Arlington Magazine Nov/Dec 2022

The Big Reboot

CHIEF INVESTMENT STRATEGIST SENIOR PORTFOLIO MANAGER

Mitch has over 30 years of experience helping clients navigate the complexity of nancial markets in both good and bad times. He also loves spending time with his family in Fairfax and playing bass guitar with his bandmates.

CON TENTS

32

The Big Reboot

Nothing like a hot employment market on the heels of a pandemic to prompt a bit of soul-searching. Some professionals are rethinking their careers.

40 Best Places to

Work

It’s not just about the paycheck. Find out why these companies made our second annual list of the best places to earn a living.

52

Top Attorneys

Our area’s most respected attorneys, as nominated by their peers in the legal community.

72

The Backup Plan

His daughter’s best friend was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer. So he started a biotech company that’s bringing a promising new treatment to light.

Happy Endings Hospitality employees bond over flag football.

VHC Health is the region’s preferred community health system. With our VHC Health app, community-centered, top-quality medical care is now right in the palm of your hand. So this holiday season, you always have access to our personalized, dependable care. For you. For life. Visit us at vhchealth.org.

CON TENTS

118 Shop Local

How to turn Grandma’s heirloom jewelry into modern pieces you’ll wear again and again.

120 Driving Range

12 Around Town

Celebrate the season with holiday markets, fairy-tale theater and Arlington’s annual Thanksgiving Day Turkey Trot.

18 Big Picture

Executives by day, rock stars at night. All hail the dad band.

20 Familiar Faces

Emptying trash bins and generating smiles—it’s all in a day’s work for this public servant.

24 My Life

Sometimes professional relationships run their course. Like that time a client broke up with me via drunk text.

84 Great Spaces

The owner’s Instagram feed inspired this picture-perfect powder room.

86 Prime Numbers

The area’s most expensive home sales. Plus, real-estate trends by ZIP code.

100 Restaurant Review

West Coast-style dining meets locally foraged ingredients at this Clarendon newcomer.

104 Home Plate

Where to order breakfast poutine, succulent kabobs—and lobster rolls, made three ways.

106 Places to Eat

Our dining guide includes bite-size writeups on more than 250 area restaurants and bars.

Need an escape from the grind? Cozy up at one of these welcoming winter destinations.

126 Get Away

Discover holiday gardens, a Broadway museum and a luxe Annapolis hideaway with a well-stocked whiskey cabinet.

128 Back Story

He started out recording punk bands in Arlington. Now his discography includes some of the biggest names in rock, grunge and folk.

letter from the publisher

Face Time

IT’S 4:15 P.M. on a weekday and my friend Jimmy and I are driving north on 95, heading to Philadelphia. Jim scored last-minute Pearl Jam tickets and invited me to go. If I still worked in an office with a strict set of expectations, I would have taken a hard pass and missed the fun. But given my work-fromhome reality and the flexibility it provides, I am able to be productive on the road and I’m looking forward to an awesome show.

Once upon a time, I reported to an office every day. I usually arrived before 8 a.m. and often worked until after 7 p.m., making sure my bosses knew I was putting in the hours. We called the need to be seen around the office “face time.” In hindsight, this expectation seems absurd. Yes, it’s important to build culture and relationships, and I valued the ideas that arose from organic hallway conversations, but the rigid hours and excessive amount of time spent in the office cancels out those benefits.

As a recovering workaholic, I view my time as a three-legged stool. One leg is the time spent on my career. Another leg is dedicated to my family and friends. The third leg is the time I invest in me—my intellectual and emotional development; the cultivation of my hobbies (come see my band sometime!); my physical health. They are not always equal thirds and the time spent on each ebbs and flows, but I have come to realize that I need to focus on all three and not just work all the time.

In our cover story, “The Big Reboot,” writer Helen Partridge examines post-pandemic and postGreat Resignation views toward work and how we spend our professional time. Record numbers of

people are starting their own businesses (LLC registrations in Virginia have increased 61% since 2019) and the term “quiet quitting” is now en vogue. People are also placing a premium on flexibility and are seeking deeper meaning in their careers.

Speaking of a deeper meaning, what if you could take your skills in lobbying and business development and use them to tackle a rare form of cancer? What if this cancer afflicted your daughter’s best friend? Many of our readers already know Paul Romness, a lifelong Arlingtonian, but you may not be familiar with the mission-driven company he recently launched. You can learn all about it in our story “The Backup Plan” by Wendy Kantor.

Before I let you go, we are hiring! We have open positions in advertising sales and editorial. Please visit arlingtonmagazine.com/job-openings to learn more, and share this information with anyone who might be a good fit.

I hope you enjoy our November/December issue of Arlington Magazine. This is issue No. 67, which puts us at 11 years and a couple of months. We feel fortunate to serve such a great community. Thank you for reading the magazine, advertising with us and supporting our work. Also, we love hearing from you. I can be reached at greg.hamilton@arlington magazine.com and our editor, Jenny, can be reached at jenny.sullivan@arlingtonmagazine.com. Thanks!

Greg Hamilton Publisher

Helen Partridge

LIVES IN: Arlington Ridge

ORIGINALLY FROM: “Newcastle, England, but I grew up in New Jersey, in a suburb of Philadelphia”

It is rare to have such a great experience with a business. Not only was Dr. Jaju great, but so was her entire staff from the front desk to the dental assistants. And the entire experience is done in such as way to put the kids (and their parents) at ease, and have a positive experience going to the dentist.

IN THIS ISSUE: Wrote our cover story about new work attitudes in a postpandemic world

CAREER PATH: A graduate of the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, Partridge previously worked as a television news writer and producer in Boston.

CURRENT CURIOSITY: “Taking a look at the winter sports industry in the D.C. area to see if there’s a story there”

WORK/LIFE: “I’ve been lucky to be able to stay home with our kids for a while. Now I’m getting back to work, but trying to do it from home, on my own terms. As a mom of three, Saturdays and Sundays can be my hardest-working days—between activities, meal prep and seemingly unending cleaning and house maintenance. I try to take small breaks, just for me, on Mondays and Tuesdays.”

DREAM JOB: “I’m living it! Just getting started on a from-home freelance reporting, writing and editing business. Wish me luck!”

ONLINE: helenpartridgewrites.wordpress. com

Eva Redamonti

LIVES IN: Brooklyn, New York

ORIGINALLY FROM: Connecticut

IN THIS ISSUE: Illustrated our cover and cover story on new work norms

CAREER SHIFT: “After graduating from Berklee College of Music in 2013, I found myself drawing more than making music—and getting positive feedback about my illustrations. My work is therapy for me. It focuses on topics such as futurism, psychedelia, mental health and technology.”

OTHER CLIENTS: The New York Times, Wired, Medium, Domestika, CNN, Adobe, New Scientist, Politico

CURRENTLY WORKING ON: “Some largescale graphite drawings alongside my editorial commissions”

ON BALANCE: “I decided once I went freelance that I should take weekends fully off to rest my body and my creative juices.”

DREAM JOB: “Exactly what I’m doing now, but with a little more traveling”

ONLINE: @evaredamonti_art (Instagram), @redamonti (Twitter), evaredamonti.com

PUBLISHER & CO-FOUNDER

Greg Hamilton

EDITOR

Jenny Sullivan

ART DIRECTOR

Laura Goode

PRODUCTION MANAGER

Danny Ryan

DIGITAL WRITER/WEB PRODUCER

Eliza Tebo

DINING CRITIC

David Hagedorn

COPY EDITORS

Sandy Fleishman, Barbara Ruben

CO-FOUNDER

Steve Hull

WRITERS

Tamar Abrams, Christine Koubek Flynn, Stephanie Kanowitz, Wendy Kantor, Colleen Kennedy, Pamela Lessard, Matt Mendelsohn, Kim O’Connell, Helen Partridge, Lisa Rabasca Roepe, Jennifer Shapira

PHOTOGRAPHERS & ILLUSTRATORS

Stacy Zarin Goldberg, Lisa Helfert, Tony J. Lewis, Deb Lindsey, Jane Love, Matt Mendelsohn, Eva Redamonti, Hilary Schwab, Joseph D. Tran, Denise Van, Michael Ventura

ADVERTISING ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES

Traci Ball, Kristin Murphy

FINANCE & CIRCULATION COORDINATOR

Julie Rosenbaum

ARLINGTON MAGAZINE is published six times a year by Greenbrier Media LLC © 2022

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MA GA ZINE

AROUND TOWN

By Colleen Kennedy

GOBBLING FOR GOOD

NOV. 24, 8 A.M.

Arlington Turkey Trot

Before indulging in turkey and stuffing, pull on your sneakers and run or walk a 5K to benefit a variety of local charities and community organizations. Now in its 17th year, the Arlington Turkey Trot draws more than 4,000 participants each Thanksgiving with the shared goal of helping neighbors in need. This year’s theme, “Community Partners United in Service to Others,” celebrates this tradition of giving and thankfulness. $50 for adults; $25 for kids 6-17; free for children 5 and younger. Online registration closes Sunday, Nov. 20, at 8 p.m. The racecourse begins at the corner of Garfield and Pershing, one block from Christ Church of Arlington, 3020 N. Pershing Drive, Arlington, arlingtonvaturkeytrot.org

PERFORMING ARTS

THROUGH DEC. 11

The Rainmaker

1st Stage

Written by N. Richard Nash and directed by Deidra LaWan Starnes, The Rainmaker tells the story of the Currys, an unlucky family of farmers, and the beguiling con man Starbuck who promises to bring much needed rain. Lizzie Curry, unmarried, pragmatic and plain, finds herself drawn to this mysterious stranger. How will Starbuck’s attentions help Lizzie see herself as a new woman with her own desires and needs? See website for show times. $50; $47 for seniors; $15 for students, educators and military. 1524 Spring Hill Road, Tysons, 1ststage.org

NOV. 18, 7:30 P.M.

Alton Brown Live:

Beyond the Eats

Capital One Hall

Food Network star and current host of Netflix’s Iron Chef reboot Alton Brown brings his love of all things edible to Tysons. Expect culinary feats, dangerous science, music and comedy, with a dash of mayhem. Tickets start at $45. 7750 Capital One Tower Road, Tysons, capitalonehall.com

NOV. 25-27

Tootsie

Capital One Hall

Sydney Pollack’s classic, gender-bending comedy starring Dustin Hoffman is given a musical makeover with a Tony-winning book by Robert Horn and a clever score by 2018

Tony winner David Yazbek. The plot follows out-of-work actor Michael Dorsey as he pads his bra, pulls on tights and lands the role of a lifetime. See website for ticket prices and show times. 7750 Capital One Tower Road, Tysons, capitalonehall.com

DEC. 1-23

Snow Maiden

Synetic Theatre

Based on a Russian folk tale, this tundraset version of Pygmalion chronicles a lonely man who builds a beautiful maiden from snow and falls in love with her ethereal beauty and elusiveness. Created and directed by Helen Hayes Award-winning choreographer Irina Tsikurishvili, it’s an all-ages holiday performance about love and hope. See website for show times. $25-$60. 1800 S. Bell St., Arlington, synetictheater.org

Arlington Turkey Trot director Mark Riley

■ around town

DEC. 2-3, 7 AND 9:30 P.M.

Dulcé Sloan

Arlington Drafthouse

A correspondent on The Daily Show with Trevor Noah since 2017, Dulcé Sloan has racked up millions of views with hilarious segments tackling issues of race and contemporary politics. $25. 2903 Columbia Pike, Arlington, arlingtondrafthouse.com

DEC. 2-18

The Christmas Angel

Creative Cauldron

In this spin on A Christmas Carol, an embittered spinster is confronted with her past and resolves to change the lives of those around her. Based on a forgotten novel, this musical is sure to become a future holiday classic. See website for show times. $30-$40; $20 for students. 410 S. Maple Ave., Falls Church, creativecauldron.org

DEC. 6-JAN. 22

Which Way to the Stage

Signature Theatre

For all the theater lovers—those who

REMEMBERING SONDHEIM

Into the Woods

Signature’s 2022-23 season is devoted to the works of Broadway legend Stephen Sondheim, who died in late November of 2021. Into the Woods invites us into a magical kingdom with giantesses, hungry wolves and fairy-tale princesses, all drawn from the works of the Brothers Grimm. The baker and his wife learn that, with every wish fulfilled, there may be consequences. Directed by Matthew Gardiner with songs representing some of Sondheim’s best lyrics—“No One Is Alone,” “Giants in the Sky,” “It Takes Two”—this enchanting musical is a holiday treat for all ages. See website for show times. $40-$109. Signature Theatre, 4200 Campbell Ave., Arlington, sigtheatre.org

have seen Wicked countless times, have stood outside of a backstage door hoping for an autograph and who cherish every playbill and ticket stub— this one’s for you. As besties and Broadway superfans Jeff and Judy await their idol, Idina Menzel, at the stage door of If/Then, they find their decadeslong friendship tested by a sexy stranger in this coming-of-age story for 30-somethings. Don’t get stuck waiting outside for this regional premiere, the directorial debut of Signature’s new associate artistic director Ethan Heard. See website for show times. $40$90. 4200 Campbell Ave., Arlington, sigtheatre.org

DEC. 21, 7:30 P.M.

A John Waters Christmas

The Birchmere

For those who are always on Santa’s naughty list, cult filmmaker John Waters (Hairspray, Pink Flamingos) is filling his sleigh full of tinsel and tawdry anecdotes and heading into town to spread some holiday profanity. The Pope of Trash plays St. Nick in this brash and jocular oneman special, not for the sentimental or faint of heart. $59.50. 3701 Mount Vernon Ave., Alexandria. birchmere.com

SEASONAL

DEC. 2-4

McLean Holiday

Art & Crafts Festival

McLean Community Center

Shop for unique gifts made by more than 80 regional artisans while you savor holiday music, coffee and pastries. $5; free for kids 12 and under. 1234 Ingleside Ave., McLean, mcleancenter.org/ special-events

DEC. 10, 10 A.M.-NOON

Milk & Cookies with Santa McLean Community Center

Santa Claus himself will host this family holiday event. Enjoy hot cocoa, milk and cookies with the jolly elf; meet other favorite holiday characters and partake in festive craft time, too. Children must be accompanied by an adult. Registration required. $20 per family; free for kids 2 and under. 1234 Ingleside Ave., McLean, mcleancenter. org/special-events

NOV 17

HOLLY BOWLING NOV 30 NOV 4

RUDRESH MAHANTHAPPA

PAUL HUANG, VIOLIN ANNE-MARIE MCDERMOTT, PIANO CHAMBER MUSIC AT THE BARNS NOV 11

EILEEN IVERS A JOYFUL CHRISTMAS NOV 27

THE DEL McCOURY BAND

JAN 19–21

JOHN LLOYD YOUNG HEART OF CHRISTMAS DEC 1

GEORGE WINSTON JAN 25 + 27

A.J. CROCE JAN 26

THE LAST BANDOLEROS FEB 24 AND MANY MORE!

STEPHEN KELLOGG NOV 5

ELIANE ELIAS

■ around town

ART

THROUGH NOV. 13

’Scapes

Falls Church Arts

Artists render landscapes, memoryscapes and dreamscapes in a variety of media for this group show. Admission is free and all art is for sale. Gallery hours 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Tuesday through Friday; 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. 700-B W. Broad St., Falls Church, fallschurcharts.org

THROUGH MID-JAN. 2023

Commemorating Arlington’s

Lunch Counter Sit-Ins

Shirlington Branch Library

In June 1960, peaceful sit-ins challenged segregation in Arlington. Visiting artist Amos Paul Kennedy Jr. commemorates this history in a series of letter-pressed cards and prints on display at the Shirlington Branch Library. Hours are 10 a.m.-8 p.m., Monday, Wednesday and Thursday; noon-5 p.m. Tuesday; 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Free. 4200 Campbell Ave., Arlington

NOV. 19 – JAN. 8

Bits & Pieces

Falls Church Arts

In Bits & Pieces, artists work with assemblage and collage, bringing disparate media together to make new art. Admission is free and all art is for sale. Gallery hours 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Tuesday through Friday; 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. 700-B W. Broad St., Falls Church, fallschurcharts.org

MUSIC

NOV. 2, 7:30 P.M.

Pink Martini featuring China Forbes

The Birchmere

Hailing from Portland, Oregon, Pink Martini transports listeners to La Belle Époque with jazzy standards from Cole Porter to Duke Ellington and the torch songs of chanteuses such as Edith Piaf. The band’s vintage vibe embraces a number of world music influences, including Latin, bossa nova, tango and European folk music.

China Forbes is the lead vocalist of this swinging orchestra that really knows how to class up a joint. $89.50. 3701 Mount Vernon Ave., Alexandria, birchmere.com

NOV. 5, 7:30 P.M.

Jewish Musical Treasures

National Chamber Ensemble

The National Chamber Ensemble opens its new season by commemorating Kristallnacht (“The Night of Broken Glass”) and the legacy of resiliency and musical artistry in Jewish culture. Internationally acclaimed clarinetist Julian Milkis and Cantor Arianne Brown are among the evening’s performers. The program includes Alexander Goldstein’s “Trio on the Roof,” a composition for violin, clarinet and piano inspired by Fiddler on the Roof. $38. Gunston Arts Center, 2700 S. Lang St., Arlington, nationalchamberensemble.org

NOV. 19, 9 P.M.

Lez Zeppelin: Earl’s Court ’75

The State Theatre

The all-girl quartet revives the set list from the epic 1975 concert series many critics

consider to be Zeppelin’s greatest of all time, with covers such as “Over the Hills and Far Away,” “Whole Lotta Love” and “Stairway to Heaven.” $27 in advance; $30 day of show. 220 N. Washington St., Falls Church, thestatetheatre.com

NOV. 29-30, 7:30 P.M.

Musiq Soulchild

The Birchmere

The multiple Grammy Award nominee brings his signature blend of R&B, funk, blues, jazz and gospel infused with a hiphop sensibility to the stage for a smooth and soulful evening. $89.50. 3701 Mount Vernon Ave., Alexandria, birchmere.com

NOV. 30, 8 P.M.

Holly Bowling

Wolf Trap

Come out and jam. San Francisco-based pianist Holly Brown performs classically inspired piano covers of tunes by The Grateful Dead, Phish and other legendary jam bands. Doors open at 6:30 p.m.

Tickets start at $32. The Barns, 1635 Trap Road, Vienna, wolftrap.org

DEC. 3, 8 P.M.

Natalie MacMaster and Donnell Leahy: A Celtic

Family Christmas

George Mason University Center for the Arts

The husband-and-wife fiddling duo return to GMU with an evening of Celtic holiday classics. This night of spirited songs and traditional Irish dance is for audiences of all ages. $33-$55 (half-price tickets available for youth through grade 12). 4400 University Drive, Fairfax, cfa.gmu.edu

AUTHORS & BOOKS

NOV. 10, 7-8:30 P.M.

Arlington in the 1920s: A Photographic Tour

Reinsch Library Auditorium, Marymount University

Tour guide and local historian Peter Penczer will bring the past back to life,

sharing an archive of 1920s photography of Arlington. See how the city has changed over a century, from the Roaring 1920s to today. Free. Register by Nov. 9 to attend virtually, via Zoom. 2807 N. Glebe Road, Arlington, arlingtonhistoricalsociety.org

NOV. 17, 6 P.M.

An Evening with Andrea Elliott

Arlington Central Library

The author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning book Invisible Child: Poverty, Survival & Hope in an American City will join Library Director Diane Kresh and Anita Friedman, director of Arlington County’s Department of Human Services, to discuss her book. This event will be held in person and livestreamed for registered attendees. RSVP for an event reminder. Free. 1015 N. Quincy St., Arlington, library.arlingtonva.us

Got a calendar event we should know about? Submit it to editorial@arlingtonmagazine.com

big picture ■ Story and photo by Matt Mendelsohn

All Hail the Dad Band

JEFF JOSEPH MIGHT BE an executive for a global communications agency, but for the moment—as his band, Manther, re-emerges from Covid hibernation to play a packed gig at Ballston Local—he’s ditched the suit and tie. Surveying the crowd, he ponders whether the sarcasm of the term “dad band” is unfair because it excludes garage-rockin’ moms.

“We’re men of a certain age,” Joseph says with a wink. “Male cougars. It’s always about community and it’s always about fun.”

Sofiia Hordiiuk

Therein lies one of Manther’s many mantras: Don’t take yourself too seriously. Also, don’t overstay your welcome. And, the more you drink, the better we sound.

Like many dad bands, Manther covers ’80s and ’90s hits, but the fun part really lies in the band’s own tonguein-cheek songs, like “Soccer Mom” and “Harris Teeter Wife” (though some lyrics aren’t suitable for print).

You broke my heart in the checkout lane/ You went express with 24 items/ You went triple-bag plastic/ which seemed kind of wasteful…and un-Ar-

lingtonian…..one two three four…. I’m going to the Harris Teeeeettttter!!

Manther, formed in 2010, is made up of six Arlington guys…er, dads: Joseph, Mark Whittington, Marc Wallace, Rich Taylor, Chris Ulery and Thad Bingel. “We’ve got attorneys, technologists, restaurant entrepreneurs.” (Wallace is the co-founder of District Taco.)

“This becomes a creative outlet. It’s a brotherhood.

“Four of us met when our kids were at Nottingham Elementary,” Joseph continues. “Rich and I met almost 30

years ago when we worked together. Ulery is the ‘new guy,’ having joined us now six or seven years ago. Kind of like how they still refer to Nils Lofgren as the new guy in the E Street Band even though he’s been with them for like 50 years.”

Manther tries to play a gig once a quarter. “We’re astonished to see our legend continue,” he says. “But it’s a low bar—maybe we’re not as bad as we thought. Then again, we do still have to beg people to come see us play.”

Joseph laughs at the term “front

man”—“I’m the only one who posts on Facebook”—but he does get serious when talking about the nonprofits the band supports with its shows. “We always play for a charity, always for a cause,” he says, citing Kelli Taylor and the Free Minds Book Club & Writing Workshop as a favorite. The organization sends books to inmates in the D.C. jail, “sharing the life-changing power of reading, writing and community building,” according to its mission statement.

As the bar grows rowdier he reverts to self-deprecation with a sentimental refrain. “It’s a party. Odes to women of a certain age by men of a certain age, celebrations of what brings people together in our community. The joy is infectious. And it’s such a thrill to look out at all the young people singing and dancing.”

With that, a young woman wearing a “Happy 21st” birthday sash spins in front of the stage. “Happy Birthday, Eva!!” Joseph screams into the mic. “I’ve known her her whole life!” Community, indeed. ■

From left: Rich Taylor, Mark Whittington, Jeff Joseph and Chris Ulery

One Man’s Treasure

Floyd Washington is an essential worker in more ways than one.

FLOYD WASHINGTON was making the rounds in Westover on a sunny June morning. He had just stopped his sanitation truck to allow a young mother with an infant to cross Washington Boulevard when he noticed a car speeding east, heading straight toward her in the crosswalk.

Washington leaned on the horn with his full weight and the driver screeched to a halt within feet of hitting the

woman and her baby. “That horn sounds like an air raid siren and it sure made that guy stop,” he says.

Tragedy thus averted, he turned his truck onto a side street, hopped out and began emptying trash bins. “I felt joyful, and I know it was God’s work,” he says.

Floyd—not to be mistaken for his brother Lloyd or his other brother, Larry, both of whom have also worked for Arlington’s Solid Waste Bureau—

is a bit of a local celebrity. Featured in social media posts from the county’s Department of Environmental Services (DES), he’s the jovial and upbeat face of an essential service that doesn’t always get much respect.

He has many fans. “When he’s on his rounds for the county, Floyd’s sharing that infectious joy with everyone he comes across,” says DES spokesman Peter Golkin. “He’s a goodwill ambas-

■ familiar faces

sador in a safety vest. Any rough day ends the moment you bump into him.”

During the worst of the pandemic, Washington was featured in a series of DES video tweets using the hashtag #TheOtherFirstResponders. Flashing a smile as radiant as his fluorescent yellow jacket, he asked residents to stay safe, maintain social distance and to please dispose of used masks in garbage cans. (The tweets also reminded homebound viewers that certain frontline jobs, like cleaning storm drains and collecting trash, couldn’t be teleworked.)

His local fame predates Covid. In September 2018, a citizen snapped and tweeted a photo of him pausing to help a person in a wheelchair at the Clarendon Metro Station—urging DES to excuse him for being a little behind on the day’s cleanup, given that he was otherwise occupied.

Washington, 60, is an Arlingtonian, born and bred. “Growing up, I lived

in Halls Hill, now called High View Park,” he says. “My mother was a custodian for Fairfax County and was the provider, the Mama Bear. My father did odd jobs after leaving the military.”

The second youngest of seven children, he lived next door to his grandmother. He recalls fondly how she would step outside and hit a triangle to call everyone home for dinner.

Money was tight, he says, but adventures were plentiful during his years at Yorktown High School. When he wasn’t doing temp work for Arlington Parks & Rec, he and one of his brothers and friends would go camping and hiking, and to rock concerts.

North Arlington is still his home today, a place that holds many memories. He points out neighborhoods and landmarks that he associates with aunts, uncles, cousins, friends. He remembers some racism from his youth—the occasional person who

feared him because of the color of his skin—but doesn’t like to dwell on it. He prefers to talk about the people who have brightened his days, and how he has tried to brighten theirs.

After landing temp work with DES in the late 1990s, Washington was hired full-time in 2000 as a “litter picker upper” in Clarendon. He would begin his job early in the morning, clearing away bottles and cigarette butts before people left home for work or school. “I didn’t want parents having to explain to their kids why there were so many beer cans on the street,” he says, “and I didn’t want people heading to work to step in dog poop.”

But it was never just about the litter: “As I was cleaning, I would say ‘Good morning!’ to every person I saw,” he says. “Kids would wave, even with little, tiny hands. It helped me to get more involved in the community.”

One little boy gave Washington a

Welcome back, Arlington friends! We grew stronger in our time apart.

Let us help you lower your risk factors for optimal health.

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birthday card, written in preschool scrawl, that he still treasures.

“When you take pride in your work, people see that,” he says. In the same breath, he makes a sweeping gesture around the Courthouse area, announcing that all of the trash cans have been emptied for the day.

Four years ago, Washington’s wife, Adele, died of breast cancer. He says working helped him move through the grief, bringing joy and purpose to his daily routine.

There’s always work to be done. Bad weather—particularly snow and ice—means all-hands-on-deck for the Solid Waste Bureau, as crews assemble to shovel bus stops, bridges and emergency route sidewalks.

Washington says he has no plans to retire. In addition to his day job, he works as a landscaper and volunteers for extra shifts with DES on weekends. He reads daily verses from the Christian Scientists.

He is proud of his daughter, Shalya, who lives close by, and he makes Sunday visits to his wife’s grave in Annandale. Her death reminds him of the importance of life and people.

Though his work schedule leaves little time to spare, he wouldn’t mind seeing a few more rock concerts. Bands and artists on his wish list— shaped by his coming-of-age in the 1970s and ’80s—include Foreigner, Heart, Stevie Nicks, Bad Company and Bryan Adams.

At the end of the day, all conversations come back to joy and compassion. “Everybody has to look out for each other,” says the man who says hello to everyone he passes.

How does he hope others will respond? “Wave and ask, ‘How are you doing?’ And just smile.” ■

After 43 years in the D.C. area, Tamar Abrams recently moved to Rhode Island, where she can see the ocean when she wakes up. She has taken magical memories of the people and places in Arlington and Falls Church with her.

Endless Possibilities

by Pamela Lessard | Photo by Lisa Helfert

Jilted on the Job

It is business. And it is personal.

I DIDN’T EXPECT her to break up with me via drunk text. After nearly five years together, our relationship came to an abrupt halt when she fired off a series of inebriated, insulting messages from an evening event she was attending.

We’d been planning to meet up the next morning. She canceled last-minute, just like she had so many times before. She expected me to be unbothered by this behavior, but I wasn’t.

We weren’t dating, mind you. She was my client.

I’m a personal trainer, and my relationships with clients are more than transactional. Many want to lose weight and tone up—either for a special occasion or just to be healthier. Setting achievable goals requires that I first gain an understanding of each person’s mindset and why they struggle with fitness or weight gain. In the process, their insecurities tend to show.

Like hair stylists, real estate agents and massage therapists, people in my line of work end up privy to all kinds of details about our clients’ lives. We become their confidants.

We are also asked—and paid well— to hold them accountable. To make sure they show up, even when they don’t want to. To help them eat healthier or perhaps cut back on the booze. To listen to infinite details about their lives, from the mundane to the intimate.

Because we spend so much time together, clients learn a lot about me, too. I like to tell stories about my dog, who is one of the great loves of my life. We talk. A lot! I’ve literally had clients

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say, “Keep talking. Tell me a story!” as they complete a set of lunges or hold a plank position for time.

If I can find common ground on a subject—insomnia, favorite restaurants, vacation spots, my latest klutzy minor injury—we talk about those things. We laugh. It’s a relationship. They need that sense of connection to keep coming back.

So yes, personal training is personal. Getting in shape is both physically and mentally taxing. Some people spend more time with their trainer than they do with a partner or friend, which makes the line between professionalism and camaraderie rather fuzzy. I have met clients for coffee or dinner. A few have joined me for team obstacle races or pickleball games. Some who have moved away keep in touch and continue to use my services via Zoom sessions.

I invest a lot of effort in maintaining these relationships. I plan creative

workouts, week after week, to keep their interest up. I create special birthday workouts and allow guests to participate at no extra charge. I keep track of things that are important to my clients—weddings, travels, kids, pets.

It’s not easy to absorb tales of family tragedies, private struggles and other topics that carry weight while counting reps, correcting their form and thinking ahead to the next exercise. But again, this is what makes it personal, and makes the experience rewarding for both parties. I know I’m making a positive, lasting difference in someone’s life.

Sometimes relationships simply run their course. The night my client texted me to cancel—in what had become a pattern of narcissistic behavior with little regard for my time—was clearly the last straw for us both. The signs of strain were impossible to ignore.

It’s normal for clients and trainers to part ways. Perhaps you get tired of

each other, or the sessions become too expensive, or your schedules no longer jibe. It’s okay. But as with all kinds of human relationships, there’s a respectful way to end things.

When someone spews venom at you, especially when you believe you have given so much, it hurts, even in a professional situation. I’m still processing how this one ended and how to better navigate the client/trainer relationship down the road.

