethesda’s Adat Shalom Reconstructionist Congregation.

Novey’s approach is grassroots and personal.

When she leads a discussion about the environment, she encourages people to consider what could happen if nothing is done to mitigate climate change. Then she has everyone imagine that their congregation exists in “complete harmony with the natural world.” She asks them to share that vision for the future with others. Usually a “green sheep” lay leader emerges, and Novey helps the congregation plan energy-efficient steps, from giving up Styrofoam cups to installing solar panels.

Novey also encourages religious communities to attend rallies for climate justice and to advocate for a strong climate policy. When people of faith speak up, she says, it elevates the issue and legislators respond. “This is such a huge problem. If you are just making personal or communal greening choices, none of that feels big enough to start to feel like you are getting at the scope of a global problem,” says Novey, who has supported initiatives such as the Maryland Clean Energy Jobs campaign, an effort to expand renewable energy in the state to 50 percent by 2030.

Beth Norcross, the founding director of the Center for Spirituality in Nature in Arlington, Virginia, and adjunct professor at Wesley Theological Seminary in the District, has worked closely with Novey. “Her real contribution has been to rally the congregations and to give faith a voice in the local legislatures,” Norcross says. “She lives and breathes this work 24/7.”

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NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2017 | BETHESDAMAGAZINE.COM

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Kirsten Quigley co-founded a company that makes reusable sandwich bags.

Single-use bags made from biodegradable materials were recently added.

SMART SWAPS When her four kids were young, Kirsten Quigley was packing about 20 lunches a week—using lots of plastic baggies.

“It hadn’t even occurred to me to question that part of our routine,” says Quigley, 48, who grew up in Rockville and lives in Potomac. Learning that an estimated 20 million plastic sandwich bags were thrown out every day was an “aha” moment that made her think about what she could do differently.

Quigley, who had worked in development and communications at the nonprofit Nature Conservancy, brainstormed alternatives to plastic baggies with Potomac mom Cris Bourelly and designer Jennie Stoller-Barakat, who lives in Los Angeles. In 2008, they co-founded 3greenmoms and launched LunchSkins, a line of reusable bags made of dishwasher-safe fabric with a Velcro seal.

The original bags, with designs such as red apples and blue sharks, appealed to kids and were widely sold as fundraisers through schools. Kids leave a footprint, and this was a way they could make a difference, Quigley says. “They can’t drive a Prius or build solar panels, but kids can use this and feel empowered to be greener.”

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The business was based out of Quigley’s home before moving into an office on Bethesda’s Arlington Road about three years ago. She’s now chief operating officer on a four-person team that has been expanding the LunchSkins line. (The other two cofounders left the business in 2015.)

To appeal to adults, the company has created patterned bags in muted colors—adding larger sizes and zipper closures. This past summer, LunchSkins introduced single-use paper sandwich bags made of biodegradable material that can be composted.

Sold in boxes of 50, the new bags are made from a tightly woven paper with a peel-away adhesive strip.

The company estimates that reusable LunchSkins bags have replaced more than 1 billion single-use plastic sandwich and snack bags (estimating that one bag lasts two years and replaces the use of nearly 500 plastic bags in that time).

Quigley is optimistic about the future of LunchSkins products, which are sold nationwide at outlets such as The Container Store and Target; locally at MOM’s Organic Market, Broad Branch Market, Safeway and Strosniders Hardware; and online. “Green is trending up, not down,” she says.

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2017 | BETHESDAMAGAZINE.COM

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Keith Derrington, chief operating officer of Recurrent, which focuses on making buildings energy efficient

THE ENERGY SAVERS Rockville-based Recurrent is all about making commercial buildings more energy efficient. The 32-employee company figures out ways to improve heating and cooling systems, automate lighting, and make other changes to streamline operations.

“We try to find the most comprehensive solution and identify the savings,” says Keith Derrington, chief operating officer of Recurrent, which was established in 2013.

The upgrades often make the spaces more comfortable for occupants and save thousands of dollars in energy expenses.

One of the best ways to tighten operating expenses is through energy efficiencies, says Robert Eisinger, managing partner of Rock Grove Associates Limited Partners and cofounder of Promark Real Estate Services in Rockville, who has turned to Recurrent for building projects.

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Eisinger hired Recurrent in 2016 to oversee energy renovations (completed early this year) for Gaithersburg’s Shady Grove Professional Building and adjacent Shady Grove Comfort Inn, which Rock Grove owns. Derrington says the original 1980s heating and cooling systems were still functioning at the buildings, but new technology provided opportunities for savings, including wireless thermostats and sensors that allow temperatures to be adjusted for rooms not in use, saving electricity.

Derrington says some commercial business owners have been reluctant in the past to invest in energy efficiency projects because they may not own the property long enough to reap the benefits.

The Gaithersburg renovation was the first project to use a Montgomery County program called Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy (C-PACE), made

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2017 | BETHESDAMAGAZINE.COM

possible by state law that took effect in 2014. With C-PACE, there are no upfront costs, and owners repay the cost of the project as a surcharge—which can be stretched up to 20 years—on their property tax bill. The $1.4 million in improvements at the Gaithersburg properties are expected to translate into annual energy savings of about $156,000. Rock Grove is paying back $125,000 a year for the improvements, so the company expects a net savings of $31,000 each year.

Next up for Recurrent are commercial retrofit energy jobs in Rockville and Frederick County, including a comprehensive C-PACE project that will lower energy use by 50 percent for the Exchange Place office building in Rockville. Says Eisinger: “This is the beginning of a wave. All the old structures will be renovated like this.”

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Avi Halpert, vice president of corporate real estate at United Therapeutics Corporation, at the company’s Unisphere building site in Silver Spring

SETTING A SUSTAINABILITY EXAMPLE Downtown Silver Spring is not the ideal location for a net-zero energy building. In a dense urban environment, it’s tough to generate enough renewable energy on-site to cover what is consumed each year.

“Net-zero has been done before, but never really in a situation like this,” says Thomas Kaufman, associate director of corporate real estate at United Therapeutics Corporation (UTC), a biotechnology company that develops drugs and medical devices to treat chronic and life-threatening conditions. “Bigger net-zero projects are on the West Coast, where you have nice weather year-round, a lot of sun, and larger parcels of land so there is more space for solar panels.”

Those challenges didn’t stop UTC from designing a six-story headquarters, dubbed “Unisphere,” on its campus at the intersection of Colesville Road and Spring Street to be energy self-sufficient. Ground was broken in March 2016 and completion is expected next summer. The three existing buildings on the campus also have sustainable features.

Solar panels on Unisphere’s elliptical-shaped roof will be positioned to maximize a southern exposure.

Windows will automatically open during moderate weather to provide natural ventilation, and the central atrium will act as a thermal chimney to circulate air throughout the building. Two energy-efficient features will take advantage of the relatively constant 45- to 50-degree temperatures underground to keep the indoor environment comfortable: geothermal heating and cooling (a system that uses water to absorb the temperature underground by pumping it through a series of 500-foot-deep wells, then circulating it throughout the building) and an earth labyrinth or concrete maze (air is pushed through it before being pumped through the rest of the building). Out-of-date state regulations regarding where geothermal wells could be located needed to be changed, and UTC pushed for that, paving the way for others interested in environmentally sustainable design, says Avi Halpert, vice president of corporate real estate at UTC. “They have a lot of innovative elements in their design,” says Diane Schwartz Jones, director of the Department of Permitting Services for Montgomery County. “It’s wonderful and very progressive that United Therapeutics is trying to push the envelope and achieve a far greater degree of sustainability.” n Caralee Adams is a freelance writer in Bethesda.

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interview

A CONVERSATION WITH

JOHN MCCARTHY The Montgomery County state’s attorney talks about gang violence, what happened at Rockville High School and the cases that really get to him

BY DAVID FREY | PHOTO BY SKIP BROWN

AFTER PROSECUTING CRIMES IN Montgomery County for 35 years, State’s Attorney John McCarthy sees the county differently than other people.

“I can tell you a story about just about every neighborhood,” says McCarthy, 65. “I can look at a corner.

I can look at a gas station. I can look at an apartment complex. The first murder case I ever had was State of Maryland v. James Drury. He murdered his best friend in Gaithersburg…in an apartment. The complex was just a hole-in-the-wall. Real low-rent. They leveled that apartment complex. Now it’s these beautiful, gorgeous luxury townhouses, but when I drive there, I always glance to my left and think it didn’t look like that during James Drury’s murder [trial].”

McCarthy, who has been elected three times as the county’s top prosecutor and has served for a total of 11 years, has seen some of Montgomery County’s darkest moments, from the murders of young children to a string of rapes of elderly women. He was an adviser in the investigation of the 2002 Beltway sniper attacks that paralyzed the region, and is now seeing an unprecedented rise in gang violence. In early September, officers dug up a body in Wheaton Regional Park; it was believed to be the 19th gang-related 168

homicide over the past two years.

“If you go back to 2000, how many gang-related homicides were there each year? One or zero,” McCarthy says. “You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to figure out that is an enormous jump in violent crime, particularly violent homicide.”

McCarthy, who has four grown children—two of whom are also attorneys—and four grandchildren, grew up in New Jersey in the suburbs of Philadelphia. After graduating in 1970 from Camden Catholic High School in Cherry Hill, he attended Catholic University on a baseball scholarship, then worked as a baseball coach and teacher at Good Counsel High School in Wheaton, studying law at night at the University of Baltimore.

“Graduation was on a Sunday, and I started my first job as a prosecutor the next day as assistant state’s attorney in Prince George’s County,” McCarthy says.

He came to Montgomery County in 1981, working as a public defender before returning to prosecution.

Bethesda Magazine interviewed McCarthy in August at his Rockville office, where a poster board used in the prosecutions of the Beltway snipers leaned against one wall.

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2017 | BETHESDAMAGAZINE.COM

NAME John McCarthy AGE 65 WHAT HE DOES State’s attorney for Montgomery County LIVES IN Gaithersburg

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Why did you decide to become an attorney?

I had the benefit of being exposed to two people who I greatly respected as a young person, and they both were lawyers. I was very close to my grandfather on my mother’s side, and he was an attorney. My mother’s oldest brother was an attorney. I got the bug. Plus, there were a lot of lawyer shows on TV, The Defenders and Perry Mason. Lawyers were always held up to be esteemed members of the community. I thought it was an important job to do.

How was it going from prosecuting to defense?

Easier than I suspected. These were not ax murderers or rapists or things like that. I was doing misdemeanor work, and the majority of the people I represented were knuckleheads. A lot were young people who couldn’t get out of their own way starting out their lives.

I think it helped me to have that perspective as a prosecutor. I represented about 400 people as a public defender.

My memories are less about the specifics of the case and more about the individual people. Even after I long switched back to being a prosecutor, I’d walk the streets of Montgomery County and see people I prosecuted and people I represented.

What was it like to be involved in the Beltway snipers investigation?

I think anybody who lived in Washington will never forget how it changed so fundamentally the way we lived. In many ways, anybody who lived in the county felt to some extent that they were victimized by those 23 days of terror. I lived only a few blocks away from the shooting of Sarah Ramos. A cab driver was killed only a few blocks from my house. I was going to have a cheesesteak at Barnaby’s Pub in Wheaton when I saw the tape from the homicide detectives at another crime scene. These people all lived within blocks of where I lived. These were murders that occurred in my neighborhood.

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They were places where I went. Where my family went.

What were some of the most memorable cases you’ve handled?

I was involved in the James Perry homicide. James Perry was a hit man from Detroit who was hired by Lawrence Horn, a disgruntled, estranged former husband. Perry went into a home in Silver Spring and murdered a small child who was a paraplegic as a result of a medical accident. Millions of dollars had been put in a trust fund for that little boy, and the only way Horn could get the money was to murder his wife and child.

I prosecuted Gregory Tu, a famous restaurateur in Washington and Maryland. He murdered his wife, Lisa Tu, and disposed of her body and it had never been recovered. It was the first time in Maryland history that a person was convicted of first- or second-degree murder without a body. It was also one of the first cases, if not the first case in the United States, where DNA evidence was admitted to prove a homicide. The case dates back to 1988. There were only two DNA labs in the entire country, and one was in Gaithersburg. By historical accident our office became familiar with their work and we enlisted them before any of the DNA admissibility statutes.

I just finished the case of Mr. [Eulalio] Tordil, a federal law enforcement officer who murdered his estranged wife in Prince George’s County and subsequently killed two additional people here in Montgomery County [one in the Westfield Montgomery mall parking lot and the other in a Giant supermarket parking lot in Aspen Hill].

The Lululemon case. Two young women [who worked at the Lululemon store in Bethesda] who at first blush looked like they were both sexually assaulted, tied up, one murdered in the most horrible way. One young lady survived. Within a week we found out that the one person we thought was a victim was not a victim but a perpetrator.

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Samuel Sheinbein committed the murder of a Hispanic young man in a particularly ghoulish way. With the assistance of his father, he fled the United States and sought citizenship in Israel under the Law of Return and was granted sanctuary. He was ultimately prosecuted in Israel and convicted of first-degree murder. [Years later], he snuck a gun into prison, got into a shootout with an Israeli commando squad and was killed in an Israeli prison.

Of all these cases, is there one that you’re proudest of?

I was very proud of the Gregory Tu prosecution because of the novelty of the science that was used and the fact that it was a no-body murder case. Back in the day, that was a huge case. I was also very proud of what we did in the Lululemon case.

And I think the people of Montgomery County should be very proud of the level of police investigation in many of these incidents. Look, we had some good lawyering, but there’s been some magnificent investigative efforts made by the men and women of the Montgomery County Police Department. When I go and talk to the new police recruit classes—and I go and talk to every one of them—I always talk to them about the tradition of coming to Montgomery County and following in the footsteps of some of the finest people in law enforcement you can ever have. What police department in Maryland brought the first DNA cases? Your department. What department got the first murder conviction without a body? Your department.

What department brought the D.C. snipers to justice? Your department.

What is it like to become a part of the lives of the victims’ families?

You sometimes make friends with them, which is funny, because then you see them again and you’ve been an ally of their family, but you also remind them of the worst thing that ever happened

in their life.

Samuel Sheinbein murdered a Hispanic kid named Alfredo Tello, who went to high school in Silver Spring.

[Tello] happened to be Catholic, and he happened to attend church at St. John the Baptist Catholic Church, where his mom worshiped. And it happened to be where my son went to school. It was at midnight Mass at Christmas following the murder. I went to Mass with my kids. The whole family was there. There’s a thing that happens in a Catholic Mass called the kiss of peace. You turn to each other and say, ‘God bless you’ and ‘merry Christmas,’ and shake hands with the people around you. There’s a woman in front of me, and all I can see is the back of her head. The woman turns around. It’s Alfredo Tello’s mom. She turns around to say merry Christmas to whomever the man is behind her, and it’s me. It’s her first Christmas without her son. She turns around and sees me and becomes hysterical, crying, and starts hugging me in the church.

What case has been hardest for you?

I think one of the hardest things I ever experienced as a prosecutor was being present while Michele Dorr, a 6-yearold child, was unearthed on Route 29 at about 10:30 at night. The killer in that case went to prison for another murder, and while in prison confessed to another inmate, who he believed to be Jesus Christ. He said, ‘I buried this child years ago out on Route 29.’ We go out on Route 29 and he’s walking in the woods trying to find the spot where he buried Michele Dorr in 1986. It’s [early in 2000] when this happens. He says, ‘I buried her at the foot of a small sapling tree. I buried her in a shallow grave. I took a box spring mattress and I threw it over the top and I walked away.’

He finally says, ‘I think she’s here.’ I didn’t know if he was telling the truth or not. They start digging into the dirt, and when I thought he was telling the truth was when they started to find springs.

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interview The box spring had disintegrated, but the pattern of the springs was there. When they got to the top of the head, everybody gasped. A detective grabbed my hand and said, ‘We should say a prayer for this child.’ That was a horrible night.

I had children about the same age at the time. I went home and locked myself in my room that night.

How does being a father and grandfather affect your work?

I think it helps tremendously. When you see someone, and someone they love is hurt or injured, you can imagine what they’re going through. I’ve had fathers who sat across from me and said, ‘I’m looking at you. I’m her father. I’m relying on you to bring us some justice in this case.’ Sometimes you don’t even have to speak. I just get a look.

You’ve got a man, Malcom Winffel, in the Tordil case, who was going to have lunch with a buddy and he sees somebody hassling a woman, and the woman screams for help. He doesn’t think twice.

He goes over and winds up being killed, and the other man ends up being shot.

It’s a miracle he survived. You sit there with his widow who thinks of her husband as a hero, and rightfully so. He was a hero. You sit with these people and make them understand that you get what they’re talking about.

You see the anguish and the agony. In the Michele Dorr case, if you go back far enough, the father was once a suspect because he was watching his child when she disappeared. Imagine the agony of living under that specter for 15 years.

What about the cases that don’t go to trial?

Those are hard cases. In a lot of these cases, there is a healthy tension over when is the right time to arrest. Anybody who is an experienced detective or prosecutor will tell you there are some very candid conversations that sometimes take place between the prosecutors and the cops about whether or not a case is ready to go. That’s good. It protects us 172

from rushes to judgment that sometimes can happen. Sometimes the greatest courage comes from being able to say we don’t have the right person.

Tell me about the decision not to bring charges in the alleged rape case at Rockville High School, which even got the attention of the White House.

Let me begin by saying absolutely no political pressure had anything to do with what we did in that case. I am offended by anything to the contrary. What happened in that case was an allegation by a 14-year-old child of a very serious sexual assault.

What we really looked at was: Do the facts support the allegation? They did not. The person who reported it, the 14-year-old girl, is a child. And I think the way we have tried to handle the case is to try to protect the child. The allegations were not accurate. But we have always been careful about how we spoke about it publicly because we have great concern for the welfare of the 14-year-old child.

There was so much information that was disseminated by a multitude of sources that was not accurate. Suffice to say that what was reported was not what the facts bore themselves out to be. When I made this announcement [not to file charges], I was proud that the police chief stood with me, the county executive stood with me, the superintendent of schools stood with me, the president of the school board stood with me. They knew exactly why the decisions were made and some of the things that we have not openly publicly spoken [about] because of our concern for a 14-year-old child. They knew we were making the right decision.

Do you think initial charges were filed too quickly without enough information to support them?

This office never filed the charges. The charges were filed by the police without consultation with my office. In all fairness, because of the information that the police had at the time they filed the charges, I understood why they did it.

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However, that information turned out to be in large measure untrue. For any major crime involving a rape or a murder in this county, I think the final say as to whether someone should be charged should come from the state’s attorney’s office.

I think that the system worked wonderfully here in the following sense.

There was a charge. There was all kinds of political nonsense and public comments being thrown about, a lot of which turned out to not be based on any fact whatsoever. And yet at the end of the day, I think the right decision was made and the charges were dropped.

So you feel confident that justice was served?

Absolutely. Those charges should have been dropped based on the facts. I love my job and I want to do my job and I don’t want to do anything else. I want to stay right here. To people who would say we were in any way political pawns for anybody, I say—words that you can’t publish. It’s nonsense.

One of the programs you created here was the gang prevention unit. What does it do and what prompted you to create it?

There are a couple things we’re doing.

We’re going to do public outreach and intervention with kids. We believe that there are some groups that are seen by the gangs as the most likely possible recruits. They’re not bad kids. They’re just seen to be people that might be more vulnerable to the lure of the gangs.

Are we talking about children traveling alone from Central America?

Yes. And if we believe these kids are being targeted, we’re going to get out into the schools and talk to them about community resources, alternatives to gang membership, why they should not be susceptible to these kinds of recruitment efforts. Tell them there’s something we can do to help get these people away from recruiting them into gangs. I think

that some of it is educating young kids to the alternatives to joining a gang. If the mythology is that this is a good decision to make, destroy that mythology and educate them [on] why this is not a good idea.

The second part of it is beginning major racketeering investigations that start out of this office. I want to look at a board that tells me: Who is the leadership of MS-13? Who is the leadership of the Bloods, the Crips? Who is the leadership of the Hit Squad? Who is the leadership of the 108 Crew? I want us to begin to build intelligence files on these individuals. I want to know who they are. I want to know what their criminal histories are.

I want to know who their associates are.

I want to know if there are other crimes being committed by other individuals under their direction. When they come to the criminal justice system, I want to know about them.

While crime has dropped in the county in general—and that’s a point that should not be lost in this conversation— violent crime that has been perpetrated by gangs in the county has spiked, especially in homicides and robberies.

Some of this we knew was coming, or we should have known. We were briefed a couple years ago by our federal partners about MS-13 and their renewed efforts to recruit gang members. This active effort to recruit new members has led to a spike of violence, and some of that violence is in the hazing or recruitment stage. I can’t help but think the uptick in violence has carryover to other gangs who are trying to recruit. It’s not just exclusively one gang, and not everyone is of the same ethnic or racial composition. It’s across the board, and it should be alarming.

It should also be alarming that if you go to the local jail in Montgomery County on any given day and I say, ‘How many gang members are here today?’ it’s going to be about 26 percent of the jail population. If one out of four people in your local jail is raising their hand and saying, ‘I’m a member of a gang,’ I’ll tell

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interview

you, we better be paying attention.

We have multiple ongoing federal investigations with the U.S. attorney’s office where indictments will be returned against multiple gangs, including MS-13, and multiple gang members. What kind of things are gangs doing in Montgomery County? Some are asking for protection money; immigrant communities preying on immigrant communities, charging protection money for somebody to run their after-hours bodega out of their apartment. Drugs. Prostitution. Human trafficking.

How is the national opioid crisis affecting Montgomery County?

Heroin is pretty much all over Montgomery County now. We have wealthy communities and poor communities that are touched by heroin deaths. This is a drug that is killing kids in every possible socioeconomic level.

The state of Maryland has [had] a 400 percent increase in the last decade in heroin overdose deaths. In Montgomery County each year, year over year, the number of people who have survived overdoses, the number of people who have died, the number of hospitalizations, is continuing to rise.

You’ve called for tougher sentences for dealers. How do you think they should be prosecuted?

People who are distributing are purveyors of death. I’m talking about people who are out there making money while people die. If you distribute heroin and it results in death, you should face a homicide-related charge. The federal government does this. If you’re there as a mercenary selling drugs for profit and we can prove that you sold the drug that killed someone, you should bear some responsibility for the death that you caused.

How do you feel about the decriminalization of marijuana?

We have kind of decriminalized marijuana to some extent in Montgomery County. I think it’s a smart way of doing business. You take some of those precious dollars and use them to prosecute and research and investigate people who are purveying death, who are selling heroin. You have limited resources in government. Part of our job is to prioritize how best to spend every one of those dollars. If we’re talking about doing something about drugs in our community, I’d rather take every dollar and put it to people who are distributing heroin, which is a killer drug, rather than locking up people for using marijuana.

Is there an opioid case in particular that comes to mind?

Some of it is too close to home to talk about. There are a number of people who work in this building with me who have had children who have been addicted to, or continue to be addicted to painkillers.

Friends of mine have lost their children.

Within my extended family, a person just died from a heroin overdose. It’s hard to live in this county, to live in the real world, and not be touched by a heroin overdose.

Maybe it’s not your child. Maybe it’s the kid next door. Maybe it’s someone you went to grammar school with. But it’s enough that everybody knows somebody not too far separated from them.

Do we need to do more to treat addiction?

The problem we have is that opiate addiction is a disorder. It’s a disease. The level of treatment that we offer for these young kids is insufficient to change their behavior. I’m not a medical doctor, but it is my understanding that the chemical changes that take place in the brain take 18 months to two years of treatment if you’re going to break the cycle of an opiate-addicted person. Nobody’s health insurance lasts that long. The percentages of kids who go into treatment and come out 60 to 90 days later and are no BETHESDAMAGAZINE.COM | NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2017

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longer addicted is only 4 or 5 percent. We are not providing people enough medical protection to get them off opiates.

Look, I recently went through cancer.

My doctor said to me, ‘Hey, you need 36 cancer treatments.’ Well, I got every one. They didn’t say to me, ‘We think you need 36 but we’re going to give you 15 and hope for the best.’ We know that these kids need longer treatment.

Your office has several programs that offer alternatives to incarceration. Tell me about some of those.

We have the lowest percentage of the population that is incarcerated of any jurisdiction in Maryland. We have adult drug courts. I think we’re in about our 18th year of adult drug courts, where we divert people who have profound alcohol or drug problems that are really the source of why they’re repetitively involved in crimes. I’m enormously supportive of it. I think we’ve saved hundreds of people and rebuilt lives for a lot of people.

I brought us the mental health court.

They estimate that about one out of three people in prisons have mental health issues. We have not as a nation dealt with mental health issues very well. As a result, by default, the criminal justice system, which is not equipped to deal with this issue, gets it by default.

We use mediation, too. I think a lot of the problems, particularly low-level criminal matters, don’t belong in probation, don’t belong in jail. Fines are not going to solve the problem. Maybe mediation can. When I was a kid, I didn’t go to court if I threw a rock through my neighbor’s window. I got dragged into the neighbor’s living room and we settled it as neighbors.

We just celebrated 20 years of teen court. We have 300 or 400 kids a year who go through teen court, where they’re actually judged and sentenced by their peers.

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NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2017 | BETHESDAMAGAZINE.COM

I brought a truancy prevention program. We started in two schools, servicing hundreds of kids. [Now] we’re going to be in 22 schools. If we get kids in school, we reduce sex, drugs and rock ’n’ roll. I want to see kids at their school desk, not in a jail cell.

There has been some speculation that you’ll run for county executive in 2018. Are you considering that?

You know, I’m very, very happy doing what I’m doing. I will tell you, I’m approached all the time regarding that particular position and urged by people from many quarters to consider doing that. I think I have right now the perfect job for me. I love what I’m doing. I love the people I work with. As of right now,

I’m perfectly satisfied staying where I am.

leadership there.

But you’re not ruling it out.

Well, you know, I want to make sure that whoever gets that position is someone who is going to be supportive of law enforcement efforts and the things I care about in the community. Right now, I’m running [for re-election] for state’s attorney. Like many people, I’m anxious to find out who the next county executive is going to be and what their commitment is going to be to things in the county that I think are really important. Some of them are law enforcement issues, but there are other things. Like the heroin crisis.

What are we doing to protect our kids in and around schools? I’m looking for someone to step up and show some great

You were diagnosed with neck cancer last year. How are you feeling now?

I had a terrible summer last year. I had three surgeries. I had over 30 cancer treatments. Radiation. I took the summer off, and the people here have been magnificent. Now I’m doing great. My doctor says I’m cancer-free. I have hundreds, maybe thousands of letters of support I’ve gotten from people in the community.

I’m a madman about exercise. I walk about 6 miles every day. I’m going to the gym after we leave. ■ David Frey lives in Gaithersburg and has written for Sunset magazine and other publications.

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to Long & Foster | Christie’s exclusive “Showcase of Homes” As the home of the best-trained, best-equipped agents in the industry, we are positioned to provide unsurpassed service and expertise to today’s real estate clients from contract to closing and beyond. No matter what your real estate goals are, Long & Foster | Christie’s International Real Estate agents can help you take advantage of historic real estate opportunities.

Enjoy browsing the following pages, and when you’re ready to take the next step, we welcome you to contact one of our sales offices or expert sales associates.

1

#

In Bethesda In the Washington Metro Area In the Mid-Atlantic Region Nation’s No. 1 Independent Real Estate Brand* Seller of Luxury Homes in the Mid-Atlantic Region

Source: Information is based on data supplied MRIS and its member Association(s) of REALTORS, who are not responsible for its accuracy. Does not reflect all activity in the marketplace. July 1, 2016 – June 30, 2017 as of July 11, 2017. Percentages are rounded to the nearest whole number. Information contained in this report is deemed reliable but not guaranteed, should be independently verified, and does not constitute an opinion of MRIS or Long & Foster Real Estate, Inc. *by sales volume. ©2017 All rights reserved.

Bethesda WELCOME PAGE Nov-Dec17.indd 2

10/9/17 10:14 AM

Uptown & Bethesda/Chevy Chase Offices

Chevy Chase

$3,295,000

Chevy Chase

$2,300,000

Bethesda

$2,295,000

The original first home built in Kenwood features open spaces, designer kitchen, beautiful views, 5 bedrooms, 5.5 baths, fireplaces, French Quarter patio, sweeping terrace, 2 family rooms and double garage on a private gated lot.

Pat Lore 301.908.1242 PLore@eversco.com

Glorious new home available for semi-customization from award-winning Chase Builders, nestled on a charming block with 3 levels, 5 bedrooms, 5.5 bathrooms, garage, finished lower level and elevator option.

Eric Murtagh 301.652.8971/ murtproperties@gmail.com Karen Kuchins 301.275.2255/ k2kuchins@aol.com

Luxurious new construction brings you modern elegance, brilliant finishes and coffered ceilings over 3 impeccable finished levels; 5 bedrooms, 4.5 gorgeous bathrooms, glamorous kitchen and 2-car garage.

Eric Murtagh 301.652.8971/murtproperties@gmail.com Karen Kuchins 301.275.2255/k2kuchins@aol.com

Chevy Chase

Chevy Chase / Martin’s Addition

Chevy Chase

$1,990,000

$1,625,000

$1,469,000

This spectacular, newly built home features 5 bedrooms, 4.5 bathrooms, unparalleled high-end designer finishes, high-end customization and generously proportioned spaces with sophisticated elements for luxury living.

Eric Murtagh 301.652.8971/ murtproperties@gmail.com Karen Kuchins 301.275.2255/ k2kuchins@aol.com

This meticulously maintained residence offers a welcoming front porch, chef’s kitchen, inviting family room, fireplace, 6 bedrooms, 5.5 baths, deck, patio, landscaped grounds and double garage.

Eric Murtagh 301.652.8971/ murtproperties@gmail.com Karen Kuchins 301.275.2255/ k2kuchins@aol.com

Stunning historic 1902 Victorian sited on a beautiful .45 acre lot features 3 to 4 bedrooms, 2.5 baths, screened porch, side deck and detached studio/garage. The picturesque front gardens adds to the storybook feel of this home.

Andrea Evers 202.550.8934 / aevers@eversco.com Melissa Chen 202.744.1235 / mchen@eversco.com

Bethesda

Chevy Chase

Chevy Chase

$1,325,000

Exceptional residence features a fabulous open floor plan with designer selections on the three finished levels. Enjoy the stunning chef’s kitchen, great room, formal dining room, separate den/office and attached garage.

Eric Murtagh 301.652.8971/ murtproperties@gmail.com Karen Kuchins 301.275.2255/ k2kuchins@aol.com

$1,325,000

Beautifully restored and renovated Colonial with 4 bedrooms, 2.5 bathrooms, wonderful floor plan, big windows, eat-kitchen and bathrooms, expansive 3rd floor and cavernous lower level offering wonderful potential.

Eric Murtagh 301.652.8971/ murtproperties@gmail.com Karen Kuchins 301.275.2255/ k2kuchins@aol.com

202.364.1700 4400 Jenifer Street NW, Suite 1, Washington, DC

$1,249,000

Lovingly maintained and expanded home in the highly desirable Chevy Chase West neighborhood offers 4 bedrooms, 3.5 baths, bright open spaces, picturesque gardens, professional landscaping and a front porch with spectacular garden vista.

Jessica Wills 703.929.0100 / jwills@eversco.com

301.656.1800 7032 Wisconsin Avenue, Chevy Chase, MD LongandFoster.com

EversCo 2017 Nov-Dec.indd 1

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Wendy

Wendy@BannerTeam.com • www.BannerTeam.com

Potomac / Fallsberry

$1,049,900

Bethesda / Avenel

$1,100,000

Potomac / Potomac Village

$1,295,000

Updated Colonial with contemporary flair on quiet cul-desac on 1/3 acre backing to trees! You’ll love the screened porch and deck overlooking private pool, the open design with high ceilings and kitchen fully open to family room!

4 bedrooms, 3.5 baths.

Beautiful all brick home on quiet cul-de-sac on the 12th green of the TPC at Avenel! Features brand new Marvin windows, screened-in porch, updated baths, gleaming hardwood floors, owner’s suite with fireplace and fullyfinished lower level. Pool, tennis, all lawn care, private security, snow plowing and more are included in HOA fee!

Stately brick Colonial with approximately 7,000 sq. ft. Sited on gorgeous half acre lot with waterfall on quiet cul-desac just steps to Potomac Village. Features hardwood floors throughout, 6 bedrooms on upper level, updated kitchen and baths and finished walkout lower level. Serene landscaped yard with water feature and stone patio.

Potomac / River Falls

Potomac / Merry-Go-Round Farm

Potomac /Potomac Village

$1,339,900

$1,495,000

1,599,900

Beautiful Colonial sited on landscaped lot with fenced yard backing to serene wooded area. Features expansive family room with gas fireplace and 3 sets of French doors with access to deck and backyard. Updated gourmet kitchen luxurious owner’s suite, finished walk-up lower level with rec room, wet bar, exercise room and ample storage.

Custom home built by Potomac Valley Builders backing to trees with seasonal river views. Professionally landscaped lot with newly refinished hardwood floors and updated gourmet kitchen. Expansive family room with walls of glass leading to deck with wooded views. Walk-out lower level features recreation and exercise room with wine cellar.

Charming Colonial in Concord located on .7 acre lot in quiet cul-de-sac close to Potomac Village. Fabulous home includes 2-story foyer, curved staircase, gourmet kitchen and beautiful family room. Enjoy spacious bedrooms, stateof-the-art home theatre and finished lower level with walk up and professional landscaping!

Potomac /River Oaks Farm

Bethesda / Fort Sumner

Bethesda / Glen Echo Heights

$1,625,000

$1,949,000

$1,949,000

Stately Colonial on quiet cul-de-sac set back in a private enclave minutes from Potomac Village set on professionally landscaped grounds. Gourmet kitchen features sunny breakfast room with access to deck and sunroom with walls of windows, cathedral ceilings and skylights. Six bedrooms, 4 full and 2 half baths. Available for rent at $6,500.

Brand New home built by Rollingwood Builders sited on professionally landscaped 8,750 sq. ft. lot in Ft. Sumner.

Beautiful home boasts sun-filled living spaces, expansive family room with gas open to designer gourmet kitchen, screened porch overlooking yard and walk-out lower level.

Brand New home by Rollingwood Builders sited on landscaped lot with 6,900+ sq. ft. on 4 levels. The ideal floor plan combines old world craftsmanship with state-of-theart finishes. Serene fenced yard with delightful screened porch with fireplace, deck and 2-car garage. Close to Wood Acres Elementary/ Pyle/ Whitman! Immediate Delivery.

Bethesda / Bradley Hills Grove

Potomac / Potomac Farm

Bethesda / Edgemoor

$3,395,000

Gorgeous custom-built home (2011) in Burning Tree on .56 acre lot. Expansive gourmet kitchen with granite counter tops, large center island and breakfast room. Owner’s suite features his/hers vanities and heated floors. Walk-up lower level with rec room and theatre to professionally landscaped lot with heated in-ground pool and sport court.

$3,495,000

Custom-built masterpiece offers unparalleled living from your own private oasis one minute from Potomac Village.

Sited on a professionally landscaped and privately gated 2+ acre lot, this home boasts rich finishes, grand entertaining spaces inside and out, complete with 6 bedrooms, 4 full baths and 2 half baths with 3-car garage!

$3,995,000

Traditional Colonial on magnificent .65 acre lot featuring an incredible level backyard with pool and lush gardens. This home offers grand-scale rooms, traditional mouldings and built-ins, in addition to a screened-in porch, 6 bedrooms, 4.5 baths. Must see!

301.365.9090 | Wendy@BannerTeam.com 4650 East West Highway, Bethesda, Maryland | 301.907.7600

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10/6/17 3:14 PM

Bethesda Gateway Office Already Nearly $1 Billion in Sales in 2017

Potomac

$1,999,000

Bethesda

$1,985,000

Chevy Chase

$1,725,000

Spectacular Colonial on 2.3 acres just minutes to Potomac Village. Two-story foyer and family room, gourmet kitchen, 6 fireplaces. Six bedrooms, 8 baths, with lower level guest suite. Arched doorways, intricate moldings, flooded with light.

Susan Fitzpatrick 240.793.8523 / Sue@LNF.com

Stunning home renovated in 2014 with beautiful woodwork, featured in Architectural Digest. Six bedrooms, 8 baths including main-level master suite with spa bath. Screened porch with stone wall fireplace, large patio and pool.

Michael Matese 301.806.6829 Mike@MichaelMatese.com

Tudor charmer on exquisite 14,000 sq. ft. lot in the Village of Drummond. Dramatic light-filled rooms, delightful kitchen, family room, den, detached studio. Minutes to Metro, Norwood Park and the Crescent Trail.

Bethesda

Bethesda

Gaithersburg

$1,000,000

$975,000

Phyllis Wiesenfelder 301.529.3896 / PhyllisW@LNF.com

$829,000

Spacious, freshly painted 4 bedroom, 3 full bath rambler on quiet cul-de-sac. Refinished hardwood floors, 3 fireplaces, bright solarium overlooking lovely rear garden. Large lower-level rec room, 2-car garage, 1-year-old roof! Easy access to downtown Bethesda and DC. Damian Buckley 202.438.6080 / Damian@LNF.com

Wonderful Colonial on 12,589 sq. ft. lot with large deck and gazebo. Remodeled kitchen, family room with fireplace and French doors to yard. Five bedrooms, 3 full baths up.

Lower-level bedroom, bath and separate entrance, 2-car garage.

Dawn Chaikin 240.418.4914 / Dawn.Chaikin@LNF.com

Charming, well maintained Mitchell-Best Colonial in sought-after Kentlands community. Large eat-in kitchen with island open to family room with fireplace; library; 4 bedrooms and 2 full baths up, 2-car garage and more.

Stephanie Walsh 301.215.6911 StephanieSWalsh@aol.com

North Potomac

Chevy Chase

Chevy Chase

$849,000

Large, 3-finished-level Colonial featuring eat-in kitchen, family room with stone fireplace, 1st-floor office, and walkout lower level. Wonderful screened porch overlooks lush 3.5-acre lot. Near trails, canal and new rec center.

Susan Fitzpatrick 240.793.8523 / Sue@LNF.com

$827,500

Charming, updated 3 bedroom, 2.5 bath brick Colonial next to Rock Creek Park. Renovated kitchen, living room with fireplace, large deck. Lower level bedroom/office and full bath. Close to grocery, deli, gym, Meadowbrook Stables and Metro!

Kris Feldman 301.806.8240 / KrisFeldman@LNF.com

$660,000

Light-filled 3-level townhome in popular Hamlet Place featuring an eat-in kitchen, 3 bedrooms, 2 full plus 2 half baths, 2 fireplaces, and hardwood floors. Wonderful family room has walkout to beautiful patio.

