Book Club

THE PARTY Literature and architecture both got an upgrade in Washington with the opening of the über-contemporary Francis A. Gregory public library. Celebratory and cerebral, the sneak peek opened the David Adjaye-designed library’s doors to 150 of the city’s bibliophiles. THE PEOPLE This cast of characters included Mayor Vincent Gray, as well as DC Public Library trustees, developer Jair Lynch. All came to celebrate the cutting-edge building by Adjaye, who has designed an additional DC library and the upcoming Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture. BEST IN SHOW Jazz and cocktails combined for a dazzling debut for the new southeast DC center. Baltimore-based jazz musician Arthur Sterling and his band set the mood while Columbia Room and The Passenger’s Derek Brown mixed up DC’s native cocktail, the Gin Rickey—an authentic blend he created using recipes found in documents in the library’s Washingtoniana Collection. Photography by Tony Brown