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Neil Patrick Harris and hubby David Burtka celebrate home, family and entertaining
Memorable family photo shoots, outside-the-box gifts, fun entertaining twists enliven holidays for Hollywood power couple
David Burtka (left) and husband Neil Patrick Harris have created their own holiday traditions as a family. (Photo courtesy Capital One)
Neil Patrick Harris and David Burtka are maestros of multiple domains individually but put them together and it begs the question: what can’t these two do?
Harris is an actor, comedian, singer and, yes, a magician. Meanwhile, Burtka is an actor and professional chef. One of Harris’ many television projects, the hit Netflix show “A Series of Unfortunate Events,” streams its final season on Jan. 1. For Burtka, his cookbook “Life Is a Party: Deliciously Doable Recipes to Make Every Day a Celebration” becomes available April 16. The couple juggles all of these career endeavors while parenting their 8-year-old twins, Harper Grace Burtka-Harris and Gideon Scott Burtka-Harris, and still always seem ready to host the next party.
Harris and Burtka showed no signs of slowing down as they breezed into D.C. to celebrate Capital One’s new dining-and-entertainment Savor Rewards credit card, of which the couple are proud brand ambassadors. The dinner event, co-sponsored with restaurant and hospitality company Resy, took place at A Rake’s Progress in Adams Morgan’s swanky Line Hotel. Harris and Burtka aren’t shy about their love for good drinks and food making the Capital One Savor card a suitable marketing fit.
The event began with a cocktail hour where guests sipped crafted cocktails like Burtka’s special recipe for Spiced Cranberry Champagne Punch. Later in the evening, Burtka and Harris welcomed guests before everyone tucked into succulent slow-cooked beef short ribs, butterpat roasted trout, cheddar scalloped potatoes and country ham fried rice, to name a few of the savory dishes.
Burtka and Harris talked to the Blade about their favorite holiday drinks and treats, how to navigate tense dinner table conversations and fond memories of their first Christmas together.
WASHINGTON BLADE: You’ve become known for your family photos with your kids. What’s your secret for that perfect holiday photo?
DAVID BURTKA: Tasers.
NEIL PATRICK HARRIS: Yeah, it slows them down. I think with iPhone cameras being so effective we can pretty much take pictures of most everything. Before, you had to say “Stop,” get out a camera, take a photo, download it. Now, the quality of the camera is so good that we take pictures of our hotel room, our dinner, what we’re wearing. So the idea of taking pictures is sort of commonplace. If anything, the kids now at 8 years old are savvy enough to be playing us like fiddles with photography. So they’ll say, “You can take this picture but it can’t go on Instagram.”
BURTKA: It’s interesting, we never intended to be known for our family photos. We just really love showing and sharing with the world. Also, we have a strange world that we live in. There’s the paparazzi and I think that if you take the price off their heads and you sort of control the photo and are able to release what you want to release they’re not going to be hounding us as much.
HARRIS: That happened more in L.A. If you didn’t have any images of your newborn kids out there, then they would ask photographers to follow you around so they could be the people to have that photo. So, if we just posted our own photos the need for that lessens because we were providing photos, not to news organizations, but just to anyone who was interested in it. At the same time when you look at Instagram a vast majority of parents post pictures of their children because the kids are stupid adorable. So I don’t think we’re doing anything unusual, we just have to make sure that they’re well-shot pictures. I try to be discerning with our imagery.
BLADE: What’s your favorite Christmas present you’ve given each other?
BURTKA: I have two. They’re both art. The first are these really great portraits that he had of the kids done by Jill Greenberg. Those were amazing. Those made me cry.
HARRIS: He didn’t know I was doing it. I went and took the kids and didn’t tell him and did the photoshoot.
BURTKA: There was another piece of art that he had done that was flip art. So it was like one of those old-timey movies where the screens flip. But it was a story of Neil being a magician and coming into frame and the kids are sitting there. They were really small like 2 years old. And he takes a sheet and covers them up and uncovers them and they’re gone.