Ingrid Dallaire 301.455.6962 Ingrid.Dallaire@LNF.com

BethesdaGatewaySales.com | LongandFoster.com 4650 East West Highway, Bethesda, Maryland | 301.907.7600

Bethesda Gateway 2017 Nov-Dec.indd 1

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Bethesd

RECENTLY SOLD by SONDRA & PAM

10919 Lamplighter Lane, Potomac

7101 Endicott Court, Bethesda

Sondra Mulheron

Pam Schiattareggia

301.785.9536 smulheron@LNF.com

301.802.7796 pam.scat@LNF.com

5525 Southwick Street, Bethesda

www.HomesbySondraandPam.com SUCCESSFULLY HELPING BUYERS AND SELLERS SINCE 2003 Top 1% of Long & Foster Agents in the Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Area Top-Producing Team / Bethesda Gateway Office 301.907.7600

PRIVATE POND 10220 Lakewood Drive, Rockville

Everywhere You Want To Be

$1,145,000

PARK POTOMAC 12450 Ansin Circle Potomac $928,000

Margie Halem Recognized by

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL as one of America’s Top Real Estate Agents

Left to Right: Leslie Fitzpatrick, Lori Silverman, Ying Chen, Lyn Moritt, Jamie Baraff, Margie Halem (center), Harrison Halem, Amy Gordon, Emily Moritt, Ashley Townsend, Lisa Frazier

301.775.4196 CITY RETREAT 6500 Tall Tree Terrace, North Bethesda $1,295,000

Licensed in MD | DC | VA • MargieHalem@LongandFoster.com Please view our listings at www.MargieHalemGroup.com.

#1 Billion Dollar Bethesda Gateway Office 301.907.7600 (O)

Bethesda Gateway Office | 4650 East West Highway, Bethesda, Maryland | 301.907.7600

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The Souza Group Experience • Success • Integrity

You are the real prize!

The Souza Group has had a great 2017. Accolades and team honors are always nice to earn. But we consider our award to be helping buyers and sellers realize their home buying and selling dreams. We would love to help you, too! Call us at 301.493.9878 today!

THE

SOUZA group Experience - Success - Integrity

301.493.9878 | Cindy.Souza@LNF.com 7700 Old Georgetown Road, Bethesda, Maryland | 240.497.1700

Souza Group 2017 nov-dec.indd 2

10/6/17 3:56 PM

Bethesd

Bethesda All Points Office A Top Long & Foster Office for 2016 ANDY ALDERDICE #1 Agent in the #1 Miller Office • 2016 Team of the Year Washington Metro Region

• Designated Christie’s

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.

Call her to schedule a private consultation.

2017

Susan Sanford

301.466.5898 / 301.229.4000 andy4homes@gmail.com

VP, Managing Broker ssanford@LNF.com Direct: 301.320.8300

www.andy4homes.com

SHARRON COCHRAN

LYNN A. STEWART

301.580.4552 • Lynn.Stewart@LongandFoster.com Licensed in MD & DC Your Bethesda Neighborhood Specialist OFFERING YOU: • EXPERT advice and specialists for renovations and staging helping you achieve the highest possible sales price • EXPERT advice & assistance on Downsizing and Right Sizing • EXPERT advice and service on updates to your house long before you decide to Sell • EXPERT listing & negotiation advice for the most Stress Free sale The Only Real Estate EXPERT You Need!

301.351.4517 • SCochran@LNF.com www.SCochran.com

• Realty Alliance Award Recipient, Top 5 Percent North America • SRES (Seniors Real Estate Specialist) • Staging, marketing, and negotiation expert

Let my experience work for you!

Licensed in MD, DC & VA

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#2 Individual Agent Total Volume for our Bethesda Office in 2015!

• Your relocation expert for over 15 years • Top producer in the Bethesda All Points Office • Your Massachusetts Avenue Corridor Neighbor • I can simplify your home buying and selling process to take the pressure off of you!

Licensed in DC & MD

Bethesda

$1,585,000

This lovely townhome features a floorplan with over 3,000 sq. ft., including large formal rooms, an eat-in kitchen, and private courtyard patio. Two large bedrooms with en suite baths plus a large master suite, sunny family room and 2-car garage. One block to Metro. spws.homevisit.com/hvid/184066

KAT CONLEY

PAULA HANTMAN

301.943.3865 (C) • 301.229.4000 (O)

301.770.3720 • Paula.Hantman@LNF.com Licensed in MD and DC

Award Winning Top Producer for 26 Years!

Licensed in DC, MD and VA Licensed since 1991 2011 Realty Alliance Award Recipient Top 5% of REALTORS®, North America #9 Overall in Bethesda “All Points” Office Call Kat for any of your real estate needs!

KELLY BOHI

301.580.4991 • Kelly.Bohi@LongandFoster.com Licensed in DC, MD & VA

Anne: 301.466.2515 • Anne.Emmett@LNF.com Laura: 202.422.6374 • Laura.Emmett@LNF.com

Walsh.Richards@LongandFoster.com Licensed in DC, MD & VA l

Results driven Native Washingtonian committed to finding you the perfect home.

Professional and personal level of service Over 50 years of diverse commercial and residential real estate experience to help you throughout the selling and buying process.

International Real Estate Luxury Specialist • A Top Producing Long & Foster Office with Award Winning Agents • An Executive Approach to Real Estate • Serving the DC MD VA area • Relocation Services Call Susan today for a confidential interview to find out why top producing and new agents join her office and choose to stay!

ANNE & LAURA EMMETT

WALSH RICHARDS

301.706.3151

Congratulations to Susan Sanford and Her Extraordinary Team!

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Concierge Service, Professionalism & Discretion Luxury Market & First-Time Buyers/Sellers Antiques & Decorative Arts Senior Appraiser Marketing & Negotiation Expertise Connoisseur’s Eye for Staging & Downsizing

Potomac

$1,200,000

Resort Living! Located on a 12,803 square foot lot on a quiet cul de sac, this beautiful home features 5 bedrooms, 3 full and 2 half baths, large formal rooms, and family room and chef’s kitchen that open to an amazing backyard with in-ground pool with waterfall, spa, and cabana. 6 Sprinklewood Court.

VALERIE FUSTER

301.980.3083 • Valerie@LNF.com • ValFuster.com Specializing in Montgomery County Home Sales for 15 years

”Professional, insightful, knowledgeable...the hardest working agent I know” ”Fantastic, energetic and responsive partner throughout the sale” ”Conscientious and creative...universally well respected”

LongandFoster.com 4701 Sangamore Rd, Suite L1, Bethesda, Maryland | 301.229.4000

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Thank you for a great year!

Urban

Suburban

Washington, DC | Silver Spring | Takoma Park | Chevy Chase | Bethesda

MAYA HYMAN

Maya@MayaHyman.com • 301.466.4677

JENNIFER MORROW Jennifer.Morrow@LNF.com • 301.922.8295

Bethesda Office: 7700 Old Georgetown Rd. Suite 120, Bethesda, MD, 20814 | Main: 240.497.1700 DC Office: 1529-A 14th Street, NW Washington, DC 20005 | Main: 202.299.0424

Are you getting the Maximum Return from your Vacation Home?

LFVacations.com had nearly ONE MILLION visits this year and SEVEN MILLION property page views.

That doesn’t count the exposure properties get from our third party distribution network. NOBODY can get your property more exposure.

LFVacations marketing emails were opened, read, and clicked through to our website by over 45,000 Vacationers this year.

Our email team DRIVES business for YOU! We Know Social! LFVacations is engaged with Hundreds of Thousands on Social Media, and nearly 20,000 people came to our property pages through Facebook alone this year!

Call or email us today and let us provide you with a Free Rental Market Analysis.

We CAN do better for you!

Call 800.226.8095 email LFVacations@LFVacations.com

Bethesda Nov-Dec 2017-halfs.indd 2

DELAWARE Bethany Beach / Fenwick Island: 855.466.4033 Rehoboth Beach / Dewey / Lewes: 800.272.2828 VIRGINIA Smith Mountain Lake: 866.395.2038 MARYLAND Annapolis: 410.263.3262 Ocean City, MD / Ocean Pines: 800.843.2322 NEW JERSEY Avalon & Stone Harbor: 800.967.7796 Cape May: 609.884.1007 Longport: 609.822.3339 Margate/ Ventnor: 609.428.7795 North Wildwood: 609.854.7000 Ocean City, NJ: 609.398.6762 Sea Isle City: 609.263.2267

10/9/17 1:46 PM

interior design. architecture. home sales.

PHOTO BY MAXWELL MACKENZIE/COURTESY OF ROBERT GURNEY

home

Elise Becher’s modern house in Bethesda shows the latest trends in new homes. To see more of what homeowners want in custom builds, turn to page 190.

BETHESDAMAGAZINE.COM | NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2017

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home | HOUSE APPROPRIATIONS

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1

ALL THAT GLITTERS

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Go for the gold this holiday season with accents that shimmer and shine

1. MAKE A MANTEL MODERN

2. TRIM A TREE

3. LET IT SHINE

Take a break from red and green this year with a mantel adornment that combines natural-looking elements with shimmery gold and white. This 6-foot-long, pre-lit garland of artificial magnolia flowers, leaves, gold berries and balls is available for $375 at Neiman Marcus in Mazza Gallerie in Chevy Chase, D.C. (202-966-9700; neimanmarcus.com).

This set of handmade glass ornaments, with several unique designs in sophisticated shades of champagne, gold and silver, will give your tree instant style. They’re priced at $39.95 for one dozen at Crate & Barrel in Spring Valley in D.C. (202-364-6100; crateandbarrel.com).

Come on, live a little. Infuse some energy and sparkle for the season. The confetti glittered pillow is 16 inches by 16 inches and retails for $34.95 at Pier One in Rockville (301-2309028; pier1.com).

188 NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2017 | BETHESDAMAGAZINE.COM

ALL COURTESY PHOTOS

BY CAROLYN WEBER

5

4 6

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4. MAKE AN ENTRANCE

5. GET NATURE’S BEST

6. CHEERS

7. PUT A RING ON IT

Add bold style to a door with this traditional design in a modern material. The solid brass laurel wreath has flexible leaves on adjustable stems and is available in three sizes (24, 36 and 42 inches around) for $199, $399 and $499 at Restoration Hardware in Georgetown (202-625-2771; restorationhardware.com).

A woodsy-inspired motif, frosted with glitter, makes a fun decoration that can transition from fall to winter. The gold acorn battery-operated string lights sell for $19.99 at World Market in Chevy Chase, D.C. (202-2448720; worldmarket.com).

Raise a toast to friends and family with a sparkling wine glass emblazoned with a fun message. The Yay! Champagne flutes from Easy, Tiger sell for $18 each at Red Orchard in Bethesda (301-571-7333; redorchard.com).

A simple design with a simple message makes a big impact.

These gold-plated steel napkin rings will set the tone for a gracious Thanksgiving table. Buy them in sets of four for $26.50 at Pottery Barn in Bethesda (301654-1598; potterybarn.com). â–

Carolyn Weber lives in Silver Spring and frequently writes about architecture and home design.

BETHESDAMAGAZINE.COM | NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2017

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home

From the

Ground Up When renovations can’t do the job, residents are building custom homes to get what they really want

AFTER YEARS OF LIVING in modern condos in the District, Trent Heminger and his husband, Adam Sean Younoszai, moved to Bethesda in 2010 so their twin girls, now 9, could attend better schools. They liked the midcentury aesthetic of their 1963 home, but it was too closed in for their taste.

“It was a nice house, but the 8-foot ceilings I couldn’t handle,” Heminger says. After living in condos with 10-foot ceilings, lower ceilings felt downright claustrophobic. So in the spring of 2013 they purchased a home in the South Bradley Hills neighborhood of Bethesda with the intention of replacing it with a custom home that better suited their style.

Heminger, a real-estate agent, and Younoszai, a physician, are among a contingent of homebuyers who are commissioning homes with features they either can’t find on the market or achieve through renovation—including bigger windows and doorways, higher and detailed ceilings, and special entryways and mudrooms.

Heminger and Younoszai worked with Thomson & Cooke Architects, based in the District, and 190

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2017 | BETHESDAMAGAZINE.COM

Finecraft Building Contractors, in Gaithersburg, to construct a home with an open layout and ceilings higher than 10 feet. “That’s something you can’t get through renovations,” says architect Neal Thomson. The height allowed for an expanse of French doors and transoms that reach up 9½ feet, opening the family room and kitchen to an outdoor living and dining area. “That’s the impetus for new construction—you get more light, you get more drama, you get more of that inside-outside feeling,” Thomson says.

Demand for blended indoor-outdoor living space has increased each year since 2015. According to The American Institute of Architects’ first-quarter 2017 survey of residential architecture firms, 62 percent identified it as a client priority.

“People today want to be outside as much as they want to be inside,” says architect Jim Rill, who designed a European country-style cottage in Potomac for Sheri Turnbow and Carlos Lastra.

Rill designed the foyer as a breezeway between the front courtyard and the rear terrace—the same slate floor, stucco walls and wood-beam ceiling continue from the front portico through the interior foyer

PHOTO BY MICHAEL VENTURA

BY JENNIFER SERGENT

Take a peek inside

PHOTO BY MICHAEL VENTURA

STEP INSIDE Architect Jim Rill used the same slate, stucco, lighting and ceiling treatments to create a flow from the front porch, through the foyer, and out to the rear terrace of Sheri Turnbow and Carlos Lastra’s Potomac home. “It’s like unwrapping a present,” Turnbow says. “You come into the foyer before you step into [the main living space], and it’s a really beautiful surprise.”

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and out to the terrace. Such conventions, Rill explains, define “the symbiotic relationship between inside and out.”

Elise Becher’s two teenagers tease her that they have to wear sunglasses in their modern house in Bethesda’s Edgemoor neighborhood, but that’s exactly why she contacted Sandy Spring Builders and architect Robert Gurney. After living in a dark and cramped 1930s colonial for 10 years, all Becher wanted was open space—and as many windows as possible. “I don’t want to live in a house where I have to turn on the lights during the day,” she says. She’s not alone: A 2017 trends report in Custom Home magazine reported that windows, once viewed as an afterthought, shape “a significant portion of a home’s design, building envelope, and overall experience.”

Meanwhile, the most recent Houzz & Home Report on Houzz.com found that homeowners are splurging on ancillary spaces such as entryways, mudrooms and laundry rooms. Heminger and Younoszai asked for custom-paneled, closed-door storage cubbies in the mudroom to hide everyone’s clutter.

The soft green cabinetwork pops against walls lined with white shiplap—horizontal grooved-wood planks—which the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) identified among this year’s top-trending interior details.

NAHB also noted a growth in secondary kitchens and pantries. Rill designed Turnbow and Lastra’s pantry with countertops for large appliances, a sink for caterers, and even a niche for the cat’s food and water bowls. “This is a big trend—continuing the kitchen outside of the kitchen,” Rill says, “so you can entertain in your [main] kitchen and not have all the junk on your counters.”

Jennifer Sergent is a home and design writer based in Arlington.

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PHOTO BY MICHAEL VENTURA

Country Cottage

PHOTO BY MICHAEL VENTURA

INSIDE-OUT “This is a one-room house,” Rill says, describing his open layout for Turnbow and Lastra’s home. Pendant lights and a slightly lower ceiling define a gallery that traverses the main level between the kitchen and office. French doors lead to a generous deck perched over a wooded lot, enhancing the indoor-outdoor connection.

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DO NOT DISTURB Above: Turnbow and Lastra chose to buck the trend of blending the kitchen within a living and dining area. “There is some formality to not having the kitchen completely open,” Rill says. Pocket doors can hide a cooking mess, but the doors neatly disappear when Turnbow and Lastra use the island as a buffet.

Left: The vaulted library looks like a separate building from the outside and has its own roof and windows on three sides. This way, the house “doesn’t become one big mass” like many of the large homes being built these days, Rill says.

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PHOTOS BY MICHAEL VENTURA

HELLO, SUNSHINE Tall casement windows that stretch nearly floor to ceiling in the breakfast room open outward, creating the feeling of being right on the terrace. “We eat breakfast here every morning,” says Turnbow (pictured with Lastra). As with every other carefully planned space on the main floor, Rill says, “You’re conscious of the exterior when you’re inside the house.”

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Modern Maison

NATURE’S CALLING Above: Architect Robert Gurney worked with his wife, designer Therese Baron Gurney, to create a kitchen and living area in Elise Becher’s Edgemoor home.

Its furnishings and palette complement the outdoors.

Left: New kitchen trends lean toward a look with no upper cabinets, making the space feel bigger and brighter. Becher opted for a giant wall of windows over the counter of her galley kitchen, and “insisted on 1,000 drawers” below, she jokes, to hold all her equipment.

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PHOTOS BY MAXWELL MACKENZIE/COURTESY OF ROBERT GURNEY

GOING UP Far beyond their basic purpose, staircases are being elevated into works of art, Gurney says.

“It’s a focal point. We put a lot of effort and energy into designing our staircases,” he says.

Here, he designed open runners of glass and steel in Becher’s foyer, which complement, rather than obscure, the glass walls framing a giant birch tree in back that Becher wanted preserved during construction.

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Transitional Tones

ISLAND TIME Above: Trent Heminger and Adam Sean Younoszai wanted the island in their Bethesda home to be extra large so it could be the hub for eating, working and entertaining. The crowning touch is a spiderlike light fixture overhead from Urban Loft in Bethesda.

Left: The kitchen opens to a partially covered terrace.

Beyond the outdoor fireplace is a landscaped hillside.

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WINDOW SHOPPING

PHOTOS BY BONNIE SEN PHOTOGRAPHY/COURTESY THOMSON & COOKE

Transitional styling has the broadest appeal among homebuyers, which is why Heminger, a real estate agent who’s sensitive to resale, requested a home that’s traditional on the outside with classic stucco and copper lanterns, but more modern inside. The first hint of that style is the jet-black aluminum framed windows by Weather Shield. n

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Data provided by

AUGUST’S MOST EXPENSIVE

at A peek rea’s f the a some o pensive x most e sold recently s house

HOME SALES SALE PRICE: SALE PRICE:

$5.1 million LIST PRICE: $5.1 MILLION

Address: 8301 River Road, Bethesda 20817 Days on Market: 0 Listing Agency: TTR Sotheby’s International Realty Bedrooms: 7 Full/Half Baths: 7/2

$3.1 million LIST PRICE: $3.5 MILLION

Address: 6419 Shadow Road, Chevy Chase 20815 Days on Market: 152 Listing Agency: TTR Sotheby’s International Realty Bedrooms: 6 Full/Half Baths: 4/2

SALE PRICE:

$3 million LIST PRICE: $3.3 MILLION

SALE PRICE:

$3.8 million LIST PRICE: $3.9 MILLION

Address: 9 Darby Court, Bethesda 20817 Days on Market: 90 Listing Agency: Compass Bedrooms: 6 Full/Half Baths: 6/3

Address: 8603 York Manor Way, Potomac 20854 Days on Market: 90 Listing Agency: TTR Sotheby’s International Realty Bedrooms: 7 Full/Half Baths: 7/2

SALE PRICE:

$2.6 million LIST PRICE: $2.7 MILLION

SALE PRICE:

Address: 8003 Maple Ridge Road, Bethesda 20814 Days on Market: 8 Listing Agency: Compass Bedrooms: 5 Full/Half Baths: 5/1

LIST PRICE: $4.1 MILLION

SALE PRICE:

Address: 11401 Highland Farm Court, Potomac 20854 Days on Market: 654 Listing Agency: Washington Fine Properties Bedrooms: 8 Full/Half Baths: 9/4

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$2.5 million LIST PRICE: $2.5 MILLION

Address: 8208 Caraway St., Cabin John 20818 Days on Market: 5 Listing Agency: Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage Bedrooms: 5 Full/Half Baths: 6/1

COURTESY PHOTOS

$3.8 million

thef leishergroup

THE FLEISHER GROUP PRESENTS

10111 IRON GATE ROAD, POTOMAC MD This spectacular California Ranch inspired contemporary has been expanded and renovated by its current owners to afford an unparalleled lifestyle taking full advantage of indoor and outdoor entertaining as well as comfortable family living. A wide center hall entry foyer introduces an enormous transitional gallery featuring floor-to-ceiling custom paneled walls with incredible millwork. Over 10.000 square feet of finished space is contained on the main level highlighted by a truly stunning gourmet chef's kitchen, fabulous family room, private library, deluxe master bedroom suite with exquisite luxury bath, and four additional guest suites each with custom baths. The outstanding lower level is complete with fabulous home theater, state of the art bowling alley, guest suite and full service exercise studio. The exceptional two-acre level backyard is highlighted with 60-foot infinity pool, covered loggia, patios and outdoor entertaining bar. Breathtaking at every turn, this home is truly one-of-a-kind. Ideally located in close-in Potomac on prestigious Iron Gate Road, this exciting home is for the most discerning buyers. Offered at $7,995,000.

MARC FLEISHER 5454 Wisconsin Avenue, Chevy Chase Maryland 20815 +1 202 438 4880 cell +1 240 235 0181 office marc@thefleishergroup.com

Nov Dec 10111 Iron Gate.indd 1

10/3/2017 2:38:28 PM

home | BY THE NUMBERS SALE PRICE:

$2.4 million LIST PRICE: $2.4 MILLION

Address: 8560 Horseshoe Lane, Potomac 20854 Days on Market: 204 Listing Agency: TTR Sotheby’s International Realty Bedrooms: 6 Full/Half Baths: 6/2

BE IN THE KNOW

SALE PRICE:

$2.2 million LIST PRICE: $2.2 MILLION

Address: 9 W. Irving St., Chevy Chase 20815 Days on Market: 0 Listing Agency: Evers & Company Real Estate Bedrooms: 5 Full/Half Baths: 2/1

SALE PRICE:

$2 million LIST PRICE: $2.2 MILLION

Address: 11521 Dalyn Terrace, Potomac 20854 Days on Market: 343 Listing Agency: Long & Foster Real Estate Bedrooms: 6 Full/Half Baths: 5/2

SALE PRICE:

$2 million LIST PRICE: $2.2 MILLION

BETHESDA

Address: 6225 Madawaska Road, Bethesda 20816 Days on Market: 129 Listing Agency: RE/MAX Realty Services Bedrooms: 5 Full/Half Baths: 4/1

SALE PRICE:

$1.8 million LIST PRICE: $1.9 MILLION

BETHESDA MAGAZINE’S DAILY NEWS DISPATCH

MAGAZINE.COM

Address: 7206 Maple Ave., Chevy Chase 20815 Days on Market: 29 Listing Agency: Evers & Company Real Estate Bedrooms: 5 Full/Half Baths: 5/1

SALE PRICE:

$1.8 million LIST PRICE: $2 MILLION

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Address: 12636 Greenbriar Road, Potomac 20854 Days on Market: 100 Listing Agency: Long & Foster Real Estate Bedrooms: 5 Full/Half Baths: 4/2

SALE PRICE:

$1.8 million LIST PRICE: $1.8 MILLION

Address: 5114 Cammack Drive, Bethesda 20816 Days on Market: 0 Listing Agency: Washington Fine Properties Bedrooms: 4 Full/Half Baths: 4/1

SALE PRICE:

$1.8 million LIST PRICE: $1.9 MILLION

Address: 3765 Northampton St. NW, Washington, D.C. 20015 Days on Market: 74 Listing Agency: TTR Sotheby’s International Realty Bedrooms: 4 Full/Half Baths: 2/2

SALE PRICE:

$1.8 million LIST PRICE: $1.9 MILLION

Address: 4119 Leland St., Chevy Chase 20815 Days on Market: 232 Listing Agency: Long & Foster Real Estate Bedrooms: 5 Full/Half Baths: 4/1

SALE PRICE:

$1.8 million LIST PRICE: $1.8 MILLION

Address: 5300 Chamberlain Ave., Chevy Chase 20815 Days on Market: 35 Listing Agency: Evers & Company Real Estate Bedrooms: 5 Full/Half Baths: 5/0

SALE PRICE:

$1.8 million LIST PRICE: $1.8 MILLION

Address: 7101 Endicott Court, Bethesda 20817 Days on Market: 56 Listing Agency: Long & Foster Real Estate Bedrooms: 6 Full/Half Baths: 4/1

SALE PRICE:

$1.7 million LIST PRICE: $1.8 MILLION

Address: 10912 Martingale Court, Potomac 20854 Days on Market: 318 Listing Agency: Long & Foster Real Estate Bedrooms: 7 Full/Half Baths: 6/2

Cabin John 20818 Days on Market: 57 Listing Agency: TTR Sotheby’s International Realty Bedrooms: 6 Full/Half Baths: 5/1

SALE PRICE:

$1.7 million LIST PRICE: $1.7 MILLION

SALE PRICE:

$1.7 million LIST PRICE: $1.7 MILLION

Address: 5703 Northfield Road, Bethesda 20817 Days on Market: 51 Listing Agency: RE/MAX Realty Services Bedrooms: 5 Full/Half Baths: 4/1

Address: 8909 Abbey Terrace, Potomac 20854 Days on Market: 124 Listing Agency: Long & Foster Real Estate Bedrooms: 5 Full/Half Baths: 4/1

SALE PRICE:

$1.6 million LIST PRICE: $1.7 MILLION

Address: 6412 Ridge Drive, Bethesda 20816 Days on Market: 65 Listing Agency: Washington Fine Properties Bedrooms: 6

SALE PRICE:

$1.7 million LIST PRICE: $1.7 MILLION

Address: 6508 75th St.,

MASSACHUSETTS AVENUE HEIGHTS $3,800,000 2930 Woodland Drive NW, Washington, DC Michael Rankin +1 202 271 3344

AVENEL $1,395,000 9420 Crimson Leaf Terrace, Potomac, MD Jayne Ehrens +1 240 401 7025 Emilyl Ehrens +1 202 380 8125

CHEVY CHASE $1,425,000 4111 Rosemary Street, Chevy Chase, MD Ellen Abrams +1 202 255 8219

SMITHFIELD $1,825,000 8009 Bradley Boulevard, Bethesda, MD Kevin Friend +1 202 320 2205

Full/Half Baths: 4/1

SALE PRICE:

$1.6 million LIST PRICE: $1.7 MILLION

Address: 5509 Wilson Lane, Bethesda 20814 Days on Market: 293 Listing Agency: Long & Foster Real Estate Bedrooms: 4 Full/Half Baths: 6/1

SALE PRICE:

$1.6 million LIST PRICE: $1.7 MILLION

Address: 37 W. Irving St., Chevy Chase 20815 Days on Market: 9 Listing Agency: TTR Sotheby’s International Realty Bedrooms: 4 Full/Half Baths: 3/2 Note: Some sale and list prices have been rounded.

COUNTRY CLUB HILLS

$6,850,000 1403 30th Street NW, Washington, DC Michael Rankin +1 202 271 3344

WYNGATE $829,000 5806 Wyngate Drive, Bethesda, MD Adam Isaacson +1 301 775 0900

CHEVY CHASE, MD BROKERAGE | +1 301 967 3344 • GEORGETOWN BROKERAGE | +1 202 333 1212 • DOWNTOWN BROKERAGE | +1 202 234 3344 McLEAN, VA BROKERAGE | +1 703 319 3344 • ALEXANDRIA, VA BROKERAGE | +1 703 310 6800 • ARLINGTON, VA BROKERAGE | +1 703 745 1212

ttrsir.com

©2017 TTR Sotheby’s International Realty, licensed real estate broker. Sotheby’s International Realty and the Sotheby’s International Realty logo are registered service marks used with permission. Each Office Is Independently Owned And Operated. Equal housing opportunity. All information deemed reliable but not guaranteed. Price and availability subject to change. Date Source: MRIS (Sales, 12/1/12+, Legal Subdivision: Georgetown)

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REAL ESTATE TRENDS

BY ZIP CODE

AUGUST 2016

AUGUST 2017

20015 (Upper NW D.C.) Number of Homes Sold Average Sold Price Average Days on Market Above Asking Price Below Asking Price Sold Over $1 Million

18 $1.1 Mil. 17 7 8 9

16 $1.6 Mil. 36 2 12 11

21 $1.4 Mil. 33 7 11 13

20814 (Bethesda) Number of Homes Sold Average Sold Price Average Days on Market Above Asking Price Below Asking Price Sold Over $1 Million

16 $1.4 Mil. 64 1 13 7

14 $1 Mil. 47 3 9 4

20815 (Chevy Chase) Number of Homes Sold Average Sold Price Average Days on Market Above Asking Price Below Asking Price Sold Over $1 Million

27 $1.4 Mil. 52 5 19 21

28 $1.3 Mil. 55 4 21 20

20816 (Bethesda) Number of Homes Sold Average Sold Price Average Days on Market Above Asking Price Below Asking Price Sold Over $1 Million

17 $1.1 Mil. 38 3 10 8

20 $1.2 Mil. 32 9 8 12

50 $1.2 Mil. 93 11 37 29

41 $1.2 Mil. 61 5 27 18

20817 (Bethesda) Number of Homes Sold Average Sold Price Average Days on Market Above Asking Price Below Asking Price Sold Over $1 Million

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AUGUST 2017

3 $1.3 Mil. 47 1 2 2

4 $1.5 Mil. 38 0 3 3

20818 (Cabin John) 16 $1.1 Mil. 30 4 8 8

20016 (Upper NW D.C.) Number of Homes Sold Average Sold Price Average Days on Market Above Asking Price Below Asking Price Sold Over $1 Million

AUGUST 2016 Number of Homes Sold Average Sold Price Average Days on Market Above Asking Price Below Asking Price Sold Over $1 Million

AUGUST 2016

AUGUST 2017

68 $1.1 Mil. 83 5 57 23

53 $1.2 Mil. 93 6 37 27

20854 (Potomac) Number of Homes Sold Average Sold Price Average Days on Market Above Asking Price Below Asking Price Sold Over $1 Million

20832 (Olney)

20855 (Rockville)

Number of Homes Sold 25 16 Average Sold Price $610,728 $548,119 Average Days on Market 56 32 Above Asking Price 5 2 Below Asking Price 16 12 Sold Over $1 Million 1 0

Number of Homes Sold 16 17 Average Sold Price $588,973 $552,300 Average Days on Market 33 64 Above Asking Price 2 3 Below Asking Price 10 10 Sold Over $1 Million 0 0

20850 (Rockville)

20877 (Gaithersburg)

Number of Homes Sold 18 29 Average Sold Price $683,372 $646,097 Average Days on Market 39 53 Above Asking Price 3 6 Below Asking Price 14 21 Sold Over $1 Million 1 3

Number of Homes Sold 11 10 Average Sold Price $390,455 $405,740 Average Days on Market 26 77 Above Asking Price 1 2 Below Asking Price 5 7 Sold Over $1 Million 0 0

20851 (Rockville)

20878 (North Potomac/Gaithersburg)

Number of Homes Sold 12 18 Average Sold Price $359,833 $382,836 Average Days on Market 39 25 Above Asking Price 3 8 4 8 Below Asking Price Sold Over $1 Million 0 0

Number of Homes Sold 44 27 Average Sold Price $685,993 $674,370 Average Days on Market 45 49 Above Asking Price 5 9 34 12 Below Asking Price Sold Over $1 Million 2 2

20852 (North Bethesda/Rockville)

20879 (Gaithersburg)

Number of Homes Sold 14 11 Average Sold Price $578,343 $671,973 Average Days on Market 60 28 Above Asking Price 4 0 Below Asking Price 9 7 Sold Over $1 Million 1 3

Number of Homes Sold 8 12 Average Sold Price $354,171 $407,042 Average Days on Market 19 38 Above Asking Price 2 0 Below Asking Price 5 9 Sold Over $1 Million 0 0

20853 (Rockville)

20882 (Gaithersburg)

Number of Homes Sold 28 30 Average Sold Price $478,762 $493,112 Average Days on Market 37 45 Above Asking Price 9 5 Below Asking Price 17 18 Sold Over $1 Million 0 0

Number of Homes Sold 16 17 Average Sold Price $708,781 $606,971 Average Days on Market 85 44 Above Asking Price 2 6 Below Asking Price 13 9 Sold Over $1 Million 2 0

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AUGUST 2016

AUGUST 2017

AUGUST 2016

AUGUST 2017

AUGUST 2016

AUGUST 2017

20886 (Gaithersburg)

20902 (Silver Spring)

20905 (Silver Spring)

Number of Homes Sold 13 6 Average Sold Price $453,099 $436,855 Average Days on Market 54 21 Above Asking Price 5 2 Below Asking Price 7 3 Sold Over $1 Million 0 0

Number of Homes Sold 40 27 Average Sold Price $403,391 $429,556 Average Days on Market 42 35 Above Asking Price 12 10 Below Asking Price 20 12 Sold Over $1 Million 0 0

Number of Homes Sold 21 19 Average Sold Price $470,240 $566,101 Average Days on Market 36 54 Above Asking Price 5 5 Below Asking Price 15 12 Sold Over $1 Million 0 0

20895 (Kensington)

20903 (Silver Spring)

20906 (Silver Spring)

Number of Homes Sold 17 26 Average Sold Price $710,607 $684,890 Average Days on Market 53 35 Above Asking Price 2 7 Below Asking Price 13 16 Sold Over $1 Million 3 4

Number of Homes Sold 12 9 Average Sold Price $376,086 $450,278 Average Days on Market 73 32 Above Asking Price 2 3 Below Asking Price 7 4 Sold Over $1 Million 0 0

Number of Homes Sold 44 33 Average Sold Price $419,441 $459,519 Average Days on Market 50 37 Above Asking Price 6 11 Below Asking Price 27 14 Sold Over $1 Million 0 0

20901 (Silver Spring)

20904 (Silver Spring)

20910 (Silver Spring)

Number of Homes Sold 37 24 Average Sold Price $444,866 $498,956 Average Days on Market 37 27 Above Asking Price 13 7 Below Asking Price 20 12 Sold Over $1 Million 0 0

Number of Homes Sold 39 26 Average Sold Price $440,917 $477,965 Average Days on Market 34 39 Above Asking Price 12 9 Below Asking Price 21 12 Sold Over $1 Million 0 0

Number of Homes Sold 21 17 Average Sold Price $599,614 $635,912 Average Days on Market 31 39 Above Asking Price 11 5 Below Asking Price 8 9 Sold Over $1 Million 0 0

Information courtesy of Bright MLS, as of Sept. 14, 2017. The Bright MLS real estate service area spans 40,000 square miles throughout the mid-Atlantic region, including Delaware, Maryland, Washington, D.C., and parts of New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia. As a leading Multiple Listing Service (MLS), Bright serves approximately 85,000 real estate professionals who in turn serve more than 20 million consumers. For more information, visit brightmls.com. Note: This information includes the most expensive detached single-family homes sold from Aug. 1, 2017, to Aug. 31, 2017, as of Sept. 14, 2017, excluding sales where sellers have withheld permission to advertise or promote. Information should be independently verified. Reports reference data provided by ShowingTime, a showing management and market stats technology provider to the residential real estate industry. Some sale and list prices have been rounded.

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SHOWCASE

SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION

SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION

KITCHEN & BATH

SHOWCASE KITCHEN & BATH

CHESAPEAKE KITCHEN DESIGN

BIO

4622 Wisconsin Ave. NW, Suite 201, Washington, DC 20016 202-244-3590 | www.chesakitdes.com

Chesapeake Kitchen Design is a full-service remodeling company specializing in kitchen and bathroom projects. Our showroom is located near the corner of Wisconsin Avenue and River Road in Northwest Washington D.C. Since opening in 1978, we have respected the opinions and tastes of our customers while offering guidance through the design and remodeling process to insure a cost effective and successful project.

The majority of our projects are designed, managed and installed from start to finish by Chesapeake. We offer complete design/ remodeling services that include field measurement, perspective CAD drawings, kitchen layout and advice during the material selection process. We have considerable remodeling experience with major construction projects that include wall removals, beam installation and kitchen relocations.

You can also purchase cabinets only, have them delivered to your job site for someone else to install. We can work from your existing blue prints or we can provide design/planning services for your purchase. All phases of installation are managed by an onsite manager and a project coordinator from our office. We are licensed, bonded and insured, and long standing members of the Better Business Bureau.

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COURTESY OF ROBERT NICHOLS

OUR WORK:

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SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION

KITCHEN & BATH

JACK ROSEN CUSTOM KITCHENS

BIO

12223 Nebel St., Rockville, MD 20852 240-595-6732 | www.BeautifulRosenKitchens.com

Celebrating 35 years in business, Jack Rosen Custom Kitchens continues to be one of the most renowned kitchen design firms in the Washington, D.C. area. Offering award-winning designs and fine cabinetry for culinary, closets, home offices and entertainment with outstanding service. Visit our showroom today!

OUR WORK:

COURTESY PHOTOS

Jack Rosen Custom Kitchens is widely recognized for creating captivating home environments. The kitchen pictured at the top is an ideal example of very prevalent trends towards "transitional" kitchens. The beautiful custom cabinetry offers organizational systems to keep everything in its place and maximize storage throughout the space. The photo at the left shows a more contemporary kitchen with modern light fixtures and backsplash in yellow glass to provide a nice pop of color. The custom island features an eat-in countertop and an additional sink. As well, the kitchen was designed to accommodate plenty of storage space with sleek and textured custom cabinetry.

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KITCHEN & BATH

GILDAY

BIO

9162 Brookville Road, Silver Spring, MD, 20910 301-565-4600 | www.Gilday.com

Gilday Renovations provides architecture, interior design and construction services under one roof. Using a team approach, we listen, we collaborate, we design and we build, making your dream space a tangible reality. For over 35 years, Principals Kevin and Tom Gilday have personally supervised every project— from screened porches to whole-house renovations—to ensure every project is built to the highest standards. With Gilday Renovations, you get a space that is truly yours, on time and on budget.

This kitchen remodel exalts the art of cooking and entertaining while maintaining functionality for daily living. The focal point of this soft grey, transitional kitchen began with a Mugnani open hearth pizza oven. Spending summers with his uncle cooking pizzas in a handmade brick oven, our client wanted a kitchen where he could continue this special tradition with his own family. Equipped with this Tuscan beauty, Gilday Renovations had the task of installing and blending a 670-pound, wood-burning oven, reaching temperatures of 1400 degrees, into a functional and aesthetically pleasing kitchen. The solution was a two-story addition which not only added space for a pizza oven but also for a wet bar, island, dining area, and adjacent outdoor porch. The new kitchen is a place where tradition continues: friends and family gathering and experiencing good company and good food.

