Folks,

I realize the "topic" at hand here might seem like it's "me." I assure you, it's not. It's a philosophy, a style, a thesis, an art de vivre which has, for decades now, evaded those who associate with the political right.

You'd have to travel back to a post-9/11 world to find another such cultural shift in America, and that was on the basis of extreme tragedy and anger.

And while rage persists in other forms, a new revolution bears the hallmarks not of fear or vengeance, but of victory.

Enter Robert Draper, of the New York Times. A multiple-time best-selling author (seriously, read his book on the Iraq War), Draper has hob-nobbed with Hunter S. Thompson and Cormac McCarthy. And now? With us.

Writers like Draper are a dying breed. They're not interested in Congressional kabuki theater, nor who the latest whipping boy or girl is for the liberal media. Writers like Draper are interested in preserving major moments for history, and identifying the things that matter in that process.

That's why I was both delighted and petrified when I heard he was coming to write an article about our restaurant, Butterworth's, in Washington, D.C. 

But the article came out this morning and I couldn't believe what I was reading. I mean, I sat for about 4 hours on the record (being recorded!) with Draper, over quite a few beverages. "Who knows what he might write!"

But, I encourage you to read it for yourself, and make your own mind up as to whether or not we're doing a good service to a movement in need of a cultural kick up the butt, or whether you think it's a hit piece in disguise.

And when you're done... come see us for lunch or dinner.

Cheers,

Raheem Kassam

Monday, June 2, 2025

Washington, D.C.