Change Has Bethesda Buzzing
By Fritz Hahn
Washington Post Weekend Section
Friday, February 16, 2007
Keep your eye on the restaurant and nightclub scene long enough and you'll see and hear about cursed buildings: promising locations that, for various reasons, become deathtraps for a parade of businesses. Take the former Lewie's near Woodmont and Bethesda avenues in the heart of Bethesda. Despite being surrounded by restaurants, shops and a movie theater, the large nightclub has opened and closed repeatedly in the past decade, occasionally staying shut for a year or two at a time, while owners tried to use the space as a live music venue, a sandwich shop, a martini bar and an Asian restaurant.
I'd hoped the place had finally found stability in 2005 when Juste Pehoua brought his eponymous R&B- and martini-focused lounge from Washington's Mount Vernon Square neighborhood, drawing crowds and adding some color to the Bethesda scene. Wrong again.
Disputes with his landlord recently pushed Pehoua to look for a new location, and, because he wanted to stay in Bethesda, he teamed with Tel Aviv Cafe owner Pete Panagiotopoulos to create Cafe Peju, which offers a Mediterranean menu as well as a steady diet of the happy hours, live music and DJs that made Juste Lounge so successful.
Meanwhile, new promoters have taken over Juste Lounge's old digs and rechristened it Fuzion Lounge. With a familiar lineup of complimentary drinks, live music and DJs, their ads boast that "the party is betta than ever!"
In pubby, polo-shirt-and-khakis Bethesda, having two clubs pushing hip-hop and R&B and competing for the same crowds is a change, so I compared them head-to-head on a Friday.
In Juste Lounge's old space near Bethesda Row, the new team in charge has decided to stick with the tried-and-true -- well, Juste Lounge's tried-and-true formula. DJ Alizay of 93.9 FM (WKYS), who used to hold down the Sex in the City party when it was here, is still burning hip-hop hits and old-school jams every Friday, while the warm-up spots go to an extended happy hour with two free drinks per person and live performances by neo-soul act Howard Franklin and the Wildflower Band.
Promoter Ebou Taal says all similarities are intentional. "I'd been promoting when it was Juste Lounge," he says, and when Juste became Fuzion, "the owners liked the atmosphere, the happy hour and the late-night crowd. I have a good relationship with Alizay. Howard Franklin has been building a crowd here. It made sense for everyone to stay with the team."
With an e-mail pass, everyone gets tickets for two free drinks from 5 to 8 and free admission before 10. After giving the bouncers our printouts, we were ushered inside, found seats at the bar and ordered drinks. Tickets are good for anything in the house, and after happy hour is over, martinis (the sweet variety as well as classic cocktails) are two-for-one from 9 to 11. (If you're ordering something else, though, watch out -- small, basic mixed drinks are $9 each.) The room felt sparsely populated, perhaps because it's so cavernous. Boxy with extra-high ceilings and industrial accents, the building still feels like a converted big-box store, though long rows of banquettes on the back wall, clusters of couches and two good-size bars surrounded by stools help make the atmosphere more comfortable.
The band's soulful slow jams and Alizay's solid beats drew people to the large dance floor. Taal says that, in coming weeks, Fuzion will be bringing in more artists to perform.
The room has potential, but it's up to the new promoters to prove that they're a solid alternative to Cafe Peju and start drawing crowds.
