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.
The fourth annual Equality Prince William Pride was held at the Harris Pavilion in Manassas, Va. on Saturday, May 17.
(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)
The Washington Blade held its 18th annual Summer Kickoff Party in Rehoboth Beach, Del., on Friday, May 16. Delaware Gov. Matt Meyer spoke along with State Sen. Russ Huxtable, CAMP Rehoboth Executive Director Kim Leisey, Blade Editor Kevin Naff, and Clear Space Theatre Managing Director Joe Gfaller. The event raises funds for the Steve Elkins Memorial Fellowship in Journalism, which was awarded to AU student Abigail Hatting.
(Washington Blade photos by Daniel Truitt)
In some fowl fiction foreshadowing, a gay-owned chicken joint has come home to roost on U Street, taking a page from the chicken window subplot on the HBO show “Looking.”
Last Friday, Lucky Pollo – much more than just a takeout window – stretched its wings atop the busy nightlife corner of 14th and U Streets NW.
Behind the poultry production place is Zach Renovátes, a D.C.-based nightlife operator and managing partner of LGBTQ venues Bunker and District Eagle, as well as the LGBTQ event production company KINETIC Presents.
Renovátes opened Bunker in February 2023 and District Eagle in January of this year. Lucky Pollo is the third in his growing gay empire, though this time there are noshes.
“Lucky Pollo was meant to be fun and a little provocative,” Renovátes said.
Based around its Peruvian-style rotisserie chicken, Lucky Pollo is a quick-service restaurant boasting a small menu of poultry and sides. Renovátes says that the dishes are deeply rooted in Peruvian culinary tradition, “a playful experience alongside seriously good food.”
Lucky Pollo’s signature chicken is steeped in a dozen-plus-spice marinade for 24 hours. The meat is then slow-roasted, rotisserie-style, over oak-wood charcoal. Chicken options include quarter, half, and whole.
Helming the kitchen at Lucky Pollo is Chef Luis Herrera, who brings Peruvian recipes passed down through three generations, including his grandmother Laura’s original creations.
Beyond the full bird, the menu features Peruvian-inspired sides like yuca fries (“I personally love these,” says Renovátes) and fried plantains, as well as comfort classics such as mac and cheese and mashed potatoes, and bowls, wraps, and salads. Herrera oversees development of the multiple sauces (including staff favorite, the “secret green sauce”), crafted in-house using traditional Peruvian ingredients.
Lucky Pollo, in its streetside perch, is an independent concept from District Eagle, open to the public and staying open late (3 a.m. on weekends) to serve both nightlife guests and the wider U Street crowd hungry for late-night bites. However, just beyond the kitchen, tucked in the back lies a vintage 1950s candy machine—labeled “Out of Order,” which serves as the door leading to subterranean District Eagle.
Renovátes notes that when District Eagle is open, security staff will maintain a strict two-line policy, ensuring that those seeking meat to eat will not get entwined with those looking to gain access to District Eagle.
Lucky Pollo unites the need for sustenance with the idea of a bit of fortune, given its motto, “Get Lucky” and the whimsical brand mascot: a leather-booted chicken perched on a horseshoe. Renovátes and his District Eagle business partner had always been interested in opening a restaurant, and the Lucky Pollo space was indeed lucky: It already came with a functional kitchen. Plus, he says, the nearby fast-casual places around 14th and U streets “don’t offer a lot of quality options,” so opening the chicken spot “was a no-brainer.”
The space, designed by NYC creative Jasin Cadic, blends theatrical street-art-style vibes with Keith Haring-inspired wall prints, neon signs, and ceiling-hung chicken figurines —”some edgy, some sweet,” says Renovátes —creating an immersive, playful atmosphere. Lucky Pollo and District Eagle maintain separate amenities for their respective customers.
Lucky Pollo opened last week with a competition to devour a whole rotisserie chicken in the fastest time, with the winner earning $1,000 and a framed spot on the restaurant’s “Wall of Fame.” The opening also featured other games and prizes, and a full crowd spilling out the door.
“We want it to be a great place to eat, but also serve as a playful front for something completely unexpected.” Renovátes says.
On weekends especially, he jokes, the motto will be, ‘Come for the chicken, stay for the cock.’”
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