The Georgetowner's March 13, 2013 by The Georgetowner

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GEORGETOWNER VOLUME 59, NUMBER 12

MARCH 13 - 26, 2013

Life & Times In Real Estate

Wes Foster

Wes and Betty Foster

REAL ESTATE SPECIAL

Le Decor: Middle Kingdom

SOCIAL SCENE

House Tour Pow-wow

BUSINESS

West Heating Plant Bought

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Both Franklin and Robertson died last week: Franklin, at 69 of cancer; Robertson, 92, of complications from pneumonia and lung cancer.

Only lOng & fOster brings yOu the pOwer Of the Christie’s internatiOnal real estate netwOrk when buying Or selling a luxury hOme.

to view our featured luxury properties, see our center spread insert in this edition.

‘NORMA’: MEADE AND ZAJICK LEAD A DRUIDIC TRIUMPH BY BY GARY T IS CH LE R

The Washington National Opera’s “Norma” runs through March 24 at the Kennedy Center.

CIVIL WAR SAILORS OF THE USS MONITOR BURIED IN ARLINGTON CEMETERY WITH FULL HONORS (PHOTOS)

BY J EF F MAL ET

On March 8, two Civil War sailors from the USS Monitor were laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery

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SINCE 1954

CONTENTS N EW S 3

Web Exclusives

D.C. Scene

Calendar

News / Town Topics

Editorial / Opinion

Business

REAL ES TATE

3301 m street nw

Historic D.C.

Sales

Featured Property

On The Auction Block

Middle Kingdom

COVER S T ORY 16

Yoga With Attitude

Wes Foster

IN COUNTRY 18

In Country Architect: Rhett Associates

FOOD & WINE 21

Cocktail of the Month

Let’s Do Lunch: Range by Bryan Voltaggio

Dining Guide

DIRECT ORY 24

Classifieds

BODY & SOUL 25

AR T S

Murphy’s Love

Performance

Art Map

SOCIAL SCENE 28

Social Scene

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1054 Potomac St., N.W. Washington, DC 20007 Phone: (202) 338-4833 Fax: (202) 338-4834 www.georgetowner.com The Georgetowner is published every other Wednesday. The opinions of our writers and columnists do not necessarily reflect the editorial and corporate opinions of The Georgetowner newspaper. The Georgetowner accepts no responsibility for unsolicited manuscripts or photographs and assumes no liability for products or services advertised herein. The Georgetowner reserves the right to edit, re-write, or refuse material and is not responsible for errors or omissions. Copyright, 2013. PLEASE RECYCLE THIS PAPER

Wes and Betty Foster at their home in Alexandria, Va. The two will be celebrating their 50th wedding aniversary this year. Photo by Philip Bermingham

DC SCENE

PHOTOS AND TEXT BY JEFF MALET WWW.MALETPHOTO.COM

1. President Barack Obama and congressional leaders

unveiled a full-length statue of civil rights icon Rosa Parks in the Capitol on Feb. 27. 2. Two crewmen of the USS Monitor were laid to rest in Arlington National Cemetery, 150 years after the famous ironclad sank off North Carolina during the Civil War, on March 8. 3. Vice President Joe Biden was the headline speaker at the Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) Policy Conference at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center on March 4. 4. Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War and Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States, dressed in period navy uniforms show up for the burial of the sailors of the USS Monitor. 5. In a special donation ceremony on March 8, Warner Bros. chairman Barry Meyer presented the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History's director John Gray with 30 Hollywood movie artifacts including one of the Gremlins from â&#x20AC;&#x153;Gremlins 2: The New Batch.â&#x20AC;? 6. On March 3, thousands assembled in Washington, D.C., to celebrate the 100th Anniversary of the Woman Suffrage Parade of March 3, 1913. Among them was Elizabeth Jenkins-Sahlin (photo) who is the great great granddaughter of Elizabeth Cady Stanton, a key women's suffrage leader of the 19th century.

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Calendar

UP & COMING MARCH 15

Machiavelli’s ‘Prince’ Throughout the Centuries On the 500th anniversary of the completion of “The Prince,” the Italian Cultural Institute of Washington, D.C., and the Italian Department of Georgetown University are proud to present a symposium on Machiavelli’s enduring legacy. Specialists will illustrate the relevance of “The Prince” within their disciplines, while filmmaker Luca Verdone will talk about his film-in-progress on the writer’s life, seen both from a public and a private perspective. The event is open to the public; 3 p.m. Georgetown University, ICC Auditorium, 37th and O St., N.W.

MARCH 16

Walk for Wishes Make-A-Wish Mid-Atlantic’s 2013 Walk For Wishes is a community-wide celebration and effort to grant wishes for local children with life-threatening medical conditions. Walkers of all ages will come together in our nation’s capital and enjoy a day that includes the walk itself and ongoing family-fun festivities including great music, face painting and balloon art, special guest appearances and other surprises. Visit www.midatlantic-community. org for more information. The National Mall.

MARCH 17

Choral Evensong Christ Church, Georgetown presents music of Richard Ayleward, Orlando Gibbons, and William Boyce. Sung by professional Choir of Christ Church. The event is free and open to the public. For more information, please call 202-333-6677. 31st & O Street NW

MARCH 19

Georgetown University will host a symposium on Macchiavelli’s “The Prince” on March 15.

‘Pinocchio: The Story of a Puppet’ This performance of one of the most renowned Italian books combines literature, theater, dance, and music to bring to realization the most celebrated Italian “piece of wood,” through the story of the timeless work of a wood carver that teaches beauty and truth. Tickets are $30. For more information, email michele.giacalone@esteri.it . Terrace Theater at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts; 2700 F St., NW.

Washington to benefit its Spanish Catholic Center. Tickets are $75 and visit www. catholiccharitiesdc.org/suenos for more information. The Organization of American States; 17th and Constitution Ave., NW.

MARCH 26

The performance of “Pinocchio: the Story of a Puppet” on March 19 will include literature, dance and music.

MARCH 22

Huge Used Book Sale For the benefit of DC’s Palisades Library, join the Friends of Palisades Library for a huge used book sale from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on March 22. Most books (20,000 titles) are $1 or 25 cents each, discounted by the bag on Sat. Email FriendsOfPalisadesLibrary@ gmail.com or visit www.dclibrary.org/palisades. 4901 V St. NW; corner of MacArthur Boulevard. Musica y Suenos On Friday, March 22, Música y Sueños will transform the historic Organization of American States into part tapas restaurant, part salsa club, surrounded by the grandeur of the Washington Monument and White House Ellipse. The evening begins with salsa dance lessons before a live DJ spins an eclectic mix of music. Guests can enjoy a tapas buffet and bar complimentary with admission. Hosted by Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of

Capital Wine Festival: Tres Sabores and Calder Wine Co. Wine Dinner Four-course wine dinner featuring wines of Tres Sabores and Calder Wine Co. This is a unique opportunity to meet two artisan winemakers from Napa: Julie Johnson, owner and winemaker from Tres Sabores, and her son Rory Williams, owner and winemaker from Calder Wine Company, one of the few makers of Charbonos. Executive chef Chris Ferrier will create a customized menu to complement the vintner’s selection for the dinner. Dinner will be served in 2100 Prime. Tickets start at $125. For more information, visit http://www.capitalwinefestival.com. The Fairfax at Embassy Row, 2100 Massachusetts Ave., NW.

SAVE THE DATE: APRIL 10

Friends of Book Hill Park Benefit Benefit to celebrate and support the final restoration phase of Book Hill Park’s 1871 cast iron fence on Reservoir Road. All proceeds go directly to the preservation of the park. Individual tickets, $100; couples, $150. For more information, please email jasper@ttrsir. com. 1692 31st St., NW.★

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TOWN TOPICS

News Buzz BY R OBE RT DEVANEY

ANC Report: It’s All About Traffic The March 4 meeting of the GeorgetownBurleith Advisory Neighborhood Commission was standing room only, its biggest of several agenda items a discussion of the traffic changes on Wisconsin Avenue in Glover Park. These changes have gone beyond mere “traffic calming” to produce cars waiting in one lane for longer than planned through the neighborhood north of Georgetown. Along with the commissioners at the table were Councilmembers Jack Evans (Ward 2) and Mary Cheh (Ward 3) along Terry Bellamy, director of D.C. Department of Transportation. Evans repeatedly said he wants two lanes going north on Wisconsin Avenue and got applause from the crowd, when he said the revisions needed to come sooner than one year. Cheh plans a May 1 roundtable on the traffic issue. Bellamy brought his DDOT team to the meeting and said it could make some changes and added that 37th Street and Tunlaw Road was the next traffic project to tackle. Others used the phrase “terrible idea” to describe the changes. Commissioner Tom Birch said he disliked the “needless left turn” lanes, commission Bill Starrels said he did not go to Whole Foods in Glover Park but rather one in Foggy Bottom and commissioner Ed Solomon expressed concern about the traffic’s “ripple effects” through Burleith. Calling Georgetown

changed to a wait-and-see. “Our lawyer has filed an emergency motion for sanctions against NPS for violations.” In its announcement about the new contract, the NPS said Jack’s did not put in a bid. Simkin responded that is because of his business’s legal action against NPS. He said a NPS letter to him states in part: “The NPS indicates its agreement not to take any action against the plaintiff until March 31, 2013. So, that’s why this is all the more confusing, March 1, to be given an eviction notice.”

Book Hill Benefit, April 10 The Friends of Book Hill Park plan a April 10 party at the 31st Street home of Cheryl and Mike Naeve to raise funds to complete the trident fence on the Reservoir Road section of the park. “Our group was able to raise funds to restore the trident fence on the Wisconsin side of Book Hill Park,” said Julia Diaz-Asper, co-president of the board of Friends of Book Hill Park. “We also rescued the partial fence from the Georgetown Library’s basement and were able to restore it with the help of Outerbridge Horsey. We are missing the rest of the fence on the Reservoir Rd side of the park. Marston Luce referred us to a person who is able to reproduce the trident fence; the Trident logo was designed by a local artist. The trident motif was designed originally to represent the reservoir at the top of the hill behind the library.” For more information, contact Julia DiazAsper at jasper@ttrsir.com or 202-333-0077.

Muth Trial Begins March 25

Here is an update from Homicide Watch D.C. (“Mark every death. Remember every victim. Follow every case.”) on alleged killer of Viola Drath, Albrecht Muth: Weakened by a months-long fast and in critical condition at United Medical Center, Albrecht Muth on March 6 attempted to win back his right to represent himself at his upcoming murder trial. Muth spoke with the court by The United States Postal Service has signed a contract with local developer EastBanc to sell phone, saying that, in the historic Georgetown post office building on 31st Street. See Business, page 10. fasting, he intends to “traffic-challenged,” Joe Sternlieb, CEO of the possibly die before Easter, will subpoena Gen. Georgetown Business Improvement District, David Petraeus and other high-ranking governsaid he was worried that fewer people might ment officials for evidence he was an Iraqi come to town. brigadier general and that his wife, 91-year-old On the other hand, Glover Park commission- Viola Drath, was killed by an Iranian agent. er Jackie Blumenthal said, “People are generally “This marks the last time I will address myself pleased.” in public,” Muth also told the court. Muth’s claims, though, did little to sway Judge Jack’s Boathouse Fight Russell Canan, who urged Muth to end a months-long hunger strike that has left attorNow Up to Court neys at a loss on how to proceed with the trial The same day the National Park Service anscheduled to begin March 25. “You say you’re nounced that B&G Outdoor Recreation of innocent of these charges,” Canan said to Muth. Massachusetts would be awarded the contract to “I would hope you would have enough faith operate at the site of Jack’s Boathouse at 3500 in the criminal justice system that you’d be K St., NW, it also handed an eviction notice to vindicated.”  Muth said his fast is motivated by Jack’s owner Paul Simkin March 1. religious reasons; the angel Gabriel appeared “The NPS violated the federal judge’s to him and told him not to eat, he said. The fast restraint order,” said Simkin, whose eviction “aims to bring me into one with Christ Jesus by the National Park Service in December was

Friends of Book Hill: Susan Daves, Rick Dunn, Bob Laycock, Julia Diaz-Asper, Ginny Poole and Frank Randolph. Photo by Robert Devaney.

during this Lenten season,” Muth said. Assistant U.S. Attorney Glenn Kirschner said doctors at United Medical Center suspect he may be drinking water when no one is watching. No plan is in place yet that would allow Muth to appear in court without jeopardizing his fragile health.

Community Calendar Sat., March 16

Dumbarton Concerts: Carpe Diem Strong Quartet Featuring a program of works by Beethoven, Kern, and Fujiwara; 8 p.m., tickets $33, seniors and students $29. Dumbarton Church, 3133 Dumbarton St., NW. Visit www.dumbartonconcerts.org.

Tues., March 19

CAG Meeting -- A Community Torn Apart: Georgetown in the Civil War Presentation by Leslie Buhler of Tudor Place. Reception, 7 p.m.; program, 7:30 p.m. Four Seasons Hotel, 2800 Pennsylvania Ave, NW.

