So You Want to Be the DC Mayor of Nightlife: Industry Night, May 16, 2024

Hey all, and thanks for joining me again. Delighted to be here for my last in-person show at Tony & Joe's. I am so grateful to Greg Casten and his team here for supporting my work and hosting this show, which requires work. The team needs a space to set up, turn the music down, and allow for good light. I always need a massive amount of hot water and tea, and everyone here at Tony & Joe's is always so accommodating! Hospitality is alive and well here. As I have mentioned on every show here — once patio season starts — Tony & Joe's is one of the go-to patios in D.C. Get here early on a nice day if you want prime seating on the sparkling Potomac water, watching the boats go by. So special thanks, as always, to Greg Casten for being such a tremendous supporter of me, this show, and my work.

Later in the show, I'll be chatting with the mayor of nightlife — Salah Czapary. How does one become a Mayor of nightlife, and what is it that they do? 'Cause to this aging club girl, it sounds like a dream gig. But it can't all be house music and shots, right? I think Salah will burst my bubble and tell me there's none of that. Salah has a fascinating background; he is a D.C. native and the son of immigrants. He spent over a decade leading community outreach initiatives and engaging with the nightlife community — he is a former D.C. police officer, and he did run as a candidate for Ward 1's D.C. Council seat — but did not make it over the finish line. But all things happen for a reason, right?

But first a little on where I've been: 

Brunch at Anju on Sunday. So I don't usually go to brunch because I'm out for so many lunches and dinners. Anju might change me. Black Garlic Caesar, the horseradish bloody Mary, and my favorite dish that I am not going to try to pronounce, but let me explain it- chewy rice cakes like gnocchi, smothered in mozzarella with a hint of spicy tomato sauce — has my name all over it. 

I joined Parisian journalist Marine Sanclemete at the top of the Pendry Hotel at The Wharf for beautiful views, snacks of sushi and chatted D.C. She is doing a 10 page spread for Le Figaro Magazine. Her photographer, Eric took a bunch of photos, who knows! Maybe I'll be a hit in Paris? Stopped by the Latvian Embassy - cause that's what you do when you live in D.C. — for Micaehle Weissman's book launch - The Rye Bread Marriage. A wonderful book about rye bread and marriage. Really.

Okay, enough about me. On October 18, 2018 Mayor Bowser signed the "Office and Commission of Nightlife Establishment Act of 2017," establishing the District's first Office of Nightlife and Culture. The role was previously held by good friend Shawn Townsend, now the head of RAMW and then Solana Vander Nat. Aside from taking care of our city nightlife - you should know that Salah is a graduate of the Metropolitan Police Academy; he completed a Fellowship in Innovative Policing at Georgetown Law Center, the Program for Excellence in Municipal Management through George Washington University, AND he is completing his Master's Degree in Homeland Security and National Defense at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California. So he is busy.

So excited to chat D.C. living with Salah - listen to the full conversation here, or watch the entire episode, here.