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COURTESY PHOTOS

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KITCHEN & BATH

KONST SIEMATIC

BIO

7550 Wisconsin Ave, Suite 130, Bethesda, MD 20814 301-657-3800 | www.konstsiematic.com

KONST is the exclusive source for SieMatic cabinetry in the Washington, D.C. area. Our flagship showroom features three distinct style collections—Pure, Classic and Urban—each with its own array of design elements and materials. You’ll also find appliances from such brands as Sub-Zero, Wolf, Gaggenau and Miele.

COURTESY PHOTOS

OUR WORK: With a sophisticated palette of milky cabinetry with walnut and polished nickel accents, this kitchen has become the place where friends and family naturally gather. The historic townhouse’s tiny kitchen, once sandwiched between a large formal dining room at the rear and a smaller breakfast room in front, inhibited both flow and function. A staircase in the main work area left even less room for elbows and circulation. A floor plan flip—between the original kitchen and dining room—created ample space for a new cook’s kitchen. The old kitchen gave way to a generous pantry, while the front breakfast room grew to accommodate an elegant dining area tucked in behind sliding glass doors. The reconfiguration not only made room for clearly defined work zones, it also created better connection to the rear terrace and opened up the space for another sought after function: entertaining.

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KITCHEN & BATH

KITCHEN & BATH STUDIO'S INC.

BIO

7001 Wisconsin Ave, Chevy Chase 301-657-1636 | www.kitchenbathstudios.com

For over 24 years Kitchen & Bath Studio’s has built a great reputation in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. Our showroom features four cabinet lines displaying a vast array of cabinet styles and finishes. Clients will get a creative and functional design with no upfront design fees from any of the five designers on staff.

This kitchen was transformed into a bright, beautiful, large eat-in kitchen by kitchen designer Jerry Weed “CKD “CLIPP” of Kitchen & Bath Studio’s Inc. Weed was brought into the project by Dale Overmyer Architects, who had suggested taking out a wall to open up the space. The custom cabinets from Christiana Cabinetry feature beaded inset cabinets in a custom color match paint. The island was shipped in one piece fully assembled, as were nearly 10 ft. sections between the range and the window. To further brighten up the space, factory installed LED under cabinet and interior lights were included. The fully integrated Sub Zero refrigerator and freezer with matching panels kept the symmetry that was featured throughout the space.

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COURTESY PHOTOS

OUR WORK:

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SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION

KITCHEN & BATH

CARNEMARK DESIGN + BUILD

BIO

7550 Wisconsin Ave., Suite 120, Bethesda, MD 20814 301-657-5000 | www.CARNEMARK.com

A veteran business of Bethesda, CARNEMARK design + build has brought masterful ingenuity to residential remodeling for more than 30 years, solving design issues creatively while earning a myriad of industry awards along the way. Our experienced team provides a process tailored to clients, developing abstract ideas into clean, methodic designs and carefully constructed craftsmanship.

COURTESY PHOTOS

OUR WORK: After many years with his late wife who specified all their interiors, this older gentleman wanted a luxurious master suite update that was more suited to his tastes.

He wished to remove a rarely-used soaking tub to create a roomy second-floor bathroom space. Being considerate of the fact that he would be aging in the home, we set out to create a layout that would be polished, functional and fully accessible.

With the gentleman’s superb taste and a "shoot-for-the-moon" mentality, we carefully selected stylish high-end products and finishes that need little maintenance and would last a lifetime.

New bathroom features include a programmable light and ventilation system, a self-cleaning toilet with integrated bidet, and a massive multi-setting rainshower head with thermostatic control valve.

Our finished product is a dramatic modern bathroom, contemporary yet warm— its soothing atmosphere an enticing respite, but a remarkably practical space for years of comfort and relaxation.

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SHOWCASE

SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION

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COURTESY PHOTOS

OUR WORK:

fitness. wellness. medicine.

PHOTO BY SKIP BROWN

health

Since 2013, the number of men and women ages 50-plus participating in half Ironman races has more than doubled. Learn more about a local coach and her team on page 216.

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health | BE WELL

GOING TO THE MAT

At a tough time in her life, a North Bethesda mom found her calling as a yoga teacher

BY KATHLEEN SEILER NEARY

YOGA INSTRUCTOR DEBI SCHENK can teach up to 12 students in the basement studio of her North Bethesda home, where there’s always an extra guest sitting nearby waiting for class to end. That’s when Schenk’s dog, Juno, snuggles up to a student who’s lying face up in a resting pose called savasana. The Maltese-poodle mix often sneaks in a lick or two before moving on to the next person. “He knows when I settle everybody down it’s his time to go and say hi,” says Schenk, 50.

Six years ago, Schenk was laid off from her job as vice president of product development at a company that sells nutritional supplements and other products. At the time she was newly divorced and both of her parents had recently died. “It’s hard adjusting when you’re divorced and your kids are only here half the time. You’re trying to figure out your life,” she says. “I was in this deep, dark hole, and it was either like, OK, you’re going to fall more and get completely depressed, or you’re going to climb yourself out of it.”

After job hunting for a few months, summer came and her two kids—daughter, Blayne, then 13, and son, Spencer, 11—left for sleepaway camp. A friend suggested that Schenk, who’d been practicing yoga since she was 28, take a course to become a yoga teacher. During the five-week session at a studio in D.C., Schenk found the support of the other students to be a bright spot. “It was like being submerged in a safety net, honestly, when your life just sucked,” she says.

Schenk decided to become a full-time yoga instructor, and soon had a packed schedule with time carved out to be home for her kids.

Now she practices yoga herself three or four times a week and teaches roughly 110 vinyasa flow classes a month. She describes it as a style of yoga that can be more of a workout than other types of yoga because you’re constantly moving through poses. In addition to private and corporate clients, she works at three studios—extendYoga in North Bethesda, Yoga Bliss in Gaithersburg and Village Yoga in Potomac.

She also has taught at Anytime Fitness, a gym in Kensington, for four years. There, a woman in her 60s, who had severe back problems before she started taking yoga, is now pain-free and doing headstands in class. The students she teaches at Anytime Fitness have become a little family, Schenk says.

They clap for each other when someone masters a difficult skill, and laugh together when someone falls over while doing the one-legged tree pose.

“We’ve all grown together,” Schenk says. “I grew as a teacher, and they grew as students. They’re like, ‘You saved us.’ And I’m like, well, you saved me, too.” ■ 214

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A GOOD FIT “Growing up, I dabbled in everything but was never good at anything. I ran track and I swam. I always sort of felt defeated, like I was never good enough. I started doing yoga and was good at it, and felt strong. I was like, this is my thing—I finally found my thing. I did it when I was pregnant with the kids up until the day they were born. I just have never ever stopped.”

NOBODY’S PERFECT “I have a lot of sympathy for people that have super tight shoulders because I was over a desk for 25 years and my posture was getting really bad and I had to recorrect everything.

There are poses that are very difficult for me still. When I see students struggling with that kind of stuff, I will say, ‘That’s a hard pose for me, too.’ I don’t want people to think yoga teachers can do everything.”

HANDS OFF “There are definitely students that don’t like to be touched, and you can tell. You can feel that energy. A couple studios have coasters for students to put next to them where it says ‘assist’ on one side and ‘do not assist’ on the other. To me, if you’re going to yoga, expect to be touched. But I think some people just don’t want to be for whatever reason.

You have to respect that.”

THE NEWBIES “When people come and they’ve never been on a mat before, they’re so intimidated, and I’ll say, ‘Look, you’ve got to give yoga a couple months. You’re twisting yourself into all kinds of shapes, and taking your limbs long, and doing things you’ve never done before.’ I don’t care if you’ve done Pilates and Spinning. Nothing is like yoga.”

GOLDEN GIRL “One of my clients is in her 80s. She’s a little too unstable to get up and down my stairs, so I go to her. She was one of my first clients. All we do is chair yoga. I just stretch her out, make her feel better, make her lower back feel better.

For older people, yoga can really improve the quality of the remainder of their life.”

PHOTO BY LIZ LYNCH

GOING WITH THE FLOW “Vinyasa has become the most popular yoga style around here because people are so busy and they don’t want to go to yoga and walk out without sweating. We’re all so tightly wound; you want to do vinyasa flow because you’re going to get sweaty, your heart’s going to start beating a little more than in a slow yoga class, and you’ll feel like you got a workout when you leave. You’re flowing from pose to pose with your breath, pretty much moving for the hour.”

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TRAINING 216

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G DAYS

Older athletes in the Bethesda area are taking running, swimming and biking to the next level, pushing their limits with a coach and teammates who live for triathlons

BY CHRISTINE KOUBEK PHOTOS BY SKIP BROWN AT 5:25 ON A muggy morning this past June, 25 swimmers streamed into the Old Farm Swim & Paddle Tennis Club in Rockville, depositing fins and water bottles at the end of lanes at the pool and pulling on swim caps. Some talked about the previous weekend’s half Ironman in Cambridge, Maryland.

Others stopped to pet a friendly yellow Lab the regulars have nicknamed “Coach Willy.”

Two people new to practice checked in with Willy’s owner, Christina Dorrer, a professional coach certified by Ironman, USA Triathlon and USA Cycling.

Dorrer, a five-time All-American triathlete and 2017 Ironman Gold All-World Athlete, would fit in her own swim on another day.

Newer trainees—and those taking it easy following the half Ironman—were in the left lanes, the more experienced swimmers to the right. For 75 minutes, Dorrer, 44, walked along the pool’s edge, tweaking swimmers’ forms, writing stroke instructions on whiteboards, and counting to help swimmers space themselves in the lanes. Coach Willy barked along to the numbers.

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Coach Christina Dorrer gives lap instructions to her clients at Old Farm Swim & Paddle Tennis Club in Rockville. The swimming portion of a half Ironman is 1.2 miles, or about 40 laps in the pool.

Many of the swimmers were in their late-40s and 50s and 60s, reflecting a national triathlon trend. According to Ironman organizers, since 2013, the number of men and women ages 50-plus participating in the Ironman 70.3-mile distance (half Ironman) has more than doubled.

For most in this group, swimming is the most daunting part. The swimming portion of a half Ironman is 1.2 miles (about 2,000 meters or 40 laps in the pool). A 56-mile bike ride and a 13.1mile run follow.

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Ying Long Ford of Clarksburg had run 15 marathons and one ultramarathon— the Stone Mill 50-miler on the Seneca Greenway and Muddy Branch trails— before signing up for Dorrer’s training.

She wanted to challenge herself, right around her 50th birthday this past September, and do her first half Ironman in Atlantic City. But in September 2016 at Georgetown Prep, the first time Ford swam in a lane at one of Dorrer’s sessions, she noticed the water getting progressively deeper, panicked and clung to a lane divider. “At the beginning, I [could]

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2017 | BETHESDAMAGAZINE.COM

only finish half of Christina’s workout,” recalls Ford, who would also practice five more times a week on her own.

More challenging still is the openwater environment a race requires.

“When you look at the pool and you look at the end of the lane, for most people it looks very doable,” Dorrer says. “But when they see buoys stretching out a mile or more in the open water, it looks far. They say, ‘Oh my God, Christina, I can’t swim that far,’ and I say, ‘Yes. Yes you can, you really can. You have done that distance twice a week for so many

caption here

weeks—just take it one buoy at a time.’

That’s the hardest thing—to convince somebody that they can actually do something.”

DORRER’S MOST CHALLENGING race was in November 2010 in Panama City, Florida. It was her first Ironman. A year earlier, shortly after she registered for the event, her husband, Marc, who is in the Army, was deployed to Afghanistan. He had returned home safely and attended the race, along with her best friend. “I literally cried in her arms

because crossing the finish line was not just about becoming an Ironman,” she says. “It was also the end of the hardest seven months of my life. I think many athletes use training and racing as an outlet for dealing with hard times.”

Dorrer had always been a runner, and had even prepared for a marathon with a training program she downloaded online. But running took a toll on her body, leading to Iliotibial band syndrome, a common overuse injury in which the ligament that runs along the outer thigh to the shin becomes tight

and causes pain. Dorrer had to cancel her marathon plans and attend physical therapy for a couple of months. That’s when, at age 32, she began swimming and biking. She also began studying to become a certified trainer.

While her husband was away, she worried about his safety, managed their house in Orlando, Florida, and their kids (ages 11 and 9 at the time), and worked at the YMCA, where she served as the acting executive director. She was also teaching cycling and strength training. “I remember waking up around 4 a.m. and

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Athletes work on running form at Tilden Middle School in Rockville.

putting a baby monitor out on my driveway so I could run around the block to get in a run before they woke up for school,” says Dorrer, who eventually reached 18 to 20 miles in the mornings. “I felt a bit like a hamster running on a wheel.”

The Dorrers moved to Rockville five years ago. She wanted to pursue a career related to her interest in training and competing in triathlons, so she founded Fit 2 B Kids, a swimming, biking and running training club that held sessions

at different locations across Montgomery County. Parents soon began asking if she trained adults. Today, Dorrer works with clients ages 7 to 73, regularly monitoring 15 to 20 of them on personalized plans— which begin at $540 for 12 weeks—and training 40 to 50 clients who participate in her swimming, biking or running programs. Her job includes everything from physical and mental coaching to fixing bikes. Once, she even signed up for a race just to swim next to a client.

PAUL HUEY-BURNS of Gaithersburg met Dorrer two years ago at a Spin class she was teaching at Launch Sport Performance in Rockville. He was wearing a shirt from a recent marathon. “You’re a runner and a cyclist. Have you tried a triathlon?” she asked.

Huey-Burns was never a swimmer.

Growing up in Brooklyn, New York, his concept of swimming was a neighborhood dad taking a wrench to a fire hydrant to let out some water. “I did not

“I remember waking up around 4 a.m. and putting a baby monitor out on my driveway so I could run around the block...

I felt a bit like a hamster on a wheel.”—COACH CHRISTINA DORRER 220

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2017 | BETHESDAMAGAZINE.COM

consider myself an athlete when I was a kid. I usually was the last kid picked for teams in gym class.”

This past summer, he made a final push in training for his first Ironman, which was held in Chattanooga, Tennessee, in September. “There was no way I could have done this when my kids were young and I was building a legal practice,” says Huey-Burns, 61, an attorney at Shulman Rogers. He cycled twice a week, typically 30 miles on Thursdays and 100 miles on Saturdays. He ran three times during the week, usually 7 to 8 miles on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, and 18 to 20 on Sundays. Then there were Dorrer’s swim practices, core exercises and stretching.

Through the hours of training, HueyBurns met Howard Kra about a year and a half ago. They coincidentally share the same birthday, Nov. 1. “[Howard

is] constantly texting me with words of encouragement,” Huey-Burns says. “I ran the New York City Marathon last year [for my 60th birthday], and Howard came to New York just so that he could cheer me on. He’s running it this year to celebrate his 60th, and I’m going to reciprocate.”

In late May, the men were among 11 of Dorrer’s triathletes who participated in the Chattanooga half Ironman. They shared an Airbnb rental and joined in on the prerace feast. “[Coach Dorrer] kept asking, ‘Are you drinking?’ and she didn’t mean alcohol,” Kra says. “She was making sure we were all getting our electrolytes and fluids.”

Dorrer’s taught clinics on racing strategy and nutrition. She’s seen athletes who don’t hydrate enough, or who don’t fuel up with energy gels during the bike portion and are unable to make it through the run.

She’d also told Kra, who has an affinity for swag, that he wasn’t allowed to purchase any Ironman gear until he completed the race. When Kra, who lives in Bethesda, finished the half Ironman in 6 hours and 42 minutes, the expo was about to close. “It was a literal sprint with credit card in hand after he crossed the finish line,” Dorrer says. All of the teammates finished—Kra in the top two-thirds of his age group, not bad for a first-timer, Dorrer says—and the team placed second in its size division, teams with fewer than 25 athletes.

“The high that you get from reaching your goals is amazing—and it is healthy, too,” Kra says with a laugh. “It’s better than anything you can buy in Colorado.”

EVERY TIME A CLIENT works out, Dorrer gets a notification. They’re all using Garmin watches, ranging in price from $380 to $660, and TrainingPeaks, a computer program. Some invest in special Garmin bundles that are made for triathlon training—they include heart-rate monitors and straps that can track torso movement and running metrics such as vertical oscillation, leftright balance and ground contact time.

Top: Maura DeMouy (left) and Janet Strudwick review running data, such as stride length or ground contact time, on their Garmin watches.

Bottom: Christina Dorrer shows Paul HueyBurns a video she took of his run gait to help him make postural adjustments to improve his running form.

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From front: David Saybolt, Christina Dorrer, Ying Long Ford and Paul Huey-Burns make their way from Potomac to Poolesville—and back—during a regular Thursday evening ride.

TrainingPeaks, a program with a diary feature, lets them record how they’re feeling, both physically and mentally. Dorrer checks their data—distance completed, pacing per mile and other measures—and sends tips and encouragement.

“You know that she’s going to be looking, so you better go do it,” Kra says. “And when you get that text from [Dorrer], even if it’s just a ‘thumbs up,’ it’s like she slapped me on the back and said ‘good job.’ ” After a few weeks, Dorrer says, patterns begin to emerge. After Huey-Burns completed his first half Ironman and began training with Dorrer for his first full one, she noticed he had been doing really long rides and running long distances each week. More training isn’t better training, she says. His plan balanced training across all three sports and specified volume and intensity, and also allowed for adequate recovery. He got back on track.

Personal coaching clients, like HueyBurns, have mileage goals in all three sports, and stretching and strengthening work to do. They can complete those miles on their own, with a running or cycling club, as Huey-Burns sometimes has, or opt in to one or more of Dorrer’s sport 222

specific programs (which are also open to people not on personalized plans). The options include swim practices on Tuesday/Thursday mornings, a four-week running clinic that focuses on form and helps prevent injuries, and a cycling class in which athletes can visualize climbs and conditions while riding their own bikes. A computer hooked up to each person’s own road bike automatically adjusts tension to the exact grade of a course. “The athletes [who went] to Chattanooga got to ride the actual course,” she explains, “including the hills and open flat stretches, without leaving Bethesda.”

LINDA KELLY OF ROCKVILLE was on a swim team as a child, but was never a runner or biker.

Her older brother and sister-in-law inspired her to try triathlons as a way for all of them to travel together. “We purposely pick events in places we’ve never been and go a few days early to explore, then compete, celebrate and go home,” Kelly says.

The most challenging climbs (biking and running) were at a half Ironman in St. George, Utah, she says. She and her brother also have competed in half

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2017 | BETHESDAMAGAZINE.COM

Ironman races in Oceanside, California, and Cambridge, Maryland. They’ve raced in Montreal; Bend, Oregon; Portland, Maine; and Naples, Florida. On their bucket list: events in New Zealand and Mont Tremblant, Quebec.

In the seven years since she began, Kelly has inspired her grandchildren, two of whom have trained for and competed in kids triathlons. “My 8-year-old grandson wants to do an Ironman with me when he turns 18,” she says. Kelly, who will be 71 then, plans to be right there with him.

“During the race, every race, there’s a moment where I think I might not be able to finish this,” Kelly says, explaining that she powers through for her grandkids. “It’s part of what I’m trying to show them—you persevere no matter how old you are, and it doesn’t matter how long it takes you, you work toward a goal and see it through.” ■ Christine Koubek is a writer, writing coach, runner and almost swimmer.

Researching this story has tempted her to train for a triathlon to do around her next birthday, which is Nov. 1 (the same as Huey-Burns and Kra).

SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION

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Dental School: University of Maryland School of Dentistry Expertise: We are a full service general and cosmetic dental practice specializing in individual oral health care. Using the latest dental technology, we help our patients achieve the smiles of their dreams. We combine the Art and Science of Dentistry ... with a Smile!

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CALENDAR COMPILED BY SANDRA FLEISHMAN

SCREENINGS/CLASSES/ WORKSHOPS Nov. 1 GRANDPARENTS-TO-BE. Learn how to support new parents and about trends in infant care. 7-9 p.m. $15. Holy Cross Hospital Professional and Community Education Center, Silver Spring. 301-754-8800, holycrosshealth.org.

Nov. 1 LOOK GOOD, FEEL BETTER. Women undergoing cancer treatments learn makeup techniques, wig care and other beauty tips.

6-8 p.m. Free. Shady Grove Adventist Aquilino Cancer Center, Rockville. 800-542-5096, adventisthealthcare.com.

The Jingle Bell Jog 8K winds through a Rockville neighborhood on Dec. 10.

Nov. 4

Nov. 5 ROCKVILLE 10K/5K. It’s the 42nd annual running of this challenging but scenic race.

The 10K starts at 8:30 a.m., the 5K at 8:45, and a 1-mile fun run at 8:15. $35 for 10K and 5K; $12 for fun run. King Farm Village Center, Rockville. rockville10k5k.com.

Nov. 11 STONE MILL 50 MILE. The race is along the Seneca Greenway and Muddy Branch trails.

6 a.m. $50. The start/finish is at Stedwick Elementary School, Montgomery Village. stone-mill-50-mile.org.

Nov. 12 CANDY CANE CITY 5K. The out-and-back course is on the Rock Creek Trail. 8 a.m. $10; $5 younger than 18; free for members of Montgomery County Road Runners Club. Race starts outside Ohr Kodesh Congregation, Chevy Chase. mcrrc.org.

Nov. 25 TURKEY BURNOFF. Work off the holiday goodies with a run through Seneca Creek State Park. The 5-mile and 10-mile races

begin at 8 a.m.; a 2.78K fun run begins at 8:05 a.m. $10; $5 younger than 18; free for members of Montgomery County Road Runners Club. Seneca Creek State Park, Gaithersburg. mcrrc.org.

Dec. 10 BREAD RUN 10K AND 2-MILE FUN RUN. The race started 35 years ago as a 10K featuring fresh-baked loaves as prizes. 10 a.m. for 2-mile; 10:30 a.m. for 10K. Fee for the 10K is $10 or a loaf of home-baked bread; free for members of D.C. Road Runners Club. The fun run is free. Glen Echo Park, Glen Echo. dcroadrunners.org.

Dec. 10 JINGLE BELL JOG. The 8K race winds through a residential neighborhood. 9 a.m. $10; $5 younger than 18; free for members of Montgomery County Road Runners Club.

Rockville Senior Center, Rockville. mcrrc.org.

Dec. 17 SENECA SLOPES 9K. The cross-country run is roughly 5.5 miles. 10 a.m. $10; $5 younger than 18; free for members of Montgomery County Road Runners Club. Seneca Creek State Park, Gaithersburg. mcrrc.org.

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Nov. 7 DECLUTTERING COURSE. Collecting too much stuff can become a threat to health, safety and the comfort of daily living. Learn ways to deal with over-accumulating and how to begin decluttering. 1-3 p.m. Free. Register for Course 1703 in the City of Rockville 60+ Guide. Rockville Senior Center, Rockville.

240-314-8810, rockvillemd.gov.

Nov. 11 MOMS ON THE MOVE. For moms at least six weeks past their delivery who want to reduce baby weight—30 minutes of strength training and high-intensity interval training, and 30 minutes of yoga. No yoga experience needed.

11 a.m.-noon. $40. Holy Cross Resource Center, Silver Spring. 301-754-8800, holycrosshealth.org.

Nov. 12 GETTING READY FOR BABY: BABY FAIR. Talk to representatives from community organizations, service providers and Holy

PHOTO BY JONATHAN BIRD, COURTESY OF MCRRC

RUNNING/WALKING

SAFE SITTER. The baby-sitting class teaches 11- to 13-year-olds about child care safety, handling emergencies, first-aid techniques and more. 9 a.m.-3:30 p.m. $105. BethesdaChevy Chase Regional Services Center, Bethesda. Registration required. 301-8963939, suburbanhospital.org.

Cross Hospital nurses, childbirth educators and lactation specialists. Lectures, prizes, refreshments and demonstrations. 1-3 p.m.

Free. Holy Cross Hospital Professional and Community Education Center, Silver Spring.

301-754-8800, holycrosshealth.org.

Nov. 14 MEDICAL MUSEUM SCIENCE CAFÉ: COMMEMORATION THROUGH REHABILITATION: RECONSTRUCTION AIDES AND THE AFTERMATH OF WORLD WAR I. Historian Allison S. Finkelstein shares the postwar legacy of World War I reconstruction aides, civilian women who treated injured soldiers and led to the creation of the Army’s Medical Specialist Corps. 6-7 p.m.

Free. National Museum of Health and Medicine, Silver Spring. 301-319-3303, medicalmuseum.mil.

Nov. 14 SURVIVAL GUIDE FOR FIRST-TIME GRANDPARENTS. Instruction on infant and child CPR and choking rescue, plus a refresher on diapering, swaddling, feeding and soothing a crying baby. 6-9 p.m. $45 per person, $75 per couple. OASIS at Macy’s Home Store, Westfield Montgomery mall, Bethesda. 301-896-3939, events. suburbanhospital.org.

Nov. 16 KEEPING WITH THE BEAT. Dr. Erich Wedam, director of electrophysiology at Suburban Hospital, reviews the signs and symptoms of atrial fibrillation as well as nonsurgical and surgical treatment options. 1-2 p.m.

Free. Rockville Senior Center, Rockville.

Registration requested. 301-896-3939, events.suburbanhospital.org.

PHOTO BY JONATHAN BIRD, COURTESY OF MCRRC

Nov. 16-17 NOTED PARENTING AUTHOR SERIES. The Parent Encouragement Program, a nonprofit educational organization, presents two authors: adolescent psychologist Michael Bradley on Thursday discusses Crazy Stressed: Saving Today’s Overwhelmed Teens With Love, Laughter and the Science of Resilience; and psychologist Lawrence Cohen on Friday discusses The Opposite of Worry. 7:30-9 p.m.

Thursday; 9:45 to 11:15 a.m. Friday. $35 per talk. Bradley Hills Presbyterian Church, Bethesda. 301-929-8824, pepparent.org.

Nov. 18 DEALING WITH ANGER IN COUPLE RELATIONSHIPS. Sponsored by the Parent

Encouragement Program, a nonprofit educational organization. 7-10 p.m. $85 per couple. Kensington Baptist Church, Kensington. Registration required. 301-9298824, pepparent.org.

Nov. 28 STOP THE BLEED: SAVE A LIFE. Learn how to act as a responder and save lives when disaster strikes. Participants will learn bleeding control techniques using their hands, dressings and tourniquets. 6-8 p.m. Free. Suburban Hospital, Bethesda.

Registration required. 301-896-3939, events. suburbanhospital.org.

Nov. 28 and 30; Dec. 19 and 21 ALCOHOL AND OTHER DRUGS EDUCATION SEMINAR. For teens 13-18 and families seeking information on how alcohol, marijuana and other drugs affect the body, the legal aspects of drug use and how it affects future goals. Each month’s program is two nights: Tuesdays (parents and teens) and Thursdays (teens only). 6-8 p.m. $100 per teen. Suburban Hospital, Bethesda.

Registration required. 301-896-6608, events. suburbanhospital.org.

Nov. 29 and Dec. 11 WINTER BLUES: BALANCING SORROW AND CELEBRATION WHILE GRIEVING. For those grieving the death of a loved one.

6:30-8 p.m. Nov. 29; 1-2:30 p.m. Dec. 11. Free. Montgomery Hospice, Rockville.

Registration required. 301-921-4400, montgomeryhospice.org.

Dec. 2 SAFE SITTER. For 11-to 13-year-olds, with information on child care safety, handling emergencies and first aid techniques. 9 a.m4 p.m. $70. Holy Cross Resource Center, Silver Spring. 301-754-8800, holycrosshealth.org.

Dec. 3 BECOMING A FATHER. A three-hour class for expectant or new dads. Topics include basic baby care and keeping your baby safe, what it means to be a father, your role in the life of your child, and adjustments to life with a child. Babies welcome. 1-4 p.m. $30. Holy Cross Resource Center, Silver Spring. 301754-7000, holycrosshealth.org.

Dec. 4 CPR FOR FRIENDS AND FAMILY. Instruction designed for the general public for adult, BETHESDAMAGAZINE.COM | NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2017

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child and infant CPR and choking rescue.

5:30-8:30 p.m. $75. Suburban Hospital, Bethesda. 301-896-3939, events. suburbanhospital.org.

Dec. 6 RAISING RAPUNZEL: GUIDING TEEN GIRLS TO ADULTHOOD. How to weather the emotional and behavioral storms. For parents of those ages 9-18. Offered by the Parent Encouragement Program, a nonprofit educational organization. 7-9 p.m. $35 per person. PEP, Kensington Baptist Church, Kensington. Registration required. 301-9298824, pepparent.org.

Dec. 7 DIABETES COOKING CLASS. A cooking demonstration, with samples, recipes, information and advice from a diabetes educator. 6-7 p.m. Free. Adventist HealthCare Shady Grove Medical Center Magnolia Room, Rockville. Registration required. 301-3153129, adventisthealthcare.com.

Dec. 13 HEALTHY HABITS FOR A HEALTHIER YOU. The Alzheimer’s Association and Suburban Hospital seminar covers four areas associated with healthy aging: cognitive activity, exercise, nutrition and social engagement. 1-2 p.m. Free. Friendship Heights Village Center, Chevy Chase.

Registration requested. 301-896-3939, events.suburbanhospital.org.

SUPPORT GROUPS

Support groups are free unless otherwise noted.

Nov. 7 and Dec. 5 BREAST CANCER SUPPORT GROUP. 6:30-8 p.m. Meets the first Tuesday of every month. Hope Connections for Cancer Support, Bethesda. 301-634-7500, hopeconnectionsforcancer.org.

Nov. 14 and Dec. 12 MS FAMILY CAREGIVER SUPPORT GROUP. Meets the second Tuesday of every month.

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6:45-8:15 p.m. Suburban Hospital, Bethesda.

301-896-3939, suburbanhospital.org.

Nov. 20 and Dec. 18 PROSTATE CANCER SUPPORT GROUP. Meets the third Monday of the month. 7-8:30 p.m. Suburban Hospital, Bethesda. 301-8963939, suburbanhospital.org.

Dec. 6 and Jan. 4 DROP-IN DISCUSSION ABOUT GRIEF AND HEALING. For anyone mourning the death of a loved one. 6:30-8 p.m. Dec. 6; 1-2:30 p.m.

Jan. 4. Montgomery Hospice, Rockville. 301921-4400, montgomeryhospice.org.

Ongoing CANCER CAREGIVERS SUPPORT GROUP. 6:30-8 p.m. Tuesdays; noon-1:30 p.m.

Thursdays. Hope Connections for Cancer Support, Bethesda. 301-634-7500, hopeconnectionsforcancer.org.

To submit calendar items, go to www.Bethesda Magazine.com. n

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Senior Services

PROFILES

Senior Services

PROFILES

Scott Thompson Founder & Chief Executive Officer, Lifematters MICHAEL VENTURA

See Profile page 237

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Eddie A. Fernandez, MD, RPVI CENTER FOR VEIN RESTORATION

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“It is my great joy to see the rapid benefits that so many patients get after years going undiagnosed, especially those with venous ulcers.”

11921 Rockville Pike, Suite 401 Rockville, MD 20852 855-653-8346 www.centerforvein.com

COURTESY PHOTO

For the last eight years, Dr. Eddie Fernandez has been dedicated to the treatment of venous disease, bringing relief to patients coping with the many symptoms and complications associated with chronic venous insufficiency.

With an estimated 40 million Americans now suffering from venous disease, it’s still too often an under-diagnosed condition. Symptoms range from varicose veins, to leg pain, cramping, itching and burning, swollen legs and ankles, and venous ulcers. Heredity, age, gender, weight, history of blood clots, pregnancy and occupations that require prolonged sitting or standing all can play a role. A wide variety of treatments can help.

“We specialize in individualized, patient-focused approaches that treat the root causes while improving your appearance and quality of life,” says Dr. Fernandez. Together with his colleagues, the team gets excellent results and satisfaction rates for their patients.

“For most people, the prognosis after treatment is excellent,” says Dr. Fernandez. “It is my great joy to see the rapid benefits that so many patients get after years going undiagnosed, especially those with venous ulcers.”

Center for Vein Restoration (CVR) is the nation’s largest physician-owned vein center.

They employ the highest caliber vascular medicine specialists and staff, offering a complete array of treatment options for venous disease. CVR clinics offer complimentary physician visits at all of their DMV locations.

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Chris Leinauer

TONY J. LEWIS

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, FIVE STAR PREMIER RESIDENCES OF CHEVY CHASE “We were initially developed by a hotel company and it really shows,” says Chris Leinauer.

“From our concierge services and doorman to our beautiful common areas, fine finishes and furnishings, the quality here continues to shine.”

Five Star Premier Residences of Chevy Chase is a monthly rental community, conveniently located close to shopping, cultural events and dining opportunities within the Nation’s Capital and Northwest D.C. suburbs. A five-star dining program is specifically tailored for the independent resident, designed to accommodate that lifestyle by providing personal dining preferences anytime of the day. Another great offering is the Lifestyle 360 Program. This program is a residential community approach to living a healthier, happier and enhanced life, offering over 300 social and recreational opportunities every month.

Though new to Five Star Premier Residences, Leinauer brings over 15 years of senior housing industry experience. He joins a veteran team, many of whom have been at Five Star Premier Residences in Chevy Chase for a decade or more. “Our remarkably high standards of quality and service make it easy for residents to have everything they want under one roof,” he says.

Besides its ideal location inside the Capital Beltway, the community does not require a large equity investment upon entry. “We provide a rental agreement and that makes us different from other independent living options in the area. Choosing the rental option allows you the freedom to make decisions with your money as you choose or may need," says Leinauer.

Serving residents 55 and older for over 27 years, Five Star Premier Residences maintains its established footprint within the Chevy Chase community, which we are very proud to call home.

“Our remarkably high standards of quality and service make it easy for residents to have everything they want under one roof.”

8100 Connecticut Ave. Chevy Chase, MD 20815 301-907-8895 www.fivestarpremier-chevychase.com

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Susan Rodgers, RN PRESIDENT & OWNER, CAPITAL CITY NURSES

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“Nurturing and caring were the principles I focused on when founding our company, and what we focus on today.”

ACCREDITATIONS Washington Home and Community Hospices Caregiver Relief Program; Private Duty Provider of Choice for MedStar Health, Visiting Nurse Association; American Geriatric Society; Grass Roots Organization for the Well-being of Seniors (GROWS); Aging Life Care Managers Association

8401 Connecticut Ave. Chevy Chase, MD 20815 301-652-4344 www.capitalcitynurses.com

HILARY SCHWAB

Capital City Nurses Healthcare Services has long been recognized as the expert in the field of private duty home care. For almost 40 years, they have approached home care services from a nursing point of view and focus. “My work as a head nurse at Montifiore Hospital in New York made me highly aware of the confusion and fear seniors experienced when they were ill or removed from their normal, familiar environment,” says Rodgers. “Nursing was (and is) my field—not marketing or accounting. Nurturing and caring were the principles I focused on when founding our company, and what we focus on today.”

When Registered Nurses make an initial client visit, they assess, identify needs and plan what is needed to provide for safety, well-being, independence and enhanced enjoyment of life. Client Care Coordinators work with the client and family to identify a caregiver who can implement their specific plan. Coordinators interact with clients and their family on a daily or weekly basis. “They are the linchpin working with client, family, caregiver and nurses to attain our client goals,” says Rodgers. “Our Registered Nurses continue to work closely with the caregivers and clients in the home as well as with the Client Care Coordinators to implement the plan and identify any changing needs.”

Capital City Nurses spends an inordinate amount of time identifying, recruiting and retaining the best caregivers. “Our mantra is, ‘Do you want this person taking care of your mother or grandmother?’” says Rodgers. “Our goal for our caregivers is to help them to be the best they can possibly be, including medical careers and nursing school.” There are multiple educational and certification opportunities.

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Maplewood Golfers

ERNESTO MALDONADO

MAPLEWOOD PARK PLACE Golf is a game that knows no age limits. Just ask the gregarious golfers at Maplewood Park Place in Bethesda.

“Our golf team has some of the most spirited golfers I’ve ever played with,” says Michelle Michaels, director of sales and marketing. A passionate golfer who’s enjoyed the sport since high school, she organized the Maplewood team. Michaels is also the billiards instructor. One afternoon, her class decided their next adventure should be at a local golf course. The idea caught on fast and expanded to include several community residents. “Whatever your age or skill level on the fairway, there’s nothing like a round of golf to build camaraderie,” Michaels says.

Maplewood resident Zelda Segal is a regular. “Golf in two words is ‘pure delight.’ It’s one more way to stay fit, have fun and live fully,” she says.

Fellow golfer and resident Bruce Mackey agrees. “With our golf team, the Maplewood activities menu keeps on growing. Exercise classes. In-house concerts. Play readings. On-site college courses. Now, golfing adventures. Maplewood truly has something for everyone.”

Golfer Bill Wallace and his wife spend winters in Florida, returning each spring to Maplewood. “We appreciate the ‘lock-and-leave’ lifestyle and always look forward to our return to Bethesda—even more so now that a golf team is on the agenda.”

“Maplewood Park Place is a hole-in-one,” says longtime resident and golfer Jane Betz.

“It has everything you would ever want in a retirement community.”

Maplewood is the area’s only senior living community offering home ownership, an independent lifestyle and a full continuum of care. On Old Georgetown Road at I-495, residents live minutes from shops, restaurants and nearby attractions. To learn more, call 301-571-7444.

“Maplewood Park Place is a hole-in-one!”

AWARDS Voted Best Senior Living by the readers’ of Bethesda Magazine, 2010-2017; 5 Star Health Care, Center of Medicare Services; Silver Accreditation, the American Health Care Association; “Best Senior Living,” Montgomery Magazine, 2016 & 2017

9707 Old Georgetown Road Bethesda, MD 20814 301-530-0500 www.maplewoodparkplace.com

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JSSA Hospice and Premier Homecare JOY SEXTON, RN, BSN, DIRECTOR, JSSA HOSPICE AND CINDY LIBBY-GREEN, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, PREMIER HOMECARE

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“We help older adults maintain their independent lifestyles wherever they live —private homes, retirement communities, assisted living facilities and more” AWARDS Eight consecutive 4-star ratings from Charity Navigator; Home Care Pulse 2017 Best of Home Care—Employer of Choice Award

200 Wood Hill Road Rockville, MD 20850 301-816-2676 www.jssa.org

ADAM FREEDMAN

As their care requirements increase, older adults turn to JSSA for assistance with changing physical, social and emotional needs. A community nonprofit, JSSA provides a range of healthcare and homemaking services that allow them to age in place with dignity.

“We can help you navigate life’s changes,” says Joy Sexton. “Whether that’s with counseling, care management, in-home support or hospice care.” Sexton, whose expertise is end-of-life care, has been the director of JSSA Hospice for 12 years. “Hospice is a team effort. Between our medical director, nurses, social workers, chaplains, certified aides and volunteers, we excel in providing our patients with compassionate end-of-life care and their families with guidance and emotional support.” This fall all hospice nurses are receiving training to become certified dementia practitioners.

