CBS Unplugged

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Washington Unplugged, John dickerson

CBS Hosts A-List

Anniversary Bash for "Unplugged"

 

 

 Dannia Hakki, Annie Groer, Tara Palmari

CBS' Washington bureau threw a cocktail party at the Crowne Plaza hotel last night to celebrate the first anniversary of its daily webcast "Washington Unplugged."

Among those not plugged into the festivities: original "Unplugged" host Bob Schieffer.

“He’s on vacation,” said CBS producer and event host Christine Delargy.

Schieffer did provide us with this tidbit in advance: "What's great about 'Washington Unplugged' is that it gives us a place to report those little stories, the delicious little nuggets of news that there is no room for on television.”

Matt Cooper Tim Burger and John Dickerson

 

Bill Plante

 

Steve Callagaris

 

What started as a weekly political webcast expanded into a daily, with a rotating set of hosts that include news political analyst John Dickerson.

“I do Mondays and Thursdays,” he said.  “We can do whatever subject matter we want: foreign policy, domestic policy, books, movies.  Since we interview so many politicians, I found interviewing Woody Harrelson and then Ludacris about his foundation to be interesting.”

Others, too, say they're plugged into the scene.

"I don't want to be unplugged," former Hardball producer Tammy Haddad said. "It's an interesting phenomena because the idea is that you get it real, that's the idea of unplugged. I grew up real, from Pittsburgh, so I am proud and happy to be plugged in and working the Web."

And some said they'd rather stay off the grid.

“I’m totally unplugged, I love unplugged,” said CBS White House Correspondent Bill Plante. “They let me do the show from time to time.”

BY Janet Donovan

Party like a Canadian

Winter Olypmics, Canadian Embassy

Party Like a Canadian: A Guide 

to the Olympics Party 

at the Embassy

Tricia and Chris

 

Tricia Messerschmidt and radio talk show host Chris Plante were among those at the opening ceremonies bash for the Winter Olympics hosted by Ambassador Gary Doer at the Canadian Embassy over the weekend. 


Though no prior knowledge of French or poutine was required to enjoy the festivities, there were, however, rules of engagement: 

• Pick up a pair of complimentary wool mittens available at the entry gate
• Indulge in a cup of Canadian fries smothered in cheese curd and gravy (a.k.a. poutine)
• While in the food line, ask to have as many variations of pasta as possible -- especially anything that included lobster
• In the beer line, be sure to order Molson Coors
• Play the Wii challenge
• Pose in front of the street signs for photo opps
• Watch the snowboarders do tricks on the trampoline
•  

The Washington Note Steve Clemons 

 

Newshour's Mike Mosettig and Christina Sevilla

 

At the bar

BY Janet Donovan // Monday, Feb 15, 2010 at 08:50 ES

"Secrets of Powerful Women"

Fran Drescher and Senator Arlan Spector

 

The women featured in the new book "Secrets of Powerful Women" were powerless against the snow storm that canceled the book party last night -- but they did offer insight into some of their success. 

Actress and activist Fran Drescher said she grew up admiring Lucille Ball for her business savvy and first realized her own power to effect change when she helped pass the Gynecologic Cancer Education and Awareness Act in 2006.

"I wouldn't leave until they passed it," Drescher said.

Now, she uses her influence and newly realized power to help make positive changes.

Fran Drescher and Washington Bureau Chief of Glamour Magazine

 

“It enables me to be heard by people of influence and to push through platforms on behalf of the greater good,” she said.

Senior adviser to Obama's presidential campaign Betsy Myers, also featured in the book, was empowered by her mother's choice to go back to school.

“My mother’s decision to regain her voice in the world had a profound impact on me," she said. "By her actions, she taught me that we have the personal power to change the roles we play in our lives. By standing up for herself, she stood up for my sisters and me.

"By gaining her own voice, she gave us a voice.”

Journalist Beth Frerking spoke about what having power meant to her and how it is earned.

“Power has never been about what I get at the end -- it’s always been about making things happen," she said.

