Restaurateur Ashok Bajaj accepted the DowntownDC Business Improvement District’s (BID) Momentum Award Dec. 3 for Downtown Person of the Year at the 2015 Momentum Awards celebration held at the historic Carnegie Library (801 K Street NW).
“Thanks to the BID for all you do and thanks to all of you for keeping the downtown a premium destination to work, to live, for culture, for sports, and of course… for fine dining,” Bajaj said in his acceptance speech before an audience of DowntownDC supporters and partners.
The Downtown Person of the Year award recognizes an individual who has made a positive and significant contribution to a program or project in Downtown or who has applied personal or political commitment to assist in revitalizing the area.
Bajaj’s Knightsbridge Restaurant Group owns and operates eight D.C. restaurants including four in DowntownDC: 701 Restaurant; Bibiana Osteria-Enoteca; nopa Kitchen + Bar; and Rasika. Bajaj was recognized for how his four Downtown restaurants have stood out in the booming D.C. dining scene and have helped turn DowntownDC into a dining destination.
Bajaj received one of seven awards during the 2015 Momentum Awards ceremony. Additional awards were presented for:
- Downtown Experience of the Year: The BEACH exhibit from the National Building Museum
- Downtown Public Sector Person, Project or Program of the Year: John P. Thomas, Chief Performance Officer for the District Department of Transportation
- Downtown Private Sector Person, Project or Program of the Year: Prequel by EquityEats
- Downtown Partnership or Program of the Year: The Dance of the Cranes in partnership with Capital Fringe, artist Brandon Vickerd, Gould Property Company, Oxford Properties Group, Clark Construction, Miller & Long and the National Park Service
- Downtown Detail of the Year: CityCenterDC’s Water Features
- Downtown Visionary Award: Bob Vogel, Regional Director of the National Park Service for his leadership in the renovation of Franklin Park
The awards ceremony was emceed by Ellen Jones, BID director of infrastructure and sustainability and awards were presented by BID Board Secretary Ginger Laytham, Sr. Executive Officer to the President, CEO and Chairman of the Board of Clyde’s Restaurant Group.
The ceremony was part of a night of festivities at the annual Momentum Awards celebration, which this year featured a doughnut bar from Poste Brasserie, a mock hotel room from Hotel Monaco, Glo Bocce with the DC Bocce League, a parklet from Carr Workplaces, music from Crush Funk Brass and two staffed exhibits on development on view upstairs from the Historical Society of Washington, D.C.