You Get to Choose the Colors for D.C. Taxis
• December 14, 2012

Four different color schemes for District taxis were announced by Mayor Vincent Gray Dec. 10, as part of the new taxi law, passed by the Council. The four choices are on display on vehicles that can be viewed at the Verizon Center and will later be seen at Washington International Auto Show. Visit the Taxicab Commission website for more information: DCtaxi.dc.gov.
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Conan O’Brien Visits Martin’s, Cafe Milano, Four Seasons
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With Sunday’s TNT taping lined up for “Christmas in Washington,” and participant South Korean hip-hop artist Psy getting most of the advance attention because of his anti-American comments made eight years ago, show host Conan O’Brien had a chance to chill in Georgetown. The comedian, who has his own show on TBS, was first spotted at the bar in the Four Seasons Hotel. Later, O’Brien was at Cafe Milano and finished up the night around the corner at Martin’s Tavern on Dec. 8. Staged at the National Building Museum, the annual Yuletide show benefits the Children’s and includes attendance by the president and the first family. This year’s other performers included Diana Ross, Demi Lovato and “American Idol” winner Scotty McCreery. The show will air Dec. 21.

Ins & Outs 12.12.12
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OUT — Yves Delorme, the classic bedding and bath linens shop, that seemed to fit in perfectly with Georgetown, will be leaving Cady’s Alley. It has other nearby locations in Bethesda, Md., and McLean, Va. The store’s 1,000-square-foot space will serve as a Bonobos Guideshop location, opening late January.

MOVED — Alessi, the equally classic Italian-designed houseware store has left its space near Cafe Leopard and L2 and moved into Contemporaria a few doors east in Cady’s Alley. It is now known as Alessi at Contemporaria — 202-338-0193; alessi@contemporaria.com.

IN — As reported in our previous issue, online men’s clothier Bonobos Guideshop will arrive at the south end 3320 Cady’s Alley retail space in late January. EastBanc, Inc. and Jamestown confirmed last week that the “popular online men’s clothier Bonobos has signed a long-term lease. … Bonobos is the largest apparel brand in the U.S. that sells its product exclusively over the Internet, and the company prides itself on offering exceptionally tailored apparel to fit men and their lifestyles. Bonobos’s brick and mortar Guideshop sites were conceptualized to transform the customer shopping experience with personalized, realistic impressions of online inventory and to register clothing measurements for future Internet purchases. Currently there are six Guideshop locations in the U.S., including a holiday pop-up in Bethesda.”

IN — Also in Cady’s Alley is the pop-up clothing store, Muleh, in the old Alessi space next to the entrance of L2 lounge. It plans to be there until April 2013. Reports the company: “Established in 1999, Muléh is a highly curated, fashion and home furnishings showroom with locations in New York City and Washington, D.C. … In addition to carrying well known labels, such as 3.1 Philip Lim and Mulberry, Muléh’s design selections of out-of-the-mainstream brands attempt to expand the availability to obtain such critically acclaimed but hard to find designers such as Vivienne Westwood’s Anglomania and Red Label, Jean Paul Gautier, Smythe, MM6, Ter et Bantine, Sea, Hache, By Malene Birger, Faliero Sarti, LD Tuttle, Chie Mihara, Lizzie Fortunato, Paula Mendoza, Coclico, and foundation-building knit lines Majestic and Autumn Cashmere.”

Does Secondhand Rose Have An Imposter on Wisconsin Avenue?
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Secondhand Rose of Georgetown, the well-regarded vintage, consignment clothing store at 1516 Wisconsin Ave., NW. Although the sign on the building has remained, the business itself, owned by Lynn Boynton, continues as an online business. The Wisconsin Avenue retail space appears to continue as “Secondhand Rose,” and that has created confusion and a problem.