Hard knocks can be learning opportunities. I’m hoping this one will make me better for the next client. ■

Pamela Lessard is a “reformed communications professional” who turned her love of exercise into a fitness-industry career in 2010. She lives in Arlington with her husband and dog, and has been rejoined by her daughter, who recently returned to the area from Denver to pursue a master’s degree at American University.

Senior Services Profiles

Vinson Hall Retirement Community

Independent Living at Vinson Hall Retirement Community is open to commissioned U.S. military officers and immediate family as well as leadership level government employees, GS-14 or higher. The assisted living, skilled nursing, long-term nursing and memory care communities are open to the public.

6251 Old Dominion Drive McLean, VA 22101

703-536-4344 www.vinsonhall.org

From ancient campfires to modern-day fast-casual cuisine, food has always been at the heart of human life. This is clearly evident on the campus of Vinson Hall Retirement Community (VHRC), where residents savor delightful flavors and the social atmosphere of three dining venues.

From the crystal chandeliers and the linen tablecloths of the Penthouse Dining Room to the relaxed and casual feel of the Fred Johnson’s Bistro, residents are treated to exquisite fare served by a team of friendly professionals. Additionally, The Café, currently closed for renovations, will reopen refreshed and reimagined as a place to pick up breakfast and lunch, plus groceries and other convenience items.

Despite the challenges of the past few years, the dining team continues to be

innovative and customer-focused. For example, in addition to fine cuisine, residents are treated to special events, including the “Eating Well = Aging Well” nutrition seminars and parties to celebrate the Kentucky Derby and the Super Bowl.

This commitment has earned VHRC numerous dining accolades, such as the Nutrition and Foodservice Education Foundation’s “2022 Foodservice Department of the Year Award,” for which VHRC was selected among nationwide providers of food service in health-care settings.

The VHRC team prides itself on offering the right combination of choice and convenience. That’s why residents soon will be able to participate in a flexible meal plan as a complement to the traditional a la carte program.

From left: Operations Manager Ghizlane Aiad; Executive Chef Nik Chanthavisouk; Resident Sherman Eagan

Goodwin Living

“When I was with the Goodwin Living Foundation, I fell in love with Goodwin House Bailey’s Crossroads. I told my sons that when it was time, that was where I wanted to live. That’s exactly what I did, and I have absolutely no regrets.” —Stefanie Reponen

4800 Fillmore Ave., Alexandria, VA 22311

3440 S. Jefferson St., Falls Church, VA 22041

703-578-7201

www.GoodwinLiving.org

Goodwin Living (formerly Goodwin House) has been redefining aging since 1967. With a solid reputation for providing the best in senior living and healthcare, Goodwin Living covers the entire aging journey. It offers a full range of options including three campus locations, an aging-at-home program, an innovative brain health program called StrongerMemory, and specialized services such as home health, therapy and hospice.

Navigating the aging journey can present unexpected obstacles. Goodwin Living helps older adults plan for whatever may come along, both anticipated changes and those that are unpredictable. With a focus on total health and wellness, Goodwin Living strives to ensure older adults can thrive and stay engaged at every stage of life.

Over its 55-year history, Goodwin Living has also established itself as one of the region’s best employers. For four consecutive years, Goodwin Living has been selected as a Washington Post Top Workplace. This award is based solely on employee surveys.

The longest tenured team member currently working at Goodwin Living has been with the organization since 1970, and some team members later return as residents or clients. Stefanie Reponen (pictured) served as executive director of the Goodwin Living Foundation from 1994 to 2007, and she became a resident of Goodwin House Bailey’s Crossroads in 2019. Perhaps there is no better testament to an organization that serves a mission to support, honor and uplift the lives of older adults and those who care for them.

The Jefferson

900 N. Taylor St. Arlington, VA 22203

703-516-9455

www.sunriseseniorliving.com/communities/ the-jefferson

“With all levels of senior living under one roof, The Jefferson offers for-sale condominiums with no buy-in fee beyond the price of the unit, with access to community meals, activities, housekeeping and transportation.” —Juli K. Swanson, LNHA, CMCA, Executive Director and General Manager

Residents at The Jefferson report a strong sense of community as well as individual happiness. More than half participate in Google Groups, a great communication tool that announces everything from discounted entertainment tickets and nearby happy hours. Jeffersonians, as they call themselves, like to share what they love about their home.

One of many things they love is The Jefferson’s top-notch fitness and wellness program, which includes something for everyone: water aerobics, a walking club, Tai Chi, three types of yoga, total body fitness, line dancing and more.

Jeffersonians appreciate having different levels of fitness activities from novice to

advanced classes as well as personal training. The heated pool is a favorite for classes, swimming laps or just relaxing.

“The Jefferson’s swimming pool may be small,” says resident Verne Vance, “but its water aerobics program is large.” With three forty-five-minute sessions weekly, it is a vigorous, varied exercise program that addresses every part of the body to make it perform at its best.

“Each morning when I step into the 92-degree water, I know how necessary this sparkling pool is,” says resident Desmond Curran. “Initially each lap takes me 18 strokes. By the time I reach my 20th lap only eight strokes are required. My enfeebled body rebounds with strength for the day’s needs. How lucky I am to be here at the Jefferson!”

Culpepper Garden

Culpepper Garden is Northern Virginia’s largest rental community for low-income people over age 62, with 273 independent living apartments and 73 assisted living apartments, all HUD subsidized. The only such community that includes assisted living, residents enjoy its beautiful, expansive gardens.

4435 N. Pershing Drive Arlington, VA 22203 703-528-0162 www.culpeppergarden.org

Serving low and extremely low-income older adults in Arlington, Culpepper Garden is an enormous blessing but also has enormous challenges. One of their primary goals in 2023 and beyond is to reach out to corporations in the community to help build and sustain funding that will continue to support the most vulnerable, older adults in Arlington.

There is a great need for subsidized care along with the HUD rental subsidy in assisted living, and Culpepper Garden is one of the few places in the United States to do so because of the cost. “The current waiting list for assisted living is over a year. Of the 17 people on the wait list, all but one requires a subsidy. Our independent living waiting list is over two years. Along with our partner, Arlington County, we

stretch financially each year to accomplish our mission,” says executive director Marta Hill Gray. “Our goal is to provide funding for all 73 assisted living apartments occupied by care subsidy residents. These are the neediest of our population and, without the care subsidy, they have very few options at the end of their lives.”

“Another blessing is our volunteers. They are our lifeblood, interacting with residents in fun and engaging ways,” says Gray. “This has been especially important after the difficult period of isolation we’ve had with the pandemic.” With staff, volunteers will be working on spring events that showcase the abundant daffodils when they are in their glory. All are welcome at the annual fundraiser in early June.

From left: Jasmin Witcher, Development & Communications Director; Paul Timpane, Director of Property Operations; Marta Hill Gray, Executive Director; Kim Brathwaite, Assisted Living Administrator

Woodleigh Chase

Experience the exciting new senior lifestyle coming soon to Fairfax, VA. Woodleigh Chase will offer carefree retirement living in the perfect location. Choose from a portfolio of spacious apartment homes. Enjoy the convenience of resort-style amenities and stay healthy in mind and body with services to enhance your well-being.

4595 Burke Station Road, Fairfax, VA 22032 1-888-377-2032 www.woodleighchase.com

Chase sales team (from

Erickson Senior Living is known for creating and managing vibrant continuing care communities. With a 40-year commitment to delivering exceptional care and services, they present their newest community, Woodleigh Chase, coming to Fairfax, Virginia. It will offer active, independent living and higher levels of care on a beautiful campus off of Braddock Road, three miles from George Mason University, a location that is close to plenty of desirable shopping, dining and entertainment.

Woodleigh Chase residents, who will enjoy the style and ease of maintenance-free living, can choose from a variety of stylish, openplan apartment homes that suit every need and budget. Luxurious one- and two-bedroom floor plans are available. Features include patios, balconies, quartz countertops, crown molding, soft close cabinetry, double vanities in most primary bathrooms and abundant square footage.

Amenities will include a state-of-the-art fitness and aquatics center, a bocce court, dog park, unisex hair salon and spa, and spaces for learning, hobbies, and socializing. Multiple dining venues will each have their own unique ambiance. A full range of health and well-being services will be available at the on-campus medical center. And beyond Fairfax, residents will have easy access to the many cultural and recreational activities in the capital region.

All are welcome to visit the Woodleigh Chase team at the sales center, where there are renderings of the planned community and information about the timeline and the smart financial structure that can provide seniors with consistency and peace of mind.

Woodleigh

left): Arvie Santos, Dawn Donnelly, David Taylor and Nahid Young

The Reboot BIG

For many professionals, Covid was a reckoning. The way we work may never be the same again.

BY HELEN PARTRIDGE

TTHE PANDEMIC TRIGGERED countless changes in how we live, but perhaps none as seismic as the way we work. After months of logging in from home—or reporting to jobs in the community under stressful, if not lifethreatening, conditions—many of us began to reevaluate how we earn our livelihood and what we want most, besides a paycheck.

Old norms have been upended. Many have left office life forever. Remote work is here to stay. Suits and heels are gathering dust. Flexible hours are the new 401(k).

What’s more, the ladder-climbing compulsion to curry favor by clocking obscene hours is no longer the American way. A September Gallup poll found roughly half of U.S. workers “quiet quitting”—staying in the same job but working less, detaching emotionally and setting boundaries, such as refusing to check email in the evening or on weekends.

Entrepreneurship, meanwhile, is on the rise, with many finally acting on the dream of being their own boss. In Virginia, registrations for new limited liability corporations (LLCs) inched

higher and higher with each year that the pandemic dragged on. In 2021, the Commonwealth processed more than 116,000 LLC registrations, up from about 95,000 in 2020 and about 72,000 in 2019, according to the State Corporation Commission.

One of those freshly minted LLCs was emPOWER Kids, the business Arlington resident Jenni Hogan founded in November 2020, in part out of a desire to give back.

During the height of the pandemic, Hogan, a former Arlington County gymnastics coach, saw parents struggling to do their jobs from home while also caring for young children. Realizing that everyone needed a break, she started a company that offers gymnastics and mindfulness classes for kids (with Covid precautions). It was an unusual move at a time when most enrichment programs for children were virtual or closed.

“I think the mental health effects of Covid and not having socialization... was really taking a toll [on kids],” says Hogan. She thought youngsters could benefit from seeing their peers and also having “another caregiver that honored them and listened to them.”

At first, she rented space inside another fitness studio in Pentagon City, hosting small groups of kids while gymgoers worked out on the other side of the room. For safety, she opened up the studio’s retractable garage doors, spaced her young tumblers out on mats, and required masks, temperature checks and hand sanitizer. Parents jumped at the opportunity and classes filled up.

By September of 2021, Hogan’s enterprise had grown so successful that she was able to open her own studio on King Street in Alexandria. She’s been expanding ever since, hiring full-time employees and adding ninja and yoga classes, and summer camps.

Starting a business required some sacrifices—initially she was working seven days a week, and she didn’t take a salary the first year. But being selfemployed also gave her the flexibility to do more things with her own children, such as volunteer for school field trips.

“My husband, Jim, and I talked about it, and [decided that] even if we ended up not making money, this is still a service to the community,” Hogan says. “This is still something that brings me joy.”

■ the big reboot

AMID THE GREAT RESIGNATION,

employers scrambled to attract new workers and keep the ones they had. Though the latest economic indicators suggest a turnaround is afoot, workforce experts say the pandemic reshuffle will nevertheless result in a job market that’s forever changed.

“We have seen people not only thinking about what they’re doing, but who they’re doing it for. And really wanting to work for organizations that have a strong purpose—that are supporting the greater good,” says Elise Freedman, senior client partner at Korn Ferry, a global executive recruiting firm with offices in Reston and clients in Arlington.

The pandemic yielded an unprecedented period of self-reflection. For

some workers, it became a time of desperation, unemployment or a struggle to care for family members. For others, it presented opportunity.

A record 47.4 million Americans voluntarily quit their jobs in 2021, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, continuing a trend that began well before Covid. With the exception of 2020, quit rates have risen steadily, by about one tenth of a percentage point per year, since 2009, according to a recent labor market analysis by Harvard Business School’s Project on Managing the Future of Work. By mid-2022, there were more job openings nationwide than there were workers to fill those positions, giving job seekers considerable leverage.

In June, Arlington’s unemployment rate was 2.1%—the lowest in the Commonwealth—with Falls Church a close second at 2.2%, according to the Virginia Employment Commission. To attract top candidates, employers have been rolling out the red carpet and upping the ante with higher compensation and more attractive benefits.

“There’s just such a war for that talent,” says Freedman. “If your company isn’t providing what they’re looking for and a great environment, they can easily go elsewhere.”

While some workers will jump ship for a higher salary, from what she’s seeing, that’s not what makes employees stay. “It’s not that people don’t want the money or that it’s not important. What

Trainer Vanessa Olson teaches a gymnastics class at emPOWER Kids, a local business launched during the pandemic.

we’re finding is that it’s not enough. If you don’t have a place where you respect and trust leadership, where the company thinks diversity and inclusion is important, if [employees] don’t have any say in how work is getting done—that’s where we’re seeing more and more turnover.”

Workers want to be in a place where they can grow and advance, and they want to know they’re being paid fairly and equitably, Freedman says. “Every client, even the biggest names that weren’t used to having to market for employees—people would come to them because of who they were—they’re having trouble attracting and retaining. It’s definitely a universal problem.”

Amazon’s arrival in Arlington, with the promise of 25,000 new jobs, has further intensified the talent war locally. The company has hired more than 5,000 so far, but it still has thousands of “roles for all kinds of backgrounds,” says PR manager Zoë Hoffmann, “and remains committed to providing competitive compensation, top-tier benefits and career advancement opportunities.”

Unlike other employers, the tech giant wasn’t hobbled by the labor shortage, according to Hoffmann. She says that on average, tenure across all Amazon locations stayed the same or increased during the pandemic. All full-time positions (from corporate and tech employees to warehouse workers and delivery drivers) come with up to 20 weeks of paid parental leave, free skills and career advancement training, health care and 401(k) plans. She says there are also opportunities for those with no formal qualifications to receive on-the-job training and education.

FOR ARLINGTON resident Chrissy Bistline-Bonilla, the pandemic was a dark time that prompted her to completely rethink her life goals and what she had always considered her ideal job in academia.

The future seemed bright in March of 2020. She was in the middle of writing a

nearly 300-page dissertation, working toward her Ph.D. in Spanish Linguistics at Georgetown University, and was earning a graduate student stipend for her work as a teaching assistant there.

She was also helping to manage the painting business she and her husband, Manny, had started a few months earlier, which gave him the flexibility to care for their two young children while she worked.

Then her lifelong dream came true: She accepted a job as a tenure-track professor at Colorado State University. Two days later, lockdown began.

“Covid hit and I could not concentrate for the life of me,” says BistlineBonilla, remembering the constant interruptions of her then 2-year-old and 6-month-old.

Soon that was the least of her problems. As quarantine dragged on, the painting jobs evaporated and her family was unable to pay their rent in Arlington. They moved in with her mother in Pennsylvania for a few months until she defended her Ph.D. by videoconference and they moved out to Colorado, where she started her new job.

That’s when they realized that

Chrissy Bistline-Bonilla, with her family in Arlington, moved three times during Covid.

■ the big reboot

transplanting the family painting business to a new market wasn’t going to work. People were fearful of Covid and reluctant to bring contractors inside their homes. And they were living in an area populated with students—not homeowners in need of painting jobs.

In the fall of 2020, Colorado State decided to resume in-person classes. Bistline-Bonilla says watching her students struggle was hard. She felt students and professors were not getting the support they needed. “I felt that [the university was] more concerned with their bottom line than with the health of their faculty, staff and students,” she says.

She began to reconsider the career she’d always thought she wanted. “In academia, I’m always replaceable. There are so many Ph.D.s out there— and so many Ph.D.s that can no longer get a job. More and more universities are hiring adjuncts. They’re trying to find ways to save money. And so my

thought was, Where am I not replaceable? I’m not replaceable to the [painting] business.”

The unexpected discovery that she was pregnant with their third child might have been a financial hardship, but it ended up being a blessing in more ways than one. Bistline-Bonilla was able to get an exemption to teach remotely and the family moved back to Arlington, where they restarted their painting company. “You don’t really see too many people with a Ph.D. managing a painting business full time. That’s what I’m doing,” she says, in retrospect calling it the best decision she could have made.

Fast-forward to today and Handy Manny’s Painting is booming. They are hiring new employees. Bistline-Bonilla continues to teach, part time, as an adjunct professor of Spanish at George Washington University. The family has three young kids and they just bought their first house in Arlington. She says

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the pandemic helped her realize how she really wanted to live her life. “If it hadn’t been for Covid we would have never left Colorado.”

WOMEN

BORE THE BRUNT of job losses and child-rearing challenges during the pandemic. Mothers made career adjustments that could shape the labor market for years to come. Many professional women do not plan on returning to pre-pandemic employment conditions, says Elizabeth Humphrey, VP at the McCormick Group, an executive search and consulting firm with offices in Rosslyn.

“We see people who are now starting to explore going back into the workforce, but it’s certainly more on their terms,” Humphrey says. “I think [women] want to make sure they’re coming back into an environment that’s flexible and welcoming and understands the challenges [they face].”

expect the unexpected, every day. At Vinson Hall Retirement Community you’ll be greeted with surprise and delight everywhere you go on our exciting, amenity-rich campus. From thrills at the movie theater to being amazed at the latest culinary creations in one of our three dining options, to disbelief at your new personal record in the fitness center—you’ll find wonder around every corner. Welcome to Vinson Hall Retirement Community, where it’s time to live a life of surprise.

Rob Ferguson

GRI & Associate Broker

In a recent Pew Research study, six out of 10 workers with jobs that could be performed at home said they are now working from home all or most of the time. That’s many more than the 23% who worked from home before the coronavirus outbreak.

Arlington now has the sixth-highest percentage of remote workers (48.8%) nationwide, according to an analysis of Census data reported by Bloomberg columnist Justin Fox.

A January article in the Harvard Business Review , citing Gartner survey research, indicated that more than 90% of employers planned to adopt a hybrid model for their employees in 2022. “Flexibility around how, where, and when people work is no longer a differentiator, it’s now table stakes,” said the Gartner report, with employees expecting flexible work hours as much as they expect a 401(k).

Gartner noted that some companies

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are offering 20% compensation premiums to new hires, or the option of a shorter workweek. And employee wellness has become a priority, with 94% of companies making significant investments in well-being programs and 85% increasing support for mental health benefits.

Humphrey sees employers taking a closer look at their policies and using flexible work arrangements as a carrot: “Flexibility is the No. 1 thing that candidates are looking for,” she says. “I haven’t had one conversation with a potential candidate or employer where flexibility wasn’t discussed.”

HELPING BUSY professional

women evaluate and better their lives is something lawyer-turned-career-coach Daniela de la Piedra decided to focus on following her own career change-up.

De la Piedra spent 13 years as an attorney for the Legal Counsel for

the Elderly, an affiliate of AARP. Then Covid arrived, and trying to work from home with her kids—then 2 and 4— proved both stressful and eye-opening. “I started realizing, something’s really got to change,” she says. “My job was a difficult job. It became even more difficult during the pandemic.”

Working from home made her realize that the frenzy of her daily commute had caused her to miss the little milestones and joys of her children. She hired a career coach and began reevaluating her job and life choices. In the process, she decided that being a life coach was something she wanted to do herself. She gave up her law career and completed a year-long certification program.

“It wasn’t until the pandemic that I was pushed to see things differently,” she says. “It was like [holding] a mirror to my face, [asking], ‘Is this really how you want to live the rest of your life now that you have kids?’ It was a real

moment of reflection and getting clear with what my values are today—not what my values were 13 years ago when I started practicing as a single, childless attorney. If it weren’t for Covid, I would probably still be in that job.”

Today, de la Piedra guides others on their own paths of discovery. “Some clients have a side business and they want to scale it so that they can leave their corporate jobs,” she says. “And then

I have clients who feel like they’re on that hamster wheel. They don’t necessarily want to leave a 9-to-5 kind of life, but they want to figure out, ‘How do I manage that? How do I set boundaries? How do I stop checking email when I’ve logged off and how do I use my weekends with more intention?’ ”

IT’S A FAMILIAR TROPE: the office worker sitting in an airless cubicle

farm, dreaming of one day opening a bakery or making bonbons for a living.

For years, Arlington business owner Jason Andelman was living that dream. A trained chef and graduate of the Culinary Institute of America, he was the founder and owner of Artisan Confections, a chocolate shop with storefronts in Clarendon and the Mosaic District.

But at the end of 2021, he switched gears—literally—and became a bike tour guide and backcountry ski trip chef, returning full circle to something he had done (and loved) fresh out of college in the mid-’90s, when he worked at a tourism office in Vail, Colorado, and for another ski-tourism outfit based in Arlington.

A confluence of pandemic factors gave him the opportunity to return to the great outdoors.

“I went through this period early on, in April 2020, just like everyone else, where you think, What do I really want to be doing? ” says Andelman, who turned 50 during the pandemic. “To me, it was not making fancy chocolates. It was getting outside and just enjoying the things we have around us.”

With one of his children preparing to leave for college and the other in high school, he had already started to think in real terms about selling the business. Then the lockdown shuttered both of his retail stores for several weeks. When an opportunity arose at the end of 2020 to close the Mosaic District location and get out of the lease early, he took it.

At the same time, website improvements he’d made during Covid to facilitate online orders, curbside pickups and shipping from the Clarendon boutique proved fruitful. When the shop reopened fully, he found himself with both a busy retail shop and a booming online order business. Strong sales in the fall of 2021 helped make the business more sellable.

“It worked out well for me because I was able to finish the [holiday] season and finish the whole thing off on a high note,” he says. “When you tell people [you’re selling], they think it was Covid digging in, and that’s not the case here

In 2021, Jason Andelman traded his retail business for a career in adventure travel.

at all. The business was doing well. I felt like it was a good time to sell it because things were definitely improving. Had there been no Covid, I don’t know if it would have happened.”

After handing the keys to new owners in January, Andelman began contemplating his next move. “I kept asking myself, ‘What am I going to do?’ because this is all I know how to do.”

He went backcountry skiing with a group, staying in a small lodge after being helicoptered into a remote area of British Columbia. “There was a chef,” he says, “and he would cook breakfast for everybody and then go out and get a couple runs in and then come back and cook. And I thought, That’s awesome. I want to do that.”

After putting out some inquiries, he found work as a chef for several ski trips over the winter. He also contacted a few bike tour companies, and in May began leading cycling tours

for Wilderness Voyageurs, an outdoor adventures company based in Ohiopyle, Pennsylvania.

One of the tasks on each tour is to prepare a group lunch. He happily stepped up. “You can do pretty good stuff out of a Yeti cooler,” he says.

These days, Andelman is also doing travel planning for Wilderness Voyageurs—organizing trips and arranging logistics behind the scenes. It’s fun work that he can do mostly from his home in Arlington.

IN JUNE,

the number of job openings nationwide, which had been rising steadily since the spring of 2020, decreased by 605,000 to 10.7 million, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, marking the largest drop since the onset of the pandemic. Labor market experts say a correction is underway, though even with that decline, there were still 1.8 job vacancies for every available worker.

“I think the ‘Big Quit’ is starting to slow down,” says Korn Ferry’s Elise Freedman. “Companies are starting to be more cautious in hiring and employees are being more thoughtful before just leaving their current jobs.”

Humphrey of the McCormick Group is watching the shift, but she does not believe things will ever go completely back to the way they were.

“There was no playbook for how to handle a pandemic in the workplace when Covid hit us,” she says. “We were forced to learn how to work in entirely new ways. For many people, especially women, this has been a great opportunity to address flexibility, better benefits and more equitable pay. The majority of people I talk to aren’t looking to not work; they are looking at ways to be more fulfilled in their careers.” ■

Helen Partridge is an Arlington-based freelance reporter and mother of three.

50 YEARS OF COMPREHENSIVE AND COMPASSIONATE CARE

n Multidisciplinary team approach

n Highly specialized medical oncology, hematology, radiation therapy, orthopedic oncology/surgery, breast surgery, thoracic surgery, genetic counseling, palliative medicine and research

n Highly-rated physicians and surgeons in our community

n State-of-the-art technology, labs, and on-site pharmacy

n Access to Clinical Trials, including Phase I

YEARS

Robert Christie, MD, FACP

John Feigert, MD

Keeran Sampat, MD

Patricia Rodriguez, MD

Jessica Heintz, MD, FAAHPM

Clockwise from top left: District Taco, Focal Point Homes, Improbable U.S. Defense, The Kaplan Center for Integrative Medicine, Berenzweig Leonard, Wendroff & Associates, Bean Kinney & Korman, Happy Endings Hospitality; Center: APAH

COURTESY PHOTOS

Places to Work Best 2022

Whatever the secret sauce may be, these companies have it.

BY LISA RABASCA ROEPE

Ahot labor market sent droves of professionals in search of more appetizing work in 2022, but certain companies maintained their appeal—and then some. Find out why these employers made our second annual list of coveted places to earn a living.

Berenzweig Leonard

LOCATION: McLean

EMPLOYEES: 20

WHAT THEY DO: Practice law

WHAT’S TO LOVE: Opportunities for personal growth, teamwork and service

Berenzweig Leonard is all about professional development. “We value our employees and want to lift them up,” says Jenny Salce, director of operations for the firm, whose practice areas range from cybersecurity and intellectual property to sports and entertainment law. “We encourage them to pursue training and certifications, join professional organizations, and get involved in local and national chapters at the firm’s expense.”

Service is also a core value. Through its “BL Gives Back” program, the company hosts a number of events that promote bonding and serve the greater community. Employees make sandwiches to donate to Martha’s Table during bimonthly in-office events, and participate in semi-annual volunteer days at the JK Community Farm in Purcellville, planting and harvesting crops for local food pantries.

There’s plenty of friendly competition, too, including an annual March Madness office pool (the winner gets a trophy), a summer Topgolf competition, a Halloween scavenger hunt and a gingerbread house-decorating contest. For stress relief, the company sponsors quarterly “Dog Days” when employees can bring their pups to work.

■ best places to work

District Taco

LOCATION: Falls Church

EMPLOYEES: 310

WHAT THEY DO: Restaurant group

WHAT’S TO LOVE: Equity in hiring and a Fiesta Squad

Thirteen years ago, Yorktown neighbors Osiris Hoil and Marc Wallace were chatting over homemade chips, salsa and guacamole when they decided to launch a business serving Yucatan-style eats from a food truck in Rosslyn. In 2010, District Taco opened its first

brick-and-mortar store on Lee Highway (now Langston Boulevard). Since then, the locally grown taqueria has expanded to include 15 locations in the DMV and the greater Philadelphia area, and is poised to franchise its casual dining concept nationwide, with a five-year plan that starts in the mid-Atlantic and heads west.

Quality staff are the backbone of the company’s growth, Hoil says. To ensure that new hires are chosen solely based on their skills and experience, all identifying information—such as names,

addresses and pronouns—is removed from résumés before managers review them. Once hired, employees become part of the family. “If they ever deal with mental or physical limitations, we work with them and their doctors to find tasks that fit their needs,” Hoil says.

It’s also a fun place to work. A Fiesta Squad plans happy hours, team outings and a huge end-of-year party where employees can nominate colleagues who have gone above and beyond to receive $2,000 each, along with exclusive District Taco swag.

District Taco’s homegrown empire is poised to go national.

Wendroff & Associates

LOCATION: Arlington

EMPLOYEES: 17

WHAT THEY DO: Tax and accounting services

WHAT’S TO LOVE: A company culture built on diversity—and free lunch!

Diversity isn’t merely a buzzword at this veteran-owned certified public accounting firm. Its employees represent nine different countries, and half are minority women.

Wendroff recently participated in the Young Leaders of the Americas Initiative, a U.S. State Department program that invites entrepreneurs from Latin America, the Caribbean and Canada to contribute their skills to U.S.-based businesses. Alfonso Aguilera, a 27-year-old entrepreneur from Argentina, spent a month at the firm after creating an app that automates accounting processes for people who are self-employed.

Wendroff fosters a supportive work environment with an emphasis on hands-on training. Each new employee is assigned a mentor, and seasoned staff members teach essential accounting skills during weekly lunch-and-learn sessions.

Other thoughtful perks include free lunch three days a week during tax season and four-day workweeks during the summer.

The Kaplan Center for Integrative Medicine

LOCATION: McLean

EMPLOYEES: 19

WHAT THEY DO: Health care

WHAT’S TO LOVE: Kids and dogs in the office

The Kaplan Center for Integrative Medicine is an independent medical practice that offers more than 40 types of treatments and services—including acupuncture, meditation therapy, long-Covid recovery, sleep management and physical therapy—aimed at restoring health and vitality for patients with chronic pain, or anyone who would like to improve their overall health.

The center’s staff looks beyond each patient’s symptoms to figure out the root cause of their pain. “I have never had a medical professional spend so much time with me to try to understand my health from a holistic perspective,” says one client.

That fundamental mission to help others goes a long way toward creating employee satisfaction and a cohesive work environment. “Co-workers have a familial feeling for each other,” says president Gary Kaplan, a doctor of osteopathic medicine who is board certified in family practice and pain management.

Employees with childcare conflicts can bring their kids to work any day of the week, and dogs are invited to the office on Fridays (which are half days), says executive director John Doleman.

Staff also enjoy birthday celebrations, an annual holiday steakhouse dinner party, a pension plan and monthly catered lunches. “You can chitchat in passing, but being able to sit down [for a meal] with your co-workers is nice,” Doleman says, “because we all like each other.”

Rebecca Berkson, a Kaplan Center acupuncturist

A Wendroff team lunch outing

■ best places to work

APAH

LOCATION: Arlington

EMPLOYEES: 42

WHAT THEY DO: Nonprofit affordable housing developer

WHAT’S TO LOVE: An entrepreneurial mindset with community impact

Serving more than 2,000 families in D.C., Northern Virginia and Maryland, APAH (formerly the Arlington Partnership for Affordable Housing) ensures that families making $65,000 or less have a safe place to call home. The nonprofit was founded on the belief that safe, affordable housing provides the stability individuals and families need to pursue their goals and enhance their quality of life.

