ELLE’s 7th Annual “Women In Washington” Celebration Draws Both The Powerful & Pretty To Fiola Mare

Fashion and food were the toast of the town on Wednesday evening, as ELLE magazine hosted its 7th annual “Women In Washington” dinner at Georgetown’s Fiola Mare.

DSC_7559 - Washingtonian — ELLE Editor-in-Chief Robbie Myers welcomes guests to the ‘Power List’ dinner.

DSC_7453a - Washingtonian — Abeer Otaiba (creative director of the SemSem fashion label and wife of UAE Ambassador Yousef Al Otaiba) and Maria Trabocchi (co-owner of Gruppo FT Restaurants, which includes Fiola Mare).

The top-rated eatery was closed to regular diners for the special occasion, which was produced in partnership with Italian design house Bottega Veneta, and saw more than 50 of the city’s top power brokers pass through its doors for the opportunity to congratulate this year’s 10 honorees.

DSC_7489ab - Washingtonian — NBC Washington anchor Eun Yang, Viacom EVP of Government Affairs DeDe Lea, and leading democratic strategist Karen Finney.

DSC_7442a - Washingtonian — Veluxe founder Susanna Quinn and CNN Chief Political Correspondent Dana Bash.

Shades of red and blue mattered only in terms of fashion during the event, with politics taking a welcome backseat to conversation and congeniality. Which isn’t to say that the nation’s levers of power weren’t well represented at ELLE‘s stylish soiree, as both Republican and Democrat members of Congress were listed side-by-side on the 2017 “power list.” Indeed, a handful of guests could only spare a few minutes to thank hosts Robbie Myers, ELLE Editor-in-Chief, and Maria Trabocchi, co-owner of the restaurant, before heading back to the Hill for work.

DSC_7412a - Washingtonian — NBC News Correspondent and 2017 Honoree Katy Tur, American University’s Rebecca Cooper Dupin, campaign communications strategist Kristian Denny Todd, and CBS News Correspondent Tony Dokoupil.

DSC_7445a - Washingtonian — Philanthropists Amy Baer and Cindy Jones flank Carl M. Freeman Companies CEO Michelle Freeman and Bernstein Family Foundation Executive Director Ami Aronson.

But the focus of the night was on the way women can support one another across industries, be it at the Capitol with Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (one of this year’s honorees and the first Latina to be elected to Congress) or over the airwaves as with NBC News correspondent Katy Tur (another 2017 honoree). And if a little style goes along with that support, all the better.

DSC_7474a - Washingtonian — Neera Tanden, President of the Center for American Progress, and advocacy consultant Jennifer Tapper.

DSC_7459a - Washingtonian — LaFleur Paysour (Media Relations and Public Affairs for the National Museum of African American History and Culture) and Catherine Pino (CEO of D&P Creative Strategies).

Guests to Wednesday’s celebration were treated to a three-course dinner prepared by Chef Brinn Sinnott, with an Olive Oil Poached Norwegian Skrei Cod “secondo” entree.