Jonathan Silver, Melissa Moss

Location: Melissa Moss and Jonathan Silver Residence, Georgetown

WL EXCLUSIVE- Photos by Betsy Spruill Clarke

Bountiful Fare: Investment advisor Melissa Moss and venture capitalist Jonathan Silver invited pals for margaritas, “poison apple” martinis, and other dual seasonal offerings that included Design Cuisine’s summery lobster rolls, burgers, fries and oh-so autumnal shepherd’s pies and butternut ravioli. Catch-Up Time: Guests from the political, media, and financial worlds reconnected over tales of vacations past and work projects to come. Among them: Reps. John Dingell and Henry Waxman, John Podesta, David and Katherine Bradley, and George and Liz Stevens.

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Pamela Peabody, Sylvia Ripley, and Henry von Eichel

Location: The British Ambassador’s Residence

WL EXCLUSIVE: Photos by Kyle Samperton

“DENYCE, DINNER & DIPLOMAS”: Cocktails with le tout Washington in a sublime garden, dinner with primo wines, and mezzo soprano Denyce Graves singing works by Strauss, Saint-Saëns, and Offenbach before “Habanera” from “Carmen” and multiple encores of soulful spirituals. Who could ask for more? HERE’S MORE: Capricia Marshall taking a bow as chief of protocol-designate plus an up-from-the-depths tale by Sasha Bruce House “graduate” Anthony Ross that left nary a dry eye in sight. HATS OFF TO: Liz Stevens, who proved she’s just as much of a star wrangler and event mastermind as her husband, George.

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Author Jane Stanton Hitchcock’s latest novel is the talk of the town, whether you’re in it or not.

By Kevin Chaffee

Author Jane Stanton Hitchcock at home

What do Jim Kimsey, Ben Bradlee, Sally Quinn, Carolyn Peachey, Liz Stevens, Amanda Downes, Jim Johnson, Deborah Gore Dean, Rima Al-Sabah, Ann Jordan, Carol Joynt, Leo and Grega Daly, and Rep. Jane Harmon have in common? – apart from living in Washington, that is.

Yes, all were spotted at the party celebrating Jane Stanton Hitchcock’s recent novel, “Mortal Friends,” at Café Milano on Thursday night, but there is a far deeper connection. It turns out that each is a character in her book – but under a totally different name, of course.

Anyone who really knows the Washington scene won’t have too much trouble deciphering that “Nouria Salaha,” described as the ultra-fashionable spouse of a Middle Eastern ambassador, is based on top diplomatic hostess Rima Al-Sabah, wife of Kuwaiti Ambassador Salem Al-Sabah. Or that “Bob Poll,” an “ageless rake with military bearing” sure seems a lot like AOL co-founder Jim Kimsey, who, if he minded any of the comparisons, was shrugging them off that night (as he did during Joynt’s sold-out “Q&A” lunch with Hitchcock at Nathan’s earlier that day).

“Mortal Friends” is sure to be this summer’s essential plane or beach read. It’s a delicious thriller filled with social climbing, back-stabbing, deceit, betrayal, and the hunt for a serial killer who carries out his terrible deeds in such familiar haunts as Georgetown’s Montrose Park. No wonder Politics and Prose sold out every copy – the first time that has ever happened at a book party, according to a member of the sales staff.

Guests sipped wine and Champagne while waiting patiently in line for author inscriptions. It wasn’t long before the crowd spilled out into the reception area, and from there to patio where Jill Biden, the wife of the vice president, had quietly entered to dine with a friend (even she ended up getting a book.)

Jane Stanton Hitchcock's latest novel "Mortal Friends" explore dangerous liaisons in Washington social life.

Here’s who else was there:

From the diplomatic corps: German Ambassador Klaus Sharioth, Yemeni Ambassador Abdulwahab Al-Hajjri, Japanese Ambassador Ichiro Fujisaki and Yoriko Fujisaki, and Lady (Julia) Sheinwald, wife of British Ambassador Sir Nigel Sheinwald.

From the media: Jim Hoagland (Hitchcock’s spouse), Bob Schieffer, Arnaud de Borchgrave, Tammy Haddad, Andrea Mitchell, Margaret Carlson, Edie Emery, Jim Lehrer, David Corn, Ann Geracimos, Roxanne Roberts, Fred Hiatt, Patrick Gavin, Steve Smith and Sally Bedell Smith.