"Being powerful, to me, means having the opportunity to use my mind and talents most effectively. 

But I’m very old-fashioned about how I think people should get power: you don’t grab it, you earn it with hard work, creativity and loyalty.” 

BY Janet Donovan // Wednesday, Feb 10, 2010 at 11:22 ES

Teatro's chef to try out for 'Chefs vs. City'

By: Nikki Schwab and Tara Palmeri
Washington Examiner
02/04/10 9:00 PM EST

Enzo Fargione, of K Street’s Teatro Goldoni, is scheduled to chat with the Food Network on Saturday about appearing on “Chefs vs. City,” a culinary reality show.

Does D.C. have another reality show TV chef in the making? 

 

Yeas & Nays hears the Food Network is scouting our city this weekend for culinary talent for its show "Chefs vs. City," and Teatro Goldoni's executive chef Enzo Fargione has decided to put his name in the hat.


"After 23 years in Washington, for me, I think I know Washington very well and I know where all the best food is," Fargione told Yeas & Nays.

Fargione described the show as a mix between "Top Chef" and "The Great Race," where a local chef and his or her sous chef is picked to battle against Food Network chefs Aaron Sanchez and Chris Cosentino.

The local chefs get home court advantage.

"You need to know the city -- for instance, Washington -- where to buy Asian products, or the organic market, where would you buy the best meat? Maybe you would go to the Eastern Market in Capitol Hill," Fargione explained.

"You need to know where to buy specific products in order to put out the best possible menu together, and then of course there is the challenge to prepare the menu."

Fargione became the popular K Street eatery's top chef in spring 2008, and while the Torino, Italy, native has appeared on local TV, he never has auditioned for a reality show before.

"I think it's a really good door to open to the Food Network, and they would very likely keep me in mind for future projects," he said, revealing that the interview is scheduled for Saturday.

The Food Network show has filmed in New York and New Orleans, but not yet D.C.
Producers for "Top Chef," another cooking reality show, recruited in the District in October. Fargione said he thought a handful of other local chefs would be interviewing to be on "Chefs vs. City" as well.

Read more at the Washington Examiner: http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/politics/blogs/yeas-and-nays/Chops_-Teatro_s-chef-to-try-out-for-reality-TV-83593552.html#ixzz0efl2qxzo

Don't pass the salt.

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Celeb Chef Michel Richard Gets Salty Over Condiments

Renown chef Michel Richard dished on his condiment consternation last night.

The France-born owner of Citronelle was preparing a meal in the Georgetown home of developer Herb Miller and his wife, Patrice, as part of the nonprofit D.C. Central Kitchen-sponsored Sunday Night Supper series.

As one of a number of celebrity chefs who donated their culinary talent to serve up dinner in 15 of the most prestigious homes in Washington, Richard said he had one request: Don't pass the salt.

"Just taste the food first," he said. "If it isn't salty enough then add salt, but don't hand me the plate and say it isn't salty enough."

And don't even think of mentioning pepper.

"Some chefs don't even use pepper," he said in an accent so thick it took four tries to recognize he didn't mean 'paper.'

"There is no salt or pepper on my tables," he said.

Richard said he does not subscribe to the Julia Child school of thought in which food dropped on the floor is still salvageable.

“No, we don’t do that,” he said, emphatically. “Julia Child got away with that because she was Julia Child. As for me, I have to throw it in the trash.”

Richard also insisted he's not French, but American. "I just serve food with a French accent," he joked.

On the menu: Peanut and chestnut soup with fois gras and chicken stock.

Across town at the Kalorama home of Joan Fabry and Michael Klein, chef Julian Medina of Toloache in New York said he gave up the salt fight five years after emigrating from Mexico. A good thing too, considering a large box of Kosher salt held a prominent position on the counter.

“It bothered me when I was young," Medina said. "It freaked me out, but now I realize that everyone has a different palate. I don’t put salt or pepper on any of my tables in my restaurant though.”

Joan didn’t seem to mind turning her kitchen over to Julian.

“It’s fun,” she said, while waiting for political consultant and commentator Barbara Comstock to arrive.