Thurs., March 21

In the Art & Everyday: The Japanese Eye for Beauty As the cherry blossoms, get a close look at the Collection’s objects from Japan. Enjoy an Asian-themed menu of savories and cherry treats and a spin on a historic cocktail. Ages 21+ only. Free to Tudor Place members; non-members, $25. Visit www.tudorplace.org.★

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EDITORIAL/ OPINON

How to Fix Wisconsin Avenue Traffic

he traffic flowing north on Wisconsin Avenue has slowed too much for its own good. We agree with Councilmember Jack Evans, who spoke about adding a second lane at a March 4 Advisory Neighborhood Commission meeting. The overflow meeting had attendees standing in the back and outside the doors in the second floor hallway of the main building of Georgetown Visitation High School. Evans was there with his fellow Georgetowners along with Councilmember Mary Cheh from Ward 3, just north of town, and Terry Bellamy, director of D.C. Department of Transportation. We also agree with commissioner Ed Solomon about expanding 35th Street as a twoway to Wisconsin Avenue with a stoplight. This arrangement would also eliminate the traffic turning east from 35th to go north on Wisconsin Avenue. One of our staffers used to walk to work that way, sometimes trying to cross the avenue at 35th Street: not fun. He simply kept walking along the Holy Rood Cemetery sidewalk, which was been widened. We also need to look at how used those leftturn lanes work; those lanes may be better used. Speeding cameras at 35th and Wisconsin to slow cars as they descend toward Georgetown? Sounds like a good idea, although a DDOT engineer did tell the crowd that traffic speeds equally up or down a hill. Flashing yellow lights placed

at intervals? Maybe: could be annoying. It is great to make neighborhoods more pedestrian-friendly -- but to the extent that it makes Washington, D.C., come off as antiautomobile. Sorry, Capital BikeShare is cool and all, but its impact is minor. And some sectionedoff bikes lanes seem to scream: we hate cars and drivers; go back to suburbia. Not good for

composed primarily of East Coast Catholic universities which don’t have a major football program. Syracuse, which always had a major football program (remember Jim Brown?) will flee to the Atlantic Coast Conference, which does have a major football program and an even more major basketball program. Splitting up conferences, making new ones, teams moving from one conference to another at the drop of a caching is the norm these days. Most major college athletic conference are unrecognizable today—it’s no longer about proximity and geography but about television revenues and ratings. A new Big East conference with the Big East title will begin playing next year composed of Seton Hall, De Paul, Georgetown, Marquette, Providence, St. John’s and Villanova. Meaning, there’s the last Big East (as it stands now) Conference tournament coming up with the Hoyas taking on either Cincinnati or Providence at noon in a quarterfinal game at Madison Square Garden Thursday. The Final Four brackets and seedings will be announced at the conclusion of the nationwide tournament games Sunday. Currently, Georgetown is ranked No. 5 in

business. To boot, there is much paid parking behind the buildings on the east of Wisconsin Avenue, bordering the backyard of the Vice President’s Residence, not less. More to come: there is a May 1 roundtable on Glover Park traffic.★

Hoyas Roll Towards Tournament asketball has changed since 1979, when the Big East first became a major national major college basketball conference, but last Saturday’s 61-39 butt-kicking of Jim Boeheim’s Syracuse team by the Georgetown University Hoyas at the Verizon Center had a mighty familiar look to it: a keen, raw, riotous rivalry playing itself for the last time as part of a Big East regular season. You could sense that this game had a whiff of the 1980s going on—John Thompson, Jr, big, talkative as ever was there and so was Patrick Ewing, the Hoya center who helped Thompson make three trips to the Final Four, with an NCAA championship to boot. This time, it’s John Thompson III— chosen Coach of the Year in the Big East Conference as it is now constituted—and star player Otto Porter, Jr., who have rocketed the Hoyas to a share of the Big East regular season title, and a number five national ranking and a possible number 1 Seed in the ensuing March Madness known as the NCAA Basketball Tournament. What’s not the same is what college basketball has become—the Hoyas, almost out of self defense, are leading the way to the formation of a new Big East conference

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the nation behind Louisville, Indiana, Duke and top-ranked Gonzaga, a first ever for that school. Basketball has changed in other ways, too. Rumors have it that Porter might enter the NBA draft after this season, a fairly common occurrence in NCAA basketball, where Kentucky now routinely sees almost an entire freshman class go pro, which pretty much happened last year when the Wildcats won the title. Ewing was part of an era during which John Thompson, Jr., could build a team around the talented Ewing (the Hoyas almost upset North Carolina when Ewing was still a frosh) and still had him around as a senior. With Ewing, the Hoyas lost in the last minute to a Michael Jordan-led North Carolina squad, did not make the final the next year, then beat Houston for the national title in 1984, and lost to Villanova in a heartbreaker in 1985. The Hoyas represent Georgetown University, but they also captured and continue to capture the hearts of the people of Washington and its sports fans. Go Hoyas!★

Gary Tischler Ari Post Nico Dodd

Evelyn Keyes Kelly Sullivan Brooke Conley

Jack Evans Report: DC’s Annual Audit

BY JACK EVANS Every year, the Mayor, the Chairman of the Council, the Chief Financial Officer and myself, the Chairman of the Finance Committee, meet with the three major Wall Street rating agencies (Fitch, Moody’s, and Standard & Poor’s). These meetings are important because the rating agencies evaluate the fiscal health of cities, counties and states throughout the country. These ratings, in turn, impact the interest rate imposed on our borrowing through public finance bonds. The proceeds of these bonds allow us to make capital improvements, such as work at our schools, libraries, and even roads --backed in part by the federal government as well. The better the rating, the lower the interest rates and the less it costs to borrow the money. Because of the increase in our bond ratings, the District has saved millions in debt service over the years. This year, the District delegation was pleased to report on the city’s annual audit of FY 2012, which reported a surplus of roughly $417 million. In addition, the delegation discussed the potential impact of the federal sequester cuts and the ongoing efforts to stabilize the United Medical Center hospital in Ward 8. Finally, the rating agencies were interested in the process for selecting a new permanent CFO with the announced retirement of current CFO Natwar Gandhi. I made a presentation to each of the agencies regarding our eligibility for a ratings upgrade. I reminded the agencies that we’ve done everything they have asked of us – we have put a cap on our borrowing, replenished the fund balance in our “savings accounts,” and produced structurally sound budgets for a number of years. The rating agencies are also realizing that the District’s economy has changed. We used to be able to tax only about 30 percent of the income earned in the District due to our inability to tax commuters. Now, as the number of District residents continues to increase, we are able to tax more like 45 percent of the income earned in the District. This means we have a stronger, more stable economy, and we are working hard to diversify. I always use the example of “BCD” - we are currently rated better than as Baltimore, Cleveland and Detroit, but we should be on the same AAA ratings scale as Boston, Charlotte and Denver. I am hopeful that this will be the year for an upgrade, but if not, I will continue to advocate for balanced budgets and spending within our means while continuing to bolster our savings accounts. Thanks for your support.★

CONTRIBUTORS

Mary Bird Pamela Burns Linda Roth Conte Jack Evans Donna Evers John Fenzel Jade Floyd Amos Gelb Lisa Gillespie

Jody Kurash Stacy Notaras Murphy David Post Alison Schafer Shari Sheffield Bill Starrels INTERNS

Sara Gilgore Gwen Shearan

EDITORIAL/ OPINON

From S.F. to D.C. in the 70s BY GA RY T ISCHL ER.

came to live in Washington DC in 1975 after living and working on two different daily newspapers in Northern California for ten years. Looking back from the vantage point of the intervening years of four decades, it seems to me now that I had landed squarely in the middle of a railroad juncture one coming from the 1960s and the other chugging forward to what lay ahead. It’s impossible not to think of two times and places—the 1980s and Ronald Reagan’s coming America and the roiling, revolutionary 1960s of peace and love, war and anti-war, Washington, D.C., the political and policy capitol of the United States and the San Francisco Bay Area, the epicenter of what comes next, the caretaker of hip, cool, rock and roll and protest politics, where the Pacific Ocean made up one of the seas to shining sea—more different and more connected at the same time. Neither city was typical of the makeup in function and population of the great majority of this country. Being there, and then here, felt like an exercise, at least initially in straddling not only the center of the 1970s, but two contrarian attitudes of what was important. By 1975, things had already happened here that we did not quite pay so much attention to out there. Californians—the explosively liberal North and the entrench conservatives of the South and mid-state—had always seen Washington as the city of government, monuments, not as a place where real people actually lived. Things had happened there—very big 1970s things like Watergate, which we saw, often as the fall of the

despised Richard Nixon and his ilk. He was one of us, after all, and after an ill-fated gubernatorial run, had blasted the press and said “You know have Richard Nixon to kick around any more.” As far as we know, somebody else had kicked him around. In Northern California, protests against the war, against the government, for women’s rights, seemed common place as if everything leftist and worthy was invented in Berkeley. Turns out they hadn’t. In California in the early 1970s, you were inured to a lot of things—the presence of drugs (pot, cookies laced with acid and hashish) at certain parties, the decline of the hippie movement in the Haight, and the rise of the dominantly gay Castro district). We saw the end of the Vietnam up close and personal as transport planes full of children rescued in the last days of Saigon landed in Oakland. On that occasion, I interviewed a man over coffee as he talked about his son, who had been killed in the last month of the war. Ronald Reagan was elected president of the United States—now it was official, I had come full circle. I lived in the Bay Area during all eight years that Mr. Reagan was governor there. I had met him once, and he had remembered my name in five minutes, after answering a question of mine about Watergate by not answering it. He had followed to what was now: Home. The 1970s were over.★

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BUSINESS

Ins & Outs BY RO B E RT DE VANEY

GSA Awards West Heating Plant to Four Seasons, Levy Group The General Services Administration concluded its online auction for the West Heating Plant on 29th Street March 6 with a win for “Bidder # 2,” it indicated, at $19.5 million. For days, real estate and business watchers wondered who won the auction. The winner was revealed March 12, when Richard Levy told the Washington Business Journal that his firm, the Fours Season and the New York-based Georgetown Group had gotten the property. Levy told the journal the team plans to spend more than $100 million on the reconstruction project. After the auction began on Jan. 18, the first bid at $500,001 came on Feb. 14 with a few bidders going back and forth for days. Each 24 hours required a new bid to keep the auction going; March 5 saw the final bid. Here’s what the Georgetowner reported about the Levy Group plan in November 2011: The Levy Group, a longtime and well-known owner of Georgetown commercial real estate, and the Georgetown Company of New York City, which is working with Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts, Strategic Hotels & Resorts, Inc., are proposing a project to build a Four Seasons Private Residences and create an adjacent park

on the site of the West Heating Plant. According to the group, “the proposal, which has been developed over the past year and a half, is being made public following the GSA’s recent announcement that it plans to dispose of the underutilized and inaccessible property that sits at the confluence of the C&O Canal and Rock Creek Park at the foot of Georgetown.” “We and the Georgetown Company have joined forces with the Four Seasons to bring life to a cordoned-off section of Georgetown,” said the Levy Group’s managing principal Richard Levy. “Our priorities are clear: transform the West Heating Plant into an attractive and contributing building that complements and respects the neighborhood and create a new park that links the the C&O Canal and Rock Creek Park with the Georgetown Waterfront Park. … The proposed renovated building will include approximately 80 Four Seasons Private Residences … A significant part of the property south of the West Heating Plant will be dedicated to parkland …”

USPS Sells Georgetown Post Office to EastBanc The United States Postal Service has signed a contract with local developer EastBanc to sell the historic Georgetown post office building on 31st Street, as first reported by the Washington Examiner. The property is valued more than $4.5 million; the U.S. post office stays. Anthony Lanier, president of EastBanc, said a post office will remain on the first floor of the 19th-century building which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The sale to EastBanc has been years in the making. EastBanc’s design and use for the

For those who cannot get enough frozen yogurt, SweetFrog is coming to Georgetown.

building was reviewed by the local Advisory Neighborhood Commission, the Old Georgetown Board and D.C.’s Board of Zoning. Future use of the post office building calls for offices, a back addition with much of the new space below grade, according to the Georgetown-Burleith ANC. Lanier’s EastBanc group owns and has redeveloped almost 60 retail buildings along M Street or Wisconsin Avenue. It is known for its development of Cadys Alley and the adjacent stores. Another EastBanc development is in the works for condos on Wisconsin Avenue to be built on the Verizon parking lot between the C&O Canal and Grace Church.

BID Cheers 26 New Businesses in 2012 Known as D.C.’s “Shopping Playground,” Georgetown saw 26 new national and independent merchant openings in 2012, with several exciting new openings planned for early 2013, the Georgetown Business Improvement District announced last week. “Georgetown continues to be the Washington area’s premier retail destination and the leader in bringing exclusive local, national and international brands to shoppers,” said Joe Sternlieb, CEO of the Georgetown BID. “Not only do stores want to set up their business in Georgetown’s urban retail-friendly setting, but customers want to come here because it’s not your typical mall and is a beautiful, historic place to spend your time. It’s a ‘meeting place’ for Washingtonians, and we’re optimistic that the neighborhood will only continue to provide more choices in not only shopping, but food, hospitality and entertainment as well.” 2012 marked the opening of 26 new businesses in Georgetown: From Bandolero to Luigi Parasmo Salon, Luke’s Lobster and the Washington Harbour Ice Rink. This year will include Alex and Ani, Billy Reid, Bonobos, Capella Washington, Eno Wine Bar, the Graham and Malmaison -- and more to come. Visit www. GeorgetownDC.com for details.