From the social scene: Andy Athy, Michael and Afsaneh Beschloss, Dr. Susan Blumenthal, Conrad and Ludmila Cafritz, Buffy Cafritz, Marcia Carter, John Cecchi, Walter and Didi Cutler, Count Renaud de Viel Castel, Susan Eisenhower, Nini Ferguson, Bitsey Folger, Jim and Ann Free, Ina Ginsburg, Lloyd and Ann Hand, June Hechinger, Chris and Jennifer Isham, Winston Bao Lord, Capricia Marshall, Mac and Donna McLarty, Bill and Dorothy McSweeny, John and Diana Negroponte, Mike Peabody, Gerald and Eden Rafshoon, Lucky Roosevelt, Jackie Rush, Aniko Gaal Schott, Prince Ermias Selassie, Jamal Simmons, and Judith Terra.

Entering these private havens is a privilege, enjoying them a pleasure

George Stevens (left) joins his wife Liz on one of several tranquil terraces that surround their spacious Georgetown residence.

Edenic Retreat

Hidden on a small lane in Georgetown’s “East Village,” George and Liz Stevens’ exquisite garden sanctuary bids visitors welcome to its many tranquil corners – each one perfect, or nearly, after 22 years of loving care.

“I’d rather be digging than anything else,” indefatigable cultivator Liz Stevens says on a sultry spring afternoon as she contemplates another round of planting, pruning, and plucking on a quiet terrace so near and yet so far from an adjacent swimming pool and tennis court. “Whatever is blooming now, won’t be in a month,” she notes, pointing with some satisfaction to a nearby bed of all-blue aquilegia from which all white and pink interlopers have been banished

Weeping pear, American hornbeam and other stately trees shade the site amid carefully tended boxwood and flowering plants (Chinese peonies, holly, lilacs), obelisks, statues of playful cats, and even an odd edible or two – though seasonable greens are hardly a priority here. “We used to have them, but no more,” Mrs. Stevens says with a laugh. “It turned out to be the most expensive salad in the world.”

By Kevin Chaffee. Photography James R. Brantley

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Jill Biden, Judith Jamison, and Marian Robinson

Location: Kennedy Center

Photos By Kyle Samperton

MUCH TO CELEBRATE: Fifty years of the country’s pre-eminent African American dance company, another joyous performance of the classic “Revelations” by the talented troupe, and a very special new first couple in the White House. SPECIAL GUESTS: The Obamas didn’t make it into the presidential box until later in the run but Jill Biden and Marian Robinson (Michelle Obama’s mother) stayed for the show and a chat with Ailey artistic director Judith Jamison. ALSO SPOTTED: Co-chairwomen Carolyn Brody and Beatrice Welters, Michael Kahn, Polly Kraft, George and Liz Stevens, Ann Stock, Debbie Dingell, Huda and Samia Farouki, Jim Kolbe, Marc and Jacqueline Leland, John Cochran, Bill Plante, Hilary Rosen, and Sissy Yates.

Top Row: President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama, Rahm Emanuel, Bob Woodward, Teresa Heinz Kerry, John Kerry, Don Graham, Adrian and Michelle Fenty, Vice President Joseph Biden and Jill Biden. Second row: Rep. Barney Frank, Desirée Rogers, Victoria and Sen. Ted Kennedy, Valerie Jarrett, Timothy Geithner, Eric Holder and Sharon Malone, Peter Orzsag, Jane Stanton Hitchcock. Third row: Sen. Mark Warner, Alexandra Wentworth and George Stephanopolous, Justice Antonin Scalia, Elizabeth and George Stevens, Salem Abdullah Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, Queen Noor, Robert Duvall, Roger Sant. Fourth row: Katharine Weymouth, Justice Stephen Breyer, Sheila Johnson, Plácido Domingo, Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Amb. Pierre Vimont, Ted and Annette Lerner, Sen. Harry Reid.

Big changes are always in store when a new president takes office. The “out-with-the-old, in-with-the-new” transition of power is even more historic when a change of party occurs (check) and especially when a two-term presidency ends (double check). Barack and Michelle Obama are also younger than their predecessors (they were born at the end of the Baby Boom era; the Bushes at its very beginning), and, most relevant of all, are the first African-Americans to occupy the White House.

