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THE RETURN O F R E TA I L V E RO N I C A B E A R D S E T S U P S H O P B AC K TO S C H O O L : WO R K I N P RO G R E S S FA L L A R T S P R E V I E W K I T T Y K E L L E Y: ‘ LOS T D I A RY O F M’
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IN THIS ISSUE IN THIS ISSUE
PUBLISHER Sonya Bernhardt
FEATURES EDITORS COPY EDITOR Ari Post Richard Selden
BE A HERO
NEWS · 6
Town Topics
EDITORIAL/OPINION · 8 Editorial Letter to the Editor Community Update
BUSINESS · 9 Ins & Outs
COVER · 10 - 11 Georgetown Commercial Real Estate Shifts to Smaller, More Vibrant Start-Ups
ARTS · 12 - 13
Visual Arts Preview Pandemic Forces Performing Arts Leaders to Rethink
IN COUNTRY · 14
Georgetown’s Connection to Harry & Meghan’s Montecito
FOOD & WINE · 16 Latest Dish
CLASSIFIEDS · 17 Service Directory
BOOK CLUB · 18
Kitty Kelley Book Club
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PHOTOGRAPHERS Philip Bermingham Jeff Malet ADVERTISING & MARKETING Danielle MartinTaylor Kate Sprague Richard Selden
CONTRIBUTORS Mary Bird Susan Bodiker Allyson Burkhardt Evan Caplan Didi Cutler Donna Evers Michelle Galler Amos Gelb Wally Greeves Kitty Kelley Rebekah Kelley Jody Kurash Shelia Moses Kate Oczypok Linda Roth Alison Schafer Mary Ann Treger
EDITORIAL PARTNER Friends of Volta Park Grayson & Company John & Kristen Lever Richard Murphy
BYLINER Robyn and Leon Andris Carp For Success, LLC Gertraud Hechl Coleman Jackson Pamla Moore Chris Putula Lisa Rossi Paige and Tim Shirk
Cathlleen Clinton • Nelson Cunningham • Paul and Diana Dennett • Diane Eames • Elizabeth Friedman • Georgetown Village • Peter Harkness • Peter Higgins • JAB Holding Company • Jerome Libin • Mapping Geogetown • Skip Moosher • Stephanie Bothwell Urban and Landscape Design
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GRAPHIC DESIGN Troy Riemer
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ADVOCATE
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FASHION & BEAUTY SENIOR DIRECTOR CORRESPONDENT Lauretta McCoy Peggy Sands
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ON THE COVER
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The World Famous
ELECTION 2020: WHAT D.C. VOTERS NEED TO KNOW
48th Year
B Y S U S A N BOD IKER
Courtesy DC Board of Elections.
1819 35th St NW Washington DC between S & T Sts at Hardy Middle School (Across from the social Safeway)
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D.C. RENAMING PROPOSALS SCRUTINIZED
antiques, collectibles, furniture, jewelry, vintage furnishings & accessories
B Y P E G G Y SAN D S
Mayor Muriel Bowser looks out over the section of 16th Street NW now known as Black Lives Matter Plaza. Photo by Khalid Naji-Allah. Courtesy Office of the Mayor.
GEORGETOWN’S JOHN THOMPSON, FIRST BLACK COACH TO WIN NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP, DIES AT 78 B Y R O B E RT D EVAN EY
Coach John Thompson Jr. at the 2014 groundbreaking of the athletics facility named for him. Courtesy GU. A virtual remembrance is planned for Oct. 3.
BIGGEST HITS ONLINE 2,343 VIEWS FIRE AT FOUR SEASONS DISRUPTS GUESTS, WEDDINGS B Y P E G G Y SAN D S
Bride Kelly Kimball and groom Josh Raftis pose with Metropolitan Police officers. Photo by Robert Devaney.
1,692 VIEWS POLICE SEEK SUSPECT IN P ST. ARMED ROBBERY; STABBING ON 30TH ST. B Y R O B E RT D EVAN EY
The 3000 block of P Street NW in Georgetown, scene of an armed robbery on Aug. 18.
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TOWN TOPICS
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NEWS
Opening of D.C. Schools: A Work in Progress
BY PEGGY SAN D S Opening week for District public schools began Aug. 31, with all school buildings closed and all students — some 50,000 — in virtual classes. According to various interviews and reports, many D.C. schoolchildren were happy to see their friends online and to find their teachers prepared with new material to teach remotely. Some 19,000 computers and tablets had been distributed and 5,000 hotspots identified for students lacking technology. But for many families, the opening of school in D.C. was a frustrating experience. Thousands of students still did not have access to the needed technology. And there were technical glitches all day — mainly with logging on. While late enrollments continued all week for the public schools, the total number of enrolled students was down across the District. So on Wednesday, Sept. 9, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser made a surprise announcement. She said that she “would expect” the city’s school system could have in-person learning in small groups, maybe by the end of September. “I think DCPS can and should do it.” the mayor said. “We believe that in-person learning is preferred to virtual, but the decision to get students back in classrooms has to be based on what’s best for the entire system, which is different for independent or charter schools.” Some private and charter schools in D.C. had opened with small in-person classes on
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COMMUNITY CALENDAR TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 22 CAG ANNUAL MEETING
The Citizens Association of Georgetown will hold its first-ever virtual annual meeting at 6:30 p.m. Mayor Muriel Bowser and Council member Brooke Pinto will address CAG members. Also, CAG will launch its new website, thanks to CAG Vice President Susan Dabbar. CAG Programming Board Chair Paige Strawn coordinated the meeting, filmed at Dumbarton House on Sept. 10. For details, visit cagtown.org.
Purpose at Dumbarton House and in the D.C. Community” at 4 p.m. Viewers will hear from Dumbarton House Executive Director Karen Daly and Local Campaign Chair and D.C. Dame Anne Randolph as they highlight preservation projects at the national headquarters, the impact of COVID-19 in the community and how the newly launched Great American Treasures alliance will transform the NSCDA — with Dumbarton House as the flagship museum. The virtual gathering is free. Register at http:// bit.ly/NSCDAcampaign or email Karen Daly at karendaly@nscda.org.
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 23
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 29
The National Society of the Colonial Dames of America will present “A Virtual Event Highlighting Dames’ Generosity in Support of Our NSCDA
The Georgetown-Burleith-Hillandale Advisory Neighborhood Commission will virtually meet at 6:30 p.m. For details, visit anc2e.com.
NSCDA VIRTUAL EVENT
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Aug. 31. Georgetown’s Holy Trinity School is considering opening up in-person in the next few weeks. Bowser has asked DCPS to survey those schools to learn their best practices. “I don’t want to suggest that we have whole classrooms or whole grades or thousands of students going back to school,” Bowser said. “But the public school system can learn from the experience of some charter schools in the city that have smallgroup, in-person learning.” D.C. schools are expected to switch over to in-person instruction, at least partially, in the second term, which begins Nov. 9, “if medical conditions warrant,” according to school officials. But it isn’t clear what the medical parameters are for determining when it is safe to go back. Clearly, it’s gone from flattening the curve to the increase in the number of cases and who may get infected. Other factors, such as the severity of illness, are being considered, though hospitalization and death rates have all been decreasing in the D.C. area to well below the national average. Teachers’ unions have threatened strikes if teacher safety is not given higher priority.