HARRIS: I got two empty chairs and I cover the empty chairs and then the kids are there and then we bow and they go back, reset.
BURTKA: It was creative and so beautiful.
HARRIS: We collect contemporary art so that’s an easy one to do for David. And by easy I mean expensive. For me, I like experiential things. It’s not just Christmas, it’s pretty much all year long. I’m constantly seeing things that I want to buy. This new book came out, I’d love to have this new shaker for my bar, I’m always doing that. So it’s the experiences. David got me once two half-day classes with Bobby Flay.
BURTKA: That was your birthday.
HARRIS: …where I got to go to his house and he taught me how to barbecue. That was really special to get to see that and do that live. That’s kind of a once-in-a-lifetime situation. I love those.
BLADE: During the holidays, families get together and they might have different political opinions. What’s your advice for navigating difficult holiday table talk?
BURTKA: Booze.
HARRIS: Really?
BURTKA: Just kidding.
HARRIS: I think to make the meal a bit of a game. There’s something called Table Topics that are these cubes and inside of them are these cards and each card has a question. “If you were on a desert island and you could only bring two books what would you bring?” Or “What do you think is the most influential thing that’s happened in your life?” And we’ll usually at a formal meal put one of those cards under everyone’s plate or mix it with the napkin so that in the conversation, if there’s a lull or it gets contentious you can say, “Oh well, hey, I have a question. What was your favorite comic book hero growing up?” and then it keeps things kind of buoyant and quasi-frivolous.
BLADE: David, when the holidays come up do you let Neil take the lead so you can relax or do you like to handle it as the expert?
BURTKA: Because I’m a trained chef it just comes easy for me. I like to do it and I love being in the kitchen. If I had my druthers, I’d be there right now just cooking. Neil tends bar. That was a Christmas present I got you (Harris). I got you five, three-hour lessons with a bartender so he learned every single spirit. He tends to do the bar. I tend to do the food. I’ll have him help me out and give him tasks. He’s good at sous chefing and decorating pastries and things like that. Really good at rolling pasta.
HARRIS: I’m bad with timing and getting everything out at the same time. So if he tasked me with “Make this thing look a certain way,” I can bang that out like a robot person. But David is the mastermind. He’s the nucleus. I’m the electrons. I put the N in electron.
BLADE: Neil, what’s your signature holiday cocktail? And David, Christmas dinner isn’t complete for you unless you have what item on the table?
HARRIS: I don’t have a singular signature cocktail for the holidays. It’s always fun because you get to experiment with richer, deeper flavor palates. You get to deal with cranberry, cinnamon, cardamom and nutmeg. Things that you don’t get in the summer, spring and the fall. So I tend to angle toward punches because punch bowls are always fun and it looks great and everyone can serve themselves. And it’s historical. So I’ll usually experiment and come up with a new punch for a party because then you don’t have to stand there behind the bar and ask people what they want. People get to be self-sufficient. That said, I do like trying new tastes and flavors. And if I may swing it back to the Savor card, there’s value in going out and trying new things at restaurants because you save money when you do that with the Savor card not just on food but on beverages. So if you were into the hooch the Savor card is your friend.
BURTKA: For me, I think the one complete thing is, for the last probably 10 years, I’ve made this cookie. This really great chocolate, peppermint cookie. It’s just been a staple.
HARRIS: They’re so good.
BURTKA: Literally, they’re like crack cocaine to people. My kids are crazy for them. It’s like a doughy, fudgey cookie but inside has crushed peppermint candies.
HARRIS: They’re pretty flat. They don’t rise very much, maybe because of the crushed peppermint candy. I’m not sure what the science is. But they wind up being big and flat and relatively chewy cookies. The kids get to bang the peppermint.
BURTKA: We tend to do an old English Christmas a lot of years. Like standing rib roasts, popovers or a goose, that’s big. But we’re not doing that this year. We’re doing a fondue thing with the kids this year. That’ll be fun.
