Ike Behar Grand Opening
• September 25, 2014

The entire Behar family was on hand Sept. 18 for a grand opening party for the new Ike Behar store at 2900 M St., NW. The shop has been open for a few months. Founder Ike Behar along with Regina, Steven, Alan and Lawrence Behar greeted friends and clients. [gallery ids="101865,137642" nav="thumbs"]

LED Lighting Under Whitehurst Freeway
• September 24, 2014

BID is in the early stages of installing artistic infrastructure LED lighting under the Whitehurst Freeway. The new fixtures would replace older, expensive sodium halide lights that do not last as long. BID is touting the plan as a cost-effective way to light the area and bring more business to Georgetown. There are no designs for the lights yet, but BID is hoping to unveil them in a grand opening at the 2015 Cherry Blossom Festival.

Memorial Held for Georgia Shallcross
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A memorial was held Sept. 21 at the George Town Club for Georgia Shallcross, who died suddenly at her home in Marshall, Va., on Aug. 25. Well known around Washington, especially in Georgetown, where she lived with her family for 22 years, Shallcross wrote for many years for the Georgetowner.

Family and friends gathered from different parts and times of her life, sharing intimate, emotional tributes. The lunch was organized by John Arundel of Washington Life Magazine and his wife, Christine. Also attending was Georgetowner publisher Sonya Bernhardt, who met Shallcross in 1992, and gave a heartfelt eulogy.

Shallcross is survived by her parents Barbara and John Dimitri Copanos, her brother John Capanos, and two children from her marriage to Jim Shallcross, James Halsey Shallcross, 19, and Marina Kirk Shallcross, 15. She was 51.

Born on Oct. 9, 1962, Shallcross grew up in Baltimore and attended the Garrison Forest School, later earning degrees at Hollins College and George Washington University. She also studied at the Sorbonne and was a fellow at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, where she met her husband Jim Shallcross. They moved to Georgetown and had two children. Upon their divorce, Jim Shallcross moved to Connecticut, and Georgia Shallcross moved to Middleburg, Va., with her daughter Marina.

200th Anniversary of ‘Star-Spangled Banner’ Gets Highest Salute at Fort McHenry, Inner Harbor
• September 18, 2014

Yes, the flag is most definitely still here — and for 200 years.

The 200th anniversary of the writing of the song by Georgetowner Francis Scott Key that became the nation anthem, “The Star-Spangled Banner,” was given the highest salute Sept. 13 and Sept. 14 at the place where it all came together, Fort McHenry and Baltimore, Md., during the War of 1812.

Penned after the British Navy stopped the bombardment of Fort McHenry, which guarded Baltimore and its harbor, and departed the Chesapeake region, “The Star-Spangled Banner” was an instant hit and aptly described the scene and feelings of onlookers on Sept. 13 and Sept. 14, 1814.

Over the weeklong celebrations, the Star-Spangled Spectacular in Baltimore told the history of Baltimore’s role in the war and how the city’s defenders stymied the British, as it hosted tall ships and navy vessels from the U.S. and other nations. The Inner Harbor was festooned with banners, full of vendors, events and visitors. Proud Baltimore rolled out the red-white-and-blue carpet for all and looked its very best.

Highlights of the bicentennial parties were the Sept. 13 evening show in front of Fort McHenry with fireworks as the finale and Sunday morning’s “By the Dawn’s Early Light Flag-Raising Ceremony,” performed to the moment when the Star-Spangled Banner was seen 200 years ago to the relief of defenders and Francis Scott Key.

The Sept. 13 events included a stamp release ceremony by the U.S. Postal Service — a “Forever” stamp which depicts the shelling of Fort McHenry in 1814 — and an air show by the U.S. Navy Blue Angels.

The evening’s program included a major performance by the U.S. Marine Band, the “President’s Own,” as well as singing by the Morgan State University Chorus. Local politicians welcomed the crowd, including House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown, Gov. Martin O’Malley and Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, who was hospitalized overnight due to a respiratory infection. “I pushed myself a bit too hard, given all the excitement around Star Spangled Spectacular and the tremendous opportunity the festivities presented to showcase the very best of Baltimore,” Rawlings-Blake said.