Capitol Prague Opens in April Capitol Prague Restaurant Coming: A new restaurant will fill the void left by the departed Morso. Capitol Prague Restaurant will soon set up at M and Potomac Streets, part of the Eton Court complex. Capitol Prague will operate a restaurant and a coffee shop two doors away, said manager Petra Foist, who added, “We hope to open in midApril.” With Czech and Slovak cuisine—schnitzel, goulash, braised pork and dumplings—as well as various beers, “it will be down-home 10

March 13, 2013 GMG, INC.

cooking,” Foist said. Capitol Prague will be the only restaurant in Washington, D.C., with Czechvar lager on draft, she said. That beer is made by the famed Budweiser Budvar Brewery (Budějovický Budvar) in the Czech Republic. (Capitol Prague is still constructing its website.)

Sweet Frog Yogurt Coming to Wisconsin & S Coming to the corner of Wisconsin Avenue and S Street, NW, in the former Miller & Arney Antiques, is Sweet Frog, a frozen yogurt franchise, founded in 2009 in Richmond by Derek Cha and his wife Annah Kim. So reports the Georgetown Metropolitan blog. The frozen yogurt business had more than 100 stores in 15 states and one in South Korea. The company states: “SweetFrog was founded on the principles of Christianity and our belief in bringing happiness and a positive attitude into the lives of our consumers. At sweetFrog, F.R.O.G stands for Fully Rely On God – and we hope to be an example of that in every community!”

Forever Yogurt Coming, Too But, wait, there’s more: Chicago-based Forever Yogurt indicates that it is coming to Georgetown, seeking two locations. It already is set for 1728 Columbia Road, NW, in Adams Morgan. The franchise company is riding the yogurt mania wave. The company shows on its website locations -- from Princeton to Panama -- being prepared for new Forever Yogurt stores.

J. Chocolatier Departs J. Chocolatier’s retail shop on 33rd Street closed March 4. It will become an online operation. “We have had a fantastic three-and-a-half years in our Georgetown location,” wrote J. Chocolatier owner Jane Morris in an email. “J. Chocolatier will continue bringing delicious chocolates to the D.C. area. . . . “We are proud to say that our Georgetown retail sales have grown every year, with increases ranging from 20 percent to 50 percent year-over-year. … In fact, we are exiting the Georgetown store up 27 percent so far for 2013.”

Business Group to Meet March 20 at TD Bank The Georgetown Business Association will meet Wednesday, March 20, for a spring networking mixer at TD Bank at 1611 Wisconsin Ave., NW, 6:30 p.m ALSO: Rokas Beresniovas, former GBA president, has accepted the position of vice president with the State Bank of India to head its expansion market in Washington, D.C. He was previously with HSBC Bank USA.★

HISTORIC DC

Thomas Jefferson’s Love of Wine Spurred Virginia’s BY D ONNA EV E RS he wine business has taken off in Virginia, with over 200 licensed wineries in the state, and a growing enthusiasm for Virginia wines on the part of wine aficionados. We should remember to thank Thomas Jefferson, at least in part, for the growth of this enterprise. When Jefferson was our ambassador in France in the late 1700’s, he spent a lot of time touring Europe and getting to know viticulturists in Germany, France and Italy. He made carefully planned visits to all the growers and winemakers he could locate, and when he returned to America, he imported wine directly from them, always insisting on getting containers of bottled wine sent to him instead of barrels, because he believed he would get better quality wine that way. He had the best wine cellar in the region, and when he became president, an equally impressive collection in the new White House wine cellar. When he retired to Monticello, Jefferson tried for years to grow grapes with vines he imported from Europe. For many reasons, the vines died and failed. If the vines survived the ocean crossing with any life in them, they died from all kinds of diseases, the most prevalent being fungus, a problem that Virginia grape growers still struggle with each season, even though today’s growers have effective sprays to combat disease. Also, Jefferson didn’t have the disease-resistant grafted vines now used by viticulturists worldwide.

Thomas Jefferson was so intrigued by fine wines that he continually exceeded his financial means in order to import the very best. When he died, some of his debt was connected to his love of fine wines as well as his valuable book collection. Everyone knows that Thomas Jefferson’s book connection became the basis for the Library of Congress, but he should also be given credit that his fascination with wine became a legacy that has been a powerful inspiration for the many growers and winemakers in the Commonwealth. While Thomas Jefferson was still alive, a Richmond, Virginia scientist, Dr. D.N. Norton, experimented with planting and combining grape seeds from native vines during the 1820’s and eventually Thomas Jefferson is known for his love of books, but his interest in viticulture was an important part in the development of the Virginia Wine Country. produced a very dark grape Virginia growing season. You have to wonder if ignored it, since it was not one of the fine named “Norton” after him, and is still a great it is a tragedy that Thomas Jefferson never knew European vinifera grapes he learned to treasure favorite with Virginia wine drinkers. One of about Dr. Norton’s experiments with the Norton during his European travels. We will never know its unique characteristics, besides having the grape. Would Jefferson would have found this the answer, but it is food for thought -- or perdarkest pigment of any wine, is that it is diseasevine the answer to his prayers? He might have haps, wine for thought. ★ resistant and does very well even in the humid

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REAL ESTATE Address

Georgetowner Real Estate

Sales Provided by

Washington Fine Properties. LLC

Style

Year Built

Listed Price

ClosePrice

Day on The Market

Close Date

1248 30TH ST NW

Federal

1799

$7,995,000

$7,600,000

179

2/14/2013

3304 N ST NW

Federal

1815

$3,780,000

$3,640,000

2/14/2013

1406 30TH ST NW

Federal

1954

$1,549,000

2/15/2013

2703 O ST NW

Traditional

1900

$1,250,000

$1,260,000

2/28/2013

3140 DUMBARTON ST NW

Federal

1900

$1,349,000

$1,250,000

2/28/2013

2907 DUMBARTON ST NW

Federal

1900

$1,139,000

$1,100,000

2/4/2013

2209 39TH ST NW

Traditional

1931

$920,000

2/25/2013

3303 WATER ST NW #B-7

Contemporary

2004

$790,000

2/1/2013

2113 37TH ST NW

Federal

1925

$788,000

2/7/2013

1528 26TH ST NW

Federal

1900

$619,000

2/15/2013

3225 GRACE ST NW #217

Contemporary

1981

$585,000

$577,000

2/28/2013

1045 31ST ST NW #11

Transitional

1980

$489,000

2/27/2013

2320 WISCONSIN AVE NW #410

Contemporary

1984

$375,000

$390,000

2/28/2013

2339 40TH PL NW ##305

Art Deco

1942

$339,000

2/8/2013

2320 WISCONSIN AVE NW #104

Transitional

1984

$329,000

$318,000

2/22/2013

2725 39TH ST NW #401

Contemporary

1959

$319,900

$309,000

2/6/2013

4114 DAVIS PL NW #210

Contemporary

1955

$299,900

2/26/2013

1657 31ST ST NW #310

Other

1910

$290,000

2/13/2013

3925 DAVIS PL NW #B-7

Contemporary

1940

$210,000

$210,500

2/11/2013

DISCOVER THE WESTCHESTER

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REAL ESTATE

Economic Numbers Continue to Impress

Featured Property:

1675 31st Street, NW Spectacular renovated detached east village Federal. This home features an expansive floor plan, exquisite architectural details, voluminous ceilings, hardwood floors throughout, a gourmet kitchen with top of the line appliances and attached breakfast room, two master suites, a lower level media room, an old world European wine cellar, a rear multi-tiered patio, a beautiful garden and attached garage.

BY BIL L STAR R EL S

he February employment numbers blew the doors off consensus numbers. In February, the economy produced 236,000 new non-farm payroll jobs. The consensus was around 165,000. So the new numbers were 71,000 higher then predicted. The unemployment rate fell from 7.9 percent to 7.7 percent. It was an excellent report. Interest rates after the release of the employment numbers hit the highest levels since May of 2012. Generally speaking good news on the economy means higher mortgage interest rates. Consumer spending continues to be strong. This is likely attributable to continued robust consumer spending. Many economists expected consumer spending to decline after the increase in payroll taxes in January, which resulted in a decline in take home pay. One theory is the wealth effect. Household wealth is at its highest level since the third quarter of 2007. This figure represents the difference between the value of household assets and liabilities. The record highs of the stock markets, which in the first full week of March were at its highest level ever helps contribute to the good feeling of the consumer. Household income has held up surprisingly well in recent months. House prices are strong. Housing inven-

$4,875,000 Washington Fine Properties Nancy Taylor Bubes 202-256-2164

tory is at very low levels. With demand rising and inventory at low levels, prices are increasing. Merrill Lynch increased its prediction for home appreciation. The new prediction is for single-family houses to appreciate by 8 percent in 2013. Prices were up 7.3 percent nationally in 2012. The housing affordability index is excellent. Mortgage interest rates are at low levels and house prices are still attractive. Both are off of their historic lows. The Federal Reserve Board of Governors has repeatedly stated that they will not stop their current foundation of low rates until the unemployment rate reaches 6.5 percent. No matter how pretty the February numbers were, the distance between an unemployment rate of 7.7 percent and 6.5 percent is a long one. There will be more fluctuations in the economy in the near term. Mortgage rates will likely stay in a relatively narrow range in the near term. Rates have bounced higher off of the recent historically low levels. Economists warn that sequestration may temper economic progress starting in the next couple of months. One strong employment report is good. Economists are anxious to see if the accelerated employment can be sustained in the next couple of months.★

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5230 Partridge Ln NW  $2,495,000 A Home for a Lifetime5 BR4.5 BA Quiet Cul-de-SacGarage Parking

3308 Woodley Rd NW  $2,995 ,000 Fabulous Renovation6BR5.5 BA “L” Shaped Kitchen4 Car ParkingPool

2900 K St NW Penthouse #603  $4,100,000 Total of 7,384 Sqft4,888 Sqft Indoor2,496 Sqft Terrace 4 BR + Den  4 BA2 Levels

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3207 Grace St NW $6,000/month Commercial RentalPrime Waterfront Location  Approximately 1400 Sqft

3251 Prospect St NW #302  $1,100,000 The Madelon1500 Sqft2 BR2 BA 2 LevelsParking Available

2501 Wisconsin Ave NW #4  $829,000 1550 Sqft2 BR + Den2 BATerrace Unit Private Elevator2 Car Parking

3325 N St NW  $2,895,000 Stunning Christian Zapatka Complete Renovation 4 Story, Legal Rental Unit

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REAL ESTATE Sotheby’s New York Special: March 2013 Asia Week

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LongandFoster.com When buying or selling a luxury home, only long & Foster brings you the poWer oF the Christie’s international real estate netWork BY AR I POS T

Auction Date: March 19 - 21 Sotheby’s Asia Week sales include wide and diverse collections of art and artifacts from beyond the Western canon, including a sale of Indian and Southeast Asian art (March 20), fine Chinese ceramics and works of art (March 19 – 20), fine classical Chinese paintings (March 21), and an estate sale of modern and contemporary Indian Art from the Amaya Collection (March 19). The Amaya Collection is the first single-owner sale of contemporary Indian art to be held at Sotheby’s in over a decade. Consigned by esteemed collector and author, Amrita Jhaveri, the collection comprises important Indian art produced in the second half of the 20th century through to the early 21st, and offers some of the finest examples from the oeuvres of key artists, including important works by Modernist masters S.H. Raza and Tyeb Mehta, whose untitled figure painting leads the auction and is estimated at $800,000 to $1.2 million. www.Sothebys.com

Sloans and Kenyon Gustav Trois (1917-2000) Right: Old C&O Canal, Georgetown

Auction Date: April 20 - 21 More than 1,000 lots of American and European furniture, decorative arts, paintings, sculpture, jewelry, rugs, Asian ceramics, ethnographica and antiques will be offered in Sloans and Kenyon’s April Estate Catalogue Auction, which includes property from the estates of Jane Cramer Nairn and John and Mary Anne Kirlin. The auction features over 30 works by Gustav Trois, the prolific Washington-based painter from the early 20th century, directly from the artist’s estate. Born in France, Trois captured D.C. through a uniquely filtered lens, and through his eyes and brush the streets of Georgetown and the C&O Canal look more like street scenes of 19th century France than the United States’ capital city. The Estate Catalogue Auction will proceed a week long exhibition from April 13 – 19 at Sloans & Kenyon’s gallery, located at 7034 Wisconsin Avenue, in Chevy Chase. www.SloansAndKenyon.com

Weschler’s Sam Gilliam (American, b. 1933) Upper Right: Oil on canvas

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Auction Date: March 22 Estimate $15,000-20,000 Weschler’s Capital Collection Estate Auction will feature a wide selection of furnishings, decorations, jewelry and fine art from various local estates and private collections, with a collection exhibition beginning Saturday, March 16, at Weschler’s downtown D.C. gallery. The auction boasts a selection of over 100 paintings, drawings and prints, including an ethereal nude drawing by Russian artist Vasily Sitnikov, Nude of Martha Wayman, a double-sided work expected to fetch between $30,000 and $50,000. Washington, D.C. artist Sam Gilliam’s “Upper Red” is another auction gem, a seminal work from the artist’s oeuvre. A sizable collection of 19th and 20th century bronzes are also in the sale, presenting a cast of both historical and mythical figures, and include works by Marius-Jean-Antonin Mercie (French 1845 – 1942) and Emmanuel Frémiet (French 1824 – 1910). www.Weschlers.com

Doyle New York Below: 18-karat Gold tray and Set of 18-karat Gold Cordial Cups From the Estate of Consuelo Vanderbilt Earl

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March 13, 2013 GMG, INC.