HARRIS: I hope it doesn’t turn into a fon-don’t.
BLADE: What was your first Christmas like together?
HARRIS: We were in Michigan. His family is so hilarious because they have a lot of Christmas traditions. They’re 100 percent Polish. So there was a meal, there was lots of appetizery things. There was chicken, kapustas, fried mozzarella. Lots of gift exchanges. His dad has this wonderful thing that he does, and still does every year, where instead of giving everyone individual gifts he wraps a gift for every person. His own white elephant gift exchange. So when it’s your turn to do your gift, everyone gets their gift but you go one at a time and pick a gift and then the next person goes and they can steal your gift and pick their own gift. There are lotto tickets and cash money and frozen foods and all kinds of weird things that might be unique to you. Reese’s peanut butter cups for me. That’s when I got to know your (Burtka’s) family and that was very, very exciting. They welcomed me. I believe I won $75 in the lotto. It’s a win-win. I got the guy and the money.
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Award-winning D.C. chef reaching new culinary heights
Anthony Jones of Marcus DC competing on ‘Top Chef’
In Anthony Jones’s kitchen, all sorts of flags fly, including his own. Executive chef at award-winning restaurant Marcus DC, Jones has reached culinary heights (James Beard Award semifinalist for Emerging Chef, anyone?), yet he’s just getting started.
Briefly stepping away from his award-winning station, Jones took a moment under a different set of lights. Recently, he temporarily gave up his post at the restaurant for a starring small-screen slot on the latest season of “Top Chef,” which debuted in March. (The show airs weekly on Bravo and Peacock).
Before his strategic slice-and-dice competition, however, Jones, who identifies as gay, draws from his deep DMV roots. In the years before “Top Chef” and the top chef spot at Marcus, he was born and raised in Sunderland, Md., in southern Maryland, near the Chesapeake.
Early memories were steeped in afternoons on boats with his dad bonding over fishing, and wandering the garden of his great-grandparents spread with fresh vegetables and a few hogs. “It was Southern, old-school ethics and upbringing,” he said. “Family and food went hand in hand.” Weekends meant grabbing bushels of crabs, dad and grandma would cook and crack them. Family members would host fish fries for extra cash. In this seafood-heavy youth, Jones managed time to sneak in episodes of the “OG” Japanese “Iron Chef” show, which helped inspire him to pursue a career in the kitchen.
Jones moved to D.C. after graduating from college, ending up at lauded Restaurant Eve, and met famed chef Marcus Samuelson, who brought him to Miami to be part of the opening team for Red Rooster Overtown. After three years, Jones moved back to D.C., where he ran Dirty Habit, reinventing and reimagining the menu, integrating West African flavors and ingredients.
Samuelson, however, wouldn’t let a talent like Jones stay away for too long. Pulling Jones back into his orbit, Samuelson elevated Jones to help him open his namesake restaurant Marcus DC, which has been named a top-five restaurant by the Washington Post. Since then, Jones has been nominated as a semifinalist for the RAMMYs Rising Culinary Star in 2026 and won the Eater DC’s Rising Chef award in 2025.
Samuelson’s Marcus is a tour de force interpreting the Black Diaspora on the plate, from the American South to West Africa, along with his signature “Swedopian” touches. Yet it’s Jones who has deeply informed the plate, elevating his own story to date. Marcus DC is primarily a seafood restaurant, which serves Jones well.
“Where I’m from is seafood heavy, and as I’ve progressed in my career, I’ve moved away from meat.” Veggies and fish are hero dishes. His own dish, Mel’s Crab Rice, was not only lauded by the Washington Post, but is framed by his youth carrying home the crustaceans from Mel’s crab truck. It’s a bowl of Carolina rice, layered with pickled okra, uni béarnaise, and crab. Jones also points to a dish on the opening menu, rockfish and brassica, paying respect to a landmark D.C. institution, Ben’s Chili Bowl. Jones reverse engineered a favorite bowl of chili that’s seafood instead of meat forward, leveraging octopus and rockfish along with different riffs of cauliflower: showing his intellectual, creative, and cultural sides.
