The savory Indo-Chinese food at Indochen in Cameron Station will be featured by America’s Best Restaurants (ABR) later this month.

On Feb. 28, the ABR Roadshow will stop at the restaurant at 4906 Brenman Park Drive to talk with its owner, chef Ram Thapa. The show will be aired on YouTube and social media channels and will be featured on the ABR website at a future date.

According to ABR:

Popular menu items that may be featured on the episode include the Chicken Dumpling, an appetizer served in tomato onion chutney; a variety of family-style Biryani Pots, with choice of chicken, lamb, vegetables or shrimp; Fish Mandarin, a pan-fried whole pompano with vegetable mandarin sauce; and Indian specialties such as Chicken Tikka Masala or Butter Chicken.

Kentucky-based ABR was founded as a digital marketing company in 2008. The business has featured more than 1,000 restaurants.

Restaurants wanting to be featured on ABR must apply online, where applicants are asked about what makes the restaurant distinctive and worthy of consideration. If selected, an applicant then participates in a 45-minute Zoom interview.

via Facebook

Jack Fisk, an acclaimed film production designer and former Francis C. Hammond High School student, has been nominated for best production design at this year’s Oscars for his work on Killers of the Flower Moon.

Fisk was born in Illinois but the Washington Business Journal noted that Fisk graduated Francis C. Hammond High School in 1964, where he went to school with filmmaker David Lynch. Francis C. Hammond became a junior high school in 1979 and a middle school in 1993.

This is Fisk’s third nomination for the Academy Award for Best Production Design, having previously been nominated for There Will Be Blood and The Revenant. Fisk also designed all of Terrence Malick’s first eight films and worked on cult classic Phantom of the Paradise.

Killers of the Flower Moon racked up 10 nominations, including Best Picture, along with Fisk’s Best Production Design nomination.

Photo via Killers of the Flower Moon/Facebook

Monte Durham says he’s ready to go back to television, but it could mean an end to his days cutting hair.

It’s been more than two years since Durham opened Salon Monte (210 S. Union Street), and during that time he’s worked to jumpstart a new show. Earlier plans to film a reality show in the salon didn’t pan out, he says, but that hasn’t stopped him from pursuing more opportunities.

“I’ve been approached by a production company out of the U.K.,” Durham said. “From the conversations I’ve been having, I would go back to wedding consulting.”

The former co-host of “Say Yes to the Dress: Atlanta,” Durham was filming “Say Yes to the Prom” in New York City when the pandemic struck in March 2020. With an expired contract and the network having gone temporarily dark, he went back to his roots as a hair stylist and opened the salon in September 2020. It’s been a serious commitment of time, energy and resources. After all, with his business named Salon Monte, everyone wants him to cut their hair.

“I call them one-hit wonders,” Durham says. “Folks will buy their wife or relative the gift of having me cut their hair, and we have five fabulous stylists, so if they want to save 30% with another stylist, I encourage them to do that.”

Durham, 65, lives with his husband in Belle Haven, and says he’s in the salon nearly every day.

“It’s different [from] traveling and staying in nice hotels, hanging out and meeting great people on red carpets,” he said. “The salon has been very good for me.”

He says both his parents died in quick succession — with his father dying less than two weeks before the salon opened.

“It kept me driven and kept me from wallowing in my sorrows,” Durham said. “We started out new. Everything was new:  the towels, the faucets, the flooring, the ceiling, the lighting. In that chaos of the world shutting down around us, here we were with this little gem in the heart of Old Town.”

If it works out and Durham does get back on TV, he says that the salon will stay open.

“Our biggest accomplishment has been consistency,” Durham said. “I have set some things in motion, and I feel confident that we can do it. I have great bookkeeping support, ordering support and excellent staff.”

The Alexandria Wedding Showcase is back to being an in-person event.

This year’s event will be held at The Alexandrian (480 King Street) in Old Town and feature a VIP champagne brunch with Alexandria resident Monte Durham, host of TLC’s “Say Yes to the Dress: Atlanta”and owner of Salon Monte.

The showcase will be held on Sunday, April 10, from 11 a.m.-3 p.m. and will feature dozens of local vendors, including florists, caterers and dressmakers. Guests can also sample different wedding cakes and appetizers, as well as meet wedding planners.

Alexandria Living Magazine took over the wedding showcase from Visit Alexandria in 2019, although last year’s event was virtual.