Auction Date: April 15 Estimate (combined): $165,000 – $235,000 Doyle New York will auction important jewelry, timepieces and objets de vertu from the estate of Consuelo Vanderbilt Earl (1903-2011), niece of Consuelo Vanderbilt, Duchess of Marlborough. One of the highlights of the auction is a rare artifact from the Alva, the 1931 yacht commissioned by her father, William K. Vanderbilt, Jr., one of the five largest yachts in the world at the time of its construction: an 18-karat gold cocktail tray, with twelve accompanying 18-karat gold cordial glasses by Tiffany & Co., each engraved “Alva 1931.” The glasses are additionally engraved “Ara 1924,” for the year Vanderbilt’s previous yacht, the Ara, was launched. Designed by Cox & Stevens and launched in 1931, the 265-foot yacht Alva set a new standard for luxury. Its maiden voyage circumnavigating the globe was documented in the film, “Over the Seven Seas,” narrated by William K. Vanderbilt, Jr. Other property from the estate of Consuelo Vanderbilt Earl comprises important timepieces and jewelry dating primarily to the 1920s and 30s. Highlighting the collection is a rare Cartier rock crystal and diamond “Mystery” clock, circa 1928. www.DoyleNewYork.com

REAL ESTATE

Le Décor Middle Kingdom Porcelain: Born in Georgetown BY NIC O DODD

lison Alten Jia was home for a snow day on Wednesday, March 6. While the precipitation outside was quickly turning into the “rainquester,” she and her three children were inside. Her husband, Bo Jia, was far away, hard at work at their kiln in Jing De Zhen, China. Alison Alten Jia and Bo Jia are the founders of Middle Kingdom, designers, manufacturers and importers of handmade Chinese porcelain. Since being officially founded in 1998, the company’s colorful pots, bowls and vases have become popular among decorators and house ware dealers across the country. With a vertically integrated company that spans two continents, Middle Kingdom fits just fine in Georgetown where it was founded. Alison Alten Jia and Bo Jia met in China in 1987 and moved to a house on 35th Street in Georgetown at the end of 1993. After having three children and officially starting Middle Kingdom in 1998, the family moved to a larger home on P Street, east of Wisconsin Avenue. The row house was formerly divided into apartments. The Jias have worked hard to turn it into a peaceful home and a beautiful one, too. The house is filled with antiques has been featured on twice on the Georgetown House Tour. Middle Kingdom’s products are made in Jing De Zhen, as Alison Alten Jia calls it, “a small town with about 500,000 people” in southeastern China that is known worldwide for its

porcelain. The city “really is a Mecca for people involved with ceramics,” said Alison Alten Jia. Bo Jia makes a few trips a year to Middle Kingdom’s kiln there. Right now, he is there working to source Middle Kingdom’s blue and white porcelain. Although Middle Kingdom porcelain is popular among interior decorators, the Jias are not trying to move fashion-forward with their designs. “We’re not out there chasing trends,” said Alten Jia, who hopes that with time, they have been “refining our own ideas.” In addition to their own designs, Middle Kingdom has also collaborated with artists to create different pieces. Foekje Fluer van Duin, a Dutch artist, designed vases out after plastic containers she found on the street. The company also makes pottery for Cultivated Gardens and are beginning to sell original source pieces from China and printed silk. Alison Alten Jia is a member of the Georgetown Garden Club and has worked with the Georgetown Garden Tour in the past. She likes to support conservation and greening efforts in the neighborhood. “We grew up in Georgetown, and so did our business.”★ Items are available through Bernhardt & Read 202 841 1924. Prices start at $35.

GMG, INC. March 13, 2013

Life & Times In Real Estate

Wes Foster BY ROBERT DEVANEY AND NICO DODD

nce upon a time in America, a boy left Georgia to become a Virginia Military Institute cadet, then a soldier, and later an aluminum siding salesman. He turned to selling real estate in Washington’s booming suburbs in the 1960s and now commands the largest privately owned residential real estate company in the United States. The story of P. Wesley Foster, Jr., is the story of 20th-century American success. Foster is the chairman and CEO of Long & Foster Companies, headquartered in Chantilly, Va. His easy manner tells a tale of an American life we hope can still happen today. Georgetowner editors got a chance to sit down with the real estate legend. As his executive assistant offered us coffee, Foster greeted us in his modest—at least by Donald Trump’s standards—office. The space immediately telegraphs his main loves -- real estate, VMI, America, football, art, his family and especially his wife, Betty. Feeling casual with Foster’s disarming charm, one of us flippantly began, referring to Long & Foster. “I know all about you guys.” Foster shot back, “I doubt it.” No doubt, Foster has built a real estate and financial services empire step-by-step, agent-by-agent and office-by-office for longer than four decades. Who has not seen a Long & Foster sign somewhere

March 13, 2013 GMG, INC.

during a daily drive? Such effort to build the top independent real estate company in America is not for the faint of heart, short of time or low of aim. These days, however, Foster can take it a little easier: “I get up around 7 a.m. and read the paper,” he said. He doesn’t arrive at the office until just before 9 a.m. Foster and his wife—a sculptor who taught at the Corcoran and was on its board—moved to a townhouse in Old Town, Alexandria, after spending 32 years in their McLean, Va., home with almost four acres. “I go for a walk with my wife when the weather is good in the afternoons,” he continued. “So, I leave the office around 3:30 or 4 p.m. … I’ll be 80 in November. I don’t work as hard as I used to.” Fair enough. He deserves that, although he still visits the branch offices and sales meetings as often as he can. In Foster’s early years, the opposite surely was the case. His long hours involved a six-day work week. It’s this sort of discipline that Foster needed to build his company, but he has had some vices along the way. The first of which has been a sweet tooth. He manages his love for chocolate, and even turned to candy while he quit smoking when he was 30. “I was dating my wife and carried around a little bag of chewing gum and lifesavers,” he said.

As to the impact of the recent economic recession on the housing industry, Foster is clear. “We went through about five years of challenges in the market. Our production went down from 2005 to – I don’t know where the low point was, 2008 or 2009 . . . and now we are fortunate to see growth once again. As tough as it was to do, we continued investing in our company and our people. That’s what makes us so optimistic going forward.” Not that Long & Foster itself was immune from such miscalculations. Its huge Chantilly headquarters building is an unexpectedly imposing Williamsburg-style building that has a similarly styled garage with more than 1,000 parking spaces, which Foster has dubbed “the best-looking parking garage in Washington.” He is pleased that the company has just negotiated a lease for 50,000 square feet and looks forward to welcoming new tenants to the building. “It’s a beautiful building and we are quite proud of it,” he said. “I think our headquarters represents the stability and confidence of our company and our agents.” Still, the economy appears in recovery—with the stock market hitting an all-time high and unemployment numbers lowering March 8—but Foster remains cautious: “I’m not sure that it’s going to be that great [a recovery] because the Federal government has to get its house in order. The good news is that our company is well positioned to succeed in any scenario. I learned early on that if we lead our team to focus on the basics – really taking great care of every single client, one transaction at a time – then together as a team, we can weather any kind of market and emerge even stronger.” Regarding the economy, Foster added: “We still have some work to do.” And as far as a true recovery in real estate? “We are working our way through and are beginning to see a real shift in the market.” For Foster, such an approach illuminates his life. At VMI, he was on the football team. “My playing wasn’t that great,” he said. “But I played, played all four years. I was a slow, small guard.” Working his way through, even then. Foster has never truly left his beloved VMI. “I’m on the board there,” he said. “I go down there three or four times a year …” In 2006, VMI’s football stadium complex was dedicated as the P. Wesley Foster, Jr., Stadium. So, what brought Foster to Washington, D.C., and specifically, its suburbs? “When I graduated from VMI, I took a job,” Foster said. “I didn’t go directly into the military. You could take a year off and work in those days. So, I delayed my military duty for one year, and worked for Kaiser Aluminum. They put me in the Chicago office. When I got there I hated it. I mean, it was a place a little southern boy didn’t want to go to. But, by the time I left the next spring, I nearly left with tears in my eyes. I had a great time.” Foster served his military duty as many young American men do and served for two years in West

Long & Foster’s headquarters in Chantilly, Va.

Germany. He was in the 8th Infantry Division— “Pathfinder”—and served as a special weapons liaison officer to the German III Corps. (Begun in World War I, this army division was inactivated in 1992.) When his time was up, Foster said he toured Europe, thus igniting his love of travel. “They’d let you get out of the army over there and for up to a year, they would send your car and you home for free,” Foster recalled with a smile. “You could get out and travel if you wanted to. . . . Well, I got out, and a buddy and I … drove my Volkswagen to Moscow. The United States had an American exhibition that year and [Vice President Richard] Nixon was over there speaking. Got tears in my eyes watching him speak.” (This was the famous “kitchen debate” between Nixon and Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev in July 1959.) Soon enough, our American GI returned home, with no money to his name. Foster got his old job back at Kaiser Aluminum and sold aluminum building products to homebuilders in 15 cities across the United States. Foster ran the program for a year. “Boy, did I get tired of that. I’d get up in the morning and have to think for a while about which city I was in that day.” Nevertheless, one thing does lead to another. “All the guys I had been working with at Kaiser Aluminum got interested in the real estate business because we were working with builders, and I thought I’d become a builder,” he said. This English major seemed still to be undecided on his career path. “I thought about law school,” Foster said. “My two brothers were lawyers, and had I never made it in real estate. . . . I would have probably gone onto law school and become a mediocre lawyer.” So, why think that way and why the success in real estate? We asked. “The guys that really tear it up are very bright. … I think I have a knack for this [real estate] business and see things that other people don’t see. In college, I graduated in the middle of my class. I may not have graduated at the top of my class, but I think I was the most persistent and worked the hardest – that’s what, after all of these years, has driven the growth and success of Long & Foster.” Foster admitted that he sees “opportunities that other people don’t pick up,” and said a large part of his success was due to the “companies we acquire, and the people we hire and team up with. We choose to associate with people that share our values – teamwork, integrity and a drive for results. A team like this can be magical.”

Before that powerful recognition was a beginning: “I happened to meet a young fellow by the name of Minchew, who was also from Georgia and was a good builder here in Northern Virginia,” Foster recalled. “I went to work for him selling his homes. Worked for him for three years.” Foster lived in Annandale, “sold a lot of new houses . . . and met my wife here,” he said. “I had a roommate at VMI who was a Navy SEAL doctor and had come to Washington to do his deep sea diving training, if you can believe it, at Andrews Air Force Base,” Foster said. “He went skiing one weekend and rode up the ski lift with a pretty girl who became my wife. He introduced me to her and said, ‘Man, I’m leaving town, call her.’ ” From Connecticut, Foster’s future wife moved to Virginia to be near her brother, an Episcopal priest. “We raised our family right here in Virginia,” Foster said. He is a father to three, and now a grandfather to six, ranging in age from teenagers to a four-year-old, all boys, and all of whom he takes delight, especially the youngest. Today, of course, some of the family is involved in the business: son Paul Foster looks after offices in Montgomery County and D.C.; son-in-law Terry Spahr runs the New Jersey and Delaware offices; and nephew Boomer (Larry) Foster oversees offices in Northern Virginia and West Virginia. “Even as a large company, it’s important that we remain a family company. That way, our commitment to our agents and their success is unwavering,” Foster said. Before all these company positions were possible, Foster had to meet Long. While working in Annandale on a new development, called “Camelot,” a name which Foster still dislikes to this day, he met Henry Long, an Air Force bomber pilot. The two worked together in a firm and then decided to start their own. And what of those goodlooking homes in “Camelot”? They sold very well despite that name. “We both went to military schools,” he said of Long. “He went to VPI [Virginia Tech]. I’d gone to VMI. He had flown B-47s. I shot rockets. He was commercial, and I was residential. We’d start a company, and we flipped a coin. He won and got his name first. I got to be president. We took off. We were partners for 11 years until 1979. Merrill Lynch came along and wanted to buy us, and he wanted to sell and basically do what he was doing and that was being a developer. So, I bought him out of the company.” Foster has been asked the question again and again. We asked again, too, if he would sell the

company. He folded his arms, leaned back and said: “I don’t want to sell . . . We have brought together some of the best business minds from inside and outside real estate to take our firm to the next level, and that gives us a solid succession plan as a family-owned company. Not many firms like ours can say that.” “Family members play an instrumental role in the company,” Foster said. “I’ll be a large part of this as long as I can, but my three children own practically all of the company now. So, that’s all set. They will keep the family company spirit and leverage our management team to make sure we are on the right path.” Things may be set internally, but elsewhere, competition remains for Long & Foster. In one of the nation’s hottest residential markets, that’s a given. “Good competitors drive us to better ourselves every single day,” Foster said. “It’s a great incentive to stay on top of your game and advance your business.” “For example, luxury real estate, particularly in the D.C. area, is huge. Everyone out there today is vying for luxury business – and while we do sell more million-dollar-plus homes than anyone, our competitors keep us on our toes. That’s why we leverage our affiliation with Christie’s International Real Estate for our agents and their clients. The Christie’s brand really matters – it’s immediately recognizable as ‘high end,’ and it gets us in front of the most exclusive buyers and sellers from around the globe. Only our agents can market with the Christie’s brand.” Indeed, the biggest D.C. sale in 2011—the Evermay estate in Georgetown – was sold by Long & Foster. How do you deal with all the egos? We asked. “The best you can,” Foster wryly replied. “We give them all of the tools and the backing of a great brand – and they do what they do best – work with buyers and sellers.” “I will tell you this,” he said. “What we look for, especially in managers, is good empathy and a drive for results. When we achieve this, it is a winning combination for our company, and most importantly, for our agents and their clients. That is the key.” From start to finish, Foster can easily detect that. “I grew up fairly poor and went to college on a scholarship, and my brothers also went to college on scholarships,” he said. “We’ve had a fair amount of drive. Two were lawyers and one is a developer now in Atlanta. I am truly humbled by the success of the company and my team. It is an honor that so many clients put their trust in Long & Foster and our team of agents.” ★

