SAX Brims At Capacity During 'Privilege List' Belvedere Launch Party!

NORTHWEST -- Less the name fool you, the launch party for SAX’s new ‘Privilege List’, wasn’t at all about wealth, power, fame or coming from privilege. Rather, it astutely served to showcase the amenities and trappings of privilege that guests can expect as a member of the exclusive list, upon arrival at the posh 11th Street lounge.

Sure, the Ferraris parked out front hinted that there might be a few VIPs at Wednesday evening’s invite-only affair hosted by Belvedere. And fair enough, there were plenty of Washington business leaders, models, TV media personalities, radio hosts, and Hill staffers in attendance. A multi-platinum selling recording artist or two might also have been spotted sipping some of the Lemon Tea Thyme Tonic and Pure Sunsplash cocktails being happily poured by Belvedere Head of Spirit Creation & Mixology Claire Smith.

Photo: Dave Phillipich.

But so too was the closely-guarded guest list packed with teachers, video editors, graphic designers, off duty wait staff, and other individuals who might maintain a lower profile day-to-day. Indeed, the introduction of the Privilege List and hence SAX’s new door policy (allowing only those on the list and their guests to have full access) was intended not to separate the haves from the have-nots, but rather to foster a genuinely diverse, engaging, and beautiful crowd.

In clamping down on its former open door policy, this still won’t be the first time the spacious venue has set tongues wagging. Soon after it opened, a handful of its murals had to be redone due to the political controversy that they brought about.

But rather than hurt business, the headlines generated by SAX’s eye-catching gilded romantic interior actually fueled interest for the then restaurant/lounge. The two-story space has since gone on to host private parties for everyone from Washington Wizard point guard John Wall to R&B star Trey Songz.

Both, no doubt, also made the Privilege List...