BUSINESS
Pillar & Post: British Outpost on Wisconsin BY R ICHARD S E L DE N
About Georgetown, where she went to law school and has lived ever since, Daphna Peled says, “It’s hard to find a more Brit-similar town.” Though not British herself — she was born in Israel and grew up in the U.S. — the owner of Pillar & Post, a new home-decor shop on Wisconsin Avenue, has reason to know. Her parents moved to England in 1995 for her father’s work and Peled visited them there frequently. “I would always bring back things for myself,” she says. But here in the States, few were as hooked on the aesthetic as she was. “British products, yes. Design, no,” Peled recalls. “For a long time, people weren’t interested in brown furniture. Now people are mixing more.” At Pillar & Post, mother and daughter Judith and Daphna Peled are all about mixing. While the furniture the store sells is antique, the gifts and accessories — hard if not impossible to find elsewhere this side of the pond — are contemporary.
Judith and Daphna Peled. Courtesy Pillar & Post.
Pillar & Post opened as a pop-up in April during the Georgetown French Market. The official opening — at 1647 Wisconsin Ave. NW, Sherman Pickey’s former space — followed in June. For Peled, things had moved quickly. She left her job of eight years lobbying for NCTA – The Internet & Television Association (formerly the National Cable and Telecommunications Association) last fall and made her first buying trip to England in January. “It was a real big leap of faith,” she says. One factor was her wanting a more flexible schedule for family reasons. Her son will turn 3 in September and her parents now live a few blocks away in Georgetown. Peled was also considering the likely post-election environment. “I feel so lucky to not be in politics at this time,” she says. Though it was a somewhat drastic career move for Peled, parts of her background carried over. Her legal training came in handy dealing with agencies such as the Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs and the
Old Georgetown Board (it took a while to get her sign up). As for the customer-service side of retail: “I will say some of the lobbying skills transferred.” She also got helpful advice from Wisconsin Avenue neighbor Marston Luce and from Loi Thai at Tone on Tone in Bethesda. Peled made her second buying trip in April. Her next is timed to coincide with the Decorative Antiques & Textiles Fair in London’s Battersea Park, running Oct. 3 to 8. Accompanied on buying trips by her mother or her husband, she travels to towns outside of London by train, making a point to visit the antiques center of Tetbury in the Cotswolds. “I always expect to run into a hitch,” says Peled. But so far — other than having a few items break in transit — things have gone smoothly, with the shop getting a positive early response from Georgetowners and area decorators.
In: Georgetown Allure
In: Oki Bowl & Sake Bar
Ins & Outs
BY R OBE RT DEVA NEY A N D K AT E O C Z Y P O K
Facial spa Georgetown Allure opens today at 3288 M St. NW in a former Pinkberry spot, offering facial treatments and chemical peels to treat skin discoloration, sun damage, rosacea, wrinkles, age spots, acne, razor bumps and more. The 2,800-square-foot facility has one consultation room and two treatment rooms.
Replacing the Basil Thai restaurant at 1608 Wisconsin Ave. NW, Oki Bowl features ramen (curry, etc.) and rice (mushroom, etc.) bowls and has another location at 18th & M.
Out: Hashi Sushi (Chopsticks) The intimate Japanese restaurant in a row house right on Blues Alley at 1073 Wisconsin Ave. NW has closed. At first called Chopsticks, the business switched its name to Hashi, which means chopsticks. We’ll miss those bento boxes.
Out: Rene Ruiz
A Capital One Cafe is coming to Georgetown and Chinatown. Courtesy Capital One.
In (Next Year): Capital One Café Well, Georgetown, you will get your wish … sort of. An eatery will indeed return to the southeast corner of Wisconsin Avenue and M Street, site of the legendary Nathans Restaurant. It’s innovative, but may not be what you expected: It’s a Capital One Café. The 3150 M St. NW property, renovated by Kevin Plank’s Sagamore Development, was sold a few weeks ago to Capital One Bank for $50.2 million. (For $10 million per year, Capital One also just bought the naming rights to the former Verizon Center, now Capital One Arena.) With its Capital One Cafés, the company is redesigning the banking experience, it says. “We want to empower people to feel confident about their relationship with money so their money can ultimately fit their lives. That begins with redesigning the banking experience to make things simple and straightforward. Most of us prefer a digital experience, but many of us want that human connection, too — that is where Capital One Cafés come in.”
Here’s how the company describes its new cafés, which partner with Peet’s Coffee: “At the intersection of both the digital and physical worlds are the Capital One Cafés — a space that’s intentionally designed for how people live and bank today. The new locations will serve as a community space where D.C. residents can recharge their bank accounts, devices and lives, while learning new ways to manage their finances, try out new digital and financial tools, use fee-free ATMs, tap into free Wi-Fi, or simply grab a great cup of coffee or local pastries.” Georgetown and Chinatown will be the first D.C. neighborhoods to get the sip-and-banks by late next year. Others are already perking away in California, Florida and Massachusetts. Headquartered in McLean, Virginia, Capital One — which considers itself a hometown bank of Washington, D.C. — is a bank holding company that is the ninth-largest bank in the U.S. in terms of assets.
The Florida-based, top-end fashion studio Rene Ruiz, which partnered with Ike Behar a year ago to set up shop at 2902 M St. NW, has departed the neighborhood. Its dresses are still available at such places as the Neiman Marcus at Tysons Corner as well as at its own shops in Florida and New York. The M Street store made a big splash in the months leading up to the 2017 presidential inauguration.
In: Take Care Another skin care shop, Take Care, opened where Helia’s boutique was at 1338 Wisconsin Ave. NW. According to the three-yearold company, Take Care offers a selection of effective, natural and independent skin care brands. It embodies a thoughtful and gentle approach to cleansing, exfoliating and moisturizing. In addition: “We are thrilled to partner with small, handmade and often women-owned labels of leisure wear, home care and personal and home accessories with an emphasis on simple, natural designs and ingredients.”
Politics & Prose Puts Books in the Rosewood The Rosewood Hotel on 31st Street has partnered with Politics and Prose bookstore to create a library for guests to enjoy. Guests can also pick up a “Summer Reads” newsletter with recommendations on the season’s buzziest books. Check out the new menu of summer cocktails in the Rye Bar for something to sip with your page-turner.
GMG, INC. August 23, 2017 9