Kennedy, Georgetown, and Martin's Tavern - Interview with Historian Jamie Peva
Interview Transcript
Recently, I was thrilled to sit down with my dear friend, and social media rockstar Jamie Peva in Georgetown’s historic Martins Tavern for lunch and a discussion about the history of food and politics in Georgetown. Jamie, an almost lifelong resident, gave us a quick history lesson about the Kennedy family’s history in Georgetown and their love of Martins Tavern. On a busy summer day at Martins, with the rich history of the wood-paneled restaurant surrounding us, we sit in the Madeline Albright booth for a fun and historical conversation.
Read the transcript of our conversation below or click here to listen to it on The American Table Podcast.
James Bell: Jamie, welcome.
Jamie Peva: Thank you. I'm so delighted to be here and psyched to get some of this good chow.
James Bell: Yeah, so what's on the menu?
Jamie Peva: Well, everything here is really good, as you know, but what's good today is the question.
James Bell: I'm thinking about having the fish and chips.
Jamie Peva: Which is good here, but that's a, you know, fish and chips can be risky, man.
James Bell: It can. It can. It can be a little bit greasy.
Jamie Peva: I don't care about grease. Grease is good. It's just that sometimes, like… it's not super cooked inside.
James Bell: Correct.
Jamie Peva: You know, and I like everything to be cooked.
James Bell: The burgers are always good.
Jamie Peva: But not here, they don't have that problem here. Let me qualify that.
James Bell: No, the crab cake. I'm buying you lunch today, which is shocking.
Jamie Peva: Really, what's shocking about that? I've always known you to be a very generous character.
James Bell: We could have the crab cakes.
Jamie Peva: Crab cakes are good.
James Bell: Yeah.
Jamie Peva: Are you, are you, are you telling me to get the crab cakes?
James Bell: It's a treat.
Jamie Peva: Okay.
James Bell: Why not, you can get the crab cakes.
Jamie Peva: No, no, you're saying, I see, because you're overly generous, you're saying get the crab cakes, but I would actually prefer to have some chili.
James Bell: Okay.
Jamie Peva: Unless that's gonna mess up this podcast.
James Bell: No, it will not mess up the podcast. So Jamie, tell me about you and your life in Georgetown. You're, you're a lifetime Georgetown resident.
Jamie Peva: Well, I've been living here for a little over 30 years. And, uh, I'm a real estate agent and that is, uh, very consuming, I would say, between being a real estate agent and being a father, which has been less consuming lately. [00:02:00] Now that my children are, you know, above 20
James Bell: and you have two girls.
Jamie Peva: I have two girls, Fern and Violet.
James Bell: You love them.
Jamie Peva: I love them very much. They're really my reason for doing everything. And I started out, I mean, I just kind of fell into this area when I was, uh, leaving one place and going to another, you know, I was leaving Mexico where I was working in, you know, in the cotton farming world. And then I was driving to Newport, Rhode Island in my pickup, and then I stopped here for a little pit stop.
And then that turned into a little bit longer period of time. And then I started working, selling bicycles for Mike Sendar.
And then it was like, uh, I was discovered by Pat Dixon. When I was selling bikes, she was an icon in real estate. She was a big iconic real estate agent, like society type Georgetown real estate agent. She came in. She wanted to rent a bicycle. And I said, Oh, you don't want to. You don't want to rent a bike.
You want to buy a bike, which was like the Mike Sendar hard sell. And, uh, and she was like, “No, no, I really want to rent a bike.” And then I said, “Look,” And I gave her a floor bike. I said, “Here, this, you can rent this bike for free. Go off and do whatever you want to do. And when you come back, I'll sell it to you.”
And that's exactly what transpired. She came back. She was like, “You know, you're right. I really like this bike. I think I'll buy it,” you know. So she buys it. And then the next day she comes back and says, “You know, Mr. You're in the wrong business. You need to come work for me.
James Bell: So you. So the basis of your real estate business is you let people try houses out.
