The party starts even before we arrive at our designated dinner.  As we walk down the street in costume—my husband jaunty in a chef’s hat and apron—a group of party-goers spills out of a nearby townhouse.

“Hey!” one shouts. “Are you going to the Literary Feast?”

“Yep.”

“Which book?”

“Heat!”

“Ah, we wanted to go to that one, but it was full. Have fun!”

At our destination, the warm greetings continue. If, like me, you tremble at the thought of walking into a parlor full of strangers, fear no more.  Even if you don’t know the names, nearly every face evokes that “Haven’t I seen you before?” feeling: “Didn’t I see you at the Capitol Hill Village reception/at a Folger Theatre performance/walking your dog around Lincoln Park?”

Acquaintances are quickly made, connections forged. The Italian wine flows and guests nibble on toast points with olive tapenade, colorful fresh-cut peppers, and tiny skewers of grape tomatoes and mozzarella. A table of olive oils and dipping bread attracts attention, especially when we learn that we’re to fill out forms rating the various oils (and matching the lettered samples with their corresponding bottles—which only the bravest attempt).

Our hostesses turn out to be Leah Daniels, the friendly young woman we know from Riverby Books who is rumored to be starting a kitchenware shop on the Hill, and her mother Maygene Daniels. Leah confirms that yes, she plans to open Hill’s Kitchen on D Street between 7th and 8th (next to Kinko’s) in early 2008. Later, she endures good-natured ribbing when she extols the virtues of a rasp-like cheese grater she uses to top our eggplant parmesan. “What is this—an infomercial?!” somebody teases, as they dig into the delightful vegetarian feast.

And thus it went at 25 homes on Capitol Hill on the evening of October 27. A Literary Feast is a series of dinner parties held at private homes across Capitol Hill all on the same evening. Each dinner features food and fun relating to a specific book; guests come from across the neighborhood, creating opportunities to mingle with new and old friends in support of an important cause. A Literary Feast generates funds and awareness of signature projects supported by the Foundation, which this year is the final financing of the School Library Project which completely renovated the libraries of eight Capitol Hill public schools.

After the dinners, the guests adjourned to St. Marks church to compare notes, dance to live New Orleans jazz with Joel Bailes and the Barrelhouse Brawl, and indulge still further with ice cream donated for the event by CHCF board member and Literary Feast co-chair Karen Reed, owner of Ben & Jerry’s franchises.

The joint was jumping. Two women in burkas did a jig on the dance floor. A Cleopatra look-alike slithered by carrying a rush basket with baby Moses inside. ANC member Ken Jarboe, who attended the Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress dinner, showed up looking exotic in a Mandarin silk jacket, and Jim and Matthild Morton had nothing but raves for their On Chesil Beach feast, which was “English cuisine—but updated.”

A mustachioed Neal Gregory as Inspector “Cluedeau” and wife Janice, clad in flapper-style feathers as Lady Agatha arrived fresh from Tommy and Chris Arrasmith’s gathering of The Thin Man. “We found out who did it,” reports Janice, “but we didn’t find the jewel.”

Everyone agreed that it was a fabulous and fun event, one which netted $30,000 for the School Library Project and probably many new friendships in the bargain. We can hardly wait till next year.