Building a mini restaurant empire in D.C.

Constantine Stavropoulos doesn’t like the word transient.

The 42-year-old restaurant owner firmly believes that despite its reputation, the residents of D.C. are more than just a rotating cast of characters that change with the whims of politics. It was that belief that prompted Stavropoulos to open his first restaurant, Tryst, a coffeehouse/bar/lounge combo on Adams Morgan’s hip 18th Street, in 1998.