Arts & Entertainment
Best of Gay D.C. 2017: COMMUNITY
Winners from the Washington Blade’s annual poll
(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)
Best Art Gallery
Phillips Collection
A Washington institution founded in 1921. Last year’s runner-up in this category.
1600 21st St., N.W.
Editor’s choice: LongView Gallery
‘Luncheon of the Boating Party’ by Pierre-August Renoir (Image public domain)
Best Adult Store
Bite the Fruit
Second consecutive win in this category!
1723 Connecticut Ave., N.W.
Editor’s choice: Lotus Blooms
(Photo by Bigstock)
Best Car Dealership
DARCARS
New and used cars at locations in Suitland, Temple Hills, Silver Spring, Md. et. al.
Editor’s choice: BMW of Fairfax
DARCARS (Photo public domain)
Best Apartment/Condo Building
Atlantic Plumbing
Second consecutive win in this category!
2112 8th St., N.W.
Editor’s choice: F1RST Residences
Atlantic Plumbing (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)
Best Doctor/Medical Provider: Dr. Robyn Zeiger
Runner-up: Dr. Ray Martins, Whitman-Walker Health
Dr. Robyn Zeiger is a licensed clinical professional counselor in D.C., Maryland and West Virginia specializing in LGBT issues and pet loss.
Zeiger, who is married to Best Real Estate runner-up Stacey Williams-Zeiger, deals with issues surrounding homophobia, coming out, grief and addictions. She also has begun focusing on servicing the transgender community.
She says being able to relate with your therapist gives a familiarity that makes it easier to be vulnerable in sessions.
“You walk into a therapist’s office and you know they are also LGBT so you don’t have to explain anything. You don’t have to teach them. You can just be yourself and you don’t have to justify anything,” Zeiger, runner-up in this category last year, says.
In addition to counseling, Zeiger is an adjunct senior lecturer at University of Maryland where she teaches in the Department of Family Science. She also teaches her self-created course, “Exploring Homophobia: Demystifying LGBT Issues,” for the Honors College. (MC)
Dr. Robyn Zeiger
10300 Sweetbriar Pkwy.
Silver Spring, Md.
Dr. Robyn Zeiger (Photo by Lori Gross/Red Leash Photography)
Best Fitness or Workout Spot
Soulcycle
A Best of Gay D.C. surprise win — VIDA Fitness won the seven previous consecutive years.
2301 M St., N.W.
601 Massachusetts Ave., N.W.
1935 14th St., N.W.
Editor’s choice: VIDA Fitness
SoulCycle (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)
Best Gayborhood
Shaw
Second consecutive win in this category!
Editor’s choice: Logan Circle (last year’s runner up)
Shaw (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)
Best Hardware Store
Logan Ace Hardware
1734 14th St., N.W.
Editor’s choice: Annie’s Ace Hardware
Logan Hardware (Washington Blade photo by Antwan J. Thompson)
Best Home Furnishings
Miss Pixie’s Furnishings & Whatnot
Also won this award 2012-2015. Snags it back this year from Mitchell Gold+Bob Williams.
1626 14th St., N.W.
Editor’s choice: Room & Board
Miss Pixie’s (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)
Best Home Improvement Service
Case Design
“Full-service home remodelers building your dreams.”
Editor’s choice: The Organizing Agency
(Photo courtesy of Case Design)
Best Hotel
The W
Third consecutive win in this category!
515 15th St., N.W.
Editor’s choice: Dupont Circle Hotel
W Hotel (Photo by Jeffrey Totaro; courtesy Wikimedia Commons)
Best House of Worship
Empowerment Liberation Cathedral
Third consecutive win. Foundry United Methodist had dominated the category for several previous years.
633 Sligo Avenue, Silver Spring
240-720-7605
empowermentliberationcathedral.org
Editor’s choice: All Souls Unitarian (also last year’s runner-up)
(Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)
Best Lawyer
Glen Ackerman
Ackerman Brown PLLC
2101 L St., N.W., no. 440
Runner-up: Michele Zavos
Glen Ackerman (Photo courtesy of Ackerman)
Best LGBT Social Group
Stonewall Sports
Editor’s choice: Impulse D.C.
(Washington Blade photo by Ben Keller)
Best LGBT Support Group
SMYAL
Supporting and Mentoring Youth Advocates and Leaders
Third consecutive win in this category!
410 7th St., S.E.
