What: The annual brunch hosted at the Palisades home of Ted Greenberg and Tammy Haddad, executive producer of MSNBC's Hardball, co-hosted by power players Hilary Rosen, Alex Castellanos, David Adler, Kathryn Lehman, Beth Viola, and Loretta Ucelli.

When: Saturday, April 21, noon to 3 p.m.

Who: What happens when the combine the Rolodexes of eight Washington insiders? Answer: This party, including a mix ranging from retired General Barry McCaffrey to Morgan Fairchild, Howard Kurtz to a Phillies-baseball hat-wearing Chris Matthews, Dee Dee Myers to David Corn, Greta Van Susterern to Bob Shrum, Debbie Dingell to Dan Glickman, and Tony Blankley to Arianna Huffington. Then there was a taste of Hollywood: Tim Daly (Wings), Kerry Washington, and celeb stylist Philip Bloch.

Food: A buffet lunch including beef tenderloin, salmon, and pasta salad.

Drink: White wine and bloody marys.

Scene: Every year, "Tammy's brunch," as its known to nearly everyone, gets a little bit larger and wilder. This year overwhelmed the valets on the crowded street, leaving guests to search for their own parking. Harold Ford, Jr., frustrated by the parking situation, just dumped the car in which he was riding in a neighbor's driveway. Haddad and Greenberg's backyard sported two large tents, keeping guests cool in the hot afternoon sun—one tent held the bar while the other the buffet. Guests, all in their "garden party" best (which meant a lot of bow ties, ascots, linen, and seersucker), juggled plates and glasses of wine, which as the afternoon wore on and guests kept drinking meant that the lawn was well watered by wine.

Ratings:
Bold Face Names: 4 (out of 5)
Swankiness: 3 (out of 5)
Food/Drink: 3 (out of 5)
Exclusivity: 4 (out of 5)

Total Score: 14 (out of 20)

What: People's Kick-Off Party, White House Correspondents' Association Dinner Weekend

Where: IndeBleu in Gallery Place

When: Friday, April 20, 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.

Who: A wide range of the media elite, some in town just for the weekend's festivities, and others long-time Washington fixtures.

Food: Assorted snacks, cheese plates, and mini-burgers.

Drink: IndeBleu's signature blackberry mojitos.

Scene: The crowd packed into the lounge for an early post-work kick-off, gossiping and munching on the numerous trays of snacks. Dinner entertainer Rich Little wandered through for some brief pictures. After mingling for a while, "High School Musical" star Zac Efron hunkered down in a corner with a cheese plate; incoming WHCA President Ann Compton of ABC News had her family and two old Texas family friends of President Bush in tow; Rita Cosby passed through, as did a host of White House reporters and media types from Anne Kornblut to Dana Bash to Dana Milbank. Also People's executive editor Liz Sporkin led to an odd assortment as well, bringing her father, former federal judge Stanley Sporkin, former FBI Director Louis Freeh, and BP America President Bob Malone.

Gift Bag: Year after year, one of the heaviest and richest gift bags in Washington. Guests lucky enough to have actually been invited (and thus whose names were actually on the guest list) were handed an overflowing bag of lotions, beauty products, and trinkets on the way out. Included were some John Varvatos cologne, assorted Neutrogena products, mints, and a copy of People, among the two dozen or so items.

Ratings:
Bold Face Names: 3 (out of 5)
Swankiness: 3 (out of 5)
Food/Drink: 3 (out of 5)
Exclusivity: 4 (out of 5)

Total Score: 13 (out of 20)

More photos from the party, including the gift bag, below.

What: Washington DC Jewish Community Center 10th Anniversary Gala

Where: Union Station

When: April 19, 2007 at 6 p.m.

Who: Many power players of Washington's Jewish community, including Nationals owner Debra Lerner Cohen, former Ambassador Stuart Bernstein, president of the Motion Picture Association of America and former Secretary of Agriculture Dan Glickman, US District Judge Paul Friedman, CNN’s Wolf Blitzer, and GW president Stephen Trachtenberg, whose wife Francine Zorn Trachtenberg is president of the DCJCC.
 
Ticket Price: $350 to $5,000 (table of 10)

Food: The theme for this year’s DCJCC gala was “10 Years, 10 Chefs", so food was obviously not an afterthought. Todd Gray of Equinox served as executive chef of the gala—no coincidence that his wife, Ellen Kassoff-Gray, was one of the event co-chairs. The cocktail hour featured appetizer stations helmed by some of the area’s top chefs. Gray fried bite-size smoked salmon beignets; Bebo Trattoria’s Roberto Donna dished out stuffed rigatoni with broccoletti over provolone sauce; Brian McBride of Blue Duck Tavern offered ginger soy salmon with shitake and wood ear mushrooms. Palena’s pastry chef Ann Amernick made mini wild mushroom galettes in addition to her famous caramels. Though Michel Richard was not present last night, Citronelle’s general manager ladled his boss’s delicious eggplant gazpacho with beet chips into little glass mugs. After this stellar array of appetizers came the three course meal, each course prepared by another local restaurant chef. Barton Seaver of the soon-to-open Hook made a split-pea soup with minted pea saffron couscous timbale, an interesting dish if a bit bland. The entree from Vidalia’s RJ Cooper, pan-roasted Norwegian salmon with swiss chard, granny smith apples, and carrot/parsnip roti, was excellent. Dessert offered a warm bittersweet chocolate cake with coffee anglaise, almond florentine, and vanilla ice cream from Buzz Bakery’s Lisa Scruggs. The cake was delicious even despite the fact that it arrived at the table room-temperature.