AT A GLANCE: Long & Foster is the largest independent residential real estate company in the United States. Long & Foster represents more than 10,000 agents at approximately 170 offices across seven Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern states, plus the District of Columbia. For 2012, Long & Foster’s sales volume exceeded $24.8 billion and with more than 74,000 transactions; this is up from $22 billion and 69,000 transactions in 2011. 2012 marked a year of significant growth for Long & Foster, seeing an increase in volume of 14 percent and a 9-percent increase in unit sales. While Long & Foster was founded as a real estate company, today its family of companies offers everything customers need as it relates to buying selling, or owning real estate – including mortgage, insurance, settlement, property management and corporate relocation services. Long & Foster Companies’ combined sales volume and equivalents for 2012 were $48.7 billion, a $6-billion increase from 2011 figures.

GMG, INC. March 13, 2013

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Rhett Architects, Building on the Beauty of Virginia ARI POST

ohn Rhett moved from Houston, Texas, to Charlottesville, Va., in 1981. He had a double degree in architecture and fine arts from Rice University and, having worked in the world of corporate architecture, was searching for a back-to-basics approach to his life and work. Fate, however, was playing a larger role in his relocation to Charlottesville than he could ever have realized. Rhett had already studied solar architecture in New Mexico in the 1970s, and had constructed some major projects with the surrounding Pueblo community. These projects combined elements of contemporary architectural innovation with ancient cultural building techniques, creating sustainable adobe structures that became a part of the land they were built upon. Shortly after moving to Charlottesville, Rhett started working for one of the city’s only modern architectural firms. Creating modern structures amidst Charlottesville’s lush forests and rolling, fertile landscapes, he found a synthesis between nature and structure that suited his contemporary architectural ideals and deep-rooted pursuits. It was here that Rhett saw a foundation for what would become his life’s work. He began working for the renowned garden designer François Goffinet, who taught him a multidisciplinary approach of incorporating architecture into natural environments. “Goffinet would work with a team of architects, botanists, carpenters, and even historians of garden design,” says Rhett. “And his projects—parks,

gardens, houses and corporate campuses—have such a harmony that resulted from this orchestration of disciplines. His spaces are like musical compositions of physical structures.” Rhett began working on projects around the world, from Portugal, Oxfordshire, Bel Air and Carmel, to the San Juan Islands just north of Seattle. Each structure, he came to understand, was inextricably linked to its surrounding environment. “It occurred to me,” he says, “that whether you are building adobe pueblos or Georgian mansions, the incorporation of the surrounding landscape and harmony with the character of the environment are core values that I had been unconsciously pursuing since day one.” Meanwhile, Rhett had fallen in love with the character and environment of Charlottesville. “Between the history, the beauty, the innovation, and the shear lifestyle, there was something timeless about this place that drew me in and didn’t let me go. I think Thomas Jefferson got it right when he chose Charlottesville as the place to build his home at legacies.” Jefferson became a strong influence on Rhett and his work, for Jefferson shared with him a fierce love for the land as well as notions on the historical responsibilities of architecture. Upon writing to the politician George Gilmer in 1787, Jefferson remarked: “I am as happy no where else and in no other society, and all my wishes end, where I hope my days will end, at Monticello.”

Rhett brings this philosophy into his work, designing and building country houses that are part of the land they are built upon, and drawing upon its surroundings to shape the gardens and parks he creates to suit them. “I’ve always loved natural surroundings. So, landscape design is a perfect and natural companion to the architecture.” Building homes also allows Rhett to work with individuals to help others realize their dreams. Much of the satisfaction, he explains, comes from turning a shared vision into a reality. “I want to give my clients the tools to create the home they can only imagine, to take something from theory into reality. In the process, we both discover things. I had one client who at first did

not have any confidence in her choices. And while we worked together, she had a real growth experience designing her house, and became rightfully confident in her own decisions. It turned out beautifully.” Rhett Architects has been operating since 1995, and Rhett’s firm has managed more than 300 projects, focused primarily on residential and landscape work in the Piedmont region. “I design homes and landscapes,” says Rhett, “but I spent quite a while working in construction management, and I enjoy working with the entire project team, from contractors to clients, to bring projects to fruition.” Among his more public works, Rhett has remodeled several areas inside University of

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IN COUNTRY shifted around until it all feels right. I want to work for clients to design their house. I don’t want them to come to me to get a house that they’ve seen somewhere else. I want someone interested in building their house in a particular place, and I’ll help them with it. When you take on a client, you’re really taking on a relationship. But that’s how the best houses get done. To make magic there has got to be a spark between all parties. I want to help people realize their own vision for their home.

Virginia’s School of Law, and restored Staunton, Va.’s oldest public schoolhouse. As diverse and unique as his projects are, there is at least one common thread that strings Rhett’s work together. “I like to make places that are alive, that vibrate,” he says. “I use all the tools possible, from proportions, to color and light, to make any space I design the most balanced and beautiful it can be.”

A Conversation With John Rhett

GT: That must yield some unique results.

From the genius of Thomas Jefferson and sustainable energy, to Finnish modernism and ranching in Jackson Hole, Wyo., the Georgetowner sat down with architect John Rhett to discuss his influences, inspirations, and what makes a house worth living in. Georgetowner: How did you get into the field of landscape-influenced and countryside residential architecture?

things, technically, philosophically, historically and artistically. It demands a lot, and I’ve always loved that. It seems natural that landscapes and environmental awareness play an equally integral part in the process. Nature is a good place for an architect to be.

John Rhett: I’ve always loved landscapes, and it became clear that this was a perfect area for me to be working in architecturally. A country house is part of a landscape, confluent with the surrounding gardens, vistas, and topography. Those GT: What is it like working with a client and are the ideas that interested me from the begin- bringing them into your design process? ning. I was lucky enough to take a landscape architecture course with Carlisle Becker when JR: I always start with the client. That’s why I I was at Rice University. He really emphasized have so many different styles of projects in my looking at landscape from a critical point of portfolio. I don’t design the same house over and view, which opened the doors to many concepts over again. I want to learn what the client wants embodied in nature. and find the best thing for them. The process T & T_Georgetowner_03_Layout 1 3/1/13 11:58 AM Page 1 Architecture is one of those fields where really begins with asking and listening. you have to know a lot about a lot of different When the client and I visit the property

before the house is built, we are foremost looking for a site for the house. I like to think that there are different forces out there, and when you walk around a piece of property, you’ll find a special spot, like a tuning fork, and everything starts to syncronize. You find that on most properties there is a perfect spot. Sometimes it is a certain view it offers, but even something as simple and elegant as an old tree can influence where you put a house. It’s often tied into where the clients come from—some family history about what they love in houses. Some people might want a glass house spanning across a river, others want one on top of a hill. So I balance it out with each property. It is a conversation with clients, the landscape, and ideas of architecture we all have, and it gets

JR: Absolutely. I have one client who is renovating an old barn to be quite modern; it has all these beautiful horizontal lines, an open floor plan and beautiful materials. Another client is building a federal style home near the University of Virginia campus—very traditional, beautiful moldings—the proportion of the rooms is important to him. I’ve got it both ways, which is a wonderful thing. But what my clients all really appreciate is an attention to materials and the way that they are put together. Even with different styles of architecture, when things are done correctly and put together beautifully, that success. GT: Do you seen any trends in what clients today looking for in country homes? JR: I think that trends these days are toward a sustainable philosophy about how to live on the land. A lot of people are more interested in energy efficient, solar design, and connecting to a relaxed way of life. They want meadows and

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low maintenance, native plantings around them, which is really interesting. GT: Charlottesville is a great place for this type of lifestyle. JR: It’s the best. It is either a small city or a large town—it can’t seem to make up its mind, and it’s all the better for it. There have always been interesting people and interesting projects here. In Charlottesville, you can have this nice country life, surrounded by gardens and wildlife, and then go into town and see a show. The richness of the land is such a draw—Thomas Jefferson recognized it 200 years ago, when he described it as the Eden of America.

of rigor of thought and belief in architecture sustains me, even when I’m sitting there working with a developer to maximize his parking spaces. If you think about Monticello, his estate here in Charlottesville, on one side is a man-made garden, and on the other side is a house that thrusts out into a landscape of raw nature. Jefferson made art out of the ordinary. Somebody thinking along those lines is a kindred spirit. GT: Who else has influenced your architectural work?

JR: The list is long. Alvar Aalto was a Finnish modernist who created a modern architecture that connects to nature. Frank Lloyd Wright, I GT: Has Thomas Jefferson had an influence on loved his attitude towards the land, how architecture needs to build out of it. He had a great you since you came to Charlottesville? sense of proportion that I often turn back to. But JR: Jefferson has had a huge influence on the real reason I got into architecture was my me. He believed that architecture embodies the uncle, who was a building designer in Jackson whole of creation. When he was proportioning Hole, Wyo., when I was growing up. I thought, columns, he would take his calculations to the Wow! I’ll become an architect and live on a fourth decimal point, which says to me that ranch in Jackson Hole! It didn’t quite work out that way, but I’m not he believed proportions are sacred—if it is off by Goodstone one thousandth, then it is wrong. That sort complaining.★ - Georget. Feb. 13th ad_Layout 1 2/2/13 4:52 PM Page 1

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FOOD & WINE

Cocktail of the Month: Ernest Hemingway’s Favorites

BY JODY K URA S H side from being a literary genius, Ernest Hemingway is also known for his legendary drinking habits. Evidence of his fondness for the bottle can be found throughout the world. In Havana, the El Floridita erected a statue of Hemingway at the bar where he consumed his favorite papa doble Daiquiris. The author loved the bar at the Paris Ritz so much that when they renovated it in the 1990s, they named it after him. In Key West, visitors from across the globe flock to Sloppy Joe’s bar for the annual Hemingway look-alike contest, part of the island’s Hemingway Days celebration. Many of Hemingway’s favorite tipples make appearances in his written works. In “The Sun Also Rises,” the main character Jake Barnes drinks a Jack Rose in Paris while waiting for Lady Brett Ashley. In “A Farewell to Arms,” Hemingway describes martinis as “cool and clean” and in “Islands in the Stream,” he mentions two of original concoctions: the Green Isaac’s Special, named for the Isaac Islands in the Bahamas, and the papa doble Daiquiri. While much has been written about Hemingway, Phil Greene, a Washington resident and founding member of the Museum of the American Cocktail, has managed to capture another side of this prolific man. Greene’s book, “To Have and Have Another,” is a historical account and collection of drink recipes based on the writer’s life and work. Greene focuses on Hemingway’s peculiar drinking habits and written descriptions of food and drink. Greene, who discovered Hemingway in high school, says he “was drawn to him for his style of writing, the vivid and compelling way he described scenes, people, food and drink, so

much so that you could see, feel and taste what the characters were seeing, feeling, etc.” As far as his interest in cocktails, you could say he was born into it. Greene is a descendant of Antoine Peychaud, the New Orleans pharmacist who created Peychaud’s Bitters and is credited with inventing the Sazerac, which was declared the official cocktail of New Orleans by the Louisiana legislature in 2008. These two interests collided while Green was in his 20s. “I sought to learn more about beer, wine and cocktails, I naturally took notice when Hemingway wrote about them,” he says “When I encountered a drink I’d never seen or tasted before, the Jack Rose, absinthe, the Fine a l’Eau, Chambery Cassis, etc., I wanted to know what he/his characters were drinking. As a cocktail historian, it was a natural that I’d want to dig a little deeper here.” “And finally, all through my 20s and 30s Ernest Hemingway sits on the deck at the Finca Vigia, Cuba, 1940. Ernest Hemingway Collection/John F. Kennedy Presidential I wanted to write like Hemingway,” Greene Library and Museum, Boston. recounts, “ By the time I reached my 40s, I figraphies and letters. He traveled to Key West to GREEN ISAAC’S SPECIAL ured I might as well write about Hemingway.” Greene’s book is filled with interesting anec- interview Hemingway’s friends and children of -2 oz. Gin dotes about Hemingway’s preferred drinks. For friends and to Boston, where the Hemingway -4 oz. green coconut water example, he was not a fan of sweet drinks. “For Collection is housed within the JFK Presidential -1 oz. lime juice the Daiquiri,” Greene writes, “he didn’t want Library Even if you are not a Hemingway buff, this -4 drops Angostura Bitters sugar in his drinks (likely because he was dia-Fill highball glass with ice, add all ingredients, betic), so he called for just a touch of maraschino book is full of interesting tidbits that make it a stir, serve. Optional garnish, wedge of lime. liqueur in its place, and also added grapefruit delightful read. “I’d like to think there’s something for everyone,” Green says “biography, juice to the usual lime juice. Hemingway liked his martini ice cold. literature, drinks recipes, folklore, pop culture, To learn about upcoming events with Greene, Greene describes the way he “froze the glasses, great old photos and ads, you name it.” The book visit www.museumoftheamericancocktail.org made giant ice cubes at 20 degrees below zero is available at local stores including Politics & using metal tennis ball cans, he froze his cocktail Prose, Kramerbooks, Barnes & Noble, Salt & Sundry and Coco Blanca. ★ onions so they’d help keep the drink cold.” Most of Greene’s research was done by scouring through Hemingway’s writings, biog-

