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...please turn out the lights. The Washington Post on the final Friday at Fran's:
A fiercely beloved military tradition came to a close in downtown Washington last night when Fran O'Brien's Stadium Steakhouse reluctantly served its last thick steak with a side of laughter and dignity to soldiers recovering from war injuries in the area.In the same article, hotel general manager Brian Kelleher tells the Hilton's side of the storyBut the veterans -- many of whom made their first, cautious forays in public with prosthetics, scars and skin grafts during the Friday night dinner tradition -- did not go down without a fight.
Hundreds of soldiers began online campaigns to preserve the weekly dinners, save the steakhouse and shame the Capitol Hilton, at 16th and L streets NW, which houses the restaurant and declined this month to renew its lease.
The restaurant, a staple among the power-dining set, is losing its lease Monday. That might be sad for steak lovers everywhere, but the real tragedy, many supporters said, is the end of the 2 1/2 years of Friday night veterans' dinners.
Hotel general manager Brian Kelleher said it was simply a business deal, a lease negotiation that broke down after restaurant owners were asked to spiff up the "dated" look and didn't comply and then were late on their rent.Other reputable sources suggest that once overdue room service bills are subtracted from rent due, the Hilton actually owes Fran's over eight thousand dollars.The hotel asked the owners to update worn upholstery, install new carpeting, replace an aging canopy and polish the brass outside, but the owners refused, Kelleher said.
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"This has had absolutely nothing to do with the veterans," Kelleher said.The Hilton has offered to help take over the Friday night dinner tradition, which had been funded by the restaurant's owners and then by corporate donors. Management has suggested the dinners could move to a ballroom or to the hotel's other restaurant, Twigs.
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"We can use the back of my other restaurant," he said, or he can screen off part of a ballroom.
But even without that considerable amount, Fran's was hardly without funds:
At a ceremony hosted by Deputy Defense Secretary Gordon England, Pier Francesco Guarguaglini, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Finmeccanica SpA, presented a check for $75,000 to the Fran O'Brien's Stadium Steakhouse in support of a program for wounded American soldiers. The Friday "steak night" has become a valued part of the soldiers' recovery from injuries sustained in Iraq and Afghanistan.Other supporters have contributed too. In fact, the Aleethia Foundation was established just for the purpose of supporting the dinners. And although they may no longer be held at Fran's, I'm assured those dinners will continue elsewhere with full involvement of the guys who started it all. But with that kind of money rolling in it's no wonder that the Hilton was eager to move the dinners to their own restaurant.
Likewise, it's no surprise the Hilton is furiously practicing damage control:
I also met Ramona Joyce, an Army veteran and volunteer who is intimately familiar with the goings on at Fran O'Brien's. She and I had a long chat and I enjoyed talking to her. On this evening, she was more than perturbed with Brian Kelleher. According to Ramona, while the cameras were rolling, Brian Kelleher greeted the troops. So what? Well, she says that it was the first time that he's ever done that.It ain't over, as they say. And if someone with some responsibility at the Hilton doesn't act fast it never will be.
Our previous coverage is compiled here. The Washington Post is right about "hundreds of soldiers" involved in this issue, but they represent just a fraction of a very large group comprised of people from all walks of life and otherwise divergent political views. (Hilton officials have shut down their email as a result of the volume of complaints.) And with coverage in the Times of London, the exposure is now international.