Jamie Peva: Yeah. That would be good. Right? Maybe that's what they should, we should invent.
James Bell: Then they come back and buy them.
Jamie Peva: They come back and buy them. No, I had to make a real big shift between the hard sell and selling Georgetown houses, which is not a hard sell. So, uh, you know, that's a big change in how you sell.
James Bell: Yeah. So, Georgetown history, Martin's Tavern, tell us all about it. It's a beautiful day here in Georgetown. The doors of Martin's Tavern are wide open. It's a blue sky. It's 71 degrees. On a rare summer day. Tell us about Martin's Tavern.
Jamie Peva: Well, this, uh, this place has been here for, I think, coming up on, you know, 100 years, probably like 90 something years.
And, uh, the original owner of this place was, uh, like a Georgetown athlete who was like a baseball player and a football player and, you know, loved everyone and everyone loved him.
Waiter: Would you like us to have some appetizer for you?
James Bell: Oh, I think we're ready to order.
Waiter: What would you like?
Jamie Peva: You know, I'll have the chili, but not with any onions on it.
Waiter: And any salad for you, sir, no?
Jamie Peva: Uh, salad?
Waiter: Yes.
Jamie Peva: No, I don't. No, thank you.
Waiter: For you, sir?
James Bell: Can I have the fish and chips? Can you do the fish really crispy?
Waiter: Yeah!
James Bell: Great, thank you… Was it Billy Martin?
Jamie Peva: Yeah. And he was, uh I was reading an article from 1940 about him, uh, just the other day. You know, 1940 they were talking about, like, what a great guy he was and how he knew absolutely everybody. And if you were the least bit interested in football or baseball, that he had played with every, like, anybody you can think of, like, Newt Rockne or, uh, Jim Thorpe.
Or, you know, all these, like, iconic pre world sports heroes. Where, oh, Joe Jackson. Like, he was pals with Joe Jackson. You know, say it isn't so, Joe. You know, that whole deal. You know, he was pals with that guy. He knew everybody. And then he left it to his son. And then, I believe now, it's his grandson that has this place.
James Bell: It's really terrific. One of my favorite memories of coming to Martin's Tavern is Christmas or winter in Georgetown when it's snowing outside and this is so warm and cozy. The paneling, it's a wood panel, basically Irish pub.
Jamie Peva: Yeah.
James Bell: That you and I are sitting in the Madeleine Albright booth.
Jamie Peva: Yeah.
James Bell: Yeah. Which, uh, Secretary of State, Madeleine Albright was a neighbor. She only lived a few blocks away.
Jamie Peva: I used to see her. Like, she frequented this booth. I guess that's the reason why it's the Madeleine Albright booth. But I've seen her eating here a bunch of times.
James Bell: So tell me the time with the Kennedy family.
Jamie Peva: What's that?
James Bell: President Kennedy.
Jamie Peva: Well, you know, Kennedy lived just down the street. Well, you know, Kennedy actually lived in like five separate Georgetown houses. He and his brothers and his sisters, you know, they did the whole thing together. So when he was like a junior congressman, he lived in like one little kind of pad.
And then as he worked his way all the way up to basically running and winning the presidency, he went into a succession of better houses as he moved along. You know, how many he owned is an open question. But like, I know that he owned the last house, the Marbury house. Which is an extraordinary, beautiful house. Um, you know, sort of from that family.
James Bell: What street is that? N Street?
Jamie Peva: N Street. Yep. 3309 N Street. It's like one over from the corner. And, uh, there's like all these iconic pictures you've probably seen of him throwing Caroline up in the air. Or like him coming out with his top hat on on the way to the inauguration. All those kinds of deals.
James Bell: And they loved to come to Martins Tavern
Jamie Peva: They loved it. They proposed over at, there's a little booth over there. That's like, only fits two people. That like, isn't that the one where they did the proposal?
James Bell: Yeah.