Editor’s choice: The D.C. Center
(Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)
Best LGBT Sports League
Stonewall Kickball (last year’s runner-up)
Editor’s choice: D.C. Frontrunners
(Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)
Best LGBT-Owned Business
Three Fifty Bakery and Coffee Bar
Editor’s Choice: Best Bus
Three Fifty Bakery is, in a word, darling. In 2014, just after it opened, owner Jimmy Hopper said in a Washington Blade interview that some day that he’d “like to win a readers’ poll prize for the bakery.”
So, congratulations, Jimmy — and it’s a well-deserved honor. The bright space has become a neighborhood favorite in just a scant few years, serving up smaller quantities of freshly baked goods, from cinnamon-laced bundt cakes drizzled with icing to coma-inducing fudgy brownies to zucchini bread.
The fact that Three Fifty doesn’t overproduce means that each bite really does taste fresh, and that makes all the difference when you’re indulging in a treat. Working out is overrated, but freshly-baked coconut cake is not. (KH)
Three Fifty Bakery and Coffee Bar
1926 17th St., N.W.
Jimmy Hopper (Washington Blade photo by Tom Hausman)
Most LGBT-friendly Workplace
Whitman-Walker Health
1525 14th St., N.W.
Editor’s choice: Town, Trade and Number Nine
The Walk to End HIV is an annual event for Whitman-Walker Health. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)
Best LGBT Event
Capital Pride Celebration
Editor’s choice: SMYAL Fall Brunch
The 2017 Capital Pride Parade (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)
Best Museum
National Museum of African-American History and Culture
1400 Constitution Ave., N.W.
Editor’s choice: Hirshorn
(Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)
Best Non-Profit
SMYAL
Supporting and Mentoring Youth Advocates and Leaders
410 7th St., S.E.
Editor’s choice: Latino GLBT History Project
SMYAL Fall Brunch (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)
Best Private School
Maret School
A coed, K-12 independent school founded in 1911.
3000 Cathedral Ave., N.W.
Editor’s choice: Barrie
The Maret School (Photo by Aaron Siirila; courtesy Wikimedia Commons)
Best Pet Business
Doggy Style Bakery, Boutique & Pet Spa
1642 R St., N.W.
Editor’s choice: Dogma Day Care
Doggy Style Bakery, Boutique & Pet Spa (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)
Best Place to Buy Second-hand Stuff
Miss Pixie’s Furnishings and Whatnot
Third consecutive win in this category!
1626 14th St., N.W.
Editor’s choice: Buffalo Exchange (last year’s runner-up)
Miss Pixies (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)
Best Movie Theater
Landmark Theaters Atlantic Plumbing
New releases plus indie fare, foreign and avant garde.
807 V St., N.W.
Editor’s choice: Landmark Theaters E Street Cinema
Landmark Theaters Atlantic Plumbing (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)
Best Rehoboth Business
r Squared Design
39 Baltimore Ave.
Rehoboth Beach, Del.
Editor’s choice: Blue Moon
Rex Rogosch of R Squared Design (Photo by Russ Hickman)
Best Salon/Spa
Logan 14
Second consecutive win in this category!
1314 14th St., N.W.
Editor’s Choice: Salon Quency
Logan 14 (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)
Best Short-Term Car Service
Car2Go
Editor’s choice: Zip Car
Car2Go (Photo by Mario Roberto Duran Ortiz)
Best Staycation Getaway
MGM National Harbor
101 MGM national Ave.
Oxon Hill, Md.
Editor’s choice: Discover Easton
MGM National Harbor (Photo by Robb Scharteg; courtesy MGM)
Best Tattoo Parlor
Tattoo Paradise
2444 18th St., N.W.
Editor’s choice: Fatty’s Tattoos
Tattoo Paradise (Photo courtesy of Facebook)
Best Theater
Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
Third consecutive win in this category!
2700 F St., N.W.
Editor’s Choice: Studio Theatre
The Kennedy Center (Photo by Mack Male; courtesy Wikimedia Commons)
Best Theater Production
“Wig Out!” at Studio Theatre
Editor’s Choice: “Hedwig and the Angry Inch” at the Kennedy Center
Edwin Brown III, left, and Desmond Bing in ‘Wig Out!’ (Photo by Teresa Wood, courtesy Studio)
Best Vet
CityPaws Animal Hospital
Third consecutive win in this category!
1823 14th St., N.W.
Editor’s Choice: District Veterinary Hospital
City Paws (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)
To see winners in other categories in the Washington Blade’s Best of Gay D.C. 2017 Awards, click here.
a&e features
Eastern Shore chef named James Beard Finalist
Harley Peet creates inventive food in an inclusive space
In a small Eastern Shore town filled with boutiques, galleries, and the occasional cry of waterfowl from the Chesapeake, Chef Harley Peet is most at home. In his Viennese-inflected, Maryland-sourced fine-dining destination Bas Rouge, Peet draws from his Northern Michigan upbringing, Culinary Institute of America education, and identity as a gay man, for inspiration.