ANC 2E MEETING
VINCENT ORANGE
INDEPENDENT CANDIDATE FOR DC COUNCIL AT-LARGE
Together, DC, We “Come Back Better”
Hello DC Voters, I’m Vincent Orange, an attorney, and certified public accountant with degrees in taxation, law, business administration and communications. I’ve served in the private and public sectors as President of the DC Chamber of Commerce, Ward 5 Councilmember, At-Large Councilmember, DC Democratic National Committeeman, Pepco Region Vice-President, National Children’s Center Chief Financial Officer and Tax Accountant at Arthur Andersen & Co. As an elected official, I worked with Mayor Anthony Williams and Chairwoman Linda Cropp to eliminate the Control Board and build a rainy-day fund which has helped the District financially survive the great recession, Federal shut-down, and now the coronavirus. Now, we must replenish our rainy-day fund again DC, and “Come Back Better”. I’m running to rejoin the DC Council to provide mature experienced leadership, institutional knowledge and sound judgment to plan and execute the successful come-back of the District for the benefit and general welfare of its citizens and businesses; and to define the “new normal in DC” caused by coronavirus, civil unrest, and a severely damaged DC economy. I’m #2 on the ballot, and I humbly ask for your vote on Tuesday, November 3, 2020. Together, DC, we “Come Back Better”. I'll never stop fighting for you,
Vincent Orange Candidate, D.C. Council-At-Large
#BLM
vincentorange2020.com
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Paid for by Vincent Orange 2020. Paul W. Orange, Treasurer. A copy of our report is on file with the Director of the Office of Campaign Finance
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EDITORIAL
OPINION
Send Your Feedback, Questions or Concerns, Tips and Suggestions to editorial@georgetowner.com or call 202-338-4833
Turn of the Seasons: Assignments to Keep These are the times that try men’s and women’s souls. No longer just a “summer soldier and sunshine patriot,” we know we have much to do and maintain in the remaining months of 2020, this cursed year. (On Friday night, Rosh Hashanah will usher in the year 5781 of the Jewish calendar.) Like students returning to their screens of classes, all of us have our fall assignments to complete. First up: remain vigilant in terms of the pandemic: social distancing, wearing a mask, getting tested and taking care of oneself and others. We have a long way to go. D.C., we can do this together. If you have not filled out the 2020 census form, do it before Sept. 30. Details are on the census website. If someone has stopped by your place, you’re good. As D.C. likes to say, counting all of us matters. Next, check in with the Board of Elections. Decide whether you will mail in your ballot or visit a vote center. Know when the voting times are. D.C. has made voting easy; do what works for you. And study up on the candidates. The Georgetowner is putting info about the 25 at-large candidates on its website — and will include a special report next month. You get to choose two. In Ward 2, we will choose a Council member for two full years (more on this online). As for the other elections, we’ll discuss that next month. Just as it’s back-to-school, it should be back-to-business. We ask you to support, above and beyond, local businesses in
Georgetown. Whether restaurant, shop or service, they are all hurting — but fighting hard and thinking creatively to keep business coming in. Let the customer be part of the solution. It’s okay to go shopping. Is the arts world slowing getting unstuck? Yes, it looks like it. Museums are reopening, but most performing arts venues will focus on the virtual option for now. It might be a year before things get back to normal, as it were. And your neighborhood newspaper here? While amping up our online connections, we know that you very much enjoy and appreciate the print issue each time it arrives via U.S. Mail or you pick up it up at retail establishments. The Georgetowner will celebrate its 66th birthday next month. We do not offer Pollyanna-ish positivity as a solution, just acts of kindness and good cheer to help all of us move forward. Who knows what brave new world we will find ourselves in next year? So, let us bring Thomas Paine back into the discussion: “Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: it is dearness only that gives every thing its value. Heaven knows how to put a proper price upon its goods; and it would be strange indeed if so celestial an article as FREEDOM should not be highly rated.” With any luck, the autumnal equinox will arrive with much-needed doses of equality, equanimity and equilibrium for all.
COMMUNITY ROUND UP The Georgetowner is expanding its coverage of community groups. Look for detailed information in this space in future issues.
CAG Report BY TAR A SAKR AID A PAR KER It has been said that autumn shows us how beautiful it is to let things go. As we let go of a tumultuous, pandemic summer in Georgetown, there is a sense of resilience, renewal and purpose in our community. Business owners are determined to operate through the “new normal.” Parents are dedicated to making sure their children’s education is as productive as possible. And the volunteers and board members of the Citizens Association of Georgetown are acting with terrific intention and generosity on behalf of our community. There is something special about getting involved in your community — through volunteerism, for example — during these difficult times. It’s easy to feel helpless or even hopeless as COVID continues to threaten life and livelihoods; I encourage everyone in our community to explore the comfort and inspiration that comes from giving back. Whether you choose to help your neighbors through contributions of time and/or dollars to CAG, to your house of worship or to any number of wonderful nonprofits operating in D.C., I think you
will see that getting involved in your community is an incomparable pandemic mood booster. Fall will be a season of harvest for CAG. Our volunteers’ reduced summer travel created an opportunity for tremendous progress on work ranging from community safety to ginkgo trees. We are looking forward to launching a new, modernized website soon, and to welcoming new staff members as we bid farewell to our executive director, Leslie Maysak. Like so many other parents in our community, Leslie is shifting her attention to the demands of helping her two high school students with the challenges of remote learning. Thank you for being an ambassador for CAG, Leslie! My friends, we are all part of a special historic community — and we are living through a complex chapter of history right now. Our “new normal” won’t be permanent, but let’s make sure we can be proud of how we handled this difficult time: together. #georgetowntogether Tara Sakraida Parker is president of the Citizens Association of Georgetown.
A Budget Clarification BY BR OOKE PIN TO
What is the best — or coolest — thing you did this summer? YOUR OPINION MATTERS. Post your response. Facebook.com/TheGeorgetowner
Letter to the Editor M Street Racing Makes ‘Vision Zero’ a Farce I live on M Street NW and grew up at P and 30th Streets NW — this is to say, I have 34 years of experience with the “normal” level of noise pollution in Georgetown. That being said, I have noticed over the summer an extreme uptick in excessive car noise at all hours up and down M Street NW. These cars are clearly coming from Key Bridge, drag racing down M onto Pennsylvania Avenue, then taking 23rd Street back across to Northern Virginia or vice versa. Not only is this a nuisance, this is extremely dangerous. My office window is also on M Street, where I have seen a number of near fatalities involving cyclists and these Northern Virginia drivers burning rubber or driving at excessive speed and losing control of their vehicles. I have not heard if there is any word on what can or might be done to address the safety issue and was wondering
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if your newsroom has any insight? Because I am from Washington, D.C., I have no delusions about living in a quiet neighborhood. This is an urban environment and the typical traffic noise is something I expect, especially living on a major thoroughfare. My concern is more for the safety of the neighborhood than the excessive noise. Whatever happened to the farce that is “Vision Zero” [Mayor Muriel Bowser’s program to eliminate pedestrian deaths]? I’m honestly not sure whom to reach out to for more information, but have found your publication to be particularly helpful in getting neighborhood news and info since I am not on any form of social media. Thank you in advance for your time and consideration. — Elizabeth-Ann Spruill-Smith, M Street
Balancing a budget during a global public health pandemic made for a unique start to my Council career. Despite revenue shortfalls and economic uncertainty, my colleagues and I passed a budget that bolstered social programming and maintained our reserve funds for challenges that may lie ahead. During the budget process, I voted against amendments that would implement tax increases before the Council had the opportunity to review the revised 2021 revenue estimates from the chief financial officer. I felt it was premature to raise taxes without an opportunity for a public hearing, without meaningfully understanding the ramifications of this action and without collecting constituents’ input. Upon release in August, the revenue estimate confirmed the city was within its projected budget range. I also worked with my colleagues to remove a proposed tax on advertisements, which would have hurt small businesses and local news organizations. The “ad tax,” projected to raise $18 million to cover essential services costs, was written in the body of the budget language, rather than
as an amendment. This made removing the ad tax extremely challenging. However, I am proud that the Council was able to remove it without decreasing funding for essential services. It is this type of collective effort that will help the Council support and protect small businesses in next year’s budget. There is still much work to be done, and I understand that many Washingtonians require additional assistance during the COVID-19 crisis and recovery. It is critically important to me to engage the community on these relief efforts and on all matters that come before the Council. That’s why I will be hosting a series of community meetings this fall covering pandemic recovery, the Council’s legislative agenda, homelessness and transportation. I am committed to providing Ward 2 with transparent, accessible and bold leadership, and I ask you to join me in the work that lies ahead. To sign up for my “Brooke’s Briefing” newsletter, visit tinyurl.com/brookesbriefing. Brooke Pinto is the District Council member for Ward 2.