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President and Mrs. Obama headline an ‘Enchanted Evening’ of festivities honoring Senator Ted Kennedy

By Kevin Chaffee

Michelle Obama leads the applause for Sen. Ted Kennedy.

Sen. Ted Kennedy didn’t need a cake blazing with 77 candles to illuminate his belated birthday celebration Sunday night. There was enough electricity in the house to make the Kennedy Center visible from Mars.

The ailing Massachusetts senator and Kennedy clan patriarch got a roaring welcome and numerous ovations from his congressional colleagues, friends and family members who turned out for the star-studded “Some Enchanted Evening” musical salute in his honor. Adding further oomph was the presence of First Lady Michelle Obama, Vice President Joe Biden and Jill Biden alongside Kennedy and his wife, Victoria, in the Concert Hall’s presidential box.

“I’ve never seen a birthday party like this,” host Bill Cosby told the crowd after the lights dimmed. “I’ve never had this kind of money.”

The aging comedian’s vintage dental office shtick (novocaine! numbness! drills!) might or not have been just what the doctor ordered to lift spirits, but there was plenty more in store for the 2,400-strong crowd who gathered to cheer the “Lion of the Senate” on as he battles brain cancer.

Boldfaced names from the entertainment world who lauded the senior solon for his commitment to children and education included Lauren Bacall, Phyllis Newman and Frederika von Stade. Playwright Hal Prince spoke of Kennedy’s devotion to the arts and James Taylor played “Belfast to Boston” to commemorate his “doing so much to solve the problems in Ireland.” John Williams and Joseph Thalken conducted the Kennedy Center Orchestra in Leonard Bernstein’s “Overture” from Candide; a tap-danced version of “I’ve Got Rhythm” from Girl Crazy; “Can’t Help Lovin’ Dat Man” sung by opera star Denyce Graves; and “America the Beautiful” by jazz singer Lizz Wright.

President Barack Obama leads the cast in singing "Happy Birthday" to Sen. Kennedy. From left: Bill Cosby, Lizz Wright, Denyce Graves, and James Taylor.

Big-time Show-Stoppers of the Night: Brian Stokes Mitchell’s goose-bump-inducing “Some Enchanted Evening” and “The Impossible Dream” – said to be among the guest of honor’s favorite hits, and a supremely slinky “There Is Nothing Like a Dame” by the pulchritudinous Bernadette Peters that reminded more than one gawker of Marilyn Monroe notorious rendition of “Happy Birthday” to President John F. Kennedy at Madison Square Garden in 1963.

Biggest Laugh of the Night: Caroline Kennedy telling the audience that “I never thought I’d be in a room with so many senators” before presenting her uncle with the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation’s “Profiles in Courage” Award.

Biggest Birthday Surprise: President Barack Obama’s 90-second cameo appearance to greet the cast and wave to the man who did so much to help him win the highest office in the land. His equally brief appearance in the presidential box included the usual smiles and handshakes plus a truly special treat when he briefly boogied in place to the gospel sounds of the NEWorks Tribute Choir.

The several hundred guests who attended the reception on the box-tier level of the Concert Hall were mostly disappointed if they hoped to greet Sen. Kennedy after the show. He remained sequestered in the presidential box alongside family and close friends with a velvet rope drawn across the closed door. “You know it’s a Kennedy party if there’s a VIP event within the VIP event,” one guest noted.

Among those spotted in the crowd were about 30 members of the U.S. Senate, two of whom were event sponsors along with their spouses (Sen. Dianne Feinstein and Richard Blum and Sen. John Kerry and Teresa Heinz) plus Sens. John McCain, Harry Reid, Christopher Dodd, Thad Cochran, Daniel Inouye, Daniel Akaka, Pat Roberts, Orrin Hatch, Olympia Snowe, Herb Kohl, Max Baucus, Susan Collins, Carl Levin, Frank Lautenberg, Lindsay Graham, Benjamin Cardin, Barbara Mikulski, Mark Warner, Kent Conrad, Tim Johnson, Mary Landrieu, Patrick Leahy, Joe Lieberman, and Claire McCaskill. Former Senate colleagues included James Sasser, Tom Daschle, Tom Harkin, Pete Domenici, and John Culver.

The Obama Administration was represented by Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, Senior Advisors David Axelrod and Valerie Jarrett, Budget Director Peter Orczag, White House Communications Director Ellen Moran, Domestic Policy Council chief Melody Barnes, and White House Social Secretary Desirée Rogers.