APAH employees are supported in

furthering their own career goals, whether that’s by taking real estate classes at George Mason University, receiving mission-related training in resident services, or attending fundraising conferences to cultivate new and long-term donors.

“We have a generous budget for training,” says Garrett Jackson, director of resource development and communications. “As a small but growing organization, there is tremendous opportunity for employees to grow their careers with us.”

Understanding that parenting and caregiver duties can be tough to juggle with work, APAH has supported employees by allowing them to scale back hours and set up part-time sched-

ules when flexibility was needed.

The senior leadership team is equal parts Black, white and Hispanic/ Latinx, and the staff makeup is similar.

“Our employees are entrepreneurial and actively participate in piloting new projects, educational events and initiatives to move APAH’s racial equity, diversity and inclusion goals forward,” Jackson says.

Impromptu lunch outings, happy hours, and yoga and plank breaks happen organically here, and compressed summer hours give staff the option of leaving early on Fridays. “Employees have control over their day-to-day schedules,” Jackson says, “and the flexibility to balance work and personal commitments.”

For Women’s Equality Day, APAH staff organized a donation drive for residents of APAH affordable housing properties.

In 1985, Dr. Kaplan created the Kaplan Center in Arlington, Virginia, to offer patients suffering from chronic pain and illness a more effective model of medical care. This award helps validate all of the work that we’ve put into fostering a supportive and rewarding work environment for the Kaplan Clinic team. Our goal is to provide all of our team members with the resources and opportunities they need to thrive and do their best work. And while we are incredibly proud of the community we have built at Kaplan Center, we are equally excited about what’s ahead of us.

■ best places to work

Maxar

LOCATION: Ballston (headquartered in Westminster, Colorado)

EMPLOYEES: 4,192; about 50 in Ballston

WHAT THEY DO: Space technology and intelligence

WHAT’S TO LOVE: Support for military families and working parents

From consumer mapping used by 911 and ride-share services to satellite images that monitor climate change, 3.8 billion people interact with Maxar technologies every month.

The company maintains an active veteran employee resource group—10% of its staff are veterans—and in 2021 created the Maxar Better World Foundation, which provides grants to nonprofits that support military families. The foundation awarded $275,000 in cash grants in 2021, and $240,000 so far this year.

Maxar prides itself on “a diverse and inclusive workplace that encourages curiosity and big ideas.” People of color make up about a third of its workforce and 18% of senior staff. In 2021, its leadership joined more than 2,200 CEOs nationwide in signing the CEO Action for Diversity & Inclusion pledge,

committing to increasing diversity in the workplace. (They also signed a similar Space Workforce 2030 pledge.)

The company supports several scholarship programs and this year offered three paid summer internships.

Maxar offers its employees discounted childcare through a local provider, as well as adoption support, including reimbursement of agency and travel fees, legal assistance, and paid time off before or after an adoption.

Staff also enjoy unlimited flextime, monthly massages, cold-brew coffee on tap, and free or discounted tickets to entertainment and sporting events.

Maxar staff chatting over cold-brew coffee in Arlington

Bean Kinney & Korman

LOCATION: Arlington

EMPLOYEES: 70

WHAT THEY DO: Practice law WHAT’S TO LOVE: A commitment to community and sustainability

Bean Kinney & Korman was founded more than 60 years ago when four young attorneys were looking to build their professional practices. Today, the firm is leading by example on a number of fronts. It occupies a LEED Gold building near the Court House Metro Station, and has an internal sustainability task force that sets procurement guidelines for everything from planet-friendly cleaning supplies to office equipment. Community service is another sustaining value. Employees receive two paid volunteer time-off days per year, and the entire staff participates in an annual cereal drive for the Arlington Food Assistance Center. (The latter event has become a battle of the sexes, with the firm’s 32 male staffers competing against its 37 female employees to see which team can round up the most donations. The women have won the last four years, and the amount of cereal collected increases every year.)

The firm sponsors a biweekly afterhours gathering on Fridays, encouraging attorneys and staff to chat in a casual setting with bites and beverages. But complementary snacks aren’t the only secret to retention, says marketing manager Chris Sutton. Bean Kinney employees say they value having a safe, respectful, positive working environment where sharing ideas is encouraged.

Bean Kinney staff at a Bunny Hop Charity 5K supporting Bridges to Independence

■ best places to work

Improbable U.S. Defense & National Security

LOCATION: Arlington

EMPLOYEES: 54

WHAT THEY DO: Defense and national security technology

WHAT’S TO LOVE: Camaraderie, games and global problem solving

Threat scenarios—such as pandemics, cyberattacks and climate change disasters—are top of mind for this tech firm specializing in simulation platforms. “The capabilities and technologies we’re looking to build are extremely complex, uncharted problem sets—hence the name, Improbable,” explains general manager Caitlin Dohrman. “Our people are motivated by solving hard problems to achieve something profound and transformative, while doing it in a supportive, flexible team environment.”

Knowing the work is inherently taxing, the company offers stress relievers like virtual meditation sessions and an office game room (stocked with board games like Power Grid and Settlers of Catan, and video games such as Deep Rock Galactic) where staff can decompress during or after work hours. Company gamers have even set

up their own dedicated Minecraft server.

External career coaches are available to help employees—roughly 20% of whom are veterans—improve their leadership skills. The firm partners with transition programs for veterans moving from military service to the civilian workforce, and regularly participates in veterancentric job fairs and conferences.

Striving to maintain a culture of mutual respect and quality work, Improbable scores in the top 25 for management support and freedom of opinion when ranked against other defense contractors, according to internal tracking data. “There’s a real sense of camaraderie and trust here,” Dohrman says.

Don’t Miss Out!

There was a time when the thought of living off MREs did little for your appetite. But those days are done—at Falcons Landing, you’ll find the MRE replaced by culinary delights ready for your enjoyment. Whether you’re looking for something quick and convenient, a cocktail with friends or something more elegant, our three dining options are sure to keep you coming back for more.

■ best places to work

Focal Point Homes

LOCATION: McLean

EMPLOYEES: 19

WHAT THEY DO: Residential homebuilding

WHAT’S TO LOVE: A collaborative workplace with paid sabbaticals

Building a custom home involves a million tiny details, a complex sequence of trades and constant communication. Focal Point Homes aims to create residences that suit their owners, while also providing a customer experience that is positive and painless. Since 2010, the company has delivered 250 highend homes to clients throughout Northern Virginia.

President and founder Scott Murray credits his employees as the force behind the company’s success. “We collaboratively work through challenges as they arise,” he says. “Each person is invited to share from their experiences to help each of us learn and grow.”

Staff appreciation is built into the company’s foundation. Six times a year, employees can nominate their colleagues for a “Peer Pats on the Back” award, with three

winners chosen to receive $500 each. An annual picnic brings staff and their families together for fun and games.

The firm also offers more than standard PTO. After five years of employment, team members receive a four-week paid sabbatical. Fridays in July and August are designated half days, encouraging folks to take time off and get a jump start on the weekend.

Every February, the entire staff travels to South Beach in Miami for a two-day, company-paid winter break. Each employee is invited to bring one guest.

“No meetings are scheduled,” Murray says. “The trip is just meant to be for fun. It’s a great way to get to know the families and friends of our colleagues. Developing more personal relationships has made us a better team.”

Focal Point Homes’ annual family picnic

Happy Endings Hospitality

LOCATION: Vienna

EMPLOYEES: 168

WHAT THEY DO: Restaurant group

WHAT’S TO LOVE: A serious focus on mental wellness

Many hospitality workers feel like they are little more than interchangeable cogs in the machine. Not at this family-run restaurant group, which is intentional about letting employees know they matter. “We feel a team member who enjoys their job is a team member who has the best chance of passing that joy to the guest,” says CEO Di Dang.

Career advancement is part of the culture at Happy Endings Hospitality, whose cheeky portfolio includes concepts such as Chasin’ Tails (Louisiana crawfish), Roll Play (Vietnamese street food), Teas’n You (milk teas) and Lei’d (Hawaiian poke). Every manager has worked their way into that position, Dang says, and with several new restaurants in the works, there will be plenty more opportunities for promotion. In December, the company plans to open a trio of new eateries at Founders Row in Falls Church, growing its presence to eight restaurants in Northern Virginia.

Happy Endings may have a provocative or playful name (depending on your sense of humor) that’s heavy on innuendo,

but it’s serious about mental well-being. A “Mental Wealth” benefit covers half the cost of therapy sessions (up to $200 per month) for employees. Each year in May (Mental Health Month), a company program reminds staff to practice selfcare through mindfulness and meditation, spending time outdoors, and prioritizing a healthy diet, exercise and sleep. This year the company received a Gold Bell Seal Award from Mental Health America, a nonprofit advocating nationwide improvements in mental health care. ■

Lisa Rabasca Roepe writes about workplace culture, gender equity, and diversity, equity and inclusion. Her byline has appeared in The New York Times, The Boston Globe, Fast Company and Wired.

Group yoga at Happy Endings Hospitality

From left: Broderick Dunn, Cook Craig & Francuzenko; Roya Vasseghi, Vasseghi Budd Law; Libbey Van Pelt, Libbey Van Pelt Law

TOP ATTORNEYS

Our area’s most respected attorneys as nominated by their peers in the legal community

This feature reflects the results of a survey conducted by Arlington Magazine in which area attorneys were asked to nominate their peers in 21 practice areas. Participants were allowed to recommend attorneys in their own firms, provided they also recommended an equal number of attorneys (or more) in other firms. The list is limited to attorneys who are located in Arlington County, Fairfax County, the City of Falls Church and the City of Alexandria. Arlington Magazine administered the survey but was not involved in the selection process.

APPELLATE

Patrick Blanch

Blanch & Hart

John Cottrell

Cottrell Fletcher & Cottrell

Ben DiMuro

DiMuroGinsberg

Laura Dove

Mullett Dove & Bradley

Family Law

David Ginsberg

Cooper Ginsberg Gray

Tashina Gorgone

Maddox & Gerock

Juli Porto

Blankingship & Keith

Doug Ross

Odin, Feldman & Pittleman

BANKRUPTCY/ CREDITORS' RIGHTS

Xue Connelly

Wade Grimes Friedman Meinken & Leischner

Andrea Davison

Bean, Kinney & Korman

Jason Gold

Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough

Brad Jones

Odin, Feldman & Pittleman

Brian Lee

Lee Legal

Rob Marino

Redmon, Peyton & Braswell

Ashley Morgan

Ashley Morgan Law

Daniel Press

Chung & Press

Steven Ramsdell

Tyler, Bartl & Ramsdell

Jeremy Root

Blankingship & Keith

Madeline Trainor

Redmon, Peyton & Braswell

BUSINESS/CORPORATE

Brian Abbott

Odin, Feldman & Pittleman

Paul Abraham

PJI Law

Robert Baumgartner

Hale Ball

Ryan Brown

Arlington Law Group

Kathleen Kelley

Bean, Kinney & Korman

Michael Kim

Blankingship & Keith

David Kuhnsman

Protorae Law

Bill Porter

Blankingship & Keith

Robert Powers

McClanahan Powers

Ryen Rasmus

Lipp Law

Jennifer Schiffer

Bean, Kinney & Korman

Colin Smith

Holland & Knight

Roya Vasseghi

Vasseghi Budd Law

■ top attorneys

CONSTRUCTION

Shannon Briglia

Smith Currie

Juanita Ferguson

Bean, Kinney & Korman

David Gogal

Blankingship & Keith

David Gutkowski

Odin, Feldman & Pittleman

Tim Hughes

Bean, Kinney & Korman

Zach Miller

McClanahan Powers

Alison Mullins

Shannon Mullins & Wright

Michelle West

Smith Currie

CRIMINAL DEFENSE

James Abrenio

Abrenio Law

Bruce Blanchard

Odin, Feldman & Pittleman

Amy Bradley

Blankingship & Keith

Anna Dvorchik

Law Office of Anna K. Dvorchik

Peter Greenspun

Greenspun Shapiro

Brendan Harold

Harold Law Firm

Carly Hart

Blanch & Hart

Jennifer Leffler

LefflerPhillips

Manuel Leiva

The Leiva Law Firm

Lana Manitta

The Law Office of Lana Manitta

Marina Medvin

Medvin Law

Jonathan Phillips

LefflerPhillips

Libbey Van Pelt

Libbey Van Pelt Law

Rebecca Wade

Wade Grimes Friedman Meinken & Leischner

ELDER

Jean Galloway Ball

Hale Ball

Paul Barnett

Manning, Murray, Barnett & Baxter

Cary Cucinelli

Cucinelli Geiger

Evan Farr

Farr Law Firm

Elizabeth Gray

McCandlish Lillard

Lamya Moosa

MWM Legal Group

Gene Robinson

Gene Robinson Law

Catherine Schott Murray

Odin, Feldman & Pittleman

Elizabeth Wildhack

MWM Legal Group

EMPLOYMENT (EMPLOYEE)

Elaine Bredehoft

Charlson Bredehoft Cohen

Brown & Nadelhaft

Carla Brown

Charlson Bredehoft Cohen

Brown & Nadelhaft

John Cook

Cook Craig & Francuzenko

Broderick Dunn

Cook Craig & Francuzenko

Josh Erlich

Erlich Law Office

Katie Lipp

Lipp Law

Monique Miles

Old Town Associates

Marc Pasekoff

Shannon Mullins & Wright

Roya Vasseghi

Vasseghi Budd Law

EMPLOYMENT (EMPLOYER)

Maureen Carr

Bean, Kinney & Korman

Brian Chandler

Protorae Law

Broderick Dunn

Cook Craig & Francuzenko

Edward Isler

Isler Dare

Laurie Kirkland

Blankingship & Keith

Katie Lipp

Lipp Law

Tom Sawyer

Odin, Feldman & Pittleman

Doug Taylor

Bean, Kinney & Korman

Roya Vasseghi

Vasseghi Budd Law

FAMILY

Carolyn Abbate

Grenadier, Duffett, Levi, Winkler & Rubin

Michelle Bieber

Bean, Kinney & Korman

Jennifer Bradley

Mullett Dove & Bradley Family Law

John Byrnes

Kelly Byrnes & Danker

David Clarke

Blankingship & Keith

James Cottrell

Cottrell Fletcher & Cottrell

Camille Crandall

Hicks Crandall Juhl

Laura Dove

Mullett Dove & Bradley Family Law

Julie Gerock

Maddox & Gerock

David Ginsberg

Cooper Ginsberg Gray

Dan Gray

Cooper Ginsberg Gray

Carolyn Grimes

Wade Grimes Friedman Meinken & Leischner

Virginia Haizlip

McCandlish Lillard

Carly Hart

Blanch & Hart

Lynn Hawkins

Bean, Kinney & Korman

Mary Huff

Blankingship & Keith

Karen Keyes

Arlington Collaborative Law

Rebecca Kinsel

Protorae Law

Kristen Kugel

Cooper Ginsberg Gray

Christian Lapham

Bean, Kinney & Korman

Kara Lee

Lee Lopez Law

Jessica Leischner

Wade Grimes Friedman Meinken & Leischner

Linh Ly

Pesner Altmiller Melnick DeMers & Steele

Jennifer McCammon

Bean, Kinney & Korman

Theresa Mihalik

Bean, Kinney & Korman

Jennifer Mullett

Mullett Dove & Bradley Family Law

Nathan Olson

Cooper Ginsberg Gray

Sarah Piper

Hicks Crandall Juhl

Alan Plevy

SmolenPlevy

Sonya Powell

Powell Radomsky

David Roop

Roop Law

Leigh Taylor

Taylor Hugeley Powers

Julia Yolles

The Havrilak Law Firm

David Zangrilli

Odin, Feldman & Pittleman

GOVERNMENT CONTRACTS

Lars Anderson Odin, Feldman & Pittleman

David Black

Holland & Knight

Pat Burns

Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani

John Cafferky

Blankingship & Keith

Devon Hewitt

Potomac Law Group

Rich Kelley

Bean, Kinney & Korman

Heather Mims

Centre Law and Consulting

Daniel Strouse

Cordatis

Stephanie Wilson

Berenzweig Leonard

IMMIGRATION

Pratibha Agarwal Agarwal Law Group

Eileen Blessinger Blessinger Law Firm

Nancy Lawrence Odin, Feldman & Pittleman

Alex Miller

The Law Office of S. Alexander Miller

Charles Tievsky Tievsky Immigration Law

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

Clyde Findley

Berenzweig Leonard

Michael Fortkort

Protorae Law

Tim Hsieh

MH2 Technology Law Group

Elizabeth Husebø

McClanahan Powers

Kandis Koustenis

Bean, Kinney & Korman

Kevin Oliveira

Odin, Feldman & Pittleman

Todd Pilot

The Trademark Institute

Ryen Rasmus

Lipp Law

LAND USE/ZONING

John Altmiller

Pesner Altmiller Melnick

DeMers & Steele

Andrew Gregg

Bean, Kinney & Korman

Giff Hampshire

Blankingship & Keith

Jon Kinney

Bean, Kinney & Korman

John McBride

Odin, Feldman & Pittleman

Evan Prichard

Cozen O’Connor

Matt Ravencraft

Rees Broome

Mark Viani

Bean, Kinney & Korman

Nan Walsh

Walsh Colucci Lubeley & Walsh

LEGAL AID/PRO BONO

Chidi James

Blankingship & Keith

Brad Jones

Odin, Feldman & Pittleman

Anthony Nourse

Law Office of Anthony H. Nourse

Meghan Zimman

Legal Services of Northern Virginia

LITIGATION

John Altmiller

Pesner Altmiller Melnick DeMers & Steele

Stephen Caruso

Bean, Kinney & Korman

John Coffey

Redmon, Peyton & Braswell

Craig Franco

Odin, Feldman & Pittleman

David Gogal

Blankingship & Keith

Richard Holzheimer McGuire Woods

Doug Kay

Offit Kurman

Kristi Kelly

Kelly Guzzo

James Kinsel

Protorae Law

Margaret Marks

Odin, Feldman & Pittleman

Dirk McClanahan

McClanahan Powers

Shannon Peak

Shannon Mullins & Wright

Bill Porter

Blankingship & Keith

Rip Sullivan

Bean, Kinney & Korman

Mariam Tadros Rees Broome

NONPROFIT

Tim Hughes

Bean, Kinney & Korman

Tammy Hui Geller Law Group

Kathleen Kelley Bean, Kinney & Korman

Ben Kinder Odin, Feldman & Pittleman

PERSONAL INJURY/ WORKERS COMP

Amy Bradley

Blankingship & Keith

Mark Cummings

Sher Cummings and Ellis

Tom Curcio Curcio Law

David Marks

Law Office of David Marks

Juli Porto

Blankingship & Keith

Libbey Van Pelt

Libbey Van Pelt Law

REAL ESTATE

John Altmiller

Pesner Altmiller Melnick

DeMers & Steele

Jo Anne Bitner Odin, Feldman & Pittleman

Philip Chung Chung & Press

John Cowherd

Cowherd

Justine Fitzgerald

Hirschler

Angela Hart

Chung & Press

John Kelly

Bean, Kinney & Korman

Roy Shannon

Shannon Mullins & Wright

Theodora Stringham

Offit Kurman

Minturn Wright

Shannon Mullins & Wright

SCHOOLS & EDUCATION

Cheri Belkowitz

Belkowitz Law

John Cafferky

Blankingship & Keith

Juliet Hiznay

J.D. Hiznay

Joan Proper

The Law Office of Joan H. Proper

TAX

Scott Dondershine

David, Brody & Dondershine

Ronald Feuerstein

Bean, Kinney & Korman

Jessica Harris

Legal Services of Northern Virginia

Eric Horvitz

Odin, Feldman & Pittleman

Robert Nath

Robert G. Nath

Kevin Thorn

Thorn Law Group

Christopher Wright

Shannon Mullins & Wright

TRUSTS & ESTATES

Paul Abraham PJI Law

Alvi Aggarwal

Yates Campbell & Hoeg

Kathi Ayers

Vaughan, Fincher & Sotelo

Brent Baxter

Manning, Murray, Barnett & Baxter

Ryan Brown

Arlington Law Group

Cary Cucinelli

Cucinelli Geiger

Miriam Epstein

Miriam Epstein | Attorney at Law

Foster Friedman

Wade Grimes Friedman Meinken & Leischner

Valerie Geiger

Cucinelli Geiger

David Knasel

Protorae Law

Jennifer Lucey

Lucey Law

Gretchyn Meinken

Wade Grimes Friedman Meinken & Leischner

Pamela Morand

Odin, Feldman & Pittleman

Elizabeth Morrogh

Blankingship & Keith

Daniel Ruttenberg

SmolenPlevy

Jennifer Schiffer

Bean, Kinney & Korman

Catherine Schott Murray Odin, Feldman & Pittleman

Jason Smolen

SmolenPlevy

Brooke Tansill

Frederick J. Tansill & Associates

Fred Tansill

Frederick J. Tansill & Associates

Christopher Wright

Shannon Mullins & Wright

Thomas Yates

Yates Campbell & Hoeg

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Profiles

Carolyn Abbate

GRENADIER, DUFFETT, LEVI, WINKLER & RUBIN, P.C.

Awards/Honors:

Arlington Magazine Top Attorney 2019, 2021, 2022

Family Law Section of the Virginia State Bar and Virginia Chapter of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers Family Law Book Award 2009

American Institute of Family Law Attorneys Ten Best in Client Satisfaction, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022

649 S. Washington St.

Alexandria, VA 22314

703-683-9000

contact@vafamilylaw.com www.vafamilylaw.com

Q: What can clients working with Grenadier, Duffett, Levi, Winkler & Rubin expect?

A: They can expect to be treated with empathy and compassion. We know that going through a divorce is one of the most stressful situations that someone can experience. In addition, they can count on us to know the law and shepherd them through the divorce process with diligence.

Q: How do you approach your clients’ cases?

A: Our attorneys frequently work as a team. We draw upon our experiences and skills, and use our specialized knowledge of domestic relations law to help a client either settle their dispute

without having to incur the emotional and financial expense of a trial, or to obtain the best possible outcome at trial.

Q: What brings you the most satisfaction in the work you do?

A: The most rewarding part of my job is when I can use my knowledge of domestic relations law to help a client deal with a difficult situation that may be causing them significant financial and emotional distress. Each case is unique, and I enjoy working with my clients to find the best possible solution for their situation. I understand what my clients are going through, and I can help them through an extremely difficult time. It is gratifying to see them emerge from the other side of the divorce process looking forward to a brighter future.

Bean, Kinney & Korman, P.C.

Awards/Honors:

Best Places to Work in Virginia, 2020, 2022

Best Places to Work in Arlington, 2021, 2022

Arlington Magazine Top Attorneys, 2019, 2021, 2022

Arlington Magazine Best Family Law Practice, 2018

Leadership Arlington Ethics Award, 2015

Arlington Chamber of Commerce Green Business of the Year

2311 Wilson Blvd., Suite 500

Arlington, VA 22201

703-525-4000

info@beankinney.com beankinney.com

Q: What services does Bean, Kinney & Korman offer its clients?

A: We represent clients in D.C., Maryland and Virginia in all aspects of family law. We can help, whether it be a paternity and child support matter, custody or a divorce encompassing not only custody and child support but also property division to include retirement allocations, business evaluations, stock option division or spousal support. We also assist clients with prenuptial agreements.

Q: How does the BKK service approach benefit your clients?

A: Many firms that do family law only have attorneys that do family law. Our clients typically have substantial and complicated financial situations. Here at BKK our clients have at their disposal an arsenal of knowledge and

professionals to counsel them in areas such as business formation and planning, business dissolution or buyouts, as well as employment law. We also have trust and estate lawyers to help understand existing structures, as well as guide our clients with future estate planning once the divorce process concludes.

Q: What do you enjoy most about working with your clients?

A: Our clients are going through the most stressful time of their lives. It’s our job to give them counseling and legal advice that will help them get through it. The unknown creates fear—we can help by giving them information so that they’ll be less fearful and will be able to get through this difficult process. We know they need responsive, personal attention—and that’s what we give each of our clients.

Family Law Practice, from top left: Christian Lapham, Taylor Klauza, James Korman, Jennifer McCammon, Theresa Mihalik, Jill Seiferth, Lynn Hawkins, Michelle Bieber

Joshua Erlich

THE ERLICH LAW OFFICE

Awards/Honors:

Washingtonian, D.C.’s Best Lawyers

Virginia Super Lawyers, Rising Stars

Washington, D.C. Super Lawyers, Rising Stars

Virginia Business Magazine, Virginia Legal Elite

National Trial Lawyers, Top 40 Under 40

Faculty, Virginia State Bar Harry L. Carrico Professionalism Course

2111 Wilson Blvd., Suite 700 Arlington, VA 22201

703-791-9087

www.erlichlawoffice.com

Q: How did you get started in civil rights law?

A: I started out at a class action firm, and I quickly learned that I wanted to work with individual clients. With a class action, you may represent 40,000 people, but you rarely speak to any of them.

In 2012, I started my firm and I’ve worked closely with hundreds of clients since then. I get to spend my time talking to people about their problems and trying to use the law to get them some justice—whether they’ve been fired unfairly, subject to police violence or otherwise hurt by individuals in power.

Q: What is keeping you busy right now?

A: Virginia has vastly expanded its employment protections in recent years. Virginians have recently been empowered to pursue claims for unpaid wages and our discrimination laws now cover sexual orientation and gender expression. We’ve outlawed non-competition agreements for low-wage workers. And we finally have a private sector whistleblower law so you can’t be fired for reporting illegal activity to your supervisor or to the government. Our cases often involve workplace violence, sexual assaults and racial discrimination. We are always busy fighting for our clients who have been subject to abuse.

We just try to help where we can.

Arlington Law Group

Awards/Honors:

Ryan A. Brown, Esq.: Arlington Magazine Top Attorney Business/Corporate (2019, 2021, 2022), Nonprofit (2019, 2021), Tax (2019), Trusts & Estates (2019, 2021, 2022); Washingtonian Magazine Top Financial Advisor (Estate Planning Attorney), 2022

James F. Anderson, Esq.: Arlington Magazine Top Lawyer Trusts & Estates (2019, 2021)

Eric M. Lemmer, Esq.: Arlington Magazine Top Attorney Business/Corporate (2019)

1739 Clarendon Blvd., Arlington, VA 22209 703-842-3025 | clients@arlingtonlawgroup.com www.arlingtonlawgroup.com

Q: How does Arlington Law Group help in uncertain times?

A: The past three years have been a roller coaster for our entire community. Between the pandemic and inflation, we have all had to rethink our lives, work, relationships, community involvement and our futures. As transactional attorneys, we help clients make plans to mitigate their risk and reduce uncertainty.

Early in the pandemic, we worked with clients to update or complete their estate plans, making sure they could care for themselves and their loved ones. We helped businesses with emergency grants, allowing them to stay in business, maintain jobs and support the community.

With the growth in inflation, we have continued to help businesses and families to not only adapt, but to take advantage of opportunities. Our clients consistently

report that having Arlington Law Group as their strategic partner gives them the peace of mind to weather the next storm.

Q: What makes the practice of law rewarding for Arlington Law Group attorneys?

A: Our clients are like an extended family, and we work hard to earn their trust. We do this by helping people when they are at some of their highest and lowest moments—from working with an entrepreneur start a new business, to helping manage an estate or trust after the death of a loved one.

Helping our clients begins with helping our Arlington community. We serve in volunteer leadership positions at local organizations, and we provide pro bono legal services to help both individuals in our community and the organizations that support them.

From left: Eric M. Lemmer, Esq., Ryan A. Brown, Esq., Bridget A. Alzheimer, Esq., James F. Anderson, Esq.

MWM Legal Group, PLLC

COURTNEY MCCARTHY

ELIZABETH L. WILDHACK

LAMYA MOOSA

Contemplating and dealing with major life events is incredibly stressful. You deserve expert advice to help you make important decisions about your legacy and your future. Our experienced and compassionate team at MWM Legal Group is here to help you plan for your family’s present and future.

200 N. Glebe Road, Suite 1000 Arlington, VA 22203

703-237-0027

www.mwmlegalgroup.com

Q: What makes MWM Legal Group unique?

A: Diversity of experience and expertise. We specialize in estate planning, estate and trust administration, family law, special needs planning and elder law. We help our clients avoid or navigate some of the most challenging times in their lives. Our legal team is smart, compassionate, warm and highly experienced—and that comes from their careers in different industries prior to becoming attorneys, combined decades of legal experience and connecting to our clients on a personal level.

Q: What should potential clients know about your firm?

A: We listen first. We dedicate our time in each consultation to carefully understanding the needs of each

individual and each family. Our lawyers never go into a meeting with a potential client with an agenda or a list of services to sell. We want to help. We stay focused on what is best for our clients instead of our profitability. While we love to work collaboratively with other lawyers, we are always ready to head to court if necessary.

Q: How do you relate to your clients?

A: At MWM Legal Group, we understand that every person, family and situation is unique. As a result, we invest the time to understand our clients and help them define and clarify their needs and objectives, and we get them where they want or need to be. We understand that these are highly personal matters, and we develop real and personal relationships with our clients. In fact, we have many families for whom we have served multiple generations.

LISA

Protorae Law

JAMES B. KINSEL

BRIAN F. CHANDLER

MANAGING MEMBERS

Practice Areas:

Business/Corporate Transactions, Business Litigation, Intellectual Property, Employment Law, Government Contracts, Trusts & Estates, and Family Law/ Domestic Relations

1921 Gallows Road, Suite 950 Tysons, VA 22182 703-749-8507 www.protoraelaw.com

Q: What does Protorae mean?

A: We have been asked this question many times by our friends and clients. Translated simply, Protorae means strength through relationships. We devised the word to help brand our firm’s culture of teamwork and relationships. For the more curious, in Latin “pro” means “on behalf of,” and “ae” is Latin for “as a result of” or “because of.” Together, these bookend the Celtic word “tor” that means “weathered rock.” Thus, in understanding strength through relationships, “tor” or weathered rock provides the strength, “pro” signifies the relationship of lawyers advancing interests on behalf of their clients, and “ae” confirms that the strength is the result of the lawyerclient relationship.

Q: What can clients working with Protorae Law expect?

A: We aspire to achieve a law firm’s

highest calling: to be our clients’ trusted advisor in navigating today’s legal environment. Clients can expect to receive guidance from our attorneys on their difficult and complex legal problems. Our attorneys have deep and focused experience in their practice areas to provide these answers. We welcome the chance to speak with you.