While “Top Chef” is showing Jones’s spotlight side, he also lets his identity show at work. “In the kitchen, I make sure we’re inclusive. We don’t tolerate discrimination. Everyone that’s here should feel confident to express themselves. There are so many different flags in the kitchen.”
Jones says that he didn’t fully express his gay identity until fairly recently. He felt reluctant coming out to certain family members, “you’re scared to tell them about being different,” he says, and while that anxiety ate at him, “I’m lucky and fortunate to have unconditional love and that weight off my shoulders.”
Today, “I’m me all the time, Monday to Sunday. I’m honest with people, and my staff is honest with me.”
“Being a chef is hard,” he says, “and being a chef of color is even more difficult.”
Yet his LGBTQ identity is a juggling act, he says. “I need to keep that balance, because once someone finds out something about you, their opinion can change, whether you want it or not.”
Being on a whole season of TV cooking competition, however, might mean millions more might have an opinion of him (Jones has appeared on TV already, on an episode of “Chopped”). To prepare, he says, “I’ve just kept a level head. It’s just an honor to be on top chef with amazing people happy to be there.”
Plus, this season is set in the Carolinas, and Jones attended Johnson & Wales University in Charlotte, N.C. “It’s a full story of my life, now a monumental moment for me.”
Jones also recently was nominated for a James Beard Foundation Award. “JBF has been a north star, a dream for so long. I always had this goal on my wall.”
Being at the top spot at Marcus DC, making waves through his accolades, and cooking on Bravo means that Jones is highly visible. “I think that if someone has a similar background to me, and can see our story, trajectory, and success, they can have more ability to be themselves. This is my goal.”
Back at Marcus, Jones has plenty up his chef’s white’s sleeves. A new spring menu is in the works. He’ll be launching a new tasting menu “dining experience,” he says, and has plans to work on more events and collaborations with chefs and friends to bring in new talent and share the culinary wealth.
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Introducing the Torchbearers Awards honoring queer, trans women and nonbinary people
Meet the Legends and Illuminators lighting new paths
The Torchbearers Awards are more than recognition—they are a continuation of legacy. They honor the quiet architects of progress in our community: those who organize, advocate, build, and protect, often without fanfare but always with purpose. Rooted in a belief in intentional recognition, this honor names those who carry our movements forward—those who make room for others, who remind us that change is both generational and generative. In a time marked by uncertainty and challenge, these leaders push forward with courage, clarity, and an unwavering commitment to expanding opportunity and equity.
This year’s honorees reflect the full breadth of our community, spanning generations, backgrounds, identities, and industries. From Legends, with decades of leadership and having created pathways for others, to Illuminators, who are lighting new paths with creativity and innovation, each Torchbearer represents the power of intergenerational leadership and the strength found in our diversity. They are organizers, advocates, artists, policy leaders, healers, and changemakers whose lived experiences shape a shared vision for equity and liberation.
This award is our love letter to queer and trans women and nonbinary people who carry the flame when it would be easier to let it dim. To those who consistently show up, who use their voice and visibility and stand firm, often without recognition, so that others may live more freely and fully. The Torchbearers Awards celebrates not just what has been done, but the enduring spirit, responsibility, and collective care that ensure the work continues, and that the flame is always passed forward.
