WASH September 2011 : Page 34
the RadaR | now! 34 | A Moveable Feast Derek Brown’s boundary-pushing beverages at Rogue 24 match chef R.J. Cooper’s avant-garde cuisine. “Not everything has to be served in a coupe and be a variation on a Manhattan,” says Brown. “We want people to experience classic cocktails in a new way.” rogue24. com –Kelly A. Magyarics BaR aSSociaTion Q&a By the Book Sandi Hoffman flipped her passion for entertaining into an entrepreneurial endeavor that has made her a go-to guru. In September, she releases her first tome, My Love of Affairs . From the backyard barbecue to grand gala, the innovator shares her top secrets to the perfect soirée. –BD The Bite Silky sea urchin is perched on seaweed and an ink-hued lava rock, adorned with a briny air. Thinly sliced cooked egg is wrapped around crème fraîche and topped with Ossetra caviar and a gin-soaked cucumber. An arancini-style ball of creamy grits wrapped with a microbaby leek balances next to a thin slice of shrimp sausage. The Sip The vermouth cocktail gets a spritzy makeover, “sipped” in between bites via sprays from a small metal atomizer. The genever-based Holland House arrives in a soap dispenser that is used to pump the liquid onto the tongue—novel delivery for a tart, aromatic cocktail. Mint and bourbon are distilled, tweaked and served in a glass bottle in a concentrated take on the julep. Still no glass here, just a simple swig. Takes You To The dunes of a rocky beach at dusk. A soirée for the czarina. GAlA-vANTiNG Sandi Hoffman turns her party know-how into a tough-love tome, with photo how-to’s like the one above, for hostesses-to-be. How did you become the party planner to hire? I was Southern comfort on the bayou. married for 16 years and did a lot of fundraising. Then I divorced and needed to go to work. After 14 years with Gala Events, I built out the lower level of my house five years ago and started my own company. What’s the first thing you discuss with a client? Lighting, lighting, lighting. You want to up-light the spaces that are being used. And no matter what is in the center of the table, even if it’s just a rose in a bud vase, you have to light it or it will wash away. Do you believe in ‘Go big or go home’? Spaces shouldn’t be too big. People like to cram together. A big dance floor is the kiss of death! When a room is meant for 150 people, I know 200 will fit. What do you say to people who bring you a magazine shoot and say, ‘Replicate this’? TUne in Sockets Plugs DC Hoping to demolish DC’s collars-and-pearls reputation once and for all, Sockets Records , the indie label founded by local DJ Sean Peoples, is making waves with its homegrown brand of experimental pop. This month, its band Deleted Scenes, whose newest single, “Bedbedbedbedbed, ” was featured on Spin.com, will release its sophomore album, the “Young People’s Church of the Air.” The first full-length record from the instrumentalist group Buildings (aka BLDGS) will drop soon after. Not to be left out: the post-punk Imperial China will issue a follow-up to its 2009 debut, Phosphenes , this fall. Talk about a release! –BD Deleted Scenes drops its latest. Be realistic. It’s a party, not a photo shoot. You need to be aware of how comfortable your guest is —make sure they can live in the scene you create. Themes are one of your trademarks, no? For one party, a client came to us and wanted a carnival, so we turned a ballroom into a county fair, with leaves on the ground, cricket sounds and game booths. It took a year to find all of the old games and things that we used. What prompted you to put pen to paper with this book? Many people told me to do it. The book shows before-and-after photos of spaces. One shows a red ballroom transformed into an all-white party. It took seven days. What’s your favorite piece of advice? Every time you do a party, it’s opening night. Up to a certain point you plan and plan and plan, but then the job is putting out all the fires. Oh, and make sure you look good! | Sept/Oct 2011
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