Washington Finally Gets Good Vittles

The Willard Hotel, just two blocks from the White House, wasted no time cashing in on its new neighbor. It started serving bottled water from Arkansas the day after Bill Clinton’s election.

Two days later, Dominique’s French restaurant announced with the words “Bon Appetit, Y’all!” that it would add catfish and chicken-fried steak to its menu--entrees it labeled “Clinton Cuisine.”

Washington businesses are looking to capitalize on Clinton.

“We want to make everyone from Arkansas feel at home,” said one of Dominique’s owners, Herb Ezrin, who insisted that catfish wasn’t out of place on a menu featuring rack of lamb and “Lobster Champagne.” “We sold out of it when Clinton was in town last week,” Ezrin said.

The Clinton transition office in Little Rock has received plenty of mail from Washington real estate agents eager to make sales.

Soon after the election, the Washington office of an Atlanta-based job placement company, EnterChange Inc., offered “job hunting tips for out-of-work Republicans and zoom-to-the-top Democrats.”

Republicans, it recommended, should seek jobs as lobbyists, paid political consultants or conservative think-tank pundits. Democrats should shore up connections with Clinton and his friends.

In a blatant “effort to influence the radio listening habits of the incoming first family,” station WASH-FM sent the Clintons a gift basket after the election.

Presents included WASH-FM mugs, a Washington map and a Michael Bolton compact disc for the Clintons’ daughter, Chelsea. There was also a tape with a saxophone version of “‘Hail to the Chief” and an impersonation of Clinton by one of the station’s disc jockeys.

The weekend after the election, Occasions Caterers on Capitol Hill laid out an Arkansas spread for a luncheon hosted by Frank Manciewicz of the powerful public relations firm Hill & Knowlton. Okra and fried green tomatoes were on the menu.