Q: How do your fee structures meet your clients’ needs?

A: Having confidence in not just your attorney’s advice but also in the fees being incurred in rendering that advice is important to the attorney-client relationship. We at Protorae Law look to the nature of each matter to determine whether an hourly rate or an alternative billing fee structure is more appropriate. We work with our clients to help manage their costs and objectives.

Hicks Crandall Juhl PC

3201 Jermantown Road, Suite 200, Fairfax, VA 22030 703-468-0193 | www.hcj-law.com

From top: Camille A. Crandall and Sarah A. Piper

Q: What should potential clients know about Hicks Crandall Juhl?

A: Our attorneys believe that gaining a client’s trust is a privilege, and we are invested in you and your case. We are skilled practitioners who are reasonable at the settlement table yet ready and prepared to thoroughly represent your interests in court, if necessary. We use our knowledge and experience efficiently so as not to waste client resources.

Q: What might satisfied clients say about you?

A: Satisfied clients would say that we prioritize our client’s goals and priorities, and tailor our advice and strategy to meet them. Additionally, we establish a respectful, compassionate rapport with our clients during an intensely difficult and stressful time. We consider ourselves to be not just attorneys, but also counselors at law.

S. Alexander Miller, Esq.

LAW OFFICE OF S. ALEXANDER MILLER

3300 N. Fairfax Drive, Suite 201, Arlington, VA 22201 202-810-3005 | www.millerlawdc.com

Q: What are the most important traits of an outstanding immigration lawyer?

A: Creativity and experience. Immigration law is a complex field that takes an experienced and creative attorney to navigate. Not only is the law complex, but it can change with political whims from across the river, so attorneys must be flexible and think creatively to find client solutions.

Q: How can immigration law help employers in a tight labor market?

A: Immigration law offers a variety of solutions for employers to remain competitive in a tight labor market and harness and retain the best international talent. Today’s tight domestic labor market requires international solutions. Savvy employers can utilize immigration law to give their business the edge in retaining and attracting the best employees regardless of what passport they hold.

MICHAEL

Mullett Dove & Bradley Family Law, PLLC

Awards/Honors:

Washingtonian Top Lawyers, 2018-2022

Best Law Firms™ 2015-2022

Best Lawyers™ 2013-2022

Best Lawyers™ 2022 Lawyer of the Year, Family Law

Best Lawyers™ 2021 Lawyer of the Year, Collaborative Law

Super Lawyers™ 2013-2022

Virginia Business Magazine Top Lawyers

Northern Virginia Magazine Top Lawyers

Three Ballston Plaza

1100 N. Glebe Road, Suite 1100, Arlington, VA 22201

703-522-8100 | mdb@mdbfamilylaw.com www.mdbfamilylaw.com

Q: How do you relate to your clients?

A: The number one complaint we hear from clients who come to us after working with other firms is that their calls and emails were rarely returned, which left them feeling as if they didn’t know what was happening in their own case. We make client communication a priority, ensuring our clients are involved in developing a strategy for reaching the best resolution possible for their unique circumstance.

Q: What do your clients say about you?

A: “A class act. Competent, smart and tough when needed—yet unfailingly respectful and professional to everyone involved.”

“Took the time to listen to my concerns. I was never treated like a number or a customer.”

“Top-notch representation. Stuck to the relevant points, worked for a quick resolution and kept me abreast of every step as we reached a favorable conclusion.”

“I have recommended MDB to my friends, which I think is the litmus test of their competency.”

“Kind, professional, knowledgeable, attention to detail.”

“Incredibly responsive, offered excellent advice and was an exceptional listener.”

“Available at short notice, provided intelligent analysis/ advice along the way.”

“Prompt responses to my emails and phone calls.”

“Always punctual when something needed to be addressed.”

“Honest and answered my questions based on the law and her experience, not just with an answer I wanted to hear.”

“Superb work ethic and extensive knowledge of the law.”

Kelly Byrnes & Danker PLLC

3975 Fair Ridge Drive, Suite 275N Fairfax, VA 22033

703-224-0888

www.kbdfamilylaw.com

Q: What sets you apart from the competition? Put another way, what do you offer potential clients that the others might not?

A: Kelly Byrnes & Danker has been named a Tier 1 firm in Washington, D.C. for Family Law by U.S. News—Best Lawyers® “Best Law Firms” in 2022. Family law covers a vast array of challenging legal issues, whether valuing complex assets, obtaining evidence and information from computers and electronic devices, tracing financial expenditures, classifying marital and separate property, identifying and presenting mental health or physical ailments that impact co-parenting or a person’s ability to be gainfully employed, or addressing matters related to family abuse. Every case presents its unique issues, and with our extensive experience, we provide insightful and talented legal representation to effectively resolve our clients’ disputes.

Manning, Murray, Barnett & Baxter PC

BRENT E. BAXTER PAUL W. BARNETT

Founded 35 years ago by Arlingtonians as a boutique estate planning and elder law firm, our lawyers focus on wills, trusts, estates and guardianships.

6045 Wilson Blvd., Suite 300, Arlington, VA 22205 703-532-5400 | www.mmbb.law

Q: What should potential clients know about your firm?

A: We provide tailor-made solutions to ensure long-term security for clients and their families by planning for the management and distribution of assets and enshrining their wishes for end-oflife care. As specialists in estate planning and elder law, we are uniquely positioned to assist not just the elderly, but those of any age who wish to maintain control over their destinies using all legal means available.

Sher, Cummings and Ellis

DAVID SHER

MARK CUMMINGS

Awards/Honors:

Arlington Magazine, Best Personal Injury Law Firm, 2019

Martindale-Hubbell “Preeminent” rating Super Lawyers since 2007

AVVO Rating 10

3800 Fairfax Drive, Suite 7

Arlington, VA 22203

703-525-1200

www.shercummingsandellis.com

Q: How would your clients describe you?

A: Our clients will tell you that we are tenacious in achieving the best results. We pride ourselves on being trial lawyers for the people and our door is open to folks from all walks of life. “Anyone who needs compassionate, brilliant and super professional help should call the Sher, Cummings and Ellis Law firm.” —Perry S.

Q: What brings you the most satisfaction in your work?

A: Achieving the best possible result for our clients. Recently, we achieved a $3 million recovery for a severely injured bicyclist, a $330,000 recovery for a client injured by a defective escalator and a $300,000 recovery for a dog bite victim.

Q: What has been your most notable challenge?

A: We recently achieved a rare trial

victory in federal court against the Securities and Exchange Commission for an investor falsely accused of insider trading. Our tenacity also secured a seven-figure settlement for Hugo Princz from the German government, who endured years of labor at a Nazi camp during the Holocaust. Also notably, I was on the trial team that defended W. Mark Felt, later revealed to be “Deep Throat.”

Q: What sets you apart from other law firms?

A: We are a teaching law firm. I have been an Adjust Professor at George Mason University Law School for over 22 years teaching Virginia Practice and Virginia Remedies. We routinely employ several law student externs in our office. The partners also both serve on state-wide legal committees which are dedicated to educating and improving Virginia lawyers.

Law Office of Anthony H. Nourse

4151 Chain Bridge Road Fairfax, VA 22030

703-881-9161 www.fairfaxdefense.com

Q: Why should someone facing charges in a traffic or criminal case seek out your services?

A: The bottom line is this: You are much better off with an experienced attorney by your side in any criminal case or traffic case that could result in incarceration or loss of your driver’s license. A defense lawyer who is familiar with the local courts and has experience investigating and building effective cases is your best chance to get charges against you dropped or reduced. I have been practicing law for over 20 years, and I focus on providing Northern Virginia clients with criminal and traffic defense services. Not only do I provide a strong and aggressive defense, I take time to help clients understand the legal process, the charges against them and their defense options.

K. Leigh Taylor

TAYLOR HUGULEY POWERS PLLC

9990 Fairfax Blvd., Suite 430 Fairfax, VA 22030

703-879-6500

www.thpfamilylaw.com

Q: How would your clients describe you?

A: Clients describe me as hard working, caring and experienced. They know they have an attorney who sees, hears and understands them. My clients appreciate the balanced approach I take to every case. I evaluate the facts against possible outcomes, both in and out of court, and explain their options in a way they can understand.

Q: What makes Taylor Huguley Powers different than other law firms?

A: My partners and I have been working together for almost 20 years. We own and operate our small firm with detailed attention to and care for every client. I am very fortunate to provide legal services to my clients with the strong foundation of our other family law attorneys surrounding and supporting me.

Offit Kurman

DOUG KAY

THEODORA STRINGHAM

Doug Kay is a principal attorney in the firm’s Tysons Corner office. He focuses his practice on commercial litigation, assisting clients in reaching business and litigation resolutions for their most difficult problems.

Theodora Stringham is a principal attorney in the firm’s Tysons Corner office. She focuses her practice on real estate and employment law, assisting clients with growing successfully while minimizing liability.

8000 Towers Crescent Drive, Suite 1400 Tysons Corner, VA 22182 (703) 745-1800 www.offitkurman.com

Q: What services does Offit Kurman offer its clients?

A: Offit Kurman serves a variety of clients, ranging from individuals and small, private corporations to multinational, public companies. The firm provides clients with a comprehensive array of legal services that cover virtually every area and aspect of the law. Offit Kurman focuses on quality representation while meeting its clients’ needs in a cost-effective manner.

Q: What brings you the most satisfaction in the work you do?

A: Theodora Stringham: Being a trusted member of a client’s team, whether it is an organization, family or individual, brings me great satisfaction. I enjoy the team experience of collaborating

on a vision or goal and take seriously my role as counselor. Constantly communicating with clients on how I can be the best teammate possible ensures that my job is always interactive, interesting and rewarding.

Doug Kay: I enjoy solving my clients’ legal problems large and small, but I get the most satisfaction out of devising creative and favorable solutions to the thorniest disputes. Achieving positive outcomes in these circumstances requires close collaboration between attorney and client. I listen carefully to my clients since only then can I truly appreciate the problem, appreciate client goals and identify a path forward. I am passionate about the attorneyclient partnership necessary to achieve outstanding results.

Maddox & Gerock, P.C.

8111 Gatehouse Road, Suite 410, Falls Church, VA 22042 703-883-8035 | www.maddoxandgerock.com

Q: What makes Maddox & Gerock unique?

A: Our ability to knowledgeably handle all aspects of a family law case, including those that require more skilled representation such as international custody cases, third party custody and visitation cases, and high-asset equitable distribution and support cases. We have the experience to handle cases in the courtroom or through negotiation or collaboration. We also handle family law appeals, two of our partners are certified mediators, and we offer estate planning services.

Q: What is the most significant change in the legal profession during your career?

A: The flexibility demanded of our profession during the COVID-19 pandemic. Our hybrid system allows for meeting clients remotely or in person, helping them to better manage their personal and professional lives while involved in time-consuming family law disputes.

Shannon Mullins & Wright LLP

Based in Alexandria, and serving individuals and businesses throughout Virginia, D.C., and Maryland, we provide comprehensive legal advice across a broad spectrum of practice areas, including land use, real estate, construction, design professional, employment, business, litigation, estate and trust, and tax law.

124 S. Royal St. Alexandria, VA 22314 571-620-1930 info@smw.law www.smw.law

Q: How do Shannon Mullins & Wright’s attorneys serve their clients?

A: We are a team. We believe the attorneyclient relationship extends beyond the face of a legal issue. We strive to develop an intimate understanding of the client’s principles and what the client is seeking to achieve. Our clients engage us for sophisticated preemptive legal counsel. When legal issues are encountered, we want to be part of the solution, connecting a client to their desired outcome.

JOSEPH TRAN

What began with passing out sandwiches on Lora Rinker's porch, evolved into a full continuum of services under one roof at Arlington County's Homeless Services Center.

Please save the date of Thursday, May 11, 2023, for PathForward's 30TH ANNIVERSARY celebration to commemorate three decades serving those experiencing homelessness. Visit PathForwardVA.org and sign up to receive updates.

Scan Here

OS Therapies founder Paul Romness (right) with chief medical and scientific officer

Robert Petit

The Backup Plan

His daughter’s best friend got a rare cancer with a 50-50 prognosis. So he started a biotech company to change the odds.

By Wendy Kantor

Paul Romness has shaved his head three times to raise money for cancer research. But whenever he tells the story of how his biotech company, OS Therapies, got started, he always begins with the present.

“Olivia’s doing great,” he says of his older daughter’s best friend, who as a teenager in 2017 was diagnosed with osteosarcoma, a rare form of bone cancer. Today, Olivia is five years cancer free. So far, the story has a happy ending.

Romness, an executive with many years of experience in the biopharmaceutical industry, initially started his company as a safeguard of sorts, just in case—

God forbid—Olivia’s cancer were to come back. Now OS Therapies has a promising new treatment for the disease in clinical trials and is aiming for FDA approval.

OLIVIA EGGE WAS always an athlete. Growing up in Arlington, she was a promising gymnast with the Arlington Aerials, and a competitive diver at Washington Golf & Country Club.

But in September of 2016, her knee started hurting after she’d taken up running. “I knew something was wrong,” says Olivia, whose family lives near Marymount University. “No one really believed me. They just thought I was

being dramatic.” Or that the injury was wear-and-tear from all those years of gymnastics, or perhaps growing pains. By December, she could no longer do the splits. Eventually, she couldn’t straighten her leg and it hurt to walk. “It was like this dull pain. It felt like bone rubbing on bone. Like I didn’t have any cartilage in my knee.”

Romness’ brother David, an orthopedic surgeon at OrthoVirginia, ordered an X-ray. “He saw something funny on the X-ray,” recalls Olivia’s father, Michael Egge, an antitrust lawyer and lifelong Arlington resident.

Olivia was 16 and a student at the National Cathedral School in D.C. when she was officially diagnosed with

osteosarcoma, joining the ranks of some 800 to 900 new cases in the U.S. each year. About half of those are children and teens, according to the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston.

Romness still remembers the day— Feb. 3, 2017—when Olivia, the child of close friends whom he and his wife, Bridget, had traveled with many times, who came to their house for paella and gumbo, the bestie of their older daughter, Bergen, became part of that statistic.

“It was just heartbreaking,” he says. “My brother, who is an orthopedic surgeon at Virginia Hospital Center [now VHC Health], who lives four doors down from me, who lives across the

street from the Egge family, is the one who diagnosed her.”

At the time, the treatment for osteosarcoma hadn’t changed in nearly four decades. Olivia began an aggressive course of chemotherapy. In early April 2017, she underwent a surgical procedure in which doctors salvaged the limb by replacing her right knee and some of her tibia. About a week later, she resumed chemo, which lasted nine months.

“The chemo dosages Olivia got would have killed me,” her dad says.

She spent more than 100 days in the hospital with her mom by her side. Most nights April Egge slept on a small sofa next to her daughter’s hospital bed.

Paul Romness (left) getting his head shaved during a fundraising event

SOMETIMES CHEMO and surgery are all that’s needed to put an osteosarcoma patient into remission. But in about half of the cases, the cancer returns. At that point the survival rate drops to 13%.

Determined to have a backup plan for Olivia should that awful scenario occur, Romness and Michael Egge founded a nonprofit, the Osteosarcoma Collaborative, in June of 2017. They started raising money for medical research—first reaching out to friends and family, Romness says, and later courting “high net worth individuals.”

They orchestrated three “Shavers & Life Savers” head-shaving fundraisers benefiting the St. Baldrick’s Foundation (a nonprofit focused on finding cures for childhood cancers) at Washington Golf & Country Club. Romness shaved his head at each event.

In three years’ time, the nonprofit raised $1.5 million for two big research grants. “The idea was that if [Olivia’s cancer] did come back, that we’d either be in a clinical trial or we would [have a new drug] approved by the FDA by the time that she recurred,” Romness says.

Other families involved in the nonprofit had children who had died from osteosarcoma. Their stories strengthened Romness’ resolve.

“We met all these other parents,” he says, “and I realized we had to find another way for this disease to be treated.”

In November 2017, the Osteosarcoma Collaborative hosted a D.C. summit of medical experts from across the country to discuss genetic testing and the latest osteosarcoma research. That’s when Romness learned that one of the most promising treatments on the horizon was a drug called OST-HER2.

Coincidentally, a week earlier, he had read in an industry journal that the company licensing the drug research on OST-HER2 was relinquishing rights to the technology.

“I knew why the pharmaceutical company was giving up,” he says. The

disease was rare. “It’s hard to make money on 1,000 cases a year. It’s really expensive to do clinical trials. In general, the biopharmaceutical industry goes toward the big shiny objects. But I saw it to be a huge opportunity.”

Romness emailed eight osteosarcoma experts and said he was thinking of starting a company to maintain the drug’s momentum. His goal was to license the technology with hopes of gaining FDA approval for the treatment. They all wrote back instantly. He had his advisory board.

He cashed in his 401(k)—and his kids’ college fund, he says—and launched OS Therapies in June of 2018.

By October 2021, the company had

raised $8.6 million and the first patient had begun receiving treatment in clinical trials.

THIS WASN’T ROMNESS’ first foray into biotech. He grew up in Arlingwood, a neighborhood near Chain Bridge, studied finance at American University, earned a master’s in health policy from George Washington University, and then spent more than 25 years in the biopharmaceutical industry, working for big companies such as Johnson & Johnson, Amgen and Boehringer Ingelheim. (His wife, Bridget, is also in health care; she’s a physician liaison at Children’s National.)

His first job out of college was selling

Olivia Egge (right) and Bergen Romness at UVA in 2022

orthopedic implants at Walter Reed Medical Center—the military’s global osteosarcoma center. “We saw cases coming in pretty frequently,” he remembers. “I thought it was common and highly treatable. It is neither common, nor highly treatable.”

At the time of Olivia’s diagnosis, Romness was heading a tech startup focusing on pain management for patients with drug addiction. He could have followed the standard cancer-support playbook—write a check, drop off dinner, participate in a fun run, provide moral support—but he felt compelled to do more. “Because I could,” he says. He knew how to raise money. He knew how to shepherd a drug through FDA approval.

It wasn’t his kid who got sick—but it could have been. “I saw it as something I could do for Olivia and her family. And then I got to know all the other parents who’ve lost kids, which is just brutal,” he says, choking up. “I saw what the other parents were doing. They had to channel their grief. It empowered me.”

Ask anyone who knows Romness to describe him and you’ll hear some variation of how bright he is, and how big his heart is. “He’s wicked smart,” says Jennifer Redmond, a commercial real estate executive who invested in OS Therapies after losing a close friend to colorectal cancer.

A neighbor, Jamie Doll, quips that he didn’t have enough hair to shave his head in solidarity, but he readily donated to the cause. He once had a basset hound, Tyler, who died of osteosarcoma. He can’t imagine if it had been his child.

“It was very fast moving,” Doll says, remembering his dog’s cancer. “I know what this is about. I couldn’t imagine one of my sons having this. I would have done anything to extend their life, to make sure it didn’t come back.”

Doll and his wife, Anne, were initial investors in OS Therapies. Their son, Jack, a Washington-Liberty High School graduate with an engineering degree

“I got to know all the other parents who’ve lost kids... They had to channel their grief. It empowered me.”

from the University of Georgia, has worked for OS Therapies as a research projects manager since May 2020.

“This is something we wanted to be a part of,” says Doll, who owns a construction company. “I believe in Paul. I truly believe he’s a visionary.”

THE GOOD NEWS for many osteosarcoma patients is that chemotherapy and surgery to remove the cancer is “largely effective,” says immunologist and oncologist Robert Petit, chief medical and scientific officer at OS Therapies.

The bad news: Patients whose cancer returns cannot have additional chemotherapy. The cancer cells that survive the first round of chemo become resistant, and another round of chemo doesn’t work.

“Once osteosarcoma recurs, it pretty much just keeps coming back over and over again until it gets out of control,” Petit says. “We know once they’ve had one recurrence, the likelihood of another one is very, very high—almost 100% within a year.”

Without a new way of tackling the disease, a recurrence of osteosarcoma is almost certainly a death sentence, he says.

The treatment that OS Therapies is now shuttling through clinical trials is a form of immunotherapy for patients whose osteosarcoma has returned. The patient is injected with a tiny amount of bacteria that the body will recognize and rally to eradicate. What’s unique about this bioengineered bacteria, however, is that it is loaded with cancer-fighting

antigens. The bacteria itself disappears within 48 hours without causing any disease, but it triggers a strong immunologic response. The body attacks the cancer cells, thinking it’s fighting the bacteria.

“It basically charges up an army of T cells—white blood cells—to search all throughout the body,” Petit says, “and hunt down the cancer cells and eliminate them from growing; or slow their growth; or, in the best-case scenario, kill them so that they can’t come back.”

OST-HER2 treatment is given by IV infusion every three weeks for 48 weeks. “Every time we give a treatment, a new round of cancer-fighting cells are generated,” Petit explains. “So we keep generating these cancer-fighting cells over and over again with these treatments.”

So far, the clinical trials have enrolled 21 kids with osteosarcoma whose cancer metastasized to their lungs. The goal is to have 39 to 45 patients in the study, drawing from 20 different Children’s Oncology Group institutions (clinical trials groups supported by the National Cancer Institute) nationwide.

Researchers aren’t doing a traditional double-blind study, Romness says, “because no parent would put their kid in a trial that they know, if they get the placebo, they’ve got a 13% chance of survival.”

Since a full course of OST-HER2 takes nearly a year, it will be a while before the team can compare survival results with historical cases, but Petit is optimistic. “A number of patients have

been getting lots and lots of treatments, and they still have no evidence of recurrence,” he says. “That’s a good sign.”

The treatment, which could receive FDA approval as early as the end of 2023, has already shown promising results in dogs. Osteosarcoma is the second leading cause of death in large dogs, Romness says, after car accidents.

“It’s not going to be a magic cure for everyone who takes it,” Petit says, “but on the other hand, right now, there’s nothing. There has to be a better solution than to keep cutting these tumors out when they come back, until the patient finally has so many of them that they can’t control them with surgery.”

AS FOR OLIVIA EGGE, the Arlington athlete whose osteosarcoma diagnosis set the wheels in motion?

“I’m feeling good,” says the fourthyear student at the University of Virginia, where she and Romness’ daughter Bergen are sorority sisters. (Olivia’s twin brother, Luke, is also a student at UVA. Their younger sister, Sophie, is a sophomore at Duke.)

The past five years haven’t been an entirely smooth ride. Her hearing is damaged from chemo, and an infection required additional surgeries to rebuild her right leg. She has to drive with her left foot.

Now 22, Olivia is majoring in global public health with a bioethics minor, and gearing up for the MCAT in January. She hopes to attend medical school and perhaps pursue a career in pediatrics or oncology. She recently spent five weeks working at an osteosarcoma lab at UC-San Francisco and is an emerita

board member of OS Therapies.

In her spare time, she loves traveling, hanging out with friends and reading. She’s aiming to read one book a week. She tries not to dwell on “what ifs,” but it’s hard.

“I’m scared every day of my cancer coming back,” she says. “But the fact that people care and are putting these resources and effort into [this treatment]—that gives me hope.”

For her father, Mike, the end goal is both personal and universal. “I pray every day that it works,” he says. “There’s no magic bullet, but if it cures even one kid, it’s worth it.” ■

Freelance writer Wendy Kantor always considered herself a pretty good Little League fundraiser and seller of Girl Scout cookies...until she met Paul Romness.

PRIVATE SCHOOLS

•SCHOOL • GRADES

GENDER

Essential Information on 15 Independent Schools

ST. MARGARET’S SCHOOL

TAPPAHANNOCK, VIRGINIA

Situated on the banks of the Rappahannock River, St. Margaret’s School is a boarding and day school for girls in grades 8-12 and postgraduate. For 100 years, St. Margaret’s has been challenging girls with a dynamic college preparatory curriculum rooted in Episcopal tenets. Students enjoy a holistic experience that utilizes the river across academic and recreational programs.

Nurturing Traditional Education

Pre-K through 8th

• Accredited • Close Interpersonal Relationships

• Small Class Sizes • Inspiring and Devoted Teachers

• Enrichment Opportunities Open House Jan 21, 2023

• Before and After School Program

825 South Taylor Street, Arlington, VA 22204 (Near S George Mason & Columbia Pike) 703-892-4846 | osvaschool.org

Now Enrolling Ages 2 to 6 Toddler Program • Before & A er Care Outdoor Education Classroom

Kindergarten & Preschool Advanced

VA • 703-356-5437 • www.brooksfieldschool.org

Be honored for who you are and who you

F Build a strong foundation for academic success.

F Gain opportunities to thrive in your passions.

F Be ready for the academic challenges of college and the world beyond.

F Lead with goodness and integrity. Visit Us!

Offering a selection of on-campus tours and events for 2023-2024 admission. The application deadline is January 15, 2023 Join us for a Saturday morning campus tour: Nov 19 | Dec 10 | Jan 7

by Jennifer Shapira | photo by Stacy Zarin Goldberg

Picture Perfect

her with Nancy Harper of D.C.-based Studio Miel, and together they enlisted Bethesda, Maryland, architect Jim Rill to transform the condo’s main level.

Wanting more space for entertaining, Harbath gave Rill the green light to trim four inches from a powder room to make way for a huge kitchen island. The bathroom became smaller as a result—necessitating a space-saving pocket door—but its design makes a big statement. The defining feature is a floor-to-ceiling wallpaper grid of photos from Harbath’s Instagram feed, which Harper commissioned from a now-defunct custom wallpaper maker in New Zealand.

Assembling the montage involved culling the best shots from Harbath’s archive of more than 700 images. There are vibrant sunsets from the Wisconsin cabin, red London phone booths, and sweeping views of the Sydney Opera House, the Taj Mahal and D.C.’s own iconic memorials. A screenshot of a Redfin notification confirming Harbath’s condo purchase keeps company with a close-up of a lobster, a mound of croissants and a demitasse of espresso. Friends and family flash smiles. Blue skies and cold beers are abundant. Harbath calls the powder room her own personal time capsule.

Other elements in the loo include a Schoolhouse Electric sconce and an RH vanity with long brass legs and exposed plumbing. “We often do fun, quirky designs in a powder room,” says Harper, who left one wall blank to keep the room from feeling claustrophobic. “It’s a space where clients are more comfortable taking creative risks.”

Harbath half-jokes that the custom wallpaper idea has ruined her. She and Harper have stalled on a choice of wallcoverings for her work-in-progress upstairs bathroom. They’re waiting for the next big idea to develop. ■

A Rosslyn powder room captures many happy memories. PROJECT

WHEN KATIE HARBATH bought her two-story, 1,500-square-foot Rosslyn condo in 2014, she had designs on a rustic-chic bachelorette pad inspired by her family’s lakeside cabin in Wisconsin.

At the time, Harbath was working for Facebook in public policy (she now owns a consulting firm) and posted on her personal page that she was ready to renovate. A mutual friend connected

August’s Most Expensive Home Sales

22201 (Arlington)

1212 N. Stafford St.

List Price: $2.55 million

Sale Price: $2.55 million

Days on Market: 13

Listing Office: I-Agent Realty

Neighborhood: Clarenford

Year Built: 2022

Bedrooms: 6

Full/Half Baths: 6/1

22202 (Arlington)

1501 23rd St. S.

List Price: $1.25 million

Sale Price: $1.25 million

Days on Market: 9

Listing Office: KW Metro Center

Neighborhood: Aurora Hills

Year Built: 1960

Bedrooms: 4

Full/Half Baths: 3/0

22203 (Arlington)

558 N. Norwood St.

List Price: $1.55 million

Sale Price: $1.63 million

Days on Market: 6

Listing Office: McEnearney Associates

Neighborhood: Ashton Heights

Year Built: 1940

Bedrooms: 5

Full/Half Baths: 3/1

22204 (Arlington)

5732 Second St. S.

List Price: $1.3 million

Sale Price: $1.38 million

Days on Market: 7

Listing Office: D.S.A. Properties & Investments

Neighborhood: Glencarlyn

Year Built: 1983

Bedrooms: 5

Full/Half Baths: 4/0

This information, courtesy of Bright MLS as of Sept. 15, 2022, includes homes sold in August 2022, excluding sales in which sellers have withheld permission to advertise or promote. Information should be independently verified. The Bright MLS real estate service area spans 40,000 square miles throughout the mid-Atlantic region, including Delaware, Maryland, Washington, D.C., and parts of New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia. As a leading Multiple Listing Service (MLS), Bright serves approximately 95,000 real estate professionals who in turn serve over 20 million consumers. For more information, visit brightmls.com.

22205 (Arlington)

2310 John Marshall Drive

List Price: $1.83 million

Sale Price: $1.83 million

Days on Market: 6

Listing Office: Re/Max Distinctive Real Estate

Neighborhood: Overlee Knolls

Year Built: 2015

Bedrooms: 5

Full/Half Baths: 4/0

22206 (Arlington)

2125 S. Culpeper St.

List Price: $999,990

Sale Price: $1 million

Days on Market: 6

Listing Office: Century 21 Redwood Realty

Neighborhood: Claremont

Year Built: 1948

Bedrooms: 4

Full/Half Baths: 3/0

WE’RE PARTNERS IN YOUR NEXT GREAT SUCCESS STORY.

C LO S E PA R T N E R S

■ prime numbers

4607 27th St. N., Arlington

22207 (Arlington)

4607 27th St. N.

List Price: $3 million

Sale Price: $3 million

Days on Market: 10

Listing Office: McEnearney Associates

Neighborhood: Donaldson Run

Year Built: 2017

Bedrooms: 6

Full/Half Baths: 5/2

22209 (Arlington)

1542 N. Colonial Terrace

List Price: $1.35 million

Sale Price: $1.3 million

Days on Market: 25

Listing Office: Compass

Neighborhood: Highgate

Year Built: 1992

Bedrooms: 3

Full/Half Baths: 2/1

22213 (Arlington)

6601 31st St. N.