On the menu:  Margaritas with kumquats for starters.

BY Janet Donovan

Welcome to Niteside

Kathy Griffin Jokes: I Am the Next White House Crasher

Getty Images 

 

Kathy Griffin greeted fans at her book signing last night and joked about her designs on 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.

"When I finish here, I'll probably crash the White House," the self-deprecating sassy redhead said.

The stand-up comedian tweeted about the signing of her book "Official Book Club Selection: A Memoir According to Kathy Griffin" before she greeted fans at the Borders on K Street NW last night.

"DC! Unlike Palin, I sign every book," she tweeted.

True to her word, Griffin signed every book and posed for every photo op, even tossing in some of her signature humor.

"You're a good looking guy -- but don't take that in a late-night way."

"In L.A. if someone dressed like you we would think you were the Secret Service."

"You girls on a field trip?"

BY Janet Donovan // Friday, Jan 22, 2010 at 10:28 EST

Roland Martin Living the Dream

Jan. 24, 2010

http://thegeorgetowndish.com/thescene/mlk-day-living-dream

NBC Washington Niteside: Mark Russell

 

Take a look inside K Street's Teatro Goldoni to see who was dining out last night as part of Restaurant Week, which runs Jan. 11 to 17:

Booth No. 6: Socialites Diane Kay and Tandy Dickerson.

CNN's Edie Emery, constantly checking her BlackBerry, sat with Diane and Tandy as they gossiped about the Washington, D.C., of yesteryear.  "It was a great night for catching up with old friends and gossiping about the good ol' days," Tandy said. The two spoke of Merrywood, the sprawling estate passed down to Tandy's husband, Wyatt Dickerson.

Booth No. 3: Satirist Mark Russell and wife Alison. Author and long-time columnist Myra MacPherson.

The always endearing comedian regaled the table with some of his latest Obama quips:"The Nobel Committee has bestowed the Peace Prize for 2009 on President Obama, and all I can say is, it's about time. Obama was notified that he was the winner when the folks from Publisher's Clearing House showed up at his door. But most of all -- Barack Obama kept al-Qaeda out of Norway."

Also at the table was political style writer for the Washington Post and Pulitzer Prize nominee Myra MacPherson, who just signed a book contract.

At the bar: Raptor Strategies' David Bass with a bevy of journalist friends.

BY Janet Donovan // Wednesday, Jan 20, 2010 at 04:02 EST

http://www.nbcwashington.com/blogs/niteside/Restaurant-week-is-like-a-food-marathon-in-Vegas-said-Chef-Enzo-Fargione-81473972.html

Listen Up Mr. President

Guests at Helen Thomas' Book Party Hedge Their (Political) Bets

 

 

Guests at the book party in honor of Helen Thomas and Craig Crawford at the Kalorama home of Gloria Dittus last night had a bad case of predictors' remorse: that ever-present reluctance among Washingtonians to forecast the outcome of an election whenever one is afoot.

Politicians and media types celebrated the launch of Thomas' tome "Listen Up, Mr. President" as she signed copies of her book in Dittus' living room.

But the topic of conversation for the mostly media crowd was the Massachusetts election -- and most everyone correctly predicted GOP Scott Brown's victory in the bid for the seat left vacant by Sen. Ted Kennedy, however reluctantly.

Mother Jones' David Corn and CQ's Craig Crawford predicted the win after hedging their bets. CBS TV host Andrew Roane's answer was concise: "Brown."

"It's very exciting," Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) said before Brown's victory was announced. "If in fact Scott wins, I think it sends a very strong message to Washington, a message against unfettered one-party rule and for more checks and balances in the system. It reflects how appalled the public feels about the healthcare bill, which is riddled with special interests."

Brown's victory was sealed just hours after the launch of the party, which host Dittus was pleased to arrange for one of her heroes.

 

 “I’ve know Helen longer than she has known me,” she said. “I had admired her for years and then met her at a luncheon when I first moved to Washington, found my way up to shake her hand and initiated a friendship. She was very gracious.”