To Georgetown community groups: Please send The Georgetowner news about your events and work, along with sharing how you are dealing with these pandemic times (and if your rent is too high). Email editorial@georgetowner.com.
BUSINESS/COVER
INS & OUTS BY RO BE RT DEVA NEY
Georgetown’s commercial landscape is shifting dramatically not only due to the disruptive headwinds of the pandemic but to major entrepreneurial innovations in fashion wear and design. The opening of Veronica Beard on Wisconsin Avenue has added new concepts in women’s wear — created by and for women. Founded in New York City in 2010 by two sisters-in-law who share the name Veronica Beard, their eponymous store quickly discovered a market niche and expanded with lightning speed to more than 80 stores and $100 million in revenue. Celebrities, from Demi Lovato to Meghan Markle have been seen sporting their brands. For professional women in search of an elegant “uniform” for work (something men have always enjoyed), stylish, sharp, and edgy designs, tailored blazers and the brand’s signature “dickeys” are showcased. For leisurely pursuits, ready-to-wear, jeans, footwear, swimwear, “active sportswear,” and other “lifestyle apparel” are featured.
IN: VERONICA BEARD
The first Veronica Beard store in Washington, D.C., opened on Sept. 5. Located at 1254 Wisconsin Ave. NW, the store fills a longtime empty storefront that once held the clothing store the Street of Georgetown (and, before that, a Swensen’s Ice Cream shop). As Veronica Beard tells us: “The 1,540 sq. ft. Georgetown boutique was designed to feel
vintage and lived in, as if you were at home in your own living room. A marble tulip-base coffee table along with brass fixtures and accents in our signature Pierre Frey leopard fabric are anchored by a vintage sofa in deep orange and brown Schumacher velvet ikat fabric. The boutique will feature our full ready-to-wear, jeans, swimwear and footwear collections, as well as a selection of carefully curated third-party product.”
IN: REREN LAMEN & BAR
Reren Lamen & Bar opened this month at 1073 Wisconsin Ave. NW. At Blues Alley, with the colorful mural on the side exterior, it joins other fast-casual restaurants on the block. Besides lamen, the Chinese version of Japanese ramen, Reren’s specialties include dumplings and other East Asian noodles.
SOON: FOXTROT MARKET
Having presented its plans for outside dining to the Georgetown advisory neighborhood commission, Foxtrot Market at 1267 Wisconsin Ave. NW (the former Jonathan Adler location) appears close to opening. Positioned as the corner store of the future, Foxtrot has always had high-tech ordering and delivery.
MELTED: PADDYWAX
Trying to get out of its lease is Paddywax Candle Bar, which opened above South Moon Under at 1065 Wisconsin Ave. NW just before COVID-19 struck. This is the kind of bar where you learn to make your own candles — interacting with wax, wicks and optional wine. With its model inoperative
during the pandemic, the Nashville-based company, which also sells candles, is suing its Bethesda, Maryland, landlord to break the lease. The suit is considered unlikely to succeed. (Expect to see more of these efforts in the months ahead.)
FOR 2021: WINE BAR 2622
Wine Bar 2622 — looking to open early next year at 2622 P St. NW, formerly the After Peacock Room restaurant — is proceeding with an October protest petition deadline and a roll call hearing date as a Retailer’s Class “C” restaurant. The licensee is GothWine Limited Liability Company.
IN: CITY SLIDERS TO OPEN OCT. 1
The well-regarded Zannchi at 1529 Wisconsin Ave. NW may be gone, but get ready for fusion cuisine sliders — priced around $5 — BLTs, Korean fried chicken, brisket, lamb burgers, banh mi burgers, Korean pork belly and crispy cod. Add milk shakes, salads and desserts to the multilingual, multinational comfort food that City Sliders will offer starting Oct. 1.
COMING: AN INN NAMED FOR A (GEORGE) WASHINGTON FAVORITE
The space at 1659 Wisconsin Ave. NW that formerly housed Own Your Wonder is set to evoke Georgetown’s 18th-century past. The Fountain Inn was the official name for Suter’s Tavern, where George Washington met residents and planners to create the new Federal City. A sign on the door reads: “The Establishment will be a neighborhood
tavern based on the former The Fountain Inn providing a daily food menu complimented by aged spirits and fine wines. Seating Capacity of 30 inside and a Total Occupancy Load of 60, including an outdoor Summer Garden with 30 seats.” Not sure how adjacent neighbors will feel about that backyard seating.
COMING: GREENHEART JUICE SHOP
Virginia-based Greenheart Juice Shop founder Alicia Swanstrom plans her first D.C. store in Georgetown, in a former dry cleaner at 3345 Prospect St. NW, next to Down Dog Yoga on 34th Street. The corner spot will likely “include Greenheart’s treasured signature juices, like the Liquid Gold, a blend of carrot, pineapple, turmeric, ginger and pear, and the wildly popular Cold Brew Latte, featuring cold brew coffee, cashew milk, medjool dates, Himalayan pink salt and more.” Why is it called Greenheart? Swanstrom honors her partner Doug Green, a U.S. soldier who was killed nine years ago in Afghanistan. The couple sported matching green heart tattoos.
CELEBRATING 6 YEARS: DISTRICT DOUGHNUT
Six years ago, on Sept. 12, District Doughnut opened in Barracks Row. Since then, it has added stores that include the one in Cady’s Alley on the west side of Georgetown, steps from Francis Scott Key Park. Last week’s birthday cake doughnuts were a hit. Congrats to Greg Menna, Juan Pablo Segura and chef Christine Schaefer, the three co-founders!
