Washingtonian‘s twelfth annual Best of Washington, presented by Lexus took place on Thursday, June 6th at the National Building Museum. Over 2,000 guests enjoyed small bites and drinks from over 70 of the area’s best restaurants, and many hailed from Washingtonian’s 100 Very Best Restaurants list. The sold out event benefitted the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, who raised nearly $7,000 with the on-site silent auction alone.
To hear from our food editors on their favorites from the night, visit their review here.
Photos by Daniel Swartz/Revamp, Jeff Elkins, Joy Asico, and Love Life Images.The entrance to the National Building Museum was transformed with decor by Syzygy Event Production, Atmosphere Lighting and Plants Alive!.Mermaid Viktoria greeted guests throughout the entrance as they made their way into the National Building Museum.Katherine Lugar and Cathy Merrill WilliamsCo-executive chef Chris Morgan of Compass Rose prepared a crab and poached shrimp salad.Garry Whipkey and Chad DeutschGuests had the chance to experience United’s Premium Plus seats in the United Lounge.Over 70 restaurants provided tasty bites and samples of beverages to the nearly 2,000 guests throughout the evening.Christina Pride, Yvette Vartanian, Despina Markogiannakis and Jamilette VasquezLexus featured their new UX 250H at the event, the first crossover of its kind from the brand.The GEICO Gecko was on hand to take photos with guests in front of the custom balloon wall created by All About Balloons.A portion of the proceeds from tickets sales and all sales from the on-site silent auction benefitted the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.Q by Peter Chang and Mama Chang teamed up to provide a lazy susan of comfort foods that guests could choose from.Tiffany Hall and Tiffany LarkinsEngravers were on-site to personalize Stella Artois chalices in the United Lounge.Michelle Fleagle, JeCoven Norwood and Olivia CivilettoThe PenFed Lounge featured an “Under the Skea-Ball” game where high-scoring contestants could enter to win a raffle to a local restaurant.DJ Sean from Mixing Maryland DJs provided a great soundtrack for the event that had people dancing by the end of the night.Keith Bombaugh of Mirabelle prepared fresh foie gras tacos.Guests were able to relax in the Dyson Lounge where they could get hand massages, a 10 minute hair styling session and enjoying Dyson’s line of air purifiers.Barry and Beverly RedlerGEICO provided molecular ice cream for guests that was served in color changing cups.The American Beverage Association was the official underwriter for the private President’s Reception.Jill Gonzalez, Samantha Beasore, Lina Gheyssari and Keely DobbsAs the official beverage sponsors of the evening, Stella Artois, Breakthru Beverage and 90+ Cellars provided specialty cocktails, craft beers and a variety of wines.For the second year in a row, the Daikaya Group presented a four-course tasting menu throughout the night.Complimentary ten minute hand massages were available all evening in the Dyson lounge.Michael Haft and Harrison SuarezDistrict Doughnuts provided an entire wall of doughnuts in the Lexus Lounge and a side table of mini doughnuts in their custom flavors.Ashu Vashist and Maurey FicklinSnocream provided boba tea to guests in the PenFed Lounge.Andre Bastian and Cory LuckettMany of the restaurants at the event were featured in the latest copy of Washingtonian magazine.American Beverage Association’s Innovation Bar featured over 50 bottled and canned beverages.Jessica and Kenny ThompsonLexus also brought their RX F Sport to the event, which was displayed at the front entrance of the National Building Museum.Thank you to everyone who helped make this year’s sold out event a success!