After spirited and witty remarks by the ambassadors of former enemies, Canada’s Gary Doer and Britain’s Peter Westmacott, the evening’s last speaker was Vice President Joe Biden, who gave a final, rousing address for the flag: “Does the Star-Spangled Banner still wave? Did it wave … at Normandy … at Ground Zero? … It will wave and not just wave … it is in our hearts.”

And, then, there were fireworks above the fort, the best ever in Baltimore, which one news photographer proclaimed as “the best I’ve ever seen.”

The next morning, with the Third U.S. Infantry, U.S. Army “Old Guard” howitzers, Fort McHenry Guard Field Music and the U.S. Navy Band on hand with former Secretary of State Colin Powell, also a retired general, a 30-foot-by-42-foot replica of the original Star-Spangled Banner garrison flag, was raised at the exact moment of its hoisting 200 years ago.

Yes, the flag was most definitely still there, thanks to the defenders of Fort McHenry — and their brave story, remembered to this day, recorded by and thanks to Washingtonian and Georgetowner Francis Scott Key and his “Star-Spangled Banner.”
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Wait, There’s More: Restaurant Openings Abound Around City
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The Georgetown Piano Bar opens Sept. 12 at 3287 M St., NW, where the nightclub Modern was. Piano player Hunter Lang, former Mr. Smith’s manager Gene McGrath, former Mr. Smith’s employee Morgan Williams and Bill Thoet, vice president of Booz Allen Hamilton, are the team behind the sing-along place.

Meanwhile, departing its longtime M Street, Mr. Smith’s has been reborn at 3205 K St., NW, where Chadwick’s once stood for many years. Another manager from Mr. Smith’s, Juan Andino, reopened the place at its new location under the Whitehurst Freeway with new fixtures and decor after auctioning off old Mr. Smith’s classic items.

Look for Orange Anchor, a nautically themed restaurant of seafood rolls and rum drinks by Reese Gardner, is set to open at Washington Harbour “within a couple of months,” according to one of its managers.

Chef Daniel Boulud returns to D.C. to open DBGB Kitchen and Bar, a companion to his bistro of the same name in New York’s East Village (in honor of the Bowery’s now-departed CBGB), is opening next week in D.C.’s newly developed CityCenter at the corner of 9th and H Streets, NW. It is around the block from David Chang’s Momofuku, which will arrive in a few months.

Also opening at CityCenter is Del Frisco’s Double Eagle Steakhouse. The 18,000-square-foot restaurant at the corner of Ninth and Eye streets, NW.

The elite retail and residential center, spanning blocks around 8th Street and New York Avenue, NW, took the land from the old D.C. convention center and more is redefining and enhancing the streets of downtown D.C.

Even Georgetown’s Baked & Wired will be making the scene at CityCenter — along with such retail top-drawers as Hermès, Longchamp, Salvatore Ferragamo, Burberry, Hugo Boss and Kate Spade.

‘Best of the Good Men,’ Restaurateur Richard McCooey Given Spirited Send-Off
• September 15, 2014

Near the university, in the church and in the neighborhood he so loved, the life of Richard McCooey was celebrated Sept. 5.

Tari Boutique to Close Aug. 31; Sale on Now
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Tari D.C. Boutique-Couture Consignment, opened by owner Sara Mokhtari in November 2010 at 1525 Wisconsin Ave., NW, will close at the end of Sunday, Aug. 31.

“We regret to inform you that Tari will be closing its doors,” Mokhtari wrote to her clients. “The building is under new ownership, and they plan to occupy the space for a different use. Due to the limited notice we received, we have not secured a new place as of yet. We have been diligently looking for a smaller space in Georgetown as well as other areas in the city . . .”

“After four years of tears and sweat yet still lots of laughs, I’m taking a little break,” Mokhtari further wrote to her friends on Facebook. “I’ve sold my building and will keep you posted on my future plans. Please stop by Tari.”

Having renovated and redesigned the property, Mokhtari said that she received an offer she couldn’t refuse. She did not reveal who the new owner is — or if it is a retail business.

Meanwhile, the owner of the sophisticated shop and ultracool space is putting most of everything up for a blowout sale at Tari: dresses, gowns, accessories, jewelry — and, for the guys, suits and shirts. Some fixtures are up for grabs, too.

