Virginia wines to pair with eateries
Washington Times, By Donna De Marco
Monday, March 17, 2003

The local chapter of Women Chefs and Restaurateurs is kicking off a series of Virginia wine tastings to make more local restaurants aware of the region's wines.

The first tasting is scheduled for Sunday at the Equinox Restaurant in the District. Equinox will host this event four times a year, offering different restaurants and the state's 80 wineries a chance to participate.

Ellen Gray, who owns Equinox with her husband, Todd, came up with the idea to incorporate Virginia wine into a WCR event after visiting Napa Valley in California last month.

"There's a symbiotic relationship the wineries have with the restaurants there," said Mrs. Gray, who is on WCR's event-planning committee. "There's a potential for Virginia to be the Napa Valley of the East."

Mrs. Gray hopes the event will start dialogue between more restaurants and wineries.
"We hope it generates more business and buzz," she said. "As restaurants, we owe it to [the wineries] because they are our neighbors."

The Sunday event, from 1 to 4 p.m., will pair seven restaurants with seven Virginia wineries. Each of the eateries will prepare "finger foods" that will go with a wine that the vineyard has selected.

"Restaurants are great promoters of our product and pairing it with food is extremely important," says Dennis Horton, who owns Horton Cellars in Gordonsville, Va., which will partner with Equinox for the event. "No one makes a killing at [these tastings], but we're introducing new people to the product."
H&M hits Washington area

H&M, a specialty retail chain, is making its mark in the Washington area.
The Swedish fashion retailer recently opened two stores in the area — one at Arundel Mills in February and another at Dulles Town Center last week. The chain will continue to expand in the Washington area, with openings in Potomac Mills, Tysons Corner Center, the Shops at Georgetown Park and Manassas Mall through April, said Karen Belva, an H&M spokeswoman.

One of the most high-profile locations will be at the old Woodward & Lothrop building on 11th and F streets NW. H&M will open a 30,000-square-foot store there at the end of August, Ms. Belva said.

H&M, which has 840 stores worldwide, hit the U.S. market in March 2000 and has 51 locations in the country.

Former Hecht's chief dies
Irwin Zazulia, retired president and chief executive of the Hecht Co., died last week of cardiac arrest. He was 61.

Mr. Zazulia retired from Hecht's in 2000 after working for the department store chain for nearly 30 years. Under his leadership, Hecht's, a division of May Department Stores, grew from 21 stores to 74 stores, from New Jersey to North Carolina.

Mr. Zazulia, a Roselle, N.J., native, graduated from Rutgers University in 1963 and began his retailing career at Stern Brothers in New York. He joined Hecht's in 1971, quickly moving up the ranks to become president in 1980.

Mr. Zazulia wore many different hats. He was appointed to the board of directors of the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond in 1999. He served on Georgetown University's Board of Regents Career Committee, the Wish Friends Board of Directors in support of the Make-A-Wish Foundation and the Second Genesis Corporate Advisory Board.

Mr. Zazulia is survived by his wife of 24 years, Judy Zazulia, two children from his first marriage, two children from his second marriage, a brother and three grandchildren.

Copyright 2003, Washington Times.

Sign up for the Equinox Restaurant Newsletter!

For information on making Reservations click here.

Need directions to Equinox Restaurant - click here.


Copyright © 2000-2006 Harvest Moon Inc. All Rights reserved.
Questions? Please contact us immediately.