List Price: $2.55 million

Sale Price: $2.55 million

Days on Market: 62

Listing Office: Keller Williams Realty

Neighborhood: Berkshire Oakwood

Year Built: 2022

Bedrooms: 6

Full/Half Baths: 6/1

22101 (McLean)

6122 Franklin Park Road

List Price: $4.45 million

Sale Price: $4.05 million

Days on Market: 1,031

Listing Office: Flannagan Associates

Neighborhood: Franklin Park

Year Built: 2021

Bedrooms: 7

Full/Half Baths: 6/2

22102 (McLean)

7712 Georgetown Pike

List Price: $5 million

Sale Price: $4.65 million

Days on Market: 32

Listing Office: Washington Fine Properties

Neighborhood: Rivinus

Year Built: 2005

Bedrooms: 6

Full/Half Baths: 8/2

22041

(Falls Church)

6122 Beachway Drive

List Price: $1.65 million

Sale Price: $1.7 million

Days on Market: 6

Listing Office: TTR Sotheby’s International Realty

Neighborhood: Lake Barcroft

Year Built: 1955

Bedrooms: 4

Full/Half Baths: 3/0

22042

(Falls Church)

7102 Oak Ridge Road

List Price: $1.08 million

Sale Price: $1.08 million

Days on Market: 27

Listing Office: KW Metro Center

Neighborhood: Woodley

Year Built: 2021

Bedrooms: 4

Full/Half Baths: 4/1

22043

(Falls Church)

2233 Beacon Lane

List Price: $1.95 million

Sale Price: $2.16 million

Days on Market: 1

Listing Office: Keller Williams Realty

Neighborhood: Churchill

Year Built: 2022

Bedrooms: 6

Full/Half Baths: 5/1

22044 (Falls Church)

6330 Cavalier Corridor

List Price: $1.1 million

Sale Price: $1.08 million

Days on Market: 27

Listing Office: Re/Max West End

Neighborhood: Lake Barcroft

Year Built: 1961

Bedrooms: 6

Full/Half Baths: 3/1

22046

(Falls Church)

2223 Orchid Drive

List Price: $2 million

Sale Price: $1.95 million

Days on Market: 40

Listing Office: Select Premium Properties

Neighborhood: None listed

Year Built: 2022

Bedrooms: 7

Full/Half Baths: 6/0

Real Estate Sales Trends

22201

22202

22204

22205

22206

22207

22209

22213 Number

22102

22041

22101

22044

22042

22046

What sets Monument Home Loans apart?

Our service. While our interest rates are quite competitive, our customer service is what sets us apart. From your rst phone call until your nal signature, our loan o cers and processing team are fully accessible whenever needed, day or night, weekday or weekend. We also understand that mortgages should not be one-size- ts-all; that’s why we o er one of the widest arrays of mortgage products in the DMV, and work closely with clients to identify the program that best meets their needs and goals. As a result, we enable people from all walks of life to experience a smooth, predictable process that results in the best mortgage for their circumstances – and to have an experienced loan o cer with them every step of the way.

TriVistaUSA Design + Build

3103 N. 10th St., Arlington, VA 22201

703-243-3171 | info@trivistausa.com www.trivistausa.com

BIO:

TriVistaUSA Design + Build provides innovative award-winning designs to residences in Arlington, Falls Church, Alexandria and NWDC. Owners Michael and Deborah Sauri built their team around one mission: “Our thoughtful design builds fine living.”

PROJECT:

This young Westover family asked for more space in their existing small kitchen—counter space, storage space and room for multiple cooks! The couple often cooks together, so they requested enough space for them to work without bumping into each other. They desperately wanted a complete overhaul. They were hoping for more natural light in the kitchen/dining area with windows across their southern exposure. We designed a bigger space, with comfortable island seating for four. We also gave them additional space at their relaxed dining area. While the kitchen was the biggest problem, this renovation extended to several other areas of the house, including a new mudroom with storage for the entire family, a new powder room and improved basement access. And a beautiful new laundry room! Why not add a splash of color and texture to a laundry room with this beautiful wallpaper? We can’t make the laundry go away, but we can add a bit of cheer to household chores!

Classic Cottages

433 E. Monroe Ave., Alexandria, VA 22301

703-844-9936 sales@ccottages.com www.ccottages.com

BIO:

Classic Cottages is a Northern Virginia-based custom home builder that builds primarly in Arlington County and provides turnkey solutions for families looking to build a new home. Whether families are looking to build a beautiful model home or a custom home from scratch, Classic Cottages can handle everything from concept to completion. Classic Cottages consistently blends classic community culture with innovative architecture and design through its skilled in-house acquisitions, sales, architecture, design and construction departments.

THE PROJECT:

In June 2022, Classic Cottages revealed its beautiful new Seabrook Model, a coastal modern home with design elements that freely transport you to the coast. With ocean blue, oyster white, sandy beige and driftwood gray tones, plus soaring 10’ -18’ ceilings, smooth marble accents, expansive windows and lofty open-concept living, this tranquil home exudes the very best of its seaside inspiration. With such a positive reception to the Seabrook Model, Classic Cottages has welcomed this plan into its Classics Collection, with another Seabrook in Addison Heights that is expected to deliver later this spring 2023.

Madison Creek Homes

Arlington, VA

703-241-2207 info@madisoncreekhomes.com www.MadisonCreek.com

BIO:

Mike Kilby and Madison Creek Homes have been providing custom design, building and remodeling solutions for over 25 years. Our projects include kitchens and baths, additions, major renovations, new homes and general remodeling. We work primarily in Arlington, McLean and Falls Church.

ABOUT US:

Have you seen our work? Madison Creek Homes has years of practice and experience, always with a keen eye toward detail. Through many design/build/remodel encounters, and with a focus on design, proportion, flow, color and texture, we know what looks good. Whether new construction or blending new work with existing style and structure, we will bring our experience to the design! We can also work with your architect and plans if you have them. Madison Creek project budgets range from stock materials and practical designs to high-end custom materials and solutions. From design to job completion, every job gets the personal attention of the owner and manager, Mike Kilby. As a skilled remodeler/builder and designer himself, it is not unusual to see Mike with a tool in his hand taking care of a small detail or working closely with a subcontractor when needed to ensure the desired outcome.

Bowers Design Build

6715 Whittier Ave., Suite 200, McLean, VA 22101

703-506-0845 | info@BowersDesignBuild.com www.BowersDesignBuild.com

BIO:

For 32 years, our on-staff architects, interior designers and construction professionals have focused on creating beautiful, functional homes for each of our clients. Creative, needsbased designs, married with our professional budget/project management approach, have garnered a loyal client base. At any given time, 30% of our work is repeat business.

OUR WORK:

Our goal is always 100% client satisfaction! Our awardwinning kitchen design/build process starts with an in-depth understanding of the client’s needs: how they shop, store, cook, entertain and live in the house every day. This needs analysis is critical to designing and building a final product that will exceed client expectations, providing the perfect form and function that will be enjoyed for years to come. This McLean family wanted a comprehensive redesign of their main-level living space to better utilize their existing square footage in a way that more closely matched how they live. While the kitchen is the heart of this renovation, “right sizing” of the formal living areas allowed for more kitchen storage, a larger island with seating space, a dedicated beverage center and a graciously sized laundry/ mudroom. The result is beautiful and highly functional. For 32 years, the best measure of our success is happy clients.

Arlington Designer Homes Construction, LLC

4719 24th Road N., Arlington, VA 22207 arlingtondesignerhomes@gmail.com www.ArlingtonDesignerHomes.com 703-475-9313

ABOUT US:

Arlington Designer Homes’ green building program is based upon three principles: energy efficiency, health and comfort. We use these core principles to design a more efficient, greener home for our clients.

OUR WORK:

We use third-party home inspectors to certify our HERS rating. Typically, our homes are 50% more efficient than a code-built home. This is just one of the reasons we have more homes certified under the Arlington County Green Home Choice Program than any other company.

We use advanced framing techniques and spray foam insulation to build ’tight’ homes, which then require mechanical ventilation. This allows us to bring in fresh air and expel stale air. We bring in the fresh air where and when we need it to create a healthier home.

Our houses are more comfortable because we create more energy efficient and healthier homes. We build for the way you live!

Alair Homes Arlington

www.AlairHomes.com/Arlington | 202-409-1280

BIO:

Alair Homes Arlington provides custom home building and renovations in Arlington, Alexandria, Falls Church and D.C. Having lived and worked in the Arlington community for over 20 years, Chad Hackmann, regional partner, has a deep appreciation and understanding of building in Arlington and the surrounding areas.

THE PROJECT:

Alair Homes Arlington takes pride in all our projects. From multi-million-dollar estates to 1940’s renovations to budgetfriendly starter homes, we approach each project with the same level of care, workmanship and top-notch customer service. We understand the constraints of Arlington’s smaller home lots and love to help our clients create the home of their dreams.

Alair Homes Arlington offers a unique approach with total transparency in pricing. Our highly trained and certified project managers empower clients with the authority over their project from start to finish, using our proprietary client control system which is setting the standard in residential construction management. Whether homeowners want new construction, an addition, or a whole-house or partial renovation, our clients trust Alair Homes Arlington to provide high-quality construction and a transparent process. Alair Homes Arlington’s industry experience, process and professional contractors ensure not only beautiful homes, but cost savings for our clients as well.

Marks-Woods Construction Services

205 S. Union St., Alexandria, VA 22314

703-838-9788 | IG: @mwconstruction | www.markswoods.com

BIO:

Marks-Woods Construction Services is an award-winning design-build firm. For over 20 years, Marks-Woods has been delivering the full spectrum of luxury residential renovations, including bathrooms, kitchens, interior remodeling, additions and exteriors. From concept to construction, Marks-Woods creates beautiful home design solutions customized for each client’s unique lifestyle and needs.

OUR WORK:

Marks-Woods offers an array of design and building services to the Arlington, Northern Virginia and D.C. areas. Instead of contracting out all its work, Marks-Woods performs many trades in-house to ensure excellent quality and premium service.

While Marks-Woods is known for its specialized design-build capabilities in kitchens, baths, additions and renovations, it is not limited to design-build. Many times, homeowners bring their architectural plans to Marks-Woods for the build portion of various types of projects. Additionally, Marks-Woods offers superior interior design services to assist with the selection of materials along with kitchen and bath design.

A Marks-Woods distinctive advantage is our ability to value engineer projects to meet each client’s specific scope and budget requirements instead of offering a one-size-fits-all approach. Our process focuses on high-level communication throughout each project to ensure that every detail is attended to along the way.

by David Hagedorn

photos by Deb Lindsey

Grilled octopus with elderberry teriyaki and wakame slaw

California DREAMIN’

At Bar Ivy, chef

Jonathan Till transforms midAtlantic ingredients into stunning West Coast-inspired fare.

IT’S A BALMY EVENING and Bar Ivy’s retractable floor-to-ceiling doors are wide open, creating the impression that its 75-seat dining room and 125-seat patio are one contiguous space adorned with crape myrtles and flora-filled planters. Over the sound system, Aretha Franklin and Annie Lennox declare: “Sisters Are Doin’ It for Themselves.”

Executive chef Jonathan Till—known for his exceptional foraging, preserving and pickling skills—is busy in the open kitchen, translating the fruits of his labor into beautifully plated odes

to seasonal cooking. In midsummer, his latest finds include gooseberries, dandelion greens, spiceberries, wild garlic and wineberries.

“We’re closed on Sunday and Monday,” he says, “so I go foraging at 5:30 or 6 a.m. on those days within a 30-mile radius of the restaurant. I won’t divulge exactly where. Let’s just say hyperlocal.”

Given Till’s penchant for seasonal sourcing, many of the dishes covered in this review will be gone by press time, so it borders on cruelty to relay the succulence of tender Manila clams nestled with cubes of lamb pancetta in a glori-

ous broth of white wine, lemon, butter and garlic chives. Till says he created that dish in collaboration with Bar Ivy chef/co-owner Nathan Beauchamp.

“Manila clams are a California thing, and the menu is meant to be an homage to California restaurants,” Till explains. “Plus, I had a surplus of lamb belly to use up.”

Beauchamp and restaurateur Greg Algie opened the 3,500-square-foot café (the patio is an additional 3,000 square feet) in June, the latest in a string of local dining successes. Their company, Blagden Hospitality Group, is also the

young age at his grandmother’s restaurant in Saratoga Springs, New York. In 2008, he graduated from the New England Culinary Institute in Montpelier and Burlington, Vermont, where, he says, old hippie teachers inspired his interest in foraging.

BAR IVY

3033 Wilson Blvd., Arlington 703-544-8730 | eatbarivy.com

HOURS

Tuesday to Thursday: 5:30 to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday: 5:30 to 10:30 p.m.

PARKING/METRO

Diners will find plenty of metered parking in a lot behind the building. The restaurant is a block from the Clarendon Metro Station.

PRICES

Appetizers (“snacks” and “smalls”): $14 to $18 (Manila clams: $23); Main dishes (“plates”): $29 to $38; Desserts: $9

engine behind Tiger Fork, Calico, The Fainting Goat and Hi-Lawn in Washington, D.C., and Hei Hei Tiger in Tysons Galleria. The partners had the good sense to hire Till, who previously helmed the kitchen at Del Ray’s Evening Star Café from 2016 to 2018. Now he’s shining at Bar Ivy.

Till, 38, was born in Honolulu and grew up in Hawaii, Louisiana and New England. A third-generation chef, he first started learning the craft—especially canning and preserving—at a

After honing his skills at restaurants in Boston, Saratoga Springs and Nashville, he landed in the DMV in 2015, where he worked for the Bartaco group and then at William Jeffrey’s Tavern in Arlington. Just prior to his stint at Evening Star, he and his wife spent a summer in Europe, foraging for mushrooms.

Beauchamp’s concept for Bar Ivy finds mid-Atlantic ingredients starring in mostly seafood and vegetable dishes with straightforward preparations. (You won’t find a steak on the menu; lamb and Amish hen are the only nonaquatic animal proteins.) The emphasis on fresh, seasonal, local fare was inspired by the cooking style Beauchamp first experienced on a 1995 trip to the West Coast, where he staged briefly under chef Traci Des Jardins at Rubicon (now closed) and dined at the game changers of the time, among them Elka in San Francisco (now closed), Chez Panisse in Berkeley and the French Laundry in Napa Valley.

Bar Ivy’s décor is meant to evoke the breezy, al fresco elegance of Southern California (the restaurant’s name references The Ivy, a West Hollywood restaurant and celebrity magnet) and the ivy-clad fences of sister eatery Calico in D.C. I find the setting more on trend than West Coast—with greenery trailing from macramé planters and shades of seaside green and blue in details large and small, from the barstools circling the 20-seat terrazzo bar down to the

Chef/co-owner Nathan Beauchamp (left) and executive chef Jonathan Till

Seared scallops with succotash and red pepper coulis

Manila clams with lamb belly, garlic chives and lemon

Steelite porcelain plates and servers’ aprons. D.C.-based Edit Lab by Streetsense is the company’s go-to designer.

The feel is modern and ebullient. Wooden banquettes with lime-green cushions and polka-dot pillows are especially inviting. For the winter, Algie and Beauchamp had the foresight— and experience from operating restaurants without indoor seating during the worst of Covid—to install underground gas lines for heat lamps outside.

Till excels at bringing Beauchamp’s culinary vision to the table. In the leadup to Bar Ivy’s opening, he did a lot of advance prep, such as making flour out of sweet potatoes, dehydrating nettles and pickling vegetables.

I recommend ignoring Mom’s advice and filling up on bread, just as I did, quite happily, during one visit, when my $7 assortment included three thick slices of house-made sourdough accompanied by miso-honey butter, fermented butter with strawberry salt and pickled squash and okra.

When dandelion greens and wild garlic came up in early spring, Till foraged them, parlaying the greens into crunchy, golf ball-size salt cod fritters, while the wild garlic showed up in an aioli-based remoulade with chopped capers and cornichons.

One dish that will remain on Bar Ivy’s menu year-round—and perhaps my favorite—is wild mushrooms sauteed in tartufata (black truffle sauce) and piled onto two slices of toasted semolina bread. Earthiness and richness conspire

to make this a stunner for which I’ll happily return. Till, by the way, is certified to forage and serve wild mushrooms for public consumption, which the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services requires.

He is also particularly deft with seafood. For a subtle and refreshing starter, order the scallop crudo with pickled chanterelle and beech mushrooms, julienned cucumber, sliced radishes and barrel-aged soy sauce. Another scallop dish—this time seared and served over a painterly dash of red pepper purée— is accompanied by a succotash of purple sweet potatoes, chanterelles, wax beans and corn. This side is so delectable it could easily stand on its own.

A plate of grilled head-on prawns with baby artichokes and romesco sauce evokes the heady flavors of a Barcelona café.

Till’s Hawaiian roots are on display in a small plate of braised, grilled octopus, served on a bed of wakame (seaweed) slaw and drizzled with elderflower teriyaki sauce and yum-yum sauce. “Being Hawaiian, I have wakame in my blood,” he jokes.

I have some minor issues with two of the larger plates I tried. A beautiful, crisp-skinned chunk of redfish comes with a medley of cauliflower, chanterelles and hearts of palm roasted with brown butter, finished with sliced apricots and apricot beurre blanc. The components are tasty but somehow lack pizzazz as a whole. The dish would benefit from heat and acid.

WHAT TO DRINK

Blagden Hospitality Group’s beverage director, Ian Fletcher, has put together an intriguing collection of libations. Eight cocktails ($9 to $14) are categorized as “proper” (riffs on classics) and “session” (made with low ABV spirits). A drink called “I’m Wearing Khakis” (gin, absinthe, brine, red bitters) is an example of the former, while “Can You Hear the Drums” (Amaro and Chinotto, a bitter red soda) represents the latter.

Wine selections focus on low intervention (made with minimal additives) quaffs, many made by young producers. The wine list includes 48 by the bottle ($44 to $155, with most around $60), 10 of which are also available by the glass ($10 to $15). There is a separate section for orange and pink wines.

Draft and canned beer, seltzers and cider round out the drink options.

A duo of roasted lamb loin and seared lamb belly confit is accompanied by glazed carrots and royal trumpet mushrooms. The meat, served rare, is flavorful but a tad chewy. I prefer lamb medium and suspect the extra cooking time would have aided its tenderness. In addition to a cheese plate, there are only two desserts at Bar Ivy. My visits concluded with a perfectly fine lemon meringue tart; and chocolate pot de crème with strawberries. In the future, I’ll stick with Till’s remarkable talent in the savory department and forgo dessert—like Californians do. ■

"I’m Wearing Khakis" is on the list of "proper" cocktails.

Uncommonly Good

One bite of my roast pork sandwich and I understand why co-owners Joon Yang and chef Jon Mathieson named their Clarendon restaurant UnCommon Luncheonette. Packed with thin-sliced pork, broccoli rabe and melty sharp provolone cheese, the crusty baguette has soaked up the meat’s juices to perfection without becoming soggy.

“It’s Jon’s twist on the famous roast pork sandwich from John’s Roast Pork in Philly,” Yang explains. “The broccoli rabe is sauteed with shallots and garlic in olive oil. We roast the pork in house and reheat it in onion soup and beef jus.”

My taste buds signal my brain that this is no ordinary diner.

After bartending through college, graduating from Georgetown University in 1996, Yang worked as a financial consultant before returning to the restaurant world and eventually becoming assistant general manager at The Palm in Tysons Corner. In 2012, he opened Epic Smokehouse in

Pentagon City, followed by American Prime in Tysons in 2017.

That’s where Mathieson came on as chef, right before the pandemic.

A Culinary Institute of America graduate, his bona fides included stints at Le Bernardin and Lespinasse in Manhattan, Central Michel Richard in D.C., 2941 in Falls Church and his own restaurant, Inox, in McLean (now closed). Mathieson was also the chef for the Washington Commanders (then the Redskins) for five years. Their concept for UnCommon Luncheonette, which opened in May, is New York diner-meets-French café. Serving breakfast and lunch only, the 1,900-square-foot corner space features a 10-seat counter, bistro chairs, honeycomb tile floors and lots of windows, with seating for 50 inside and another 50 outside. Hearty breakfast items ($7 to $16) include biscuits and gravy, avocado toast, egg sandwiches, pancakes, waffles and scrambles. A notable specialty is the breakfast poutine—french fries

covered with sausage gravy, cheese curds and fried eggs.

Breakfast ends at 10:45, but that addictive dish is also on the lunch menu, as are three other poutines— crab, mushroom and housesmoked brisket—plus soups, salads, sandwiches ($9 to $13), flatbreads and entrées ($14 to $18).

Other standouts include a chunky mushroom soup, fish and chips, a boneless baby back rib sandwich and half a fried chicken served with mac ’n’ cheese, coleslaw and milk gravy.

Mathieson brines his chicken and cooks it in a pressure fryer to keep it juicy. The mac ’n’ cheese is made to order. Chefs’ touches like these make this lunch spot uncommon indeed! uncommonluncheonette.com

The roast pork sandwich at UnCommon Luncheonette

Jon Mathieson and Joon Yang

on Chain Bridge Road makes the concept permanent, and also houses a Z-Burger.

Stop by Maman Joon Kitchen in McLean and you’ll find co-owners Peter Tabibian and Kevin Ejtemai schmoozing with customers while packaging up fragrant kabobs and other Persian specialties such as ghormeh sabzi (tenderloin tips in herb stew), fesenjan (chicken and walnuts in pomegranate sauce) and gheymeh bademjan (eggplant stew).

Maman Joon—the name means “mother dear” in Farsi—began as a pop-up concept. Tabibian introduced it inside his Tenleytown burger restaurant, Z-Burger, in 2021 to make up for lost revenue during Covid. The eatery he opened in August with Ejtemai (a McLean resident)

Kabob Krazy ORDER THIS now On a Roll!

“Middle Eastern food is on the rise,” says Tabibian, who lives in Great Falls. Paying heed to another trend, the kitchen offers plant-based renditions of several traditional Persian dishes.

Tabibian’s family is of the Baha’i faith and fled Iran for religious reasons during that country’s 1979 revolution. They eventually made their way to Minnesota, where Tabibian landed his first job at a Burger King at 14. Two years later, the family moved east and he became an assistant manager at a Burger King in D.C.

In 1996, he answered an ad for a general manager at a Jerry’s Subs & Pizza in Capitol Heights, Maryland, and was hired when he walked in the door. “The first year I was there, we were robbed 12 times,” he says. “One morning, the whole safe was gone.”

He remained there for 12 years, quadrupling the store’s sales. In

Feeling blue about colder weather? Grab a taste of summer at Mason’s Famous Lobster Rolls. The Annapolis, Maryland-based chain opened a Shirlington Village outpost in August, offering its signature clawed crustacean three different ways on griddled buns. Choices (all $20) include classic (chilled lobster dressed with mayo and lemon butter); lobster salad (classic with chopped celery added); or Connecticutstyle, dressed with melted butter and served warm. I say splurge on the Bar Harbor, which, for an extra $6, throws in more lobster meat, including a tail. If you’re eating on-site, go Connecticut style. If it’s takeout, lobster salad all the way. masonslobster.com

2008, he struck out on his own with Z-Burger Tenleytown.

Maman Joon’s menu features seven appetizers ($5 to $6.50), including hummus, falafel, stuffed grape leaves and eggplant dip. The sleeper is the olivieh salad, made with shredded chicken, hard-boiled eggs, chopped dill pickle, green peas and mayo.

The proprietors take extra care with their kabobs ($13.99-$19.99), which come with saffron rice or salad. Chicken is marinated for three days with saffron, yogurt and lemon juice for extra tenderness.

Koobideh (a ground beef kabob whose name translates as “pounding”) is made with chopped onions, saffron and seasonings. “The more you massage it, the better it is,” Tabibian says. “We squeeze the mixture for an hour with our hands. This makes the kabob melt in your mouth when it’s grilled.”

Salmon kabobs and beef chunk skewers are also options. Pro tip: Ask for tadig, the crispy, crunchy bottom layer of the rice, which is available first come, first serve.

Maman Joon offers baklava and saffron rice pudding for dessert. But you may want to indulge in one of the 75 flavors of Z-Burger shakes on the menu. mamanjoonkitchen.com

Mixed kabobs with saffron rice at Maman Joon Kitchen

places to EAT

ARLINGTON

A Modo Mio Pizzeria

5555 Langston Blvd., 703-532-0990, amodomio pizza.com. Joe’s Place Pizza and Pasta has rebranded with a new chef, a new menu centering on woodfired pies and an interior makeover. L D $$

Aladdin Sweets & Tandoor

5169 Langston Blvd., 703-533-0077. Chef Shiuli Rashid and her husband, Harun, prepare family recipes of curries and kabobs from their native Bangladesh. L D $$

Ambar Clarendon

2901 Wilson Blvd., 703-875-9663, ambarrestau rant.com. Feast on Balkan fare such as stuffed cabbage, mushroom pilav and rotisserie meats. O R L D G V $$

Arlington Kabob

5046 Langston Blvd., 703-531-1498, arlingtonka bobva.com. Authentic Afghan fare includes kabobs,

wraps, shawarma and quabli palou (lamb shank with rice). L D $$

Arlington Rooftop Bar & Grill

2424 Wilson Blvd., 703-528-3030, arlrooftop.com. There’s plenty of bar food to go with the games, from burgers and wings to oysters and flatbread.

O C R L D A G V $$

Assembly

1700 N. Moore St., 703-419-3156, assembly-va. com. The 29,000-square-foot food hall above the Rosslyn Metro contains a smorgasbord of dining concepts, from oysters and cocktails to Asian street food, tacos and diner fare, plus a gourmet market with prepared foods. B R L D G V $$

B Live

2854 Wilson Blvd., 571-312-7094, bliveva.com. Find beach-inspired eats, a Bloody Mary bar and live music five nights a week in the former Whitlow’s space in Clarendon. o R L D A $$

Baba

2901 Wilson Blvd., 703-312-7978, baba.bar. This subterranean cocktail lounge is a sister to Ambar next door. A $$

Bakeshop

1025 N. Fillmore St., 571-970-6460, bakeshopva. com. Hit this tiny storefront for coffee, cupcakes, cookies, macarons, icebox pies and other treats. Vegan sweets are always available. B V $

Ballston Local

900 N. Glebe Road, 703-852-1260, ballstonlocal. com. Pair your local brew with a plate of poutine or a New York-style pizza. L D V $$

Harvey’s in Falls Church

Banditos Tacos & Tequila

1301 S. Joyce St., 571-257-7622, banditostnt. com. Mexican street food, tequila, mezcal and sugar-skull décor keep the party going at this Westpost cantina. o L D G V $$

Bangkok 54

2919 Columbia Pike, 703-521-4070, bangkok54res taurant.com. A favorite for Thai curries, grilled meats, stir-fry, noodles and soups. L D V $$

Bar Bao

3100 Clarendon Blvd., 703-600-0500, barbao.com.

KEY: Price designations are based on the approximate cost per person for a meal with one drink, tax and tip.

$ under $20

$$ $21-$35

$$$ $36-$70

$$$$ $71 or more

o Outdoor Dining

c Children’s Menu

B Breakfast

R Brunch

L Lunch

D Dinner

A After Hours/Late Night

G Gluten-Free

V Vegetarian

s Best of Arlington 2021 or 2022 Winner

MICHAEL BUTCHER

The trendy watering hole serves dishes reminiscent of Chinese and Taiwanese street food, plus sake, soju and Asian fusion cocktails. L D V $$

Bar Ivy

3033 Wilson Blvd., 703-544-8730, eatbarivy.com. Executive chef and master forager Jonathan Till turns out seasonal dishes like squash blossom panzanella and octopus with elderberry teriyaki at this breezy, West Coast-style hive in Clarendon. O D V $$$

Barley Mac

1600 Wilson Blvd., 703-372-9486, barleymacva. com. Upscale tavern fare, plus more than 100 kinds of whiskey and bourbon. R L D A G V $$

Bartaco

4238 Wilson Blvd. (Ballston Quarter), 571-3908226, bartaco.com. A lively spot for tacos (13 kinds) and tequila. Feels like vacation. L D V A $$

Basic Burger

1101 S. Joyce Street, 703-248-9333, basicburger. com. The homegrown eatery (and food truck) cooks with locally sourced, certified Angus beef and cagefree, antibiotic-free chicken. L D $$

Bayou Bakery, Coffee Bar & Eatery s 1515 N. Courthouse Road, 703-243-2410, bayou bakeryva.com. Chef David Guas’ New Orleans-inspired menu changes often, but you can always count on beignets and gumbo. Breakfast all day on weekends. O C B R L D G V $

Beauty Champagne & Sugar Boutique 576 23rd St. S., 571-257-5873, beautybysociety fair.com. Find champagne, cookies, cocktail fixings

and small plates at this woman-owned bistro and market. Closed Mondays. L D $$

Bethesda Bagels

1851 N. Moore St., 703-312-1133, bethesdabagels. com. The popular D.C.-area chain has an outpost in Rosslyn. Eat a sandwich! O L V $

BGR the Burger Joint

3129 Langston Blvd., 703-812-4705, bgrtheburger joint.com. Top your dry-aged beef, veggie or turkey burger with add-ons like grilled jalapeño, pineapple or fried egg. C L D V $

Big Buns Damn Good Burger Co.

4401 Wilson Blvd., 703-276-3032; 4251 Campbell Ave., 703-933-2867, eatbigbuns.com. Satisfy your cravings with “designer” burgers, shakes, beer and booze. L D $$

Bob & Edith’s Diner

2310 Columbia Pike, 703-920-6103; 539 23rd St. S., 703-920-2700; 5150 Langston Blvd., 703-5940280; bobandedithsdiner.com. Founded in 1969, the 24-hour eatery whips up pancakes, eggs, grits, meatloaf, shakes and pie à la mode. B L D A V $

Bollywood Bistro Express

4238 Wilson Blvd. (Ballston Quarter), 571-3121071, bollywoodbistroexpress.com. Build your own bowl with fillers such as chicken tikka, paneer, chana masala and pickled onions. L D V $$

Bonsai Sushi at Crystal City

553 23rd St. S., 703-553-7723, crystalbonsai sushirestaurant.com. A go-to for sushi, sashimi, yakisoba, tempura, teriyaki. Closed Mondays. L D $$

Bostan Uyghur Cuisine

3911 Langston Blvd., 703-522-3010, bostanuyghur. com. Discover the wonders of Uyghur Chinese dishes such as kabobs, lagmen (hand-pulled noodles), manta (dumplings) and honey cake. L D $$

Brass Rabbit Public House

1210 N. Garfield St., 703-746-9977, brassrabbit pub.com. Pair carrot “fries” and lettuce wraps with craft cocktails like the El Conejo, featuring tequila, carrot juice, ginger, lime and cilantro.