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COVER
GEORGETOWN COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE SHIFTS TO SMALLER, MORE VIBRANT START-UPS BY CH RISTOP HER J ON E S As national-brand retailers declare bankruptcy across the United States and the coronavirus pandemic has triggered the worst economic contraction since the Great Depression, the commercial real estate sector in Georgetown has not been immune to recent market downturns. Given Georgetown’s unique market advantages, however, local business leaders are optimistic about the area’s long-term prospects for recovery and the positive transformations to Georgetown’s livability that could result. While the loss of national retail chain stores has been disruptive, new seeds have been planted for smaller, more vibrant, locally connected and well-positioned businesses. Entrepreneurs who can take advantage of the creative destruction in the marketplace with flexible and innovative responses of their own will likely survive and prosper. To reduce retail vacancies and keep their tenants in place, landlords have shifted to new types of leasing arrangements with smaller ventures, divided up their larger spaces to make room for more promising niche businesses and invested in their new tenants as incubation projects they hope will eventually thrive and, critically, be able to pay full rent.
COMMERCIAL AGENTS WEIGH IN
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start-ups,” said Bruce Baschuk, chairman of Georgetown-based J Street Companies, one of D.C.’s top property management, leasing and development companies. “So maybe now, in our big space, we’ve got five, six or seven start-ups and they’re paying me on a monthly basis based on how they’re doing to see if they can get their business going,” Baschuk said. “The larger space has now turned into more of a place where you’ll see experimentation going on with new tenants and new ideas.” Now, instead of five- or 10-year leasing arrangements and the huge capital costs of transforming spaces for large retailers, landlords are helping more start-ups try to launch within the old big-box spaces. “The tenants are putting in what they need and starting these businesses on a shoestring,” said Baschuk, “and if they make it, they can share in the upside with the landlords down the road and pay higher rents and maybe build out their space.” As a university town, Georgetown has powerful market potential for supporting creative start-ups, Baschuk believes. “Colleges started thinking, ‘We have all this intellectual capital, so let’s start putting it to work.’ So they started these small incubators off campus. Well, that’s been the genesis of a tremendous amount of new start-ups in Georgetown,” he said. New opportunities for nimble start-ups and renewed community vibrancy have also been fueled by dropping commercial rents during the recession. Creative planners, developers and community advocates have
seen how small-scale local commerce can enhance the desirability of neighborhood shopping areas. “If you go to Grace Street,” Baschuk said, “there’s a landlord who started there years ago who has done quite well. … When rental costs go down, it creates opportunities for other people to get in and start. So we’ve already seen some success stories. … There’s the Dog Tag Bakery and a couple of small eateries that were in this tiny little space that nobody knew what to do with for years. The landlord there chopped it up and said, ‘Look, you guys are going to share the space.’ It’s really very creative. So you’re going to see more and more of that.” For Baschuk, Georgetown, with its “meandering, funky alley system,” and the unique opportunities presented by the revitalization of the C&O Canal, has the potential to transform its market spaces to become more like those in a charming European city. He envisions tiny shops of “100 square feet selling all sorts of interesting and unusual items,” attracting bicycle and foot traffic instead of vehicle congestion. John Asadoorian, CEO and founder of Asadoorian Retail Solutions in Georgetown, has been working to revitalize local retail in the District and Georgetown for 35 years. For Asadoorian, a native of the area, the transformative nature of the current crisis presents a possible way out of the stultifying “mallification” of Georgetown he has observed since the late 1980s, resulting in what he calls the “generica” of the American shopping landscape.
“What is it that makes you go to a store when we’re in a Sea of Generica?” Asadoorian asks, “where everywhere you go you see the same thing?” To remedy the blandness, Asadoorian strives to promote retail that will bring unique, locally-relevant experiences to neighborhoods and customers. Asadoorian seeks tenants who bring “authenticity, independence, an organic quality, and … who have a story to tell — a story that is going to compel the consumer.” Asadoorian, too, sees a new creativity in the Georgetown retail marketplace. “If there’s a vacant space, most of the property owners are acknowledging that the market’s not going to get better tomorrow. So instead of asking for the rent I was getting, I need to be flexible and find a way to be creative to put a tenant in place who may be able to survive, build a business and reflect what will be the new Georgetown,” he said. Instead of demanding fixed monthly rental payments from tenants, owners are creatively adapting “percentage of sales” terms. “If you don’t make any money, you don’t pay any rent, and let’s see if you can incubate a business. And if you do, let’s sit down in a year” — and renegotiate. In the near term, Asadoorian sees Georgetown as particularly vulnerable to the decline of national retailers. However, he believes positive signs are on the horizon. Due to the “billboard effect,” he said, national retailers with an online presence, such as Warby Parker, will still want to “plant their flags” in smaller spaces in Georgetown. Also, the local demographics
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are beginning to skew younger, ushering in new demand and vitality in the marketplace. While Asadoorian does not believe national retail brand stores are a thing of the past in Georgetown, he sees many more locally relevant ventures popping up in place of those that have left. He is currently in discussions with various retailers about the former M Street site of troubled national chain store Lucky Brand. “Some of them are local, independent and family-owned,” he said, while “some of them are national.” The key concern for the landlord, however, is that “the tenant has got the kind of value that we all agree is going to be good for Georgetown” when it comes out of the pandemic crisis. “That’s how the market is adjusting,” he said. “Georgetown is not suffering so much as changing,” Asadoorian said. During the recession of 2008, he recalled, “there were a lot of vacant storefronts … and people were bemoaning the demise of Georgetown. But I was heralding the fact that the empty storefronts were opportunities to create anew.” Georgetown “is a village — an authentic, organic neighborhood,” he said, and he hopes the disruptive new trends help restimulate the town’s livability. Philippe Lanier, principal at EastBanc, is also optimistic about Georgetown’s longerterm commercial real estate trends. With over $4 billion invested worldwide, his firm, specializing in revitalization and urban mixed-use development, has played a key role in shaping the District’s commercial real estate landscape. With its partners, EastBanc controls 65 to 70 percent of Georgetown’s commercial real estate market, he said. Lanier, who grew up in D.C., believes that Georgetown “will see a bit of a shift to focus more on local” commerce, “just as other cities will,” in the wake of the economic disruption. However, he said, “we’re going to enjoy what we’ve always enjoyed, that Georgetown is a place to visit for locals, not only because you can buy something on the main street, but because of the history, because of the proximity to the waterfronts, because of the culture that’s nearby,” he said on a recent podcast with Laura Calugar of Commercial Property Executive. As the seat of government, an emerging high-tech hub, one of the “largest assemblages of cotenancy and urban retail” in the country and one of the nation’s top-five markets, D.C. should be on the path to recovery before too long, Lanier believes. “Despite the challenges in the industry,” he told Calugar, “we have seen a lot of brands and their brokers contact us and look for spaces to open a new store in the next 18 months. So, the longer-term picture is quite positive.” EastBanc is looking for creative solutions during the crisis to help keep tenants in their spaces and businesses afloat, Lanier told The Georgetowner. “We are generously deferring near-term obligations, extending lease terms and offering tenants the time to
recover,” he said. “Essentially, the landlord is being asked to respond as a benevolent lender, which we are doing fairly with all of our tenants. Thus far, I have only heard compliments on our approach.” For Lanier, the old department-store model will need to adapt to survive, especially given the strains of the current crisis. He believes that stores will have to shift to a “more urban model,” with a “smaller footprint, lower carrying costs and more technology behind how they shift inventory into different markets and online.” Retail stores and restaurants will also have to master web technology and social media, providing customers with “many digital touchpoints along their journey,” so they can share their experience with a wider audience, he told Calugar.
