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Robert Devaney • July 26, 2011

Before her official welcome to Washington today, President Barack Obama took German Chancellor Angela Merkel to 1789 Restaurant, where they dined alone, having salad and beef tenderloin but no dessert, at the second-floor Wickets Room, June 6.

Dan Harding, general manager of 1789 and the Tombs, said that the White House gave them short notice of the special visit, calling at 4 p.m. for a reservation. Dinners for the two leaders were prepared by sous chef Erwin Rhodas, not executive chef Daniel Giusti, who was off for the day, filming a Food Network show in New York, Harding said.

The presidential motorcade rocketed along Prospect Street just after 7 p.m., as neighbors found nearby intersections closed by the Secret Service and the Metropolitan Police Department. Countersniper team moved atop Georgetown University’s Walsh Building across the street from 1789 and the Tombs, and police dogs checked the sidewalks. A crowd gathered at 36th & Prospect with phones and cameras and waited for the president to depart.

Meanwhile, patrons continued to enter 1789 and the Tombs and were wanded by the Secret Service. Georgetown University students Saum Ayria and Chris Scribner, dining at the Tombs at the same time as the president, enjoyed the surprise. “What a Washington, D.C., experience — the president just upstairs.” Scribner said. As Obama and Merkel left around 9:15 p.m., Jennyfer Sellem, a lawyer from Paris interning at the French Embassy, snapped a shot of the leaders inside the limo as it raced back to the White House. “What happened yesterday evening has added to my amazing experience here,” she said.

The big state dinner for Germany is tonight at the White House. [gallery ids="99930,99931,99932,99933,99934" nav="thumbs"]

Georgetowner •

Sitting in a white bowl on the front desk of the Georgetown University Hotel and Conference Center, a pile of Red Delicious and Granny Smith apples were waiting to be picked up by passers-by. After listening to a lecture on complimentary and alternative medicine, the colorful fruit was an extra reminder to guests that an apple a day truly does keep the doctor away.

The latest conversation in the “Doctors Speak Out” series revolved around a growing trend in the medical industry. Three leading experts from Georgetown University discussed the integration of traditional western medicine with alternative, holistic approaches to health.

“We need to keep an open mind [to alternative medicine] and say okay, we don’t know how this works yet but we know that it’s working,” said Dr. Ladan Eshkevari, assistant professor of anesthesia at Georgetown School of Nursing and Health Studies. She noted that doctors don’t know why some traditional medicine such as Tylenol works either, yet it’s a trusted brand name.

Eshkevari, as well as her colleagues on the panel, stressed that complimentary and alternative medicine, also known as CAM, is a viable supplement to traditional practices and should be more thoroughly integrated into modern western health care. A key point reiterated during the panel was the importance of eating a nutritious, balanced diet.

“People need to consume food, not pills,” said Dr. Leena Hilakivi-Clarke, professor of oncology. Her statement was supported by Dr. Thomas G. Sherman, associate professor of pharmacology and physiology, who added that fruit lowers your blood pressure just as well as antihypertensive medication which doctors so often prescribe.

While the panel fully advocated CAMs, they also pointed out that the holistic medicine industry lacks the funding, research and regulation that traditional modern medicine frequently receives. Audience and panel members alike raised concerns that this lack of regulations could lead to the widespread use of either ineffective or harmful medicines.

Eshkevari reminded the audience of the Hollywood scandal following Jeremy Piven, the Entourage actor, who contracted mercury poisoning after consuming too much fish and unregulated supplements on a raw food diet. She continued to emphasize the fact that it is important to know exactly what is in foods and medications to ensure the safety of the public.

Sherman discussed how regulation is key in ensuring that the label matches the pill. Although some would say that the bureaucratic systems necessary for regulation might distance the holistic medicine from the consumer, he assured that it wouldn’t bog down the industry. In other words, it wouldn’t take a prescription to participate in a yoga class.

The panel also maintained that it is important for people to use holistic medicine to treat the source of the condition, not just the symptoms as traditional medicine typically does. “People who take multivitamins aren’t healthy only because they take multivitamins, but because they’re the kind of people who think to take them,” Sherman commented when discussing that holistic medications are not quick-fix pills. Supplements, healthy eating and daily activities such as yoga and meditation are long-term practices that affect the brain and the body which, in total, supports a healthy lifestyle.

The three professors agreed that young students of medicine are receiving an education that integrates CAMs and traditional medicine more than ever before. And more importantly, they are open to practicing and prescribing it to others.

“I predict that [in the future] the emphasis is going to be on the whole body. If you come in with a headache, I don’t just come up with something that treats the pain in your head, I come up with an explanation for why you’re having pain in your head and treat that,” Sherman said. “Don’t just treat the symptoms like they do now but treat the internal cause.”