The Latest Dish BY LINDA ROT H CONT E

ith a new Georgetown hotel comes a new restaurant – with a familiar theme – steakhouse. The new luxury Capella Hotel on 31st Street in Georgetown will open the Grill Room, featuring hand-cut meats and seafood. They have hired Swedish chef Jakob Esko, to run the restaurant and its bar, also with its own name, the Rye Bar. The restaurant will be open for lunch as well as dinner. They plan to open it in April. And speaking of Georgetown, the Graham Georgetown, formerly the Hotel Monticello on Thomas Jefferson Street, which never had a restaurant, will open with two restaurants. The Alex, on the lower level, will offer breakfast and dinner. The rooftop Observatory will serve dinner and weekend brunch. April will be busy in Georgetown, as the Graham plans to be open at that time as well. Sanjeev Tuli quietly opened Malgudi, a southern Indian restaurant on Wisconsin Avenue in Glover Park, just below his flagship Heritage India. Their bread is made with rice. There are more vegetarian dishes. It’s spicy–but black Pepper spicy, and southern Indian drink a pungent coffee more than tea. Quick Hits: Finally, a Maryland location for Sweetgreen -- on Georgia Avenue where Living Ruff pet store used to be – and right near Discovery headquarters, so lunch time just got better. A summer opening is planned.

The rooftop Observatory at The Graham Georgetown will serve dinner and weekend brunch.

Near to Maryland but still in D.C. Soupergirl is expanding her operations – into the space next door. That means the kitchen can expand. Address remains the same -- 314 Carroll St., NW. Bryan Voltaggio’s Lunch Box will open at Chevy Chase Pavilion, joining his other more upscale restaurant, Range. A Q3 2013 opening is planned. Gourmet Pizza plans to open on 415 8th Street, SE, on Barracks Row offering

customized pizzas. No delivery service. A spring opening is planned. Chef Update: Chef Ravi Narayanan is the executive chef at Heritage Management’s new concept, Crossroads, at 1901 Pennsylvania Ave., NW. He will also oversee the menu at Heritage India, also opening at that location by the end of this month. Previously, Ravi served as executive chef of Relais Chateaux USA, and

worked at the luxury Hotel Oberoi in New Delhi. Jacob Hunter is the new executive chef at Matchbox in Merrifield, located in the Mosaic District. He played an integral role in the opening of matchbox Food Group’s Ted’s Bulletin and DC-3. Before matchbox, Jacob was executive chef at McCormick and Schmick’s. Bistro Vivant in McLean named Ed Hardy as chef de cuisine. Most recently he was chef de cuisine in NYC for Marcus Samuelsson’s American Table Bar & Café in Lincoln Center. Anthony Pilla formerly of Seventh Hill Pizza and Acqua al 2 is now at Urbana at Hotel Palomar Dupont Circle, taking over the pizza helm. Greg McCarty has been named executive chef of NoPa Kitchen + Bar, a part of Ashok Bajaj’s Knightsbridge restaurant empire. The American brasserie will be located at 800 F St., NW. McCarty worked for Jean Georges Vongerichten for six years and opened Nobu 57 in NYC. An April opening is planned. It’s a busy April. Linda Roth Conte is president of Linda Roth Associates, Inc. (LRA), specializing in making creative connections through media relations, marketing initiatives, community outreach and special events for the hospitality industry. Contact Linda at 703-417-2700 or linda@ lindarothpr.com or visit her web site at www. lindarothpr.com GMG, INC. March 13, 2013

FOOD & WINE

Let’s Do Lunch:

Range by Bryan Voltaggio BY N ICO DODD

or this issue’s lunch, we visited Range, Bryan Voltaggio’s latest, in the newly renovated Chevy Chase Pavilion. Under the pavilion’s large skylight, the restaurant is lit by a lot of natural light. We were interested in how the restaurant would look at night. The interior is decorated in palatial tans with modern opalescent soft leather seating and includes a sweet shop and a cookware shop. Diners have a full view of the kitchen, and bathrooms don’t disappoint. As for the food, our favorites were the soup, tagliatelle. Everything we ordered had lots of savory flavors. Our dessert was a fluffy combination of chocolate and caramel corn with caramel ice cream.

The contemporary, casual vibe of the restaurant gels well with the small-plate concept. Diners can choose a few items to share, or stick to a pre-fixe menu. This is no place to be stiff. You’ve got to loosen your tie, share the dish you ordered and try something your table-mate ordered. Music was curated towards modern indie rock, with tracks from Band of Horses, Bloc Party and the Pixies among those we heard during our meal. Accordingly, serving staff are uniformly dressed in Converse Chuck Taylors.★

Diners at Range have a clear view of the kitchen. Photo by Nico Dodd.

Range is located at 5335 Wisconsin Ave., NW, Washington, D.C. 20015. Make a reservation at www.voltrange.com

Above: This unique sign is displayed only when light creates its shadow against a wall. Below: Our small plate feast. Photos by Nico Dodd

This delicious dessert featured chocolate crisp and caramel ice cream, topped off with caramel corn. Photo by Nico Dodd.

A Taste of Puglia Al Dente Restaurant in Bethesda, Md, hosted “A Taste of Puglia.” The dinner was an authentic Pugliese dinner, with homemade ingredients shipped fresh directly from Ceglie Messapica, Puglia, Silvestro’s home town. The event was in celebration to launch trips to Puglia, Italy, with Silvestro Conte, a native of the region. For more information, visit YourItalia.com.

Silvestro Conte and chef Roberto Donna Photo by Len DePas

March 13, 2013 GMG, INC.

Our bread basket came with a variety of tasty spreads. Photo by Nico Dodd.

1226 36th St. NW With the ambiance of an elegant country inn, 1789 features classically based American cuisine – the finest regional game, fish and produce available. Open seven nights a week. Jackets suggested. Complimentary valet parking. www.1789restaurant.com

BANGKOK JOE’S

3000 K St. NW (One block from Georgetown AMC Loews Georgetown 14) Georgetown introduces Washington’s first “Dumpling Bar” featuring more than 12 varieties. Come and enjoy the new exotic Thai cuisine inspired by French cooking techniques. Bangkok Joe’s is upscale, colorful and refined. Absolutely the perfect place for lunch or dinner or just a private gathering.

CHADWICKS

BISTROT LEPIC & WINE BAR

CAFE BONAPARTE

3124-28 M St. NW A friendly French Bistro in the heart of historic Georgetown since 1975. Executive chef and owner Gerard Cabrol came to Washington, D.C. 32 years ago, bringing with him home recipes from southwestern France. Our specialties include our famous Poulet Bistro (tarragon rotisserie chicken), Minute steak Maitre d’Hotel (steak and pomme frit¬es), Steak Tartare, freshly pre¬pared seafood, veal, lamb and duck dishes and the best Eggs Benedict in town. In addition to varying daily specials. www.bistrofrancaisdc.com

1736 Wisconsin Ave. NW Come and see for yourself why Bistrot Lepic, with its classical, regional and contemporary cuisine, has been voted best bistro in D.C. by the Zagat Guide. And now with its Wine bar, you can enjoy “appeteasers”, full bar service, complimentary wine tasting every Tuesday and a new Private Room. The regular menu is always available. Open everyday. Lunch & Dinner. Now Serving Brunch Saturday and Sunday 11-3pm Reservations suggested. www.bistrotlepic.com

1522 Wisconsin Ave. NW Captivating customers since 2003, Café Bonaparte has been dubbed the “quintessential” European café featuring award winning crepes & arguably the “best” coffee in D.C.! Other can’t miss attractions are, the famous weekend brunch every Sat. and Sun. until 3pm, our late-night weekend hours serving sweet and savory crepes until 1 a.m., Fri-Sat evenings and the alluring sounds of the Syssi & Marc jazz duo every other Wed. at 7:30pm. We look forward to calling you a “regular” soon! www.cafebonaparte.com

(202) 333-4422

(202) 338-3830

(202) 333-0111

(202) 333-8830

CIRCLE BISTRO

CLYDE’S OF GEORGETOWN

DAILY GRILL

FILOMENA RISTORANTE

www.bangkokjoes.com

(202) 965-1789

BISTRO FRANCAIS

3205 K St. NW A Georgetown tradition for over 40 years, this friendly neighborhood restaurant/saloon features fresh seafood, burgers, award-winning ribs and specialty salads & sandwiches. Daily lunch & dinner specials. Late night dining (until midnight Sun.-Thu., 1am Fri.-Sat.) Champagne brunch served Sat. & Sun. until 4pm Open Mon.-Thu. 11:30am - 2am Fri.Sat. 11:30am - 3am. Sun 11am.2am. Kids’ Menu Available. Overlooking the new Georgetown Waterfront Park ChadwicksRestaurants.com

One Washington Circle. NW Washington, DC 22037 Circle Bistro presents artful favorites that reflect our adventurous and sophisticated kitchen.

(202) 333-2565

(202) 293-5390

(202) 333-9180

MAI THAI

PEACOCK CAFE

SEA CATCH

Featuring Happy Hour weekdays from 5pm-7pm, live music every Saturday from 8pm-12 midnight, and an a la carte Sunday Brunch from 11:30am-2:30pm.

3236 M St. NW This animated tavern, in the heart of Georgetown, popularized saloon food and practically invented Sunday brunch. Clyde’s is the People’s Choice for bacon cheeseburgers, steaks, fresh seafood, grilled chicken salads, fresh pastas and desserts. www.clydes.com

Open dailyfor breakfast, lunch and dinner.

