Charlene Louis • January 30, 2017

Change often means having to say goodbye. This is also true for restaurants. Last year, D.C. saw the closing of roughly 136 restaurants. And less than a month into 2017, […]

Charlene Louis •

**1840s Carrollton Inn** *50 Albemarle St., Baltimore* *1840scarrolltoninn.com* Located at the center of Heritage Walk in Baltimore’s historic Jonestown neighborhood, the 1840s Carrollton Inn is within a short walk of […]

Charlene Louis • January 13, 2017

The start of a brand new year is a great time to review your daily skincare routine. If you’ve been stuck in a rut with the same skincare methods, it’s […]

Charlene Louis •

With the presidential inauguration set to descend on Washington, D.C., there are many who would rather avoid the congestion and crowds expected Jan. 20. Luckily, there are some great surrounding […]

Charlene Louis • January 12, 2017

In 2016, Pantone took the radical step of choosing two colors of the year: serenity and rose quartz (that is, baby blue and light pink). This year, Pantone went for a trans-seasonal shade that brings a fresh zest of color to any room. Greenery is nature’s neutral shade. Reminiscent of the first day of spring, the color offers a sense of renewal. “This particular green is an unusual color: a combination of yellow and blue, or warmth and a certain cool,” said Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Color Institute. “It’s a complex marriage.”

Charlene Louis • April 8, 2016

Shades of lavender and lilac can breathe life into an otherwise dull or bland décor. A dash of purple can alter your home’s vibe, giving it a chic, modern, exquisite, elegant, sophisticated — or even cozy — feel.

“I think it pisses God off if you walk by the color purple in a field somewhere and don’t notice it.”
? Alice Walker, “The Color Purple” [gallery ids="102402,122657,122660,122673,122633,122640,122667,122652,122645" nav="thumbs"]

Charlene Louis • October 26, 2015

true fall menu is a reflection of summer toils, of basking in a fruitful harvest. After speaking to Nate Lindsay, executive chef of Jardenea Restaurant, one has no doubt that he takes the seasonal approach very seriously.

Located in the Melrose Georgetown Hotel, Jardenea is a chic, art-deco-inspired restaurant with a strong focus on local and sustainable dining. Hailing from Florida, Lindsay states that this region is one of the best for showing off a fall menu. With the definitive changing seasons and a “good mix of weather,” the D.C. region calls for a farm-to-fork menu that varies both with the temperature and with the locally available ingredients, from the fresh shoots of spring to bone braises in autumn.

The current fall menu embodies the restaurant’s motto (“The farm is the beginning of the food chain…”), starting with a curried, table-poured pumpkin bisque and a hearty kale salad that features McCutcheon’s mulled-cider vinaigrette. The chef goes on to show off one of his favorites: the seared Hudson Valley foie gras, a dish he admits to always ordering when he finds it on other menus.

Interested in trying out Jardenea’s new fall menu? On Oct. 29, the restaurant is offering a four-course “Autumn Harvest Supper.”

Throughout the evening, each course will feature a dish paired with a wine selection from a Northern Virginia vineyard. Featured dishes include Maple Leaf Farms duck breast with double-smoked bacon and exotic mushroom bread pudding and leek-wrapped beef short rib roulade with sweet potato mousseline, rainbow Swiss chard and Malbec demi-glace.

Jardenea

Melrose Georgetown

2430 Pennsylvania Ave. NW

202-955-6400

melrosehoteldc.com/dining [gallery ids="102332,125779,125774" nav="thumbs"]

Charlene Louis • July 16, 2015

For the last dozen years, the Popal name has been synonymous with French-style cuisine in D.C. With Malmasion and Café Bonaparte, both in Georgetown, and a flood of other French bistros, it was time for something different.

In April of this year, Zubair and Shamim Popal, and their three children, Omar, Mustafa and Fatima, decided to “return home,” converting Napoleon Bistro and Lounge, located in Adams Morgan, into Lapis. Billed as “A Modern Afghan Bistro,” Lapis, named after Afghanistan’s deep-blue national gemstone, features homemade Afghan recipes prepared by the Popal family’s most prized culinary asset: mom (Shamim Popal, that is).

Popal personally created the menu with family recipes, including tapas-style small plates of traditional Afghani food and some not-so-traditional dishes, such as shrimp ashak (dumplings), a favorite of Omar.

Upon walking into Lapis, one gets a feeling of home and comfort. With the hand-carved doors and the tongue-in-cheek descriptions in the menu, it’s very clear that Lapis is a restaurant designed to show off the family’s style
of enjoyment around the dinner table.