Owner of the business, Secondhand Rose, Lynn Boynton, contacted this newspaper last week. In an email, she wrote, “I purchased the business 11 years ago from four women who had owned the business for 25 years. I had become weary of the condition of the building and decided it was time for a new location. I gave notice and moved on Nov. 14. The landlord Bok Hwang advertised the space in the Korean newspaper and found a new tenant, Susan Ro. Ms. Ro is using the name Second Hand Rose. DCRA has assured she cannot use my name. I am a corporation in good standing, and I have filed an official complaint. I am curious as to why Ms. Ro cannot give her business a unique name and feels a need to pose as Secondhand Rose. I worked hard for 11 years and have a faithful following. My customers became my friends and are confused and upset by this turn of events. I am still doing business, and my name is Secondhand Rose. Krista Johnson, owner of Ella Rue on P Street, went into 1516 Wisconsin Ave., and Ms. Ro told her she had purchased the business and it is under new management. Ms. Ro did not purchase my business. She offered me $5,000 and told me ‘That is my number, think about it.’ One item in my shop is worth more than $5,000, so there was nothing to think about. The landlord and his wife have told me on many occasions how important they believe the name Secondhand Rose is. I know he has encouraged his new tenant to use the name.”

Hitched for the Holidays Winner of 2012 Holiday Window Competition
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How do you know it is Christmas?

Parties, sure. Santa Claus ringing bells, sure. Shows and plays, sure. All the Christmas trees around the city, at the White House, on Capitol Hill, in the tree yards being sold, sure. The mailboxes stuffed with catalogues, the caroling, sure.

How do you know it is Christmas?

Windows, and we don’t mean the new Windows software.

Walk up and down streets and blocks, and look at the store windows. People, here and everywhere, have childhood memories of Christmas store windows and displays. Back in the day, people will say, there was an array of what was once called department stores with displays that could go from Winter Wonderland, Santa’s North Pole, a Nativity scene, or the most wonderful trains, going around mountains past the water towers, town halls and football fields of small towns that live on in our memories. You would shop and catch the holiday spirit and fever reflected in the store windows.

When the Georgetowner newspaper holds its annual windows display competition, it tries to reflect the season also, to encourage merchants and to promote the village in these seasonal times by rewarding their best efforts in reflecting and displaying the season for all of us. Those displays are like beacons for all of us, those who live and work in Georgetown, and our blessed visitors who come to dine, to soak up the holiday like a feast of hot cider and crumpet and tea, who come to skate, to shop, to do a holiday walkabout.

You might, in the course of your travels through our village, pass by a Santa Claus or two, an elf, some spirits from seasons past. If you should happen to see a boy named Tim, being carried on his shoulder carried by his father, well, you know what to say:
God bless us, every one.

A Peek Into Some of Our Favorite Windows
By nico dodd
The Georgetowner was thrilled that so many businesses decorated their windows for this holiday season. We talked to the decorators of some of our favorite, windows, including our winner, Hitched. Special thanks to our judge, Georgetown-based architect Christian Zapatka. To the right, we included many of the bright windows around the neighborhood. Don’t miss the chance to see these for yourself.

Hitched
Glamorously Bedecked
Hitched’s tinsel-and-ornament-covered wedding gown is simply elegant. The display is beautiful, but not overpowering. We love how the dress is beautiful enough to wear.

Annie Thompson and Amber Chislett were the two Hitched employees who created the display. Thompson said that creating the dress took about seven hours, and that materials include staples, hot glue and “love.”

This bauble-covered beauty is not the first creation of its kind on display in the window of Hitched, which also created a dress for Fashion Night Out.

Although the bridal and stationary boutique will be celebrating its seventh anniversary next week, the store will not be taking a break to rest on its laurels. According to Levine, many couples in the area get engaged during Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s, and one of the first things brides-to-be do are shop for their dress because the “gown sets the tone for the wedding.”

Jonathan Adler
Deliberately Kitsch
The retail space, formerly known as Gap Kids, has made a huge splash in Georgetown already with its amazing holiday windows. Because the store has so many windows, we were impressed at how well decorated they all were as a whole. All the paper chains in the windows are hand-made by the salespeople themselves. The brand’s “Style Craft Joy” theme is a clear influence.

Patisserie Poupon
Deliciously Festive
Patisseries Poupon’s larger than life window display was created by manager Martin Cotignola. He refers to the figure bedecked in cookies in the window as the “macaroon lady.” We loved the way that macaroons and doilies, things customers can find inside Patisserie Poupon, were used in the display. To celebrate the holidays, Patisserie Poupon will be having a raffle on Dec. 23 for a gift basket. Christmastime is one of the bakery and café’s busiest times of year, as the bakery sells “hundreds” of buches de Noel on Christmas Eve, says Cotignola.

