Andy Gillies Public House Bar & Restaurant 199 Fleet Street National Harbor 240-493-6120 Publichousenationlharbor.com Andy is behind the bar Monday through Friday days. How did you get started in the bartending business? I got started out in the business through my Dad – best known as “Russian Mike”. He owned a few joints back in the day including the Quarter Deck in Arlington and Jonathan’s Place in Crystal City (he was partners with Bill Bayne Sr.) and Michael Anthony’s in Maryland. This was the 70s early 80s .When it was time to get a job – I was 17 getting ready to turn 18 – I started waitressing at Champions in Falls Church which later became Broadstreet Bar and Grill. I’ll never forget it! My first night started out as a disaster! I was thrown to the wolves! Lol! The first table I waited on was these guys in this band called the Road Ducks. Some of you might remember them, they were very popular through NOVA back then. Anyway, the lead singer, Mike McCormick (who is gorgeous by the way), and his girlfriend (who was wearing a fur jacket –white at that) were at the table and I spilled my whole tray of drinks on them! Needless to say, my money went to dry cleaning that night. My dad’s best friend, Bill Bayne Sr., and his son Billy Bayne Jr. along with Arty Dourty and Jimmy Madden opened the Crystal City Sports Pub in August of 1994. That was really the bar I can say I grew up working in. What is your biggest bartender pet peeve? Don’t ever come to my bar and say “can you hook me up?” and then proceed with telling me you are “in the industry” and my tip…
By Lani Gering “At Mystique, we appeal to women who have a strong sense of style, know what they like, and create a jewelry wardrobe. Tradition and uniqueness is my mindset, whether you want to be glamorous or casual the pieces I choose for my collections will capture these desires to cherish for a lifetime.” – Elizabeth Mandros Mystique Jewelers – From Drama to Design Mystique celebrates their 27th year in business in Old Town Alexandria this year and made a big move at the same time. After being at their original location on “The Strand” – the 1 block long street just south of Union Street where Chadwick’s and the Hotel Indigo’s patio are – they moved to 123 South Fairfax Street into the “Heart” of Old Town. This space was formerly occupied by another jewelry store for over 35 years, The Nugget. The Strand has been demolished and new construction has begun and moving the store was not in the plan, however, this change of locale has proved to be a nice step in the right direction. You know what they say…location, location, location. Mystique’s proprietor, Elizabeth “Liz” Mandros, has quite the story about how she got from majoring in drama to custom jewelry design and becoming a business owner. After interviewing her the other day, I decided she might be a good candidate for a future “Personality” Profile. This time, however, we want to concentrate on her pride and joy – Mystique Fine Jewelry and Design. Mandros is a local girl who is very passionate about her work, her horses and her jewelry and that passion certainly transcends into her business. Mystique is definitely a product of lots of hard work and pulling together the right mix of people. She is very complimentary of her employees…
By Ron Powers “Shallow” by Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper “Shallow” is the unofficial theme song from the film, A Star Is Born, with Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper not only as the stars of this film, but as the singers behind this exceptional track. This song has a nearly uninterrupted run at #1 on iTunes since its release on September 27th and also joins the ranks of hits on Billboard’s Top 100 at #5. The popularity of this song is no surprise as once you hear the chilling vocals, you can’t help but to take a pause from your life and listen. It starts out with the gravelly voice of Bradley Cooper singing while playing acoustic guitar. Then Lady Gaga joins in to trade verses and the song carries on witnessing their impressive harmonizing. The combination of Lady Gaga’s powerful pipes and Cooper’s melodic voice is chilling to say the least. On Zane Lowe’s Beats 1 Radio premiering “Shallow”, Lady Gaga explained, “It’s two people talking to each other about the need and the drive to dive into the deep end and stay away from the shallow area.” While I may have provided you with Lady Gaga’s explanation of the song, truthfully, the song needs no explanation as the meaning is self-evident in its catchy chorus: I’m off the deep end Watch as I dive in I’ll never meet the ground Crash through the surface Where they can’t hurt us We’re far from the shallow now This is easy to sing, and hum to and perhaps even walk down the aisle to. This slow-burning ballad promises to make A Star Is Born soundtrack one of the better ones in history. There is also some interesting background information about this song. Lady Gaga, of course, is a pop icon and…