Jamie Peva: Yeah, that's really neat. Yeah, I think a neat thing about, uh, you know, like, Georgetown was really like Kennedy's stomping ground from being, like, just a regular young rich guy to like being,
James Bell: We're talking John Kennedy.
Jamie Peva: Yeah. And so like he, uh, this was really his neighborhood. I think he really felt like he really owned this neighborhood, you know? And when, and when he was in the, uh, when he was president and afterwards, like his whole family moved here, like, Teddy Kennedy was renting over on Q Street.
Robert Kennedy was over on O Street, or he was also over here on N Street. Gene Kennedy Smith was over on O Street, Eunice Kennedy. Every one of these people, like, it must have been Kennedy land. It must have been crazy. And then the thing that's really wild is in the middle of the whole thing, you remember Michael Sullivan, my old partner?
James Bell: Sure
Jamie Peva: So he lived in the Cabot Lodge house, right? Which is the kookiest thing because you know, Kennedy's like running against this guy and they have this kind of hardcore, uh, I wouldn't say adversarial, but they're like running against each other in Boston. Uh, they have a history of running against each other, which goes all the way back to his grandfather.
And, and this dude's living right in the middle of all of these Kennedys. And all these social interactions are actually happening, like lunches and, you know, society dinners and all this kind of stuff. And, and this guy…
James Bell: Food and politics!
Jamie Peva: Ueah. Like a thorn in the guy's side. Like every time, you know, he turns around, there's Cabot Lodge, you know, who also is, you know, uh, got a much older family. I don't know how that played into it at all.
James Bell: And a lot of this is playing out in Martin's Tavern.
Jamie Peva: Yeah. I can imagine there was a lot going on. Cause I don't think there's anything else around here that's been here this long.
James Bell: Right. I would agree with you.
Jamie Peva: You know?
James Bell: Nothing has lasted this long.
Jamie Peva: But you know, the thing about this place that's cool is that, uh, it's definitely like a family restaurant if you want it to be, or, you know, a lunch place or whatever, but it's also, there's like a whole Cheers thing going on here.
James Bell: It does look like the inside of Cheers, right.
Jamie Peva: But no, I mean like the neighbors come here and drink here, and there are people that are like pals here that they only meet at Martin's at that bar over there. And they also stay open really late, right? Like, like later than other places.
James Bell: Like in the back of Martin's is a pretty, pretty cool setup. Uh, behind the bar. On the other side of the bar.
Jamie Peva: So, I'm just talking man. Uou better jump in or it's gonna be the Jamie Peeva show.
James Bell: Well, let's see my experience with Martin's Tavern. It's been since I moved here in 1989. And I've been coming to Martin's Tavern ever since. I've been in and out of Georgetown as a resident. I've had three or four houses here, I think. I was on the board of the Georgetown Club…
Jamie Peva: Can't hold that against you I guess.
James Bell: I know… about ten year.s Which is sort of a competing dining establishment to Martin's.
Jamie Peva: Right.
James Bell: But Martin's has always been sort of home base. It's perfect for anything. You, you know, you want to meet people or not.
It's great just to come and have lunch or dinner. Sit at the bar and read a book. Watch a game.
Jamie Peva: Yeah, you can see these regulars. Like you can tell the people that are here for like, They just happen to be here, and then like, sees people next to us. I mean, I've seen that guy like a million times.
James Bell: Right. They're speaking fluent French. They live in the neighborhood. You know, you have a lot of Georgetown students that are waitstaff, which is terrific. Georgetown University is ten blocks from here.
Jamie Peva: Oh, yeah. And does each successive Billy Martin go to Georgetown? Is that part of it?
James Bell: I'm not sure, but I think that might help.
Jamie Peva: I think that's true.
James Bell: Yep.
Jamie Peva: And they're all athletes.
James Bell: This is quintessential Georgetown.
Jamie Peva: I know, it's true.
James Bell: Yeah, so tell me what else is going on in Georgetown.
