An Inside Look at Nation’s Capital

Some of my more impeccable friends have asked how I gather inside information about life in Washington.

The answer, while not always perfectly clear, is at least translucent: Like others who toil in the nation’s capital, I have reliable sources.

I have unnamed sources and higher sources. I have informed sources and well-placed sources. I have a few sources who refuse to speak for attribution, but more who don’t mind being quoted.

Mostly I listen to two types of tipsters: Trustworthy old friends, and the new characters I meet on each visit. The new characters range from doormen to ambassadors, many of whom are glad to digress from international affairs to talk about food or travel or jazz.

And, of course, I observe.

On a recent tridp I ran into actor Lloyd Bridges, currently portraying a Washington newspaper editor in the TV series “Capital News.” He favors the historic Willard Inter-Continental Hotel, a Pennsylvania Avenue neighbor of the White House.

I caught Bridges backing out of the Calvin Coolidge Suite on the Willard’s eighth floor, which could have been the start of a Washington scandal except that it was his room.

I heard that TV weather word Willard Scott once stayed in the Honeymoon suite of the Willard Hotel, where the bedroom is oval and frilly. It is named for a former guest, the songstress Jenny Lind.

From Dr. Frank Talbot, director of the Smithsonian’s mammoth Natural History Museum, I picked up two lunch tips. Among the choices around the Mall he is keen on the upstairs cafe in the East Wing of the National Gallery of Art, and The Wright Place at the National Air and Space Museum.

I snacked on a fresh fruit plate with Brie at the former, and two pieces of fried chicken and a hot biscuit at the latter. Talbot was right.

Newsman John Chancellor was enjoying privacy and coffee in the cozy English Grill at the Hay-Adams Hotel as I walked through. He was at a back table reading a paperback called “Nice Work.”

The Grill, which has an outside entrance on H Street by Lafayette Park, is usually packed for lunch, but this was during a Senate recess when the town is noticeably quieter. The English Grill is closed on Sunday.

I heard about the Georgetown jazz supper club Blues Alley from the Mexican Ambassador to the United States, the Hon. Gustavo Petricioli. His eyes twinkled as he talked of great nights of music there and his hope of catching a performance by Nancy Wilson.

From other sources I heard that Blues Alley (at the rear of 1073 Wisconsin Ave. N.W.) serves first-rate New Orleans creole cuisine. I also heard that it pays to reserve a few days ahead for the nightly shows.

I heard that the glittery Chanel Boutique, which has opened on Pennsylvania Avenue, is the largest in the world. I heard that Secret Service shifts change at midnight, which can suddenly boost the size of a nightclub crowd if a dignitary is partying.

I heard that I could buy tasty raisin bran muffins, fresh fruit and diet soft drinks at a deli at 1500 H St. I did that and concur, although the only sign I saw was on an awning. It said “Plain ‘n’ Fancy Donuts.”

I heard that Betsy Cronkite, a devastatingly witty character who has been married to Walter for half a century, swears by the chili topped with cheese that’s part of the buffet at the Garden Terrace of the J.W. Marriott Hotel. I saw her finish a bowl, with a taste of guacamole, before dashing for Union Station and the Metroliner train to New York City.

And finally I asked longtime Washingtonian Art Buchwald where he would stay if he were a guest in the city.

“Well,” he said, rolling his eyes, “there are a lot of great hotels. But I would pick the Four Seasons in Georgetown because the food is terrific--and I’d be real close to my home.”