Fall Preview: 10 New Venues for Events and Meetings Opening in Washington

Del Frisco’s Grille opened its first Washington location in July. Under executive chef Rob Klink, the restaurant can seat 150 or host 300 for receptions, and has a private dining room for 25. It also features a patio for outdoor dining.

The Angelika Film Center & Café opens September 21 in Fairfax, Virginia. The eight-screen cinema has stadium-style seating and theater capacities ranging from 100 to 300 people. The space also will have a 100-person lounge offering small plates and hors d’oeuvres from a menu by chef Lee Anne Wong.

Lebanese Taverna's Woodley Park location is undergoing a $1.5 million renovation slated to finish in October. The 4,200-square-foot restaurant will include a lounge that seats 25, including a counter-height communal table, a 100-person main dining room, and a private dining room called the Cedar Room that will seat 50. Buyouts will be available.

The 343-room Crystal City Marriott recently unveiled a $7 million redesign, which included a reinvented "Greatroom" featuring seating with LCD televisions, semiprivate seating nooks for working or socializing, social communal tables—including some with Apple desktop computers—and the Bell20 restaurant and bar. The renovation also added two 504-square-foot breakout rooms, which are part of more than 10,000 square feet of meeting space at the hotel.

Farmers Fishers Bakers in Georgetown, set to open in late October at the Georgetown waterfront, is the latest venture from the Founding Farmers group. The new space will be 9,800 square feet and seat 320 guests. Spaces include the 45-person bar, 165-person main dining room, 80-person patio, and the larder area, which offers semiprivate dining at three large communal tables for 10 guests each.

The Mayflower Renaissance hotel closed its Café Promenade and will reopen it this month as the Promenade Ballroom, adding more than 3,000 square feet of event space. The ballroom will accommodate a reception for 350, seated affair for 220, or large events for 8,000 guests when combined with the other rooms in the promenade hallway.

The Caucus Room Brasserie-Steakhouse from Longboard Hospitality Group is an American interpretation of a French brasserie. It opens onto a European courtyard through French glass doors. The restaurant, which seats 90 and is available for full buyout, is scheduled to open this fall.

Also coming to the Westin Georgetown this fall is Boveda, a Latin speakeasy whose name means "vault" in Spanish. The space features raised booths, banquettes, communal tables, a lounge, a neighborhood bar, and a tavern-esque private area. It seats 72 and is available for full buyout.

Further north, the Baltimore Museum of Art will reopen its Contemporary Art Wing on November 18. The space includes 16 renovated galleries that display work from artists such as Andy Warhol and Robert Rauschenberg, as well as emerging artists. The wing has improved lighting and new wall and floor finishes, all part of the museum's $24.5 million, three-year renovation. It can be rented in conjunction with Schaefer Court, which holds 300 people for a cocktail reception.

T-Square, a new independent event space, has opened in Georgetown. The 2,800-square-foot space can accommodate as many as 250 guests for a cocktail reception or 120 seated. T-Square is split into thirds, with the middle section an open-air courtyard, and also features a full kitchen.