Cindy Libby-Green has been managing Premier Homecare, JSSA’s in-home care and support service, since 2000. Premier’s registered nurses and certified caregivers assist older adults with daily activities such as personal care, meal preparation and medication administration. “We help older adults maintain their independent lifestyles wherever they live—private homes, retirement communities, assisted living facilities and more,” LibbyGreen says. “If needed, we can also connect family members to a variety of support services offered at JSSA.” For those living with advancing illnesses like late-stage dementia or congestive heart failure who are not ready for hospice, there’s Transitions. This free support program from JSSA helps ailing individuals and their families cope with the emotional and logistical challenges of life-limiting conditions. JSSA also offers mental health counseling, geriatric care management, socialization programs, escorted door-through-door transportation, and meal delivery to empower older adults and help enhance their quality of life.

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Senior Services

BayWoods of Annapolis Located right on the Chesapeake Bay just outside historic Annapolis, BayWoods is a cooperatively owned continuing care retirement community—one of only two in Maryland.

“That means that residents are equity shareholders,” says James Harrington, director of business development. “So they collectively have a voice in community decisions and can enjoy tax advantages, too.” Last year, the community did so well financially that the Independent Living residents did not have monthly fees for December 2016.

The community offers 147 Independent Living Apartments. “Our largest floor plan is the Tred Avon Penthouse, offering 2,480 square feet of living area—ideal for metro area downsizers who really don’t want to downsize much,” says Harrington. The penthouse features two large bedrooms, two full baths with a half bath as well. The home also features a spacious den and full kitchen, as well as two all-season enclosed porches that face the south and water. Like all apartment homes at Baywoods, there's covered parking for residents, and indoor storage on site.

Community tours are available anytime.

Baywoods has more than 190 residents of diverse backgrounds. The continuing care retirement community just recently renovated its healthcare center, and offers assisted living and short-term rehab, as well as comprehensive nursing care on site. Fine dining venues range from formal to casual on the property, and nearby Annapolis is known for some amazing restaurants that are also within easy reach.

“Our residents have chosen to live here by the water on the Chesapeake Bay in a resort-like setting,” says Harrington. “BayWoods is unique because the residents’ best interests are truly at heart in every single decision made here.”

TONY J. LEWIS

“That means that residents are equity shareholders, so they collectively have a voice in community decisions and can enjoy tax advantages, too.”

7101 Bay Front Drive Annapolis, MD 21403 410-268-9222 Info@BayWoodsofAnnapolis.com www.BayWoodsofAnnapolis.com BETHESDAMAGAZINE.COM | NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2017

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Tom Meyer OWNER, EASY ELDER TECH

15310 Pine Orchard Drive, Suite 3C Silver Spring, MD 301-802-6633 tomhowto@hotmail.com www.easyeldertech.com

DARREN HIGGINS

“I like to make things easy for people, so my business names begin with that,” says Tom Meyer.

Meyer’s three “Easy” businesses include Easy Elder Tech, which helps seniors with buying a computer or laptop package and all setup, installation and training. They can also help with Internet, games, video chat and photos.

Another business is Easy Elder Tech, which offers Internet, cable, local TV, phone and Virtual Reality for a one-time cost of $499. “It’s groundbreaking,” says Meyer. “With access to any movie, TV show or sporting event. You get free phone calls, unlimited Internet and VR capabilities.”

Coming soon is Easy Med Tracker, which can help any senior or patient keep track of medicines, how many to take, when to take them, and an app and service to advise loved ones about medicines taken daily. A specialized pill box system will be a part of Easy Med Tracker, as well.

Irene Cady-Harrington FOUNDER, PRESIDENT & OWNER, AT HOME CARE, INC.

Park 29 Professional Center 15304 Spencerville Court Burtonsville, MD 20866 301-421-0200 www.athomecareinc.com 234

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LISA HELFERT

“I’m a senior helping seniors,” says Irene Cady-Harrington. “I believe in what we do, which is helping people age in place, and I believe we are one of the best.”

At Home Care is one of just a handful of area companies that can boast over 40 years of experience in helping people enjoy the peace and pleasure of staying at home. Fully licensed and strictly managed by Irene and her team, the agency works one on one with seniors and their adult children to assist with the activities of day-to-day living. “We bring affordable solutions for people to convalesce or age in the comfort of their own home,” she says.

“All of us do best when we feel a certain control in our life,” Irene says.

“As we age, we lose health and we lose friends, but feeling independent and having some control is essential to staying viable. That’s what we can offer our clients.”

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Beth Abate

ADAM FREEDMAN

NURSE PRACTITIONER, GRAND OAKS Aging is inevitable, and so are associated health issues that come with an active life and advancing years. When it comes time to join an assisted living community, close proximity to places and people you care about and extraordinarily high-quality health care bring comfort and peace of mind.

“Grand Oaks enables seniors who really value their independence to age in place,” says Beth Abate. “We are the only assisted living community in the area to offer an onsite clinic. Residing on the campus of Sibley Memorial Hospital gives us direct access to the Johns Hopkins Medicine care team, along with all of what downtown Washington, D.C. has to offer.”

Grand Oaks’ early intervention approach allows Beth to help the residents avoid deterioration of health as well as unnecessary emergency department visits.

“Coordination of care means communication between nurses, residents, family members, primary care providers and consultants.”

Grand Oaks is connected to Sibley Memorial Hospital by a convenient below-ground walkway. Residents live in spacious, light-filled apartments that provide a tranquil and safe environment with dentists, doctors and all hospital resources on the same campus.

In addition to a full menu of classes, fitness activities and outings, the community features physical, occupational and speech therapy services, overseen by a medical director and professionals like Beth. The devoted team takes a comprehensive approach to understanding aging and providing quality care.

“We believe the most nurturing environment feels like home yet offers world-class care,” she says. “Our approach addresses the whole person, mind and body, with access to experts who focus on wellness, prevention, assessment and treatment. Our happy, healthy residents are the proven results of this unique approach to assisted living.”

“We believe the most nurturing environment feels like home yet offers world-class care.”

5901 MacArthur Blvd. NW Washington, DC 20016 202-349-3400 www.GrandOaksDC.org

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Joseph R. O’Brien, MD ORTHOBETHESDA

10215 Fernwood Road Bethesda, MD 20817 301-530-1010 ObrienMA@bcc-ortho.com www.bcc-ortho.com

ADAM FREEDMAN

Dr. O'Brien is an expert in minimally invasive spine surgery and revision of failed spine surgery.

Board Certified in Orthopedic Surgery, Dr. O’Brien founded the Washington Spine and Scoliosis Institute in 2017 with other members of OrthoBethesda. He's been published in a variety of medical journals including Spine, the Journal of Neurosurgery Spine, Neurosurgery, Journal of the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgery, and Current Orthopedic Practice. His research has been presented around the globe.

A graduate of The George Washington School of Medicine, Dr. O’Brien completed his training at the Johns Hopkins University Medical Center with a fellowship in spinal reconstructive surgery. He spent nine years at The George Washington University as an Associate Professor of Orthopedic Surgery and Neurological Surgery. He was formerly the Medical Director of Minimally Invasive Spine Surgery at The George Washington Hospital. He sees patients in Bethesda and Arlington.

Riderwood Continuing Care Retirement Community

An Erickson Living Community 3140 Gracefield Road Silver Spring, MD 20904 1-800-610-1560 www.RiderwoodCommunity.com 236

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The largest continuing care retirement community in the mid-Atlantic, Riderwood is an exciting alternative in senior living, with a retirement lifestyle that's all about discovering new experiences. Over 250 clubs engage residents, who enjoy fitness centers, an all-season swimming pool and seven restaurants.

If you love to meet new people and do lots of fun things, this is the place for you," says Associate Director of Sales George Mishraky. "If you prefer more quiet pursuits like reading in the comfort of your apartment, Riderwood is also for you. There's truly something for everyone."

The 120-acre campus is convenient to all the metro area, and a complimentary consultant helps handle many of the stressful chores of moving.

The medical center offers six doctors and a variety of specialists. The continuing care neighborhood earned Medicare's 5-star rating for amenities, activities and services. Riderwood is one of 19 Erickson Living communities across the nation.

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Scott Thompson

MICHAEL VENTURA

FOUNDER & CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, LIFEMATTERS Lifematters is the leading provider of private duty home services and skilled nursing in the Washington metro area. “We’re here to help you navigate the challenging process of aging well at home,” says Scott Thompson. “More than just home care, we offer true Concierge Care with our team of skilled caregivers, nurses and social workers.”

After recently expanding with Aging Life Care ManagersTM and Friendly Visitors programs, Lifematters is now the leader in Comprehensive Concierge Care, as well.

“Whether taking care of a loved one or yourself, need medical or legal help, or looking to stay in your home or make a move, our Care Managers can help you guide you through these important issues,” says Thompson.

Friendly Visitors are a group of smart, compassionate people who spend time with seniors, creating positive relationships and contributing to quality of life. “We’ve found that it really reduces social isolation,” says Thompson. “Visitors offer a practical and social benefit to clients and help bring peace of mind to families, too.” Visits are customized for each client and may include all kinds of activities, like crafts, outings, shopping and errands.

Lifematters offers homecare, skilled nursing and flexcare services, disease specialties, and other services. Clients range from seniors to people battling debilitating illnesses to those recovering from injuries and surgery. “We know that during a difficult time, even the smallest details can feel overwhelming,” says Thompson. “We’ll help you every step of the way.”

“We started with pretty humble beginnings,” says Thompson. “But we’ve grown because we continue to provide an experience for each individual client designed to make him or her feel connected and protected.”

“We’ve grown because we continue to provide an experience for each individual client designed to make him or her feel connected and protected.”

AWARDS & RECOGNITION Bethesda Magazine Best of Bethesda Readers Poll, “A Top Vote Getter” for Best Home Care Services; Inc 500/5000, 9-time winner; CEO Magazine Future 50 Awards; Best of Home Care Employer of Choice, 3-time winner

8757 Georgia Ave., Suite 600 Silver Spring, MD 20910 301-298-2829 | info@lifemattersusa.com www.lifemattersusa.com

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The Music Project CHARLES E. SMITH LIFE COMMUNITIES

Ring House Landow House Cohen-Rosen House 1801 E. Jefferson St. Rockville, MD 20852 301-816-5012 www.smithlifecommunities.org

HILARY SCHWAB

“Music engages people and provides a link to their past and a sense of home,” says Lauren Latessa. She leads the Music Project, which provides one-on-one instrumental lessons, and group classes that allow residents to delve into music history. The trio, formed by cellist Latessa, pianist Jessica McKee and violinist Sara Matayoshi, performs recitals and open rehearsals for the enjoyment of residents. The program offers meaningful experiences that are rare in other assisted living and independent living settings in this area.

“I cannot describe how this changed my life,” says Ring House resident Marjorie Wilde. “Not only because rehearsals are my favorite, but I discovered that the sun hadn’t set. The arc of my life began to go up again.”

Cohen-Rosen House, Landow House and Ring House offer many programs like this that engage residents socially, emotionally and spiritually.

Please call 301-816-5012 for more information.

Larry Bradshaw PRESIDENT & CEO, NATIONAL LUTHERAN COMMUNITIES & SERVICES

2301 Research Blvd., Suite 310 Rockville, MD 20850 240-252-4516 | info@nationallutheran.org www.nationallutheran.org 238

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National Lutheran Communities & Services’ (NLCS) President and CEO Larry Bradshaw knows first-hand the challenges adult children face in providing care for aging loved ones. As an only child, he became the point person for his mother’s care after a series of medical issues.

“I have a new appreciation for the role adult children play in helping their aging loved one,” Bradshaw says. “The situation with my mom made it very personal, and made me realize how important resources like NLCS are in supporting this process.”

NLCS’ mission is to honor, inspire and support choice and opportunity in service to seniors.

“As a mission-driven not-for-profit, we want to inform seniors and their families about their options, and be a resource so they can make an educated decision,” Bradshaw says. “To help navigate the landscape of information, we’ve created a website of tools and tips for adult children searching called www.helpingyourparents.org.”

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Fox Hill Tucked among the tall trees just off Burdette Road at River Road sits a real opportunity to Live Inspired. Fox Hill blends all the amenities of a world-class hotel with the investment opportunity of condominium ownership. The bright, Craftsman-inspired architecture and excellent Bethesda location are wonderful, but it's the people—resident-owners and employees—that really make the inspired experience.

Among your neighbors are well-traveled, well-educated and interesting people. You’ll meet foreign service experts, scientists and doctors. Weekly lectures and presentations are packed with lifetime learners. On a recent midday visit, several enthusiastic people were having an animated conversation in the lobby about a documentary they just watched. A bridge group sat in an anteroom by the door. Three generations of a family were meeting for lunch and the sushi chef was making Dragon Rolls in the café.

“Owners know that you can have it all at Fox Hill with the extraordinary services and amenities that help you truly live inspired every day,” says Julie Sabag, director of marketing. “The people here are just incredible, and I’m in awe of them and their amazing accomplishments and stories.”

Condominium living means the owner-residents have more choice and control, selecting from one-, two- and three-bedroom floor plans, remodeling and redecorating as they want, and enjoying the expansive layouts and maintenance-free living. Fox Hill is petfriendly, and offers four dining venues, a fitness center, indoor pool, spa and salon, artist studio, performing arts center and more. “The owners are smart, curious people, and the amenities embolden their varied interests,” says Sabag. “That’s just another part of our goal to help you live inspired.”

“Owners know that you can have it all at Fox Hill with the extraordinary services and amenities that help you truly live inspired every day.”

8300 Burdette Road Bethesda, MD 20817 301-968-1850 www.foxhillresidences.com

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The Village at Rockville– A National Lutheran Community

9701 Veirs Drive Rockville, MD 20850 301-637-8593 info@thevillageatrockville.org www.thevillageatrockville.org

COURTESY PHOTO

As seniors consider downsizing, many move to an active adult community or a luxury apartment complex. The Village at Rockville is a Continuing Care Retirement Community (CCRC), which is designed to offer amenities like the aforementioned communities, but also provides home maintenance, housekeeping, meals and the security of health care services.

Currently, The Village at Rockville is expanding and adding luxury apartments to meet the need of an increasing number of seniors in Montgomery County. The Glenmere apartments will feature state-of-the-art amenities, including an indoor aquatic center and holistic wellness programming designed to nurture mind, body and spirit.

Executive Director, Dr. Jason Gottschalk’s best advice is to start looking early. “We often hear ‘I should have done this sooner.’ The best time to make a decision on moving to a CCRC like The Village at Rockville is while you can enjoy all we offer.”

Torri Carter, Health Coach & Pamela Mackey, WISH Program Senior WELLNESS & INDEPENDENCE FOR SENIORS AT HOME (WISH) THE COORDINATING CENTER

c/o Primary Care Coalition, 8757 Georgia Ave., 10th floor Silver Spring, MD 20910 Referrals: 301-628-3177 | WISH@coordinatingcenter.org www.nexusmontgomery.org/wish 240

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ADAM FREEDMAN

Wellness & Independence for Seniors at Home (WISH) connects seniors to community-based health care and other support services so they can remain independent and out of the hospital. The program is supported by community hospitals and is available at no cost to seniors. “WISH is ideal for anyone with Medicare who is 65+,” says Sharyn King, senior vice president, Population Health Services. “Seniors can refer themselves or be referred by others.”

“People can live in one of 42 identified independent living facilities in Montgomery and Prince George’s counties,” says King. All facilities are listed on the WISH website at nexusmontgomery.org/wish. Seniors in the WISH Program are connected to health coaches and nurses who help them learn about health issues and identify the support needed to stay independent. The WISH team can help seniors create a personalized plan, understand services provided through Medicare and connect them to community resources.

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Caption

Brent Bayes & Cynthia Perez

ERNESTO MALDONADO

ASBURY METHODIST VILLAGE When you and your adult children are looking for your next stage of life, you want to know what's unique and different in the places you visit. What makes a community special?

Asbury’s beautiful campus in Gaithersburg features varied dining venues, a staffed fitness center with pool, a 17-acre Wildlife Preserve with walking trails, community gardens, large theatre and more than 100 resident-run programs. Residents volunteer on and off campus, and continue to learn and engage through the resident-run Keese School of Continuing Education and partnerships with the Strathmore Arts Center and Osher Institute.

It’s a special place, but that’s not all that people appreciate at Asbury. “Many residents most like that they have a secure plan for their future no matter how their needs change,” says Cynthia Perez at Asbury. “Living here, they have lifetime priority access to a full continuum of health and supportive services, with home health, assisted living, skilled care and memory support services, even if they exhaust financial resources through no fault of their own.”

There is really something for everyone at Asbury Methodist Village. As one of the largest continuing care retirement communities in the country, independent living options include courtyard homes, villas and spacious apartments. There are also assisted living suites, skilled nursing residences, memory support and rehabilitation therapy services.

The focus on wellness includes many activities for social, intellectual, emotional, spiritual and vocational life.

“There’s a real peace of mind for Asbury residents and their family members,” says Perez. “It comes from our remarkable standard of living and our continuum that spans complete independence to assisted living and skilled nursing.”

“It comes from our remarkable standard of living and our continuum that spans complete independence to assisted living and skilled nursing.”

ACCREDITATIONS & AWARDS CARF International Accredited, EAGLE Accredited, Gaithersburg City Environmental Award, International Council on Active Aging Innovator of the Year Award, Wildlife Habitat Council Certified

301 Russell Ave. Gaithersburg, MD 20877 301-216-4102 cperez@asbury.org AsburyMethodistVillage.org

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Senior Services

PROFILES

SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION

Chef Pierre Matsangakis INGLESIDE AT KING FARM

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“I like the crowd—the diversity of the residents, who are world travelers from different backgrounds.”

AWARDS Medicare's Highest Rating; Best Nursing Homes, US News 2016-2017; Accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF)

Ingleside at King Farm is expanding with the proposed building of 121 new independent living apartments, 32 private assisted living memory support suites, and a Center for Healthy Living subject to approval by the Maryland Department of Aging.

701 King Farm Blvd.

Rockville, MD 20850 240-499-9019 www.inglesidekingfarm.org

COURTESY PHOTO

Food is a “universal experience,” said James Beard, and residents of Ingleside at King Farm are very fortunate to be universally happy with the dining experiences created by Chef Pierre and his culinary team.

Because members’ tastes are individual, the community offers flexible options. The Courtyard Café has a casual dining experience. You can also enjoy a cozy dinner in Le Bistro. Invite family and friends for a private dinner in the formal dining room. Working in kitchens and behind the scenes, the team is constantly identifying culinary trends, introducing new flavors and creating something great for everybody.

Chef Pierre has a unique style and continental flair he learned growing up in France and learning the basics from his Greek mother. He later studied in Paris and Normandy, and began at Ingleside in 2011. “I like the crowd—the diversity of the residents, who are world travelers from different backgrounds,” he says.

The team works with a committee of residents on the dining program. Ingredients are sourced from local farms, whenever possible. Menus are planned with a dietitian and always include vegetarian options. Dishes all support the healthier eating styles of residents and guests. “It’s always a treat,” says Christine L. Podles, executive director.

“Chef Pierre does regular cooking demonstrations and every Wednesday, there's a special Chef’s Night with different menus, entrees, salads and desserts.”

Anyone who wants to cook at home or enjoy take-out enjoys meals in spacious onebedroom, open two-bedroom-with-den and expansive three-bedroom apartments. There’s a choice for every lifestyle and budget.

The not-for-profit, continuing care retirement community is growing fast. Reservations are now being accepted at Gardenside, upcoming progressive retirement residences coming soon.

restaurants. cooking. food. drinks.

PHOTO BY STACY ZARIN-GOLDBERG

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The new Addie’s restaurant in Potomac was designed to feel like a Texas home.

Read our review on the next page.

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ADDIE’S, NEW AND IMPROVED

Chef Jeff Black at the recently opened Addie’s

Chef Jeff Black re-creates a beloved restaurant at Park Potomac

BY DAVID HAGEDORN | PHOTOS BY STACY ZARIN-GOLDBERG

A SERVER PLACES A paper lunch bag imprinted with a bright yellow school bus and the words “You make the difference!” on the table. He takes a penknife, slits the bag and opens it to reveal two kinds of baked carb heaven: butterdrenched, feather-light dinner rolls and square biscuits whose dough has been rolled and folded four times to make them rise like delicate puff pastry. This is the bread service at the new Addie’s, the Park Potomac restaurant that replaces the original Addie’s, which chefs Jeff and Barbara Black named after Jeff ’s Texan

grandmother and ran for 18 years, closing it in 2013.

Local residents were sad when the Blacks shuttered the creaky but charming little yellow house on Rockville Pike, the first restaurant of what is now called the Black Restaurant Group (BRG). The company has seven eateries in Washington, D.C., and Maryland, among them Black Market Bistro in Garrett Park, Black’s Bar & Kitchen in Bethesda and Republic in Takoma Park. “The old Addie’s was falling apart,” Jeff Black says. “It was super hot in the summer

and freezing cold in the winter. It’s nice to have a new Addie’s with everything that works.”

Almost everything does work at the new Addie’s, starting with the attractive and sizable space, designed by Boxwood Architects of Philadelphia.

Addie’s seats 130 inside and 70 outside, with a double-sided bar for both the restaurant and covered patio. (Fans and heaters make the patio usable practically year-round.) The three rooms inside are meant to be as welcoming as a comfy Texas home: a “den” with

Addie’s

12435 Park Potomac Ave., Potomac, 301-340-0081, addiesrestaurant.com FAVORITE DISHES: Seafood tower items (Peruvian leche de tigre ceviche, scallop crudo, serranowrapped shrimp and grilled oysters); Vietnamese caramel salmon; trio of mason jars; Chesapeake fisherman’s stew PRICES: Appetizers: $9 to $24;

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seafood towers: $78 (seven items), $92 (nine items) and $110 (12 items); entrées: $26 to $42; desserts: $9 to $14

Big Red, Nehi Grape), a nice list of local brews and a thoughtful selection of wine in a broad price range

LIBATIONS: Delicious, generously poured and well-balanced cocktails, vintage sodas in bottles (such as Kutztown root beer,

SERVICE: A little green in the polish and menu-knowledge departments, but personable and eager to please

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Overall Rating:

B

Diners can choose from more than two dozen offerings to create seafood towers of seven, nine or 12 items.

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Clockwise from top left: fisherman’s stew; country bread with jars of pimento cheese, chicken liver mousse and duck rillettes; an appetizer of Vietnamese caramel salmon

walls painted in warm yellow (evocative of the old Addie’s) and outlined with crown molding; a “family room” that’s open to the 20-seat bar and features unvarnished pine board paneling and Texas memorabilia; and a more formal (and much quieter) dining room with carpeting, white tablecloths, brocade side chairs and a wall of floor-to-ceiling wine storage. Windows in the dining room and den allow you to observe the hustle-bustle going on in the kitchen, 246

helmed by executive chef Dane Sewlall.

The “welcome to my house” theme is driven home with a wall of door knockers, a piece of hardware— such as a hinge, knob or key—that accompanies your check, and photos of Addie and her husband, C.R., including a lifesize cutout of Addie fishing in high heels.

I love the details Black pays attention to, such as USB ports and plugs at many tables, white porcelain pepper shakers handmade in Pennsylvania, Garnier Thiebaut piqué cotton napkins, mismatched floral china he acquired over the years from friends, antique stores, flea markets and garage and estate sales, and cut-glass cocktail glasses.

Those cocktails, created by BRG

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beverage director George Sault, are generous and quite tasty. I can attest to the quality of a Hendrick’s martini and a Cosmopolitan, as well as the Little House on the Pike (vodka, crème de violette, passion fruit, lemon and soda) and the Bellaire Cardinal made with gin, amaro and vermouth. Order the trio of mason jars (chicken liver mousse, duck rillettes, and pimento cheese spiked with shrimp and cayenne pepper) with cocktails to tide you over while figuring out the rest of your order—and hope your rillettes aren’t so salty you can’t eat them, as mine were. (Oversalting, including on grilled country bread that accompanies many Addie’s dishes, is a pervasive problem.)

Addie’s offers seafood towers of seven, nine or 12 items, which can be a great shared appetizer, especially for a large group, or a meal in itself. (After a seven-item tower, another appetizer and bread, my companion and I were

caption

The homey décor at Addie’s includes family photos of Jeff Black’s grandparents.

Left: seven-layer carrot cake

fairly full.) You build one by choosing from more than two dozen offerings, including a bright ceviche of shrimp and scallops with corn, sweet potatoes, red onions, Fresno chilies, lime juice and milk; raw scallop slices in dashi broth (made with seaweed and bonito flakes) with seaweed salad; broiled baby octopus bites with citrusy eggplant purée; and giant grilled oysters, barely cooked and custard-like and topped with garlicky toasted breadcrumbs. Avoid the cold, mealy tuna tempura. One problem with this build-it-yourself format is that it’s difficult to keep track of the items you want to order. (Maybe there could

be a separate menu to check dishes off, like at a sushi restaurant?)

It would also be nice if you could order items à la carte.

I love every bite of an appetizer of medium-rare Vietnamese caramel salmon topped with crushed toasted cashews and served with gingery cucumber salad. The cacio e pepe is perfectly cooked fresh tagliatelle pasta with cream, Parmesan cheese and black pepper, but I prefer my pepe more peppery.

For entrées, a fisherman’s stew of cornmeal-crusted soft-shell crab, shrimp, mussels and clams in a garlicky tomato broth dotted with diced zucchini and corn and zingy from red pepper flakes satisfies in its simplicity. Two puffy, open-faced fried tortillas piled with shrimp, corn and crab sautéed in

lemon juice and butter are hard to eat, and their accompanying rice and black beans lack flavor. I suspect a perfectly cooked grilled pork chop that arrives at my table would be good if it and the spicy cheese grits it rests on aren’t too salty to eat.

Desserts at Addie’s come from the “more is more” school. Salted caramel banana cream pie trifle sounds tantalizing but winds up a disappointing hodgepodge—it’s just too much. Not so the seven-layer Smith Island carrot cake dolled up with caramel sauce, candied pecans, toffee, butter pecan ice cream and a garnish of dried carrot strips. It reminds me of the homeyness of the old Addie’s. But given the creature comforts you find at the Park Potomac iteration, I say long live the boisterous new one. n David Hagedorn is the restaurant critic for Bethesda Magazine.

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BY DAVID HAGEDORN

PASTA PRIMO

WHEN CHEF TONY CONTE left behind the world of big-city fine-dining and opened 39-seat Inferno Pizzeria Napoletana in Darnestown two years ago, it was always his intention to put his refined cooking cred to good use by offering special dinners from time to time, apart from his regular menu of small plates and wood-fired pizzas. (The Culinary Institute of America grad worked under chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten in New York City and helmed The Oval Room in Washington, D.C., for more than eight years.)

Pasta-making is so meticulous, Conte says, that he doesn’t include it regularly on the menu. Instead, he gives himself the time to do the job right on a Tuesday—a night the pizzeria is normally closed— through occasional six-course pasta tasting dinners. “I got a pasta extruder and a sheeter, so I needed to use them for more than an occasional special,” says the chef.

“These dinners give me a chance to do something different.” Past menus have included buffalo mozzarella triangoli with summer squash, pistachios and mint; toasted farro macaroni with braised pork and olives; and beet ravioli with poppy-seed butter, ash goat cheese and walnuts.

Conte plans to do a pasta tasting (possibly with other dishes) on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving, and one on Christmas Eve based on the Feast of the Seven Fishes.

There is always a tasting menu on New Year’s Eve. “Foie [gras], truffles, caviar, wagyu beef, lobster—we don’t hold back on the ingredients for New Year’s Eve,” Conte says.

Tasting dinners are $58 ($85 for New Year’s Eve), without drinks, tax or tip.

Reservations for pasta tastings are taken from 5:30 to 8 p.m. (It’s a good idea to get on their email list; dinners sell out fast.)

Inferno Pizzeria Napoletana, 12207 Darnestown Road, Darnestown; 301-963-0115, inferno-pizzeria.com

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PHOTOS BY SKIP BROWN

At a September tasting dinner at Inferno, chef Tony Conte and sous chef Angelina Coronel prepared pasta dishes in the open kitchen (opposite, top). Conte served six items, including burrata with watermelon marinara, mint and pickled chili (opposite, bottom) and hand-cut maltagliati with braised poultry, cabbage and hazelnuts (this page).

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RESERVING JUDGMENT ON JULY 1, BETHESDA’S Woodmont Grill stopped taking reservations, prompting us to ask several Montgomery County restaurateurs who don’t accept reservations at some or all of their establishments why that is.

It comes down to this: Margins are slim in restaurants, and empty seats can be financially ruinous.

Also, diners’ behavior contributes to the decision; no-showing, reserving at multiple eateries for the same night, and lateness often result in loss of business. Another problem: squatting, the restaurant term for staying at a table long after you’ve finished. If guests in the first seating stay beyond the time anticipated, the guests in the second seating have to wait—and guess who they blame? That’s right, the restaurateur, who often winds up giving them something free to appease them.

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ZACH HATEM

BO BLAIR

“It wasn’t until 2012 that we took reservations in the first place. We noticed that with reservations on weekdays, the wait was an hour or more for walk-ins. We felt we were alienating people who wanted to drop in and grab a quick bite. Also, we’d get calls for reservations and had to say we didn’t have that slot—a lot of saying no, no, no.

“We gave a 15-minute grace period—we’d seat you within 15 minutes of the reservation time. For a lot of people, that wasn’t good. They wanted their table immediately even though a large majority of them showed up 15 to 20 minutes late. We wanted to be able to control the flow more and decided to go back to our roots: first-come, firstserved. Wait times during the week have decreased to 15 to 30 minutes from 60 to 90 minutes.”

“People are staying longer at the table and there is nothing we can do to get them up. Also, there has been a huge increase in people booking at a lot of places at the same time and canceling at the last minute, if they cancel at all. Plus, people being 10, 15, 20 minutes late. If someone is 20 minutes late and other people are left waiting, that’s a big problem. Having empty tables during the peak hours makes it impossible for a restaurant to make money.”

general manager, Woodmont Grill

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co-owner, Millie’s, Upper Northwest D.C.

JEFF BLACK

chef and owner, Black Restaurant Group “Small restaurants can’t absorb no-shows, and employees’ livelihoods are based on those people showing up. And if you take reservations and you’re not handling them properly, you’re in trouble. If the restaurant is empty and then people show up all at once, it’s a problem. It’s a high-wire act to balance these elements.”

ROBERTO PIETROBONO

co-owner, Alatri Bros., Gringos & Mariachis and Olazzo “We seat 65 people [at Bethesda’s Gringos & Mariachis] and we can’t afford to keep empty tables. We wouldn’t survive. People get upset if they see empty tables and you say they are reserved. Yes, you get complaints at first with a no-reservations policy. Certain people will not go to places that don’t take them—the elderly, for instance, and they have a valid concern. But eventually, with any restaurant, you get the people your restaurant caters to, people who are willing to wait and enjoy the scene.”

LOVING LUCY

MARRIED COUPLE MEKONNEN ABRAHAM and Seble Lemma, the co-owners of Lucy Restaurant in Silver Spring since 2012, are soon opening their second outlet in Bethesda, in the former Grapeseed space. He runs the business and she is the chef.

Together they plan to lay out Ethiopian delights such as doro wat (lush chicken stew), awaze tibs (spiced lamb stew) and injera (spongy, tangy Ethiopian bread), and serve up Lemma’s specialty, girgiro, a dish of zesty red-wine marinated beef, tomatoes and onions served bubbling hot over an open flame. We caught up with them to ask about the new spot.

Why Bethesda?

Abraham: There aren’t any Ethiopian restaurants in Bethesda, but there are a lot of them in Silver Spring.

We saw a need there. Now, people in Bethesda won’t have to travel that far for Ethiopian food.

What is something you want people to know about Ethiopian food?

Abraham: That it is very healthful. We have a lot of gluten-free and vegetarian and vegan dishes because they are part of Ethiopian food, like shiro wot [lentil and chickpea stew], miser wot [red lentil stew], collard greens, yatakilt wot [made with string beans, carrots and potatoes], azifa [green lentil salad].

Raw beef is so integral in Ethiopian cooking.

Where do you source it?

Abraham: We buy the beef from a butcher in New Jersey.

I don’t like buying meat with preservatives in it. This meat is fresh from there to our cooler. The freshness is very important for kitfo [spiced raw ground beef]. I go once a week to get it myself.

Some diners say it takes a long time to get their food at Lucy. Will that be an issue in Bethesda?

Lemma: When people come to Lucy, it takes a little longer to get the food, but the customers almost always say it is worth the wait. We do prep as we go so it’s fresher. A lot of ingredients lose their flavor quickly, like tomatoes. We don’t prep big quantities ahead of time, so it takes longer.

Will there be live entertainment, like in Silver Spring?

PHOTO BY MICHAEL VENTURA

Abraham: If there is a market for it, but not when we open.

Will you have the Sunday evening coffee ceremony in Bethesda as in Silver Spring?

Lemma: Yes. Around 6 on Sunday. The coffee, the roasting of the beans, the cups, the pot, it is so important to our culture. The Sunday ceremony is like a social gathering. It’s like the whole restaurant is a family.

Lucy Restaurant owners Seble Lemma, left, and Mekonnen Abraham are bringing their Ethiopian fare to Bethesda.

Lucy Restaurant, 8301 Georgia Ave., Silver Spring, 301-589-6700; 4865 Cordell Ave., Bethesda; lucyethiopianrestaurantgeorgia.eat24hour.com BETHESDAMAGAZINE.COM | NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2017

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&

COMINGS GOINGS Burger chain Shake Shack announced plans to open its first Montgomery County outpost in the Cabin John Shopping Center in late 2018.

Local Korean barbecue chain Honey Pig will open in Rockville’s Montrose Crossing shopping center in the spring.

Stromboli Italian restaurant on Wisconsin Avenue in Chevy Chase closed in September after a 37-year run. The owner of Moby Dick House of Kabob next door plans to move into the Stromboli space. Moby Dick's owner also plans to reopen

Stromboli in the old Moby Dick space next year.

Suma in Bethesda closed suddenly in early September.

A sign on the door said they would reopen in a month after renovations.

Oriental East, a Silver Spring destination for dim sum for 27 years, closed in September.

The Pike & Rose outlet of La Madeleine, a chain of fast-casual French cafés, was shuttered in August.

RECENTLY OPENED: Check out our Dining Guide for details on Buredo (Bethesda) and La Limeña Grill (Rockville). n

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8/24/17 1:56 PM

FABULOUS FEASTS FOUND HERE

IT’S THE SEASON TO BE THANKFUL

Whether your holiday menu is steeped in the classics or has a more modern flair, you’ll find all the solutions for a fabulous feast at Balducci's. Our exceptional fresh turkey selection has something for every taste, while our Chef Prepared sides and Catering can fill out the rest of your menu, from potatoes to pies.

YOU MAKE THE MEAL, WE’LL MAKE THE MEMORIES.

ALEXANDRIA | BETHESDA | McLEAN balduccis.com

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BY BRIAN PATTERSON L’Academie de Cuisine | lacademie.com

the right stuff

Serve a dish studded with cranberries and chestnuts for the holidays

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Renaissance Stuffing Baking the stuffing separately from the turkey is safer than cooking it inside the turkey, and the result is tastier stuffing and a tastier turkey.

DIFFICULTY LEVEL

ON THE CLOCK

SERVINGS

1 hour

10

2

3

5

6

(some ingredients have to be prepped two days earlier)

Ingredients 2 tablespoons canola oil 1 cup sliced mushrooms (button, shiitake or oyster) ½ teaspoon salt 1 onion, diced

Directions

1 carrot, diced

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

2 celery stalks, diced

2. Heat a sauté pan over high heat. Add the canola oil and when it’s hot, add the mushrooms. Cook until the mushrooms take a deep brown color and are almost crisp, then add ½ teaspoon salt. Drain off the fat and set mushrooms aside.

½ cup (1 stick) softened butter, plus 2 tablespoons 6 eggs salt, pepper and cayenne to taste

3. Combine the onion, carrot and celery in a bowl. Heat a skillet over medium heat and add 2 tablespoons butter. Add the vegetables to the skillet with a pinch of salt.

Cook, stirring often, for 10 minutes or until softened. Remove from heat.

½ cup canned, frozen or raw chestnuts (shells removed)

4. In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs and stock. Season the mixture with salt, pepper and cayenne.

2 cups chicken stock (more if needed)

PHOTOS BY STACY ZARIN-GOLDBERG

Note: Raisins need to be soaked for 12 hours, and cornbread and wheat bread need to air-dr y for two days.

1 cup fresh cranberries ½ cup raisins soaked in brandy or cognac for 12 hours 1 pound cornbread, sliced into 1-inch cubes and set out to air-dry for two days 1 pound wheat bread, sliced into 1-inch cubes and set out to air-dry for two days ½ cup chopped fresh herbs (any combination of sage, parsley, thyme or oregano)

5. Add the carrots, celery, onion, one stick of butter, chestnuts, cranberries, raisins and all but one cup of each type of bread cubes. Toss, making sure the butter is evenly distributed throughout. The mixture should be moist, not sopping wet or crumbly dry.

Adjust consistency by either adding more bread or more stock. Add the herbs.

6. Line a lasagna pan or other baking dish with buttered parchment paper (buttered side up) and add the stuffing mixture. Cover with aluminum foil.

7. Bake for approximately one hour until the stuffing reaches an internal temperature of 145 degrees. n BETHESDAMAGAZINE.COM | NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2017

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DINING GUIDE

CHECK OUT THE ONLINE VERSION OF THE DINING GUIDE AT BETHESDAMAGAZINE.COM

BETHESDA AJI-NIPPON 6937 Arlington Road, 301-654-0213. A calm oasis on a busy street, where chef Kazuo Honma serves patrons several kinds of sushi, sashimi, noodle soups, teriyaki and more. Try a dinner box, which includes an entrée, vegetables, California roll, tempura and rice. L D $$

ALATRI BROS. (EDITORS’ PICK) 4926 Cordell Ave., 301-718-6427, alatribros.com.

