VOLUME 1 – ISSUE NO.1 – SPRING 2017
The Outlier is a dream many years in the making. This new digital magazine is not only a perfect fusion of our varied pursuits (writing, photography, and design) and passions (food/wine, art, culture, travel, and style), but we also longed to create a publication like this in Washington, DC—a magazine that reaches deep to examine the area’s most remarkable people in ways both intimate and human. Our goal is always to give you more—more insight into peoples’ motivations and philosophies, and more behind-the-scenes descriptions and stories than are sometimes covered in other magazines. We aim to deliver those extras with writing that is nuanced and compelling, paired with images that are cinematic and artistic. Like any international city, ours deserves a venue for such elevated visual and written narratives. In many ways, DC itself is an outlier, a city constantly working to shed its reputation as a stodgy backwater and to reveal the vibrant, vital incarnation of today.
We were lucky to find a willing partner for this venture in RdV Vineyards, a boutique winery 60 miles west of DC that produces elegant Bordeaux-style blends. We felt an immediate affinity for RdV’s own outlier story, for its quest to defy the prevailing assumptions about Virginia wine and compete with the world’s best. From this partnership, many of our stories naturally will gravitate to food and wine. Yet we pledge to explore other realms, from art to travel, from culture to social change, that speak to the intangible qualities and daring people that define a great city and culture.
Because The Outlier is such a personal project, we will choose stories that most fascinate us, that we enjoy exploring and documenting. In this first issue, we’re happy to share a feature on Eric Ziebold, the renowned DC chef who recently embarked on his greatest venture yet—opening two restaurants in a historic building on 7th Street; an intriguing read on Sachiko Kuno, the brilliant pharmaceutical CEO turned philanthropist and founder of an incubator for social entrepreneurship; a look at the most elusive man in town, Washington Post food critic Tom Sietsema, and a photo essay that shares a slice of the RdV Vineyards life with owner Rutger de Vink. Some of these stories were written in the last part of 2016; moving forward, you’ll find new and timely content every quarter.
We are beyond excited to share our images and words with you. We hope you uncover something new about our city and the visionaries and innovators who call this region home. Welcome to The Outlier.
Lauren Hassani and Marco Javier
Editor-in-Chief and Creative Director