So what’s it like to work with Helen?  According to her agent, Diane Nine: “It’s  a laugh a second.”

BY Janet Donovan // Wednesday, Jan 20, 2010 at 05:11 EST

  

http://www.nbcwashington.com/blogs/niteside/LIsten-Up-Mr-President-.html

All politicians are toxic.

All Politicians Are Toxic, Claim Authors

Politicians are toxic and have higher levels of dangerous chemicals in their bodies, according to a pair of authors who studied the ....

"I want to assure you that we tested both liberal and conservative politicians, and it doesn't seem to matter," co-author Rick Smith said at a book party for "Slow Death by Rubber Duck: The Secret Danger of Everyday Things" held at Busboys & Poets in the funky U Street corridor.

"It may be caused by their ... diets or the extreme amount of plane travel, so aspiring politicians take note."

Smith and co-author Bruce Lourie, two Canadian environmentalists, set out to discover what effect household chemicals have on the human body. The pair went about their experiment by ingesting and inhaling a host of household items for a week.

“We chose seven chemicals. One for every day of the week, because seven is a good number. This delighted our wives, of course," Smith said. "For two days, I actually drank out of my son's baby bottle."

So what can be done about the harmful chemicals that surround us? The authors drafted a list of 10 suggestions for how to reduce individual intake. No. 10 was contact Congress.

BY Janet Donovan 

 

http://www.nbcwashington.com/blogs/niteside/Are-politicians-toxic-.html

JOURNOPALOOZA II

http://www.thegeorgetowndish.com/thescene/journopalooza-ii-rocks-georgetowners

Tim Berger at Journopalooza II

A suspicious package at the National Press Club Friday night didn’t prevent Georgetowner Kiki Ryan of Politico from supporting Tim Burger and Christina Sevilla, whose band was part of Journopalooza II, raising money to benefit Reporters without Borders. Lucky for all, “Suspicious Package” is the name of their band and no arrests ensued.

Journopalooza II at The National Press Club

http://tinyurl.com/yhl3jre

Drinking Oasis but not the Kool-aid at Tackle Box

Tareq and Michaele Salahi, the ominous White House party crashers, may be getting their own reality show; but guests of The Georgetown Dish after party were drinking their family wine. “Oasis” was offered compliments of Yeas & Nays’ columnist Nikki Schwab who picked up a bottle over the weekend. Consensus: No offense to the family business, but we don’t blame Tareq for the troubled vineyard.

http://tinyurl.com/ykv6tqy

Dinner in honor of Ron Kessler at Teatro Goldoni by Pamela Sorensen

Dec 8

The Secret Service Revealed

They (whoever they are) say that “timing is everything”. There’s no doubt in my mind that New York Times best selling author and multiple award winning journalist Ronald Kessler agrees with that.  Fresh off the press, his latest/18th non-fiction work, called In the President’s Secret Service: Behind the Scenes with the Agents in the Line of Fire and the Presidents They Protect was an instant NYT Best Seller and has spent 8 weeks on the hot list.

Kessler was the special guest at the author media meet & greet series that Janet Donovan of Creative Enterprises International, Christine Warnke of Hogan & Hartson and soon to be launched The Georgetown Dish’s Beth Solomon hosted on Monday evening.  He and his wife Pamela talked with local media attendees at the reception, addressed the group prior to dinner being served, then patiently answered journalists’ questions before he bit into his dessert.  The book openly and with no shame, tells accounts of the real deal – what really goes on behind the scenes with the overworked, understaffed agents whose job is to take a bullet for the POTUS.

The problem is not the agents, shared Kessler. It’s the management.  He was emphatic in putting money back into the Agency. There’s nothing more important than protecting the President of the United States. If there is an assassination, there is no democracy. Because of budget cuts, these agents are working way too many stressful hours, straining their ability to do their job to the fullest.