The folks behind Olazzo and Gringos & Mariachis bought Mia’s Pizzas and revamped it with a new name and décor. They kept the Naples-style pies that come from a wood-burning oven, but added small plates and healthy options. Sit in the cheery dining room with green, gray and white accents or under an umbrella on the patio.  L D $$

AMERICAN TAP ROOM 7278 Woodmont Ave., 301- 656-1366, americantap room.com. Here’s a classic grill menu featuring sliders, wings and craft beer. Entrées range from BBQ Glazed Meatloaf Dinner with whipped potatoes and green beans to the lighter Crabmeat Omelet. ❂  R L D $$

&PIZZA 7614 Old Georgetown Road, 240-800-4783, andpizza.com. Create your own designer pizza from a choice of three crusts, three cheeses and eight sauces or spreads. Toppings for the thin, crispy crusts range from the usual suspects to falafel crumbles, fig marsala and pineapple salsa. This location of the hip, fast-casual chain has limited seating. L D $

BACCHUS OF LEBANON 7945 Norfolk Ave., 301-657-1722, 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, bkkgarden. com. This real-deal, family-run Thai restaurant turns out authentic cuisine, including curries, soups and noodle dishes, in a dining room decorated with traditional statues of the gods. L D $

THE BARKING DOG 4723 Elm St., 301-654-0022, barkingdogbar.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 $

BARREL + CROW 4867 Cordell Ave., 240-800-3253, barrelandcrow. com. Contemporary regional and southern cuisine served in a comfortable setting with charcoal gray banquettes and elements of wood and brick. Menu highlights include Maryland crab beignets, shrimp

and grits croquettes and Virginia trout. ❂ R L D $$

Key

BEEFSTEAK 7101 Democracy Blvd. (Westfield Montgomery mall), 301-365-0608, beefsteakveggies.com. The fastcasual spot from chef José Andrés is heavily focused on seasonal vegetables for build-your-own bowls and salads (or pick one of their suggested combinations).

Toppings such as poached egg, chicken sausage and salt-cured salmon are also in the lineup. L D $

BENIHANA

Price designations are for a threecourse dinner for two including tip and tax, but excluding alcohol.

7935 Wisconsin Ave., 301-652-5391, benihana. com. Experience dinner-as-theater as the chef chops and cooks beef, chicken, vegetables and seafood tableside on the hibachi. This popular national chain serves sushi, too. The kids’ menu includes a California roll and hibachi chicken, steak and shrimp entrées. J L D $$

$ $$ $$$ $$$$ b  B R L D

BETHESDA CRAB HOUSE 4958 Bethesda Ave., 301-652-3382, bethesdacrab house.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. ❂ L D $$

BETHESDA CURRY KITCHEN 4860 Cordell Ave., 301-656-0062, bethesda currykitchen.com. The restaurant offers 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 $

BGR: THE BURGER JOINT 4827 Fairmont Ave., 301-358-6137, bgrtheburger joint.com. The burgers are good and the vibe is great at this frequently packed eatery next to Veterans Park. Try the veggie burger, made with a blend of brown rice, black beans, molasses and oats. ❂ J L D $

BISTRO LAZEEZ 8009 Norfolk Ave., 301-652-8222, bistrolazeez. com. Reasonably priced Mediterranean cuisine served in a small, attractive space. Don’t miss the grilled pita and the signature BLZ Chicken Medley, with a grilled, marinated chicken thigh, drumstick and wing basted in a zesty sauce. ❂JLD$

BISTRO PROVENCE (EDITORS’ PICK) 4933 Fairmont Ave., 301-656-7373, bistroprovence.org. Chef Yannick Cam brings his formidable experience to a casual French bistro with a lovely courtyard. The Dinner Bistro Fare, served daily from 5 to 6:30 p.m., offers a choice of appetizer, main course and dessert for $35. ❂ R L D $$$

BLACK’S BAR & KITCHEN (EDITORS’ PICK) 7750 Woodmont Ave., 301-652-5525, blacksbar andkitchen.com. Customers count on the impeccable use of fresh and local ingredients and

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up to $50 $51-$100 $101-$150 $151+ Outdoor Dining Children’s Menu Breakfast Brunch Lunch Dinner

enjoy dining on the expansive patio. The bar draws crowds for happy hour. ❂ R L D $$$

BOLD BITE 4903 Cordell Ave., 301-951-2653, boldbite.net.

Made-to-order hickory-smoked burgers, fried-chicken sandwiches, salads and milkshakes top the menu at this casual spot. A mix of barstools, booths and small tables offers 60 seats. J L D $

BRICKSIDE FOOD & DRINK 4866 Cordell Ave., 301-312-6160, brickside bethesda.com. Prohibition-era drinks meet Italian bar bites and entrées. Dishes range from fried pork and waffles to short ribs. Try one of the colorfully named punches, which include Pink Murder Punch and Snow Cone Punch. ❂ R L D $$

BUREDO (NEW) 10219 Old Georgetown Road (Wildwood Shopping Center), 240-483-0530, eatburedo.com. Seaweed stands in for tortillas in the sushi-and-rice burritos at this fast-casual spot, part of a local chain. Try the Beatrix, which combines sweet, savory and crunchy—fresh salmon and tuna are bathed in unagi sauce and topped with tempura crunch. ❂LD$

CADDIES ON CORDELL 4922 Cordell Ave., 301-215-7730, caddieson cordell.com. Twentysomethings gather at this golfthemed spot to enjoy beer and wings specials in a casual, rowdy atmosphere that frequently spills onto the large patio. ❂ J R L D $

CAFÉ DELUXE 4910 Elm St., 301-656-3131, cafedeluxe.com. This local chain serves bistro-style American comfort food in a fun and noisy setting with wood fans and colorful, oversized European liquor posters. Menu options include burgers, entrées, four varieties of

dine flatbread and mussels served three different ways. ❂ J R L D $$

CAVA MEZZE GRILL 4832 Bethesda Ave., 301-656-1772, 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. Housemade juices and teas provide a healthful beverage option. ❂ LD$

CESCO OSTERIA 7401 Woodmont Ave., 301-654-8333, cesco-osteria.com. Longtime chef Francesco Ricchi turns out Tuscan specialties, including pizza, pasta and foccacia in a big, jazzy space. Stop by the restaurant’s Co2 Lounge for an artisan cocktail before dinner. ❂ L D $$

CHEF TONY’S 4926 St. Elmo Ave., 301-654-3737, cheftonys bethesda.com. Chef-owner Tony Marciante focuses on Mediterranean seafood tapas, offering dishes ranging from fish and seafood to chicken, steak and pasta. Desserts include Drunken Strawberries and Classic Creme Brulée. J R L D $$

CITY LIGHTS OF CHINA 4953 Bethesda Ave., 301-913-9501, bethesda citylights.com. Longtime Chinese eatery serves familiar Sichuan and Beijing fare, including six types of dumplings and seven handmade noodle dishes. Red walls and chocolate-colored booths give the place a sharp look. L D $$

COMMUNITY RESTAURANT & LOUNGE 7776 Norfolk Ave., 301-272-9050, communitybethesda.com. Mark Bucher, founder of the BGR burger and Medium Rare chains, describes Community as “a Miami Beach-Palm Beach coffee shop of the ’40s with American comfort classics” and a sophisticated cocktail menu. The expansive street-level space in the 7770 Norfolk luxury apartment building is filled with color and light—orange chairs, wood paneling, floor-to-ceiling windows. No time to sit down? A walk-up window sells coffee and doughnuts. ❂ J B L D $$

COOPER’S MILL 5151 Pooks Hill Road, 301-897-9400, coopersmillrestaurant.com/bethesda. The restaurant showcases a modern, stylish menu with stone-oven flatbreads, homemade tater tots and locally sourced produce. Local beers on draft and by the bottle, plus regional bourbon and gin.

Happy hour and private dining are offered.

B R L D $$

THE CORNER SLICE 7901 Norfolk Ave., 301-907-7542, thecornerslice. net. New York-style pizza, available by the slice or as a 20-inch pie. Specialty pizzas include the spinachartichoke white pie with ricotta, mozzarella and parmesan and the Buffalo Chicken Pie with blue cheese and hot sauce. ❂ L D $

CRAVE 7101 Democracy Blvd., Suite 1530 (Westfield Montgomery mall), 301-469-9600, cravebethesda. com. Minnesota-based chainlet offers an eclectic melting pot of American dishes, including bison burgers, lobster-and-shrimp flatbread and kogi beef tacos. The restaurant is also known for its extensive selection of wine and sushi. J L D $$

DAILY GRILL One Bethesda Metro Center, 301-656-6100, dailygrill.com. Everyone from families to expenseaccount 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 10321 Westlake Drive, 301-347-6175; donpollogroup.com. Juicy, spiced birds and reasonable prices make this Peruvian chicken eatery a go-to place any night of the week. Family meals that serve four or six people are available. ❂ LD$

DUCK DUCK GOOSE 7929 Norfolk Ave., 301-312-8837, ddgbethesda. com. Thirty-five-seat French brasserie owned by chef Ashish Alfred. Small plates include steak tartare, and squid ink spaghetti with Manila clams and Fresno chilies. Among the entrées, look for updates of French classics, such as dry-aged duck with Bing cherries, and halibut with scallop mousse and puff pastry. ❂ L D $$

FARYAB AFGHAN CUISINE 4917 Cordell Ave., 301-951-3484. After closing for more than a year, Faryab reopened in 2017 and serves well-prepared Afghani country food, including Afghanistan’s answer to Middle Eastern kabobs, vegetarian entrées and unique sautéed pumpkin dishes, in a whitewashed dining room with native art on the walls. D $$

FISH TACO 10305 Old Georgetown Road (Wildwood Shopping Center), 301-564-6000, fishtacoonline.com. This counter-service taqueria features a full roster of seafood as well as non-aquatic tacos, plus margaritas and other Mexican specialties.

JLD$

FLANAGAN'S HARP & FIDDLE 4844 Cordell Ave., 301-951-0115, flanagansharp andfiddle.com. This stylish pub features live music several days a week, 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 $$

GARDEN GRILLE & BAR 7301 Waverly St. (Hilton Garden Inn), 301-6548111. Aside from a breakfast buffet featuring cooked-to-order omelets, waffles, fruit and more, the restaurant offers an extensive menu, from burgers to crabcakes, short ribs and pasta dishes.

J B D $$

GRINGOS & MARIACHIS (EDITORS’ PICK) 4928 Cordell Ave., 240-800-4266, gringosand mariachis.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 and plenty of tequila.

LD$

GUAPO’S RESTAURANT 8130 Wisconsin Ave., 301-656-0888, guapos restaurant.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, guardados.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 $

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GUSTO FARM TO STREET 7101 Democracy Blvd. (Westfield Montgomery mall), 301-312-6509; 4733 Elm St., 240-3966398; eatgusto.com. The fast-casual eatery aims to serve healthy fare, with a focus on pizzas and salads. The menu includes suggested combos but you can also build your own. Pizza crust comes in cauliflower, whole grain or traditional, and housemade dressings top heirloom tomatoes, butternut squash and other salad items. ❂ (Elm Street location only). L D $

HANARO RESTAURANT & LOUNGE 7820 Norfolk Ave., 301-654-7851, hanarobethesda. com. The restaurant’s modern dark woods combined with a light-filled dining room brighten its corner location, and the menu includes sushi and Asian fusion main courses such as pad Thai and galbi (Korean ribs). The bar offers a daily happy hour. ❂ L D $$

HECKMAN’S DELICATESSEN & BAR 4914 Cordell Ave., 240-800-4879, heckmans deli.com. The deli features all the staples, plus a dinner menu with chicken-in-a-pot and stuffed cabbage. Menu offers long lists of ingredients to build your own salads, sandwiches and egg dishes.

Sweets include rugelach, black-and-white cookies and homemade cheesecake. ❂ J B L D $

HIMALAYAN HERITAGE 4925 Bethesda Ave., 301-654-1858, himalayan heritagedc.com. The menu includes North Indian, Nepali, Indo-Chinese and Tibetan cuisines, featuring momos (Nepalese dumplings), Indian takes on Chinese chow mein and a large selection of curry dishes. L D $

HOUSE OF FOONG LIN 4613 Willow Lane, 301-656-3427, foonglin.com.

The Chinese restaurant features Cantonese, Hunan and Sichuan cuisine, including chef’s recommendations, low-fat choices and lots of traditional noodle dishes. 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. Chef “M&M” Kang prepares home-style fare such as bulgogi, galbi and bibimbap. The kids’ menu has one item: spaghetti, made from the recipe of owner Thomas Kang’s former college roommate’s mother.

JLD$

THE IRISH INN AT GLEN ECHO 6119 Tulane Ave., 301-229-6600, irishinnglenecho. com. This historic tavern has been a family home and a biker bar, but its incarnation as the Irish Inn has been delivering smiles and hearty food since 2003. Traditional Irish music on Monday nights and The 19th Street Band on every other Wednesday night, plus live jazz on Thursday nights. ❂ J R L D $$

JALEO (EDITORS’ PICK) 7271 Woodmont Ave., 301-913-0003, 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 2017. ❂ R L D $$

JETTIES 4829 Fairmont Ave., 301-769-6844, jettiesdc. com. The only suburban location of the popular Nantucket-inspired sandwich shop, which has five restaurants in Northwest Washington, D.C. Aside

from the signature Nobadeer sandwich (roasted turkey and stuffing with cranberry sauce and mayonnaise on sourdough), look for large salads and an innovative children’s menu. ❂ J L D $

KADHAI (EDITORS’ PICK) 7905 Norfolk Ave., 301-718-0121, kadhai.com.

This popular Indian restaurant formerly known as Haandi serves a variety of traditional chicken, lamb and seafood dishes, plus rice and vegetarian dishes and a selection of breads. An extensive lunch buffet is offered daily. ❂ L D $$

KAPNOS KOUZINA (EDITORS’ PICK) 4900 Hampden Lane, 301-986-8500, kapnos kouzina.com. This is chef Mike Isabella’s first foray into Maryland and the second outpost based on Kapnos, his D.C. restaurant that spotlights Greek spreads, salads, small plates and roasted meats.

Not to be missed are the pyde, puffed pillows of bread. They are best as spread-dipping vehicles; crusts for topped, pizza-like flatbreads; or sandwich casings for souvlakis. ❂ R L D $$

LA PANETTERIA 4921 Cordell Ave., 301-951-6433, lapanetteria. com. La Panetteria transports diners into a quaint Italian villa with its impeccable service and Old World atmosphere, serving such Southern and Northern Italian classic dishes as homemade spaghetti and veal scaloppine. L D $$

LE PAIN QUOTIDIEN 7140 Bethesda Lane, 301-913-2902; 10217 Old Georgetown Road (Wildwood Shopping Center), 240-752-8737, lepainquotidien.com. New Yorkbased Belgian-born bakery/restaurant chain with

farmhouse vibe, featuring organic breads, European breakfast and dessert pastries, savory egg dishes, soups, Belgian open-faced sandwiches, entrée salads, wine and Belgian beer by the bottle. ❂ JBRLD$

LE VIEUX LOGIS 7925 Old Georgetown Road, 301-652-6816, levieuxlogisrestaurantmd.com. The colorful exterior will draw you into this family-run Bethesda institution, but classic French dishes such as Dover sole meunière and mussels in a white wine broth will keep you coming back. ❂ D $$$

LEBANESE TAVERNA 7141 Arlington Road, 301-951-8681, lebanese taverna.com. This 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 Middle Eastern Restaurant” by Bethesda Magazine readers in 2016. ❂ J L D $$

LOUISIANA KITCHEN & BAYOU BAR 4907 Cordell Ave., 301-652-6945, louisiana bethesda.com. The popular Bethesda institution offers a Cajun- and Creole-style menu, complete with divine fried items. 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, lukeslobster. com. This upscale carryout features authentic lobster, shrimp and crab rolls; the seafood is shipped directly from Maine. Try the Taste of Maine,

which offers all three kinds of rolls, plus two crab claws.❂ L D $

MAKI BAR 6831 Wisconsin Ave. (Shops of Wisconsin), 301907-9888, makibarbethesda.com. This tiny 30-seat Japanese restaurant and sushi bar offers 60-plus kinds of maki rolls, categorized as Classic (tuna roll), Crunch Lover (spicy crunch California roll) and Signature (eel, avocado, tobiko, crab), along with sushi, sashimi, noodle bowls and rice-based entrées. L D $$

MAMMA LUCIA 4916 Elm St., 301-907-3399, mammalucia restaurants.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. Gluten-free options available. ❂ L D $$

MEDIUM RARE 4904 Fairmont Ave., 301-215-8739, mediumrare restaurant.com. A prix fixe menu that comes with bread, salad, steak and fries is the sole option at this small chain outpost (there are two Medium Rares in D.C.). Desserts cost extra. Weekend brunch also features a prix fixe menu. D $$

MOBY DICK HOUSE OF KABOB 7027 Wisconsin Ave., 301-654-1838, mobyskabob. com. This kabob takeout/eat-in mainstay was one of the first kabob places in the area. It makes its own pita bread. The menu includes a variety of salads and vegetarian sandwiches and platters. L D $

SHOP OUR MARKET

“I’ll have two desserts and a Mimosa please.”

SEAFOOD BUTCHER BAKERY RAW BAR CATERING COUNTER

Start with a drink. Then add an appetizer and an entrée. Or two appetizers. Or an entrée and dessert.

Or two desserts.

SIDEWALK DINING

It’s up to you.

Sundays – 11:30 a.m. – 2 p.m. $31

lafermerestaurant.com 301-986-5255

1073 SEVEN LOCKS ROAD • POTOMAC, MD 20854 301.251.6355 BETHESDAMAGAZINE.COM | NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2017

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dine MODERN MARKET 4930 Elm St., 240-800-4733, modernmarket. com. Open for breakfast, lunch and dinner daily, this Bethesda Row eatery is part of a Denver-based chain. The focus is on seasonal, from-scratch fare and ingredients such as nitrate- and hormonefree bacon. Sandwiches, soups, salads and pizza dominate the menu. ❂ J B R L D $

MOMO CHICKEN & GRILL 4862 Cordell Ave., Bethesda, 240-483-0801, momofc.com. Skip the breasts, and head for the wings or drumsticks at Bethesda’s first Korean fried chicken spot. Options such as seafood pancakes, bulgogi and bibimbap are part of the extensive offerings, all served in a hip space with framed record albums gracing the walls. ❂ J L D $$

MON AMI GABI 7239 Woodmont Ave., 301-654-1234, 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. Live jazz Tuesday and Thursday nights. ❂ J R L D $$

MORTON’S, THE STEAKHOUSE 7400 Wisconsin Ave., 301-657-2650, mortons. com. An ultra-sophisticated 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.

L D $$$

MUSSEL BAR & GRILLE 7262 Woodmont Ave., 301-215-7817, 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, a list that was voted “Best Beer Selection” by Bethesda Magazine readers in 2017. ❂ R L D $$

NOT YOUR AVERAGE JOE’S 10400 Old Georgetown Road, 240-316-4555, notyouraveragejoes.com. This Massachusettsbased chain’s moderately priced menu offers burgers, big salads and stone-hearth pizzas, plus entrées including Anything But Average Meatloaf. ❂ J L D $$

OAKVILLE GRILLE & WINE BAR (EDITORS’ PICK) 10257 Old Georgetown Road (Wildwood Shopping Center), 301-897-9100, oakvillewinebar.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 continues to do it well. L D $$

OLAZZO (EDITORS’ PICK) 7921 Norfolk Ave., 301-654-9496, olazzo.com.

This well-priced, romantic restaurant is the place for couples seeking red-sauce classics at reasonable prices. Founded by brothers Riccardo and Roberto Pietrobono, it was voted “Best Italian Restaurant”

by Bethesda Magazine readers in 2016. ❂ L D $$

ORIGINAL PANCAKE HOUSE 7700 Wisconsin Ave., Store D, 301-986-0285, ophrestaurants.com. Try one of dozens of pancake dishes, as well as eggs and waffles galore.

JBL$

PASSAGE TO INDIA (EDITORS’ PICK) 4931 Cordell Ave., 301-656-3373, passagetoindia. info. Top-notch, pan-Indian fare by chef-owner Sudhir Seth, with everything from garlic naan to fish curry made to order. Voted “Best Indian Restaurant” by Bethesda Magazine readers in 2016. ❂ R L D $$

PASSIONFISH BETHESDA 7187 Woodmont Ave., 301-358-6116, passionfish bethesda.com. The second location of Passion Food Hospitality’s splashy seafood restaurant features stunning coastal-themed décor and an extensive menu of shellfish, caviar, sushi, chef’s specialties and fresh catches of the day. Voted “Best Happy Hour” by Bethesda Magazine readers in 2017.

J L D $$$

PAUL 4760 Bethesda Ave., 301-656-3285, paul-usa. com. Fifth-generation, family-owned French bakery becomes an international chain, with locations in close to 35 countries. Aside from breads and pastries, look for soups, sandwiches and quiche. ❂BLD$

PENANG MALAYSIAN & THAI CUISINE & BAR 4933 Bethesda Ave., 301-657-2878, penang maryland.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, persimmon restaurant.com. Owners Damian and Stephanie Salvatore’s popular restaurant offers casual fare from salads to sandwiches to meat and seafood entrées in a bistro setting featuring a lively bar, cozy booths and bright paintings on the walls. ❂ R L D $$

PINES OF ROME 4918 Cordell Ave., 301-657-8775. Longtime Italian restaurant, formerly on Hampden Lane, still serves traditional pasta, pizza, fish and seafood at prices that are easy on the wallet. The white pizza is a hit, and don’t forget the spaghetti and meatballs. L D$

PI PIZZERIA 7137 Wisconsin Ave., 240-800-3822, pi-pizza.com.

St. Louis-based chain serving thin-crust pizza and deep-dish cornmeal-crust pizza, the latter of which has a thick layer of tomato sauce on top. Customize your own or go for the specialty pies, such as the Southside classic deep pie with Berkshire sausage, mozzarella, onions, green peppers and mushrooms.

LD$

PIZZA TEMPO 8021 Wisconsin Ave., 240-497-0000, 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.

LD$

PIZZERIA DA MARCO (EDITORS’ PICK) 8008 Woodmont Ave., 301-654-6083, pizzeria damarco.net. Authentic Neapolitan pizzas fired in a 900-degree Italian brick oven range from the Siciliana with eggplant confit and black olives to the Solo Carne with sausage, pepperoni and salame.

Salads, antipasti and calzones available, too. ❂LD$

POSITANO RISTORANTE ITALIANO 4940-48 Fairmont Ave., 301-654-1717, 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

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the outdoor patio is one of the most beautiful in the county. ❂ L D $$

PRALINE BAKERY & BISTRO 4611 Sangamore Road, 301-229-8180, praline-bakery.com. This sunny restaurant offers 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. ❂ J B R L D $$

Q BY PETER CHANG (EDITORS’ PICK) 4500 East West Highway, 240-800-3722, qbypeterchang.com. Notable chef Peter Chang’s high-end flagship restaurant offers traditional Chinese dishes in an attractive, modern space.

Peking duck, double-cooked pork belly and other authentic Sichuan cuisine are served, and some dishes are “ultimate spicy” for brave palates. ❂ J L D $$

RAKU (EDITORS’ PICK) 7240 Woodmont Ave., 301-718-8680, rakuasian dining.com. Voted “Best Restaurant in Bethesda”

by Bethesda Magazine readers in 2017, 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 $$

REDWOOD RESTAURANT & BAR 7121 Bethesda Lane, 301-656-5515, redwood bethesda.com. The upscale wine bar features fresh, local food and California-centric wines. Redwood features a frequently changing menu and in-season farmers market dinners. ❂ J R L D $$

RICE PADDIES GRILL & PHO 4706 Bethesda Ave., 301-718-1862, ricepaddies grill.com. This cute copper-and-green eat-in/carryout makes quick work of Vietnamese favorites such as pork, beef and vegetable skewers infused with lemongrass and the classic beef noodle soup known as pho. L D $

ROCK BOTTOM RESTAURANT & BREWERY 7900 Norfolk Ave., 301-652-1311, rockbottom.com.

India Pale Ales and specialty dark brews are among the award-winning beers crafted in-house at this cavernous yet welcoming chain, which offers a vast menu. The burgers are the real deal. ❂ J L D $$

RUTH’S CHRIS STEAK HOUSE 7315 Wisconsin Ave., 301-652-7877, ruthschris. com. A dark and clubby feel makes this elegant chain popular with families as well as the happyhour crowd. Don’t skip the fresh seafood choices, which include Caribbean lobster tail and barbecued shrimp. D $$$

SALA THAI 4828 Cordell Ave., 301-654-4676, 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. ❂ L D $

SATSUMA 8003 Norfolk Ave., 301-652-1400, satsumajp. com. 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 BAO KITCHEN 7101 Democracy Blvd. (Westfield Montgomery mall), 301-365-8866, shanghaiveggies.com. A fast-casual concept offering steamed, then panfried buns (bao) with pork or vegetable fillings, and chicken or shrimp dumplings that share the bill with create-your-own rice noodle or garlic-rice bowls loaded up with veggies, proteins, toppings and sauces. 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 $

SHANGRI-LA NEPALESE AND INDIAN CUISINE 7345-A Wisconsin Ave., 301-656-4444, shangrila bethesda.com. Northern Indian and Nepali specialties such as butter chicken and fresh flatbreads known as naan shine here. The extensive menu ranges from soups and salads to tandoori and kabobs.J L D $

SHARE WINE LOUNGE & SMALL PLATE BISTRO 8120 Wisconsin Ave. (DoubleTree Hotel), 301-652-2000, doubletreebethesda.com/dining. aspx. 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 $$

confit sausage and caramelized onions. The outdoor patio is spacious and inviting. ❂ R L D $$

SWEETGREEN

SILVER 7150 Woodmont Ave., 301-652-9780, eatatsilver. com. Upscale, tonier version of the homegrown Silver Diner chain, with modern takes on American classics and an emphasis on healthy, local and organic ingredients. Sleek interior takes its cue from the 1920s. ❂ J B R L D $$

4831 Bethesda Ave.301-654-7336, sweetgreen. com. The sweetgreen fast-casual chain—with its focus on local and organic ingredients— concentrates on salads (devise your own, or pick from a list) and soups. Look for eco-friendly décor and a healthy sensibility. ❂ L D $

TAKO GRILL

SMOKE BBQ BETHESDA 4858 Cordell Ave., 301-656-2011, smokebbq.com.

Pulled pork, beef brisket, smoked chicken, ribs and all the fixin’s, plus starters including smoked tomato soup and fried pickles served in a friendly, casual space. Delivery available for orders over $15. J L D $

SOUTH STREET STEAKS 4856 Cordell Ave., 301-215-8333, southstreet steaks.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 $

SUMA RESTAURANT AND BAR 4921 Bethesda Ave., 301-718-6378, suma bethesda.com. Seasonal modern American cooking from chef Gene Sohn, formerly of Mussel Bar & Grille. Dishes include spicy sesame soy wings, deviled eggs with goat cheese, and challah-crusted fried chicken. Also find pizza, including one with duck

4914 Hampden Lane (The Shoppes of Bethesda), 301-652-7030, takogrill.com. Longtime, popular sushi destination relocated to the space formerly occupied by Hinode Japanese Restaurant. Look for the same traditional sushi menu, plus some new options, such as griddle-cooked teppanyaki at lunch, and more varieties of yakitori at dinner. L D $$

TANDOORI NIGHTS 7236 Woodmont Ave., 301-656-4002, tandoorinightsbethesda.com. Located in the heart of downtown Bethesda, the restaurant serves traditional Indian fare ranging from tandoori chicken, marinated in yogurt and spices, to a biryani flavored with saffron, nuts and raisins. ❂ L D $$

TAPABAR (EDITORS’ PICK) 4901-A Norfolk Ave., 240-483-4004, tapabarbethesda.com. This small-plates spot shares a kitchen with its sister eatery, Bold Bite.

Find reasonably priced tapas—from tomato, garlic and olive oil on toasted bread for $2 to a smoked octopus dish for $12—alongside main entrées such as Spanish seafood risotto. R L D $$

CATHEDRAL COMMONS

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CABIN JOHN SHOPPING CENTER

7943 Tuckerman Lane Potomac, MD 20854

Bella Moda Salon & Spa—Potomac 10118 River Rd Potomac, Md 20854 301-983-5545 potomac@bellamodasalonspa.com

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dine TAPP’D BETHESDA 4915 St. Elmo Ave., 240-630-8120, tappdbethesda.com. Beer-centric gastropub offering 40-plus beers on tap, 100-plus bottles and beer flights. Food menu includes standard American fare: soups and salads, char-grilled wings, beer-battered onion rings, burgers, brats and mains such as crab cakes, barbecue ribs and beer-can chicken pot pie.

Top it off with a root beer float. ❂ J L D $$

TARA THAI 7101 Democracy Blvd. (Westfield Montgomery mall), 301-657-0488, tarathai.com. Thai cuisine goes high style at Bethesda Magazine readers’ pick for “Best Thai Restaurant” in 2016. 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, tasteediner. com. For 80 years, this crowd-pleasing if slightly sagging spot has served up everything from breakfast to burgers to blue-plate specials such as steak and crab cakes to crowds of loyal customers.

Open 24 hours. J B L D $

TAYLOR GOURMET 7280 Woodmont Ave., 301-951-9001, taylorgourmet.com. The sandwich shop offers a menu of upscale takes on Philadelphia hoagies, sandwiches and salads made with top-notch ingredients. Check out the eggroll appetizer of mozzarella, provolone, hot capicola, Genoa salami, peppers and red onion. L D $

TIA QUETA 4839 Del Ray Ave., 301-654-4443, tiaqueta.com.

This longtime family and happy-hour favorite offers authentic Mexican food such as moles and fish dishes, as well as the usual Tex-Mex options. Drink menu includes American and Mexican beers. ❂ J L D $$

TOMMY JOE’S 7940 Norfolk Ave., 301-654-3801, tommyjoes. com. This Bethesda institution is now in the space formerly housing Urban Heights. The second-floor, window-filled corner location suits its sports bar persona, and the vast rooftop is ideal for outdoor drinking and snacking. Fare includes wings (Pohostyle, grilled and smoky, are a good option), burgers, crab cakes and ribs. Chunky brisket chili, on its own or on nachos, is a winner. ❂ L D $$

TRATTORIA SORRENTO (EDITORS’ PICK) 4930 Cordell Ave., 301-718-0344, trattoriasorrento. com. This family-run Italian favorite offers homemade pastas, baked eggplant and fresh fish dishes. Half-price bottles of wine on Wednesdays.

D $$

TRUE FOOD KITCHEN 7100 Wisconsin Ave., 240-200-1257, truefoodkitchen.com. Health-focused chain prides itself on serving fresh ingredients and features an open kitchen. The eclectic, multicultural menu changes from season to season, and includes sandwiches, salads and pizza. Beer, wine and freshfruit and vegetable cocktails are also available. ❂RLD$

TYBER BIERHAUS 7525 Old Georgetown Road, 240-821-6830, 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, schnitzel and goulash. R L D $$

UNCLE JULIO’S 4870 Bethesda Ave., 301-656-2981, 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.

Voted “Best Kid-Friendly Restaurant” by Bethesda Magazine readers in 2017. ❂ J R L D $$

VILLAIN & SAINT 7141 Wisconsin Ave., 240-800-4700, villainand saint.com. Listen to live music while digging into salt-roasted beets or slow-smoked pork ribs at this hip bar, courtesy of chef Robert Wiedmaier’s RW Restaurant Group. Delightfully dated décor includes lava lamps and photos of late great rock stars.

The menu is divided into hearty dishes (villain) and vegetarian options (saint). ❂ R L D $$

VINO VOLO 7247 Woodmont Ave., 301-656-0916, vinovolobethesdarow.com. This wine bar and shop features a rustic café serving small plates, cheeses and cured meats, salads, sandwiches, pizza and a few entrées. For dessert, there’s bourbon bread pudding, gelato or sorbetto. ❂ L D $$

VÜK 4924 St. Elmo Ave., 301-652-8000, vukpinball. com. VÜK owner (and MOM’S Organic Market CEO) Scott Nash consulted restaurateur Mark Bucher for the only thing offered on the short menu of his Bethesda pinball arcade other than Trickling Springs Creamery’s soft-serve ice cream: thin-crust New York-style pizza and thick-crust Sicilian pizza sold by the slice or as whole pies: cheese, sausage, pepperoni and mushroom/onion. L D $

WILDWOOD ITALIAN CUISINE 10257 Old Georgetown Road (Wildwood Shopping Center), 301-493-9230, wildwooditaliancuisine. com. The eatery, owned by the adjacent Oakville Grille & Wine Bar, serves up thick-crusted Sicilianstyle pizza, pasta and entrées in a casual atmosphere. ❂ L D $$

WILDWOOD KITCHEN (EDITORS’ PICK) 10223 Old Georgetown Road (Wildwood Shopping Center), 301-571-1700, wildwoodkitchenrw.com.

Chef Robert Wiedmaier’s attractive neighborhood bistro serving fresh and light modern cuisine.

Entrées range from Amish chicken with a scallion potato cake to grilled Atlantic salmon with creamy polenta. L D $$

WOODMONT GRILL (EDITORS’ PICK) 7715 Woodmont Ave., 301-656-9755, hillstone. com. Part of the Houston’s chain, the eatery offers such classics as spinach-and-artichoke dip and its famous burgers, but also house-baked breads, more exotic dishes, live jazz and a granite bar. ❂ L D $$$

WORLD OF BEER 7200 Wisconsin Ave., 240-389-9317, worldofbeer. com. Craft beer-focused tavern chain offers 50 brews on tap rotating daily and hundreds of bottled options. Food is classic pub fare, including hamburgers, wings and bratwurst sandwiches, as well as flatbreads and salads. ❂ J R L D $

YAMAS MEDITERRANEAN GRILL 4806 Rugby Ave., 301-312-8384, yamasgrill.com.

A friendly staff serves gyros, souvlaki, lemon chicken and other Greek specialties at this sunny café. Dinner entrées include Greek-style chicken and vegetarian mousaka. ❂ J L D $

YUZU 7345-B Wisconsin Ave., 301-656-5234, yuzu bethesda.com. Diners will find authentic Japanese

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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, fishtacoonline.com. See Bethesda listing. ❂JLD$

SAL’S ITALIAN KITCHEN (EDITORS’ PICK) 7945 MacArthur Blvd., 240-802-2370, salsitalian kitchen.net. Persimmon and Wild Tomato owners Damian and Stephanie Salvatore replaced their Asian concept Indigo House with a return to their roots. Find traditional Italian fare, such as bruschetta, risotto balls, Caprese salad, meatball subs, fettuccine Alfredo, chicken cacciatore and shrimp scampi. ❂ L D $$

WILD TOMATO (EDITORS’ PICK) 7945 MacArthur Blvd., 301-229-0680, wildtomato restaurant.com. A family-friendly neighborhood restaurant from Persimmon owners Damian and Stephanie Salvatore, serving salads, sandwiches and pizza. Voted “Best Neighborhood Restaurant”

by Bethesda Magazine readers in 2017. ❂JLD$

CHEVY CHASE ALFIO’S LA TRATTORIA 4515 Willard Ave., 301-657-9133, alfios.com.

This Northern Italian classic on the first floor of The Willoughby of Chevy Chase Condominium has been feeding families and casual diners for more than 30 years. Look for traditional pasta, veal and chicken dishes (plus pizza), served in an Old World environment. J L D $$

THE CAPITAL GRILLE 5310 Western Ave., 301-718-7812, 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.Entrées also include chicken, lamb chops, salmon and lobster. L D $$$$

CLYDE’S 5441 Wisconsin Ave., 301-951-9600, clydes. com. The popular restaurant 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 $$

DON POLLO 7007 Wisconsin Ave., 301-652-0001, donpolloonline.com. See Bethesda listing. L D $

FISH TACO 7015 Wisconsin Ave., 301-652-0010, fishtacoonline.com. See Bethesda listing. ❂JLD$

LA FERME (EDITORS’ PICK) 7101 Brookville Road, 301-986-5255, laferme restaurant.com. This charming Provence-style restaurant serving classic French cuisine is a popular choice for an intimate dinner. Cognac Le Bar at La Ferme, a bar within the restaurant, opened in fall 2016. The bar serves small plates, and cocktails include the French 75, with cognac, simple syrup, lemon juice and champagne. ❂ R L D $$$

LIA'S (EDITORS’ PICK) 4435 Willard Ave., 240-223-5427, chefgeoff.com.

Owner Geoff Tracy focuses on high-quality, lowfuss modern Italian-American fare at this modern space with a wine room. Pizzas, house-made pastas and fresh fish please business lunchers and dinner crowds. Voted “Best Restaurant in Chevy Chase” by Bethesda Magazine readers in 2017. ❂ J R L D $

MANOLI CANOLI RESTAURANT 8540 Connecticut Ave., 301-951-1818, manolicanoli.com. Italian and Greek specialties abound at a fun family eatery that features a large prepared foods section, dishes made with olive oil from owner Stavros Manolakos’ family farm in Greece and homemade mozzarella on pizza and subs. ❂ J L D $

MEIWAH RESTAURANT 4457 Willard Ave., 301-652-9882, meiwah restaurant.com. This modern restaurant on the second floor of a Friendship Heights office building offers top-quality Chinese dishes that are hard to beat. There’s also a sushi bar with an extensive menu. A fountain sparkles on the outdoor patio. ❂ L D $$

POTOMAC PIZZA 19 Wisconsin Circle, 301-951-1127, potomac pizza.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 $

SUSHIKO (EDITORS’ PICK) 5455 Wisconsin Ave., 301-961-1644, sushiko restaurants.com. Known as one of the Washington, D.C., area’s most respected sushi restaurants, Sushiko offers a wide range of sushi and other dishes. Kōbō, a restaurant within the restaurant, allows eight people to dine on 12- to 15-course tasting menus. ❂ L D $$

TAVIRA 8401 Connecticut Ave., 301-652-8684, tavira restaurant.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 despite its location in an office building basement. L D $$

GARRETT PARK BLACK MARKET BISTRO (EDITORS’ PICK) 4600 Waverly Ave., 301-933-3000, blackmarket restaurant.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.

Entrées range from swordfish to a burger and pizza, including several vegetable options. ❂ J R L D $$

KENSINGTON THE DISH & DRAM 10301 Kensington Parkway, 301-962-4046, thedishanddram.com. The owners of The Daily Dish in Silver Spring serve comfort food made with local ingredients in a 2,800-square-foot space in Kensington. Steak frites, Maryland crab soup, burgers and house-made desserts are on the menu. J R L D $$

FRANKLY…PIZZA! (EDITORS’ PICK)

Looking for the freshest fish in the DC area? Find it here in Bethesda for lunch, brunch and dinner!