Media guests included Mark Shields, Al Hunt, Chris Matthews, Christopher Wallace, Cokie Roberts, Eleanor Clift, and Wolf Blitzer.

Among the Kennedy family members present were the senator’s sister, Jean Kennedy Smith, and sister-in-law, Ethel Kennedy (both in the presidential box); his children Kara Kennedy, Edward M. Kennedy Jr., and Rep. Patrick Kennedy; nieces and nephews Christopher and Victoria Lawford; Timothy, Mark, and Maria Shriver; and Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, Douglas Kennedy, Kerry Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Joseph Kennedy, Matthew Kennedy, Courtney Kennedy, and Christopher Kennedy.

Other guests included Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, Adm. Michael Mullen, Gen. Colin Powell, Rep. John D. Dingell and Deborah Dingell; Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, Boston Mayor Thomas Menino, Kennedy Center Chairman Steve Schwartzman, former Kennedy Center Chairmen James Wolfensohn and James Johnson, Richard Holbrooke, Nina Auchincloss Straight, George and Liz Stevens, and William vanden Heuvel.

A Look Back at this Year’s Kennedy Center Honors Gala

By Janet Donovan

Beyoncé Knowles on the red carpet at the Kennedy Center Honors. Photo by Kyle Samperton

Ribbons, Priceless

Guests attending the glamorous 31st annual Kennedy Center Honors on December 7th may have arrived camera-ready in emeralds and diamonds, but the best decorations were worn by honorees Morgan Freeman, George Jones, Barbra Streisand, Twyla Tharp, Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey. Bestowed upon them the previous evening at a lavish State Department dinner hosted by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, the medals displayed by the six pack on the red carpet gratified the crowd of onlookers to say nothing of the celeb-starved photographers.

Four of the six honorees were sighted at George and Liz Stevens’ lavish brunch earlier that day (Streisand and Freeman passed) when a jubilant VIP crowd packed Café MoZU at the Mandarin Oriental. Ethel Kennedy, in a jovial mood, said she had every reason to be happy before pointing out that her niece, Caroline, who now emcees the Honors, would have been a good choice for the New York Senate seat once occupied by her late husband, Robert F. Kennedy, from 1965 to 1968.

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Buffy and Bill Cafritz

Location: Fairfax Embassy Row Hotel

WL EXCLUSIVE – Photos by James R. Brantley

WELCOME HOME: “We missed it when it was gone, but now its back,” said Vernon Jordan, waxing rhapsodic about a long-missed haunt as he, his wife, Ann, and co-hosts Bill and Buffy Cafritz welcomed guests to dinner at the Jockey Club. Re-opened after 10 years with a chef poached from New York’s 21, “The Jockey” is back with soft lighting, the old red-and-white-checked tablecloths, and all the social set’s fattening favorites: crab cakes, puff potatoes, Dover sole, rack of lamb, and dessert soufflés.

THE GANG’S ALL THERE: Polly Kraft, Ben Bradlee, George and Liz Stevens, Molly Raiser, James Billington, Debbie Dingell, and Gahl Burt.

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WL’s list of head-turners.

Top from left to right: Steven and Jean Case, Vernon and Ann Jordan, James Kimsey, Jacqueline Mars. Bottom from left to right: Paul and Nancy Pelosi, Roger and Victoria Sant, and Ben Bradlee and Sally Quinn.

It’s hard to elicit a physical response from a Washington crowd; that is, to “turn” a head. Although we’ve produced this list for several years, 2008’s A-list has seemingly evolved into a roster of national names rather than one merely dedicated to the stars in our local firmament; after all, 2008’s elections have brought some bonafide rock stars to town. All eyes have been on Ben Bernanke to solve our financial woes, and we’ve all been waiting with baited breath to find out whether Christopher Hitchens will finally quit smoking (maybe it would help if he had God on his side). We said goodbye to longtime favorites Joe Gibbs, as well as beloved British Ambassador Sir Manning and his wife, Lady Catherine. While farewells are always sad, they make way for new faces such as financial heavyweight David Rubenstein and Secretary of Treasury Henry Paulson. Over the years, we’ve found that A-list status is less about the job and rank than one might think; it’s about having a personality that electrifies the room. We’re happy they’re here.

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