Homeland’s “Farragut Station” (shown) looks nothing like either of Metro’s two Farragut stops. Photograph of Homeland by Susan Stabley/Unsuckdcmetro.blogspot.com.

An episode of the first season of Showtime’s Homeland involved a meeting in “Farragut Square.” Local fans winced because, apart from grass and benches, it wasn’t remotely DC’s Farragut Square. What happened? It’s simple. Though intensely of and about Washington, Homeland is shot mostly in Charlotte, North Carolina.

“Would we rather shoot in DC? You bet,” says co–executive producer Alex Gansa. But filming in Washington is expensive and complicated.

Alice Cowie, Carolyn Jones, Doug Jones, Leslie Jones, Gouverneur Siegel, and Lauren Duffy. Photograph by Jeff Martin.

Even with 44 exhibitors offering antique wares for sale, probably the most talked-about item at the Washington Winter Show on opening night was a plate that’s not on even the market. The one-of-a-kind Lenox porcelain dish, white with a yolk yellow border, has a historic and intriguing backstory—had President Kennedy not been assassinated it could well have been the chosen pattern for the Kennedy White House china service.

Both JFK and First Lady Jackie Kennedy ate off the plate, taking turns, as they decided whether it should be their White House pattern. The legend is they liked it and wanted to go with it. But due to the President’s death in 1963, the full service was never made, and only this one plate remains.

Clyde’s Restaurant Group CEO John Laytham. Photograph courtesy of Clyde’s Restaurant Group.

On Monday, DC mayor Vincent Gray and other city officials will be on hand for a breakfast-time ribbon cutting at the Hamilton, the ambitious new enterprise from Clyde’s Restaurant Group. It’s at 14th and F streets, around the corner from the company’s Old Ebbitt Grill. If Old Ebbitt is Clyde’s on steroids, then the Hamilton is Old Ebbitt on steroids. For one thing, the ceilings are twice as high. It has five bars, five dining rooms, and a live music venue—and it’s open 24 hours, every day of the week.

There are menus for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and the “after-midnight” menu, in addition to an assortment of burgers, offers intriguing and diverse options such as roasted bone marrow, Baja fish tacos, the “big hot weiner,” chicken and biscuits, bacon chocolate chip pancakes, ramen, eggs Hamilton, and, for those in need (or for the hours without alcohol service), milkshakes.

John Laytham is the CEO of Clyde’s Restaurant Group, and has been its design and expansion visionary for more than 30 years. He became partners with founder Stuart Davidson back when there was only one Clyde’s, the original in Georgetown. We caught up with him to talk about the past, present, and future of the restaurant group.

Who: Juleanna Glover, Elizabeth Glover, Kristin Glover, Christopher Reiter, Pepper Watkins

What: The “night before the night before Christmas” cocktail party

Where: Juleanna Glover’s Kalorama townhouse

When: Friday, December 23, from 8 PM on

The "Wedding Belles" exhibition party at the Hillwood Museum. All photographs by Carol Ross Joynt.

For better or for worse, I was a guest at more than 100 parties in 2011. Here are the top ten standouts:

1) The Washington Winter Show at the Katzen Arts Center (January 6)

An event that pulled together real Washington society—the elder cave dwellers and their younger counterparts—amid interesting (and a few affordable) decorative arts, good music, and good food.

 2) The Tudor Place Garden Party (May 4)

It always seems to take place on the prettiest spring evening. Lush food, great drinks, sweeping lawn, beautiful flowers, women in hats, and much camaraderie among Georgetowners young and old. For anyone who wants to mingle with Georgetown, this is the party.

3) The “Wedding Belles” Exhibition Faux Wedding Reception on the Lawn at Hillwood Museum

Caterer Susan Gage re-created a post-wedding lawn party as though it were scripted by Marjorie Merriweather Post herself, including a many-tiered wedding cake. On a beautiful, softly warm evening, guests got to sip, dine, and tour the gardens and the mansion.

4) David and Katherine Bradley’s Pre-Party for the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner (April 30)

Essentially every party the Bradleys host is a winner. They have that gift. But they throw a doozy of a true foodie dinner the eve of the WHCA bash. The exclusive guest list is “A” all the way: corporate, political, media, social, and some Hollywood.

Do we look hipster to you? Photograph by Chris Svetlik

It’s not exactly difficult to find flannel-wearing, bicycle-riding vegetarians in Washington. Whether browsing organic veggies at the Bloomingdale Farmers’ Market, knocking back Natty Bohs at Red Derby, or heading to quirky art shows at the Dunes in Columbia Heights, the social group everyone loves to simultaneously hate on and emulate has a strong hold on our fair city. A BuzzFeed study even ranked the District sixth in the nation in searches for the term “hipster.” But of all the Washington neighborhoods, there’s one I was quite surprised to hear called out as a hub of hipsterdom—Georgetown.

Yesterday, College Magazine released a list of the 10 Most Hipster Campuses. Though it comes in last, Georgetown University is on that list. As a proud Hoya (class of 2010, baby!), I wouldn’t say I’m totally shocked, but I’m also not sure I totally agree.

Sure, our baller radio program brought Girl Talk to campus long before he was cool. Leo’s, our only campus dining hall, won a spot on Peta2’s 2011 list of most the vegan-friendly small US schools. The student-run coffee shops roast eco-conscious Mayorga beans and hold weekly open mic nights, and a focus on liberal arts means course catalogues include classes like Labor, Sexuality, and Globalization, and the sociology of Jay-Z Hip Hop.

While all those seem like legitimate reasons to pin on the hipster badge, College Magazine instead seems more focused on Georgetown’s “ironic” preppiness. Hmm—let’s see here. The student center bookstore is overflowing with Vineyard Vines and North Face, and the male student body collectively owns enough khaki pants to fill a Gap outlet. The inside of the Tombs, the campus bar, is plastered with rowing memorabilia, and, in case you haven’t seen it yet, the Lilly Pulitzer– and monogram-obsessed College Prepster blog is penned by a Georgetown senior. Not sure about you, but the irony is, for the most part, pretty much lost on me.

Do you agree with Georgetown’s new “hipster” title? Let us know in the poll below.

Meryl Streep will be one of the many stars in town this weekend for the Kennedy Center Honors. Photograph by Neshan Naltchayan

Washington has its fair share of celebrity sightings, but this weekend has the potential to be one of the most star-studded of the year, thanks to the annual Kennedy Center Honors (read our review with executive producer George Stevens Jr. here). The honorees will be in town, along with a whole cast of performers and other notables either appearing onstage or adding glitz to the audience on Sunday.