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WASHINGTON - The operators of Sam & Harry's, one of the area's top fine-dining steak houses, are pinning future growth hopes on a new concept with strong retro flair and two well-known investor-partners with deep roots inside the Beltway.
Michael Sternberg and Larry Work, the owners of the two-unit Sam & Harry's, are eyeing August as the inaugural opening date for the Caucus Room, an elegant steak house that will showcase a number of classic continental dishes.
Sternberg and Work's bipartisan partners in the upscale venture include former National Republican Committee chairman Haley Barbour and Democratic lobbyist Tom Boggs, both longtime fans of Sam & Harry's. Altogether, however, the venture attracted nearly 40 investors. "It was oversubscribed," Sternberg added. "We had to turn people down."
Sternberg said he and Work initially were approached by Barbour and Boggs, who urged them to open a second restaurant inside the District. The pair operates Sam & Harry's on 19th Street in Washington and another location in suburban Tysons' Comer, Va.
"It didn't make sense to open another Sam & Harry's in Washington," Sternberg explained. "Competition is already intense. Everybody and his brother is opening a steak house."
Washington, in fact, has been booming. "There has...