Famous for its kabobs and meat dishes, Afghan cuisine pulls many of its influences from Persian, Indian, Chinese and Mediterranean cultures (hence the dumplings and chutneys). With all the traditional options available, what was most surprising was the number of vegetarian and vegan options. Who knew Afghanis ate so many vegetables? Lapis offers many delectable stewed-vegetable dishes that can easily be converted to vegan without losing their essence and flavor.

Though the idea of tapas-style dining puts some people off (for being overpriced and not very filling), the portions at Lapis are large and shareable, allowing for the true experience of Afghan cuisine.

The only difficulty one might have is deciding between the baked eggplant with sautéed tomatoes, topped with garlic, yogurt and dry mint, or the ground-beef meatballs, mixed with carrots, herbed tomato sauce, cilantro, shallots, garlic, ginger and coriander. Personal recommendation: just get both.

To top it off, Lapis offers inventive cocktails and a brunch menu that blends modern and traditional Afghani styles.

Lapis is located at 1847 Columbia Rd. NW.
[gallery ids="102108,133844,133843" nav="thumbs"]

Charlene Louis • June 25, 2015

So here’s the good news: the weather is warming up, and we are showing more skin. The bad news is: it’s warming up and we are showing more skin.

All of this past winter’s dry air has likely left you with dull skin. Your skin may not look as fresh as you recall from last summer, and as we get older the effect is more severe.

Taking care of our skin should be a bigger priority. Just about everything that you do to your skin during the course of your lifetime will leave some lasting impression, but the internal aging process is something that happens naturally. Wrinkles, thinning, sagging and dryness are all part of this process. Exposure to the sun definitely ages your skin. But, there is help.
As Dr. Tina B. West, M.D., of the West Institute, says, “Think Maintenance Instead of Surgery.™”

West, founder of the West Institute for Skin, Laser and Body Contouring, is a board certified dermatologist. Since 1996, she has been a leading expert in non-invasive and minimally invasive procedures for facial rejuvenation and maintenance.

“If you ignore your skin, you’re going to suffer the consequences of having to do a major overhaul down the road – whether to address cosmetic issues like sagging, wrinkles and brown spots, or more importantly, skin cancers that may require extensive surgery to remove,” says West.

West is an expert in minimally invasive techniques to maintain the health and appearance of skin of the face and body in women and men. The doctor uses the most advanced techniques in fillers, Botox, and laser surgery to achieve and maintain youthful, healthy skin for life.

As we get older, Elastin and collagen, the proteins that keep your skin strong and elastic, are produced more slowly. And you can’t stop these changes from happening. The West Institute offers services that allow for the face to stimulate the body to produce new collagen, thereby replacing volume and restoring contours to a fuller, more youthful appearance.
Sculptra is a facial injectable that produces subtle results over time. It is long-lasting, but not a quick fix, and requires three treatments, on average, over a few months. Sculptra is not a wrinkle-filler, but rather a volumizer. It is not used directly in lines and folds, but is placed in multiple areas of the face in an attempt to address the volume loss that leads to their appearance. Sculptra helps the body replace the lost collagen that diminishes as we age.

That dreaded fuzz, endearingly known as “peach fuzz,” vellus hair makes applying makeup difficult and is a sure telltale of one’s age. Vellus hair is tough to remove permanently, but there are a few things you can do to temporarily eliminate its appearance. The West Institute offers dermaplaning, which helps reveal radiant, healthier skin – and removes the dreaded fuzz!

Though only temporary, it will leave your skin glowing, without any redness or irritation. Dermaplaning is a quick, non-invasive, painless procedure in which surface dead skin cells and vellus hairs are manually scraped away. Dermaplaning requires absolutely no recovery time. It increases cellular turnover, smoothes and softens skin, and provides immediate results.

To learn more about other services offered by the West Institute, visit [www.westskinlaser.com](http://westskinlaser.com/). The West Institute; 5530 Wisconsin Ave., Suite 925, Chevy Chase, Md.

**Here are some other helpful tips to make sure you don’t show your age this summer:**

**Exfoliate, scrub and rub**

Tip: After you exfoliate, make sure to follow up with a hydrating body cream to seal in moisture.

**Make H2O your friend**

Tip: Make sure to drink 8-ounce glasses of plain, filtered water every day to help maintain critical moisture balance of the body and skin. Keep in mind, if you drink caffeinated beverages, you will need to increase you water intake!