1310 Wisconsin Ave. NW Reminiscent of the classic American Grills, Daily Grill is best known for its large portions of fresh seasonal fare including Steaks & Chops, Cobb Salad, Meatloaf and Warm Berry Cobbler. Open for Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner.Visit our other locations at 18th & M Sts NW and Tysons Corner. www.dailygrill.com

www.circlebistro.com

3251 Prospect St. NW Authentic Thai food in the heart of Georgetown. The warm atmosphere, attentive service, and variety of wines and cocktails in this contemporary establishment only add to the rich culture and authentic cuisine inspired by Thailand. With an array of authentic dishes, from Lahb Gai (spicy chicken salad) and Pad Thai, to contemporary dishes like Panang soft shell crab and papaya salad, the dynamic menu and spectacular drinks will have you coming back time and time again. HAPPY HOUR 3:30PM - 6PM www.maithai.com

3251 Prospect St. NW Established in 1991, Peacock Cafe is a tradition in Georgetown life. The tremendous popularity of The Peacock Happy Day Brunch in Washington, D.C. is legendary. The breakfast and brunch selections offer wonderful variety and there is a new selection of fresh, spectacular desserts everyday. The Peacock Café in Georgetown, D.C. — a fabulous menu for the entire family. Monday - Thursday: 11:30am - 10:30pm Friday: 11:30am - 12:00am Saturday: 9:00am - 12:00am Sunday: 9:00am - 10:30pm

1054 31st St. NW Serving the community for 25 years 1 ¼ pound lobsters $18.95 Grilled fish specials staring at $20.00 Lunch Monday – Saturday 11:00am – 3:00pm Dinner 5:30pm – 10:00pm

(202) 337-1010

(202) 625-2740

(202) 337-8855

Complimentary Parking www.seacatchrestaurant.com

1063 Wisconsin Ave., NW Filomena is a Georgetown landmark that has endured the test of time and is now celebrating 30 years. Our old-world cooking styles & recipes brought to America by the early Italian immigrants, alongside the culinary cutting edge creations of Italy’s foods of today, executed by our award winning Italian Chef. Try our spectacular Lunch buffet on Fri. & Saturdays or our Sunday Brunch, Open 7 days a week for lunch & dinner. www.filomena.com

(202) 337-4900

(202) 338-8800

SEQUOIA

THE OCEANAIRE

3000 K St. NW, Suite 100 Washington, DC 20007 Eclectic American cuisine, Coupled with enchanting views of the Potomac River make Sequoia a one of a kind dining experience. Offering a dynamic atmosphere featuring a mesquite wood fire grill, sensational drinks, and renowned River Bar. No matter the occasion, Sequoia will provide an unforgettable dining experience. www.arkrestaurants.com /sequoia_dc.html

1201 F St. NW Ranked one of the most popular seafood restaurants in D.C., “this cosmopolitan” send-up of a vintage supper club that’s styled after a ‘40’s-era ocean liner is appointed with cherry wood and red leather booths, infused with a “clubby, old money” atmosphere. The menu showcases “intelligently” prepared fish dishes that “recall an earlier time of elegant” dining. What’s more, “nothing” is snobbish here. Lunch: Mon-Fri 11:30am-5pm. Dinner: Mon-Thur 5-10pm, Fri & Sat 5-11pm, Sun 5-9pm. www.theoceanaire.com

(202) 944-4200

(202) 347-2277

Your Dining Guide to Washington DC’s Finest Restaurants

1789 RESTAURANT

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CLASSIFIEDS / SERVICE DIRECTORY FOR LEASE

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LUCAS CUSTOM TAILOR

I feed pets - Cats, fish, birds. References are available. 202-625-7310

Open Plan Call John Olson Lincoln Property Company 202-513-6700

FOR SALE FOR SALE Elegant Chinese Screen, hand painted on black lacquer; mid 1800’s; width = 60”, height 101”; $1200

TUTOR/ LESSONS WYNFORD LYDDANE PIANO STUDIOS

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Victorian Tea Chair, early 1900’s; antique silk fabric; total width 39; height 33”, depth 29”; $300 Chinese Chest, from the late 1700’s, Black Lacquer; width 24.5”, depth 12”, height 35”; $2000

FRENCH, SPANISH INSTRUCTION

Japanese print; unknown date; old men playing chess,

call 202-290-5835 or sconte@attglobal.net

Planning a trip to Paris? Madrid? Latin America? Pick Genevieve! French native. MA, PhD Romantic Languages, MS Spanish & Linguistics. Private sessions to suit your needs. Evening, weekend sessions available. Call 202-333-2666

HOME IMPROVEMENT

GUITAR LESSONS

framed, 20” x 16”; $100

CHARO’S CLEANING SERVICE We offer professional & personalized cleaning services for homes in the Georgetown area. We also offer free estimates! Call 301-529-6152 or email leidycarrasquillo13@yahoo.com

DC MOULDINGS. Interior trim. Crowns, casings, pilasters, Built-ins, bookshelves, and fireplace mantels. 202.269.3517

JOB OPPORTUNITIES

Georgetown Media Group is the publisher of The Georgetowner and The Downtowner. We are a bi-weekly tabloid in D.C., Northern Virginia and Maryland. The following are opportunities that suit a career minded individual who is seeking exposure to the world of media.

MEDIA SALES GMG seeks an experienced sales professional to sell B2B print, web and social advertising. A qualified candidate has experience generating revenue, meeting deadlines and building partnerships with clients to bring the highest quality of service that we’re known for. Work from home with regularly scheduled staff meetings and office support; ideal for self motivated individuals. Send resume, three references and cover letter outlining why you fit the bill. E-mail Info@Georgetowner.com or call (202) 338-4833. 24

TUTOR/ LESSONS

March 13, 2013 GMG, INC.

234-1837 Enjoy your guitar. Play a song or begin improvising at your first lesson. Experienced teacher with parking at NW DC studio near metro.

STRESSING THE SAT? The October test is just 3 months away! Prepare for the verbal section with an ivy-league educated tutor: www.evelyntutoring.com

TUTORING/TEST PREPARATION Is your child anxious or worried about a standardized test or difficult subject in school he or she will have to take this fall? Odyssey Tutors provides elite, one-on-one in-home tutoring for students in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. We are committed to delivering superior educational outcomes and steadfast in our belief that tutoring has the power to radically transform the academic trajectory of a student. Please e-mail us at nday@odysseytutors.com to learn more.

FRENCH LANGUAGE TEACHER Beginners to advance level classes, and conversation classes. Enthusiastic, very patient. Flexible. 15 Years of teaching experience, Washington dc. Contact : (cell) 202 270 20 98 , e-mail at getfrench@gmail.com.

PATIENT PIANO TEACHER, Experienced at helping beginning or returning students play for pleasure. Traditional and modern styles. Off-street parking near metro. (202) 234-1837

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TO PLACE AN AD IN CLASSIFIED OR SERVICE DIRECTORY PLEASE EMAIL CLASSIFIEDS@GEORGETOWNER.COM

BODY & SOUL

Murphy’s Love: Advice on Intimacy and Relationships BY STA CY NOTA RAS M U R P H Y DEAR STACY: I am really worried about my younger sister. She seems to move from relationship to relationship (more specifically, from guy to guy), with no end in sight. She once told me that she thought settling down like our parents would be a “death sentence.” But now, she’s about to turn 30. All of her friends are getting married and she says it’s getting lonely and that she’s depressed. But yet she takes no real steps toward being partnered in any way. What can I do to convince her that finding a partner is not like serving time in jail? I’m worried she’ll never have the joy of finding somebody to live with and build a life with. –Worried Big Sis DEAR BIG SIS, I have great/excellent/amazing/inspiring news for you. This is not your problem. The fact is, I’m not entirely sure it’s a problem at all, but regardless, you’re totally off the hook on this one. Take this advice for what it is: a clinical professional begging you to get off her back. Please be realistic here. If all of her friends are choosing to get married, it’s likely that Little Sis truly comprehends that there is some value in following suit. Her statements about jail sentences are a defense and, frankly, some of us need our defenses when all of our friends are

suddenly partnered and we’re left feeling like we’ve done something wrong. I do trust that your worry comes from a good place – the best place – I honestly do. But please tread lightly here. No matter how much empathy and goodwill you have in your heart, it’s very hard to make unsolicited advice not come across as anything other than criticism. If she’s directly asking for advice, and saying she is lonely and depressed, then help her. This

could mean helping her think through her relationships, helping her feel better about herself, or helping her find someone else to talk to – in no way does this mean that you “convince” her of anything. Taking that route will only make her feel like you don’t understand her (even though that actually may be true), which is going to make her feel even lonelier than she felt before.★

Stacy Notaras Murphy (www.stacymurphyLPC.com) is a licensed professional counselor and certified Imago Relationship therapist, practicing in Georgetown. This column is meant for entertainment only and should not be considered a substitute for professional counseling. Send your confidential question to stacy@georgetowner.com.

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ARTS

Irish Flautist James Galway Comes to the Kennedy Center BY GARY T IS CHL ER

ames Galway is a world traveler and a world citizen. He’s been all over and played and taught and talked about the flute in concert halls, schools, universities, and venues world-wide, but if you’re talking to him on the phone and if the name doesn’t give you a hint, you will recognize the lilt in the phone, that musical, growly accent, right away. Galway is Irish, Belfast born, and he’s a talker, a knight, often referred to in just about anything you might find on him in the great wide internet world of communication and information as “the living legend of the flute.” “Well, yeah, there’s that,” he says on the phone speaking from Dallas where he’s spending three days as part of his Legacy Tour, a musical tour and series of concerts, (often accompanied by his wife Lady Jeanne Galway, who is also a flautist of note), which mixes his vast repertoire of classical music with Celtic and Irish music, educational talk and master classes. He’s a knight, but he doesn’t stand or talk like he is. He doesn’t seem the kind of mind who needs a lot of patting on the back, or formalities. To be sure, the tour is about his own legacy as a flautist, which is to say, he and Jean Claude Rampal before him, have done an enormous amount to spread the gospel of the flute, which is often relegated to the kind of instrument commonplace in Irish households and played on porches by just about anybody. “It’s how I learned and came in contact with the flute, and fell in love with it, true,” he says, “but that’s not the whole story.” It’s entirely appropriate and filled with a little touch of serendipity that Sir Galway is doing one of his Legacy Tour concerts (with his wife Lady Jeanne Galway and pianist Michael McHale) at the Kennedy Center’s Concert Hall presented by the Washington Performing Arts Society in the shank of the afternoon at 4 p.m. Right after the Washington St. Patrick’s Day parade. “Yes, that’s kind of nice isn’t it,” he said. “We’ve included a section that’s going to be Celtic in nature with traditional Irish folk songs and music.” Appropriate to the day are the folk tunes,

March 13, 2013 GMG, INC.

but appropriate to the Sir Galway’s legacy will be the major part of the concert, which includes works by Doppler (“Rigoletto Fantasie for Two Flutes” with Lady Jane Galway); Mozart (Flute Quartet in D Major”), Bizet/Borne (“Carmen Fantasy” arranged by Galway), and Debussy’s famous and popular “Clair de Lune” In addition, he’ll be conducting a master class on the flute with local flute students at the Sixth and I Historic Synagogue in downtown Washington on Monday, March 18. “The master classes, to me, the talking, the teaching is almost as important as performing,” Galway said. “It’s how you open people up to the music, the instrument itself. “ “My dad, my family, they all played,” he said. “It’s true, the flute seems such a common place instruments that everyone will pick one up and play one, if they could.” But Galway got lucky and was one of those people who carried his ability with and love for the instrument to studies in London and Paris before embarking on a professional career with Sadlers Wells & Royal Covent Garden Operas, the BBC, Royal Philharmonic and the London Symphony Orchestra, and became solo flautist with the Berlin Philharmonic which was conducted by Herbert Von Karajan. When he broke out as a soloist, it was a breakthrough in a big way and the end result has been a legend indeed, a career that has been 30 million albums sold, and a recording list that seems to stretch beyond the horizon. “When you realize what you can do with the flute—beside just play it—in terms of all the kinds of music, when I knew that, I was on my way, that’s what I was going to do,” he said. It’s a real passion. You can hear it in his voice. If Rampal popularized the music of the flute into areas not usually associated with it, Galway moves it further with his education effort with new compositions which he has done or commissioned other composers to do. So, there’s Bach and Mozart and Handel on the flute and jazz, and new music, bending genders and cross pollination, something that’s happening quite a bit in the contemporary classical music scene, where he is more than a knight, but a king.★

Flautist James Galway will be perfoming at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts on St. Patrick’s Day, March 17, at 4 p.m. Here is pictured with his wife, flautist Jeanne Galway.

ARTS Hillyer Art Gallery 9 Hillyer Court, NW www.ArtsAndArtists.org

Art Walk: Dupont Circle

Studio Gallery 2108 R St., NW www.StudioGalleryDC.com

Through March 29, Hillyer Art Space is hosting three exhibitions. Narciso Maisterra’s exhibit, “Passing Through the Body Without Staying,” is a testament to an emotional process of recuperation from illness via artistic creativity. In January 2011, Maisterra had an accident that affected his physical appearance. As soon as he regained the use of his right arm, he resumed painting, and the work in this show became the key to his recovery. Maisterra decided to start a series of selfportraits inspired by the ugliness and sadness he saw to create an unsympathetic image of himself. The series shows an artist using art as therapy to familiarize himself with his new face. Jungmin Park, in her exhibit “The City Stories,” portrays the relationships between cities, nature and people. She personifies both urban and natural objects and encapsulates their existence within a single memory, which she visualizes with natural and man-made objects. Garth Fry explores the psychology of isolation by creating shapes and forms that are void of applied color. He investigates this concept through his use of raw, coiled paper and glue. Visual tension is created through his use of light and shadows, further emphasizing refuge and loss of identity.

Jane Haslem Gallery 2025 Hillyer Place, NW www.JaneHaslemGallery.com “Endless Flowers” is a group exhibition at Jane Haslem Gallery, running through the end of April, the title of which is as pure, beautiful and evocative as the artwork it represents. From watercolors and drawings, to aquatints and engravings, the show takes the audience through a veritable botanical journey, filled with the floral beauty, natural wonder, and intimate perspectives on our daily environments in their relation to the its surrounding plant life. Two qualities that unify the works are light and delicacy, whether represented through the soft translucence of a petal, the clean and playful symmetry of potted wallflowers, or a nettled pillow of wildly blooming Queen Anne’s lace. The craftsmanship of the artists also shine—the texture of Billow Morrow Jackson’s oil painting Flowers on a Table or George Harkins’ watercolor, Berries and Bluejays, are haunting and substantial, and a wonderful compliment to the downy fragility of the sun-washed red tulips in Nancy McIntyre’s silkscreen Everett's Front Window.