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THE BID FINDS WAYS TO ASSIST
Joe Sternlieb, CEO of the Georgetown Business Improvement District, is also working creatively with business members to boost the commercial real estate sector. The underlying conditions of the local market are strong, he believes, and the shuttering of national retail stores is more of a national than a local story. “It’s not really about Georgetown,” he said. “There are seven national tenants in bankruptcy who decided not to reopen — everybody from GNC to Roots and Brooks Brothers — and you’ve got some folks who are doing national downsizing like Peet’s Coffee. Or, there are groups like Paul’s Bakery that pulled out of North America.” While some local businesses have really struggled during the pandemic, “most of the folks that have closed are not the locals.” To assist local businesses during the crisis, Sternlieb said the BID helped to build 20 sidewalk extension platforms for local streateries. As colder weather approaches, the organization is looking into how to allow restaurants to use outdoor electric heaters and comply with fire codes. In addition, the BID is calling brokers to assist business owners with obtaining loans; asking the city to provide real estate tax relief, to cut red tape and to stop issuing petty fines; and working with EastBanc and Colonial Parking to waive short-term parking fees for Georgetown customers. During the pandemic, the organization is focused on promoting socially-distanced outdoor retail opportunities, including upcoming Georgetown festivals such as Taste of the Town. On the technology side, the BID will be putting together a Digital Assistance Program “to help retailers who don’t have a strong online presence because their business didn’t depend on that” before. “We’re helping them go online and to understand how their SEO works,” Sternlieb said. “And, we’re in the process of hiring consultant experts to help with that.”
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ARTS
VISUAL ARTS PREVIEW:
SOCIAL DISTANCING EDITION BY AR I P OS T
This will be a limited and bittersweet season for the arts, but after six months of pure bitterness, this writer will happily take what he can get. The fall arts season has long felt like a kind of a carnival for sophisticated urbanites. It is the time of year that museums, theaters and galleries, in preparation for holiday fundraising and shopping, launch the year’s blockbuster exhibitions, performances and events. This year’s season will be decidedly less ebullient. However, despite the hamstringing effects of COVID-19 throughout the arts, museums slowly began reopening on a limited basis — beginning with their sculpture gardens — over the summer, implementing timedentry, social distancing and mask wearing. More will follow suit as we move into the fall. Just announced: the National Museum of African American History and Culture; the National Portrait Gallery and the Smithsonian American Art Museum, which share a building; and the Renwick Gallery, SAAM’s center for decorative arts and contemporary craft, will reopen on Sept. 18. Introduced below are three of the noteworthy exhibitions opening this fall.
PAPER ROUTES NATIONAL MUSEUM OF WOMEN IN THE ARTS
“Memorial Hill,” 2013. Rachel Farbiarz. Courtesy NMWA.
OCT. 8 TO JAN. 18 “Paper Routes,” the sixth installment in the “Women to Watch” series of exhibitions at the National Museum of Women in the Arts, will showcase contemporary artists working in paper. In the show, the cultural associations of paper — from protest signs and packaging to lottery
tickets and wallpaper — are explored by an international lineup of artists, employing traditional as well as innovative techniques. “Paper Routes” highlights and celebrates this diversity of approaches and the transformation of this ubiquitous and eclectic material into complex works of art.
Davit Hovhannisyan in A Single Light. Photo by Davit Hovhannisyan.
A SINGLE LIGHT On September 24 Chamber Dance Project will premiere a new dance film collaboration by two of the creators of 2019’s acclaimed Prufrock: choreographer Diane Coburn Bruning and composer James Bigbee Garver. The evening also includes the first public screening of Exit Wounds with the original cast Andile Ndlovu and Luis Torres.
SEPTEMBER 24 @ 7 - 8PM COMPLIMENTARY TICKETS CHAMBERDANCE.ORG/GTOWN
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TRACES
HER STORY: A CENTURY OF WOMEN WRITERS
KREEGER MUSEUM
NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY
OPENS SEPT. 23
SEPT. 18 TO JAN. 18
Guest curated by Sarah Tanguy, “Traces” explores how the past evokes shifting memories while suggesting new and present narratives. Rich in representation and abstraction, the show encompasses painting, photography, mixed media, sculpture, sound and video, and includes several site-responsive installations. As the eight regional artists dialogue with their source materials, they mine the many meanings of “trace” as noun and verb, and engage the themes of displacement, connectivity and transformation.
“Her Story: A Century of Women Writers,” commemorates the centennial of the 19th Amendment and celebrates some of the country’s most influential authors. Focusing on 24 women writers, including Margaret Wise Brown (author of “Goodnight Moon”), Willa Cather, Lorraine Hansberry (author of “A Raisin in the Sun”), Toni Morrison, Anne Sexton, Susan Sontag and Alice Walker, the exhibition reveals how their personal stories — in addition to those they have written — continue to offer insight and inspiration.
ARTS
Gala Theatre performs at Tivoli.
Pandemic Forces Performing Arts Leaders to Rethink BY RIC HARD S E L DE N Though some D.C.-area theaters had hoped to open their seasons this fall, the only one still saying so is GALA Hispanic Theatre, which will present the Lope de Vega comedy “El perro de hortelano (The Dog in the Manger)” in Spanish with English surtitles from Oct. 29 to Nov. 22. Taking advantage of its exurban location in Staunton, Virginia, the American Shakespeare Center has been presenting “Twelfth Night” and “Othello” outdoors on the lawn of the Blackburn Inn and indoors in its Blackfriars Playhouse. Opera Lafayette will go even farther afield, mounting Françoise-André Danican Philidor’s 1861 work, “Le Maréchal ferrant (The Blacksmith),” on October 9, 10 and 11 at a ranch outside Mancos, Colorado. Rather than announce and cancel, announce and cancel, in midsummer D.C.’s innovative opera company In Series declared itself “the first company in the world to articulate its intention to present a completely digital season” in 2020-21. The Season Liftoff Concert will take place online on Sept. 17 via Invision: The Logan Operahouse Without Walls. A cartoon ghost dressed as an usher guides website visitors to two-show subscription options. “Pleiades/24” opens on Sept. 18 and “A Fairy Queen” on Sept. 19. Strathmore, Wolf Trap and the Kennedy Center — where the National Symphony Orchestra and Washington National Opera seasons will start in January — have canceled or postponed all major in-person performances through the end of 2020. These closures have had a devastating ripple effect on other performing arts organizations, including the Washington Ballet, which postponed its production of “Swan Lake” to May of 2021 and will offer “The Nutcracker Virtual Experience” this December. High-profile music presenter Washington Performing Arts announced Home Delivery Plus, a season of “multi-faceted virtual packages” beginning in early 2021. Referring to the online enrichment components of the live and newly recorded events, President and CEO Jenny Bilfield said the organization is “focusing on building the depth of