On a lighter note, look for entertaining anecdotes of past (and current) Presidents and their families. Who was nice?  Who was naughty?  Who did what in public, yet was actually deceitful?  Washington loves a great Tell All.

http://www.pamelaspunch.com/the-secret-service-revealed/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+PamelasPunch+%28Pamela%27s+Punch%29

Dinner in honor of Ron Kessler at Teatro Goldoni by Jessica Rettig

State Dinner Crashing Could Lead to Secret Service Improvements

Corrected on 12/09/09: An earlier version of this article misstated the president who Ron Kessler says was least respectful to his secret service agents. He says it was Carter.

By Jessica Rettig, Washington Whispers

If there's one person who thinks the media attention on the Salahi-state dinner gate-crashing incident was a good thing, it's Ron Kessler, author of the recently published book In the President's Secret Service. The longtime journalist and writer of 17 other nonfiction books said that media scrutiny of the Secret Service is absolutely necessary, since corner-cutting has become the norm among the agents. The agents themselves are honorable men, all college-educated and well screened, and really would take a bullet for the Obamas, he says. But he claims that they are poorly managed and overworked, causing low morale and lots of slack in the system, such as letting unknown blondes in saris walk through security checkpoints when pressure is high.

The whole force, which protects not only the president but many of his staff, operates under a budget of $1.4 billion, about half of what it costs to build a single Stealth bomber. Kessler says that the conditions are detrimental to democracy itself.
At a dinner Monday at Washington's Teatro Goldoni, Kessler gave media representatives a preview of what's in his latest book. During his research, he was able to build up many sources, encouraging past and even current agents—more secretive than even FBI or CIA agents, he said—to open up about the people they protect.

His book gives the scoop on all the first daughters: how Jenna Bush would run through red lights to elude the agents, how Chelsea Clinton got into the most trouble of them all. How Jimmy Carter was a phony with the press—he'd carry his own (empty) luggage to seem more like the rest of America. How Lyndon B. Johnson would regularly strip naked on Air Force One. And how, long before the days of Monica Lewinsky, Johnson had his Secret Service agents install a buzzer to alert him when his wife was coming into the Oval Office. That was after she discovered him having sex with one of his aides.
As for our current president? Kessler says he's much more respectful to his agents than past presidents. (Carter was the least, he says.) He and Michelle even have special dinners for the Secret Service. The only dirt that Kessler found is that Obama still smokes from time to time, despite saying he's stopped. When asked if he thinks Obama is safe, Kessler replied, "No." He says that, especially after the party crashers, the president needs to fire Mark Sullivan, the director of the Secret Service, and at least double the agency's budget if he wants his family and staff truly out of harm's way.

http://www.usnews.com/blogs/washington-whispers/2009/12/08/state-dinner-crashing-could-lead-to-secret-service-improvements.html

Dinner in honor of Ron Kessler at Teatro Goldoni by Patrick Gavin

KESSLER: SALAHIS INEVITABLE

Author Ronald Kessler just penned "In the President's Secret Service: Behind the Scenes with Agents in the Line of Fire and the Presidents They Protect," so he's been closely following the case of Michaele and Tareq Salahi.


POLITICO caught up with Kessler at Teatro Goldoni Monday night, where he was being feted with a dinner party in his honor. Click the above video to hear Kessler's thoughts on the Salahi case, whether it will inspire imitators and whether Social Secretary Desiree Rogers deserves some of the blame.

http://www.politico.com/click/stories/0912/kessler_salahis_inevitable_.html

Dinner in honor of Ron Kessler at Teatro Goldoni by Jennifer Nycz-Conner

Blog: Working the Room

Jennifer Nycz-Conner

Ronald Kessler dishes about the Secret Service, and Beth Solomon dishes about Georgetown