“We’re really excited to bring this event back to help all these couples who have had to postpone weddings due to the pandemic,” Beth Lawton, co-founder and publisher of Alexandria Living, told ALXnow. “I think this will be a fun, useful event for everyone. This year we’re back to in-person, but we absolutely encourage couples who are immunocompromised or not in town that weekend to reach out to local businesses virtually.””

Prizes at the event include a free venue reservation at The Alexandrian, valued at $7,000, and SnapShare photo package.

Tickets are $75 for single VIP admission (including champagne), $25 for one person and $40 for couples.

Monte Durham is plotting a television show set in his Old Town hair salon.

“We’re trying to get a sizzle reel together of Salon Monte for two production companies,” Durham told ALXnow. “One is with Ann Roberts‘ production company out of L.A., and the other is local. Who knows where that’s gonna land, but they are in the pipeline and we are seriously sitting down and speaking with them.”

Durham, the bridal image consultant and former star of Say Yes to the Dress: Atlanta, was filming Say Yes to the Prom in New York City when the pandemic struck in March 2020. Soon after that, his contract expired as the network abruptly went dark.

Durham said he signed a contract to start filming with Roberts, but that the pandemic put the project on hold.

“And here we go with this mask mandate again,” Durham said. “That may be happening, so we’re just gonna play it by ear. Nobody’s in a hurry. We want to make sure these that we’re stepping on solid stone when we’re doing this.”

Durham, who turns 65 this year, moved to Belle Haven and decided to go back to his roots as a hair stylist. He opened Salon Monte six months later, on September 12, 2020, which is the anniversary of Jackie Kennedy’s wedding to JFK. Durham is a Jackie Kennedy aficionado and even has a portrait of the former first lady in his personal studio.

“I’ve never been more excited, more driven and more motivated to make this work,” Durham said of the salon.

What a week in Alexandria.

Our top story this week is on Gregory Elliott, a special education teacher at T.C. Williams High School. Elliot also goes by the name of “Sugar Bear” for the D.C.-based go-go band Experience Unlimited, and their song “Da’ Butt” from the Spike Lee movie “School Daze” was featured at the Oscars, along with actress Glenn Close dancing to it.

This week was full of news.

City Manager Mark Jinks hinted at retiring, there was a chlorine spill at Lake Cook and the Alexandria Fire Department is contending with reports of racism, sexism and favoritism.

Additionally, a cyberattack on a gas pipeline resulted in a state of emergency throughout Virginia. We asked readers about it in our weekly poll, and out of 250 responses only 31% (78 votes) considered making alternate travel plans.

Election stories

• Election: Stark differences as Wilson and Silberberg face off in mayoral debate
• Wilson and Silberberg clash over new challenges, old wounds, and The Golden Girls
• Similar on policies, Bennett-Parker and Levine differ on style in 45th District debate
• Alexandria City Council candidates focus on health care, police and race relations in Arlandria forum

Important stories

• Alexandria approved for $59.6 million in American Rescue Plan funding
• Details released on suspect who threatened to bomb Metro station, police headquarters and government buildings
• Inova Cares Clinic for Women opens in West End
• Photos: Alexandria Police Department and city leaders salute fallen officers
• Alexandria nursing assistant charged with identity theft
• T.C. Williams High School seniors spearhead successful push for in-person graduation
• Alexandria prepares to move into broader vaccination age range
• AHDC’s Seminary Road development headed to public review

Top stories

1. Go-go music star-turned Alexandria teacher ‘Sugar Bear’ in the spotlight after Oscars shoutout
2. Landmark Mall developers to field public question in forum this week
3. UPDATE: Woman arrested for firing gun near Alexandria Courthouse in Old Town
4. AHDC proposes nearly 500 units of affordable housing for Arlandria
5. ALXnow’s top stories this week in Alexandria
6. Here’s which City Council candidates signed the new ‘Alexandria Constituents’ Bill of Rights’ pledge
7. Girlfriend of murder suspect arrested for breaking into home and beating up witness
8. Election: Stark differences as Wilson and Silberberg face off in mayoral debate
9. Racism, sexism and favoritism reported within the Alexandria Fire Department
10. Here’s the order that City Council candidates will appear on the ballot for the June 8 democratic primary
11. Wilson and Silberberg clash over new challenges, old wounds, and The Golden Girls

Have a safe weekend!