Co-Creators of the Torchbearers Awards: Shannon Alston, June Crenshaw, Heidi Ellis
Torchbearers Awards Advisory Board: Aditi Hardikar, Lesley Bryant, Jasmine Wilson-Bryant, Stephen Rutgers
ILLUMINATOR AWARDEES
- Representative Sharice Davids (she/her), (D, KS-03)
— U.S. House of Representatives - Greisa Martinez Rosas (she/her/ella)
— Executive Director, United We Dream - Paola Ramos (she/her)
— Journalist & Correspondent - Meagan A. Fitzgerald (she/her)
— Journalist & Correspondent - Jessica L. Lewis (she/her)
— Founder / Producer, Play Play DC - Savannah Wade (she/her)
— Founder, OAR Agency - Suhad Babaa (she/her)
— Filmmaker/ Former Executive Director of Just Vision - Ashlee Davis (she/her)
— Global Head of Inclusive Outcomes, Ancestry - Jazmine Hughes (she/her)
— Journalist and Former Editor at New York Times Magazine - Queen Adesuyi (they/she)
— Policy Advisor & Organizer, ReFrame Health & Justice - Michele Rayner, Esq. (she/her)
— Civil Rights Attorney, State Representative (Florida House of Representatives) - Gaby Vincent (she/her)
— Sports/Cultural Commentator and Community Leader - Jenny Nguyen (she/her)
— Founder & Owner, The Sports Bra - Denice Frohman (she/her)
— Independent Artist, Poet / Performer - Vida Rangel (she/her)
— Founder, Our Trans Capital - Roxanne Anderson (they/them)
— Executive Director, Our Space - Ann Marie Gothard (she/her)
— Co-Founder & President, Pride Live (Stonewall National Monument Visitor Center) - Diana Rodriquez (she/her)
— Co-Founder & CEO, Pride Live (Stonewall National Monument Visitor Center) - Wendi Cooper (she/her)
— Founder / Executive Director, Transcending Women - Toya Matthews (she/her)
— City of San Antonio, Texas - Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones (she/her)
— Sports/Cultural Commentator and Community Leader - Charity Blackwell (she/her)
— Poet, LGBTQ Advocate & Community Leader - Wilhelmina Indermaur (she/her)
— Director of Communications, Tyler Clementi Foundation - Em Chadwick (she/her)
— CMO, For Them & Autostraddle - Kylo Freeman (they/he)
— CEO, For Them & Autostraddle
LEGEND AWARDEES
- Sheila Alexander-Reid (she/her)
— Executive Director, PHL Diversity, Philadelphia Convention & Visitors Bureau - Cassandra Cantave Burton (she/her)
— Interim Director of Thought Leadership & Senior Research Advisor, AARP - leigh h. mosley (she/her)
— Photographer / Educator, PhotoFlo Photography - Jenn M. Jackson, PhD (they/them)
— Assistant Professor of Political Science; Author & Columnist, Syracuse University - Jordyn White (she/her)
— COO, Washington Prodigy / VP of Leadership Development & Research, HRC Foundation - AJ Hikes (they/them)
— Deputy Executive Director, ACLU - RaeShanda Lias (she/her)
— Digital Creator, RL Lockhart - Donna Payne-Hardy (she/her)
— Educator, EEO Specialist, Founder of NBJC, Former Leader at the Human Rights Campaign - Courtney R. Snowden (she/her)
— Principal, Blueprint Strategy Group - Gaye Adegbalola (she/her)
— Musician & Activist, Musician / Inductee of the Blues Hall of Fame - Cheryl A. Head (she/her)
— Independent Author, Novelist (Crime Fiction) - Letitia Gomez (she/her)
— The American LGBTQ+ Museum, Board Chair - Lynne Brown (she/her)
— Publisher, Washington Blade - Shay Franco-Clausen (She/Her/Ella/Queen)
— Political Strategist and Organizer - Melissa L. Bradley (she/her)
— Founder & Managing Partner, New Majority Ventures - Meghann Burke (she/her)
— Executive Director, NWSL Players Association - Victoria Kirby York, MPA (she/they)
— Director of Public Policy & Programs, National Black Justice Collective - Joli Angel Robinson (she/her)
— CEO, Center on Halsted - Jeannine Frisby LaRue (she/her)
— CEO, Moxie Strategies - Alice Wu (she/her)
— Film Director (Saving Face, The Half of It) / Screenwriter - Storme Webber (she/her)
— Interdisciplinary Artist / Educator, University of Washington - Kim Stone
— CEO of the Washington Spirit, Washington Spirit - Mickalene Thomas
— American Visual Artist, Mickalene Thomas Studio - Erika Lorshbough (any/they/she)
— Executive Director, interACT - J. Gia Loving (she/ella)
— Co-Executive Director, GSA Network
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D.C. springs back to life with new, returning events
Cherry blossoms, Rehoboth season kickoff, and more on tap
Longer and warmer days are back meaning: It’s time to get out of the house and enjoy Washington D.C.’s many events. Below are a few to check out this spring.
