Jason Morenz was working in the kitchen in Piola located on the northern border of U St by Florida Ave NW. The restaurant was popular on Sunday for their bottomless brunch (not mimosas) but 10 different types of pizzas (personal size) as much as you can binge. During the weekday, all draft beer (including …
Category Archives: Competition
The Tower
In October 1984, I enlisted in the Navy straight out of high school in a small town in Southeast Georgia. After serving aboard the USS Francis Hammond (FF-1067) in Yokosuka, Japan (the land of my mother), I applied for a commissioning program and the Navy awarded me a scholarship to the University of Florida where …
President’s Bar Comics
Nicole Foster was the wet behind the ears Marketing Manager trying to drum up new clientele for the President’s Sports Bar at the Renaissance Hotel in the Penn Quarter. So when I got a call from the Marriott, requesting our services, I wasn’t about to turn it down. As I walked around the expansive lobby, …
Prayers for Nepal
May 12, 2015 The views at the Georgetown waterfront were busy with paddle boarders launching from the Key Bridge Boathouse and lunchers enjoying the open patio seating at Sequoia and Tony & Joe’s Seafood Place. Bikers were crisscrossing the Capital Crescent trail on their way to Bethesda or Cabin John. Runners and strollers were enjoying …
RUNIN — the Theme
RUNIN is not exactly about the joys (or pain) of running. It’s not about running out of food either. Did you realize that RUNIN is actually a back acronym? Huh? Let’s take a look at the qualities of the Ethiopian Diaspora. They were all Resourceful in surviving tough living conditions and eventually found success in …
Ben’s Upstairs
August, 2016. I was driving back from Front Royal, VA, the gateway to the Shenandoah National Park, when I got an unexpected call from a long-time restaurateur friend. “Manuel, it’s great to hear from you. How’s the Iguina family?” “Wife and kids are fine. We’re launching a new restaurant theme on H Street.” “Really, Latin, …
Best of DC
We applied for the GWU Business Plan competition three times, hoping that indeed the third and last time was the charm. Unfortunately, all the leprechauns in the world could not help us. Each time, we advanced to the semifinals, but the finals turned out to be our tough mudder. The second time, was the most …
A Site is Born
During the spring of 2010, I enrolled in Professor Richard Donnelly’s New Ventures Class at the George Washington University (GWU) School of Business. Students had to create ideas for a new venture, form groups of four and present the idea to the entire class at the end of the semester. My teammates were Daniel Lonnerdal, …
The Tower
I enrolled in the Executive MBA program, and before the semester started, our cohort of 20 eager students embarked on a five-day retreat at the Homestead Resort in Hot Springs, VA. Our team coaching sessions led by Professor James Bailey didn’t require PowerPoint or pointers but still had everything to do with leadership development — …
Startup Weekend
That next big tech event was Baltimore’s first-ever Startup Weekend held on April 17-19, 2011. On Friday afternoon, I arrived at the Emerging Technology Center, Baltimore’s Technology Incubator, at 8 pm, just in time for the pitches and a quick drink of something. I chugged down an Amstel Light as I glanced around the burgeoning crowd …