Meet Isabel Coss, executive chef at Pascual on Capitol Hill and pastry chef at Lutece in Georgetown, whose sold-out master class happens on Feb. 23. The Hill Center impressed chef Isabel Coss the very first time she visited, and long before she knew she’d be teaching there. Washington City Paper named her one of its Change Makers for the 2024 People Issue and had brought the group in for a photo shoot. “I fell in love with the place,” she says. “I thought it would be the perfect spot for building a sense of community—and then I saw all the activities listed!” It echoes how the ebullient, 33-year-old Mexico City native feels about opening Pascual on Capitol Hill, which is celebrating its 1-year anniversary in February.

Families celebrate government reopening at Hill Center
Little kids in tutus and dinosaur hats and their parents celebrated the end of the federal government shutdown Friday night at Hill Center with dancing and singing to the music of King Bullfrog (whose children were also in attendance).
More than 100 furloughed workers and their children took advantage of the free tickets Hill Center offered for the event and then unexpectedly had something to celebrate – the end of the government shutdown was announced shortly before the doors to the concert opened.
Another 80 or so paying concert-goers joined in the celebration. First beer or glass of wine are free, and parents are encouraged to bring dinner items for their children.
The evening was the first in a series of casual happy hours for parents and tots. The Bright Siders will take the stage on March 17 at 3 p.m. to present music that helps kids and families have meaningful conversations about emotions (buy tickets here). The Bright Siders was created by songwriter Kristin Andreassen and Brooklyn child psychiatrist, Dr. Kari Groff.
Steve Leroy and Jeremiah (as in “Jeremiah was a Bullfrog”) Goulka play and sing what they call “family music” throughout D.C. “There’s a split between family music and children’s music,” says Goulka (aka Mr. Steve). “We want to appeal to the adults as well as the children.”