Venue for March Meeting

By Ray LaVerghetta,

AMHS President As most of our members know, the Society is not able to use Casa Italiana for all of our bimonthly general meetings. For those meetings held elsewhere, we have in recent years patronized Carmine’s restaurant in Washington, D.C.

However, a number of considerations have compelled us to seek an alternative site. First, Carmine’s has now imposed a guaranteed minimum dollar amount, which means that the AMHS will be charged no less than the minimum, regardless of how many members show up. If turnout is low, then the funds that we collect may fall short of what we have to pay.

Indeed, this is exactly what happened the last time; we lost $461. The society cannot continue to absorb losses of that size. Second, traffic and parking around Carmine’s are always difficult, especially when an event at Capital One arena coincides with our meeting. The Washington Capitals have a home game on the day and time of our next meeting.

The last time that happened, nearby garages filled up quickly and street parking was nonexistent. For these (as well as other) reasons, the Executive Committee has decided to select Alfio’s La Trattoria, in Chevy Chase, Maryland, as the venue for our March meeting. As some of our members may recall, we have held events at Alfio’s in the past which were very successful.

Alfio’s will offer us a varied menu, will provide us with three dedicated servers, and will allow us to maintain the same price differential with respect to meals served at Casa Italiana (that is, a price only slightly higher than for meals catered in house). In addition, Alfio’s imposes no guaranteed minimum number of guests and no food and beverage minimum; we pay only for the number of guests who show up. Finally, Alfio’s provides free valet parking, which eliminates the hassle of trying to find a place to park as well as the cost of a garage.

Just as important, Alfio’s is delighted to have us back and has been extremely welcoming — a pleasant change for those handling our hospitality arrangements. Although we enjoyed our past meetings at Carmine’s, the circumstances have changed, and now Alfio’s appears to be the better choice for our next general meeting on March 24th. ❚