O R L D V A $$

Bread & Water Company

1201 S. Joyce St., 703-567-6698, breadand watercompany.com. The cafe-bakery serves sandwiches, salads, soups and pastries. Grab a loaf of Markos Panas’ addictive, rustic “M” bread to take home. B L V $

Bronson Bierhall

4100 Fairfax Drive, 703-528-1110, bronsonbier hall.com. You’ll find communal tables, German and regional beers, sausages, schnitzel and cornhole in this 6,000-square-foot ode to Munich.

O L D A $$

Buena Vida Gastrolounge

2900 Wilson Blvd., buenavidarestaurant.com. Savor an unlimited tasting menu of Mexican dishes by chef Jaime Garciá Pelayo Bribiesca, plus one of the best rooftop bars around. O R L D $$

Busboys and Poets

4251 S. Campbell Ave., 703-379-9757, busboys andpoets.com. Known for its poetry slams, onsite bookstore and social justice programming, the

■ places to eat

café offers an eclectic menu with oodles of options for vegetarians. O C B R L D G V $$

The Café by La Cocina VA

918 S. Lincoln St., 703-596-1557, lacocinava.org/ café-main. This lunch spot operated by La Cocina VA, a nonprofit that trains immigrants for culinary careers, serves soups, salads, sandwiches, pastries and Swing’s coffee. L V $

Café Colline

4536 Langston Blvd., 703-567-6615, cafecolline va.com. Helmed by executive chef Brendan L’Etoile, the cozy French bistro in the Lee Heights Shops satisfies with dishes such as paté maison, duck confit and chocolate pots de creme. O L D $$

Café Sazón

4704 Columbia Pike, 703-566-1686, cafesazon. com. A homey Bolivian café specializing in dishes such as silpancho and empanadas. B L D V $$

Caribbean Grill

5183 Langston Blvd., 703-241-8947. Cuban preparations such as jerk-style pork, fried plantains and black bean soup are mainstays. C L D G V $

Carlyle

4000 Campbell Ave., 703-931-0777, greatamerican restaurants.com/carlyle. The original anchor of Shirlington Village is a reliable pick for fusion fare, happy hour and Sunday brunch. O C R L D G V $$$

CarPool Beer and Billiards

900 N. Glebe Road, 703-516-7665, gocarpool.com. After four years in Fairfax, Mark Handwerger’s garage-themed watering hole has returned to Ballston with pool, pub grub and an extensive beer list, including “house” suds brewed at sister bar the Board Room. D A $

Cava

1201 Wilson Blvd., 703-652-7880; 4121 Wilson Blvd., 703-310-6791; cava.com. Build your own salad, wrap or bowl, choosing from an array of Greek dips, spreads, proteins and toppings. L D G V $$

Cava Mezze

2940 Clarendon Blvd., 703-276-9090, cavamezze. com. Greek small plates include octopus, roasted eggplant, zucchini fritters, souvlaki, briny cheeses and succulent lamb. R L D G V $$$

The Celtic House Irish Pub & Restaurant 2500 Columbia Pike, 703-746-9644, celtichouse. net. The pub on the Pike serves up pints alongside favorites like corned beef and traditional Irish breakfast. C R L D A $$

Chasin’ Tails

2200 N. Westmoreland St., 703-538-2565, chasintailscrawfish.com. It’s the place to go for a spicy, messy, finger-lickin’ Cajun crawfish boil. Lunch on weekends only. L D $$

Cheesetique

4024 Campbell Ave., 703-933-8787, cheesetique. com. The cheese shop and wine bar offers small plates, cheese boards and more. O B L D V $$

Chiko

4040 Campbell Ave., 571-312-0774, chikodc.com.

The Chinese-Korean concept by chefs Danny Lee and Scott Drewno serves fan favorites like cumin lamb stir-fry and double-fried chicken wings, plus a few fun dishes that are exclusive to the Shirlington location. C D G V $$

Circa at Clarendon

3010 Clarendon Blvd., 703-522-3010, circabistros. com. Bistro fare ranges from salads and small plates to steak frites and wild mushroom pizza. Sit outside if you can. O R L D A G V $$$

Colony Grill

2800 Clarendon Blvd., 703-682-8300, colonygrill. com. The Stamford, Connecticut-based pizza chain specializes in ultra-thin-crust “bar pies” with a spicy, pepper-infused hot oil topping. L D G V $$

Copperwood Tavern

4021 Campbell Ave., 703-522-8010, copperwood tavern.com. The hunting-and-fishing-themed saloon serves up steaks and chops, draft beers and 30 small-batch whiskeys. O R L D $$$

Cowboy Café s

4792 Langston Blvd., 703-243-8010, thecowboy cafe.com. Cool your heels and fill up on sandwiches, burgers, brisket and chili mac. An outdoor beer garden features a mural by Arlington artist MasPaz. Live music on weekends. O C R L D V $$

Crafthouse

901 N. Glebe Road, 703-962-6982, crafthouse usa.com. Locally sourced bar food, plus Virginia beer, wine and spirits equals a good time. O L D A $$

Crystal City Sports Pub

529 23rd St. S., 703-521-8215, ccsportspub.com. Open 365 days a year, it’s a sure bet for big-screen TVs, pool tables, trivia and poker nights, beers and bar snacks. C B R L D A G V $$

Crystal Thai

4819 First St. N., 703-522-1311, crystalthai.com. A neighborhood go-to for traditional Thai curries, grilled meats and house specialties like roast duck.

L D V $$

Dama Pastry Restaurant & Cafe

1503 Columbia Pike, 703-920-3559, damapas try.com. The Ethiopian family-owned business includes a breakfast café, market and dining room.

B L D V $$

Darna

946 N. Jackson St., 703-988-2373, darnava.com. Grilled kabobs, mezze and traditional Lebanese comfort foods are served in a modern setting. The upstairs is a hookah bar. L D V $$

Delhi Dhaba Indian Restaurant

2424 Wilson Blvd., 703-524-0008, delhidhaba.com. The best bargain is the “mix and match” platter, which includes tandoori, seafood, a curry dish and a choice of rice or naan. O L D G V $$

Kura Sushi in McLean

Detour Coffee

946 N. Jackson St., 703-988-2378, detourcoffee co.com. This comfy cafe has a college vibe and serves up locally roasted coffee, light bites and weekend brunch. O B R L V $

District Taco 5723 Langston Blvd., 703-237-1204; 1500 Wilson Blvd., 571-290-6854; districttaco.com. A local favorite for tacos and gargantuan burritos. C B L D G V $

Don Tito

3165 Wilson Blvd., 703-566-3113, dontitova.com. Located in a historic building, the sports bar specializes in tacos, tequila and beer, with a rooftop bar. O R L D $$

Dudley’s Sport & Ale

2766 S. Arlington Mill Drive, 571-312-2304, dudleyssportandale.com. A spacious sports bar with wall-to-wall TVs, a roof deck, a ballpark-inspired beer list and weekend brunch. O C R L D A $$

Earl’s Sandwiches

2605 Wilson Boulevard, 703-647-9191, earlsinarling ton.com. Made-to-order sandwiches use prime ingredients, like fresh roasted turkey. O B L D G V $

East West Coffee Wine

3101 Wilson Blvd., 571-800-9954. The Clarendoncafe serves espresso drinks, brunch (try the massive Turkish breakfast spread), sandwiches, tapas, beer and wine. B L D $

El Charrito Caminante

2710-A N. Washington Blvd., 703-351-1177. This bare-bones Salvadoran takeout counter hits the spot with tacos, burritos and pupusas. L D V $

El Paso Café

4235 N. Pershing Drive, 703-243-9811, elpaso cafeva.com. Big portions, big margaritas and bighearted service make this Tex-Mex cantina a local favorite. C L D G V $$

El Pike Restaurant

4111 Columbia Pike, 703-521-3010, elpikerestau rant.com. Bolivian dishes satisfy at this no-frills institution. Try the salteñas stuffed with chicken or beef, olives and hard-boiled egg. L D $

El Pollo Rico

932 N. Kenmore St., 703-522-3220, elpollorico restaurant.com. A local institution, this rotisserie chicken mecca gained even more street cred after a visit from the late Anthony Bourdain. L D V $

El Rey

4201 Wilson Blvd., 571-312-5530, elreyva.com. The Ballston outpost of the beloved U Street taqueria serves tacos, margs and draft brews in a colorful interior featuring street-art murals by Mike Pacheco. L D A $$

Elevation Burger

2447 N. Harrison St., 703-300-9467, elevationburger. com. Organic, grass-fed beef is ground on the premises, fries are cooked in olive oil and the shakes are made with fresh-scooped ice cream. O L D V $

Endo Sushi

3000 Washington Blvd., 703-243-7799, endosushi. com. A neighborly spot for sashimi, teriyaki, donburi and maki. L D V $$

Epic Smokehouse

1330 S. Fern St., 571-319-4001, epicsmoke

house.com. Wood-smoked meats and seafood served in a modern setting. O L D G $$$

Essy’s Carriage House Restaurant

4030 Langston Blvd., 703-525-7899, essyscarriage house.com. Kick it old school with crab imperial, lamb chops and prime rib. B L D G $$$

Federico Ristorante Italiano

519 23rd St., 703-486-0519, federicoristorante italiano.com. Find pasta, chianti and red-checkered tablecloths at this Crystal City trattoria co-owned by Freddie’s Beach Bar proprietor Freddie Lutz. L D V $$

Fettoosh

5100 Wilson Blvd., 703-527-7710, fettoosh.com. Overstuffed pita sandwiches and kabobs keep the kitchen fired up at this bargain-priced Lebanese and Moroccan restaurant. C R L D G V $

Fire Works

2350 Clarendon Blvd., 703-527-8700, fireworks pizza.com. Wood-fired pizzas and more than 30 craft beers on tap are mainstays. You can also build your own pasta dish. O C L D A G V $$

First Down Sports Bar & Grill 4213 Fairfax Drive, 703-465-8888, firstdownsports bar.com. Three cheers for draft beers and snacks ranging from sliders to queso dip. L D A V $$

Four Sisters Grill 3035 Clarendon Blvd., 703-243-9020, foursisters grill.com. Here, the family behind Four Sisters in Merrifield serves up banh mi sandwiches, papaya salad, spring rolls and noodle dishes. O L D $$

■ places to eat

The Freshman

2011 Crystal Drive, thefreshmanva.com. Nick Freshman’s neighborly dining concept has something for every appetite and every time of day, from coffee and breakfast sandwiches to oysters and negronis. O B L D V $$

Galaxy Hut

2711 Wilson Blvd., 703-525-8646, galaxyhut.com. Pair craft beers with vegan bar foods like “fricken” (fake chicken) sandwich melts and smothered tots with cashew cheese curds. L D A G V $$

Gharer Khabar

5157 Langston Blvd., 703-973-2432, gharerkhabar togo.com. Translated as “home’s food,” this artfilled, 14-seat café serves Bangladeshi fare cooked by chef Nasima Shreen. L D $$

Good Company Doughnuts & Café

672 N. Glebe Road, 703-243-3000, gocodough.com. The family- and veteran-owned eatery serves housemade doughnuts, Intelligentsia coffee and other breakfast and lunch fare. B L V $$

Good Stuff Eatery

2110 Crystal Drive, 703-415-4663, goodstuff eatery.com. Spike Mendelsohn’s Crystal City outpost offers gourmet burgers (beef, turkey or mushroom), shakes, fries and salads. L D G V $

Grand Cru Wine Bar and Bistro

4301 Wilson Blvd., 703-243-7900, grandcru-wine. com. This intimate European-style café includes a wine shop next door. O R L D G $$$

Green Pig Bistro s

1025 N. Fillmore St., 703-888-1920, greenpig bistro.com. Southern-influenced food, craft cocktails, happy hour and brunch draw fans to this congenial neighborhood hideaway. R L D G V $$$

Greens N Teff s

3203 Columbia Pike, 571-510-4063, greensnteff. com. This vegetarian, fast-casual Ethiopian carryout prompts customers to choose a base (injera bread or rice) then pile on spicy, plant-based stews and other toppings. O L D G V $

Guajillo

1727 Wilson Blvd., 703-807-0840, guajillo mexican.com. Authentic Mexican dishes such as carne asada, mole poblano and churros are favorites. O C L D G V $$

Guapo’s Restaurant

4028 Campbell Ave., 703-671-1701, guaposres taurant.com. Expect hearty portions of all the TexMex standbys—quesadillas, enchiladas, fajitas, tacos and burritos. O C R L D G V $$

Gyu-Kaku Japanese BBQ

1119 N. Hudson St., 571-527-0445, gyu-kaku.com. Marinated meats, veggies and seafood are cooked on tabletop grills. L D $$

Hanabi Ramen

3024 Wilson Blvd., 703-351-1275, hanabiramen usa.com. Slurp multiple variations of the popular noodle dish, plus rice bowls and dumplings. L D $$

Happy Eatery Vietnamese Kitchen

1800 N. Lynn St., 571-800-1881, thehappy eatery.com. Vietnamese comfort foods (think banh mi, noodle soups and rice bowls) are the draw at this Rosslyn establishment. L D $$

Hawkers

4201 Wilson Blvd., 703-828-8287, eathawkers. com. Satisfy your craving for hot chicken, pork belly bao and other Asian street foods, plus sake, whiskey and zero-proof quaffs. G V L D $$

Heidelberg Pastry Shoppe

2150 N. Culpeper St., 703-527-8394, heidelberg

bakery.com. Fill up on baked goods as well as Old Country specialties such as bratwurst and German potato salad. Closed Mondays. B L $

Highline RxR

2010-A Crystal Drive, 703-413-2337, highlinerxr. com. A Crystal City bar offering draft beers, draft wines, a whiskey menu and a retractable wall that opens up in nice weather. O L D A $$

Hot Lola’s

4238 Wilson Blvd. (Ballston Quarter), 1501 Wilson Blvd. (Rosslyn), hotlolas.com. It’s all about Kevin Tien’s Nashville-meets-Sichuan hot chicken sandwiches. L D $

Inca Social

1776 Wilson Blvd., 703-488-7640, incasocial.com. Empanadas, saltados, ceviche, sushi and pisco sours round out the menu at this Peruvian cousin to the original in Dunn Loring. R L D G V $$

Ireland’s Four Courts

2051 Wilson Blvd., 703-525-3600, irelandsfour courts.com. Irish fare includes cider-braised short ribs, a Guinness-marinated burger and imported cheeses from general manager Dave Cahill’s family farm in County Limerick. C R L D A V $$

Istanbul Grill

4617 Wilson Blvd., 571-970-5828, istanbulgrill virginia.com. Feast on Turkish meze and kabobs at this homey spot in Bluemont. L D V $$

The Italian Store s

3123 Langston Blvd., 703-528-6266; 5837 Washington Blvd., 571-341-1080; italianstore.com. A cultstatus favorite for pizzas, sandwiches, prepared entrées, espresso and gelato. O L D G V $

Kabob Palace

2315 S. Eads St., 703-486-3535, kabobpalaceusa. com. Grilled meats, pillowy naan and savory sides. L D A G V $$

Kanpai Restaurant

1401 Wilson Blvd., 703-527-8400, kanpai-sushi.com. The STTR (spicy tuna tempura roll) is a must at this Rosslyn sushi spot. O L D G V $$

Kusshi

1201 S. Joyce St., 571-777-1998, kusshisushi. com. Feast your way through shishito peppers, sushi, oysters and mochi at this Westpost café. Or splurge for omakase. O L D G V $$$

L.A. Bar & Grill

2530 Columbia Pike, 703-685-1560, labargrill.com. Regulars flock to this dive bar on the Pike (L.A. stands for Lower Arlington) for cold brews and pub fare. D A $$

La Côte D’Or Café

6876 Langston Blvd., 703-538-3033, lacotedorarling ton.com. This little French bistro serves standards like crepes and steak frites. O R L D G V $$$

Layalina

5216 Wilson Blvd., 703-525-1170, layalinares taurant.com. Lebanese and Syrian dishes have delighted diners since 1997 at this family-owned restaurant. Closed Mondays. O L D A V $$

Lebanese Taverna

5900 Washington Blvd., 703-241-8681; 1101 S. Joyce St., Pentagon Row, 703-415-8681; lebanese taverna.com. A homegrown favorite for mezze, kabobs, flatbreads and more. O C L D G V $$

Le Pain Quotidien

2900 Clarendon Blvd., 703-465-0970, lepainquo tidien.com. The Belgian chain produces Europeanstyle cafe fare. B L D G V $$

The Liberty Tavern

3195 Wilson Blvd., 703-465-9360, thelibertytavern.

com. This Clarendon anchor offers a spirited bar and creative cuisine fueled by two wood-burning ovens. O C R L D A G V $$$

Livin’ the Pie Life

2166 N. Glebe Road, 571-431-7727, livinthepielife. com. The wildly popular pie operation started as an Arlington farmers market stand. B L V $$

Lost Dog Café

5876 Washington Blvd., 703-237-1552; 2920 Columbia Pike, 703-553-7770; lostdogcafe.com. Known for its pizzas, subs and craft beer selection, this deli/café and its multiple franchises support pet adoption through the Lost Dog and Cat Rescue Foundation. L D G V $$

Lucky Danger

1101 S. Joyce St., Unit B27 (Westpost), luckydanger. co. Chefs Tim Ma and Andrew Chiou put a fresh spin on Chinese American takeout with dishes such as duck fried rice and lo mein. L D V $$

Lyon Hall

3100 N. Washington Blvd., 703-741-7636, lyonhall arlington.com. The European-style brasserie turns out French, German and Alsatian-inspired plates, from charcuterie and sausages to mussels and pickled vegetables. O C R L D A V $$$

Mah-Ze-Dahr Bakery

1550 Crystal Drive, 703-718-4418, mahzedahr bakery.com. Café fare at this bright newcomer to National Landing includes coffee, pastries, focaccia, sandwiches and snacks. O B L D $

Maison Cheryl

2900 Wilson Blvd., 703-664-0509, maisoncheryl. com. Seared duck breast, steak frites and madeleines are among the offerings at this French American bistro. R L D V $$$

Maizal

4238 Wilson Blvd. (Ballston Quarter), 571-3966500, maizalstreetfood.com. South American street food—arepas, empanadas, yuca fries, Peruvian fried rice, street corn and churros. L D V $

Mala Tang

3434 Washington Blvd., 703-243-2381, mala-tang. com. Chef Liu Chaosheng brings the tastes and traditions of his hometown, Chengdu, to this eatery specializing in Sichuan hot pot. O L D G V $$

Mario’s Pizza House

3322 Wilson Blvd., mariopizzahouse.com. Open into the wee hours, it’s been cooking up subs, wings and pizza since 1957. O C B L D A $

Mason’s Famous Lobster Rolls

4017 Campbell Ave., 571-431-6530, masons lobster.com. Order lobster rolls your way (butter or mayo) at this Shirlington outpost of the Annapolis, Maryland-based seafood chainlet. L D $$

Mattie and Eddie’s

1301 S. Joyce St., 571-312-2665, mattieand eddies.com. It’s not just an Irish bar. Chef Cathal Armstrong’s kitchen serves farm-to-table dishes like lobster pot pie, house-cured corned beef, sardines on toast, and Irish breakfast all day. O R L D $$$

Maya Bistro

5649 Langston Blvd., 703-533-7800, bistromaya. com. The family-owned restaurant serves Turkish and Mediterranean comfort food. L D V $$

McNamara’s Pub & Restaurant

567 23rd St. S., 703-302-3760, mcnamaraspub. com. Order a Guinness and some corned beef or fish and chips at this watering hole on Crystal City’s restaurant row. O R L D A $$

Meda Coffee & Kitchen

5037 Columbia Pike, 571-312-0599, medacoffee

kitchen.com. A casual café serving coffee, baked goods and traditional Ethiopian dishes like kitfo and tibs. C B L D G V $$

Me Jana

2300 Wilson Blvd., 703-465-4440, mejanarestau rant.com. Named for an old Lebanese folk ballad, this Middle Eastern eatery offers prime peoplewatching in Clarendon. O C L D G V $$

Mele Bistro

1723 Wilson Blvd., 703-522-0284, melebistro.com. This farm-to-table Mediterranean restaurant cooks with fresh, organic, free-range, regionally sourced, non-GMO ingredients. O R L D G V $$

Meridian Pint

6035 Wilson Blvd., 703-300-9655, meridianpint. com. A brewpub serving craft suds, burgers, salads and bar food. C R D A G V $$

Metro 29 Diner

4711 Langston Blvd., 703-528-2464, metro29. com. Classic diner fare includes triple-decker sandwiches, mile-high desserts, burgers, roasted chicken and breakfast. C B R L D V $

Mexicali Blues

2933 Wilson Blvd., 703-812-9352, mexicali-blues. com. The colorful landmark dishes out Salvadoran and Mexican chow. O C R L D G V $$

Moby Dick House of Kabob

3000 Washington Blvd., 703-465-1600; 4037 Campbell Ave., 571-257-8214; mobyskabob.com. Satisfy that hankering for Persian skewers and flavorful sides. L D $$

Mussel Bar & Grille

800 N. Glebe Road, 703-841-2337, musselbar.com. Chef Robert Wiedmaier’s Ballston eatery is known for mussels, frites, wood-fired pizza and more than 100 Belgian and craft beers. O L D $$

Nam-Viet

1127 N. Hudson St., 703-522-7110, namvietva.com. The venerable restaurant specializes in flavors of Vietnam’s Can Tho region. O L D V $$

Nighthawk Pizza

1201 S. Joyce St., nighthawkpizza.com. Restaurateur Scott Parker has teamed up with chef Johnny Spero and Aslin Beer Co. to introduce a brewpub featuring low-ABV beers, personal pizzas and smash burgers. L D V $$

Northside Social Coffee & Wine s 3211 Wilson Blvd., 703-465-0145, northsidesocial arlington.com. The homey, two-story coffee and wine bar (with a big patio) is always busy...which tells you something. O B L D V $$

Oby Lee

3000 N. Washington Blvd., 571-257-5054, obylee. com. Crepes and quiche are the bill of fare at this European-style café, bakery, wine shop and coffee roastery. O B L D G $$

Oh K-Dog

4238 Wilson Blvd. (Ballston Quarter), 703-5673376, ohkdog.com. Why reach for a corn dog when you can have a fried Korean rice dog with add-ins like sweet potato, cheddar or squid ink? L D $ Old Dominion Pizza

4514 Langston Blvd., 703-718-6372, olddominion pizza.com. Order thin crust or “grandma style” pies named after local high school mascots. L D G $ Open Road

1201 Wilson Blvd., 703-248-0760, openroadgrill. com. This second location of the American saloon (the first is in Merrifield) is a solid pick for burgers and beers, or a proper entrée and a craft cocktail. O L D $$

Origin Coffee Lab & Kitchen

1101 S. Joyce St., 703-567-7295, origincoffeeco. com. The industrial-chic coffee shop roasts its own beans and serves all-day breakfast, as well as bar munchies and dinner plates. O B R L D V $$

Osteria da Nino

2900 S. Quincy St. (Village at Shirlington), 703820-1128, osteriadaninova.com. For those days when you’re craving a hearty portion of spaghetti and clams, or gnocci with pesto. O D G V $$$

O’Sullivan’s Irish Pub

3207 Washington Blvd., 703-812-0939, osullivans irishpub.com. You’ll find owner and County Kerry native Karen O’Sullivan behind the bar, pouring pints and cracking jokes. L D A $$

Palette 22

4053 Campbell Ave., 703-746-9007, palette22.com. The gallery-café specializes in international small plates. O R L D V $$

Pamplona

3100 Clarendon Blvd., 703-685-9950, pamplona va.com. Spanish tapas, paella, grilled fish, pintxos, cocktails, snacks and sangria. O R D A V $$

Peking Pavilion

2912 N. Sycamore St., 703-237-6868. This family-owned restaurant serves standbys such as moo shu pork and beef with broccoli. L D $$

Peter Chang Arlington s

2503-E N. Harrison St., 703-538-6688, peterchang arlington.com. The former Chinese Embassy chef brings his fiery and flavorful Sichuan cooking to the Lee Harrison Shopping Center. C L D $$

Pho 75

1721 Wilson Blvd., 703-525-7355, pho75.res taurantwebexpert.com. The piping-hot soup at this local institution is all about fresh ingredients. O L D V $

Pie-tanza s

2503-B N. Harrison St., 703-237-0200, pie-tanza. com. Enjoy pizza (including gluten-free options), calzones, lasagna, subs and salads. C L D G V $$

Pirouette

4000 Fairfax Drive, pirouette.cafe. Pair your favor ite vino with cheese, smoked trout, crispy pork bel ly and other enticing plates at this Ballston cafe, wine bar and wine shop. L D G V

The Pinemoor

1101 N. Highland St., 571-970-2592, thepine moor.com. Reese Gardner’s country-western saloon turns out steaks, burgers, local seafood and weekend brunch. O R L D G

Poppyseed Rye

818 N. Quincy St., poppyseedrye.com. Pick up sand wiches, salads, avocado toast, cold-pressed juice, flower bouquets and gift items (beer and wine, too) at this pretty café in Ballston. O r L D G V $

Pupatella s

• Catering for dinner parties & office lunches (on and off premises)

• Family friendly casual year round patio dining clareanddonsbeachshack@gmail.com

5104 Wilson Blvd.; 1621 S. Walter Reed Drive, 571-312-7230, pupatella.com. Enzo and Anastasiya Algarme’s authentic Neapolitan pies are considered among D.C.’s best. O L D V $$

Pupuseria Doña Azucena

71 N. Glebe Road, 703-248-0332, pupuseriadona azucena.com. Beans, rice and massive pupusas at dirt-cheap prices. C L D V $

Quarterdeck

1200 Fort Myer Drive, 703-528-2722, quarterdeck arlington.com. This beloved shack has served up steamed crabs for 40 years. O C L D V $$

■ places to eat

Queen Mother’s Fried Chicken

918 S. Lincoln St., 703-596-1557, queenmother cooks.com. Chef Rock Harper’s celebrated fried chicken sandwich operation shares a kitchen and dining space with The Café by La Cocina VA. L D $

Quincy Hall

4001 Fairfax Drive, 703-567-4098, quincyhallbar. com. Head to Ballston for tavern-style pizzas and 20+ craft beers on tap. D A V $$ Quinn’s on the Corner

1776 Wilson Blvd., 703-640-3566, quinnsonthe corner.com. Irish and Belgian favorites such as mussels, steak frites, and bangers and mash, plus draft beers and a big whiskey selection. B R L D A $$ Ragtime

1345 N. Courthouse Road, 703-243-4003, ragtime restaurant.com. Savor a taste of the Big Easy in offerings such as jambalaya, catfish, spiced shrimp and oysters. Or feast on the waffle and omelet bar every Sunday. O R L D A V $$

Rako Coffee Roasters

2016 Wilson Blvd., 571-2312-4817, rakocoffee. com. Sister roasters Lisa and Melissa Gerben, whose beans are on the menu at Maketto and other D.C. hot spots, now have a cafe in Courthouse. Try a baklava latte or an espresso martini. R L D V $$

Rasa

2200 Crystal Drive, 703-888-0925, rasagrill.com. Enjoy big flavors at this Indian fast-casual eatery by co-owners Sahil Rahman and Rahul Vinod. Build a bowl with options like basmati rice, chicken tikka, lamb, charred or pickled vegetables, lentils, chutneys and yogurt sauces. O L D G V $

Ravi Kabob House

350 N. Glebe Road, 703-522-6666; 250 N. Glebe Road, 703-816-0222. Curries, kabobs and delectably spiced veggies keep this strip-mall café plenty busy. C L D V $$

Rebellion on the Pike

2900 Columbia Pike, 703-888-2044, rebellionon thepike.com. The irreverent tavern sports a deep list of craft beers and whiskeys, and serves burgers (including one zinger called the “Ramsay Bolton”), six kinds of wings and other pub grub. O R B D A $$

The Renegade

3100 Clarendon Blvd., 703-468-4652, renegadeva. com. Is it a coffee shop, restaurant, bar or live music venue? All of the above—with snacks ranging from lambchop lollipops to lo mein. B L D A $$ Rhodeside Grill

1836 Wilson Blvd., 703-243-0145, rhodeside grill.com. Find chops, meatloaf, burgers and po’boys accompanied by every kind of hot sauce imaginable. O C R L D A V $$

Rice Crook

4238 Wilson Blvd. (Ballston Quarter), ricecrook.com. Korean-inspired rice bowls, salads and wraps made with locally sourced meats and produce. L D $$

Rien Tong Asian Bistro

3131 Wilson Blvd., 703-243-8388, rientong.com. The large menu includes Thai and Chinese standards, plus sushi. L D V $$

Rocklands Barbeque and Grilling Co.

3471 Washington Blvd., 703-528-9663, rocklands. com. Owner John Snedden has been slow-cooking barbecue since 1990. O C L D G V $

Ruffino’s Spaghetti House

4763 Langston Blvd., 703-528-2242, ruffinosarling ton.com. Mina Tawdaros bought this local institution in 2020, fulfilling a lifelong dream. The menu still in-

cludes classics such as veal Parmigiana and chicken piccata. C L D V $$

Rustico

4075 Wilson Blvd., 571-384-1820, rusticorestau rant.com. You’ll find more than 400 beers to complement dishes from pizza to grilled trout and pastrami pork ribs. O C R L D G V $$

RusUz

1000 N. Randolph St., 571-312-4086, rusuz.com. The family-run bistro serves hearty Russian and Uzbek dishes such as borscht, beef stroganoff and plov—a rice pilaf with lamb. L D $$

Ruthie’s All-Day s

3411 Fifth St. S., 703-888-2841, ruthiesallday.com. Chef Matt Hill’s Southern-inspired “meat and three” serves up wood-smoked proteins with creative sides ranging from kimchi dirty rice to crispy Brussels sprouts with fish sauce vinaigrette. Breakfast (with house-made biscuits) offered daily.