The English Rose Garden
Festive Flora
“The bird is the word” for the florist near Wisconsin Avenue and O Street’s window, which is filled with feathers, birch branches, owls and amaryllises. Florist Tarameh Dadmarz says that it took about 40 minutes to decorate the window. With a wreath on every window, this is one of the most beautifully decorated buildings in Georgetown.

Georgetown BID Holiday Window Contest
There are many beautiful windows that are not here. Be sure to see all of them for yourself. The Georgetown BID is hosting its own holiday window contest.

The Georgetown BID’s theme for the holiday shopping season in Georgetown is “Deck the Halls, Forget the Malls”.

Participating stores are decorating their windows with up to four different materials of the store’s choice.

Photos of stores’ windows will be posted on the Georgetown BID’s official Georgetown Facebook page from Dec. 3. Facebook fans are invited to critique and like their favorite windows through Dec. 16

The store’s window with the highest amount of Facebook “Likes” will win.
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Top Democrats Name Anita Bonds Councilmember
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Top D.C. Democratic party leaders met Dec. 10 at Catholic University – in a conclave of sorts, as other media quipped – to select an interim councilmember. Filling the vacancy created when Phil Mendelson became District Council chairman because of Kwame Brown’s resignation, the group of elite Democrats named Anita Bonds, the chair of the D.C. Democratic State Committee – that’s the name for D.C. Democratic Party apparatus – an at-large councilmember. Bonds has with several mayors, beginning with Marion Barry in the 1970s. Other Democrats under consideration were former shadow representative John Capozzi and Doug Sloan, a Ward 4 advisory neighborhood commissioner.

According to WAMU, Bonds won 55 of the 71 votes. WAMU added: “Bonds currently works as an executive at Fort Meyer Construction, one of the biggest city contractors. She doesn’t plan to step aside from her role in that job, she said after the vote last night, but she will cut back on her hours. She also said questions about her outside employment bordered on chauvinistic. ‘Because in the past I’ve never heard a conversation about some of the council members — I’m not going to name names,’ she said. ‘You don’t ask those questions, how much they make in their law practice … how much they make as vice presidents of companies. But you’re very concerned about me … little old me.’ “

2012 Laureates Honored at Washington Business Hall of Fame Dinner
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Last Tuesday, Dec. 4, the Washington Business Hall of Fame honored its five 2012 Laureates at a dinner at the Washington Hilton Ballroom. The 25th annual event was co-presented by the Greater Washington Board of Trade, Junior Achievement and Washingtonian Magazine and chaired by Robert P. Pincus, vice chairman of EagleBank. Fox News’s Bret Baier emceed the event.

The event had a record attendance of approximately 1,400 people and raised more than $1.3 million for Junior Achievement of Greater Washington. Proceeds will go towards financial literacy programs for area youth. Junior Achievement serves 52,000 youths during the academic year through 525,000 hours academic programs.

The 2012 Laureates are Thomas Hale Boggs, Jr., chairman, Patton Boggs LLP; Giuseppe Cecchi, president, the IDI Group Companies; John R. Darvish, founder and president, Darcars; M. Charito Kruvant, president and CEO, Creative Associates International, Inc.; and Ronald D. Paul, chairman and CEO of EagleBank. The Washington Business Hall of Fame recognizes business leaders for their lifetime achievements through the private sector economy in Greater Washington. Laureates must demonstrate and had outstanding business accomplishments, visionary leadership, integrity and strong core values and passionate community engagement. Past laureates include Ted Leonsis, Ted Lerner and Katharine Graham.

Recently, 2012 laureate Ron Paul visited Junior Achievement’s Finance Park. “Walking off Finance Park gave me the hope that our children will have a better feel for the responsibilities they’ll have in volatile, difficult times.” Paul was pleased that the park teaches “real life experience, not theoretical.” [gallery ids="101103,138222,138216,138180,138211,138187,138207,138194,138201" nav="thumbs"]

Sprig & Sprout Shuts Down Temporarily — to Improve
• December 13, 2012

Well, this is refreshing: a restaurant gives itself a bad review — and plans to re-open as a better operation.

After experiencing unmanageably large amounts of customers and order on its opening day, the new Pho and Viet sandwich shop Sprig and Sprout on Wisconsin Avenue in Glover Park near Whole Foods closed it doors until Friday while it reassesses the way it runs its business.

Sprig and Sprout on Monday and was unable keep up with the high volume of customers, causing them to temporarily close in order to reassess just one day after their initial opening.

