by contributor Donna Shor
Photo credit: Courtesy of Linda Roth PR
Twelfth and Pennsylvania Avenue was the hottest corner in town Thursday night when Del Frisco Grille opened its doors to five hundred invitees for its smashing preview party. (Mark Medriansky, Bridgett Kelly and Rob Klink shown above)
Guests entered by the huge all-weather patio (it seats one hundred) to check out the restaurant’s stylish interior by Aria Group with its light woods, white marble, etched glass, a bar island and a “wall of wines” that signaled the 5,000 bottles on hand.
Upstairs the welcoming banquettes faced an open kitchen and a sumptuous raw bar offering such unexpected delights as red wine-laced sauce for the oysters―sounds horrible, tasted marvelous―along with crab legs, giant shrimp and stone crabs.
General Manager Bridget Kelly assembled a whip-smart crew that glided through the evening with an endless parade of spectacular appetizers from the restaurant’s ample menu which features steak, seafood and everything in between.
Sliders were stuffed with such joys as crisp soft-shelled crab and tender filet. The crab cakes were a special delight, packed tight with moist crab morsels, delightfully filler-free. When Executive Chef Rob Klink admitted that he himself was excited by how good they are he was right, the party-goers were excited too.
Slender strands of onions spiked the cheese in the melt-in-your-mouth white pizza slices, wings flavored with just the right amount of Tabasco arrived – standing bone end up – little soldiers packed into round bowls. There was much more; the panoply of hors d’oeuvres was endless.
The wine list boasts 400 choices both renowned and boutique; cocktails here are handcrafted. Entering guests were offered a choice of white wines or delectable pineapple martinis to start things off.
The music was good, hot and loud true party-scene sounds, so that sustained conversation wasn’t easy on this celebratory night, but who cared, everyone was too busy munching anyway. At Chris Warnke’s lively table, anecdotes were flying, first from radio host and frequent Fox News analyst Garland Nixon, then by legendary PR woman Raymone Bain, with details added by her pal Adean King.
Raymone Bain – Bridget Kelly – Adean King
Raymone, who holds a law degree from Georgetown University Law Center and who has worked a stint in the White House, has always had name clients such as Mohamed Ali, Babyface, Serena Williams and her most famed, Michael Jackson, whom she repped for seven years.
He was a volatile employer and she found herself hired and fired and hired again, but they always remained close and he sought her advice no matter what the employment status. Raymone served as General Manager and CEO of Michael Jackson Co. Inc.
He first hired her when he phoned Raymone from overseas, asking advice as he faced legal action after dangling his infant out the window to show him off to the crowd. “The baby was never in any danger,” he said. “I had a tight grip.” As they spoke, he said “You know, I called you for help, I think I should hire you, okay?”
She agreed to fly to the town where he was appearing and when she got to the hotel and prepared to show her credit card as deposit in the usual drill she was floored to hear the desk clerk say “Oh no, Miss Bain, Mr. Jackson has established a $100,000 credit for you already.”
“That,” says Raymone, “was Michael.”
Christian Moritz – Peter Cherukuri – Tim Burger
The first Del Frisco Restaurant Group site started twenty years ago and the evening made clear that experience shows, they know what they are doing. Their restaurants are equally good lunch or dinner venues because in addition to the more classical dishes, they are proud of their “two-fisted sandwiches, prime hamburgers and hand-cut steaks.”
Mark Medriansky, the group’s CEO, said it was a joy that Del Frisco Grille is now a part of Washington’s vibrant restaurant scene, where “there are so many great places to eat and drink.”
We think this newcomer fits in just fine.
