From the Bullpen to Judiciary Square

During a pre-banquet reception, the Fentys were greeted warmly by well-wishers, including James D'Orta, a physician who had hosted a reception honoring the mayor and his mother at his Georgetown home last spring.

Marco Mancini, first counselor at the Italian Embassy, confided that he recently had lunch with Jan Fenty.

"She likes a traditional Italian meal called gnocchi," Mancini said of the small dumplings. "You know, the little potatoes?"

The mayor, who does not drink alcohol, sipped cranberry juice and sat at the head table during the banquet. He also brought along a couple of high-ranking deputies who happen to be Italian-American: City Administrator Dan Tangherlini and senior advisor John Falcicchio.

For the Record

The Notebook would like to amend the record to clarify a sloppy passage in our Sept. 27 edition in which we wrote about Deputy Mayor Neil O. Albert buying property near a parcel where his office recently awarded a controversial no-bid contract to a developer.

In the item, about the West End library, we wrote that Albert in January had bought "a $741,940 condominium a quarter-mile from the controversial" project. But activist David J. Mallof, who first raised the possible conflict of interest with the D.C. Council, wrote in to note that the condo is actually much closer, across the street.

Albert has said that he initially put a contract on the condo before Fenty was elected, not to mention before Fenty appointed Albert as deputy mayor. Council members have said they might undo the no-bid contract.