G STREET NW: 1-Plus Years Since Indebleu's Birth

ROCK CREEK RAMBLER reminds us that Indebleu has been around for a year with a quick note about the G Street NW restaurant's anniversary celebration, which is sure to be decadent if you want to fork over $100 for the privilege of going. The celebration is slated for March 16, but I distinctly remember their opening event as being just before Christmas 2004, which would be more than a year ago.

Regardless, I remember that opening event and all the schenanigans involved. Some fun quotes from the DCist review I wrote with Kanishka Gangopadhyay. Ahh, the memories.

... Saturday evening saw limos pulling up on G Street, photographers deployed to the entryway, all the while champagne greeted guests at coat check and at least one woman, painted as a forest nymph, walked about the place in A Midsummer Night's Dream-esque fashion. ...

From the video screen mirrors in the bathroom to the hooks on the backs of the dining room's chairs, every nook and cranny was thoughtfully planned out and it is a work of art that amazed guests. We even spied a waiter from Zaytinya taking multiple photos throughout the evening, suggesting that the chic Turkish tapas restaurant just a block away may be feeling a bit jealous and wanted photographic intelligence of its new neighbor. ...

It looked very much out of place and unnecessarily forced, as if party crashers were trying to forcibly transplant a White Party from South Beach on the nation's capital. Granted, the Bleu Group intends to introduce a new social dynamic within IndeBleu's walls, but we doubt if this is what was intended. But with more than 1,000 people in the place, you're bound to have some overly extravagant folks. So who were these folks?

"They are standing out like sore white thumbs," a party guest told DCist, referring to the "extras" from a "1991 Bobby Brown music video."

>> "Rambler Roundup: News Edition" [RCR]
>> "IndeBleu's Opening Wows Eyes, Palate" [DCist]

Photo of the opening party taken by yours truly, posted on DCist.