“Boo,” commented Ri Das on the Sprig and Sprout Facebook page, “After all that waiting you guys ran out of food before we could order. If you had answered your phone, could have at least saved us the trip.”

However, in spite of these initial hiccups, many people have positive things to say about Sprig and Sprout, and support for the restaurant seems to be strong.

“Rome wasn’t built in a day!” said Diana McLaughlin Forbes said on Facebook, “You’ll get it right, and soon. Good luck Friday!”

People also praised the business’s transparency and quality of food. Starting on Friday, Sprig and Sprout will re-open with limited hours.

“It’s going to take a few weeks for us to get better and find our groove, so instead of jumping into the deep end we are going to get in slowly,” the owners explained on Facebook.

The restaurant, located at 2317 Wisconsin Ave., NW, has posted new hours:

Friday, lunch only, 11 a.m to 4 p.m.
Saturday, dinner only, 5 p.m. to 10 p.m.
Sunday, 11 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.; 5:30 p.m. to 10 p.m.

Capitol & Union Station Tree Lightings (photos)
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The U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony took place on the West Front Lawn on Tuesday December 4. In 1964, House Speaker John W. McCormack suggested to J. George Stewart, Architect of the Capitol, that a Christmas tree be placed on the Capitol Grounds. The United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service has provided the trees since 1970. This year’s tree is a 73-foot Engelmann Spruce from the White River National Forest, near Meeker, Colorado. The tree was decorated with thousands of ornaments handcrafted by the people of Colorado. The tree will be lit from nightfall until 11:00 PM each evening through December 26. The tree arrived and was erected on the Capitolg grounds on November 26 after completing a 5500 mile journey. The lead truck was piloted by former United States senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell of Colorado. House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) and Ryan Shuster, a senior at Discovery Canyon Campus in Colorado Springs, pushed the button to light the tree.

The Norwegian Christmas tree lighting ceremony at Union Station was also held on Tuesday, December 4th. True to tradition, the Royal Norwegian Embassy gave a Christmas tree to the people of Washington, D.C. as a symbol of friendship between the United States and Norway. It also expresses Norway’s gratitude for assistance received from the United States during and after World War II. The Children’s Chorus of Washington performed. Due to damage to the building from the August 2011 earthquake, Union Station is currently under construction and seasonal decorations are limited. The Norwegian Christmas tree could not be erected inside the station this year, so the lighting ceremony was held outside the West Hall, on the porch facing 1st Street by the west exit of the Union Station Metro station.

View our photos by clicking on the photo icons below. [gallery ids="137621,137538,137532,137526,137519,137512,137506,137499,137492,137486,137546,137554,137614,137607,137600,137594,137587,137580,137574,137567,137560,137478,137472,137464,137380,137372,137366,137628,137360,137633,137353,137638,137643,137388,137395,137458,137450,137444,137438,137430,137424,137416,137410,137402,101084" nav="thumbs"]

Beijing, Shanghai in 7 Days
• December 12, 2012

“Want to go to China?” asked a media colleague. On his airline points, no less, so that he would rack up miles for premier status. Barely able to say, “Ni Hao,” with passport in hand, I applied for a visa on the Chinese Visa Office on Wisconsin Avenue in Glover Park.

Regarding my business buddy — whom I’ve known since our days at Georgetown University and worked with at conventions — I foresaw not only a dizzying week of movement and sightseeing, but a busman’s holiday. “We’re going to the warehouse,” he quipped.

Aloft from Dulles Airport, the pilot informed us that the 14-hour, non-stop flight, fewer than 7,000 miles, would take us over Greenland, the Arctic Ocean and Russia to Beijing. Snow-capped mountains north of the capital, as the plane flew south from Siberia, was the first glimpse of China. “On your left, you may see parts of the Great Wall,” the pilot said in her wake-call.
After customs check-in, officers simply waved us past luggage detectors. Amid info boards and ads, we noticed a display of items, such as weapons and drugs, not permitted to bring into the country that included a can of Spam.

