Fresh Face
Growing a Business At her new H Street floral studio, Debbie Moultry creates whimsical arrangements for gifts and events. including Toyota, the Corcoran Gallery of Art, the Congressional Black Caucus, and the Folger Shakespeare Library. Before opening her business, she earned certification through the U.S.D.A.’s Master Gardener program at the University of the District of Columbia and graduated from a two-year floriculture program at the Community College of Baltimore County. She also worked for three years as a planner at the Dixon Group, where she coordinated logistics and floral designs for congressional events in and around Washington. “It’s an adrenaline rush, keeping up with the timeline, the flowers, the placement of everything,” she says. Today, Moultry creates custom arrangements that are modern with a touch of whimsy, using unusual
Perfect Settings can insert LED lights in the tables.
New Customizable Tables Perfect Settings’ (202.722.2900, perfectsettings.com) new Chameleon Tables can be made bigger or smaller to create bars, buffets, and cocktail tables. The collection is constructed of welded steel frames that support four or more 15-inch panels that comprise the exterior of each piece. R E NTA LS The panels can be covered in a variety of materials, including fabric, wood, bamboo, and metal. Owner Peter Grazzini also will work with planners to create completely customized rentals. Prices range from $200 to $500 per piece. —Lisa Cericola
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Debbie Moultry with Mademoiselle Fleur, the shop’s mascot colors and pulling in elements of the outdoors. “That’s what I like my arrangements to look like, an extension of my garden, with sticks, stones, apple blossoms, everything natural,” she says. For a 2009 reception honoring Congresswoman Carolyn Kilpatrick during the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s annual Legislative Conference, Moultry used
mums, hydrangeas, and deep purple ornamental kale, with an eightfoot-tall arrangement of birch bark and orchids for the stage near the podium. “Everything is very bright, colorful, and out of the ordinary,” says Kim Rudolph, Kilpatrick’s chief of staff. “She is just a pleasant, nice person. Give her a budget and she’ll stick to the budget and make it very creative.” —Adele Chapin
STREET FOOD ON WHEELS Sâuçá (eatsauca.com) serves globally inspired street food around metro Washington. The menu includes soups ($4); salads ($5.50-$6.50); toffles ($4.50), BelgianCATE R I NG style waffles with different toppings; and sâuçás ($6.50-$7.50), griddled flatbread sandwiches with fillings like beef shawarma, pork bánh mì, and Mumbai butter chicken. There Sâuçá serves globally are 22 sauces, inspired fare. including chimichurri, white miso, barbecue sauce, tahini, and passion fruit mayo, all of which can be used for sâuçás. Event catering is available. —L.C.
PHOTOS: GREG POWERS FOR BIZBASH (PORTRAIT), COURTESY OF PERFECT SETTINGS, COURTESY OF RIPE.COM (SÂUÇÁ)
For years Debbie Moultry kept a clipping from a magazine showing what she imagined as her dream floral shop—a brick building with flowers blooming in window boxes and a garden courtyard. One day, she showed the picture to her sister, who pointed Moultry to a similar vacant storefront on H Street, in Northeast Washington’s rapidly revitalizing shopping district. In January 2008, the building became home to Nouveau Fleur (202.543.8616). The sign on the door advertises “gallery hours,” presenting Moultry’s flowers as works of art. “I like creating floral arrangements that will make you say ‘That’s beautiful’ and make you appreciate nature,” she says. Moultry’s cheery shop draws in customers from the neighborhood, as well as corporate clients