experience and range of touchpoints that we offer.” The in-person option is still on the table, should venues reopen. In July, hearts and happy faces floated up as the Choral Arts Society of Washington streamed a pep rally-like “Journey to Awe” on Facebook Live. Choral Arts is now selling virtual season subscriptions, with the first event, “Día de los Muertos: Featuring Brahms’s Requiem,” co-presented with the New Orchestra of Washington, in October. The Cathedral Choral Society’s virtual season, called CCS Presents, will stream concerts, clips and interviews on its YouTube channel and Facebook page, with new content on the first Thursday of every month. While virtual programming has blossomed, there have been few attempts to return to live, in-person performance. Alexandria, Virginia, appears to be the area leader, with outdoor, small-ensemble performances by Alexandria Symphony Orchestra members planned for this fall and the 18-concert Sounds of Hope & Harmony series successfully launched in the Rectory’s secret garden by orchestra tour company Classical Movements. The Georgetowner asked several leading figures in D.C. theater to suggest some silver linings of the pandemic, even as it has stolen the livelihood of countless musicians, actors, dancers and other arts workers and threatened the very future of many performing arts organizations. Studio Theatre has not yet released its season plans, but Artistic Director David Muse said: “I don’t mind sharing that I’m excited by how much unexplored territory there is for Studio … like virtual/in-person hybrids, audio work, installation-based theater, all of which is new to us.” Likewise for Simon Godwin, artistic director of the Shakespeare Theatre Company, who commented: “For the upcoming 202021 season … we plan to celebrate the universality of Shakespeare by embracing radical strategies that marry contemporary technology and classical plays.” “We are pioneering online, and the creativity has been explosive,” said Arena Stage Artistic Director Molly Smith, who
has hosted a virtual series of panels called Molly’s Salon. Arena has also offered online master classes on playwriting, costume design and other topics. “It’s a new kind of work that will continue even after we are back onstage,” she added. Godwin, who called technology “the saving grace for so many theaters during this time,” said it had “allowed us to bring in artists, actors and scholars from across the U.S. and U.K., and I’ve been able to engage in a dialogue with more than 500 members of our audience each week” at STC’s Shakespeare Hour LIVE! series. For Muse, “It’s a challenge to name upsides,” but in addition to technologyrelated capacity building and access widening, he noted that “we’ll have time to focus on shoring up aspects of the institution that can get less attention than they deserve in normal years. And we’ll hopefully have some time to slow down a bit, which is probably a better place from which to make art.” “Even though it’s scary,” said Smith, “there is opportunity in the ultimate challenge to find new ways to create our art form. And I’m absolutely sure there will be a lot of great art that comes out of this shared experience of imagining a new world.” Of course, the pandemic has coincided with an intensified and sustained focus on inequality and racial justice. Pointing out that “Ford’s Theatre was forged in one of this country’s most divisive eras, the Civil War,” Director Paul Tetreault
said: “We have used this time to consider how we might elevate marginalized voices and lesser-known histories through productions that speak to courage, justice, determination and hope. You’ll see that reflected in the stories we offer in 2021, and through our new commissioning initiative, the Lincoln Legacy Commissions,” for BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and People of Color) playwrights. “We’ve had the time to listen to staff and our artists so that we can build a more equitable future together, and to seek out creative work that can inspire and provide healing.” “This is a clarion call for all of us,” remarked Maria Manuela Goyanes, artistic director of Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company. “With the impacts of COVID-19 and our country’s uprising against antiBlackness and racism, it is clear that there is no going back to what was before. Although we don’t know what the future holds, this moment required the theatre to become an essential space for grappling with the tremendous complexity of what it means to be human.” Goyanes also offered a specific example of a pandemic-related innovation: the Golden Ticket. She explained: “This Wonka-inspired all-access pass is Woolly’s answer to subscriptions in the age of corona: a ticket that grants unlimited admission to any show, in any seat, as many times as you want. You pick your date and your seat whenever you feel comfortable attending.”
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IN COUNTRY
Georgetown’s Connections to Harry & Meghan’s Montecito BY PEGGY SA NDS Montecito, California, my hometown for 50 years in Santa Barbara County, is suddenly in the viewfinders of the global paparazzi. Meghan and Harry — yes, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex — “secretly” bought a $14-million Mediterranean-style mansion there in July. “Everyone has just gone crazy here the past few months,” my best friend, neighbor and fellow Boy Scout mom told me by telephone on Sept 12. “When we first heard that Meghan and Harry had moved here, everyone was frantic to know where they bought and how much they paid. But once everyone found out, things quieted down. My friends who are neighbors of theirs won’t talk. I haven’t seen any paparazzi nor drones in Montecito for weeks. “Now all attention is on the surging real estate prices in Montecito,” my friend said. “Most people here think Harry and Meghan got a really good deal. But so many people are escaping Los Angeles that everything for sale or rent in Montecito is snapped up instantly.” Increasingly, homes sell in the eight figures. My friend’s two-bedroom beach cottage is currently caught in a rental price war (it’s now at $24,000 a month and rising). There is no doubt why Montecito is so
C AT E S B Y
Middleburg, Virginia • $6,500,000
attractive to celebrities and visitors. It’s unincorporated 9.3 square miles extend from calm ocean beaches, protected by Santa Barbara’s Channel Islands, to the rolling foothills of the coastal mountain range. Like Georgetown, Montecito village basically consists of two charming commercial streets with home décor and garden shops, small fashion boutiques, a large bookstore that has been in Montecito for decades, a specialty grocer, a post office and a village library. Along with the church where “The Graduate” was filmed, the village is home to numerous restaurants, wine bistros and cafés of every kind, both in the upper village and along Coast Village Road. The two walkable shopping streets are separated by several square miles of wooded estates (if you can use the term “woods” for thick stands of giant palm, eucalyptus and lemon trees) and neighborhoods along winding roads where Italianate and Mediterranean-style homes — some dating from the Gilded Age — are nestled behind walls covered year-round with almost un-killable flowering bougainvillea, masses of geraniums that grow like weeds and gardenia and Bird of Paradise bushes. The air is sweet from honeysuckle, sage and the salty ocean breeze.
A R L I N GTO N FA R M
Marshall, Virginia • $4,950,000
Meghan Markle and Prince Harry in 2017. Photo by Mark Jones. Montecito is also a great place for the famous and their families to live because, for the most part, they are traditionally, almost rigidly, ignored. They simply become part of village life. Meghan’s good friend Oprah Winfrey told her to come to Montecito because Prince Harry and their son Archie would be able to live normal lives there. That’s true. Many celebs send their kids to one of the two public elementary schools in Montecito. Several sons-of-the-famous (like the Beach Boys) were in my son’s Montecito scout troop. Many are active in the community. But there are no lists, no “maps to the stars.” They are left alone. Montecito visitors will probably find themselves next to celebs during some of the hundreds of events at the Music Academy of the West (our Tanglewood) each summer, or at Montecito’s historic estates like Casa del Herrero and the exotic gardens of Lotusland. Or at Montecito’s
AQ U I N N A H
Rectortown, Virginia • $4,850,000
famous beach club, the Coral Casino at the Biltmore, now owned by Four Seasons. Or at Montecito’s newest beach hotel: Rosewood Miramar Beach. Visitors from Georgetown will find other connections. Casa Dorinda, an estate with an 80-room mansion, was built by William and Anna Bliss — father and mother (from prior marriages) of Robert and Mildred Bliss of Georgetown’s Dumbarton Oaks. After Beatrix Ferrand designed the gardens of Dumbarton Oaks in the 1950s, she was commissioned by Anna Bliss to design parts of the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden. The Georgetown Blisses lived at Casa Dorinda for several years after their parents died. Georgetowners will find another connection at Montecito’s restored San Ysidro Ranch. That’s where “Georgetowners” Jack and Jacqueline Kennedy honeymooned. Also, Michel Richard, chef and owner of Georgetown’s famed Citronelle, lived for years in Montecito and ran a Citronelle there.