Marilyn Lane, a petit woman overpowered by her dramatic glasses sat in the back of the room at the conference. While she is not a doctor, she chooses holistic medicine because of the results she sees from personal use. She turned to acupuncture to manage her chronic pain, does yoga multiple times a week, and meditates every morning and evening. She said simply with a smile and a shrug, “It works!” [gallery ids="99935,99936" nav="thumbs"]

Suzanna Nelson •

The Van Metre Polo Cup benefiting Capital Caring and the Alder Center was a success! A sunny day lit up the green polo field as guests enjoyed food and beverages under the tent, and the entertainment of the polo match. The auction raised not only money for the cause, spectators out of their seats in excitement. This video recaps the day’s events which were featured as our cover story June 15. click here to see video

Georgetowner •

“Innocent Spouse- A Memoir”
—
May 22nd, 5-7PM

You’re invited to an evening with Carol Ross Joynt on the publication of her new book, “Innocent Spouse- A Memoir” Enjoy a reading, discussion/Q&A and a meeting with the author and have your booked signed! Music and Refreshments will provided. All proceeds from the sale and signing will benefit the new Georgetown Public Library under the direction of the D.C. Public Library Foundation. There is no charge for this event but seating is limited. To R.S.V.P call Anna 202 727 4943
Black Hall
At Potomac and O Streets in Georgetown
(Adjacent to St. John’s Church)

Venus in Fur
—
May 25th, 2011 at 08:00 PM

A comedy-drama that explores the complex relationship between sex and power. Reality and fantasy, strength and weakness, pleasure and pain all blend together in one of the smartest and funniest plays in recent years.

The Milton Theatre
1501 14th Street, NW
Washington, DC 20005

National Sporting Library & Museum Book Fair
—
May 28th, 2011 at 10:00 AM

Saturday, May 28, 2011, 10 am – 5 pm, the Library will host the NSLM Book Fair. Six authors are scheduled to talk for 20 minutes then sign books, beginning at 11:00. The authors are: Rita Mae Brown, Kate Chenery Tweedy and Leeanne Ladin, Tim Rice, Bill Woods, and Norman Fine. Booksellers will be on hand and the authors’ books will be available for purchase. Check www.nsl.org for details in early May.

The National Sporting Library and Museum
102 The Plains Road
P.O. Box 1335
Middleburg, Virginia 20118-1335
Tuesday-Friday 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Saturday 1 p.m. to 4 p.m

Free Memorial Day Weekend Events at the Navy Memorial
—
May 30th, 2011 at 10:00 AM | Free and open to the public

Memorial Day Weekend Events featuring Rolling Thunder, a performance by the Rock Band Fourmanchu, commemorative wreathlayings and a traditional Navajo dance
Address

United States Navy Memorial
Naval Heritage Center
701 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, D.C. 20004

Nico Dodd •

After seemingly perpetual delays and endless speculation, it can officially (hopefully) be said: Serendipity 3 will finally be opening its doors next week, according to a press release from the New York City eatery. Its location, on the corner of M St. and Wisconsin Ave., has had its windows boarded up since Nathan’s closed in July 2009.

In addition to Serendipity 3’s patently whimsical décor, the restaurant will feature an 8-foot+ Abe Lincoln statue and a clock from the historic Galt & Bros Jewelers.

The menu, which includes the famous Frrrozen Hot Chocolate and Foot-Long Hot Dog, will also offer dishes exclusive to the District, such as the President’s Lobster Pasta, Jumbo Lump Crab Cakes, Pan Seared Virginia Striped Bass and the Red Velvet Sundae.

Temperatures are predicted to go back into the 80s next week. We can hardly wait to see one of these sundaes in action.

Gary Tischler •

Every year for 45 years now, visitors to Washington and the rest of us who live here have had a chance to come down to the National Mall and let the contours of the world—its music, its food, its songs and poetry and smells and clothes and sounds—come in, along with our own memories of what’s what in our souls.

They call it the Smithsonian Folklife Festival, a summer treat and tent and dog and pony and sheep and llama and guitar and memory show that occurs every summer wrapped around the Fourth of July.

This year, it’s more about us than them—the three-section festivals features the arts, music and food of Colombia, a memory train of the history and celebration of the Peace Corps and a lively, deeply rich festival of Rhythm and Blues. It’s “Colombia: The Nature of Culture;” it’s “The Peace Corps: Fifty Years of Promoting World Peace and Friendship;” it’s “Rhythm and Blues: Tell It Like It Is.”

But look what was on the menu in 1967, a veritable smorgasbord with no visible category except crafts and performance: American basket makers, doll makers, needle workers, potters, blacksmiths, spinners and weavers, fife and drum groups, string bands, gospel singers, shouts and spirituals, Puerto Rican music, New Orleans jazz, Cajun music, cowboy songs, the King Island Eskimo dancers, the dancers of Galicia, polkas and ballads, Irish dancers and Chinese New Year’s pantomimes.

