Power Lunch is Strong in D.C.

Posted on 24. Mar, 2009 by Craig Peters in Uncategorized

“Instead of a $150 wine, they might order a $100 bottle.”

That’s the extent of the power lunch downturn in our nation’s capital, so says Tommy Jacomo, the manager at The Palm in D.C., as quoted in this article by Andi Coller (State of D.C. power lunches is strong). We keep saying that business still has to happen. People still eat. Lunch is still a great way to connect.

Breakfast is too early, dinner is expendable, but don’t mess with lunch.

That’s the verdict of Washington’s power-lunch set, who say economic downturn be damned — some conversations need to be had over a white tablecloth, or at least accented with some fresh-ground pepper.

It’s not that people aren’t cinching their belts a bit inside the Beltway. But even those whose companies are reining in expense accounts or who are painting on a more prudent public face are not quite ready to brown-bag it at midday, when there are friends to be made and people to influence.

“The three-martini lunch is out, but the power lunch is still on,” says Republican strategist and consultant John Feehery.

Btw, there was an interesting shift in where lunch was to be held when official rules changed as to who pays in D.C.:

The power lunch actually took its biggest hit before the economic downturn, says Democratic lobbyist Steve Elmendorf. “I think the biggest change in the lunch world was when they changed the rules where you couldn’t have lunch with [Hill] staff,” he says. “Now, if you want to have lunch with a staffer and a lobbyist, they have to pay. Which means you’re doing lunch in the Rayburn cafeteria, not The Palm.”

I’m happy to say that excessive extravagance is down, even in the capital. Looks like they’re taking a cue from my hometown of Detroit:

He believes, however, that the climate will not support any kind of public extravagance, no matter what the venue, and that even those who have the means to buy their Montrachet by the magnum know better than to do it right now.

“Since auto execs got it handed to them for flying in on private jets, that changed a lot of things, and people started thinking it was time to settle down,” he says. “I think everybody started thinking, ‘What am I doing like that?’”

Remember, people still need to talk about business and they still need to eat.

(image credit: Jake McGuire)