W A L N U T DA L E L A N E
The Plains, Virginia • $3,200,000
Gracious Georgian Manor home, 11,000 sf, built in 1930 | 7 BR, 7 1/2 BA, 7 FP | High ceilings, formal gardens & private setting | Stable w/30 stalls & 2 apartments | 4 BR guest house/entertainment complex, 4-car garage w/office | 4 tenant houses, skeet range, pool & tennis court | 167.59 acres | Land mostly open & rolling w/ bold mountain views, numerous ponds & vineyard | Also available with 241 acres for $8,500,000
296 acres of farmland off the Atoka Road | Working farm in crops and hay and improved with multiple large farm buildings and 3 cottages | Beautiful building site for a main house if desired | Conservation easement allows for 1 division and permits construction of an indoor area and additional equestrian and farm buildings | Mix of open land, creeks, pond, woods, pasture, crops and rolling topography
Residence circa 1850 has been completely updated | 8 bedrooms, 8 1/2 baths, 6 fireplaces | Mountain views | Gourmet kitchen | Master suite with balcony | Indoor heated pool, attached gym, par terre garden, greenhouse, tennis courts | Separate building office or guest house | New 8 stall center aisle barn with office and tack room | Riding ring, new fencing, 200 degree mountain views with unbelievable sunsets
Stunning new stone home on 13 acres | Fine materials & thoughtful design built by Promotory Construction | Gorgeous wood floors, high ceilings, beautiful kitchen & family room | French doors from almost every room open to large terrace overlooking large pond & views of the Blue Ridge Mountains | First floor master suite has vaulted beamed ceilings & a luxurious dressing room
Paul MacMahon
Helen MacMahon
Paul MacMahon
Helen MacMahon
(703) 609-1905
PHEASANT’S EYE
Middleburg, Virginia • $3,200,000
(540) 454-1930
4 CHINN LANE
Middleburg, Virginia • $1,295,000
Solid stone home c. 1790 expanded to 5 BR | First floor master suite and large family room additions | 9 FP, antique floors and millwork | Extensive outdoor living spaces, large pool and terrace, multiple outbuildings | 2 car barns used to garage 20+ cars | Accommodates large scale entertaining
Impressive and elegant home | Main level master suite opens to large blue stone terrace & private garden | Gorgeous finishes through out the home | Stunning living room opens to the dining room & a wall of windows and french doors | 2 wood burning fireplaces,
Helen MacMahon
(540) 454-1930
info@sheridanmacmahon.com www.sheridanmacmahon.com
14 SEPTEMBER 16, 2020
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(703) 609-1905
SADDLE RIDGE I
Aldie, Virginia • $1,050,000
(540) 454-1930
R E C TO R C R O S S I N G
Delaplane, Virginia • $559,000
new roof, new siding and updated kitchen and baths, lots of storage | Absolutely turn key | 2 car garage and greenhouse
Commanding eastern views | 10.3 acres in a true nature preserve | Wildlife abounds, lovely plantings, kitchen gardens | House completely updated & enlarged | 4 BR, 4 BA (jacuzzi in tub on main level and master bath), wood floors, stone FP, gourmet kitchen, terrace | 2nd floor master suite, basement apt. | 3- car carport and 3-bay garage | Property serviced by Fios | Private but close to everything
Absolutely turn key charming cottage in Rectortown on 7.6 acres | Completely restored cottage with open kitchen - living room | Upstairs bedroom has massive walk in closet and room for guest or office in the loft area | Lovely setting and wonderful wrap around porch | Must love trains because Southern Railroad is in your back yard | Land is all open and about 500’ of creek frontage
Helen MacMahon
Paul MacMahon
Helen MacMahon
(540) 454-1930
(540) 687-5588
(703) 609-1905
(540) 454-1930
110 East Washington Street Middleburg, Virginia 20117
For what you paid for that nice place in Georgetown, you could have a nice place the size of Georgetown.
We love Georgetown. In fact, many of our neighbors have a little pied-à-terre in the city. We love strolling down M and Wisconsin as much as the next person. But we also love strolling the same distance across beautiful rolling hills and never running into a soul. We would love to spend the day showing you what it’s like to have this kind of choice. We’re continuing to show properties with social distancing in mind. Schedule an appointment and we’ll open the door to Hunt Country for you like we have for generations.
THOMAS & TALBOT REAL ESTATE Opening the door to Hunt Country for generations 2 South Madison Street | PO Box 500 | Middleburg, VA 20118 | Office: 540-687-6500 | Fax: 540-687-8899 | thomasandtalbot.com
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SEPTEMBER 16, 2020
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FOOD & WINE
LATEST DISH BY LIND A ROT H Will Strozier and Rob Zahn, the Proper Social guys who brought us Proper 21, opened Proper 21K at 21st and K Streets NW in the West End/Foggy Bottom area. Made for social distancing, the 8,000-square-foot space is complemented by a 2,000-squarefoot outdoor seating area and a grand bar designed for watching sports. Steve Forbes is executive chef and managing partner. Chef Geoff veteran Santos Fuentes, who recently led the kitchen at Lia’s in Chevy Chase, Maryland, now heads the kitchen at the newly opened Chef Geoff’s West End at 2201 M St. NW, where Cafe Deluxe used to be. In the great-outdoors department, it has a rooftop event space and a substantial 30-seat wraparound patio. Indoors are 160 seats plus 24 at the bar. The retractable
Executive Chef Sébastien Giannini at the Four Seasons opened Eno Azur last month. Photo by Robert Devaney. exterior windows were designed and built with social distancing in mind. Chef Update: Fairmont Washington, D.C., Georgetown named Ashish (AJ) Thalakkat executive pastry chef. He was previously at The Claremont Club in Berkeley, California. If you ever had the opportunity to enjoy afternoon tea at the famed Empress in Victoria, British Columbia, Thalakkat was executive pastry chef there from 2014 to 2018. Quick Hits: Copacabana is slated to open in Adams Morgan at 2434 18th St. NW. The café replaces Taste of Seoul, which had been Friendship Macaron … Aaron McGovern and Arturas Vorobjovas of Russia House and Biergarten Haus plan to open the seafood-centric Brine at 1359 H St. NE, where The Outsider used to be. They are
Georgetown: A Fabulous 200-Year-Old Federal
well positioned for this pandemic with (in addition to 30 seats indoors) 44 seats outside on a covered veranda … District Bodega, a Mexican tacqueria, plans to move into part of the former Dean & DeLuca space at 3276 M St. NW in Georgetown, where the Artists & Fleas vendor market is now … Donahue Lounge is slated to open where Smith Point used to be at 1338 Wisconsin Ave. NW … Capital One Café is expected to open in 2021 at MLK Gateway in Anacostia at Martin Luther King Avenue and Good Hope Road SE. Capital One currently has stores open in Penn Quarter and in Georgetown … Les Gemelas (translation: the twins) café and restaurant is slated to open at Union Market’s La Cosecha Latin American food hall. It comes from Josh Phillips, the force behind Espita … Han Palace is slated to open in mid-September where Ten Penh was, at 7900 Westpark Drive in Tysons, Virginia. It will feature dim sum, according to owner Chris Zhu, who also owns China Garden in Rockville, Maryland (previously in Arlington, Virginia). Melina, a full-service, veggie-centric, fine-casual Greek restaurant from the folks who brought you Cava — Ike Grigoropoulos, Dimitri Moshovitis and Ted Xenohristos — is slated to open at Pike & Rose in North Bethesda, Maryland. Named after Moshovitis’s daughter, Melina will join Fogo de Chao, Summer House Santa Monica, &pizza and sweetgreen there. Just Opened: Café Bonaparte, at 1522 Wisconsin Ave. NW in Georgetown, has morphed into Lutèce, with Matt Conroy reigning over the kitchen. Previously,
Conroy was chef de cuisine at Oxomoco, a Michelin-starred Mexican restaurant in Brooklyn … Silver Diner opened at 4630 King St. in Alexandria, Virginia, in the West Alex development. Ch-Ch-Changes: Colony Club in Park View is now Doubles, referencing the iconic ping-pong table there — as well as the café doing a “double” by serving coffee and pastries by day and cocktails in the evening. It’s brought to you by Max Zuckerman and Ben Heller. HalfSmoke owner Andre McCain plans to expand from his Shaw location into two Maryland restaurants: in Rockville Town Center, with 150 seats inside and 30 outside, and in Baltimore at 2400 Boston St., with 80 seats inside and 40 outside. It’s part of a larger long-term expansion plan that includes more online sales and spaces designed for expedient delivery and pickup. From the Tin Shop folks who brought you Franklin Hall, TallBoy and, recently, Church Hall, the enormous bar beneath Georgetown Park, comes a new outdoor brick courtyard at 3223 Grace St. NW, with biergarten seating overlooking the C&O Canal. Open Wednesday through Sunday, the food component features snacks that pair well with adult beverages. Linda Roth (@LindaRothPR) is the founder and CEO of Linda Roth Associates, a D.C.-based public relations and marketing firm that specializes in the hospitality industry. Visit her on the web at lindarothpr.com.