The event space above the main shop — which is part of the sale — will honor already scheduled events, Mokhtari said.

Halcyon Incubator Inaugurates First Class of Fellows
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“I feel I am at my real-life Hogwarts,” said Heather Sewell of Halcyon House. She is one of seven inaugural fellows of the Halcyon Incubator, a 14-month fellowship and social entrepreneurship program, administered by the S&R Foundation.

The Halcyon fellows were publicly acknowledged at a Sept. 4 presentation at historic Halcyon House on Prospect Street, where they will live for the next four months with 10 additional months of collaboration, support and consulting with program staffers.

“The Halcyon Incubator is a place to work . . . and learn . . .,” said Kate Goodall, chief operating officer of S&R Foundation, which takes no equity from the fellows’ projects. Goodall said the no-strings-attached fellowships benefit from “the unique properties of Washington, D.C.”

The program, according to the foundation, “provides fellows with rent-free housing and office space, food and living stipends, mentorship, complimentary strategic, legal and PR resources,” as it “nurtures problem-solvers addressing 21st-century social challenges by transforming raw talent and audacious ideas into scalable ventures.”

Citing the story of calm nesting days for the Halcyon bird, as pictured in the program’s logo, S&R Foundation CEO and co-founder Sachiko Kuno said, “Halcyon is such an aptly named house for an incubator.” At the presentation in Halcyon’s ballroom, she introduced her husband Ryuji Ueno to the crowd — “my media-shy co-founder.”

Kuno and Ueno — who hail from Japan and made their fortune in the pharmaceutical business — made a big splash in Georgetown, when they purchased the Evermay Estate ($22 million) on the east side in July 2011 and then Halcyon House ($11 million) on the west side in March 2012. Both historic properties are used by S&R Foundation. (Halcyon House underwent a $3-million renovation.)

The foundation was founded in 2000 and includes the Overtures Concert Series, the Evermay Chamber and science programs and awards.

Introduced by Incubator program manager Ryan Ross, each fellow had his or her story to tell and vision to persuade — and each made quite an impression. They are seven chosen out of 200 applicants. (Next year’s class application deadline is Sept. 18.)

Olivier Kamanda of Ideal Impact wants the news to go further; his website shows how or where one can help to volunteer or contribute. Ari Raz of Purejoy wants to produce fresh baby food for all. Diana Sierra of BeGirl wants to help women around the world have sanitary pads they can use, as they work or go to school, during menstruation. Ben Reich and Dan Gallagher of Datasembly run a data aggregate that helps small businesses sift through it all, avoiding the “data-rich and info-poor” conundrum. Founder of the Daily Prophet, a online newspaper inspired by the Harry Potter book series, Heather Sewell of NewsEase wants reading news and other stories to be more educational. Matt Fischer of Control A+ has constructed a monitor that predicts asthma attacks.

Can these fellows change the world? It might just help that they started to make it all work at Halcyon House — and in Georgetown, more innovative than most suspect.

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‘Pixels’ Filming Shuts Wisconsin Avenue
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Film production for the upcoming summer 2015 “Pixels” shut down Wisconsin Avenue from M Street to Dumbarton Street for a street scene of pedestrians and cars Saturday morning, Sept. 6, roughly 7 a.m. to just past noon. Martin’s Tavern and other classic stores were in the shoot.

The film stars Adam Sandler, who plays a former video games champion with a less than great job. His character is called by the government to help fight extraterrestrial aliens, who have mistaken videos of games as an act of aggression from the Earth and attack. Haven’t we heard this plot before? Most of the film is being shot in Toronto.

4th Annual Rum Day D.C. Becomes More Than Just a Day
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For those who love rum and love those who love rum, National Rum Day brought a nice mix of people and mixed drinks. First up was media day Aug. 11, catered by the Mason Dixie Biscuit Company, at Project 4 Gallery on U Street. The 4th Annual Rum Day D.C. hosted a three-day celebration for rum lovers with a Rooftop Rum & Smoke Soiree Aug. 14 atop the Graham Hotel, with the multi-destination Rum Runner Party Bus on Aug. 15 and concluded Aug. 16 with the Rum-B-Que at Jack Rose. [gallery ids="101852,138269,138250,138267,138261,138256" nav="thumbs"]