RIPPLE
RIPPLE
“Over Ripple’s life we never made much money, but we built a culture that was second to none. Ripple remains one of my favorite businesses.”
You can’t always measure success using dollars. Ripple was a fabulous restaurant in a tough location but there was magic in the way it ingrained itself in Cleveland Park, DC. We enjoyed a string of superb chefs and a staff that served as much joy as they did food and drinks. Ripple was born when my old friend Roger Marmet wrapped up his career at Discovery and started talking about opening a restaurant. It just so happened that our cigar & cocktail bar Aroma, across from the Uptown Theater on Connecticut Ave., was at the end of its run so we started brainstorming. So many things were wrong with this location. The kitchen had to be on the second floor in the back, and the entire space was barely wide enough to fit a bar, yet we went for it. Some years later, we expanded, adding the empty Penn Camera space door, and finally had a proper dining room for our customers.
Our partner Roger Marmet loved running the day-to-day operations. He and I dreamed up the name Ripple, an ode to cheap red wine, Fred Sanford and the Grateful Dead. Thanks to Roger, our wine list at Ripple was anything but cheap, it was extraordinary. It was a treat to stop by in the afternoon for wine tastings with our great friend and wine seller Robert Macfarlane, or to sample Marjorie Meek Bradley’s latest creation in the kitchen. Mornings, I would stop in and visit Roger, alone at the restaurant as he planned the day. He would brew two espressos, an art in itself, and we would enjoy this rare quiet time for restaurateurs.
When Roger lost his son Tom to gun violence on DC’s streets, the Ripple family came from all over the country to support him and his family. This tragedy and the outpouring of love from a long disbanded team, reminded me that we are in the people business, building communities of customers and more importantly, communities built of people who run these bars. These bonds last and last. On the left, we gathered at Franklin Hall after Tom’s memorial service, laughed, cried and hugged. To support Roger’s efforts to end gun violence in DC and to remember a gentle, decent young man, Tom Marmet, please consider donating to www.peacefordc.org