Jamie Peva: Oh my god, there's so much going on. Cause you know, this is like, uh, this is really a town. People think of it as being like a subdivision of Washington, DC. Which it technically is. It's a subdivision. But it's also like a town and so all the stuff that would happen in a town that has 2,500 houses in it. It's going down, you know,
James Bell: And this was named after King George, not George, Washington. Which a lot of people don't know.
Jamie Peva: Right. A lot of people think it's after George, Washington But there's an always the possibility I like to think that it could be named after either you know, George Gordon or George Beal. So, like, you turn back the clock, several hundred years…
James Bell: A distant cousin of mine.
Jamie Peva: Really? Which one?
James Bell: The Beals.
Jamie Peva: B E A L, pronounced Bell.’
James Bell: Right, because he owned a half of Georgetown.
Jamie Peva: Yeah, so he owns a big section. This other guy, George Gordon, owns a big section. And then the Maryland legislators are like, “Okay, we're going to put a town to the west of Rock Creek along the Potomac.” And, uh, but they have to do this kind of like eminent domain deal, right, where they have to take the land from these two guys.
And one guy, George Gordon, is pretty much like, “Okay, I'll take the money, no sweat.” But, uh, George Beal, who's the son of this guy Ninian Beal, who has like the original big chunk of land, he's like, “Forget it, I'm not doing that.” And, they put the pressure on him and he says, “Forget it.” And then they finally say, “Well, we're doing it anyway.”
And then he says, “Okay, well then I'm going to take this chunk of land over here as my own and you pay me for the rest. But just because I'm doing this transaction, I'm not giving up my rights to change my mind later on.”
So I always think maybe, It's named after the two Georges, like, you know, Georges town, the town of Georges. It could be something like that.
James Bell: I think you're wrong.
Jamie Peva: Yeah. Well, you know, there's really not an actual answer to tell you the truth.
James Bell: King George was still around.
Jamie Peva: Yeah, I know.
James Bell: But then he was established.
Jamie Peva: I mean, it makes sense that it was King George.
James Bell: The deed on my first house was part of the Beal property. Because it was 1412 30th Street right over there. So that was my first house was a part of their properties.
Jamie Peva: Wait, I sold that house. Did you buy that?
James Bell: I did.
Jamie Peva: Did you? Was I the listing agent?
James Bell: Remember that was Bill and Dana's little tiny house
Jamie Peva: 1412 30th?
James Bell: 1412 30th and then Mark and I bought it from Bill and Dana and they gave us the little Georgetown furniture that was in the house.
Jamie Peva: That's important. Properly scaled furniture.
James Bell: Right. Georgetown houses can be really tiny.
Jamie Peva: In fact, I'm, I'm getting a love seat from… I just sold this house like next week and the lady's going to give me this love seat out of one of her rooms. Which I was like “Oh my god! Look a properly scaled love seat. I need that.”
James Bell: This entire house that we bought was only 800 square feet divided into three different floors.
Jamie Peva: Really?
James Bell: Yeah. Had a great little garden. It was a fun house.
Jamie Peva: And here comes the food!
James Bell: Chili.
Jamie Peva: Over here. Thank you very much.
James Bell: Food looks great. Thank you. Perfect fish and chips.
Jamie Peva: Oh you did well.
James Bell: Yeah, I think so.
Jamie Peva: It’s a good thing you told them to cook…
James Bell: Extra crispy.
Jamie Peva: Because I started reminding you of what raw fish is like.
James Bell: Right. And you’re the only person I know that would get chili in the summer.
Jamie Peva: Oh. You think?
James Bell: What’s up with that? Well Jamie, you and I are going to have a great time enjoying our meal. So give us some parting thoughts about Martin’s Tavern and Georgetown.
Jamie Peva: Gosh I wish I knew that little song… that little Cheers song. Because, like, that’s what I would sing right now. But I don’t know it. Should we look it up?
James Bell: No!
[Both laugh]
James Bell: Jamie, thank you for joining me today.
Jamie Peva: My pleasure, thanks for inviting me.
James Bell: Thank you for joining us on the American Table
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