Derek Brown
Diaz sit in three high chairs near the entrance of the Cherry Blossom PUB.
“We don’t get much of this in Texas,” says Diaz, who was visiting from Austin.
“My friend stationed in Germany told me about it,” Spalding says.
Adds Rangel: “We’re going to post about it on Facebook.”
Upon learning Brown’s identity, the three demand selfies with him on his way out of the bar and into his waiting Uber.
“Holy crapamole, that’s a line,” Brown exclaims of the queue, which now extends to the end of the block. “I heard one guy ask ‘What are they giving away? Free drinks?’ I said, ‘No, they are $13.’ ”
A five-minute SUV ride from the pulsating go-go music, Brown arrives at his crown jewel, Columbia Room. It’s in an inauspicious red-brick square building — atop Michelin-starred The Dabney — in the middle of a tranquil alley.
Columbia Room is split into the Punch Garden, a glass-roofed patio with a resort feel; the dimly lit Tasting Room, which features a prix-fixe menu of cocktails and small bites ($79 or $108); and The Library, a lounge where customers can order cocktails amid books, rich polished leather chairs, chandeliers and table-top container candles.
The Library takes on special meaning for Brown, an avid reader who sits on the D.C. Public Library Foundation board. He’s also the chief spirits adviser for the National Archives Foundation. He is bookish by nature.
“What I saw in him is what I saw in me. He’s a very geeky, nerdy, bartendery type of guy,” said Columbia Room’s head bartender, John Patrick “JP” Fetherston, who has worked with Brown for seven years. His wife, Angie Fetherston, is the CEO of Drink Co., the umbrella entity that oversees all of Brown’s properties. “He’s a great talker. And he’s great in front of people. But he’s a great, giant nerd.”
Lynette Rawlings, a policy researcher and lifelong D.C. resident, has been a loyal customer since Brown first started out as a bartender at Rocky’s, a bar and restaurant in Adams Morgan.
“He’s a fun and brilliant restaurateur,” Rawlings said. “With him, you are getting a history lesson with your drink. Before it was a thing, he was doing craft cocktails.
“He always brings a lot of fun to what he’s doing,” said Rawlings, who has been to all of Brown’s establishments and pop-ups. “It’s phenomenal . ... It’s astonishing seeing it come together.”
Ensconced in the private booth in Columbia Room’s Tasting Room, Brown says one of the strengths of his business is his willingness to embrace all people. It’s a reason he decided to open his establishments in Shaw.
“Shaw is the greatest neighborhood in D.C.,” he says. “Rich, poor, black, white, it’s a place where D.C. is really happening.”
The conversation ranges from gentrification to the Obamas’ adventurous dining practices in D.C. to concerns about President Donald Trump’s willingness to explore the city.
In January, during inauguration week and around the time of the women’s march, Columbia Room brought in women from across the country to guest-bartend. Titled “Women Rule,” the menu comprised cocktails inspired or invented by women.
“One of our goals as a company is to represent diversity as a value,” Brown says. The dark blue velvet curtains are open, giving a spectacular view of the multicolored tile mosaic commissioned from Italy. “We want to make sure that it’s not just lip service.”
Brown lingers for a few more moments, chatting about the history of the cocktail while finishing his favorite drink, a dram of whiskey. He then excuses himself, stating he has to get home to tuck in his son.