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KITTY KELLEY BOOK CLUB
‘The Lost Diary of M: A Novel’ THIS FICTIONALIZED ACCOUNT OF ONE OF JFK’S REAL-LIFE LOVERS WILL DELIGHT CAMELOT BUFFS AND GOSSIP HOUNDS ALIKE R EVIEWE D BY KIT T Y K E LLE Y Many intriguing stories spring from the “what if” crevices of a writer’s imagination to conjoin fact and fiction, which is how Paul Wolfe came to write his second novel, “The Lost Diary of M.” “M” refers to CIA operative Cord Meyer’s ex-wife, Mary Pinchot Meyer, who had an affair with John F. Kennedy in the White House. Months after the president’s assassination, she was mysteriously murdered in broad daylight while walking along the C&O Canal in Georgetown. The accused assailant was found not guilty. “The lost diary” refers to Pinchot Meyer’s journal, found after her death by her sister, Antoinette “Tony” Bradlee, then married to Ben Bradlee, who later became executive editor of the Washington Post. After she turned her sister’s journal over to their friend James Jesus Angleton, the CIA’s chief of counterintelligence, the diary was never seen again, nor its contents ever revealed. Given those established facts and a cast of real characters, Wolfe takes off in the voice of Pinchot Meyer, who, according to public record, was an LSD disciple of Timothy Leary who shared drugs with JFK. Enter here the fictional fantasies of “what if.” What if her diary was not destroyed? What if it reveals her life as an ex-CIA wife (“I learned the secrets of codes and agents and
networks and interrogations”)? What if her diary contains all that JFK confided about the Bay of Pigs fiasco and the Cuban Missile Crisis? What if she discovers the CIA plot to assassinate Kennedy and refers to the Warren Commission and its lone-gunman finding as “Fictions from an Assassination”? What if she storms a society ball in Washington and boldly confronts her former husband with evidence of his agency’s perfidy? What if that revelation eventually leads to her killing? What if her diary reveals her preposterous plan for world peace by having her circle of Georgetown wives give their powerful husbands LSD to lead them to “cellular evolution,” which moves them to see the folly of their power-seeking ways and — voila! — they end the Cold War? (I use the word “preposterous” for this fictional fantasy, which Wolfe labels “Chantilly Lace,” but it’s probably no less harebrained than the actual CIA plan to assassinate Fidel Castro with an exploding cigar and, failing that, poison pills hidden in a cold cream jar.) The challenge in writing a novel based on real people and events is making the nonfiction details so accurate that readers will accept the creative leaps. For the most part, Wolfe succeeds. One glaring exception, however, occurs when he has JFK say to
Pinchot Meyer that “the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice.” That iconic phrase belonged to Martin Luther King Jr. Its placement in the novel is particularly jarring when the narrator tells readers: “Then he asks me to bend toward justice and nudges the back of my neck.” Wolfe weaves his facts and fictions so tightly, you might need Google to see if John Foster Dulles, Eisenhower’s secretary of state, and his brother, CIA Director Allen Dulles, really did have “intimate business dealings with Hitler’s pals.” (They did.) Did the British spy Kim Philby defect to the Soviet Union because he had a German mistress there, whom he later married? (He did.) Was there really an Operation Midnight Climax run by the CIA that financed bordellos and sent drug-addicted prostitutes to pick up men late at night, bring them back and ply them with LSDlaced drinks so that agents watching behind a hidden screen could monitor the drug’s effects? (There was — and they did.) Having hoovered the JFK oeuvre, which, according to Wikipedia, now numbers between 1,000 and 2,000 books, Wolfe illuminates his characters with telling details: Kennedy’s “back brace,” Mary’s “unshaven arm pits.” He nails columnist Joe Alsop (Joseph Wright Alsop V) as an effete snob who refuses to dine in a Paris restaurant if the wine cellar is too close to the Metro, maintaining that the train’s vibrations disturb the sediment in the bottles. Wolfe writes with grace and many of his sentences sparkle: “The words of Ted Sorenson, the devout Unitarian, the megaphone of Jack’s mind, a poet of politics.” Much of “The Lost Diary of M” will ring
true to those who followed the comet of Camelot or lived in Washington when J. Edgar Hoover ran the FBI and sent his agents out to be hired as waiters and bartenders to listen for gossip. One hostess confides: “The best pastry chef I ever employed turned out to be an FBI agent.” Seems comical in the age of AI, when Alexa outperforms Mata Hari, but that was the ’60s. Kennedy aficionados and conspiracy theorists will enjoy a thumping good read and appreciate Wolfe’s prodigious research. Journalists may note with interest his mention of Ben Bradlee in the author’s note, and how he questions Bradlee’s “tortuous half-century of conflicting and contradictory narratives about his ex-sisterin-law, Mary Pinchot Meyer, and his denials of his own CIA affiliations.” What if … this is a clue to Wolfe’s next novel? What if … Wolfe writes about a revered newspaper editor with agency connections who is driven to… What if? Georgetown resident Kitty Kelley has written several number-one New York Times best-sellers, including “The Family: The Real Story Behind the Bush Dynasty.” Her most recent books include “Capturing Camelot: Stanley Tretick’s Iconic Images of the Kennedys” and “Let Freedom Ring: Stanley Tretick’s Iconic Images of the March on Washington.” She serves on the board of Reading Is Fundamental, the nation’s largest children’s literacy nonprofit.
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