O B R L D G V $$

Saigon Noodles & Grill

1800 Wilson Blvd., 703-566-5940, saigonnoodles grill.com. The Rosslyn eatery owned by Arlington resident Tuan Nguyen serves pho, banh mi and other traditional Vietnamese dishes. L D G V $$

Salt

1201 Wilson Blvd., 703-875-0491, saltrosslyn. com. The speakeasy-style cocktail bar, which shares a kitchen with Open Road, serves tasty nibbles (cheese plates, oysters, carpaccio) with classic Sazeracs and Old Fashioneds, as well as nouveau craft cocktails. D $$

The Salt Line 4040 Wilson Blvd., 703-566-2075, thesaltline.com. The seafood-centric oyster bar that started next to Nats Park in D.C. now has an outpost in Ballston serving raw bar, clam chowder, lobster rolls, stuffies, smash burgers and fun cocktails. c O R D $$$

Samuel Beckett’s Irish Gastro Pub

2800 S. Randolph St., 703-379-0122, samuel becketts.com. A modern Irish pub serving Emerald Isle recipes. O C R L D A G V $$

Santé

1250 S. Hayes St. (inside the Ritz-Carlton), 703412-2762, meetatsante.com. Mediterranean fare includes shrimp saganaki, grilled oysters, chickpea fries, and mains ranging from whole roasted branzino to lamb “osso bucco.” B R L D G V $$$

Sawatdee Thai Restaurant

2250 Clarendon Blvd., 703-243-8181, seamores. com. The friendly eatery (its name means “hello”) is frequented by those craving pad thai or pad prik king. L D V $$

Screwtop Wine Bar and Cheese Shop

1025 N. Fillmore St., 703-888-0845, screwtop winebar.com. The congenial wine bar/shop offers tastings, wine classes, and small plates for sharing and pairing. O C R L D G V $$

Seamore’s

2815 Clarendon Blvd., 703-721-3384, seoulspice. com. Feast on sustainably sourced seafood, from oysters, clams and mussels to arctic char and yellowfin tuna. O D G V $$$

Seoulspice

1735 N. Lynn St., 703-419-5868, seoulspice.com. Korean fast-casual comfort food, anyone? L D G V $

SER 1110 N. Glebe Road, 703-746-9822, ser-restau rant.com. Traditional Spanish and Basque dishes in a colorful, friendly space with outstanding service.

O R L D V $$$

Sfoglina Pasta House

1100 Wilson Blvd., sfoglinapasta.com/rosslyn. Visit Fabio Trabocchi’s Rosslyn outpost for housemade pasta (you can watch it being made), a “mozzarella bar” and Italian cocktails. Closed Sundays. O L D V $$$

Silver Diner

3200 Wilson Blvd., 703-812-8600, silverdiner. com. The kitchen cooks with organic ingredients, many of which are sourced from local suppliers. Low-calorie and gluten-free menu choices available. O C B R L D A G V $$

Sloppy Mama’s Barbeque

5731 Langston Blvd., sloppymamas.com. Joe and Mandy Neuman’s barbecue joint offers woodsmoked meats galore—brisket, pork, chicken, ribs, turkey, sausage. Plus hearty sides and banana pudding for dessert. O B R L D $$

Smokecraft Modern Barbecue s

1051 N. Highland St., 571-312-8791, smokecraft bbq.com. Every menu item here is kissed by smoke, from ribs, crabcakes and spaghetti squash to the chocolate cherry bread pudding on the dessert list. O L D G V $$

Smoking Kow BBQ

2910 N. Sycamore St., smokingkowbbq.com. At this Kansas City-style ’cue joint, meats seasoned with a rub of 15 spices are smoked over cherry and hickory wood for 18-20 hours. L D $$

South Block

3011 11th St. N., 703-741-0266; 1550 Wilson Blvd., 703-465-8423; 4150 Wilson Blvd., 703-4658423; 2121 N. Westmoreland St., 703-534-1542; southblockjuice.com. Cold-pressed juices, smoothies and acai bowls. O B L V $

Sparrow Room

1201 S. Joyce St., 571-451-7030, sparrowroom. com. Hidden behind Bun’d Up, Scott Chung’s backroom mahjong parlor presents dim sum and Chinese-inspired craft cocktails in a moody setting. Open Thursday through Sunday, 5-11 p.m. D $$

Spice Kraft Indian Bistro

1135 N. Highland St., 703-527-5666, spicekraft va.com. This contemporary concept by restaurateurs Anthony Sankar and Premnath Durairaj gives Indian classics a modern spin. O L D $$

Spider Kelly’s

3181 Wilson Blvd., 703-312-8888, spiderkellys.com. The “come as you are” bar offers a sizable beer list, creative cocktails, salads, burgers, snacks and breakfast at all hours. C D A G V $$

Stellina Pizzeria

2800 S. Randolph St., 703-962-7884, stellina pizzeria.com. Pay a visit for Neapolitan pies, fried artichokes, squid ink pasta and a deli counter that offers house-made pastas, sauces, antipasti and dolci to take home. O L D $$

Supreme Hot Pot

2301 Columbia Pike, 571-666-1801, supreme hotpot.kwickmenu.com. This Pike eatery specializes in Szechuan hot pot, as well as skewered meats and a few Cajun seafood dishes. A sauce bar allows diners to choose and create their own dipping sauces. D G $$

Sushi Rock

1900 Clarendon Blvd., 571-312-8027, sushirockva. com. Play a little air guitar while sampling sushi rolls and beverages named after your favorite bands, from Zeppelin to Ozzy to Oasis. D A G V $$

Sushi-Zen Japanese Restaurant s 2457 N. Harrison St., 703-534-6000, sushizen.

com. An amicable, light-filled neighborhood stop for sushi, donburi, tempura and udon. C L D V $$

Sweetgreen

4075 Wilson Blvd., 703-522-2016; 3100 Clarendon Blvd., 571-290-3956; 575 12th Road S., 703-8881025; 2200 Crystal Drive, 703-685-9089; sweet green.com. Locally grown ingredients and compostable cutlery make this salad and yogurt chain a hub for the green-minded. O C L D G V $

Sweet Leaf

2200 Wilson Blvd., 703-525-5100; 800 N. Glebe Road, 703-522-5000; 650 N. Quincy St., 703527-0807; sweetleafcafe.com. Build your own sandwiches and salads with fresh ingredients. O C B L D $$

Taco Bamba Ballston s

4000 Wilson Blvd., 571-777-1477, tacobamba.com. Every Bamba location tucks an homage or two onto its menu. Here, the taco options include the El Rico Pollo, stuffed with “Peruvian-ish” chicken, green chili puree, aji Amarillo aioli, salsa criolla, serrano chile and crispy potato. B L D V $

Taco + Pina

4041 Campbell Ave., 703-567-4747, tacoandpina. com. Try an order of Fanta pork carnitas or the vegetarian “chile relleno” taco, and cool your heels with a frozen roasted pineapple margarita. O L D V $$

Taco Rock

1501 Wilson Blvd., 571-775-1800, thetacorock. com. This rock-themed watering hole keeps the margaritas and Micheladas flowing alongside creative tacos on housemade blue-corn tortillas.

B L D V $$

Taqueria el Poblano s

2503-A N. Harrison St., 703-237-8250, taqueria poblano.com. Fresh guacamole, fish tacos, margaritas and mole verde transport patrons to the Yucatan. C L D G V $$

Ted’s Bulletin & Sidekick Bakery

4238 Wilson Blvd. #1130 (Ballston Quarter), 703848-7580, tedsbulletin.com. The retro comfort food and all-day breakfast place has healthier fare, too— which you can undo with a visit to its tantalizing bakery next door. C B R L D G V $$

Texas Jack’s Barbecue

2761 Washington Blvd., 703-875-0477, txjacks.com. Brisket, ribs and pulled pork, plus sides like raw carrot salad and smashed cucumbers. O L D A $$

T.H.A.I. in Shirlington

4209 Campbell Ave., 703-931-3203, thaiinshirling ton.com. Pretty dishes include lemongrass salmon with black sticky rice. O L D G V $$$

Thai Noy s

5880 Washington Blvd., 703-534-7474, thainoy.com. Shimmering tapestries and golden Buddhas are the backdrop in this destination for Thai noodles, curries and rice dishes. L D $$

Thai Square

3217 Columbia Pike, 703-685-7040, thaisquarerestaurant.com. The signature dish is No. 61, deep-fried, sugar-glazed squid topped with crispy fried basil. O L D G V $$

Thirsty Bernie

2163 N. Glebe Road, 703-248-9300, thirstybernie. com. Wiener schnitzel, pierogies and bratwurst provide sustenance in this Bavarian sports bar and grill. O C R L D V $$

TNR Cafe

2049 Wilson Blvd., 571-217-0766, tnrcafe.com. When you have a hankering for Peking duck, moo shu chicken, Szechuan beef or bubble tea. L D G V $$

Toby’s Homemade Ice Cream

5849-A Washington Blvd., 703-536-7000, tobys icecream.com. Owner Toby Bantug makes premium ice creams, floats and sundaes. Coffee, pastries and bagels available in the morning. B L D V $

Tortas Y Tacos La Chiquita

2911 Columbia Pike, 571-970-2824, tortasytacosla chiquita.com. In addition to its namesake foods, the eatery that started as a food truck also does alambres, huarache platters, flautas and more. B L D $

Trade Roots

5852 Washington Blvd., 571-335-4274, fairtrade roots.com. Lisa Ostroff’s Westover gift shop and cafe serves fair-trade coffee, tea, pastries, salads, organic wine and snackable fare like mini empanadas and Portuguese flatbread. O B L $

Troy’s Italian Kitchen

2710 Washington Blvd., 703-528-2828, troysitalian kitchen.com. Palak and Neel Vaidya’s mom-andpop serves pizza, pasta and calzones, including a lengthy vegan menu with options like “chicken” tikka masala pizza. L D G V $

True Food Kitchen

4238 Wilson Blvd. (Ballston Quarter), 703-5270930, truefoodkitchen.com. Emphasizing “anti-inflammatory” fare, the menu will convince you that healthy tastes good. O L D G V $$

Tupelo Honey Café

1616 N. Troy St., 703-253-8140, tupelohoneycafe. com. The Southern fusion menu includes dishes like roasted snapper with sweet potato and farro. C R L D $$

Turu’s by Timber Pizza

4238 Wilson Blvd. (Ballston Quarter), timber pizza.com. Neapolitan(ish)-style pizzas fresh from a wood-fired oven. L D V $$

Uncle Julio’s Rio Grande Café

4301 N. Fairfax Drive, 703-528-3131, unclejulios. com. Tex-Mex highlights include mesquite-grilled fajitas, tacos and margaritas. O C R L D $$$

UnCommon Luncheonette

1028 N. Garfield St., 571-210-0159, uncommon luncheonette.com. Take a break from the usual at this Manhattan-style diner, where the chef-y comfort fare includes biscuits and gravy, poutine and a Nashville chicken sandwich. B L $$

The Union

3811 Fairfax Drive, 703-356-0129, theunionres taurant.us. Owner Giridhar Sastry was formerly executive chef at The Mayflower Hotel in D.C. His eclectic menu includes Mumbai panini (chaat masala, cilantro chutney, Havarti cheese, veggies), sesame wings and calamari with Lebanese garlic sauce. o C L D $$

Urban Tandoor

801 N. Quincy St., 703-567-1432, utandoorva.com. Sate your appetite with Indian and Nepalese fare, from tandoori lamb to Himalayan momos (dumplings). Lunch buffet daily. L D V $$

Weenie Beenie

2680 Shirlington Road, 703-671-6661, weenie beenie.net. The hot dog stand founded in 1954 is still serving half smokes, bologna-and-egg sandwiches and pancakes. B L D $

Westover Market & Beer Garden s 5863 N. Washington Blvd., 703-536-5040, westo vermarketbeergarden.com. A local hive for burgers and draft microbrews. The adjoining market’s “Great Wall of Beer” stocks more than 1,000 domestic, imported and craft beers in bottles and cans. O C L D A $$

Which Wich

4300 Wilson Blvd., 703-566-0058, whichwich.com. A seemingly endless menu of sandwiches and wraps with more than 60 toppings. O B L D V $$

Whino

4238 Wilson Blvd., 571-290-3958, whinova.com.

Part restaurant/bar and part art gallery, this latenight spot (open until 2 a.m. Thursday-Saturday) features cocktails, shareable plates and a dynamic interior featuring street-art murals and “low brow” art exhibits. L D A $$

William Jeffrey’s Tavern

2301 Columbia Pike, 703-746-6333, william jeffreystavern.com. Brought to you by the owners of Dogwood Tavern, this pub on the Pike features Prohibition-era wall murals and mixes a mean martini. O C R L D A G V $$

Wilson Hardware Kitchen & Bar

2915 Wilson Boulevard, 703-527-4200, wilson hardwareva.com. Order a boozy slushy or craft beer and head the roof deck. The menu includes small plates, burgers and entrées like steak frites and duck confit. O R L D A G V $$$

World of Beer

4300 Wilson Blvd., 703-576-0395, worldofbeer. com. The beer emporium features 40 taps and a rotating roster of hundreds of brews to go with your German soft pretzel, parmesan truffle fries or pimento cheeseburger. L D V $$

Yayla Bistro

2201 N. Westmoreland St., 703-533-5600, yayla bistro.com. A cozy little spot for Turkish small plates, flatbreads and seafood. Pita wraps available for lunch only. O C L D $$

Yume Sushi

2121 N. Westmoreland St., 703-269-5064, yume

■ places to eat

sushiva.com. East Falls Church has a destination for sushi, omakase (chef’s tasting menu) and a sake bar with craft cocktails. L D V G $$$

FALLS CHURCH

2941 Restaurant

2941 Fairview Park Drive, 703-270-1500, 2941. com. French chef Bertrand Chemel’s unlikely sanctuary in a suburban office building offers beautifully composed seasonal dishes and expert wine pairings in an artful setting. C L D V $$$

Abay Market Ethiopian Food

3811-A S. George Mason Drive, 703-820-7589, abaymarketethiopian.com. The seasoned grassfed raw beef dish kitfo is the specialty at this friendly, six-table Ethiopian café. L D $$

Al Jazeera

3813-D S. George Mason Drive, 703-379-2733. The top seller at this Yemeni cafe is oven-roasted lamb with yellow rice. L D $$

Alta Strada

2911 District Ave. (Mosaic District), 703-2800000, altastrada.com. Chef Michael Schlow’s menu includes house-made pastas, pizza and modern Italian small plates. R L D $$$

Anthony’s Restaurant

3000 Annandale Road, 703-532-0100, www.an thonysrestaurantva.com. The family-owned Greek and Italian diner serves standbys like spaghetti, pizza, gyros and subs, plus breakfast on weekends. R L D V $$

B Side

8298 Glass Alley (Mosaic District), 703-676-3550, bsidecuts.com. Nathan Anda’s charcuterie steals the show at this cozy bar adjoining Red Apron Butcher. The cocktails rock, too. L D $$

Badd Pizza

346 W. Broad St., 703-237-2233, baddpizza.com. Order a Buffalo-style “cup-and-char” pepperoni pie and a baddbeer IPA, locally brewed by Lost Rhino Brewing Co. L D $$

Bakeshop

100 E. Fairfax St., 703-533-0002, bakeshopva.com. See Arlington listing. B V $

Balqees Restaurant

5820 Seminary Road, 703-379-0188. Order Lebanese and Yemeni dishes like lamb in saffron rice, saltah (a vegetarian stew) and saffron cake topped with rose petals and crème anglaise. O L D V $$ Bamian

5634 Leesburg Pike, 703-820-7880, bamianres taurant.com. Try Afghan specialties like palau (seasoned lamb with saffron rice) and aushak (scallion dumpling topped with yogurt, meat sauce and mint). C L D V $$

Bartaco

2920 District Ave. (Mosaic District), 571-549-8226, bartaco.com. See Arlington listing. L D V A $$ Bing & Bao

7505 Leesburg Pike, 703-734-0846, bingandbao. com. Chinese street foods (crepes, steamed bun and fried rice) are the main attraction at this fast-casual eatery. Founders Rachel Wang and Mark Shen hail from Tianjin, China. L D V $

Caboose Commons

2918 Eskridge Road (Mosaic District), 703-6638833, caboosebrewing.com. The microbrewery that started along the W&OD Trail in Vienna has a second location serving house brews and creative

eats, including plant-based options.

O L D V A $$

Café Kindred

450 N. Washington St., 571-327-2215, cafe kindred.com. Pop in for a yogurt parfait, avocado toast, grilled eggplant sandwich, or an espresso fizz. B R L V $$

Celebrity Delly

7263-A Arlington Blvd., 703-573-9002, celebrity deliva.com. Matzo-ball soup, Reubens and tuna melts satisfy at this New York-style deli founded in 1975. Brunch served all day Saturday and Sunday.

C B L D G V $

Clare & Don’s Beach Shack

130 N. Washington St., 703-532-9283, clareand dons.com. Go coastal with fish tacos, coconut chicken or one of the many meatless options, and maybe catch some live outdoor music. Closed Mondays. O C L D A G V $$

DC Steakholders

6641 Arlington Blvd., 703-534-4200, dcsteakhold ers.com. The cheesesteak truck has a storefront in the former Frozen Dairy Bar space, where proprietors Usman Bhatti and Lilly Kaur are carrying forth FDB’s nearly 70-year frozen custard recipe. L D $$

District Dumplings

2985 District Ave. (Mosaic District), 703-884-7080, districtdumplingsfairfax.com. Asian-style dumplings, sandwiches and wraps. L D $$

District Taco

5275-C Leesburg Pike, 571-699-0660, district taco.com. See Arlington listing. C B L D G V $

Dogwood Tavern

132 W. Broad St., 703-237-8333, dogwoodtav ern.com. The menu has something for everyone, from ancient grain Buddha bowls to jambalaya, burgers and coconut-curry salmon.

O C R L D A V $$

Dominion Wine and Beer

107 Rowell Court, 703-533-3030, dominionwine andbeer.com. Pairings come easy when a café shares its space with a wine and beer shop. Order up a plate of sliders, a cheese board or some Dragon shrimp to snack on while you imbibe.

O R L D V $$

Duangrat’s

5878 Leesburg Pike, 703-820-5775, duangrats.com. Waitresses in traditional silk dresses glide through the dining room, bearing fragrant noodles and grilled meats, in one of the D.C. area’s most esteemed destinations for Thai cuisine. O R L D V $$

El Tio Tex-Mex Grill

7630 Lee Highway, 703-204-0233, eltiogrill.com. A family-friendly spot for fajitas, enchiladas, lomo saltado, combo plates and margaritas. O L D $$

Elephant Jumps Thai Restaurant

8110-A Arlington Blvd., 703-942-6600, elephant jumps.com. Creative and comforting Thai food in an intimate strip-mall storefront. L D G V $$

Elevation Burger

442 S. Washington St., 703-237-4343, elevation burger.com. See Arlington listing. O L D V $

Fava Pot

7393 Lee Highway, 703-204-0609, favapot.com. Visit Dina Daniel’s restaurant, food truck and catering operation for Egyptian fare such as stewed fava beans with yogurt and lamb shanks with okra. And oh the bread! B L D G V $$ First Watch

5880 Leesburg Pike, 571-977-1096, firstwatch. com. Popular dishes at this breakfast and lunch

café include eggs Benedict, lemon-ricotta pancakes, housemade granola, power bowls and avocado toast. O CB R L V $$

Four Sisters Restaurant

8190 Strawberry Lane, 703-539-8566, foursisters restaurant.com. Mainstays include clay pot fish, grilled meats, lettuce wraps and pho. O L D V $$

Haandi Indian Cuisine

1222 W. Broad St., 703-533-3501, haandi.com. The perfumed kabobs, curries and biryani incorporate northern and southern Indian flavors. L D V G $$

Harvey’s

513 W. Broad St., 540-268-6100, harveysva.com. Chef Thomas Harvey’s casual café brings roasted chicken, beer-cheese cheesesteaks, banana splits and other comfort fare to Falls Church City.

O C B R L D V $$

Hong Kong Palace

6387 Seven Corners Center, 703-532-0940, hong kongpalacedelivery.com. The kitchen caters to both ex-pat and American tastes with an enormous menu of options. C L D $$

Hong Kong Pearl Seafood Restaurant

6286 Arlington Blvd., 703-237-1388. Two words: dim sum. L D A V $$

Huong Viet

6785 Wilson Blvd., 703-538-7110, huong-viet. com. Spring rolls, roasted quail and shaky beef are faves at this cash-only Eden Center eatery. C L D G V $$

Ireland’s Four Provinces

105 W. Broad St., 703-534-8999, 4psva.com. The family-friendly tavern in the heart of Falls Church City serves pub food and Irish specialties.

O C B R L D $$

Jinya Ramen Bar

2911 District Ave. (Mosaic District), 703-9927705, jinya-ramenbar.com. Embellish your tonkotsu or umami-miso broth with more than a dozen toppings and add-ins. O L D A V $$

JV’s Restaurant

6666 Arlington Blvd., 703-241-9504, jvsrestaurant. com. A dive bar (the best kind) known for its live music, cold beer and home-cooked meatloaf, lasagna and chili. L D A V $$

Kamayan Fiesta

301 S. Washington St., 703-992-0045, kamayan fiesta.com. Find Filipino specialties such as chicken adobo, pork in shrimp paste, lumpia (egg rolls) and cassava cake. B L D V $$

Koi Koi Sushi & Roll

450 W. Broad St., 703-237-0101, koikoiva.com. The sushi is fresh and the vibe is fun. O L D $$

Lantern House Viet Bistro

1067 West Broad St., 703-268-2878, lantern houseva.com. Satisfy that craving for pho, noodles and banh mi at this family-owned Vietnamese eatery. L D G V $$

La Tingeria

626 S. Washington St., 571-316-6715. A popular food truck in Arlington since 2012, David Peña’s concept now has a brick-and-mortar location in Falls Church. The queso birria tacos are a must. Open Thursday-Sunday, noon to 4:30. L $

Le Pain Quotidien

8296 Glass Alley (Mosaic District), 703-4629322, lepainquotidien.com. See Arlington listing. B L D V $$

Liberty Barbecue

370 W. Broad St., 703-237-8227, libertyfallschurch. com. This ’cue venture by The Liberty Tavern Group

serves smoked meats, fried chicken and all the accompaniments. Order a Grand Slam (four meats, four sides) and feed the whole fam. R L D $$

Little Saigon Restaurant

6218-B Wilson Blvd., 703-536-2633. Authentic Vietnamese in a no-frills setting. O L D $$

Loving Hut Vegan Cuisine

2842 Rogers Drive, 703-942-5622; lovinghut fallschurch.com. The Vietnamese-inspired vegan eatery offers menu items like rice vermicelli with barbecued soy protein and claypot rice with vegan “ham.” L D G V $$

MacMillan Whisky Room

2920 District Ave. (Mosaic District), 240-994-3905, themacmillan.com. More than 200 kinds of spirits are offered in tasting flights and composed cocktails. The food menu includes U.K. and American pub standards. O R L D $$

Mark’s Duck House

6184-A Arlington Blvd., 703-532-2125. Though named for its specialty—Peking duck—it offers plenty of other tantalizing options, too, such as short ribs, roasted pork and dim sum. R L D A V $$

Meaza Restaurant

5700 Columbia Pike, 703-820-2870, meazaethio piancuisine.com. Well-seasoned legumes and marinated beef are signatures in this vivid Ethiopian banquet hall. O C L D G V $$

Mike’s Deli at Lazy Sundae

112 N. West St., 703-532-5299, mikesdeliatlazy sundae.com. Fill your belly with homemade corned beef, cheesesteaks, breakfast and scratch-made soups. Save room for ice cream! O B L D V $

Miu Kee

6653 Arlington Blvd., 703-237-8884. Open late, this strip-mall hideaway offers Cantonese, Sichuan and Hunan dishes. L D A $$

Moby Dick House of Kabob 444 W. Broad St., 703-992-7500, mobyskabob.com. See Arlington listing. L D $$

Mom & Pop

2909 District Ave. (Mosaic District), 703-9920050, dolcezzagelato.com. The little glass cafe serves light fare, snacks, gelato, coffee, beer and wine. O B R L D A $$

Nhu Lan Sandwich

6763 Wilson Blvd., 703-532-9009, nhulansandwich. com. This tiny Vietnamese deli at Eden Center is a favorite for banh mi sandwiches. L D V $

Northside Social Falls Church s 205 Park Ave., 703-992-8650, northsidesocial va.com/falls-church. Come by in the morning for a breakfast sandwich and a latte. Return in the evening for a glass of wine and a plate of charcuterie, or a wood-fired pizza. O B L D V $$

Oath Pizza

2920 District Ave. (Mosaic District), 703-688-6284, oathpizza.com. The dough here is grilled and seared in avocado oil (for a crispy texture) and the toppings are certified humane. L D G V $$

Open Road

8100 Lee Highway, 571-395-4400, openroadmerri field.com. See Arlington listing. O C R L D $$

The Original Pancake House

7395-M Lee Highway, 703-698-6292, ophrestau rants.com. Satisfy your breakfast cravings with pancakes, crepes, waffles, French toast and more. C B R G V $

Our Mom Eugenia

2985 District Ave. (Mosaic District), 434-339-4019, ourmomeugenia.com. Beloved for its real-deal Greek

fare, from saganaki to souvlaki, the critically acclaimed family business that began in Great Falls has a sister restaurant in the Mosaic District. O L D $$

Padaek

6395 Seven Corners Center, 703-533-9480, padaekdc.com. Chef Seng Luangrath’s celebrated Falls Church eatery, hidden in a strip mall, offers both Thai and Laotian cuisine. L D G V $$

Panjshir Restaurant

114 E. Fairfax St., 703-536-4566, panjshirrestau rant.com. Carnivores go for the kabobs, but the vegetarian chalows elevate pumpkin, eggplant and spinach to new levels. O L D V $$

Parc de Ville

8926 Glass Alley (Mosaic District), 703-663-8931, parcdeville.com. Find French fare such as omelets, escargots, duck confit and boudin blanc at this spacious Parisian-style brasserie. Hit the rooftop lounge for cocktails. O R D $$$

Peking Gourmet Inn

6029 Leesburg Pike, 703-671-8088, pekinggour met.com. At this James Beard Award semifinalist for “Outstanding Service,” it’s all about the crispy Peking duck. C L D G V $$

Pho 88

232 W. Broad St., 703-533-8233, pho88va.com. Vietnamese pho is the main attraction, but the menu also includes noodle and rice dishes. Closed Tuesdays. L D $$

Pizzeria Orso

400 S. Maple Ave., 703-226-3460, pizzeriaorso. com. Neapolitan pies and tempting small plates, such as arancini with chorizo and Brussels chips with shaved grana. O C L D G V $$

Plaka Grill

1216 W. Broad St., 703-639-0161, plakagrill.com. Super satisfying Greek eats—dolmas, souvlaki, moussaka, spanakopita. L D V $$

Preservation Biscuit s

102 E. Fairfax St., 571-378-1757, preservation biscuit.com. Order the signature carb with a sampler of house-made jams, or as a sandwich with fillers ranging from fried chicken, hot honey and candied bacon to guacamole and egg with lemon aioli. L D V $

Pupuseria La Familiar

308 S. Washington St., 703-995-2528, pupuseria lafamiliar.com. The family-owned Salvadoran eatery turns out pupusas, fried yucca, chicharron, carne asada and horchata. L D $$

Raaga Restaurant

5872 Leesburg Pike, 703-998-7000, raagarestau rant.com. Chicken tikka, lamb rogan josh and cardamom-infused desserts. O L D G V $$

Rare Bird Coffee Roasters

230 W. Broad St., 571-314-1711, rarebirdcoffee. com. Lara Berenji and Bryan Becker’s charming Little City café roasts its own beans and recently expanded its space. L D $

Rasa

2905 District Avenue (Mosaic District), 571-3780670, rasa.co. See Arlington listing. L D G V $

Red Apron Butcher

8298 Glass Alley (Mosaic District), 703-676-3550, redapronbutchery.com. The premium butcher shop and deli sells hot dogs, burgers, charcuterie, prime steaks and sandwiches. L D V $$

Rice Paper/Taste of Vietnam

6775 Wilson Blvd., 703-538-3888, ricepapertasteofvietnam.com. Try a combo platter of pork,

seafood and ground beef with rice-paper wraps at this Eden Center favorite. L D G V $$

Settle Down Easy Brewing

2822 Fallfax Drive, 703-573-2011, settledowneasy brewing.com. The rotating beer list at this nanobrewing operation is always fresh. Neighboring El Tio Tex-Mex Grill provides a taco stand and other food choices. Closed Mondays. O L D $

Sfizi Café

800 W. Broad St., 703-533-1191, sfizi.com. A family-owned trattoria, deli and wine shop serving classic Italian fare—pasta, pizza, parm. L D $$

Silver Diner

8150 Porter Road, 703-204-0812, silverdiner.com. See Arlington listing. C B R L D A G V $$

Sisters Thai

2985 District Ave. (Mosaic District), 703-280-0429, sistersthai.com. The Thai restaurant has a vibe that feels like you’re dining in your cool friend’s shabbychic living room. L D $$

Solace Outpost

444 W. Broad St., 571-378-1469, solaceoutpost. com. Filling the former Mad Fox space, this Little City microbrewery serves house-brewed suds, plus fried chicken, five kinds of fries and woodfired pizza. D A V $$

Spacebar

709 W. Broad St., 703-992-0777, spcbr.com. The diminutive bar offers 24 craft beers on tap and 18 variations on the grilled cheese sandwich. D A V $$

Sweetgreen

2905 District Ave. (Mosaic District), 703-9927892, sweetgreen.com. See Arlington listing. O C L D G V $

Sweetwater Tavern

3066 Gatehouse Plaza, 703-645-8100, great americanrestaurants.com. A modern alehouse serving seafood, chicken, ribs, microbrews and growlers to go. C L D G $$$

Taco Bamba s

2190 Pimmit Drive, 703-639-0505, tacobambares taurant.com. Taco choices range from traditional carne asada to the “Iron Mike,” a vegan rendition stuffed with roasted cauliflower, salsa macha and mole verde. B L D $

Taco Rock

1116 W. Broad St., 703-760-3141, thetacorock. com. See Arlington listing. o B L D V $$

Takumi Sushi

310-B S. Washington St., 703-241-1128, takumiva. com. The sushi and sashimi here go beyond basic. Think tuna nigiri with Italian black truffle, or salmon with mango purée. Closed Sundays and Mondays. L D V $$

Ted’s Bulletin

2911 District Ave. (Mosaic District), 571-830-6680, tedsbulletinmerrifield.com. See Arlington listing.

C B R L D $$

Thompson Italian s

124 N. Washington St., 703-269-0893, thompson italian.com. Gabe and Katherine Thompson’s celebrated kitchen turns out house-made pastas (including cook-at-home meals and supper trays) and some of the best desserts around. O C D $$$

Trio Grill

8100 Lee Highway, 703-992-9200, triomerrifield. com. Treat yourself to steaks, chops, raw bar, craft cocktails and cigars. The patio opens daily at 4 p.m. for happy hour. O D $$$

■ places to eat

True Food Kitchen

2910 District Ave. (Mosaic District), 571-3261616, truefoodkitchen.com. See Arlington listing. O C R L D $$$

Uncle Liu’s Hotpot

2972 Gallows Road, 703-560-6868, uncleliushot pot.com. Customers do the cooking in this eatery inspired by the ubiquitous hot pots of China’s Sichuan province. L D V $$

MCLEAN

Agora Tysons

7911 Westpark Drive, 703-663-8737, agoratysons. com. The Dupont Circle mezze restaurant brings its Turkish, Greek and Lebanese small plates to a second outpost in Tysons. R L D G V $$$

Amoo’s Restaurant

6271 Old Dominion Drive, 703-448-8500, amoos restaurant.com. The flavorful kabobs and stews are crowd pleasers at this hospitable Persian establishment. O C L D G V $$

Aracosia

1381 Beverly Road, 703-269-3820, aracosia mclean.com. Score a table under strings of white lights on the covered patio and order savory Afghan specialties such as braised lamb shank and baadenjaan chalou (roasted eggplant with saffron rice). O L D V $$

Asian Origin

1753 S. Pinnacle Drive, 703-448-9988, asian originva.com. Liu Chaosheng’s restaurant hits all the standards (kung pao chicken, beef with broccoli) plus twists like pumpkin with steamed pork. L D V $$

Assaggi Osteria & Pizzeria

6641 Old Dominion Drive, 703-918-0080, assaggi osteria.com. Enjoy a date night over plates of orecchiette with artichoke and veal paillard. The adjoining pizzeria serves wood-fired pies. O L D G V $$$

Badd Pizza

6263 Old Dominion Drive, 703-356-2233, badd pizza.com. See Falls Church listing. L D $$

Café Oggi

6671 Old Dominion Drive, 703-442-7360, cafeoggi. com. Choose among classic Italian dishes such as mozzarella caprese, beef carpaccio, spaghetti with clams and tiramisu. O L D G V $$$

Café Tatti French Bistro

6627 Old Dominion Drive, 703-790-5164, cafetatti. com. Open since 1981, the kitchen whips up classic French and continental fare. Closed Sundays. L D G V $$$

Capri Ristorante Italiano

6825-K Redmond Drive, 703-288-4601, capri mcleanva.com. A chatty, family-friendly spot known for tried-and-true Italian dishes such as spaghetti carbonara and veal Marsala. O C L D G V $$$

Eddie V’s Prime Seafood

7900 Tysons One Place, 703-442-4523, eddiev. com. Total steakhouse vibe, except with an emphasis on seafood (and steaks, too). L D $$$$

El Tio Tex-Mex Grill

1433 Center St., 703-790-1910, eltiogrill.com. See Falls Church listing. L D $$

Esaan Tumbar

1307 Old Chain Bridge Road, 703-288-3901, esaanmclean.com. This tiny eatery specializes in northern Thai dishes—papaya salad, larb, nam tok. A good bet for those who like heat. L D $$

Fahrenheit Asian 1313 Dolley Madison Blvd., 703-646-8968, fahren heitasian.com. A no-frills destination for Sichuan spicy noodles, dumplings, mapo tofu and other Asian comfort foods. L D V $$

Fogo de Chao

1775 Tysons Blvd., 703-556-0200, fogodechao. com. The upscale chain showcases the Brazilian tradition of churrasco—the art of roasting meats over an open fire. R L D $$$

Founding Farmers

1800 Tysons Blvd., wearefoundingfarmers.com. The farm-to-table restaurant features Virginiasourced dishes and drinks. B R L D $$$

Han Palace

7900 Westpark Drive, 571-378-0162, hanpalace dimsum.com. Pay a visit to this all-day dim-sum emporium for made-to-order buns, dumplings, crepes, roast duck and noodles. L D $$

Ichiban Sushi

6821-A Old Dominion Drive, 703-48-9117, ichiban sushimclean.com. A neighborhood go-to for sushi, udon, tempura and teriyaki. Closed Sundays. L D $$

J. Gilbert’s s

6930 Old Dominion Drive, 703-893-1034, jgil berts.com. Everything you’d expect in a steakhouse and lots of it—prime cuts of beef, lobster, wedge salad, steak-cut fries and cheesecake.

