Ven at Embassy Row opens new Art Gallery and Ambassador Happy Hour featuring Czech artist Slavka Kratka and ambassador and acclaimed chef H.E.Hynek Kmonicek

WASHINGTON, July 15, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- More than 70 guests representing over 20 countries – including ambassadors and other VIPs – came together for a night of art and food to celebrate the opening of Embassy Row's newest "in place to be."

Czechnian artist Slavka Kratka helped christen Ven's new Art Gallery. An architect by education and trade, Kratka's paintings of buildings and towns have been exhibited in China, Italy, Germany, and now the United States.

"It was exciting to have Slavka here and talk about her transition to art," said Satarra Leona of DC-based Art In Color Art Gallery.

The hotel's Fred & Stilla Restaurant – Dupont Circle's most recent acclaimed gastronomical addition – also launched its first Ambassador Happy Hour series with Czech Ambassador HE Hynek Kmonicek. Ambassador Kmonicek donned his chef's apron and prepared Fromage Bites with Czech Pilsner Caramel – baked goat cheese truffle bites drizzled with a caramelized Czech pilsner lager beer foam – to the delight of assembled guests. The Ambassador will also contribute a Czech dish to the permanent menu of the restaurant.

Ambassador Kmonicek is known among diplomatic circles for elegant private dinner parties he hosts for Washington ambassadors and a sense of humor. He regaled guests with humorous anecdotes such as when he first made the dish and nearly "blew up the kitchen."

"The Ven at Embassy Row, managed by Crescent Hotels and Resorts, a premier hotel management company is the ideal location for visiting delegations," Ambassador Kmonicek, said. "The menu of Fred and Stilla is so international that it sounds like United Nations gathering. i find it lovely that such a perfect product as the Czech beer can actually be twisted into a special caramel and be served as a dish in the center of the US capital. it is the privilege to be the chef of beer, not just one of many ambassadors in this city"

Jennifer Goodman, General Manager of the hotel, said the night demonstrated the best of what Washington has to offer.

"This is what the Ven at Embassy Row is all about," Goodman said. "Tonight was about connecting after a long hiatus as well as connecting the many different cultures in our part of Washington that make our perch here unique. I look forward to our many future events."

SOURCE Ven at Embassy Row