Updated at 2:30 p.m. — Vice President Kamala Harris managed to stitch a visit to Old Town knitting store fibre space (1319 Prince Street) into the day’s agenda.

It was the vice president’s first official visit to a small business since she took office in January. Harris spoke for more than a half hour with owner Danielle Romanetti and her staff about the impact of the pandemic and the $1.9 trillion COVID relief bill that’s working its way through the U.S. Senate.

“We have to understand… who are the folks who have been sacrificing on the front lines, and really are part of not only the economic engine, but to your point, the vitality of the community,” Harris said. “We have, for example, as part of the American Rescue Plan $15 billion that goes just into to small businesses. We have been paying a lot of attention to the fact that during COVID, two-and-a-half million women have left the workforce.”

Alexandria City Councilman John Taylor Chapman arranged the visit after being contacted last week by the vice president’s office.

“The vice president’s office was looking to chat with small, locally women- owned businesses and reached out to me and I connected them with fibre space,” Chapman told ALXnow. “It’s definitely an honor that she chose Alexandria for her first visit out of the White House. It was great to have her come across the river and spend time with us.”

Romanetti got a call from the White House on Friday, and opened her store after the visit at 2 p.m. She said that Harris likes to crochet, bought a hoodie for her daughter with the printed message “Come the apocalypse I will have clothing” on it, and talked about the relief that small businesses will experience in the event of the bill’s passage.

Communications officials on Harris’ staff said the vice president was discussing what women in the workforce are going through and how to get them the support needed.

“She’s actually really easy to talk to, and, and it was very comfortable,” Romanetti said. “Her daughter, Ella, is a knitwear designer who just was in Vogue. She just signed a contract with a with a designer to do a line of knitwear.”

Fibre space was one of several stores that took a severe hit last year from the pandemic. The store has been able to weather the last year with a PPP loan, a COVID-19 Economic Injury Disaster Loan and two small federally funded business grants from the City.

“I am hopeful that this bill will pass, and that it’s going to put a lot of money into small businesses,” Romanetti said. “A lot of business owners are wondering if there is gonna be more loan money available. We also need vaccines, and we need schools to safely reopen because those are also huge issues for business owners. That’s also a huge part of the relief bill.”

Shop employee Maiya Davis talked with her about her pandemic experience. She’s worked there for two-and-a-half years, and was forced to completely shift her life last March.

“We basically had to learn new jobs overnight,” Davis said. “It was a job that just kept changing depending on which struggles we were facing that day. We had to deal with stressed out customers, we had to deal with running a web store all of a sudden, which is something we hadn’t done before. And then we also had to deal with the loss of our community space.”

Alexandria marketing strategist Maurisa Potts was also in attendance, and told Harris about the experiences that dozens of her small business clients have experienced.

“From where I sit in having to service these clients and getting their message out and communicating the hardships and the innovation that’s been happening during this time, a relief package like this will greatly help them,” Potts said.

Thanks to @VP for visiting Alexandria and featuring @fibrespaceshop , one of the small businesses that makes our community the special place that it is. https://t.co/5bkvut874i

— Justin Wilson (@justindotnet) March 3, 2021

.@VP is visiting Fibre Space, a woman-owned small business in Alexandria, Virginia, to discuss the importance of passing the American Rescue Plan so we get the pandemic under control, get relief to those who need it, and support women in the workforce. pic.twitter.com/5H8hnIwiGa

— Sabrina Singh (@SabrinaSingh46) March 3, 2021

Vernon Miles and James Cullum contributed to this article.

Photos via Peter Velz/Twitter and fibre space

When Monte Durham’s contract with TLC expired in March, he realized he needed to do something else. The star of Say Yes to the Dress: Atlanta was told that the network would be going dark because of the pandemic, and Durham quickly decided to go back to his roots as a hairstylist and open a boutique in Old Town.

“My goal is to inspire, educate, and hopefully motivate people to go to the next level with their look,” Durham told ALXnow.

Durham is opening Salon Monte this Saturday, September 12. At 6:30 p.m., Mayor Justin Wilson is scheduled to cut a ribbon for the 825-square-foot salon at 210 S. Union Street. That’s next door to Hotel Indigo and across the street from the Union Street Public House.

Why go to Salon Monte? It’s simple, Durham says.

