2007 State of the Circle
Michæl
Tonight I am honored to once again summarize the events of the past
year in Dupont Circle. On the same night that the president goes to
the Congress to deliver his nominations for the Academy Awards, I will
escort each of you down the red carpet and go behind the scenes of
Washington's most glamourous night. However, instead of Nancy Pelosi,
I have a new can of Pepsi.
The nominees for best new hotel are: Hotel Palomar, which replaced the
Radisson Barcelo. There are no other nominees, so congratulations to
Palomar for winning! Dupont actually lost a hotel, the Embassy Suites
at 20th & N, when it turned into rentals, becoming the Lofts at Dupont
Circle.
The nominees for best new retail shop are: The Meat Market Gallery,
which opened in the meat market half of Pena Spanish Market, which has
completely shut down, taking its rainbow-colored neon sign with it;
Terra, a high-design shop which replaced bookstore Kulturas after they
left town; and Biagio Fine Chocolate, which replaced Sticky Fingers
bakery after they moved to Columbia Heights. Nearby on 18th Street,
Red Onion Records & Books opened. Georgetown's Spectrum Gallery found
a new home nearby on 22nd St. P Street saw the opening of Dupont Pet
Shop, while three familiar faces closed their doors: Rock Creek,
Naturally Yours, and The 7th Day.
The nominees for best new restaurant are: Urbana, which replaced
Gabriel on P Street; the Fractured Prune, which opened in the old
Fairfax Deli spot; Montsouris, which filled in the space vacated by
Johnny's Half Shell when it moved to the Hill; Marrakesh Palace, which
finally opened in Mr P's old home, but with belly dancers in place of
drag queens - that is, assuming the belly dancers are technically
women; Jack's, which is the new version of Le Pigalle, which itself
was a newcomer in the old Peppers spot; and Mandu, which replaced
Mount Everest. New restaurants that weren't nominated even though
we're still happy to see them are: Naan and Beyond, replacing the P
Street Quiznos; Johnny Rockets; and Banana Leaves a revamped version of
Best Hunan space on Florida Avenue. Fab Lounge opened upstairs from the
Royal Palace. The long-expected Dunkin Donuts/Baskin-Robbins opened on
17th Street. At 16th & Rhode Island Avenue, restaurant Nage opened up.
China Cafe closed, making room for the Black Fox Lounge this spring.
But the biggest news for me was the closing of Wrapworks, which was a
huge hit when it first opened ten years ago. Coffeehouse Circa will
soon be taking over its space.
The nominees for best art direction are: The Phillips Collection,
which unveiled a major expansion and brought Renoir's masterpiece back
to Dupont Circle. That's the only nominee, so congratulations to the
Phillips!
Every year the Academy decides if there is anyone who merits one of
the special awards honoring someone with an extraordinary achievement.
This year two of our most prestigious awards are being presented.
The Irving Thalberg Award, for "creative producers whose bodies of
work reflect a consistently high quality," is awarded to Kimpton
Hotels for their contributions to Dupont's glamour. Kimpton burst onto
the scene when they opened Rouge and Topaz, and later Madera and
Helix. Hard to believe, but these properties used to be dumpy hotels
-
Helix was a dingy Howard Johnson's, Madera was a Clarion, Rouge was a
Quality Hotel, and Topaz was the Canterbury Hotel. Kimpton recognized
that Dupont is Washington's epicenter of hipness and opened hotels
that enhanced the neighborhood's aesthetics while providing a valuable
service. Each hotel has a lounge that attracts tourists as well
as locals. Though Kimpton is based outside DC, each hotel has a
distinctive personality and offers a more local perspective than even
home-grown megachain Marriott. With Palomar, they made the transition
from boutiques to a full-service hotel. With "art in motion" as the
theme, Palomar will bring artists to Dupont and feed a cycle of rising
expectations for design in our neighborhood. We look forward to having
other businesses rise to the challenge, and putting as much thought
into their designs as Kimpton has done. I am proud to have Kimpton in
our neighborhood, and even prouder to present them with this Irving
Thalberg Award.
The Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award, for "outstanding contributions
to humanitarian causes," goes to... me. The Academy wishes to honor me
for writing the Dupont Circle Update. On behalf of me, I accept this
award, and thanks to all the members of the Academy. Thank you for the
Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award.
Just as the Oscars have to put up with lesser awards like the Golden
Globes and the People's Choice Awards, so too must I review
previously-announced awards in other neighborhoods. Sometimes the
other awards can even be more exciting, though we all pretend the
Oscars are the only ones that really matter.
In the West End, the winner of the Most Significant New Development
Award goes to Trader Joe's, which finally opened its first-ever DC
grocery store. We hope it will be the first of many within our
borders.
The Mid City neighborhood wins the Most Dynamic Neighborhood award,
with many exciting changes, and more planned. New businesses include
pet hospital City Paws, clothing boutique Redeem, Som Records, and
coffee shop 14U. Fusebox sadly closed shop; Irvine Contemporary took
over the space. Titan was rebranded as Ramrod. Storehouse furniture
unexpectly closed, to be replaced by Gold + Williams. One vacant
storefront, at 14th and Church, was put to good use, becoming a
showcase for two fun art displays. Source Theatre teetered on the
brink of extinction, only to be saved by the Cultural Development
Corporation. Nearby on P Street, local institution Stoney's was
welcomed into its new home, replacing the P Street Bistro Cafe. On U
Street, we welcomed Axis Bar & Grill and womens clothing shop Caramel.
Shangi-La Day Spa opened, and the Best DC Supermarket got a
renovation. Meeps moved to Adams Morgan. Further east, 9th Street got
a chic new gay bar, Be Bar.
The award for Best Visual Effect goes to the Department of
Transportation, for their substantial makeover of Thomas Circle. The
circle has been restored to an actual park.
The award for Best Improvement goes to WMATA, for extending the Yellow
Line to Fort Totten.
A walk through our neighborhood is like a trip to the movies.
Sometimes it's a drama, or a comedy, or better yet a musical comedy.
Too often it's a slasher flick. Sometimes it's a political thriller,
or a foreign language art film. In a way, we are the cast and crew for
the movie that we star in, the movie of our lives. Some people help
with the makeup, others with the set or the script or the lighting.
So if you live here, shop here, play here, or visit here, you are a
member of the Academy. You pick the nominees and select the winners.
And together we work to make our neighborhood worthy of the Best
Picture award.
Best wishes for the coming year, and I'll see you in the sequel in
2008. Party on, and be excellent to each other.