From March 27 through April 20, Studio Gallery will be featuring the work of three artists. Veronica Szalus’ work, “Down to the Wire,” is an evolving concept exhibit that explores fluidity through irregular and contrasting forms through both dimension and movement. The installation uses manipulated materials that are fragile, delicately balanced, and often porous, exploring continual nuanced shifts of form, much like our natural environments. Sculptor Brian Kirk is also inspired by natural forms, but equally by man-made objects. His metal sculptures utilize geometric shapes and forms, while his stone and glass casting are more organic. Harriet Lesser’s paintings are inspired by the manipulation of natural elements in a different way—her work explores the relationship between making art and cooking.

Cross MacKenzie Gallery 2026 R St., NW DC 20009 Cross Mackenzie Gallery is pleased to present “Through the Trees,” an exhibition of new paintings by Virginia Commonwealth University art professor Kurt Godwin, one of the D.C. area’s most accomplished artists. Art in America critic J.W. Mahoney, describes Kurt Godwin’s previous body of work “Philosophy of Nature” as follows: “These paintings intentionally marry three visual worlds: the plain representation of natural place and organic growth, the abstracting of conditions in physical reality according to scientific iconography, and various symbol systems that serve as analogies to the qualities and nature of a transcendent reality.” In this new show, “Through The Trees,” Godwin achieves that “transcendent reality” by returning to the representation and abstraction of natural place – he is painting the shimmering, hypnotic, mesmerizing light. He has shed his complex layering of symbols and scientific imagery to concentrate on the pure powerful force of the radiant sun. Godwin is a magician with paint and he wields his brush skillfully, delivering lush surfaces, animated brushstrokes and dabs of singing color. The viewer gets glimpses of a burning sunset, a reflection of a cloudless cerulean sky and a fractured, mid-day white haze. Leafless dark tree trunks in shadow act as filters for the light that bends around their silhouettes. One gets the sense that the light would be blinding without the vertical shields that protect one’s eye’s from the harsh rays behind – while at the same time that light beckons like a stained glass window. For some, these woods are dark and threatening, the branches cage-like. For the artist and this viewer these paintings are beautiful, peaceful reminders of walks through the trees, away from the noise and danger of the world inspiring a feeling of awe in nature and sunlight – a transcendent reality.

GMG, INC. March 13, 2013

SOCIAL SCENE

House Tour Pow-wow on a ‘Snow Day’ BY RO B E RT DE VANEY It may seem far off, but April 27 is coming fast for home-owners, volunteers and designers working to make the 82nd Georgetown House Tour a success. The main players met to strategize and socialize March 6 at the 34th Street home of Frank Randolph, who is again co-chairing the house tour with Stephanie Bothwell. There are eight houses on the tour. The tour’s popular Patrons’ Party will be held April 24 at the home of Marc Schappell and Tom Anderson, both executives at Washington Fine Properties, LLC. For more details, visit www.GeorgetownHouseTour.com, or call 202-338-2287.

Patrons’ Party co-host Marc Schappell with Georgetown House Tour co-chairs Stephanie Bothwell and Frank Randolph.

Owners whose homes will be on the house tour: Charles and Betsy Rackley of 34th Street, Larry Calvert, Samar Langhorne of N Street and Colman and Richard Riddell of 33rd Street.

March 13, 2013 GMG, INC.

SOCIAL SCENE

Finland Hosts U.S. Suffragists BY MARY BIRD

Placard bearing stern “suffragists” greeted guests to the Embassy of Finland on March 1 where Ambassador Ritva Koukku-Ronde and Joan Bradley Wages, president and CEO of the National Women’ History Museum, hosted a reception for the Suffrage Centennial Celebration. The evening was part of a weekend honoring U.S women who made history by marching in 1913 for voting rights ultimately obtained with passage of the Nineteenth Amendment in 1920. The ambassador spoke of her country’s stellar track record in promoting gender equality. In 1906, the women of Finland gained full political rights and today constitute 50 percent of the Finnish diplomatic corps.

Laurie Nakamoto, Shahin Mafi and Rosa Rai Djalal, wife of the Ambassador of Indonesia

President and CEO of the National Women’s History museum Joan Bradley Wages and Ambassador of Finland Ritva Koukku-Ronde

Julianne Smith and Roberta Morris

Reggie Ewig and Sandy Taylor

'Luck of the Irish' Takes On Kidney Disease BY KEL L EY HUDA K

The "Luck of the Irish" was the evening's wish as 500 guests flooded the atrium of the Ronald Reagan Building March 2 for a casino night to benefit the National Kidney Foundation. Notables included Washington Redskins Pro Bowler and honorary chair Lorenzo Alexander with fellow teammates Reed Doughty, Kedric Golston and Chris Wilson as well as Dallas Cowboy Anthony Armstrong. The event was emceed by ABC7's Jummy Olanbanji and ESPN 980 host Scott Jackson. Each of the speakers has been personally affected by kidney disease in some way and came out to raise awareness for the cause. There are approximately 700,000 in the D.C. area suffering from kidney disease, nearly 6,000 on dialysis and 1,500 waiting for a lifesaving kidney transplant. Highlights included traditional casino games, a silent auction, a performance by the ladies of the O'Neil James School of Irish Dance and a dress-up photo booth where guests donned their favorite costumes and snapped silly pictures. The night was capped off by a version of the latest viral Internet dance craze, the Harlem Shake, where NFL players and guests alike joined in the fun.

Redskins player Kedric Golston and wife Christal. Photo by Thomas Schultz

Redskin Lorenzo Alexander, the evening's honorary chair, Rick "Doc" Walker of ESPN 980 and Anthony Armstrong of the Dallas Cowboys. Photo by Thomas Schultz

William and Monica Yu with Angelica and Chris McShane. Photo by Thomas Schultz

Redskin Reed Doughty and wife Katie. Photo by Thomas Schultz

Briana Pashcow, Patrick McCarthy, Caitlin Gart and Michael Goodman Photo by Thomas Schultz GMG, INC. March 13, 2013

SOCIAL SCENE

Manon Cleary’s Loving Tribute at the Arts Club

Muslim Women’s Association

Washington lost one of its leading artists a year ago when figurative painter Manon Cleary succumbed to the lung disease she had contracted from many years of teaching in improperly ventilated studios. Her husband F. Steven Kijek memorialized his love for her and shed light on her artistry in an Evening with Extraordinary Artist series at the Arts Club Feb. 27. Kijek spoke of the classical precision gleaned through her study of Caravaggio and went on to chronicle the various stages of her work through slide and film. As he tackles five trunks of untouched archives, he hopes to bring Manon’s art to a higher level of recognition, which will require “time, money and connections.”

Mrs. Fügen Tan, wife of the Ambassador of Turkey, and Rosa Tai Djalal, president of the Muslim Women’s Association and wife of the Ambassador of Indonesia, hosted members and guests at the Embassy of Turkey Feb. 28. Several members took advantage of an optional guided tour to view “The Sultan's Garden: The Blossoming of Ottoman Art” at the nearby Textile Museum before attending a late morning screening of “Süleiman the Magnificent,” followed by luncheon. Program chair Gamila Karjawally has the daunting responsibility of planning monthly embassy events as MWA, founded in 1960, fundraises for educational scholarships for Muslim women. Other events include the annual Muslim Women’s Bazaar and Ramadan Iftar dinners.

BY MARY BIRD

BY M ARY BIR D

Mark Ohnmacht and Edward Purcell

Diplomatic guests

Program chair Gamila Karjawally and Rosa Rai Djalal, MWA president and wife of the Ambassador of Indonesia

F. Steven Kijek, Valca Valentine and David Mordini

Kaye Rokni and Mrs. Fügen Tan, wife of the Ambassador of

Whimsical THEARC Tea

BY M ARY BIRD

The Fourth Annual “Wacky & Whimsical Tea to benefit THEARC” was a joyous astronaut-theme afternoon at the Ritz Carlton March 3. NBC4 newscaster Eun Yang served as the event’s honorary chair. Elegantly attired young partygoers and their beaming parents and grandparents enjoyed a sumptuous high tea, silent auction and a variety of creative games for all ages as well as performances by students at THEARC. Under the leadership of Building Bridges Across the River, 11 nonprofit agencies including the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Levine School of Music and The Washington Ballet provide cultural, health, educational, recreational and social service programs “East of the Anacostia River.”

Annabel Oppenheimer and Charli Galkin

Antoinette Ford and Jasmine Taylor

Members of the Women’s Committee for the National Symphony Orchestra and the “Petting Zoo”

March 13, 2013 GMG, INC.

Eric Henning Conjuror with captivated fans

Kay Kendall, Judy Esfandiary and event co-chair Renee Esfandiary Crupi

SOCIAL SCENE

Kuwait National Day BY MARY BIRD

The 52nd Anniversary of the National Day of the State of Kuwait was elegantly celebrated at the Four Seasons Hotel Feb. 20. The prominence of Ambassador and Mrs. Salem Al Sabah was reflected in the presence of many familiar Washington leaders in the always lengthy receiving line. Much important business is conducted after office hours and this was abundantly apparent as guests exchanged greetings while sampling the exquisite international buffet. Global delights included Peking duck, chicken and beef Shawarma, lobster ravioli, crab cakes mini cheese cakes and a chocolate fountain. Departing guests received a chocolate and nut confection to savor the evening.

Gala Guide MARCH 16

Select: WPA Art Auction Gala SELECT is the city's premier art auction gala and features cocktails, dinner, dessert and silent auction of artwork selected by the region's top museum curators. The event will be held at a new location, 64 New York Avenue, NE. Please contact WPA at auction@wpadc.org or call 202-234-7103, ext. 5 for additional information.

MARCH 18

The American Ireland Fund’s 21st National Gala The notables of Washington never miss the chance to parade their inner-Irish spirit for this greening of the nation’s capital. This year, the American Ireland Fund will recognize Ambassador Michael Collins, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand and Senator Patrick Toomey. National Building Museum. Please call 202-320-8232.

MARCH 20

Pink Tie Party Washington’s petal partiers will gather for the Festival’s seventh annual signature Pink Tie Party that kicks off the season of the blossoms. Guests embrace the party’s theme donning pink ties and springtime styles and enjoy donning pink ties and springtime styles and enjoy metro-DC’s top chefs' delicious spring-, cherry- and blossom-inspired cuisine and cocktails. Renaissance Washington DC Downtown Hotel. Information at 202-661-7567. Kuwaiti Ambassador to the United States and Mrs. Salem Al-Sabah with CNN's lead political anchor, Wolf Blitzer

Photo by Neshan H. Naltchayan

MARCH 21

2013 Night of Vision

MARCH 22

BY MARY BIRD, PH OTOS BY NE S HAN H . N A LT C H AYA N

“Building New Visions” was the theme of the Prevention of Blindness Society of Metropolitan Washington’s March 2 gala at the Four Seasons Hotel. Mayor Vincent Gray issued a proclamation naming the date “Better Vision Day.” Stacey Chan of CNN Newsource emceed. The DC Fire & Emergency Medical Service Honor Guard trooped the colors. Georgetown Cupcake received the Community Service Award and Dr. Maxwell Helfgott accepted the Professional Service award saying, “Thank you for helping the city to see.” Live auction items included the opportunity for six people to participate in “the majesty and mess” of the cupcake making process at Georgetown Cupcake. Bob Jenets Upfront provided the very danceable music.

Celebration of Hope Celebrate Hope Connections for Cancer Support, a wonderful nonprofit that helps people with cancer and their loved ones with free programs of emotional support, education, wellness, and hope. Park Hyatt Washington. Please call 301-493-5002 for more information.

Sixth Annual Artini A glamorous cocktail benefit hosted by the Corcoran's 1869 Society, ARTINI, features the city's top mixologists making "artinis" inspired by works in the Corcoran's collection. Corcoran Gallery of Art. Information at 202-639-1770.

MARCH 25

Performance Series of Legends The Performance Series of Legends is the signature fundraising event for the Duke Ellington School of the Arts, DC’s premier public arts high school. Proceeds from the benefit concert featuring Patti LaBelle will support the highest quality arts and academic education for Ellington students. Kennedy Center. Please call 202-333-2555.

APRIL 2

Vital Voices Global Leadership Awards Join Vital Voices in celebrating 12 years of honoring extraordinary women leaders working to strengthen democracy, increase economic opportunity and protect human rights around the world. Kennedy Center. Please contact 202-636-874.

Sophie Kallinis LaMontagne, Valerie Tripp and Sally Pilkerton (Night of Vision Chair) all pose as Georgetown Cupcake receives the 2013 Prevention of Blindness Community Service Award.

Stacey Cohan, correspondent for CNN Newsource and the evening's emcee.

Gloria Butland and Maxwell Helfgott, M.D., recipient of the Professional Service Award.

Dr. Mohamad Jaafar, Dr. Maxwell Helfgott and Dr. William Glew. Dr. Helfgott received the 2013 Prevention of Blindness Professional Service Award.

GMG, INC. March 13, 2013

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BETHESDA, MARYLAND NEW LISTING! 4BR/4BA renovated Cape, approximately 1 mile from Friendship Heights Metro! 2008 2nd story gut renovation and addition. Large fenced backyard with flagstone terrace and plenty of green space! $1,099,000 Laura Steuart 202-288-8010

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