C R L D G V $$$

Kazan Restaurant

6813 Redmond Drive, 703-734-1960, kazanrestau rant.com. Zeynel Uzun’s white-tablecloth restaurant, a fixture since 1980, is a nice spot for kebabs, baklava and Turkish coffee. L D V $$

Kura Sushi

8461 Leesburg Pike, 571-544-7122, kurasushi. com. Choose maki and nigiri from a revolving conveyor belt at this Tysons sushi bar, where drinks are served by a robot. L D G V $$

Lebanese Taverna

1840 International Drive, 703-847-5244, lebanesetaverna.com. See Arlington listing. O C L D G V $$

Lost Dog Café

1690-A Anderson Road, 703-356-5678, lostdog cafe.com. See Arlington listing. L D $$

Maman Joon

1408 Chain Bridge Road, 571-342-4838, maman joonkitchen.com. Get dolmeh, falafel, lamb shank and kabobs (plus a built-in Z Burger with shakes in 75 flavors) at this Persian eatery. L D V $$

Masala Indian Cuisine

1394 Chain Bridge Road,703-462-9699, masa lava.com. A specialty here are “momos,” Nepalese dumplings with meat or vegetable fillings. The menu also includes tandoori biryani and Indian curries. L D V $$

McLean Family Restaurant

1321 Chain Bridge Road, 703-356-9883, themcleanfamilyrestaurant.com. Pancakes, gyros and big plates of lasagna hit the spot, and you may stumble upon a politico or two. Breakfast served until 3 p.m. daily. C B L D V $$

Miyagi Restaurant

6719 Curran St., 703-893-0116. The diminutive sushi bar gets high marks for its friendly service and fresh maki and nigiri. L D $$

Moby Dick House of Kabob

6854 Old Dominion Drive, 703-448-8448; 1500 Cornerside Blvd., 703-734-7000; mobyskabob.com. See Arlington listing. L D $$

Mylo’s Grill

6238 Old Dominion Drive, 703-533-5880, mylos grill.com. Enjoy spanakopita, souvlaki and American classics. Friday is prime-rib night. O B L D $$

Pasa-Thai Restaurant

1315 Old Chain Bridge Road, 703-442-0090, pasa thairestaurant.com. Go for a classic Bangkok curry, or a chef’s special such as spicy fried rockfish with chili-basil-garlic sauce. O L D $$

Patsy’s American

8051 Leesburg Pike (Tysons), 703-552-5100, pat sysamerican.com. Find greatest-hit dishes from other Great American Restaurants properties in a space resembling a vintage railway station. O C R L D A G V $$

Pulcinella

1310 Chain Bridge Road, 703-893-7777, pulcinella restaurant.com. A stop for classic spaghetti and meatballs, linguine and clams and wood-fired pizza since 1985. L D $$

Randy’s Prime Seafood & Steaks

8051 Leesburg Pike (Tysons), 703-552-5110, randysprime.com. Randy’s (named for Great American Restaurants co-founder Randy Norton) serves prime cuts, duck-fat fries, seafood towers and other steakhouse standards. L D G $$$$

Rocco’s Italian

1357 Chain Bridge Road, 703-821-3736, roccos italian.com. The Juliano family makes everything in-house from family recipes. O C L D G $$

Roots Provisions & Grocery

8100 Old Dominion Drive, 703-712-7850, roots provisions.com. Part café and part gourmet market, it's got sandwiches, smoothies, acai bowls, salads, espresso drinks, pie, cocktails and graband-go snacks and pantry staples. B L G V $

Silver Diner

8101 Fletcher St., 703-821-5666, silverdiner.com. See Arlington listing. C B R L D A G V $$

Simply Fresh

6811 Elm St., 703-821-1869, simplyfreshva. com. A local favorite for pulled pork, chicken and brisket. Plus Greek diner fare. family-style takeout meals and breakfast. O C B L D G V $

Star Hill Biergarten

1805 Capital One Drive, starrhill.com. Anchoring The Perch, an 11-story-high sky park in Tysons, this outdoor beer garden offers more than 20 brews on tap, plus wine, cocktails and snacks like soft pretzels with beer cheese, fries, burgers and bratwurst. O C L D V $

Tachibana

6715 Lowell Ave., 703-847-1771, tachibana.us. Stellar sushi aside, the chef’s specials here include starters such as clam miso soup, monkfish paté and savory egg custard. C L D $$

Urbanspace

2001 International Drive, urbanspacenyc.com/ tysons. Travel the culinary globe at this Tysons Galleria food hall with options like Cantonese barbecue, spicy Ghanaian fare, empanadas, donburi and U.K.-style fish and chips. And award-winning Andy’s Pizza. C R L D $$

Wren

1825 Capitol One Drive S., thewatermarkhotel. com. Topping the new Watermark Hotel at Capital One Center in Tysons, this tony izakaya helmed by former Zentan chef Yo Matsuzaki offers Japanese American fare (hamachi tartare, Wagyu burgers, miso-marinated sea bass), stupendous cocktails and sweeping skyline views. D G V $$$

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Built to Last

Twenty-two years ago, Mike Jury taught himself woodworking from library books so that he could surprise his wife, Amanda, with a handmade oak chest for their wedding—a family tradition in New England, where she was raised.

“We still have it in our bedroom, flaws and all,” he laughs. “But it’s meaningful to us both.”

He’s since refined his craft. After two decades as a trumpeter in the U.S. Army Band at Fort Myer, Jury retired in 2020 and now devotes himself full time to handcrafting heirloom furniture as M. Jury Woodworks (mjurywoodworks.com).

His creations are graceful, functional and designed to last, inspired by woodworkers of yore.

“The Shakers were masters of proportion; there’s something elegant about the overall form and minimal design,” says the artisan, who selects local, sustainable lumber from Culpeper and uses

A kumiko-style lamp by M. Jury Woodworks

A chest of drawers

oil and wax to highlight the wood’s natural finish. He says he listens to the wood like a piece of music, following its movements, flourishes and pauses.

Working out of a small studio in Springfield, Jury may spend up to 80 hours to complete a dresser ($3,600-$4,200), eschewing nails in favor of meticulously crafted dovetail joints. “I really love making a chest of drawers because it’s a very complex piece,” he says. “There’s so much engineering involved. It is essentially a box full of boxes, but you have to make that beautiful as well as functional.”

Today, Jury works in a wide variety of styles. He has incorporated Japanese kumiko patterns into wooden lamps lined with shoji paper ($400), wall panels and hall tables ($900). The intricate designs are hand cut with a sharp chisel and locked together—without nails—to form a pattern. “It’s enjoyable, meditative work,” he says. “There are no saws, no dust. Just a day at the bench.” –Colleen Kennedy

Old and New

You feel guilty leaving your grandmother’s bracelet in a drawer, but it’s just not your style. Yet you can’t bear to give it away. Rachelle Barimany can help. Her specialty is turning customers’ unworn pieces—often outdated-looking family heirlooms—into modern favorites.

“Some family pieces are perfect just the way they are, but if you have things that you don’t like, it’s great to reuse the materials for something that’s more in fashion and a little bit more wearable,” says the Arlington resident and CFO of Dominion Jewelers (dominionjewelers.com) in Falls Church, where she’s worked since 1997.

Reimagining bling is a joint project for Barimany and her clients. Together they surf the web for inspiration and discuss how the piece will be used: Every day? Only for special occasions?

The store, which her father opened in 1985, can usually turn around an upcycled piece in two to three weeks. “Sometimes, it’s as easy as taking two stones that are a close enough match and setting them into a pair of stud earrings,” she says.

Other scenarios can be more complicated—like when a customer showed up with a sapphire that looked like a pebble. “We recut it… and the color just instantly popped,” Barimany says of the stone, which became the centerpiece of a dazzling new ring. Another client came in with a small pile of different size diamonds she’d inherited. Barimany arranged them in a single, modern setting and ran a chain through it. “It turned out to be one of her favorite pieces.”

Prices range and depend on materials, but resurrecting an existing piece of jewelry typically doesn’t cost more than $5,000, she says. That relative affordability is one reason she’s noticed an increased interest in upcycling jewelry. Dominion repurposes 100 to 200 pieces every couple of months.

“Being the environmentalist that I am, I love the idea of recycling stuff,” Barimany says. “Every part of it is usable—the gold and the stones.” Plus, the results are more than just pretty objects. “I’m a big old softy, so I am a little bit sentimental about family [heirlooms]. I love the idea of using older pieces to create something new.” –Stephanie Kanowitz

A necklace made with various loose diamonds

Woodworker Mike Jury

Find Your Hygge Place

Three cozy retreats where you can relax and recharge BY

CHRISTINE KOUBEK FLYNN

The Stone Gables Bed & Breakfast near Leesburg

Ilearned about the Danish concept of “hygge” (pronounced “hooguh”) when I traveled to Copenhagen in 2018 and reconnected with Karen, a friend I’d met 15 years earlier when we lived in the same D.C.-area neighborhood. About three years after we met, she and her family returned home to Denmark, a country known for having some of the happiest people on earth.

During my visit, Karen explained that while the term means different things to different people, common elements include soft blankets, warm beverages, maybe the sound of raindrops on the roof, candlelight, and a sense of safety and being cared for.

“It’s hard to define,” she said. “But there’s a book on it.” I saw what she meant when I picked up a copy of The Little Book of Hygge—Danish Secrets to Happy Living. Author Meik Wiking writes, “Hygge has been called everything from ‘the art of creating intimacy,’ ‘coziness of the soul,’ and ‘the absence of annoyance’ to ‘taking pleasure from the presence of soothing things,’ ‘cozy togetherness,’ and my personal favorite, ‘cocoa by candlelight.’ ”

Given the stress and challenges so many have faced these last few years, I set out to find midAtlantic places that evoke a “coziness of the soul.” Here are three such hideaways, whether “hygge” means snuggling up with the one you love at a bed-and-breakfast overlooking snowy hillsides, savoring solo time and art while you write the next great American novel, or sipping cocoa fireside with friends and family at a chalet tucked in the woods.

Stone Gables Bed & Breakfast

The Setting: Located in farm and vineyard country 6 miles from Leesburg’s historic district, this stone-gabled barn turned four-bedroom bed-and-breakfast exudes peace. Nature surrounds you inside and out with its thick stone walls (they’re soothing to run your fingers over), hand-hewn wood beams, dining room pillars created from tree trunks, indoor plants and lovable Labrador mix Eddy.

Taking their cue from the stones’ color palette—and adding just the right amount of decor and local art— owners Leslie and Wayne Tharp have created a haven filled with personality and warmth.

Grab a blanket and watch TV from one of the living room’s overstuffed sofas. Or read and play music on an old record player in the second-floor library, where built-in bookshelves are filled with mystery, romance and literary novels, a few Chicken Soup for the Soul books and Leslie’s encased collection of original Winnie the Pooh books.

Across the hall, overlooking the nicely designed front patio, you can challenge your partner to a round of Yahtzee, Bat-

tleship, Othello and more in the intimate game room. Not that you want to keep close track of time, but the room’s clock depicts it in dominoes.

Cozy Elements: Each guest room has its own character. The Stone Gables Suite, which is the largest, includes a cozy seating area with an antique couch and vanity, a luxurious bathroom with a flagstone floor, a walk-in tiled shower and a claw-foot tub complete with (battery-operated) candles. The Leesburg has a whirlpool tub big enough for two and a beautiful, blue-tiled shower. The Hunt features stone walls, wooden beams and artwork of a fox. The Loft, accessible via a spiral staircase, has fun photos of the area’s farm animals, including an adorable picture of a cow’s snout, and the wood doors of this former hayloft open for a peekaboo view of the second-floor landing through wrought-iron branches. All rooms have comfortable pillow top or memoryfoam mattresses and a TV.

Tasty Treats: You’ll find a coffee station with Starbucks syrups, mugs from places around the globe, homemade cookies and s’mores kits for the firepit. A separate buffet table holds an electric kettle and a wide assortment of teas. A red retro fridge is stocked with

The Stone Gables Bed & Breakfast

A ROMANTIC GETAWAY

water, soda and Klondike bars (it’s also the place to store your own food if you prefer to eat in). A full sweet and savory breakfast—which might include homemade Pop-Tarts or granola and a customizable omelet option—is served in the dining room or on the screenedin porch.

Unique Perk: In the property’s tiny tree house, you can sit among plentiful pillows scattered around a colorful rug, perhaps with your coffee or a bottle of local wine. The oversize picture window features the real nature channel outdoors, including—if you’re lucky—falling snow.

Details: Rates from $215 per night, snacks and breakfast included. 19077 Loudoun Orchard Road, Leesburg, Virginia, 703-343-1333, stonegables-bb.com

Galvanized America Inn & Art Gallery

The Setting: Pennsylvania’s Bucks County is home to covered bridges, wine and ale trails, historic main streets, independent bookstores galore, and an artist-owned 1754 farmhouse-chic inn. Set on 6½ acres that feel like you’re in the middle of nowhere (wonderful for minimizing distractions), Galvanized America Inn is only a 10- to 20-minute drive to several inspirational sites, although inspiration begins at the inn.

Owners Sherri and Ed Bennett’s rustic farmhouse property is filled with Ed’s art depictions of American symbols and wildlife—all created from razor blades that he shapes with a Dremel rotary tool

and colors, when needed, with a combination of transparent automotive paint and chemical oxidation. The inn also features Ed’s watercolors and handmade furniture, including an old shutter repurposed as a brochure rack, a kitchen island made from reclaimed scaffolding planks, and a lamp crafted from a chicken feeder. The owners are now in the process of turning the property’s big red barn into an art gallery featuring works by Ed and other local artists.

Outside the farmhouse, warm up by the firepit or relax on a porch rocker and look out at twinkling lights and the deer that dart from field to forest.

Cozy Elements: Guest rooms Independence and Freedom offer a queen bed and private bath with shower. Suite Liberty and Suite Victory each have their

Fall scenery at the Galvanized America Inn & Art Gallery

A CREATIVE ESCAPE

own sitting room and large bath with claw-foot tub. Victory’s top-floor location is especially lovely for its skylights, whether you’re gazing up at the stars or listening to rain drip-drop on glass. While there are no TVs in the rooms, you can sink into one of the living room’s leather sofas and watch a show on your favorite streaming channel or grab a book from the built-in shelves.

Tasty Treats: Ed and Sherri welcome guests with a glass of local wine and a homemade appetizer. Breakfast is served in the dining room or on the patio on warm days, and the menu changes regularly. My visit included delicious French toast with pear compote and caramelized bacon.

Unique Perks: Inspiring spots for writers—or fans of the written word—are a short drive from Galvanized America. Browse the Doylestown Bookshop’s extensive wall of staff picks. Bring your laptop and work from Native Cafe next door, then wander over to the Michener Art Museum, named for Pulitzer Prize-winning author, art collector and Doylestown native James Michener.

The museum’s collection includes paintings, photographs and sculptures, with works by internationally known artists and Pennsylvania impressionists.

In nearby Perkasie, don’t miss the Pearl S. Buck House, the former home of the prolific author who was the first woman to receive both a Pulitzer Prize and the Nobel Prize in Literature. Take a docent-led tour of the National Historic Landmark to see Buck’s family photos and personal libraries; the typewriter she used to write The Good Earth; and the living room where she discussed ways to help orphaned children with celebrities from her era, including her friend James Michener.

The Doylestown Bookshop’s bookmark sums up the vibe of both the inn and the region for literary lovers with this Henry Wadsworth Longfellow quote: “The love of learning, the sequestered nooks, and all the sweet serenity of books.”

Details: Rates start at $169 and include breakfast, bottled waters and a welcome snack. 6470 Durham Road, Pipersville, Pennsylvania, 215-766-7617, galvanizedamerica.com

GO WITH A GROUP

The Setting: Tucked away on 30 acres of towering trees in southern New Jersey, 15 minutes from the small town of Hammonton (first lady Jill Biden’s birthplace), Lokal Chalet opened in May as the second of Lokal Hotel’s collection of boutique vacation homes. Their first, an A-frame cabin with Maurice River frontage, and a third, Lokal Triangle House, also opened recently in New Jersey.

Lokal Chalet, which sleeps eight, has no TV, allowing guests an opportunity to disconnect (though the internet is available). Find communal serenity in a game of pingpong, billiards, darts or cornhole in the home’s “Game Garage,” take a soak in the cedar hot tub, and sip cocoa fireside at one of two firepits with unobstructed views of the stars.

Husband and wife owners Chad and Courtney Ludeman created the kind of place that makes you want to stay off

Right: Ed Bennett,“You’ll Get Him Next Time Son,” (painted razor blades on masonite), 2013

Below: The Victory suite at The Galvanized America Inn & Art Gallery

Lokal Chalet

The Lokal Chalet in southern New Jersey

n driving range

your screens and savor time in nature, with one another or with your dog, if you have one.

Cozy Elements: While the threebedroom, two-bath home was once a rundown cabin, its redesign and furnishings are Scandinavian moder n, including forest colors of green and dark grays. Most of the space was created with reclaimed and local materials. Blankets hang from living room pegs. Indoor plants as well as Courtney’s “plant hammock” (a regular ham-

mock decoratively hung to hold a large philodendron) bring the spirit of the outdoors inside.

Unlike at many rental homes, there’s no need to bring your own linens. The bedrooms have comfortable mattresses, pillows and linens from well-regarded brands such as Casper and Parachute, plus soft robes.

Tasty Treats: The kitchen is stocked with spices and oil, and all the tools to prepare a meal, including a 30-inch induction range. Warm-beverage aficio-

nados will love the complimentary Rival Bros. coffee and loose-leaf tea by Premium Steap, along with the associated tools to brew the perfect cup, from a burr grinder to a Chemex and an easy-pour kettle. Outdoors, smoke meats or sear a perfect steak on the Big Green Egg grill; charcoal and utensils are provided along with a book of recipes. Stock up on your favorite foods and beverages on your way to Lokal Chalet. The nearest market and liquor store are a 10- to 15-minute drive away.

Unique Perk: Early guests have appreciated the multisensory experience, which includes a Sonos surround sound system. One Google commenter shared, “My favorite thing to do was blast music in the indoor and outdoor speaker system and not worry about bothering any neighbors because there aren’t any.”

Details: Rates start at $300, twonight minimum required. Extra cleaning fee of $100 for up to two dogs. 1600 Weekstown Road, Egg Harbor City, New Jersey, 609-5369157, staylokal.com ■

Christine Koubek Flynn reports on what is new and notable in mid-Atlantic travel in our Get Away column. She teaches writing workshops at The Writer’s Center in Bethesda, Maryland, and other literary organizations.

The Lokal Chalet

Grilling at the Lokal Chalet

Scandinavian furnishings at the Lokal Chalet

UNWIND ON ISLAND TIME

Celebrity BeyondSM

the Yucatán peninsula to the lush mountains of Puerto Rico to the pristine beaches of the ABC islands. With an array of exciting itineraries ranging from to nights, you’ll find the perfect escape to paradise. And, when you’re not exploring ancient Maya ruins, sampling rum right from the source, or kicking back on a white-sand beach, you’ll recharge on a ship that’s as breathtaking as the islands you’re visiting.

High-Ranking Luxury

Opened in 2021, boutique hotel 134 Prince occupies a meticulously transformed 1849 Dutch Colonial Revival home, just steps from Annapolis’ City Dock, restaurants, shops and two U.S. Naval Academy gates. Owners Clint Ramsden and Cody Monroe, both Naval Academy graduates, wanted to impart the kind of luxury sensibility one might find in Charleston, South Carolina, or Newport, Rhode Island. The inn offers modern amenities in a historic building with wood floors, brick fireplaces, exposed wood beams, dentil crown molding and other carefully preserved details.

The five suites—ranging from 450 to 1,200 square feet—are a far cry from plebe quarters. Each has a smart TV, Hermes bathroom amenities, plush towels, navy-trimmed bathrobes, percale linens and a cooling, charcoal-infused memory-foam mattress. Complimentary eye masks and earplugs and a sound machine with an array of choices (stream, rain, waves) further contribute to a great night’s sleep.

An enormous sepia-toned print of a centuries-old park sets the mood in the inn’s relaxing and surprisingly quiet lounge—home to thick-cushioned furniture, a wellstocked whiskey cabinet for after-dinner drinks, and complimentary wine every Friday and Saturday night from 5 to 6:30, which the owners sometimes attend to

meet and mingle with guests. Across the hall, built-in shelves in the kitchen and dining room are stocked with books, complimentary Nespresso coffee and specialty Tea Forté teas.

Rates begin at $499 and include a full cooked-to-order breakfast. Parking is an additional $50 per night, provided by the valet. Two Tesla (EV) chargers are available. See visitannapolis.org/events/holiday/ for details on the town’s Chocolate Binge Festival, a historic pub crawl, midnight madness shopping, the Eastport Yacht Club Lights Parade and other seasonal events. Many are walkable from the hotel. 134 Prince, 134 Prince George St., Annapolis, Maryland, 410-834-4606, 134prince.com

The lounge at 134 Prince

134 Prince in Annapolis

Deck the Halls

Tucked into Pennsylvania’s bucolic Brandywine Valley outside of Philadelphia (a city known as “America’s Garden Capital”), the Fairville Inn is ideally situated a few miles from both Longwood Gardens and Winterthur Museum, Garden & Library—botanical wonderlands that are all the more stunning during the holidays when festooned in seasonal finery.

Fairville’s 10 guest rooms and suites—housed in two buildings adjacent to a well-manicured courtyard and grand trees—were completely renovated in 2020 with

Broadway Bound

Theater aficionados can revisit the sights and sounds of many an iconic Broadway show at the new Museum of Broadway, opening in mid-November in the heart of New York City’s Times Square. Walk through an Oklahoma!-inspired cornfield, explore the world of Manhattan’s East Village in Rent (as reimagined by original set designer Paul Clay) and ease on down a yellow LED staircase to enter a jukebox tunnel with lights synchronized to the music from The Wiz. A timeline chronicles Broadway’s birth to the present day, and various displays highlight theater pioneers, socially progressive moments and the stories behind many enduring plays and musicals.

Find unique holiday gifts in the museum shop, from Broadway-branded apparel and goodies (including current Broadway show merch) to prints by legendary New York Times caricaturist Al Hirschfeld, plus totes, T-shirts and mugs featuring his drawings.

Plan one to two hours for the self-guided, oneway-only tour through the immersive exhibits.

Open daily 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Timed tickets are $39 per person; flexible tickets $49. Museum of Broadway, 145 W. 45th St., New York, New York, themuseumofbroadway.com

casually elegant furnishings and new tiled bathrooms. Some rooms have a fireplace and expansive porch overlooking the back hillside. Suites have their own sitting room, plus an in-room coffee station and Frette bathrobes.

The white Colonial building at the property’s front greets guests with a coffee, tea and snack bar, a dining room and a relaxing living area with scented candles. Pumpkin pancakes with maple cinnamon butter and a delicious fried egg tartine are just two of the complimentary breakfast choices.

Visit the nearby town of Greenville for good coffee and sandwiches at Brew HaHa, or for excellent pizza, salads and live music at Pizza by Elizabeths—its name, decor and marble bar a nod to famous Elizabeths.

Rates begin at $240. For information about holiday lights, music and events, see longwoodgardens.org, winterthur.org and visitwilmingtonde.com/events/ holiday/. The Fairville Inn, 506 Kennett Pike, Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania, 610-388-5900, fairvilleinn.com

The Fairville Inn

A holiday display at Longwood Gardens

Manhattan’s Theater District

back story ■ by

Kim O’Connell

Behind the Board

Music producer Barrett Jones has recorded Nirvana, Foo Fighters and many other bands. He got his start in Arlington.

BARRETT JONES WILL never forget the day the hyperactive but talented 14-year-old guitarist entered the recording studio Jones had built in the laundry room of his childhood home near Lorcom Lane. The guitarist’s band was called Freak Baby, and they’d come to record the kind of blistering punk rock that dominated Washington, D.C.’s underground music scene in the 1980s. That same kid returned to record with Jones a few months later, but this time, he had switched to the drums. His name was Dave Grohl.

“I remember just being blown away by how fast he played,” says Jones, who was only in his late teens himself. “People often say he was like Animal from the Muppets, and he was. It was just total energy.”

Thus began an enduring friendship and creative partnership. Born and raised in Arlington, Jones is the founder of Seattle’s Laundry Room

Studio—named for the first place he recorded music. He relocated to Seattle in 1991, soon after Grohl became the drummer for Nirvana. In addition to recording solo work from Grohl (some of which became songs for Grohl’s current band, Foo Fighters), Jones produced three Nirvana tracks (“Return of the Rat,” “Oh, the Guilt” and “Curmudgeon”), as well as music from Melvins, Jimmy Eat World, and members of Pearl Jam and Red Hot Chili Peppers.

Jones was a musical kid, taking piano lessons and playing guitar with his brother. After transferring from Washington-Lee High School (now Washington-Liberty) to H-B Woodlawn in 10th grade, he became the lead singer and guitarist in a cover band called the Survivors. He was around 16 when he began recording his own music using a portable cassette recorder and an entry-level mixer. “I like to figure things out, and I’ve always been technically

minded,” he says. “Producing felt like a natural progression.”

In the punk underground of the ’80s, distributing your own music was the norm, so Jones’ skills put him in high demand. After high school, he moved to a group house near Route 50, another near Wilson Boulevard, and then another on North Upland Street, setting up increasingly professional recording equipment and mixing boards. He began producing music for local bands such as Velocity Girl and labels like Dischord, founded by D.C. punk legend Ian MacKaye. Later, Jones toured as a sound engineer with the D.C. band Scream (after Grohl became their drummer) and then with Nirvana as Grohl’s drum tech.

Jones has fond memories of his formative years in Arlington. “It was a flophouse for wayward teenagers, basically,” he says of his Route 50 house. “We recorded whenever we wanted and had a really good time.” ■

Barrett Jones in his Seattle studio

The Survivors in the early ’80s