“Welcome to Beijing,” said the friendly couple, walking near the City Wall Marriott. The street was filled with food stores, some slightly familiar, others quite local. First dinner in Beijing? Why, Peking Duck, of course. It was curious that there are no fourth or 13th floors at this Marriott but smoking allowed in some rooms. Bells at the old city wall were heard at certain hourly intervals.
A first day in China demanded a walk through Tiananmen Square. During the off-season, we seemed a bit out-of-place: two big, white guys from the West. A few persons took photos with us. Another at the hotel asked if we were in town for the Communist Party Congress. Not so, but my fellow traveler recalled his visit to Beijing 30 years ago as full of bicycles not cars, and much more haze.

At the square is Mao Zedong’s tomb, the People’s Palace and the National Museum. After the obligatory photo in front of the Tiananmen Gate with Mao’s large picture was a foray into the Forbidden City, a stunning micro-cosmos of beauty in the center of Beijing. This you can barely absorb in one day but surely see the Hall of Supreme Harmony, its biggest structure, and the Palace of Heavenly Peace. Yes, there is a moat.

The biggest must-see is the Great Wall of China, a day trip, with sections of the wall just 40 miles north of Beijing. We bypassed the touristy wall at Badaling with its Starbucks and ascended to the Mutianyu section, riding in a cable car; Bill Clinton used number 26, a sign assured. The views and epiphany-of-place reward the trek, if you can get past the souvenir hawkers. Standing atop the wall is one huge check on anyone’s bucket list. Here is one of those worldly sites where the reality exceeds the dream.
After the jade and enamelware (cloisonne) outlets, we stopped at the Olympic Park for the 2008 games and finished the day at Dr. Tea, sampling and buying a bit of all the tea in China. Vladimir Putin took some tea here. Before meeting our train at the new Beijing South Station the next morning, we shopped on a wholesale street few visitors frequent.

The train ride from Beijing to Shanghai — about 820 miles in five hours — was a real eye-opener, revealing a huge amount of cranes erected in the cities en route. This nation of contrasts is in a rush to maintain its economic growth.

Coming into Shanghai, we felt a little lost at the station before catching a cab to the Hyatt on the Bund. Nearing the Embankment, we stared at the buildings and then skyscrapers of Pudong across the Huangpu River. The colors and brilliance were potently, artfully electric and excited the mind’s eye.

The view from my 27th floor hotel room offered the iconic Oriental Pearl TV Tower, Jin Mao Tower and cityscape, and the Vue bar and restaurant atop the Hyatt is a perch not to be missed with its hot tubs — and all of Shanghai before you.

A place in motion, Shanghai is truly a city of the world and the future. At the Shanghai Circus, with its acrobatic acts, the ringmaster spun a porcelain vase on his head. I was eager to walk along the Bund and see the Customs House and old Signal Tower, as seen on “The Amazing Race.”

Next to modern facades are shops and eateries for city folk along with major Art Deco architecture from the 1930s; lunch at the Hotel Metropol. Nanjing Road stores are also lighted at night and have all that is offered on Fifth Avenue or Rodeo Drive as much as Xin Tian Di looked like it could be in Scottsdale or Santa Monica. Near the Sightseeing Pedestrian Tunnel, the Super Brand Mall looked like home with its “Merry Christmas” signs.

“Buy, buy, Shanghai,” they say. This city is a shopper’s paradise. A fine scarf, perfect necklace or leatherware — perhaps a Hello Kitty pencil case or an Angry Birds slingshot — at No. 1 Department Store? “What are you looking for?” said an unwanted street shopping guide. “I can find it for you.” How about a Mao ashtray or watch at the Dongtai Road antique market? Ready to take another taxi?

There is so much to this cool, cosmopolitan city of 23 million: from the past, the French Concession, Jade Buddha Temple, Jesuit Village or more. In the future-is-now category, the MagLev (magnetic levitation) train zips 19 miles to the airport at a maximum of 431 kilometers per hour (268 mph) at just over seven minutes. Had to try that.

Saying bye-bye to China, we flew to Los Angeles — 6,500 miles in less than 13 hours. After those shiny, big stations and airports, LAX seemed a little tired. “It’s not the MagLev,” intoned my fellow globetrotter. To combat jet lag, we spent a day in Los Angeles. Back in Washington, it had been a complete circumnavigation of the earth in one trip.

See more photos from Robert Devaney’s trip to China at www.Georgetowner.com. [gallery ids="101100,138038,138044,138050,138057,138063,138070,138076,138083,138031,138025,138019,138111,138105,137994,138100,138096,138000,138006,138013,138090" nav="thumbs"]