Tuesday, December 8, 2009, 2:53pm EST

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Ronald Kessler

Monday night, The New York Times best selling author Ronald Kessler entertained three dozen or so dinner companions at Teatro Goldoni with tales from his new (and his 18th) book, "In the President's Secret Service." Kessler has become a familiar face on the talking head circuit lately thanks to the continuing saga of the Party Crashers Who Shall Not Be Named. As an added course, one of the evening's hostesses, Beth Solomon, had some media news of her own to share. But more on that in a minute.
Kessler recounted tales of everything from which presidents really measured up to the personas they wanted to project (after all, who knows that truth better than the people protecting them 24-7?), to Jenna Bush's attempts to ditch her agents at red lights, to a frank discussion about a stagnant budget leading to too much corner cutting.
A second course of information came from Solomon, a former congressional speechwriter, current headhunter and yoga instructor and soon-to-be publisher of TheGeorgetownDish, a new news and social media site focusing on, well, all happenings Georgetown. Solomon has lined up numerous columnists known in Georgetown and social circles, including Mary Bird, dermatologist Tina Alster and Patty Ivey of Down Dog Yoga.

Beth Solomon

Look for the new neighborhood pub to launch Dec. 16 with a feel that's a cross between The Huffington Post and Washington Life, Solomon says.
And if all goes well, this is just the start of a larger neighborhood of publications: Solomon has already reserved the URLs for other potential dish's, including McLean, Old Town, Newport, Palm Beach and the Hamptons.

Dinner in honor of Ron Kessler at Teatro Goldoni by Christine Delargy

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Kessler Dishes on Secret Service, Salahis and His New Book

By Christine on Dec 08, 2009 11:27 AM

Kessler at Teatro Goldoni.
"An author's life is a roller coaster. Sometimes you write a book that no one really cares about, but this one is quite the opposite," Ronald Kessler said of his latest "In the President's Secret Service" to a small dinner of journos last night.

Consider the timing- Kessler's book came out just before the Salahis party-crashing story broke. He says that the stories in his book actually exceed this White House security breach. And that the fault lies with the Secret Service's management.
The dinner at Teatro Goldoni was hosted by Janet Donovan, Christina Warnke and Beth Solomon, whose Georgetown Dish launches next week.
Joining them was: CBS' Steve Chaggaris, Pamela's Punch Pamela Sorensen, Bisnow's Patrick Dowd, Yeas & Nays' Nikki Schwab, Washington Whispers' Jessica Rettig, Washington Life's John Arundel (with mags hot off the press in hand), Bill Press, Fox's Catherine Herridge and The Hill's Christina Wilkie.
With late appearances by Time's Jay Newton-Small and Bobby Ghosh, Politico's Kiki Ryan, Tim Burger and Christina Sevilla.
More photos courtesy of the lovely Pamela Sorensen after the jump...

Dinner in honor of Ron Kessler by Christina Wilke, The Hill

Author Ron Kessler on the 'trouble' with the Secret Service

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December 8, 2009, 10:32 am by Christina Wilkie

Best-selling author Ron Kessler spoke about his new book, "In the President's Secret Service," at a dinner Monday at Teatro Goldoni hosted by publicist Janet Donovan, "Georgetown Dish" publisher Beth Solomon, and Hogan & Hartson lawyer Christine Warnke. The guest list reflected a broad spectrum of D.C. media personalities, ranging from Fox News Channel's homeland security correspondent, Catherine Herridge, to social chronicler Pamela Sorensen of Pamela's Punch. Kessler's in-depth look at the executive protection agency was released early this fall and rose to the top of the non-fiction bestseller lists; but little could have prepared him for "Crashergate." Ever since the White House state dinner security breach on Nov. 24, Kessler (pictured here with his wife, Pam Kessler) has appeared nearly non-stop on cable TV talk shows, sharing his observations on how the culture and management of the Secret Service might have contributed to the security breakdown. Kessler told ITK he doesn't think individual agents are to blame for the Salahi breach; rather, it's a Service-wide culture that glorifies restraint, frugality and stoicism, even if sometimes it comes at the expense of a  mission. "The trouble is that the agents are admirable, but the management is derelict," he explained. Can the battered Secret Service be restored to its former glory? Kessler believes it can, but only through a major shake-up at the highest levels. One person Kessler thinks might be able to set the U.S.S.S. back on track is the  director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Robert Mueller, who is set to retire from his post in two years. "They need an outsider," said Kessler. "Someone with fresh blood to inject into the operation."