The National Museum of Women in the Arts will host “Making their Mark: Works from the Shah Garg Collection” until Sunday, July 26. This exhibition illustrates women artists’ vital role in abstraction, considers historical contributions, formal and material breakthroughs and intergenerational relationships among women artists over the last eight decades. For more details, visit. NMWA’s website.
Art in the Attic will host a pop-up on Saturday, March 14 at 6 p.m. at 1012 Madison St., Alexandria, Va. There will be a variety of vendors selling products across different modes of art. For more details, visit Eventbrite.
Play Play will host “Indoor Recess – The art of play” on Sunday, March 15 at 2 p.m. This event will embody classic recess energy, including opportunities to build and experience community and connections through games, movement, art stations, and creative freedom. Tickets are $12.51 and can be purchased on Eventbrite.
Spark Social will host “Gay Bar Crawl on U Street” on Friday, March 20 at 7:30 p.m. This will be a fun night out in gay D.C. with other gay people, whether you’re visiting D.C., new to the area, or just looking to expand your social circle. Many crawlers have formed lasting friendships and even romantic relationships after just one night out. Tickets are $35.88 and are available on Eventbrite.
Creative Suitland Arts Center will host “EFFERVESCENT: House of Swann” on Saturday, May 30 at 7 p.m. This will be a gay, good time where we will celebrate love, joy, wellness, and visibility for the LGBTQIA+ community. Tickets start at $17.85 and can be purchased on Eventbrite.
SWAG Works DC will host “Unapologetically Her” on Saturday, March 14 at 2 p.m. at 701 E St., S.E. This event is a powerful celebration of womanhood, resilience, creativity, and self-expression in honor of Women’s History Month. This all-women exhibition highlights the diverse voices, stories, and artistic perspectives of women who create boldly, live authentically, and stand confidently in their truth. This event is free and more details are available on Eventbrite.
9:30 Club will host “Gimme Gimme Disco: A Dance Party Inspired by ABBA” on Saturday, March 14 at 6 p.m. There will also be a “Donna Summer Power Hour – The Queen of Disco” segment during this event. It’ll be one hour of music with no skips. Tickets are available on 9:30 Club’s website.
Harder Better Faster Stronger will host “Heated Rivalry Rave” on Friday, March 20 at 9 p.m. at Howard Theatre. This event is open to all ages. Tickets are available on the theater’s website.
CAMP Rehoboth hosts its 25th annual Women’s+ FEST, April 9-12 in Rehoboth Beach, Del. Entertainers include headliner Mina Hartong, a comedian, storyteller, and founder of Lez Out Loud; and singer Yoli Mayor. There are dances, dinners, pickleball, and much more. Details and tickets at camprehoboth.org.
Also in Rehoboth Beach, the Washington Blade’s 19th annual Summer Kickoff Party is set for Friday, May 15 featuring Ashley Biden, who will accept an award on behalf of her brother Beau. State Rep. Claire Snyder-Hall will also speak. More speakers and the venue to be announced soon.
The annual D.C. Cherry Blossom Festival kicks off March 21 at DAR Constitution Hall and culminates with Petalpalooza on April 4, the day-long, outdoor street party with music and art, stretching across Navy Yard, and ending with fireworks over the Anacostia River.
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