Since then, over the years, the smorgasbord has become specific, focusing on states and regions, American style from Texas to Pennsylvania, to countries and continents, to Native Americans from everywhere, to the African Diaspora, to Kentucky, to the cultures of Britain and Yugoslavia to topics like Family Farming in the Heartland, the Music of Struggle, France and North America, Russian Roots, Metro Music, the Bahamas.

On summer days, you could see a Welshman shear a sheep or cook one, hear bluegrass music from the nearby mountains, dance to Reggae or Rap, see artists from Asia, Europe, the Caribbean, the Middle East, Africa, here, there and everywhere, watch the work of the cultural institutions and pioneers of the world.

This time, you can watch what’s often a reunion of Peace Corps Workers, catch all things musically and foodie positive about Colombia, and listen to, watch and dance to the soul music of our souls.

Friday, I stayed for a snippet, walking by the big tent of Motor City to see the Funk Brothers rip through my past in a special way.

I saw a man who danced with his wife.

That’s a supposition. They looked alike, smiled alike, and moved alike. They were thin and looked to be together for quite a while, almost like a twinned couple. She had curly hair, a smile to kill a rainy day, she was thin and sporty looking and moved like silk, and he led her, followed her, gray hair, big just-glad-to-be-here-with-her grin on his face and they twirled and stalked the way couples do.

They were singing to the Funk Brothers and their leader, wearing a white-suit from when guys in white suits could dazzle you, named Bob Babbitt. He was saying something like “Back then, like now, people were worried, what with the economy and wars, and senseless stuff, and Marvin Gay, he was singing what he could be singing now, he was askin’….

Mother, Mother, What’s goin’ on, what’s goin’ on…”

And the couple twirled into dizzy, and a mother was dancing with her little girl, and other couples swayed and some people did the same by themselves to “What’s Goin’ On.”

And earlier they were “Dancing in the Streets” and Kim Weston, who sang with Gaye back in the day on “It Takes Two,” was singing that afternoon and it was like that, the people were singing it, dancing it, and telling it like it was and is.

And you can catch a whole lot of groups still now till Monday at the 45th Annual Folklife Festival, and there’ll be people like the Jewels, the Monitors and Fred Wesley and the New JBs and you can get funky, soulful or happy as you please. Just check the Folklife Festival website and see:

What’s goin’ on.

Georgetowner •

Check out what’s happening around town this weekend with The Georgetowner’s interactive calendar. Looking for an excuse to get out of the house, or know of an event so exciting you just have to share? You can do both at the Georgetowner.com Calendar.

Preview Party for the 2011 DC Design House
April 8th, 2011 at 06:00 AM
$125
sherry.moeller@mokimedia.com
Tel: 301-807-0910
Join the Executive Committee, countless volunteers and the designers of this year’s house benefiting Children’s National Medical Center. Designers include: Scott Brinitzer, Jeff Potter, Iantha Carley, Nancy Colbert), Barbara Franceski, Samantha Friedman, Jason Hodges, Liz Levin, Lauren Liess, Gary Lovejoy, Allie Mann/Case Design, Cindy McClure, Erin Paige Pitts, James Rill/Rill Architects, Camille Saum, Whitney Stewart, Nadia Subaran/Aidan Design, Patrick Sutton and Denise Willard.
3134 Ellicott St. NW
Washington DC 20008

Art & Live Jazz Saturday
April 9th, 2011 at 02:00 PM
free
liveanartfullife@verizon.net
Tel: 540-253-9797
Join us for live jazz, refreshments and “New Work” by jewelry artist Sara Rivera. Sara works in the old Japanese technique of Mokume-gane which is a layering of metals to achieve a wood grain effect in different metals. Sara will be in the gallery from 2 – 6 PM. Live Jazz 5 – 8 PM.
Live An Artful Life
6474 Main Street
The Plains, VA 20198
Civil War Georgetown Tours Commemorating 150 Years
April 9th, 2011 at 10:30 AM
Tel: 202-965-0400
In commemoration of the 150th Anniversary of the Civil War, Tudor Place introduces two new specialized tours about life in Georgetown and the Federal City during this critical test of American democracy.

Beginning in April, these tours will be offered on the second Saturday of every month.

There will be a specialized house tour at 10:30 a.m. and a separate walking tour of Georgetown at 12:30 p.m.
Tudor Place
1644 31st Street, NW
Georgetown between Q &R
Washington, DC

Thai Restaurant Week, April 11-17
April 11th, 2011 at 12:00 PM
|Discounts and special dishes
tanidas@thaiembdc.org
Tel: 202-338-1545

Celebrate the festival of Songkran – the traditional Thai New Year. Each year, as the cherry blossoms start to bloom, the D.C. Metro area celebrates Songkran with Thai Restaurant Week. Many Thai restaurants offer diners a discount or a special menu in honor of the traditional Thai New Year Festival. For the list of participating restaurants, please visit www.thaiembdc.org.
For the list of participating restaurants, please visit www.thaiembdc.org.

For more events this weekend visit the Georgetowner. calendar and click on the date your interested in!