And recently, Peet was named a James Beard Finalist for Best Chef: Mid-Atlantic – the first “Best Chef: Mid-Atlantic” finalist representing the Eastern Shore.
Peet, after graduation from the Culinary Institute of America, took a position as sous chef at Tilghman Island Inn, not far from Bas Rouge. Falling in love with the Eastern Shore, he continued his passion for racing sailboats, boating, gardening, and fishing, and living his somewhat pastoral life as he opened Bas Rouge in 2016 as head chef, a restaurant part of the Bluepoint Hospitality group, which runs more than a dozen concepts in and around Easton, Md.
Coming from a rural area and being gay, Peet knew he had his work cut out for him. He was always aware that the service and hospitality industry “can be down and dirty and rough.”
Now as a leader in the kitchen, he aims to “set a good example, and treat people how I want to be treated. I also want to make sure if you’re at our establishment, I’m the first to stand up and say something.”
The Bas Rouge cuisine, he says, is Contemporary European. “I’m inspired by old-world techniques of countries like Austria, Germany, and France, but I love putting a new spin on classic dishes and finding innovative ways to incorporate the bounty of local Chesapeake ingredients.”
His proudest dish: the humble-yet-elevated Wiener Schnitzel. “It is authentic to what one would expect to find in Vienna, down to the Lingonberries.” From his in-house bakery, Peet dries and grinds the housemade Kaiser-Semmel bread to use as the breadcrumbs.
Peet works to support the LGBTQ community inside and outside of the kitchen. “I love that our Bluepoint Hospitality team has created welcoming spaces where our patrons feel comfortable dining at each of our establishments. Our staff have a genuine respect for one another and work together free of judgment.”
Representing Bluepoint, Peet has participated in events like Chefs for Equality with the Human Rights Campaign, advocating for LGBTQ rights.
At Bas Rouge, Peet brings together his passion for inclusion steeped in a sustainability ethic. He sees environmental stewardship as a way of life. Peet and his husband have lived and worked on their own organic farm for several years. Through research in Europe, he learned about international marine sourcing. Witnessing the impacts of overfishing, Peet considers his own role in promoting eco-friendly practices at Bas Rouge. To that end, he ensures responsible sourcing commitments through his purveyors, relationships that have helped create significant change in how people dine in Easton.
“I have built great relationships in the community and there’s nothing better than one of our long-standing purveyors stopping in with a cooler of fresh fish from the Chesapeake Bay. This goes especially for catching and plating the invasive blue catfish species, which helps control the species’ threat to the local ecosystem.
Through his kitchen exploits, Peet expressed a unique connection to another gay icon in a rural fine-dining restaurant: Patrick O’Connell, of three Michelin starred Inn at Little Washington. In fact, Peet’s husband helped design some of O’Connell’s kitchen spaces. They’ve both been able to navigate treacherous restaurant-industry waters, and have come out triumphant and celebrated. Of O’Connell, Peet says that he “sees [his restaurants] as canvas, all artistry, he sees this as every night is a show.” But at the same time, his “judgment-free space makes him a role model.”
Being in Easton itself is not without challenges. Sourcing is a challenge, having to either fly or ship in ingredients, whereas urban restaurants have the benefit of trucking, he says. The small town “is romantic and charming,” but logistics are difficult – one of the reasons that Peet ensures his team is diverse, building in different viewpoints, and also “making things a hell of a lot more fun.”
Reflecting on challenges and finding (and creating) space on the Eastern Shore, Peet confirmed how important it was to surround himself with people who set a good example, and “if you don’t like the way something is going, fuck them and move on.”
Team DC, the umbrella organization for LGBTQ-friendly sports teams and leagues in the D.C. area, held its annual Night of Champions Awards Gala on Saturday, April 20 at the Hilton National Mall. The organization gave out scholarships to area LGBTQ student athletes as well as awards to the Different Drummers, Kelly Laczko of Duplex Diner, Stacy Smith of the Edmund Burke School, Bryan Frank of Triout, JC Adams of DCG Basketball and the DC Gay Flag Football League.
(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)
The 2024 National Cannabis Festival was held at the Fields at RFK Stadium on April 19-20.
(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)
Covering the @NatlCannaFest at RFK Stadium for @WashBlade . Stop by the LGBTQ+ booth and pick up a paper if you are here. pic.twitter.com/is7hnsaPns
— Michael Patrick Key (@MichaelKeyWB) April 20, 2024
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