10417 Armory Ave., 301-832-1065, franklypizza. com. Owner Frank Linn turns out high-quality pizza in a rustic brick-and-mortar restaurant. The menu offers wood-fired pies topped with home-cured meats and tomato sauce made from an 80-year-old family recipe. Wines and homemade sodas served on tap, too. ❂ L D $

K TOWN BISTRO 3784 Howard Ave., 301-933-1211, ktownbistro. com. Try filet mignon, duck breast à l’orange, chicken marsala and other classic continental dishes from this family-run eatery owned by Gonzalo Barba, former longtime captain of the restaurant in the Watergate Hotel. L D $$

NORTH POTOMAC/ GAITHERSBURG &PIZZA 258 Crown Park Ave. (Downtown Crown), 240-4998447, andpizza.com. See Bethesda listing. ❂ LD$

ASIA NINE 254 Crown Park Ave. (Downtown Crown), 301-3309997, asianinemd.com. Pan Asian restaurant with a first location in Washington, D.C.’s Penn Quarter offers dishes from Vietnam, China, Thailand and Japan. Specialties include grilled lamb chops served with mango-soy coulis and miso honey duck breast drizzled with a sake butter sauce. R L D $$

7187 Woodmont Avenue • 301-358-6116

PASSIONFISHBETHESDA.COM

ATHENS GRILL 9124 Rothbury Drive, 301-975-0757, athensgrill. com. This casual, friendly, family-run restaurant specializes in authentic Greek cooking, using recipes handed down through generations.

Specialties such as rotisserie chicken, chargrilled salmon with a lemon dill sauce and lamb kabobs are cooked on a hardwood grill. L D $

BARKING MAD CAFE 239 Spectrum Ave., 240-297-6230, barkingmad cafe.com. Cooking from a wood hearth and selecting vegetables, herbs and edible flowers from its aeroponic (grown in air/mist but without soil) organic garden, Barking Mad Cafe has a corner spot in Watkins Mill Town Center. Look for madefrom-scratch brunch, lunch and dinner sweets and savories, such as breakfast pizza, watermelon salad and farro salad. ❂ R L D $$

BONEFISH GRILL 82 Market St., 240-631-2401, bonefishgrill. com. While fresh fish cooked over a wood fire is the centerpiece of this upscale Florida chain, the steaks, crab cakes and specialty martinis make it a fun option for happy hour and those with hearty appetites. R L D $$

BUCA DI BEPPO 122 Kentlands Blvd., 301-947-7346, bucadibeppo. com. The Kentlands outpost of this national chain serves huge, family-style portions of Italian specialties from fresh breads to antipasti and pasta dishes amid a sea of Italian kitsch. Desserts include Italian Creme Cake and tiramisu.

J L D $$

OPEN FOR BREAKFAST M-F 7AM SPACE AVAILABLE FOR HOLIDAY PARTIES OPEN THANKSGIVING DAY

COAL FIRE 116 Main St., 301-519-2625, coalfireonline.com.

Homemade crusts fired by coal and topped with your choice of toppings and three different sauces:

chatterdc.com

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dine classic, spicy and signature, which is slightly sweet with a hint of spice. Salads, sandwiches and pasta also available, plus a full bar. ❂ L D $

COASTAL FLATS 135 Crown Park Ave. (Downtown Crown), 301869-8800, greatamericanrestaurants.com. First Maryland locale for Great American Restaurants, a Fairfax-based chain. Seaside-inspired décor extends to the menu, which offers lobster and shrimp rolls, fried grouper and Key lime pie. Steaks, pasta and burgers also served. ❂ J R L D $$

COPPER CANYON GRILL 100 Boardwalk Place, 240-631-0003, ccgrill.com.

Large portions of American classics such as salads, ribs and rotisserie chicken prepared with seasonal ingredients at family-friendly prices are the bill of fare at this spacious and casual chain restaurant.

J L D $$

DOGFISH HEAD ALEHOUSE 800 W. Diamond Ave., 301-963-4847, dogfishale house.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. Check out the burger of the week. ❂ J L D $$

DON POLLO 9083 Gaither Road, 301-990-0981, donpollogroup. com. See Bethesda listing. ❂ L D $

FIREBIRDS WOOD FIRED GRILL 390 Spectrum Ave., 301-284-1770, gaithersburg. firebirdsrestaurants.com. Part of a chain, this restaurant in the Watkins Mill Town Center cooks steaks and seafood over a wood-fired grill. Designed to look like a Colorado lodge, the eatery tends toward classic fare for entrées (surf-and-turf, salmon, burgers) and dessert (chocolate cake, Key lime pie, carrot cake). ❂ J L D $$

GROWLERS 227 E. Diamond Ave., 301-519-9400, growlers restaurant.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. ❂ J R L D $

GUAPO’S RESTAURANT 9811 Washingtonian Blvd., L-17, 301-977-5655, guaposrestaurant.com. See Bethesda listing. ❂JRLD$

HERSHEY’S RESTAURANT & BAR 17030 Oakmont Ave., 301-948-9893, hersheysat thegrove.com. Fried chicken that tastes like it was made by an aproned elder is served up in a clapboard building constructed in 1889. Besides the fab fried chicken, Hershey’s serves up warm rolls, inexpensive prices and live music. ❂ J B R L D $$

INFERNO PIZZERIA NAPOLETANA (EDITORS’ PICK)

12207 Darnestown Road, 301-963-0115, inferno-pizzeria.com. Tony Conte, former executive chef of Washington, D.C.’s Oval Room, goes casual with his first restaurant, an authentic Neapolitan pizzeria offering sophisticated toppings such as shaved truffles and garlic confit. Cozy dining room seats 39, with a tiled, wood-burning pizza oven as the centerpiece. D $

IL PORTO RESTAURANT 245 Muddy Branch Road, 301-590-0735, ilporto restaurant.com. A classic red-sauce menu, elegant

murals of Venice and an authentic thin-crust pizza are hallmarks of this friendly, unfussy Italian restaurant tucked in the Festival Shopping Center.

Fried calamari and the white pizza are among customer favorites. ❂ L D $

JOE’S CRAB SHACK 221 Rio Blvd., 301-947-4377, joescrabshack.com.

This is one of four 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., No. 100, 301-947-4051, restaurantlepalais.com. Chef-owner Joseph Zaka trips lightly through the dishes of Brittany and Burgundy, adding a modern twist here and there.

Entrées include duck pot-au-feu and cassolette of lamb. D $$$

THE MELTING POT 9021 Gaither Road, 301-519-3638, 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 $$

NOT YOUR AVERAGE JOE’S 245 Kentlands Blvd., 240-477-1040, notyouraveragejoes.com. See Bethesda listing. ❂ J L D $$

OLD TOWN POUR HOUSE 212 Ellington Blvd. (Downtown Crown), 301-9636281, oldtownpourhouse.com. One of the eateries from Chicago’s Bottleneck Management restaurant company, this place features more than 90 local and international brews on tap. Classic American cuisine is served in a setting with copper-inlaid bars and high ceilings. ❂ L D $$

PALADAR LATIN KITCHEN & RUM BAR 203 Crown Park Ave., 301-330-4400, paladarlatinkitchen.com. This 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, jerk chicken. Bar selections includes 50 varieties of rum, 15 tequilas and six types of mojitos. ❂ J R L D $$

POTOMAC VILLAGE DELI 625 Center Point Way, 301-299-5770, potomacvillagedeli.com. Traditional Jewish deli in the Kentlands, offering all-day breakfast and all the classics, from bagels, smoked fish, knishes, matzo ball soup, corned beef, pastrami and chopped liver to overstuffed combo sandwiches, Reubens, subs, wraps, burgers, salads, pizza and New York cheesecake. J B L D $$

QUINCY’S BAR & GRILLE 616 Quince Orchard Road, 301-869-8200, quincys bar.com. Energetic neighborhood pub with a sports bar atmosphere, Quincy’s also has an extensive menu with wings, pizza, build-your-own burgers and chicken sandwiches, plus entrées including Guinness-braised brisket. Live music is also a big draw. L D $

RED HOT & BLUE 16811 Crabbs Branch Way, 301-948-7333, redhotandblue.com. You’ll find generous portions of hickory-smoked barbecue, plus burgers, salads and wraps, and a Southern attitude at this chain popular

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for its office party takeout and its family-friendly, kitschy roadhouse décor. J L D $

RUTH’S CHRIS STEAK HOUSE 106 Crown Park Ave. (Downtown Crown), 301-9901926, ruthschris.com. See Bethesda listing.

D $$$

SARDI’S POLLO A LA BRASA 430 N. Frederick Ave., 301-977-3222, sardis chicken.com. Yes, there’s charbroiled chicken, but don’t miss the other Peruvian specialties, especially the ceviche and Salchipapas, a true Peruvian street food of thinly sliced pan-fried beef hot dogs mixed with french fries and served with condiments.

LD$

TANDOORI NIGHTS 106 Market St., 301-947-4007, tandoorinightsmd. com. See Bethesda listing. ❂ L D $

TARA THAI 9811 Washingtonian Blvd., L-9, 301-947-8330, tarathai.com. See Bethesda listing. ❂ L D $$

TED’S BULLETIN 220 Ellington Blvd. (Downtown Crown), 301990-0600, tedsbulletin.com. First Maryland location of the modern diner chainlet from the folks at Matchbox Food Group. Boozy milkshakes, homemade pop tarts and the Cinnamon Roll As Big As Ya Head (served weekends only) are among the specialties. ❂ J B R L D $$

TED’S MONTANA GRILL 105 Ellington Blvd. (Downtown Crown), 301-3300777, tedsmontanagrill.com. First Maryland location of billionaire and bison rancher Ted Turner’s restaurant chain, which uses bison as the showpiece in a humongous selection of dishes, including burgers, meatloaf, nachos and chili.

Soups, salads, American classics and spiked milkshakes also available at this saloon-style eatery. ❂ J L D $$

THAI TANIUM 657 Center Point Way, 301-990-3699, thaitanium restaurant.com. Authentic Thai food laced with lots of chilies and garlic as hot as you like. Try one of the Thai street food dishes, such as roasted pork with Thai herbed sweet sauce and noodle soups. ❂JLD$ TOMMY JOE’S 311 Kentlands Blvd., 301-569-4247, tommyjoes. com. This second branch of a popular Bethesda bar and restaurant offers bar food (burgers, salads) and entrées such as filet mignon. There’s a dance floor inside; the outdoor patio has 18 tables and a lounge area with a sofa. ❂ J L D $$

UNCLE JULIO’S 231 Rio Blvd. (RIO Washingtonian Center), 240-6322150, unclejulios.com. See Bethesda listing. ❂ J R L D $$

VASILI'S KITCHEN 705 Center Point Way, 301-977-1011, vasilis kitchen.com. Tan and brown décor lends a cozy vibe to this 4,700-square-foot Kentlands restaurant.

The owners ran the popular Vasili’s Mediterranean Grill in another Kentlands location for more than a decade before closing it to focus on Vasili’s Kitchen.

The Mediterranean menu is heavy on seafood dishes. ❂ J D $$

THE WINE HARVEST, THE KENTLANDS 114 Market St., 301-869-4008, thewineharvest. com. Stop by this popular Cheers-like wine bar locally owned by the Meyrowitz family for a glass of

wine or a Belgian beer. The menu includes salads, sandwiches and cheese plates. ❂ L D $

YOYOGI SUSHI 328 Main St., 301-963-0001. A no-nonsense neighborhood sushi place with bright fish tanks, it offers the familiar sushi, teriyaki, tempura dishes, plus seaweed salad, soup, green tea and red bean ice cream. L D $

ZIKI JAPANESE STEAK HOUSE 10009 Fields Road, 301-330-3868, 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 ADDIE'S (NEW) 12435 Park Potomac Ave., 301-340-0081, addiesrestaurant.com. Longtime North Bethesda restaurant from the Black Restaurant Group that closed in 2013 is reborn in the Park Potomac development. Date nights call for the signature entrées for two. Larger groups might opt for the supreme Seafood Tower, a mega assortment of daily seafood specials. See our review on page 244. ❂ L D $$

AMICI MIEI 1093 Seven Locks Road, 301-545-0966, amicimiei ristorante.com. Chef Davide Megna and manager/ partner Roberto Deias have created an upscale Italian neighborhood gathering place, with woodfired pizzas, homemade pastas and creative salads. ❂ R L D $$

ATTMAN’S DELICATESSEN 7913 Tuckerman Lane (Cabin John Shopping Center & Mall), 301-765-3354, cabinjohn.attmansdeli. com. This landmark Baltimore deli has run a second location in Potomac since 2013. The menu offers the same legendary corned beef, pastrami and other deli specialties. Third-generation owner Marc Attman is at the helm. J B L D $

BROOKLYN’S DELI & CATERING 1089 Seven Locks Road, 301-340-3354, brooklyns delimd.com. From chopped liver to chicken soup, Brooklyn’s serves all the deli specialties, plus more.

Think hot pastrami with cole slaw and Russian dressing on pumpernickel. ❂ J B L D $

ELEVATION BURGER 12525-D Park Potomac Ave., 301-838-4010, elevationburger.com. Fast-food burgers go organic and grass-fed at this Northern Virginia-founded chain. Veggie burgers, chicken sandwiches, grilled cheese and a BLT available, too. Shake flavors range from banana to Key lime and cheesecake. ❂LD$

GREGORIO’S TRATTORIA 7745 Tuckerman Lane (Cabin John Shopping Center & Mall), 301-296-6168, gregoriostrattoria.com.

Proprietor Greg Kahn aims to make everyone feel at home at this family-owned restaurant serving 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 pastas. J L D $$

THE GRILLED OYSTER CO. (EDITORS’ PICK) 7943 Tuckerman Lane (Cabin John Shopping Center & Mall), 301-299-9888, thegrilledoyster company.com. This Chesapeake-style seafood

eatery features small plates, salads, sandwiches and entrées. The sampler of four grilled oysters— with ingredients such as coconut rum and cucumber relish—showcases the namesake item. ❂ J R L D $$

HUNTER’S BAR AND GRILL 10123 River Road, 301-299-9300, thehuntersinn. com. At this Potomac institution and popular English hunt-themed spot, try a big salad or hamburger for lunch and a traditional pasta dish or filet mignon for dinner with the family. ❂ J R L D $$

OPEN YEAR ROUND Every Sat 9am-1pm Howard Ave Train Station Kensington, MD

LAHINCH TAVERN AND GRILL 7747 Tuckerman Lane (Cabin John Shopping Center & Mall), 240-499-8922, lahinchtavernandgrill.com.

The menu of this sister restaurant to The Irish Inn at Glen Echo commingles Irish standards (traditional sausage roll, shepherd’s pie, bangers and mash, lamb stew) with fare such as Alaskan halibut.

Lahinch is a coastal town in Ireland’s County Clare.

J R L D $$$

LOCK 72 KITCHEN & BAR (EDITORS’ PICK) 10128 River Road, 301-299-0481, lock72.com.

Well-known chef Robert Wiedmaier’s RW Restaurant Group runs this upscale American pub (formerly called River Falls Tavern). Entrées include crab cakes, fish tacos, grilled bronzino, a New York strip steak and steak frites. ❂ R L D $$

MIX BAR AND GRILLE 9812 Falls Road, 301-299-3000, mixbarandgrille. com. This casual spot serves charcuterie and cheese plates, brick-oven flatbreads and other light fare. The space is modern and hip, with tall, white banquettes, Plexiglas chairs, five big-screen TVs, 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, wearefoundingfarmers.com. Farm-inspired fare in a modern and casual setting; this is the sister restaurant to the phenomenally popular downtown D.C. Founding Farmers. Bethesda Magazine readers chose it as “Best Restaurant in Potomac,” "Best Bar" and "Best Brunch" in 2017. Try the warm cookies for dessert. ❂ B R L D $$

NORMANDIE FARM RESTAURANT 10710 Falls Road, 301-983-8838, popovers.com.

This fine-dining French restaurant, open since 1931, strives to preserve its classical heritage while embracing new traditions. Dinner entrées run from seafood to beef and lamb. The restaurant offers quick service, a casual café option and a violinist at afternoon tea. ❂ J R L D $$

O’DONNELL’S MARKET 1073 Seven Locks Road, 301-251-6355, odonnells market.com. This market, from the family that ran O’Donnell’s restaurants in Montgomery County for decades, features a 10-seat bar for lunch and happy hour (11:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.). The menu includes a raw bar, salads and many O’Donnell’s classics, among them a lump-filled crab cake sandwich, salmon BLT, seafood bisque and crab gumbo. ❂L$

OLD ANGLER’S INN 10801 MacArthur Blvd., 301-365-2425, oldanglers inn.com. Open since 1860 and known for its refined American food and beautiful fireplaces and grounds, it features live music on weekends.

Signature cocktails include hard cider sangria and a pumpkin pie martini. Voted “Best Outdoor Dining”

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by Bethesda Magazine readers in 2017. ❂ R L D $$$

POTOMAC PIZZA 9812 Falls Road, 301-299-7700, potomacpizza. com. See Chevy Chase listing. J L D $

RENATO’S AT RIVER FALLS 10120 River Road, 301-365-1900, renatosatriver falls.net. The Italian restaurant offers fish dishes among its menu of pastas and classics such as penne with eggplant, and chicken parmigiana.

Traditional Italian desserts include tiramisu, profiteroles and cannolis. ❂ J L D $$

SUGO OSTERIA 12505 Park Potomac Ave., 240-386-8080, eatsugo. com. The Greek guys who own Cava Mezze and Cava Mezze Grill partner with Mamma Lucia restaurants to serve Italian small plates, meatballs, sliders, pizza and pasta. Chef specialities include blue crab gnocchi and charred octopus. ❂ R L D $$

TALLY-HO RESTAURANT 9923 Falls Road, 301-299-6825, tallyhorestaurant. com. A local fixture since 1968, the eatery serves an expansive diner-style menu with Greek and Italian specialties. Choose from options ranging from burgers and deli sandwiches to pizza, calzones and dinner entrées. ❂ J B L D $

THE WINE HARVEST 12525-B Park Potomac Ave., 240-314-0177, thewineharvest.com. See Gaithersburg listing. ❂LD$

ZOËS KITCHEN 12505 Park Potomac Ave., Suite 120, 240-3281022, zoeskitchen.com. The first Maryland outpost of a Birmingham, Alabama, fast-casual chain, Zoës features Mediterranean dishes such as kabobs, hummus and veggie pita pizzas. It specializes in takeout dinner for four for under $30. ❂JLD$

ROCKVILLE/ NORTH BETHESDA A & J RESTAURANT (EDITORS’ PICK) 1319-C Rockville Pike, 301-251-7878, aj-restaurant. com. Northern dim sum is the specialty at this hard-to-find cash-only spot in the Woodmont Station shopping center. Warm-colored walls surround the crowd digging into thousand-layer pancakes and fresh tofu. R L D $

AL CARBÓN 200 Park Road, 301-738-0003, alcarbonrestaurant. 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, tapas and more. Try one of the natural juices including mango and tamarindo. ❂BLD$

AL HA'ESH 4860 Boiling Brook Parkway (Randolph Hills Shopping Center), 301-231-0839, al-haesh.com.

Kosher Israeli grill serves vegetable and protein skewers (including chicken, lamb, beef, chicken livers and sweetbreads). All entrées come with small ramekins of salads (think curried chickpeas; marinated red cabbage; and balsamic marinated mushrooms). ❂ L D $$

AMALFI RISTORANTE ITALIANO 12307 Wilkins Ave., 301-770-7888, amalfirockville. com. A family-run, red-sauce Italian restaurant with specialties including white pizza and lasagna. Lots of antipasti choices, too. The gazebo is a charming spot to dine during the summer.

J L D $$

AMINA THAI RESTAURANT 5065 Nicholson Lane, 301-770-9509. Pleasant and bright, Amina Thai is run by a husband-andwife team and bills itself as the first Muslim Thai restaurant in the area, using only halal meats and serving familiar Thai dishes. Chef’s specials include pineapple fried rice and grilled salmon. L D $

&PIZZA 11626 Old Georgetown Road (Pike & Rose), 240621-7016, andpizza.com. See Bethesda listing. ❂LD$

BOB'S SHANGHAI 66 305 N. Washington St., 301-251-6652. Dim sum and rice and noodle dishes are the specialties at this popular eatery offering Taiwanese, Shanghai and Sichuan cuisine. It’s also one of the area’s top destinations for soup dumplings, where you can even watch the chefs making them in a glassenclosed booth. R L D $

BOMBAY BISTRO 98 W. Montgomery Ave., 301-762-8798, 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. House specialties include tandoori lamb chops and shrimp and scallops masala. J L D $$

BONCHON CHICKEN 107 Gibbs St., Unit A (Rockville Town Square), 301637-9079, 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, bibimbap and scallion seafood pancakes.

LD$

CAVA MEZZE (EDITORS’ PICK) 9713 Traville Gateway Drive, 301-309-9090, cavamezze.com. The dark and elegant Cava offers small plates of everything from fried Greek cheese, octopus and orzo in cinnamon tomato sauce to crispy pork belly and macaroni and cheese. There are martini specials, too. ❂ R L D $$

CHINA BISTRO 755 Hungerford Drive, 301-294-0808. Extensive Chinese menu features many familiar favorites, but this is the place to go for dumplings. With tender dough wrappers and chock-full interiors, these beauties come 12 to an order and with 16 different filling choices. Fresh, uncooked dumplings are also available for carryout. L D $

CHUY’S 12266 Rockville Pike (Federal Plaza), 301-6032941, chuys.com. Drawing inspiration from New Mexico, Mexican border towns, the Rio Grande Valley and Texas’s deep south, Chuy’s is part of a family-friendly chain that serves up a Tex-Mex experience. Colorful food meets colorful décor, where “If you’ve seen one Chuy’s, you’ve seen one Chuy’s” rings true—eclectic collectibles give each location its own flare. Free chips are served out of a car trunk display. L D J $

CITY PERCH KITCHEN + BAR 11830 Grand Park Ave. (Pike & Rose), 301-2312310, cityperch.com. Located above the entrance

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to the iPic Theaters at Pike & Rose, City Perch offers creative, seasonal American cuisine in a rustic, inviting space. The menu includes raw-bar selections, small plates, shareable salads and entrée options such as grilled shrimp and Long Island duck. ❂ R L D $$$

CUBAN CORNER 825 Hungerford Drive, 301-279-0310, 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.

LD$ CSNY PIZZA 1020 Rockville Pike, 301-298-3650, csnypizza. wixisite.com/sneaksite. Carry out a New York-style pizza from this spot by the owners of Pizza CS. Their second Rockville location also offers six seats for guests to dine in, and serves whole pies, hot subs and pizza by the slice. L $

DEL FRISCO’S GRILLE 11800 Grand Park Ave. (Pike & Rose), 301-8810308, delfriscosgrille.com. This is the Texasbased chain’s second location in the area. Look for upscale takes on American comfort foods, such as filet mignon meatloaf and short rib stroganoff, plus trendy items such as kale and Brussels sprouts salad, deviled eggs, flatbreads and ahi tuna tacos.

Plenty of burgers, sandwiches and salads, too. ❂ R L D $$

DON POLLO 2206 Veirs Mill Road, 301-309-1608, donpollogroup.com. See Bethesda listing. L D $

EAST PEARL RESTAURANT 838-B Rockville Pike, 301-838-8663, eastpearl restaurant.com. Choose from many options of Hong Kong cuisine, including familiar dishes featuring chicken, beef, poultry, pork and even duck, as well as those for adventurous tastes. Try the soups ranging from egg drop to seafood with bean curd.

LD$

EL MARIACHI RESTAURANT 765-D Rockville Pike, 301-738-7177, elmariachi rockville.com. Serving Tex-Mex 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 $

EL PATIO 5240 Randolph Road, 301-231-9225, elpatio international.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, 301-881-5552, fareastrockvillemd.com. Owned and operated by the same family since 1974, this classic Chinese restaurant greets customers with two royal stone lions out front and sticks to the familiar ChineseAmerican basics. Check out the daily specials and dim sum menu. L D $$

FINNEGAN’S WAKE IRISH PUB 100 Gibbs St. (Rockville Town Square), 301-3398267, finneganswakerockville.com. Irish pub with a nice selection of bourbons, whiskeys and Irish beers and a very limited bar menu offering such fare as bangers and mash, poutine (french fries, gravy and

cheese curds), a chicken club sandwich, fish and chips, wings and a burger. L D $

FLOR DE LUNA 11417 Woodglen Drive, 240-242-4066, flordeluna md.com. Latin American fare includes tamales and lomo saltado (a stir-fry of beef and peppers) at this 75-seat restaurant near Whole Foods Market.

Tacos, nachos and quesadillas are also in the lineup. Finish off your meal with the tres leches (three milks) cake. ❂ J R L D $$

FONTINA GRILLE 801 Pleasant Drive, 301-947-5400, 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.

Three-dollar pasta dishes available on Monday nights and half-price bottles of wine on Tuesdays. ❂ J R L D $$

GORDON BIERSCH 200-A E. Middle Lane (Rockville Town Square), 301340-7159, gordonbiersch.com/restaurants. The national brewpub chain prides itself on house beers and friendly service. The shiny bar is boisterous, and the menu includes bar favorites with some barbecue and Asian touches, small plates, salads, pizza and flatbreads. J L D $$

GRAND FUSION CUISINE 350 East Fortune Terrace, 301-838-2862, grand fusionrestaurant.com. Diners will find something for everyone seeking a taste of the Asian continent, a full sushi bar, and Chinese, Malaysian and Singaporean specialties. Chef’s specials include Crispy Eggplant in Spicy Orange Sauce and Double Flavored Shrimp. ❂ L D $

HARD TIMES CAFÉ 1117 Nelson St., 301-294-9720, 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. L D $

HELEN’S 11120 Rockville Pike, 202-483-4444, helensonthe pike.com. Caterer Helen Wasserman serves her signature Asian-American fusion cooking at her 30-seat jewel box eatery (with two large outdoor patios), formerly Addie’s. Dumplings, cheese wontons with guacamole, salmon in phyllo, grilled lamb chops with herbed yogurt, and lump crab cake with shrimp sauce are highlights. ❂ J R L D $$

HINODE JAPANESE RESTAURANT 134 Congressional Lane, 301-816-2190, hinode restaurant.com. Serving traditional Japanese cuisine since 1992. All-you-can-eat lunch and weekend dinner buffet offers 40 types of sushi, 14 hot foods and a salad bar. Check out the patio with full bar service. L D $$

IL PIZZICO 15209 Frederick Road, 301-309-0610, 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 of mainly Italian wines make even a weeknight meal feel special. L D $$

JOE’S NOODLE HOUSE 1488-C Rockville Pike, 301-881-5518, joesnoodlehouse.com. Chinese ex-pats and many other customers consider the Sichuan 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, 301-468-8850, labrasa rockville.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), 301-2511550, lacanelaperu.com. Sophisticated, modern Peruvian cooking shines in a regally furnished dining room in a yellow stucco building graced with curvy black ironwork. The menu includes artfully prepared seafood, pork, chicken and beef dishes. ❂ L D $

LA LIMEÑA GRILL (NEW) 1093 Rockville Pike, 301-417-4922. An offshoot of nearby La Limeña Restaurant, this Peruvian eatery with a spacious patio serves several traditional seafood dishes, including Ceviche Mixto, an appetizer of lime-marinated tilapia served with glazed potatoes and crispy dried corn kernels.

The Chicha Morada, a sweet corn-based drink, pairs nicely with authentic and tender braised-beef entrées. ❂ J L D $$

LA LIMEÑA RESTAURANT 765 Rockville Pike, 301-424-8066, lalimena restaurant.com. Diners can choose dishes such as beef hearts, tripe and homemade pastries in this tiny but well-appointed eatery. Desserts include passion fruit mousse and vanilla flan. And of course, there’s rotisserie chicken to go. L D $

LA TASCA 141 Gibbs St., Suite 305 (Rockville Town Square), 301-279-7011, latascausa.com. The Rockville location of this regional chain strives to keep things interesting with 45 tapas dishes and six kinds of paella, including Paella Mixta with chicken, shrimp, chorizo, scallops, mussels, squid and clams. ❂ R L D $$

LEBANESE TAVERNA CAFÉ 1605 Rockville Pike, 301-468-9086; 115 Gibbs St. (Rockville Town Square), 301-309-8681; lebanesetaverna.com. A casual and pleasant family spot for lunch or dinner after shopping on Rockville Pike, the 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 the numerous tofu dishes ranging from Mushroom Tofu Pot to Seafood Beef Tofu Pot, diners at this Korean stalwart can try barbecue, stirfried specialties and kimchee, the national dish of pickled cabbage. L D $

LITTLE DIPPER HOT POT HOUSE 101 Gibbs St. (Rockville Town Square), 301-6057321. An offshoot of an Asian restaurant in Virginia, this 90-seat restaurant serves individual fonduestyle meals. Pick a pot base (including miso and curry), the level of spiciness, the protein and the starch (either rice or noodles), and cook your food right at your table in a bowl of hot stock.

J L D $$

Lunch Salad & Rice Bowls starting at $6.95 Mon-Fri

MAMMA LUCIA 12274-M Rockville Pike, 301-770-4894; 14921-J Shady Grove Road, 301-762-8805; mammalucia restaurants.com. See Bethesda listing. ❂ L D $$

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1699 Rockville Pike, 301-816-0369, matchbox rockville.com. Look for mini-burgers, a “ginormous meatball” appetizer and thin-crusted pizza with toppings including herb-roasted chicken and portobella mushrooms or fire-roasted red peppers and Spanish onions served in a super-cool space in Congressional Plaza. ❂ J R L D $

MELLOW MUSHROOM 33-A Maryland Ave. (Rockville Town Square), 301294-2222, mellowmushroom.com. Bright retro décor adorns this 200-seat branch of the popular pizza chain, including a wall with more than 1,000 Coke bottles. The lineup: craft beers and over-thetop pies (including one with roasted red potatoes, bacon, caramelized onions, cheddar and mozzarella cheeses, ranch dressing and sour cream). ❂JLD$

MICHAEL’S NOODLES 10038 Darnestown Road, 301-738-0370, michaels noodles.com. Extensive Taiwanese menu at this popular strip mall eatery includes dim sum, mixed noodle dishes, noodle soup and unusual specialties, such as Shredded Chicken with Jelly Fish and Stewed Pork Intestine and Duck Blood.

LD$

MI RANCHO 1488 Rockville Pike, 240-221-2636, miranchotexmexrestaurant.com. You’ll find a boisterous party atmosphere every night at a place where customers can count on standard Tex-Mex fare at good prices. The outdoor patio, strung with colorful lights, is the place to be in nice weather. ❂LD$

MISO FUSION CAFÉ 33-E Maryland Ave. (Rockville Town Square), 240-614-7580, misofusioncafe.com. This 65-seat Korean-Japanese fusion restaurant features: yakatori (grilled marinated skewers of chicken, beef, shrimp); ramen bowls; katsu (breaded, deep-fried cutlets) bowls with rice, vegetables, scallions and egg; chicken, beef or pork katsu stuffed with mozzarella cheese and other fillings; and Korean BBQ of chicken, sliced beef, teriyaki salmon and spicy pork belly. L D $

MOA 12300 Wilkins Ave., 301-881-8880, moakorean restaurant.weebly.com. 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. Dol Sot Bibimbap, a mix of rice, vegetables and protein in a hot pot, is a customer favorite. L D $

MODERN MARKET 1627 Rockville Pike (Congressional Plaza), 301603-2953, modernmarket.com. See Bethesda listing. ❂ J B R L D $

MOSAIC CUISINE & CAFÉ 186 Halpine Road, 301-468-0682, 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, 301-770-5999, mykonosgrill.com. An authentic Greek taverna with whitewashed walls with Mediterranean blue accents on a busy street, Mykonos Grill turns out legs of

lamb and fresh seafood expected at any good Greek restaurant. ❂ L D $$

NAGOYA SUSHI 402 King Farm Blvd., Suite 130, 301-990-6778, nagoyasushimd.com. Cheery yellow walls decorated with shelves of Japanese knickknacks greet customers who come for the large selection of sushi at this unassuming sushi spot in King Farm.

L D $$

NANTUCKET’S REEF 9755 Traville Gateway Drive, Rockville, 301279-7333, nantucketsreef.com. 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, seafood tacos, tuna and salmon salads, and lobster items. Signature cocktails are made with Nantucket Nectars juices. ❂ R L D $$

NICK’S CHOPHOUSE 700 King Farm Blvd., 301-926-8869, nickschop houserockville.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 crab cakes. Signature steaks include slow-roasted prime rib weighing 10 to 32 ounces. Separate bar menu. ❂ L D $$

NIWANO HANA JAPANESE RESTAURANT 887 Rockville Pike, 301-294-0553, niwanohana. com. Clean Asian décor and elegant wooden screens greet diners at this friendly and busy sushi spot located in Wintergreen Plaza. There are the usual sushi rolls, plus creative options such as a Spicy Scallop Roll with mayonnaise and chili peppers, noodle dishes, teriyaki and yakitori.

L D $$

ORIGINAL PANCAKE HOUSE 12224 Rockville Pike, 301-468-0886, ophrestaurants.com. See Bethesda listing.

JBL$

OWEN’S ORDINARY 11820 Trade St. (Pike & Rose), 301-2451226, owensordinarymd.com. This Americanstyle restaurant, barroom and beer garden from Neighborhood Restaurant Group boasts 50 rotating drafts and more than 150 types of bottled beer. The 175-seat restaurant serves salads, burgers, beef, pork and fondue entrées, and those looking to grab a drink can make the most of the space’s 60-seat beer garden. ❂ R L D $$

PALADAR LATIN KITCHEN & RUM BAR 11333 Woodglen Drive, 301-816-1100, paladarlatinkitchen.com. See Gaithersburg listing. ❂ J R L D $$

PETER CHANG (EDITORS’ PICK) 20-A Maryland Ave. (Rockville Town Square), 301838-9188, peterchangarlington.com. Chef Peter Chang’s Sichuan specialties are showcased in an apricot-walled dining space. Garnering a cult-like following over the years, Chang is best known for dishes such as dry-fried eggplant, crispy pork belly and duck in a stone pot. L D $$

PHO 75 771 Hungerford Drive, 301-309-8873. The restaurant is 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.

Beverages include interesting options such as Iced Salty Pickled Lemon Juice. L D $

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PHO 95 785-H Rockville Pike, 301-294-9391. Pho, the Vietnamese beef noodle soup, is king here. Other offerings include fat rice-paper rolls of shrimp, noodles and herbs with a sweet and spicy peanut sauce, Grilled Lemon Grass Chicken and Grilled Pork Chop and Shredded Pork Skin. L D $

PHO HOA BINH 11782 Parklawn Drive, 301-770-5576, phohoa. com. This pleasant pho restaurant offers the full gamut of variations on the beef noodle soup, plus about a dozen grilled entrées. The Adventurer’s Choice features “unusual” meats, including tendon, tripe and fatty flank. The Vietnamese iced coffee is divine. L D $

PHO NOM NOM 842 Rockville Pike, 301-610-0232, 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. House specials include Vietnamese beef stew and pork and shrimp wontons. L D $

PHOLUSCIOUS VIETNAMESE GRILL 10048 Darnestown Road, 301-762-2226, pholuscious.com. This casual restaurant and bar is home to traditional Vietnamese cooking, with fresh ingredients, minimal use of oil and many herbs and vegetables. The menu features pho, noodle dishes, rice plates and lots of protein dishes. Beverages include bubble tea, smoothies, beer and wine.

L D $$

PIZZA CS 1596-B Rockville Pike, 240-833-8090, pizzacs.com.

Authentic Neapolitan pies are offered in a sub-shop atmosphere. Choose from a list of red and white pizza options, or build your own pie with herbs, cheeses, meats and vegetables. ❂ J L D $

POTOMAC PIZZA 9709 Traville Gateway Drive, 301-279-2234, potomacpizza.com. See Chevy Chase listing. ❂ JLD$

QUENCH 9712 Traville Gateway Drive, 301-424-8650, quenchnation.com. Urban bar scene in the suburbs, with unique cocktails and contemporary American cuisine. Lots of starter options to try, plus salads, entrées, sandwiches and burgers, and three Asian dishes including pad Thai. ❂ J R L D $$

QUINCY’S SOUTH BAR & GRILLE 11401 Woodglen Drive, 240-669-3270, quincys bar.com. See North Potomac/Gaithersburg listing. ❂LD$

ROLLS ‘N RICE 1701 Rockville Pike (Shops at Congressional Village), 301-770-4030, rollsnrice.com. This Asian café serves more than 25 varieties of rolls, from a volcano roll (spicy tuna, white fish, salmon, tomato, jalapeño, fish eggs and vegetables) to a Philadelphia Roll (smoked salmon, cream cheese and avocado). J L D $

SADAF HALAL RESTAURANT 1327-K Rockville Pike, 301-424-4040. An elegant alternative to the run-of-the-mill kabob places dotting Rockville Pike, Sadaf is pristine, with lace curtains and glass mosaic tiles in front. In addition to kabobs, it offers Persian curries and fish dishes. ❂ JLD$

SAM CAFÉ & MARKET 844 Rockville Pike, 301-424-1600, samcafemarket. com. Fill up on the kitchen’s juicy skewered meats

or interesting entrées, including pomegranate molasses stew and marinated grilled salmon, then have a gelato and check out the hookahs. ❂ LD$

SAMOVAR 201 N. Washington St. (Rockville Town Square), 240-671-9721, samovarrestaurant.com. Chicken Kiev, plov (a lamb-and-rice dish) and borscht are among the long list of Russian and central Asian dishes here. Infused vodkas and Russian and Ukrainian beers are available. A framed wolf pelt adorns one wall. J R L D $$

SEASONS 52 (EDITORS’ PICK) 11414 Rockville Pike, 301-984-5252, seasons52. com. A fresh, seasonal menu featuring items under 475 calories. Choose from flatbreads including Blackened Steak & Blue Cheese and Grilled Garlic Pesto Chicken to entrée salads to meat and seafood dishes. Nightly piano music. ❂ L D $$

SEVEN SEAS 1776 E. Jefferson St., 301-770-5020, sevenseas restaurant.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. L D $

SHEBA RESTAURANT 5071 Nicholson Lane, 301-881-8882, sheba rockville.com. The menu features authentic Ethiopian cuisine with lots of vegetarian and vegan options. House specialties include Dulet Assa, chopped tilapia mixed with onion, garlic and jalapeño and served with a side of homemade cheese. L D $

SICHUAN JIN RIVER 410 Hungerford Drive, 240-403-7351, sichuanjin river.com. Customers find terrific Sichuan cuisine served in a no-frills setting. Take the plunge and try something new with the authentic Chinese menu, including 23 small cold plates. L D $

SILVER DINER 12276 Rockville Pike, 301-770-2828, silverdiner. com. Customers flock to this trendy diner that still offers tableside jukeboxes. The latest food trends (think quinoa coconut pancakes) share company on the enormous menu with diner staples such as meatloaf and mashed potatoes.