Drink: The most popular station during the cocktail hour was Restaurant Eve’s. A bartender from the restaurant poured one of mixologist Todd Thrasher’s specialty drinks, the Eamonn Cocktail, made with Irish whiskey and yuzu juice. Alexander Valley Chardonnay ‘05 and Sherwood Pinot Noir ‘05 were served with dinner.

Scene: This gala was not about the boldface names or who wore what—the food was the center of attention. During the cocktail reception in an area blocked off outside Union Station’s elegant East Room, guests loved chatting with the chefs and returning for seconds and thirds of their favorite nibbles. Once seated in the East Room, attention turned to speeches followed by the live auction in the middle of the room.

Auction: Prizes ranged from lunch for 4 at the Palm with James Carville to a private screening for up to 40 at the Motion Picture Association of America, thanks to MPAA president and auction emcee Dan Glickman. This movie party was the biggest seller of the night, going for $14,500. Real estate developer Herb Miller and his wife Patrice donated a week’s stay at their home in the South of France, a steal at $6,600.

Awkward Moment: Immediately following the final auction bid around 9:30, dozens of guests took off. People rose from their tables and smooched each other goodbye just as dessert was being served. Glickman tried to joke that the final door prize was a fantastic dessert, but much of this early-to-bed crowd wasn’t interested—or perhaps just stuffed.

Ratings:
Bold Face Names: 3 (out of 5)
Swankiness: 4 (out of 5)
Food/Drink: 5 (out of 5)
Exclusivity: 4 (out of 5)

Total Score: 16 (out of 20) 

After the major fundraising shake-ups in the presidential race, this week was a bit quieter—and certainly overshadowed by the tragedy at Virginia Tech. Journalists not in Blacksburg sifted through the lengthy FEC reports and with Congress back in session many of the candidates returned to their day jobs in Washington.

Thus, in keeping with our policy not to write when there’s nothing to say, we’re going to point out a few minor developments to note and let you get on your way to the White House correspondents dinner weekend festivities:

1) Joe Trippi, the internet genius and ill-fated manager behind the rise and fall of Howard Dean in 2004, joined up with John Edwards’ campaign.

2) John McCain had an odd moment this week when, in answer to a question about Iran, he hummed “Bomb bomb bomb Iran” to the tune of the Beach Boys' “Barbara Ann.” It was surely in jest—or was it?

3) The Supreme Court ruling on partial-birth abortion showed just how muddled the Republican field is on the issue of choice. Whether supposed front-runners Rudy Guiliani and Mitt Romney can overcome their pro-choice legacies on this issue is still an open question.

4) Every day seems to bring new signs that Fred Thompson is moving towards a presidential run. This would be great news for the many frustrated activists who don’t see a strong Republican leader in the field.

Stay tuned for next week, where we already know onetime-frontrunner John McCain will declare he's "officially" running for President....

What kind of dog is this?

In our April issue we asked for your help in identifying the breed of the dog on our March cover. Many readers had called and e-mailed to ask: What breed is it? Where can I get one?

The photographer knows only that it is a mixed breed. So we asked local experts. One veterinary office thinks the dog is a blend of Lhasa apso and Shih Tzu or that it has Norfolk terrier in it. Another vet’s office said it looks like a schnoodle (a schnauzer/poodle mix) or a Shih-poo (Shih Tzu/poodle). A Virginia pet-shop owner guesses it’s part Lhasa apso.

We asked you to send in your suggestions, and several readers responded with wonderful pictures of their own dogs, resembling the one on our cover.

Some readers are more sure than others when guessing the breed, “I have no doubt that the dog on the cover is a Border that has not been striped recently,” writes Joanne Prothero.

Other readers believe it's a mix of several breeds. Dorris Lin is one of them and writes,  “I would venture to guess that the dog on the cover of your March issue is Lhasa/Shih Tzu + Terrier/Poodle.”  

Another guess comes from Mary Barnett who believes it's “a mix of Shih Tzu and Jack Russell.”

Kristie McGehee wrote us and told us she thought her dog Jackson was our cover dog's brother and sent us a picture of him on a white couch. They seem to share the good taste in great home design.  McGehee believes her dog “is part Tibetan terrier, part Lhasa apso.”

They are all good guesses but as Lin mentioned in her e-mail to us, “Who knows? Cute just the same.”

Photos of McGehee's dog and others are below.  

We would have loved to have overheard the conversation at the corner table at the Cosmos Club today where former Smithsonian head Larry Small, who left the post last month under a cloud of scandal, was lunching with Frank Raines, who took "early retirement" as Fannie Mae's CEO amid a cloud of scandal.

Anthony Williams watched the speechifying at the DC voting-rights march this afternoon from the sidelines.

Three and a half months ago he left the post of mayor of the nation’s capital, the job he held for eight years; today he was a well-dressed citizen standing in the crowd watching the politicians on parade.
City leaders shouted into the microphone.

Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton: “No taxation without representation!”

Mayor Adrian Fenty: “White House next!”

Williams wore a bemused smile. He also wore stylish garments to combat the wet and wind and cold that buffeted the crowd and ripped signs from hands. He sported an olive-green Patagonia parka, black tasseled loafers, and a black cap. I couldn’t tell whether his trademark bow tie was hidden beneath the jacket.

DC Vote, the organization that organized the march, estimated the crowd at 5,000. It looked more like half that to me. Most were the usual suspects: politicians and activists and journalists.

Among the pols on the stage trying to squeeze into the camera frame was Vincent Orange, who gave up his council seat to run for mayor. He lost badly and returned to lawyering and lobbying.

“What’s he doing up there?” I asked Tony Williams.

“I don’t know,” he said. “I don’t run anything anymore.”

I couldn’t help asking the obvious question. “Do you wish you were up there?”

Williams smiled and scoffed and brushed me off.

My take? Tony Williams seemed more comfortable observing than participating. And making much more money working for FBR, the investment firm in Rosslyn.