“We’ve got location and valet parking,” he said. “The big hubbub about this is that it’s new. It’s fresh, it’s invigorating. You’re going to be serviced totally differently.”

The bridal image consultant, who lives in Belle Haven, was filming Say Yes to the Prom in New York City when the pandemic struck, and by mid-March was back home when he got the news that the network was going dark.

“In the midst of all of that, our contracts expired,” Durham said. “Are they going to reinvent the wheel? Who knows. So, while we’re waiting on that, I thought, ‘You know what? Ten years of traveling and going back and forth, if we don’t film again, what can I do? Well, after all I am a hairstylist.”

Durham is still appearing at wedding events, including the upcoming Alexandria Wedding Showcase this Sunday, September 13. He’s hired a hair director and a client service director to work with him in his boutique.

“When a father looks at the price of a wedding dress and says, ‘She’s only gonna wear it one day,’ I go, ‘Okay. I want you to ask your wife where her wedding dress is,'” Durham said. “They always know exactly.”

The salon was far from finished a week before the opening, but Durham said when finished it will include his private studio with a large portrait of his style icon Jackie Kennedy, shampoo lounges and all of his own personal hair care products.

“Everything in the salon is custom because it’s small,” he said. “The lampshades cost me an arm and a leg, but they look so good.”

Margaret Chisley has seen it all. The 109-year-old lifelong Alexandria resident celebrated in style on June 26 on her front porch behind a plastic screen as well-wishers drove by, waved signs and honked their horns.

“I’m so excited,” Chisley said behind the protective screen. “Thank you all so much.”

Chisley was born on June 26, 1911, when William Howard Taft was president and the sinking of the Titanic was still a year away. She graduated from Parker-Gray High School, attended the Cordoza Business School, and was later a notary public, legal secretary and the first African American Secretary for the Alexandria School Board. She is a lifelong member of Meade Memorial Episcopal Church, The Hopkins House Association and the NAACP, and has lived in her Old Town home for more than 80 years.

The City Council recently passed a resolution declaring June 26 “Margaret Amanda Chisley Day.”

“Whereas Margaret Amanda Chisley is a devoted aunt, cousin, godmother, and friend, she is known for her helping hand, and her kind and encouraging words, but most importantly her love, wit and charm, and of course her fashion and style,” the proclamation reads.

Chisley’s niece, Katie Claybourne, said her aunt has a great sense of humor.

“If you could hear her talk, you would never think that she was her age,” Claybourne said.

Nia Spencer, another of Chisley’s nieces, said that her nickname is “The General.”

“She has always been on top of everything and making sure that we all were on top of things,” Spencer said. “She’d say, ‘Don’t forget you need to do this,’ or ‘You don’t forget you need to do that.’ She’s always just been kind of the matriarch and the person who kept us all in line and doing what we’re supposed to do.”

Staff photos by James Cullum

Whole Foods Donating to Local Nonprofit — “Now through the June 1, 2020, you can support The Child & Family Network Centers (CFNC) in Alexandria when you bring your own bag at Whole Foods at 1700 Duke Street. By bringing your own bag, you’ll save on the five-cent bag fee, which will automatically be donated to CFNC.” [Zebra]

Art Program for Residents in Recovery — “This fall, the Alexandria Residential Treatment Center (ARTC) partnered with Heard, a local nonprofit, to offer art workshops for individuals in recovery. An Alexandria-based creative arts initiative, Heard partners with nonprofits and local governments to provide marginalized and at-risk adults the opportunity to be heard through art and creativity with workshops in creative writing, visual arts, poetry, dance, etiquette and improvisation.” [City of Alexandria]

Interview With Alexandria’s Celebrity Salon Owner — “Picture this: Monte Durham, the debonair fashion director of TLC’s Say Yes to the Dress: Atlanta, strolls through Old Town Alexandria, his adopted home. Folks pass him on the street, and his keen eye for a chic coiffure assesses every ‘do. Finally, he spots his subject. ‘You need to come into my shop,’ he says in his charming drawl.” [Northern Virginia Magazine]

Reminder: MLK Commemoration Tonight — “The City of Alexandria planning to host a commemoration of Martin Luther King Jr. [on] Wednesday, Jan. 15. The ceremony is scheduled for 7:30-9:30 p.m. at Beth El Hebrew Congregation (3850 Seminary Road).” [ALXnow]