JBRLD$

SPICE XING 100-B Gibbs St. (Rockville Town Square), 301-6100303, spicexing.com. Chef and owner Sudhir Seth, who also owns Bethesda’s Passage to India, serves up small plates and dishes that reflect the history of culinary influences on India. Try the all-you-can-eat lunchtime buffet. ❂ J R L D $$

STANFORD GRILL 2000 Tower Oaks Blvd., 240-582-1000, thestanford grill.com. From the Blueridge Restaurant Group, owner of Copper Canyon Grill restaurants, comes this 300-seat American eatery on the ground floor of an office building. Salads, burgers, steaks and seafood, plus sushi, with an eye toward high quality. ❂ R L D $$

STELLA BARRA PIZZERIA 11825 Grand Park Ave. (Pike & Rose), 301-7708609, stellabarra.com. Adjacent to its sister restaurant, Summer House Santa Monica, Stella Barra is an artisan pizzeria with a hip, urban vibe.

Look for crisp crusts with chewy centers topped with butternut squash and candied bacon or house-

made pork sausage and fennel pollen. Italian wines available. ❂ R D $$

SUMMER HOUSE SANTA MONICA (EDITORS’ PICK)

11825 Grand Park Ave. (Pike & Rose), 301-8812381, summerhousesm.com. An airy, light and stunning space sets the scene for modern American cuisine with a West Coast sensibility. Fare includes salads, sushi, tacos, sandwiches and steak frites.

Do not miss the bakery counter. ❂ J R L D $$

SUPER BOWL NOODLE HOUSE 785 Rockville Pike, 301-738-0086, superbowl noodlehouse.com. Look for a large variety of Asian noodle dishes in super-size portions, plus a wide selection of appetizers. Also, bubble tea and desserts, including Sweet Taro Root Roll and Black Sugar Shaved Ice. ❂ L D $

SUSHI DAMO 36-G Maryland Ave. (Rockville Town Square), 301340-8010, 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 $$

GYROLAND THE AUTHENTIC GREEK FOOD 1701 Rockville Pike (Suite B3) Rockville MD 20852 301-816-7829

GYROLANDMD.COM

SUSHI HOUSE JAPANESE RESTAURANT 1331-D Rockville Pike, 301-309-0043. A tiny, plain restaurant serving a large selection of fresh sushi, including sushi and sashimi combinations. Lunch specials for under $7. It’s popular, so be prepared to wait. L D $$

SUSHI OISHII 9706 Traville Gateway Drive, 301-251-1177, sushioishii.com. This charming sushi bar in the Traville Gateway Center offers friendly service and 24 specialty sushi rolls, bento boxes and a few grilled items, including beef, poultry and seafood teriyaki. L D $$

BETHESDA’S CRAFT BEER HEADQUARTERS FOOD & DRINK | SPORTSWATCH | GAMEROOM | EVENTS

TAIPEI TOKYO 14921-D Shady Grove Road (Fallsgrove Village Center), 301-738-8813; 11510-A Rockville Pike, 301-881-8388; taipei-tokyo.net. These sister restaurants offer a sizable roster of Chinese, Japanese and Thai dishes. The Fallsgrove Village location is the younger and sleeker of the two, with full sit-down service. The older sister, opened in 1993, is more like a noodle shop/cafeteria.

L D $$

GET LOCAL, GET TAPP’D!

TARA ASIA 199-D E. Montgomery Ave., 301-315-8008, taraasiarestaurantrockville.com. A pan-Asian offshoot of the Tara Thai family, Tara Asia is dominated by a floor-to-ceiling mosaic and has an 82-item menu that spans the cuisine from Japan to Thailand and the tiny islands in between. L D $$

TARA THAI 12071 Rockville Pike, 301-231-9899, tarathai.com.

See Bethesda listing. ❂ L D $$

TEMARI CAFÉ 1043 Rockville Pike, 301-340-7720. Deep-fried oysters, classic rice balls, ramen noodle soup, sushi and sashimi and comic books to peruse while you await your order set this Japanese restaurant apart from the rest. L D $$

THAI FARM 800 King Farm Blvd., 301-258-8829, thaifarm restaurant.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 $$

MODERN AMERICAN CLASSIC MENU WITH OVER 140+ BEER CHOICES!

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dine THAI PAVILION 29 Maryland Ave., Unit 308 (Rockville Town Square), 301-545-0244, thaipavilionrestaurant.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, 240-268-0682, thatsamore.com. This local chain focuses on familystyle portions of classic Neapolitan dishes such as lasagna and chicken Parmesan in a more elegant setting than might be expected. Good for groups and large families. J L D $$

TOWER OAKS LODGE 2 Preserve Parkway, 301-294-0200, clydes.com/ tower. Here is Clyde’s version of a lodge in the mountains. Well-prepared food runs the gamut of American desires, from burgers to fish, plus a raw bar. Check out the twig sculpture spanning the ceiling of The Saranac Room. J R L D $$

TRAPEZARIA 11 N. Washington St., 301-339-8962, thetrapezaria. com. This down-to-earth and hospitable Greek/ Mediterranean restaurant serves top-notch and unfussy small plates and entrées. Choose among a variety of dips, vegetarian mezze, souvlaki, sausages and more-involved fish and lamb dishes.

Save room for the baklava. L D $$

URBAN BAR-B-QUE COMPANY 2007 Chapman Ave., 240-290-4827; 5566 Norbeck Road, 301-460-0050, urbanbbqco.com. Urban BarB-Que Company, a tiny joint run by a couple of local friends, has a winning formula and features fingerlicking ribs, burgers and wings, plus salads, chili and smothered fries. Staff is friendly, too. J L D $

VILLA MAYA 5532 Norbeck Road (Rock Creek Village Center), 301-460-1247. Here you’ll find all the traditional Mexican and Tex-Mex favorites from quesadillas to fajitas that are sure to please the whole family.

R L D $$

THE WOODSIDE DELI 4 N. Washington St., 301-444-4478, thewoodside deli.com. A second location of the venerable Silver Spring eatery and caterer that has been dishing up matzo ball soup since 1947. Choose from a wide selection of sandwiches, burgers and entrées. This one has a pickle bar. ❂ J B R L D $

WORLD OF BEER 196B East Montgomery Ave., 301-340-2915, worldofbeer.com. See Bethesda listing. ❂ JRL D $

YEKTA 1488 Rockville Pike, 301-984-1190, yekta.com.

Persian cuisine, including a selection of beef, chicken and lamb kabobs, is served in a beautiful dining room. Try a dessert such as frozen noodle sorbet or saffron ice cream. Check out the adjacent market after polishing off your kebab. L D $$

YUAN FU VEGETARIAN 798 Rockville Pike, 301-762-5937, yuanfuvegetarian.com. From tea-smoked “duck” to kung pao “chicken,” the whole menu is meatless, made from Chinese vegetable products. There is a large selection of chef’s specials, including Pumpkin Chicken with Mushrooms in a hot pot and Baby Abalone in Tomato Sauce. L D $

SILVER SPRING 8407 KITCHEN BAR 8407 Ramsey Ave., 301-587-8407, 8407kb.com.

This sleek space across from the Silver Spring Metro prides itself on stellar service and fromscratch preparations, such as house-smoked salmon and home-cured charcuterie. Signature craft cocktails are a specialty. R L D $$

ADDIS ABABA 8233 Fenton St., 301-589-1400. Authentic Ethiopian-style vegetables and fiery meats are served atop spongy bread in communal bowls.

Traditional woven tables and a roof deck add to the ambience. There’s a weekday lunch buffet, too. ❂ RLD$

ALL SET RESTAURANT & BAR 8630 Fenton St., 301-495-8800, allsetrestaurant. com. American cuisine with a focus on New England specialties. Look for clams, oysters and lobster, plus crab cakes and rockfish, and beef and vegetarian options. The snazzy space is also the setting for clam bakes and fried chicken on Sunday nights. ❂ J R L D $$

AMINA THAI 8624 Colesville Road, 301-588-3588. See Rockville/North Bethesda listing. L D $

AZÚCAR RESTAURANT BAR & GRILL 14418 Layhill Road, 301-438-3293, azucarrestaurant.net. The name means sugar, and it fits: The colorful Salvadoran spot is decorated in bright purple and orange with Cubist-style paintings.

The pork-stuffed corn pupusas are stars. Also look for more elegant dinners, including fried whole trout.

L D $$

BETE ETHIOPIAN CUISINE 811 Roeder Road, 301-588-2225. Family-run Ethiopian restaurant with a modest dining room but some exemplary cooking. Don’t miss the vegetarian sampler, and in nice weather, opt for eating outside in the lovely, shaded back patio. ❂ J B L D $$

BIBIM 923 Sligo Ave., 301-565-2233, bibim923.com.

Korean fare is served in a charming, 65-seat neighborhood restaurant, with outdoor seating for 50. Start with scallion or kimchi pancakes and crunchy, lightly coated chicken wings, then go for the house specialty: bibimbap, an abundant mealin-a-bowl dish of rice, vegetables, fried egg, various protein add-ons and gochujang (red chili paste). Sip on a nice selection of bourbons and soju, Korea’s beloved distilled rice spirit. ❂ D $$

THE BIG GREEK CAFÉ 8223 Georgia Ave., 301-587-4733, biggreekcafe. com. Owned by the Marmaras brothers, whose family operated the decades-old Golden Flame restaurant, the café serves a hit parade of Greek specialties, including a top-notch chicken souvlaki pita. L D $

CAVA MEZZE GRILL 8515 Fenton St., 301-200-8666, cavagrill.com. See Bethesda listing. ❂ L D $

THE CLASSICS (EDITORS’ PICK) 8606 Colesville Road, 301-588-7297, theclassicsdc.com. The restaurant features great steaks and seafood served without the pomp in a basic white dining room. Serious drinks and fresh

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seasonal American fare. Its less-formal bistro seating is first-come, first served. D $$

COPPER CANYON GRILL 928 Ellsworth Drive, 301-589-1330, ccgrill.com.

See Gaithersburg listing. ❂ J R L D $$

CRISFIELD SEAFOOD RESTAURANT 8012 Georgia Ave., 301-589-1306, crisfieldseafood.com. 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. L D $$

CUBANO’S 1201 Fidler Lane, 301-563-4020, cubanos restaurant.com. The brightly colored tropical dining room 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. ❂ L D $$

THE DAILY DISH 8301 Grubb Road, 301-588-6300, thedailydish restaurant.com. A neighborhood favorite serving seasonally inspired, locally sourced comfort food, including bar bites and brunch dishes. Full-service catering is available, too. ❂ J R L D $$

DON POLLO 12345 Georgia Ave., 301-933-9515; 13881 Outlet Drive, 240-560-7376, donpollogroup.com. See Bethesda listing. L D $

DENIZENS BREWING CO. (EDITORS’ PICK) 1115 East West Highway, 301-557-9818, denizens brewingco.com. The bright-orange building houses Montgomery County’s largest brewery, featuring core beers and seasonal offerings, along with drafts from other regional breweries. Menu of snacks, sandwiches and salads includes vegetarian options.

There is a large outdoor beer garden and indoor seating overlooking the brewery. ❂ D $

EGGSPECTATION 923 Ellsworth Drive, 301-585-1700, 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, dinners and dessert. ❂ B L D $$

EL AGUILA RESTAURANT 8649 16th St., 301-588-9063, elaguilarestaurant. com. A cheery bar and generous plates of TexMex favorites such as enchiladas and Salvadoran seafood soup make this eatery popular with families and others looking for a lively night out. ❂ L D $

EL GAVILAN 8805 Flower Ave., 301-587-4197, gavilanrestaurant.com. 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. J L D $

EL GOLFO 8739 Flower Ave., 301-608-2121, elgolforestaurant. 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. ❂ JRLD$

2-COURSE LUNCH FOR $12.00 (TUES-FRI)

ETHIO EXPRESS GRILL 952 Sligo Ave., 301-844-5149, ethiogrill. com. Ethiopian food goes fast-casual in this counter service eatery that offers your choice of carbohydrate bases (i.e., injera, rice, pasta), plus grilled meats (or tofu), sauces and lots of vegetables (the spicy lentils and yellow split peas are especially good). 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. Savory versions range from cheese and ham to roasted eggplant with zucchini, bell pepper, sundried tomato, garlic and onion. B L D $

FIRE STATION 1 RESTAURANT & BREWING CO. 8131 Georgia Ave., 301-585-1370, firestation1. com. A historic firehouse made over as an eatery serves 21st-century pizza, sandwiches, meat, seafood and vegetarian entrées. Try the Cuban sandwich with seasoned pork, chipotle mayo, Dijon mustard, pickles and Swiss cheese on a ciabatta roll. L D $

THE GREEK PLACE 8417 Georgia Ave., 301-495-2912, thegreekplace. net. Here are 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. L D $

GUSTO FARM TO STREET 8512 Fenton St., 301-565-2800, eatgusto.com.

See Bethesda listing. ❂ J L D $

HEN QUARTER 919 Ellsworth Drive, 240-247-8969, henquarter. com. An outpost of a restaurant in Alexandria, Virginia, Hen Quarter focuses on Southern fare, such as shrimp and grits, and chicken and waffles. The space includes rustic décor and garage windows that roll back for open-air views of Downtown Silver Spring’s fountain. The bar pours 75 types of bourbon and other whiskeys, as well as craft beer and wine. ❂ J R L D $$

ITALIAN KITCHEN 8201 Fenton St., 301-588-7800, italiankitchenmd. com. Casual, attractive pizzeria with bar seating also turns out homemade sandwiches, calzones, salads and pasta dishes. Pizza and paninis are top notch. L D $

JEWEL OF INDIA 10151 New Hampshire Ave., 301-408-2200, jewelofindiamd.com. Elegant décor and excellent northern Indian cuisine make this shopping center restaurant a real find. Diners will find a good selection of curries, and rice and biryani dishes.

L D $$

KAO THAI 8650 Colesville Road, 301-495-1234, kaothai restaurant.com. This restaurant turns out top-notch curries, noodle dishes and vegetarian options, plus house specialties, such as Siam Salmon with Spicy Thai Basil Sauce and Thai Chili Tilapia. Dishes are cooked medium spicy. ❂ L D $$

LA CASITA PUPUSERIA & MARKET 8214 Piney Branch Road, 301-588-6656, lacasita pupusas.com. Homemade pupusas, tamales and other Salvadoran specialties are available, plus a full breakfast menu and a small selection of grocery items. B L D $

½ Price Wine Monday and Tuesday

LA MALINCHE 8622 Colesville Road, 301-562-8622, lamalinche tapas.com. Diners will find an 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 $$

7945 Norfolk Ave. Bethesda, MD 301.657.1722

www.bacchusoflebanon.com

LANGANO ETHIOPIAN RESTAURANT 8305 Georgia Ave., 301-563-6700. 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 $

LEBANESE TAVERNA CAFÉ 933 Ellsworth Drive, 301-588-1192, lebanese taverna.com. See Rockville listing. J L D $

FINE ITALIAN FOOD MADE FRESH DAILY

Catering available anytime for any occasion Private parties | Family style dinners | Opera Night

LINA'S DINER AND BAR 8402 Georgia Ave., 240-641-8061. The casual diner features a blend of American and Frenchinspired options, from frisée aux lardons (salad topped with bacon and egg) to double cheeseburgers. Eclectic, Bohemian décor adorns the walls of the dining room. J L D $$

LINCOLN’S BAR-B-QUE 931 Ellsworth Drive, 301-578-1660, lincolnsbbq. com. Next to the fountain in the heart of downtown Silver Spring, Lincoln’s serves up all manner of barbecue. While smoked meats are the headliners, you’ll also find a Frito pie appetizer—cheese, chili, jalapeños and onions on Frito chips—served in a cut-open Frito bag. To-go goods, including sauces and spices, are for sale here too. ❂ J L D $$

MAMMA LUCIA 1302 East West Highway, 301-562-0693, mammaluciarestaurants.com. See Bethesda listing. ❂ L D $$

MANDALAY RESTAURANT & CAFÉ 930 Bonifant St., 301-585-0500, mandalay restaurantcafe.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 $

MCGINTY’S PUBLIC HOUSE 911 Ellsworth Drive, 301-587-1270, mcgintys publichouse.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. ❂ J R L D $$

MI RANCHO 8701 Ramsey Ave., 301-588-4872, miranchotexmexrestaurant.com. See Rockville listing. ❂ L D $

Salang Limited-edition jewelry handmade in Italy of semi-precious stones www.SalangOnline.com

MIX BAR AND GRILLE 8241 Georgia Ave., #200, 301-326-1333, mixbar andgrillesilverspring.com. Modern American bistro with an older sibling; similar menu, plus a selection of ceviche. See Potomac listing. ❂ J R L D $$

MOD PIZZA 909 Ellsworth Drive, 240-485-1570, modpizza.com.

First Maryland location of this Bellevue, Washingtonbased chain offers design-your-own fast-casual pies (hence, Made on Demand, or MOD). Pizzas, cooked at 800 degrees for three minutes, can be topped with a choice of nearly 40 sauces, cheeses, meats, spices and veggies. ❂ L D $

MRS. K’S RESTAURANT 9201 Colesville Road, 301-589-3500, mrsks.com.

Here’s an elegant, antique-filled option for special

occasions and 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. ❂ R L D $$$

NAINAI’S NOODLE & DUMPLING BAR 1200 East West Highway, 301-585-6678, nainaisnoodles.com. Sisters Joanne and Julie Liu serve homemade noodles and dumplings in this lovable fast-casual eatery that shares a kitchen with their Scion restaurant next door. Focus on the noodles, and bring a photo of your “Nainai” (grandmother in Chinese) to tack on the bulletin board. L D $

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dine NOT YOUR AVERAGE JOE'S 8661 Colesville Road, 240-839-3400, notyouraveragejoes.com. See Bethesda listing. ❂ J L D $$

OLAZZO (EDITORS’ PICK) 8235 Georgia Ave., 301-588-2540, olazzo.com. See Bethesda listing. ❂ J L D $

PACCI’S NEAPOLITAN PIZZERIA (EDITORS’ PICK) 8113 Georgia Ave., 301-588-1011, paccispizzeria. com. This stylish eatery turns out top-notch pizzas from a wood-burning oven. Choose from red or white pizza selections, plus four kinds of calzones. ❂ JLD$

PACCI’S TRATTORIA & PASTICCERIA 6 Old Post Office Road, 301-588-0867, paccis trattoria.com. Diners will find a range of classic Italian dishes, including homemade meatballs and sausage, from the owner of Pacci’s Neapolitan Pizzeria, also in Silver Spring. L D $$

PARKWAY DELI & RESTAURANT 8317 Grubb Road, 301-587-1427, theparkway deli.com. Parkway features a bustling back dining room 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, petesapizza.com.

Sporting more stylish décor than its other locations, this Pete’s 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 $

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 $

SAMANTHA’S 631 University Blvd. East, 301-445-7300, samanthasrestaurante.com. 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, scionrestaurant.com. A contemporary American eatery from sisters Joanne and Julie Liu, who also own a popular Dupont Circle restaurant with the same name and Nainai’s Noodle & Dumpling Bar in Silver Spring. Look for everything from wasabi Caesar salad to crab Reuben to spicy yogurt chicken. J R L D $$

SERGIOS RISTORANTE ITALIANO 8727 Colesville Road, 301-585-1040. A classic red-sauce Italian restaurant that manages to feel special, with soothing wall murals and high-quality service, despite a basement location inside the DoubleTree Hotel. Ravioli with asparagus and cheese in a tarragon sauce is popular. L D $$

THE SOCIETY RESTAURANT & LOUNGE 8229 Georgia Ave., 301-565-8864, societyss. com. A sleek and modern atmosphere catering to a nightlife crowd, Society offers fare with a Caribbean accent. Check out the rooftop seating and daily drink specials, which include $25 beer buckets. ❂ L D $$

SUSHI JIN NEXT DOOR 8555 Fenton St., 301-608-0990, sushijinnextdoor. com. The eatery is spare, clean and modern, and offers terrific udon noodle soup and impeccable raw fish. Choose from 11 appetizers and seven soups and salads. L D $$

SWEETGREEN 8517 Georgia Ave., 301-244-5402, sweetgreen. com. See Bethesda listing. L D $

TASTEE DINER 8601 Cameron St., 301-589-8171, tasteediner. com. See Bethesda listing. ❂ J B L D $

TAYLOR GOURMET 8535 Fenton St., 301-304-6283, taylorgourmet. com. See Bethesda listing. L D $

THAI AT SILVER SPRING 921-E Ellsworth Drive, 301-650-0666, thaiatsilver spring.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 $$

URBAN BAR-B-QUE COMPANY 10163 New Hampshire Ave., 301-434-7427, urban bbqco.com. See Rockville listing. L D $

URBAN BUTCHER (EDITORS’ PICK) 8226 Georgia Ave., 301-585-5800, urbanbutcher. com. Hip, eclectic setting is the backdrop for this New Age steak house, with its home-cured salamis, sausages and other charcuterie, plus meat dishes made from local animals of yesteryear breeds.

There’s a lounge, bar, meat curing room, retail counter and dining area. R D $$

URBAN WINERY 949 Bonifant St., 301-585-4100, theurbanwinery. com. Silver Spring residents Damon and Georgia Callis open the first and only urban winery in the midAtlantic area. Tasting facility offers craft wines made with local and international grapes, and customers can even create their own wines (by appointment).

Light menu includes artisan cheese, charcuterie and smoked seafood platters, plus Greek mezze. D $

VEGETABLE GARDEN 3830 International Drive (Leisure World Plaza), 301598-6868, vegetablegarden.com. The popular vegan, vegetarian and macrobiotic Asian restaurant features a wide variety of eggplant and asparagus dishes, plus vegetarian “beef,” and “chicken” dishes often made with soy and wheat gluten. L D $$

VICINO RISTORANTE ITALIANO 959 Sligo Ave., 301-588-3372, vicinoitaliano.com.

A favorite neighborhood red-sauce joint that hasn’t changed in decades, Vicino features some fine seafood choices in addition to classic pasta dishes.

Families are welcome. ❂ L D $ $

THE WOODSIDE DELI 9329 Georgia Ave., 301-589-7055, thewoodside deli.com. See Rockville listing. J B L D $

UPPER NW D.C. AMERICAN CITY DINER 5532 Connecticut Ave. NW, 202-244-1949, americancitydiner.com. Retro diner complete with blue-plate specials such as Salisbury steak and stuffed peppers; malts and egg creams. Diners can catch a classic movie free with dinner. ❂ JBLD$

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ARUCOLA 5534 Connecticut Ave. NW, 202-244-1555, arucola. com. The restaurant serves authentic Italian cuisine in a casual setting, with a changing menu that includes creative treatment of traditional dishes, homemade pasta and pizza from the wood-burning oven. ❂ L D $ $

BLUE 44 5507 Connecticut Ave. NW, 202-362-2583, blue44dc.com. The menu features classic American favorites infused with the flavors of Italy and France, including ratatouille, pork schnitzel and bouillabaisse. ❂ J R L D $$

BUCK’S FISHING AND CAMPING 5031 Connecticut Ave. NW, 202-364-0777, bucksfishingandcamping.com. Diners can enjoy a seasonal menu that changes daily, and offers hip takes on comfort food such as roast chicken (locally raised) in an artsy-chic setting. D $$$

CAFÉ OF INDIA 4909 Wisconsin Ave. NW, 202-244-1395, cafeofindiadc.com. Here’s a cute corner café with two levels of dining and an extensive menu that includes vegetarian and tandoori entrées, dosas, samosas, tikkas, curries and kabobs. ❂ L D $$

CHATTER 5247 Wisconsin Ave. NW, 202-362-8040, chatterdc. com. A group that includes Gary Williams, Maury Povich, Tony Kornheiser and Alan Bubes bought this neighborhood hangout in 2017 and renovated it while maintaining its Cheers-like atmostphere. It offers a full menu beyond bar food, including salads, steaks, seafood and sandwiches. ❂ R L D $$

COMET PING PONG (EDITORS’ PICK) 5037 Connecticut Ave. NW, 202-364-0404, cometpingpong.com. Landmark fun spot where you can play ping-pong or admire local art while you wait for your wood-fired pizza. Choose from over 30 toppings to design your own pie. ❂ R L D $

DECARLO’S RESTAURANT 4822 Yuma St. NW, 202-363-4220, decarlosrestaurant.com. This is a family-owned neighborhood staple, with a traditional Italian menu and upscale/casual atmosphere. Signature dishes include agnolotti, veal scallopini, broiled salmon and hand-made pasta. ❂ L D $$

GUAPO’S RESTAURANT 4515 Wisconsin Ave. NW, 202-686-3588, guaposrestaurant.com. See Bethesda listing. ❂ R L D $$

JAKE’S AMERICAN GRILLE 5018 Connecticut Ave. NW, 202-966-5253, jakesdc. com. Burgers, steaks and sandwiches are served in a restaurant named after the owner’s grandfather, an accomplished Navy test engineer. Check out the Boiler Room, a sports bar in the basement.

J R L D $$

JETTIES 5632 Connecticut Ave. NW, 202-364-2465, jettiesdc.com. See Bethesda listing. J L D $

LE CHAT NOIR 4907 Wisconsin Ave. NW, 202-244-2044, lechatnoirrestaurant.com. This cute, cozy neighborhood bistro is run by French restaurateurs, who cook traditional fare such as steak frites, bouillabaisse and braised lamb cheeks. R L D $$

LE PAIN QUOTIDIEN 4874 Massachusetts Ave. NW, 202-459-9141, lepainquotidien.com. See Bethesda listing. ❂ JBRLD$

LUNCHBOX 5535 Wisconsin Ave. NW, Suite 018, 202-2443470, voltlunchbox.com. The Washington remake of chef Bryan Voltaggio’s defunct Frederick restaurant offers specialties including the Southern Banh Mi with crispy chicken and pickled vegetables, and B’More with pepper-crusted pit beef. L D $

MACON BISTRO & LARDER (EDITORS’ PICK) 5520 Connecticut Ave. NW, 202-248-7807, macon bistro.com. Southern and French cuisine converge at this airy, charming restaurant in the historic Chevy Chase Arcade. Appetizers include raclette and fried green tomatoes, and steak frites is offered alongside short ribs with grits for main courses. ❂ R D $$

MAGGIANO’S LITTLE ITALY 5333 Wisconsin Ave. NW, 202-966-5500, maggianos.com. The restaurant features oldstyle Italian fare that’s a favorite for large groups and private celebrations. Check out the signature flatbreads and specialty pastas, including lobster carbonara. J R L D $$

MASALA ART (EDITORS’ PICK) 4441-B Wisconsin Ave. NW, 202-362-4441, masalaartdc.com. Here is fine Indian dining featuring tandoor-oven specialties and masterful Indian spicing. Start off by choosing from a selection of nine breads and 17 appetizers. L D $$

MILLIE'S

SATAY CLUB ASIAN RESTAURANT AND BAR

4866 Massachusetts Ave. NW, 202-733-5789, milliesdc.com. This eatery in the Spring Valley neighborhood may be from up north—it’s the second location of a popular Nantucket restaurant—but its flavors are distinctly south-of-the-border. The menu offers coastal takes on tacos, quesadillas and salads that are as summery as the bright, nautical décor of the dining room. ❂ J R L D $$

PARTHENON RESTAURANT 5510 Connecticut Ave. NW, 202-966-7600, parthenon-restaurant.com. This is a 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. ❂ L D $$

PETE’S NEW HAVEN STYLE APIZZA 4940 Wisconsin Ave. NW, 202-237-7383, petesapizza.com. See Silver Spring listing. ❂ JLD$

RANGE (EDITORS’ PICK) 5335 Wisconsin Ave. NW, Suite 201, 202-8038020, voltrange.com. Celebrity chef Bryan Voltaggio’s extravaganza, featuring multiple open kitchens, seats 300 and offers an enormous wine list. L D $$$

4654 Wisconsin Ave. NW, 202-363-8888, asiansatayclub.com. The restaurant prides itself on providing a comfortable/casual setting 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, tanadthai cuisine.com. The extensive menu ranges from noodles, rice and curries to vegetarian entrées, and even a Thai lemonade cocktail. House specialties include pad Thai and Drunken Noodles. ❂ L D $$

TARA THAI 4849 Massachusetts Ave. NW, 202-363-4141, tarathai.com. See Gaithersburg listing. ❂ L D $$

TERASOL (EDITORS’ PICK) 5010 Connecticut Ave. NW, 202-237-5555, terasolartisans.com. This charming French café offers soups, salads, quiches and a few entrées, along with jewelry and pottery from local artisans.

Live music on Fridays and Saturdays. ❂ B L D $

WAGSHAL’S RESTAURANT 4855 Massachusetts Ave. NW, 202-363-5698, wagshals.com. Longtime popular deli expands grocery and carryout section, and adds a casual sit-down restaurant in the Spring Valley Shopping Center. Same high-quality fare, including the overstuffed sandwiches. L D $ ■

SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION

Salons & Spas PROFILES

ERNESTO MALDONADO

Salon Jean & Day Spa “We’re ecstatic to be celebrating our 10th anniversary this year!” says salon owner Jean Bae. As a full-service hair salon, Salon Jean offers a variety of hair care services, including two great new treatments for frizz. “Magic Sleek and Belma Kosmetik are all-natural treatments that straighten the hair and get rid of that pesky frizz,” Bae says.

The salon also offers discounted haircuts for children under 16 every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday after 4 p.m. A wide selection of packages for different hair services help guests to save money if they are frequent salon clients. Available in the day spa are great skin care treatments, including the Silk Peel Dermalinfusion and facials using Dermalogica products. Salon Jean has aestheticians for nails services and makeup application, and massage therapists, too. “Come spend some time with us and walk out feeling beautiful, rejuvenated and refreshed!” says Bae. 7945 MacArthur Blvd. | Cabin John, MD 20818 301-320-5326 | www.salonjean.com BETHESDAMAGAZINE.COM | NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2017

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PROFILES

SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION

4&Co. Salon

130 Rollins Ave., Suite C North Bethesda, MD 20852 301-984-1177 info@4andcosalon.com www.4andcosalon.com

HILARY SCHWAB

When it comes to beauty and luxurious hair, depend on 4&Co. Salon.

Co-owners Debora Crivella and Leyla Heinrich have assembled a well-rounded team of stylists, all highly skilled at handling varying hair textures and lengths.

Stylists are devoted to continuous education and always evolving with the newest trends and technology. 4&Co. Salon distinguishes itself with an innovative atmosphere, bridal experts, a facial specialist and luxury brands.

The extensive menu of services for men and women make the salon a one-stop-shop. “Our goal is to bring out your unique inner beauty and give everyone an enjoyable, relaxing salon experience,” says Crivella.“We hold ourselves to the highest standards of customer service.”

Conveniently located on the retail level of Rollins Ridge Apartments in North Bethesda, the owners invite you to visit and see for yourself. “Above all, we’re dedicated to making our clients not just look good but feel good, too!” says Heinrich.

Bella Moda Salon & Spa At this friendly, Turkish-owned salon and spa, hospitality and customer service are the first order of business. Every member of the robust team of talented stylists is skilled at sophisticated classic looks and they also keep up with the latest trends. The salon offers a variety of services for hair and nails. In the spa suite, clients enjoy facials, spray tanning, waxing and massage therapies. Local athletes can attest to the high quality of the sports massages.

Staff from the Potomac Day Spa have transitioned to Bella Moda and have been welcomed with open arms by Bella Moda staff and clients. The salon and spa, which opened three years ago, is located in the heart of Potomac Village between River Falls, Renato Restaurant and Starbucks.

780 Main Ave. SW, Unit 412 Washington, DC 20024 www.bellamodasalonspa.com 274

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ADAM FREEDMAN

10118 River Road Potomac, MD 20854 301-983-5545

PROFILES

SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION

Salons & Spas

MICHAEL VENTURA

Kindle & Boom Kindle & Boom, a hip, sun-drenched salon and spa in Congressional Village, is known as the place to go for professional cuts and color. Perhaps the feel-good atmosphere is the result of it being a partnership of friends who have worked together in the beauty industry for many years. The salon has been highly rated by Bethesda and Washingtonian magazines for years. In addition, Kindle & Boom has consistently held one of the top spots on Yelp.com.

Unsolicited reviews like this one appear on Yelp: “I've been going to Kindle & Boom for about a year now and couldn't be happier. They’re a bustling customer service friendly salon with customers who are customers for life. From what I've seen they're also quite welcoming to new clients. Having eavesdropped (sorry!) on new clients around me here they appear super comfortable and happy with results.” Also on Yelp, Jennifer says, “I have been going to Kindle & Boom for the past two years. I always look forward to my appointments because of the relaxing atmosphere.”

The accommodating stylists are knowledgeable, communicative and highly trained. They are especially proficient in the soft highlights created through Balayage, and they know how to gracefully blend color to cover gray, avoiding the hard line of demarcation. Many of the stylists have learned Deva cutting, a method of cutting curly hair when it is dry. Top product lines are used, including ammonia-free color for a shinier, healthier result.

Kindle & Boom has a great rewards program that awards points for services, product purchases, pre-booking and referrals.

“The accommodating stylists are knowledgeable, communicative and highly trained.”

AWARDS Top Salon, Best of the Best Readers Poll, Bethesda Magazine, 2009, 2011-2016; Best of Yelp, Best Hair Salons in Rockville, 2010-2017

180 Halpine Road Rockville, MD 20852 301-770-0404 kindleandboom@me.com www.kindleandboom.com

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PROFILES

SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION

Jhonny Davila OWNER, CAHRA SALON & SPA

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“Come in today and let our stylists enhance your current look or create something totally new and daring.”

5 Grand Corner Ave. Gaithersburg, MD 20878 301-921-6655 www.cahrasalon.com

TONY J. LEWIS

Jhonny Davila and Teresa Reed have spent over 40 years in the salon industry dedicated to providing their clients with the very best salon experiences. “We specialize in highquality haircutting, styling and coloring,” says Jhonny. “And our spa offers the very best personnel, all experts in facial and body treatments, waxing, massage and makeup.”

Located in the Rio Washingtonian Center with easy parking and shopping all around, people from Gaithersburg, Rockville and Potomac rely on Cahra Salon & Spa to make them look their best. “Our clients come to us to recharge before a big night downtown or have an early blow out before a busy work day,” says Teresa.

From the moment you enter the unique architectural space, you’re welcomed by a happy, friendly team who are passionate about exceeding your expectations. The salon stays current with all fashion trends and advanced professional products. The international staff is highly trained with extensive experience in the latest techniques for precision haircuts and all popular color techniques. Top-of-the-line products for all services and available for purchase include Belma Kosmetik, Oribe, Bumble and Bumble and Milbon.

A variety of classic and contemporary looks can be customized for the diverse clientele. “We never forget that a simple design is sometimes the best,” says Teresa. “You can trust our stylists to deliver. They guide you in selecting a look which best suits you, no matter what your personality—diva, classic, athletic, sophisticated—and no matter what you're looking for.”

“Come in today and let our stylists enhance your current look or create something totally new and daring,” says Jhonny. “Consultations are complimentary. Let us help you fall in love with yourself!”

PROFILES

SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION

Salons & Spas

HILARY SCHWAB

New Wave Salon & Spa Team Recognized as an innovative team in the salon industry, New Wave Salon and Spa, led by owner Danny Sayag, caters to the needs of a very diverse clientele. “I’m proud when clients walk out feeling as good as they look; that success is a result of us working together,” says Danny. Team members take the time to individually consult with each client.

You may get to know others in the salon in addition to your own stylist and colorist, as it's a very collaborative and warm atmosphere.

“Our employees are given respect, independence and opportunities for growth,” says Sayag. “I don’t ask anything of my staff that I wouldn’t do myself.”

Atmosphere and culture at New Wave are as important to Sayag as skills and services. A stickler for customer service, he knows that the first and last impression is created by the front desk staff. Receptionists are warm, responsive and efficient. More than 30 stylists and colorists, along with nail techs, estheticians and a make-up artist, all work in harmony. By creating a friendly environment, clients always look forward to returning.

New services and techniques include Deva Cut, Brazilian blowout and keratin relaxer.

Permanent cosmetics, eyelash extensions, makeup, Oxygen facial, digital perm and micro-blading are the most recent additions to the salon and spa menus.

“We invite you to come to New Wave and experience an atmosphere like no other,” says Danny.

“I’m proud when clients walk out feeling as good as they look; that success is a result of us working together.”

1776 East Jefferson St., Suite 111 Rockville, MD 20852 301-231-4844 newwavesalonandspa@gmail.com www.newwavesalon.com

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Salons & Spas

PROFILES

SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION

Gail Cohen OWNER, SALON CENTRAL

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“Our guests keep us working hard to stay on top of the latest trends, and it’s always fun to exceed people’s expectations.”

AWARDS Salon 200 Award for Retention & Referrals; “A Top Vote Getter,” Bethesda Magazine’s Best of Bethesda Readers Poll.

10317 Westlake Drive Bethesda, MD 20817 301-767-1077 www.saloncentralbethesda.com

MICHAEL VENTURA

Gail Cohen’s Salon Central serves a really diverse clientele in their location by Westfield Montgomery. The mall draws shoppers from way beyond the Bethesda neighborhood, and Gail and her stylists have a client list from everywhere. “All ages, every hair type and men and women both,” she says. “After 20 years, we get next generations of families, too.”

The current trend is the Balayage technique, a state-of-the-art method which the salon uses for natural highlighting and layered color. “We really work hard to keep up with cutting-edge techniques and trends,” Gail says. Guests are constantly asking for Balayage at Salon Central and many of the stylists are highly skilled experts in the technique.

Another hair color tool is CityBeats color by Redken, which offers an urban look for fun and funky colors.

Gail says her team loves having a clientele with different needs, and pleasing people with all kinds of hair. “Our guests keep us working hard to stay on top of the latest trends, and it’s always fun to exceed people’s expectations.”

Salon Central just celebrated their 20th anniversary and the team now includes 19 stylists, skin care experts and front desk people. The salon has a very high retention rate of all guests, who return time after time for haircuts, color and other services. “We have one chance to make a good impression, and first impressions are an important theme of mine,” Gail says.

“After 20 years, you develop a lot of trust with your clients and the neighbors around you,” says Gail. “Our clients just have to come in and try us once, and then they’re hooked.”

shopping. beauty. weddings. pets. travel. history.

SHANDI WALLACE PHOTOGRAPHY

etc.

Kayla Collins and Stuart Wright got married at the place where they had their first date, Congressional Country Club in Bethesda. Turn to page 284 for their wedding story.

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SHOP TALK

1

AROUND THE BEND commercial breaks, most of us turn to our phones. When Silver Spring’s Doug Heifetz waited for Vikings to come back on in July 2015, he started bending cutlery. It wasn’t a new hobby for Heifetz, then the rabbi at Oseh Shalom, a synagogue in Laurel. He’d turned a few forks into bracelets while he was studying at Georgetown University’s Walsh School of Foreign Service.

“They weren’t much to look at, but they were conversation pieces,” he says.

By August 2015, Heifetz was sourcing antique flatware, cabinet hardware and copper online and from Value Village and Unique Thrift, both in Silver Spring.

Then he used tools he had around the house to bend materials into pendants, rings, watchbands, money clips and candlesticks. He posted his mysticallooking creations on Facebook, where purchase requests from friends—and soon strangers—started rolling in.

Sensing an opportunity, Heifetz concocted a business name—Lost & Forged—and opened an Etsy storefront that November (he also sold items at his synagogue’s gift shop). In December 2015, he took a three-month sabbatical to enroll in a silversmithing class in the District, where he refined his movements, and replaced his bolt cutters and bench grinders with proper jeweler’s tools.

Though still a novice, Heifetz applied to exhibit at Baltimore’s Artscape, 280

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PHOTO BY MATTHEW STEBENNE; JEWELRY PHOTOS COURTESY OF LOST & FORGED

WHEN WE’RE BORED DURING

BY SARAH ZLOTNICK

2 3

where he was selected as a 2016 emerging artist. He was able to get silver demitasse cuff spoon rings—his most popular item—included in celebrity swag bags at the 2017 Golden Globe Awards through The Artisan Group, a Californiabased organization that helps small-scale creators with celebrity product placement.

Lost & Forged jewelry has appeared on Freeform’s The Fosters, and has been wor n by MTV actresses Danielle Savre and Benita Robledo.

Heifetz, 43, married with two children, ages 7 and 10, is pursuing his entrepreneurial passions full time now (he also runs slingitback.com, which enables users to donate automatically to Planned Parenthood each time President Donald Trump tweets, and mosaicverse. com, a searchable digital library of sacred writings). But he won’t forget the influence his religious work has had on his metalwork.

“I’ve always loved rescuing old things— old materials, old ideas,” Heifetz says. “I love finding things that could be of value that are undervalued or forgotten. And that’s true to some extent [in religious work]. In either scenario, I find the gems of the past and rework them so that they can add to people’s lives today.”

1.

Leilani Silver Whole Spoon Ring, made from a vintage demitasse spoon; $40

2.

Apple Watch Sterling Silver Fork “Watch Tips” Watchband (watch not included), made from two vintage dinner forks; sterling silver, $360; silver plate, $230

3.

Melodia Sterling Silver Fork Pendant Necklace, made from vintage flatware; $250

4.

Reclaimed Miracle Silver Hanukkah Menorah, made from 11 vintage silver spoons; sterling silver, $1,000; silver plate, $500

4

Lost & Forged jewelry is available on Etsy, at lostandforged.com and at Kensington’s Goldsborough Glynn. Prices range from $20 to $1,000; custom work and engraving is also available.

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etc.

SHOP TALK

NEED A HOSTESS GIFT IDEA?

BEFORE HER 2012 WEDDING in Lexington, Virginia, bride-to-be Jamie Kutchman Wynne spent 40-plus hours on welcome bags filled with local treats and tips for enjoying the small town. Then her planner delivered the bags to the wrong hotel.

The less-than-stellar experience inspired Wynne to found Marigold & Grey, an artisanal gifting company, two years later.

Today, the Chevy Chase resident creates wedding welcome gifts that include something salty, something sweet, a beverage and a keepsake.

She hand-delivers them to hotels within an hour and a half driving distance.

From breakfast-in-bed gifts for a French-inspired wedding at The Mayflower Hotel to a socially 282

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conscious gift for a modern Long View Gallery wedding, both in the District, Wynne focuses on customization. She includes products based on wedding locations—which cross the country—and the special day’s aesthetic, and other items that are personal to the couple.

Working out of a 2,500-square-foot Kensington warehouse, Wynne has catered to high-profile customers such as NBA player Harrison Barnes, who got married in Rhode Island and shared items such as Newport popcorn and saltwater taffy with guests. Corporate clients such as Capital One and The Hay-Adams hotel in the District also use Wynne’s boutique gifting service. Prices begin at about $2,000 per project. marigoldgrey.com n

PHOTO BY MICHAEL VENTURA

A WARM WELCOME

Jamie Kutchman Wynne, owner of Marigold & Grey, is an expert at putting together gift baskets.

She’s pictured with a collection of treats that would make a nice gift for your next event.

It could include Enid Romanoff notecards (8 for $14 at The Blue House in Bethesda), a milk chocolate tablet ($9 at Tout De Sweet Pastry Shop in Bethesda), or the Chouquette Monument chocolate set ($6 at Bradley Food & Beverage in Bethesda). Add local coffee, coasters or a candle, too.

10215 Old Georgetown Rd. Bethesda, MD 20814 Ph: 301.897.2929 belinaboutique.com

Readerʼs Pick Best Boutique

BETHESDAMAGAZINE.COM | JULY/AUGUST 2016

1

etc.

WEDDINGS

Finding Mr. Wright Kayla Collins married Stuart Wright at the country club in Bethesda where they had their first date

grew up in Germantown and graduated from Watkins Mill High School. She teaches Head Start for a county school in Gaithersburg. Stuart Wright, 32, grew up in Bethesda and graduated from Our Lady of Good Counsel High School.

He’s a financial adviser for Merrill Lynch in Reston, Virginia. The couple had a daughter, Collins Wright, in April, and moved from Bethesda to Urbana in May.

HOW THEY MET: The couple met once in high school but didn’t connect until January 2009, when Kayla was a college senior and Stuart had already graduated.

They were out at Tommy Joe’s in Bethesda with friends; one of Stuart’s friends also knew Kayla. “I went up and tried to talk to her because I was attracted to her, and it was very difficult to get anything out of her,” Stuart says. Kayla remembers wanting to spend time with her girlfriends, but as the night went on she and Stuart got to talking. “We went back to her friend’s apartment and then she kissed me,” he says.

THE FIRST DATE: Kayla and Stuart

had dinner at Bethesda’s Congressional Country Club, where Stuart’s parents are members. Kayla was so nervous she could barely eat. “I had the cheeseburger and it was really messy and I was scarfing it down, and she just had like three bites of her salad,” Stuart says with a laugh.

After dinner, they saw the Jim Carrey movie Yes Man.

THE PROPOSAL: In December 2014, 284

Stuart surprised Kayla with a weekend trip to New York City. He’d considered proposing by the Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center, but one of his sisters warned him that it would be too crowded.

Then he decided he’d propose over room-service breakfast, but when his alarm went off at 5:30 a.m., he realized that Kayla was already in the shower.

That morning they went to Rockefeller Center, which was empty except for two security guards. Stuart decided he didn’t want to propose in front of strangers, so the couple headed to see a Today show taping, went to the Top of the Rock and had brunch at the Waldorf Astoria. “I was scared because I had the ring in my pocket in my jacket the whole day, so all I was thinking about was not losing it,” Stuart says. That afternoon, back at their hotel room, he got down on one knee.

“He said a bunch of beautiful things that neither of us could remember even later that evening,” Kayla says.

THE WEDDING: Kayla and Stuart were married on June 18, 2016, at St. Bartholomew Catholic Church in Bethesda.

A reception followed at Congressional Country Club. Stuart is a triplet—both of his sisters’ weddings were featured on BethesdaMagazine.com in 2014—and one of his sisters had been married at Congressional. He and Kayla had always talked about having their wedding there.

“We would go to the pool on Saturdays, and the dining room has a big patio area that looks over the pool so we would always go up and peek in on weddings going on,” Stuart says.

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2017 | BETHESDAMAGAZINE.COM

NUMBER OF GUESTS: 215 THE PLANNING: Kayla’s mom, who

plans events for the company she works for, took on the role of wedding planner.

“She was so excited that I was her only girl and she got to do this with me,” Kayla says. “Our routine was, I would call on my way into work and we would talk wedding for a half-hour, and then whatever we found during the day—if I was on Pinterest or something—I’d send her pictures or we’d talk about it.” The only thing the two disagreed on was the color of the ribbon to tie around the hotel welcome boxes. Kayla wanted pink; her mom wanted white. “I won,” Kayla says, laughing.

SOMETHING BLUE: Before the first

of Kayla’s college girlfriend’s got married in 2010, friends gave the bride a robe to wear while getting ready for the wedding.

The robe, which had the bride’s name and wedding date on it, has been passed to the next friend getting married, who wears it before her own wedding and adds her name and date (which are embroidered in blue lettering). Kayla was the seventh of the nine friends to wear the robe.

FAMILY PHOTOS: The couple wanted

Kayla’s walk down the aisle to be the first time they saw each other, but Kayla planned a “first look” with her father and four brothers before the ceremony. “They closed their eyes and then they opened them and I was in front of them,” she says. “They gave me a hard time about [the idea] at first, but the pictures are great and I know it meant a lot to them.”

SHANDI WALLACE PHOTOGRAPHY

THE COUPLE: Kayla Collins, 30,

BY KATHLEEN SEILER NEARY

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WEDDINGS

TRAFFIC, SCHMAFFIC: On the way to the ceremony from their hotel in North Bethesda, Kayla and her bridesmaids got stuck in Beltway traffic. Kayla was having so much fun on the small party bus that she didn’t even realize she was a half-hour late to her wedding.

THE DÉCOR: The couple chose pink and gold with lots of glitter and sparkles for their theme. They also had signs with script lettering, including one with their names as a cake topper.

PHOTO FUN: During the cocktail hour

selfie sticks were on each table with a card that included the couple’s wedding hashtag—#KaylafoundMrWright—for guests to use when posting on Instagram and Facebook. They also had a customized Snapchat filter for guests to share photos during the event.

OOPS: “We had trouble cutting the cake,” Kayla says. “There was cardboard holding the tiers up and we cut too deep into it so it wouldn’t cut all the way through, but we figured it out and cut a piece to share.”

THE SEND-OFF: Kayla planned for

guests to line up and wave ribbons as the newlyweds left the reception. “My idea was the two of us [would] go through together,” she says. But when Stuart got outside and saw the tunnel of guests, he took off without her. “He was all excited,” Kayla says. They left the reception in a 1952 Bentley.

THE GOWN: Kayla wore a white strapless ball gown-style dress by Maggie Sottero with gold threading and beads on top and a tulle bottom. She purchased it at Betsy Robinson’s Bridal Collection in Pikesville, Maryland.

week at a resort in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. Their daughter, Collins, was “not quite a honeymoon baby, but close to a honeymoon baby,” Kayla says.

VENDORS: Catering and cake, Congressional Country Club; Flowers, Karen Kallmyer of Kallmyer’s Custom Florals; Hair and Makeup, JKW Beauty; Music, Millennium from Washington Talent Agency; Photography, Shandi Wallace; Stationery, Sincerely Yours ■ 286

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SHANDI WALLACE PHOTOGRAPHY

THE HONEYMOON: The couple spent a

LEGENDS CHANGE, THE ADDRESS DOES NOT. After 30 years of being one of the Washington D.C. area’s most beloved hotels, this legendary landmark is now all new.

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For Affordable Accommodations, Wedding Rehearsals, Brunches, Welcome Receptions and Bridal Showers you and your guests will have to look no further than the Hilton Garden Inn Bethesda.

Wedding Perks Packages Include • Hilton Honors Group Planner Points • Hilton Honors Guests Incentive Points • Congratulations message on the hotel lobby screen

Book and Pick Up 25 Paid Rooms or more and receive: • One complimentary night per 25 paid rooms to be used towards guest room or banquet space • Bride and Groom receive $75 Ruth’s Chris Gift card* • Complimentary Breakfast for the Bride and Groom *Mention Code “Wedding VIP”

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or email your wedding consultant at wasbt-salesadm@hilton.com BETHESDAMAGAZINE.COM | NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2017

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GET AWAY

BY CHRISTINE KOUBEK

CELEBRATE THE HOLIDAYS WITH a jaunt to The Greenbrier resort in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia, for the annual “60 Spectacular Days of Holiday Cheer.” From Nov. 3 to Jan. 3, the property is festooned with more than 100 Christmas trees, massive chocolate creations and gobs of twinkling lights. Christmas tree lightings—complete with carolers, homemade cocoa and cookies, and Santa on a sleigh—begin at 6 p.m. every Saturday between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Check gifts off your list at more than 30 on-site stores that sell everything from handblown glass to custom-designed furniture.

Events include a Thanksgiving weekend Gobbler Gala Dinner Party (family dinner and 288

dancing), a Christmas Eve Gingerbread Ball (kids dance with Santa), live ballet performances of The Nutcracker, and the New Year’s Eve Soirée ’18 (adult dinner and dancing with live music, plus a party just for teens). Tickets to the New Year’s parties are only sold to overnight guests, but the other festivities are open to all. Registered guests can also partake in cookie decorating, ice skating, horse-drawn sleigh rides, nightly holiday movies and more. Room rates begin at $385 (three-night minimum on select weekends).

The Greenbrier, 300 W. Main St., White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia; 800-624-6070, greenbrier.com

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2017 | BETHESDAMAGAZINE.COM

PHOTO COURTESY OF THE GREENBRIER

ALL IS BRIGHT

Montgomery County

Thanksgiving

Parade Downtown Silver Spring

On Georgia Avenue from Ellsworth Drive to Silver Spring Avenue

Saturday, November 18, 2017 240-777-0311 SilverSpringDowntown.com montgomerycountymd.gov/rec @mocorec

10:00 am

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GET AWAY

THE DARCY, A CURIO Collection by Hilton boutique hotel, opened in April near D.C.’s Scott Circle with a slate of creative perks and programming. There’s a men’s haberdashery—a partnership with designer Read Wall—for borrowing or purchasing ties, cuff links and pocket squares.

There’s also a butler who will craft your favorite cocktail in your room; or you can unwind at the daily 5:30 p.m. tasting with cocktails served gratis, such as the Darcy Double, a gin and ginger beer libation.

To explore town, borrow a high-end stroller, a bike or a cute red push car for kids. The hotel lends tykes themed backpacks, including the Hip Historian, Darcy Detective and the popular Shoot for the Stars, which is stuffed with glow-in-the-dark Play-Doh, a book on the solar system, freeze-dried astronaut ice cream and more.

The Darcy’s 226 rooms and suites feature midcentury modern décor, including chairs with a colorful pentagon pattern, and bronze and smoked-glass desks. An ice cream

truck play tent is set up for families in suites. The hotel’s Lil’B Coffee Bar and Eatery has a New Orleans funk vibe and serves Southern-inspired baked goods. Rates begin at $350 per night.

The Darcy, 1515 Rhode Island Ave. NW, Washington, D.C.; 202-232-7000, thedarcyhotel.com

SALE PRICE: 699,900 (FULLY FURNISHED)

RAYSTOWN LAKE, HUNTINGDON, PA

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BOATING SWIMMING MOUNTAIN BIKING SCUBA DIVING HIKING FISHING

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2709timberlakedrive.com TO SCHEDULE A VISIT:

Jo Ann Tobias 301-758-7617 joann@expresstitle.com 290

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2017 | BETHESDAMAGAZINE.COM

PHOTO COURTESY OF THE DARCY

FULL OF EXTRAS

PHOTO COURTESY OF INTERCONTINENTAL NEW YORK BARCLAY

ESCAPE TO NEW YORK CITY INTERCONTINENTAL NEW YORK BARCLAY has been a home away from home for movie stars, dignitaries and writers since opening in 1926. A $180 million renovation that included a new Carrara marble grand staircase, antique maps and mementos was completed last year, refashioning the Manhattan hotel to reflect its original 1920s elegance.

Ernest Hemingway was a temporary resident at the hotel while making final revisions to For Whom the Bell Tolls, a copy of which is on display in the lobby along with a 2016 New Yorker cartoon featuring the Barclay.

The Barclay’s 702 rooms and suites were redesigned to reflect classic Park Avenue homes, and range from 250-square-foot guest rooms that feature murals inspired by the Hudson Valley to the 2,700-square-foot Harold S. Vanderbilt Sky Suite with a floor-to-ceiling view of Manhattan and an enormous outdoor terrace. The lobby’s convivial new Gin Parlour serves small plates and offers a

The recently renovated InterContinental New York Barclay includes the 2,700-square-foot Harold S. Vanderbilt Sky Suite.

two-page menu of gin cocktails. Located on the east side of midtown Manhattan, the hotel isn’t far from theaters, the Museum of Modern Art, Central Park and Madison Avenue shopping. Rates begin at $450 per night.

InterContinental New York Barclay, 111 E. 48th St., New York, New York; 212-755-5900, intercontinentalnybarclay.com ■

Get Away Without Going Far

Book your autumn escape or winter staycation by 12/31/17 and enjoy rates starting at $119/night Sunday-Thursday and $149/night Friday-Saturday.

Offer valid for stays through 1/25/18.

Call 800 913 8971 and request offer code GET17E or visit chesapeakebay.regency.hyatt.com.

Must book by 12.31.17. Offer valid through 1.25.18 based on availability. Black out days apply. Must request offer code GET17E at time of booking. Visit chesapeakebay.regency. hyatt.com for details and restrictions. The trademark HYATT and related marks are trademarks of Hyatt Corporation. ©2017 Hyatt Corporation. All rights reserved.

BETHESDAMAGAZINE.COM | NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2017

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PRIVATE SCHOOLS SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION

Private Schools L

OO

CH •S

ES

AD

R •G

N

EN •G

O ATI OC •L

DER

ION O ATI LAT U P RR O E P H T IZE AC DEN S S T /TE AS STU N L E L C VG TUD OTA •A •T •S

The Auburn School, Silver Spring Campus

K-8

Co-ed

Silver Spring, MD

65

10

8:2

Barrie School

18 mos -Grade 12

Co-ed

Silver Spring, MD

300

16

Lower School 13:1 Middle-Upper 10:1

Beauvoir, National Cathedral Elementary School

PK-3

Co-ed

Washington, D.C.

390

20

6:1

Bullis School

K-12

Co-ed

Potomac, MD

845

15

7:1

Butler Montessori School

18 mos -Grade 8

Co-ed

Darnestown, MD

145

varies

6:1

The Diener School

special ed, K-6

Co-ed

Potomac, MD

40

8

3:1

Geneva Day School

Age 2-K

Co-ed

Potomac, MD

270

12-18

3:1

Green Acres School

Age 3-Grade 8

Co-ed

North Bethesda, MD

250

10-12

5:1

Holton-Arms School

3-12

Girls

Bethesda, MD

665

15

6:1

The Maddux School

PK-2

Co-ed

Rockvillle, MD

55-60

10-12

5:1

McLean School

K-12

Co-ed

Potomac, MD

400

10

5:1

Nora School

9-12

Co-ed

Silver Spring, MD

70

8

5:1

Norwood School

PK-8

Co-ed

Bethesda, MD

440

10-12

6:1

Oneness-Family Montessori School

Age 2-Grade 10

Co-ed

Chevy Chase, MD

145

24

12:1

The Primary Day School

PK-2

Co-ed

Bethesda, MD

125

16

6:1

Randolph-Macon Academy

6-12, post graduate

Co-ed

Front Royal, VA

330

13

8:1

The Siena School

4-12

Co-ed

Silver Spring, MD

124

10

10:1

Spring Valley Montessori Academy

Ages 2 - 5

Co-ed

Bethesda, MD

60

14

5:1

St. John's College High School

9-12

Co-ed

Chevy Chase, DC

1,100

21

12:1

Stone Ridge School of the Sacred Heart

PS-12

PS & PK: Co-ed Grades 1-12: Girls

Bethesda, MD

700

16

11:1

Washington Episcopal School

Age 3-Grade 8

Co-ed

Bethesda, MD

280

14

6:1

Westmoreland Children's Center

Ages 2 - 5

Co-ed

Bethesda, MD

142

12-15

12:3

292

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2017 | BETHESDAMAGAZINE.COM

PRIVATE SCHOOLS SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION

Essential Information on

O ATI

22Independent Schools ES

US T GIO LIA ELI AFFI R •

S) ION NT ION UIT TUDE UIT 2 T T M L OR EST Y S UA E 1 US OW (5-DA NN RAD NIF •U •B •L •A G

•

None

N

N

please inquire

N/A

Spanish

theauburnschool.org

301-508-8048

None

N

Y

$17,500

$32,100

Spanish, French, Chinese, Independent Study

barrie.org

301-576-2800

Episcopal

N

N

$35,975

N/A

Spanish

beauvoirschool.org

202-537-6485

None

Y

Y

$32,500

$41,057

Spanish, French, Latin, Chinese

bullis.org

301-299-8500

None

Y

Y

$9,900 (Half day)

N/A

Spanish

butlerschool.org

301-977-6600

None

N

N

please inquire

N/A

thedienerschool.org

301-299-4602

None

N

N

$7,200

N/A

Spanish, Chinese

genevadayschool.org

301-340-7704

None

N

Y

$15,000 (Half day) $22,900 (Full day

N/A

Spanish

greenacres.org

301-881-4100

None

Y

Y

$40,695

$41,755

Spanish, Chinese, Latin, French

holton-arms.edu

301-365-5300

None

N

N

$30,455

N/A

madduxschool.org

301-469-0223

None

Y

Y

$24,890

$44,675

Spanish, Latin, ASL

mcleanschool.org

240-395-0698

None

N

N

$29,500

$30,100

Spanish, Latin

nora-school.org

301-495-6672

None

Dress code

Y

$20,175

N/A

Spanish, French, Latin, Mandarin Chinese

norwoodschool.org

301-365-2595

None

N

N

$20,500

N/A

Spanish, French

onenessfamilymontessorischool.org

301-652-7751

None

N

N

$21,000

N/A

Spanish, French, Chinese

theprimarydayschool.org

301-365-4355

United Methodist Church

Y

N

$27,428

$36,156

Spanish, French, German

rma.edu

540-636-5484

None

N

N

$38,009

$39,812

Spanish

thesienaschool.org

301-244-3600

None

N

N

$10,600

springvalleymontessoriacademy.org

202-316-2200

Catholic

Y

Y

$19,175

$19,175

Spanish, French, Latin

stjohnschs.org

202-363-2316

Catholic

Y

Y

$19,900

$33,900

Spanish, French, Latin

stoneridgeschool.org

301-657-4322

Episcopal

Y

N

$10,695

$34,600

Spanish, French, Latin

w-e-s.org

301-652-7878

None

N

N

$17,150

N/A

wccbethesda.com

301-229-7161

ION

AG

GU AN N L ED G I E ER FOR OFF

ITE

BS

E •W

NE

HO

•P

BETHESDAMAGAZINE.COM | NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2017

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PRIVATE SCHOOLS

SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION

Designing Education for the 21st Century Ages 2–Grade 12 Select Openings Available An Independent Montessori School Steps from Downtown Bethesda A Vibrant International Community 6701 Wisconsin Avenue Chevy Chase, MD 20815 301-652-7751 www.onenessfamilyschool.org

Where the challenging academic curriculum meets bright students where they are, with the goal of setting every student up for a lifetime of success. www.rma.edu 294

540-636-5484

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2017 | BETHESDAMAGAZINE.COM

▪ www.theauburnschool.org ▪ Campuses in Silver Spring, Fairfax and Baltimore

SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION

PRIVATE SCHOOLS

.m SE. - 2:00 p

U1:00 a.m O H |1

17 EeN , 20 9 P 2 O tob r Oc

.

COMMUNITY

AchievementFAITH SPIRIT

Confidence ENCOURAGEMENT FRIENDSHIP

Weare ST. JOHN’S

Opening Minds | Unlocking Talents | Building Leaders 2607 Military Road, NW, Chevy Chase, DC 20015

www.stjohnschs.org

spirit of

achievement

Washington Episcopal School students love to learn. They are challenged daily in a balanced, joyful environment that lets kids be kids. With teachers always instructing – from books, the latest technology, studios, hallways, and athletic fields – children reach new levels of achievement.

Our students stand out without burning out out.

COME AND SEE FOR YOURSELF:

Early Childhood (Age 3 to Kindergarten) Open House Thursday, November 9 • 9:30 a.m.

All Grades (Age 3 to Grade 8) Open House Saturday, December 9 • 9:30 a.m.

Thursday, January 18 • 9:30 a.m.

RSVP at www.w-e-s.org/admissions Or call 301-652-7878 to schedule a visit today!

WASHINGTON EPISCOPAL SCHOOL An independent, co-educational school for Nursery – Grade 8 5600 Little Falls Parkway, Bethesda, MD 20816 | www.w-e-s.org

Located about a mile from the DC line and 10 minutes from northern Virginia, off River Road BETHESDAMAGAZINE.COM | NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2017

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PRIVATE SCHOOLS

SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION

Serving Students Kindergarten – 6th Grade with Learning Disabilities; Language and Sensory Processing Needs; Executive Functioning & Attention Issues; and Social Thinking Challenges

DISCOVER SR!

Call our Admissions Team to schedule a tour: 301.657.4322 x321 Empowering leaders to serve with faith, intellect, and confidence.

Stone Ridge School of the Sacred Heart is a Catholic, independent, college preparatory school for girls, Grades 1-12, with a co-educational Early Childhood Program, infants through Kindergarten. Located in Bethesda. Maryland.

DC, MD and VA bus transportation available.

www.stoneridgeschool.org 296

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2017 | BETHESDAMAGAZINE.COM

One child. A collaborative community. A world of difference.

SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION

PRIVATE SCHOOLS

“I like that there are a variety of classes offered, especially in Honors and AP. I found myself at McLean, especially academically. The teachers are so committed. I feel like I can finally achieve my dreams” Join us for an Open House!

9:00 am Saturday, November 11 Saturday, January 20

K-12 College Preparatory School Supporting Bright Students’ Individual Learning Strengths and Challenges Contact us anytime! mcleanschool.org Potomac, Maryland 240.395.0698 admission@mcleanschool.org

Dance Model UN National Spelling Bee Writing Violin Anatomy Swimming Class Mayor Martial Arts Theater Printmaking Sculpture Soccer Robotics Politics Art Trumpet Graphic Design Basketball Chamber Singers Engineering Global Studies Track & Field Fencing Poetry Habitat for Humanity Football Girl Up Jazz Workshop Tech Club Community Service Ceramics Flute National Honor Society Peer Mentors Experiential Education GSA Softball Entrepreneurship Club Field Hockey Theater & Improv Sound Design Politics Chorus Tennis Chinese Painting Management Read-In Concert Band Debate Anatomy Strategic Games Marine Biology Science Fair Golf Illustration Economics Shakespeare Chemistry Concert Choir Softball Engineering Fencing Photography Yoga Tech Club Student Network Rock Climbing Health Student Newspaper Drawing Clarinet Lacrosse Painting Piano Conduct Review Board Jazz Band Music Theory UNICEF club Yearbook Student Ambassador “It’s Academic” Engineering Astronomy Club STEM Track & Field Math Day Basketball French Capstone Journalism Project-Based Learning Online Learning Spanish Physics String Ensemble Cheerleading Student Tutors Climbing Geo Bee National History Day Calculus Art Student Newspaper

Challenge Accepted

passions discovered

www.bullis.org Bullis School @BullisSchool Grades K–12 | Potomac, MD | (301) 299-8500

BETHESDAMAGAZINE.COM | NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2017

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PRIVATE SCHOOLS

SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION

BE KNOWN At Norwood School, it begins with a simple promise: Your child will be known. When students are known, they are best able to learn. This is because they feel comfortable to ask big questions, to take on advanced challenges, and most importantly...to become their true selves.

Open House - November 11, 1:00-3:00 p.m.

An independent day school for children in grades PK-8.

8821 River Road, Bethesda Maryland www.norwoodschool.org

Located in

Rigor, redesigned.

Age 3-Grade 8

North Bethesda, in the heart of the

Experience the joy of learningThe

world’s greatest achievements didn’t happen on the first try.

Why should it be any different for students at school?

Join us for

Discovery Day! A Green Acres education is hands on—not heads down.

Come discover how our progressive educational framework promotes innovation, intellectual risk taking, and the confidence to approach the most demanding of academic challenges with creativity and vigor.

Schedule a tour at our campus in North Bethesda www.greenacres.org | 301.881.4100 | Age 3–Grade 8 298

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2017 | BETHESDAMAGAZINE.COM

PRIVATE SCHOOLS

SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION

JOY AND MATH CAN BE USED IN THE SAME SENTENCE.

Beauvoir offers an extraordinary education designed for early learners.

Accepting applications for pre-kindergarten to third grade for the 2018-2019 school year.

3500 Woodley Road NW, Washington, DC 20016 www.beauvoirschool.org

Building Strong Foundations for Learning and Friendship

Extraordinary Environment for Learning Serving students age 18 months through Grade 12

Now enrolling for fall 2018!

The Maddux School

Pre-K through Second Grade

Offering an innovative transdisciplinary curriculum targeting social skills, self-esteem, and academic success.

11614 Seven Locks Road • Rockville, MD 301-469-0223

www.madduxschool.org

Barrie School

13500 Layhill Road Silver Spring, MD 20906

barrie.org

301.576.2800 admission@barrie.org

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PRIVATE SCHOOLS

SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION

come Grow With us Serving the Community Since 1970 Westmoreland Children's Center believes that play is essential to a child's overall development.

At W CC, we know children learn best by investigating, exploring and playing. Students develop social, physical, and cognitive skills through interactive, hands-on experiences.wee is licensed by the Division of Early Childhood Development/Office of Child Care of the Maryland State Department of Education as a nursery school and as a child care center. Our preschool programs are accredited by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC).

Three Locations in Bethesda

301-229-7161 www.wccbethesda.com

Who is a Holton girl?

a Holton girl is someone who: Loves to learn Is eager to explore Might be an artist, athlete, scholar, or all three Works hard, yet knows how to have fun Hears our motto, “I will find a way or make one,” and thinks, yes, that’s me!

•

•

•

•

Sound like anybody you know? www.ThePrimaryDaySchool.org

300

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2017 | BETHESDAMAGAZINE.COM

Holton-Arms is an independent day school in Bethesda, Md., for girls in grades 3 through 12. www.holton-arms.edu

etc.

PETS

BY CARALEE ADAMS

RAISING A HERO

ILLUSTRATION BY GOODLOE BYRON

Some local families spend months training dogs to help others AS VOLUNTEER PUPPY RAISERS for 16 years, Andy Harding and his wife, Lily Bruch, brought their dogs everywhere: karate classes and soccer practices, the movies, the mall, even a museum. The Bethesda couple worked with one puppy at a time, and part of training the dogs was socializing them. The puppies, who always wore their official service vests in public, were often admired for their good behavior. At a restaurant, one puppy went undetected through the entire meal until he emerged from under the table as the family left, surprising the waitress.

Since 2001, Andy, Lily and their three sons have helped raise 10 puppies for California-based Canine Companions for Independence, a national nonprofit that provides assistance dogs to children and adults. (The couple is currently taking a break from training.) Some of the puppies—typically golden retrievers, Labrador retrievers, and mixes of the two—go on to help individuals with physical or developmental disabilities.

The group also provides assistance dogs for wounded military veterans.

“When they leave, it’s so hard. A chunk of your heart goes with those dogs,” Lily says. “But when you see them work, and see how much what you’ve done has changed somebody’s life, it’s so worth it.” Most of the puppies have come into their home at 8 weeks old and stayed for 18 months. Then the couple would drive the dogs to the nearest

Canine Companions regional center, on Long Island, where the puppies would spend the next several months. Once a match was made, the family was invited back to see the dogs and meet their new owners. Those were always emotional days, the Hardings say.

“It was kind of humbling, seeing people in so many [challenging] circumstances making the most of their life,” says 26-year-old Jamie Harding, one of the couple’s sons, who wrote about raising assistance dogs in his college essays.

The first dog they worked with, Geyser, was placed with a woman who had multiple sclerosis, and she stayed in touch with them for years. She passed away when Geyser was 14, and the Hardings offered to take the dog back. When he returned to Bethesda, the Lab circled the yard like he’d done when he was a puppy.

“It was like he hadn’t left,” Lily says.

Volunteers are expected to teach the puppies 25 commands, including “visit,” which signals the dog to rest its chin on the handler’s lap to provide comfort.

They’re responsible for crate training the dogs and taking them to obedience classes. Only four out of 10 puppies complete the Canine Companions program, which includes an additional six months of intensive training with professional instructors. That’s when the dogs learn higher level tasks, such as how to pull ropes to open doors and how to turn on lights. Some puppies don’t have the work

ethic to finish, Lily says, or they become too stressed by the training. One of their dogs, Telsa, had a “happy growl” that didn’t fit the image of an assistance dog.

Families have the option of adopting dogs that don’t advance, so the golden Lab, now 14, never left.

More than half of Canine Companions’ puppy raisers are repeats, according to the organization. Applicants have to meet certain requirements for care and training. If nobody’s home during the day, for example, volunteers must have a dog walker to make sure the animal gets exercise and frequent breaks. In February, Bethesda’s Kim and Bruce Levin and their children—ages 10, 12 and 13—brought home their first puppy from Canine Companions, a golden retriever/Lab mix named Nicholas VI. The puppy tore his bed to pieces, but Kim thinks he was still getting adjusted.

“I feel a lot of pressure for him to make it through, but at the same time, the odds aren’t really with us,” she says.

“It will be very hard to say goodbye if he gets matched. If he doesn’t pass, of course, we’d love to keep him.”

A speech pathologist, Kim says the organization’s mission spoke to her. She has a friend who uses a service dog, and she’s seen how the animals can help people who have communication problems. “I hope my kids see what volunteering means,” Kim says, “and see how little and big acts can have an impact.” n

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etc.

BY MARK WALSTON

FLASHBACK

CLOSE ENCOUNTERS THE NIGHT SKY HAS long fascinated people. They name the stars. They trace the shapes of gods and animals in the constellations. They see UFOs. The recent discovery of seven Earthsize planets—three of which possibly have conditions favorable for water and maybe even creatures—gave fresh life to the idea of living beings beyond our planet. But stories of unidentified objects and alien encounters are long told—and not restricted to Nevada. Bethesda has had its share of sightings since World War II. Most people are skeptical of the stories; those who’ve seen, believe.

In July 1952, residents of the D.C. area were alarmed by reports of UFOs menacing the nation’s capital. Strange shapes and lights were seen in the sky from Arlington to Rockville. “Invasion of Washington” yelled headlines as far away as Iowa. Radar at Washington National Airport (now Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport) indeed picked up unidentifiable blips. Fighter jets were scrambled; the blips disappeared. The jets returned to base; the blips reappeared. It lasted for weeks—but no invasion.

The National UFO Reporting Center is a Washington state organization dedicated to the collection and dissemination of objective UFO data. Among its thousands of reported encounters are dozens in the Bethesda area collected over the past 40 years. All accounts—reported 302

online or to hotline operators—are vetted for errors and pranks, stamped with a date and time, and posted anonymously.

Multicolored lights darting, hovering, zooming high above roads and buildings is a recurring theme among local sightings. Since 2000, reports have included peculiar white lights moving in improbable patterns above Bethesda at night, and pulsating lights converging above Potomac Village, then speeding into the night.

Not all observations come after dark.

In 2016, a couple reported seeing three white lights above Bethesda at 3 p.m., the objects round like comets but with short tails, silently moving in a widespread formation. At 8 a.m. one day in 1996, a federal employee claimed to see “an extremely bright cylinder, or the side of something, hovering in the sky, then streaking off” in Bethesda.

In January 2016, a Metro rider waiting on the platform of the Rockville station noticed two small white objects in the cloudless blue sky, “unusual looking since they had a shiny metallic and reflective texture. I turned to my friends to see if they saw it as well. They confirmed the two objects, and found them very strange in appearance.”

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2017 | BETHESDAMAGAZINE.COM

A few months later, a driver on Rockville Pike at the I-270 on-ramp saw “three or four huge oval shapes darting in zigzag fashion at split-second speed, about airplane level.” It was late afternoon. “There was no light coming from the earth, no searchlights or reflections,” the report reads. “Compared to the airplane that flew by, these shapes seemed 10 times as large.”

The area’s only alien abduction reportedly occurred in Rockville in 1975. The abductee recalled moving “as if in a dream” through odd spaces, ending up in a large room. Aliens conversed nearby.

“The words are not understandable, but I can sense their communication,” the abductee said. “I felt ‘bodylessness,’ ” a sensation described as the brain being detached. The abductee reported being unconcious and then waking up in bed.

“For the next 30 years or so, I would never discuss this with a single soul,” said the Rockville resident who reported the abduction in 2000. “Seeing the culture start to talk about this kind of thing, I can freely discuss it without too much distress,” the abductee said. Seeing, after all, is believing. n Author and historian Mark Walston was raised in Bethesda and lives in Olney.

PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY ALICE KRESSE

If you’ve seen a UFO in the sky over Bethesda, you’re not alone

BETHESDA GREEN THANKS THE GENEROUS 2017 GALA SPONSORS Thank you for supporting our mission to accelerate locally the sustainable economy with a focus on innovation, impact and community.

Michael D. Rubin I N A S S O C I AT I O N W I T H

Montgomery Countryside Alliance

Learn about our Community Engament Programs, our Be Impact Initiative and our Be Green Hub incubator. Working together toward a more sustainable economy!

4825 Cordell Avenue, Suite 200, Bethesda, Maryland 20814 240-396-2440 | www.bethesdagreen.org

BG_BethMag17_ad.indd 1

10/5/17 6:05 PM

etc.

OUTTAKES

At the Mexican Cultural Institute in Northwest D.C., musicians Alejandro Hernandez-Valdez and Grace Cho of Silver Spring share a sweet moment as husband and wife—and as artistic and executive directors of the New Orchestra of Washington. Photographer Liz Lynch says the two “indulged my request to dance around the room without music. The only sound was the click of the shutter.” Read their story on page 49.

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NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2017 | BETHESDAMAGAZINE.COM

Faster. Smarter. Better.

Chevy Chase Acura treats the needs of each individual customer with paramount concern. We know that you have high expectations, and as a car dealer we enjoy the challenge of meeting and exceeding those standards each and every time. Allow us to demonstrate our commitment to excellence!

“We make friends through sales…and keep them through service!”

7725 Wisconsin Avenue, Bethesda • 301-656-9200 • www.ChevyChaseAcura.com

BethesdaSNov-Dec2017 _BALTMAG12/04 9/26/17 6:08 PM Page 1

YOU ALWAYS KNOW A STUART KITCHEN. SINCE 1955, WE’VE BEEN FIRST CHOICE FOR THE BEST KITCHEN IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD. COME VISIT OUR SHOWROOMS. EVERYTHING YOU NEED FOR THE ROOM YOU’LL LOVE THE MOST IS HERE IN ONE PLACE. AND, YOU’LL UNDERSTAND WHY SO MANY PEOPLE SAY, “NOTHING ADDS MORE VALUE TO YOUR HOME.” BETHESDA SHOWROOM AT 8203 WISCONSIN AVE. 240-223-0875 WWW.STUARTKITCHENS.COM