Women of Wonder
By Kelly MacConomy
In March, Zebra Press celebrated Women’s History Month honoring women we all know and admire. The cover feature, “The Queens of Del Ray: Still Making History,” spotlighted local legends Carol Bailey, Pat Miller, Patty Moran, Nora Paltrow, Jen Walker, and the tireless Gayle Reuter. This month, In Z Hood shines a light on a woman among the lesser-known SHEroes in our town.
Tona Napoli was recently interviewed while she was managing a rooftop soirée bar service at the insanely popular National Gallery of Art “Evenings on the Edge,” a monthly art scene-and-be-seen event happening throughout the spring and fall. This month’s theme was “Wonder Women,” an homage to women who have created and inspired beloved masterpieces from the 20th Century.
Tona, who resembles Gal Godot and is a Wonder Woman in her own right, was serving gallons of the evening-themed cocktail: The Lasso, named for super-heroine Wonder Woman’s turbo-charged lariat. Tona spent much of the evening on the edge, dodging the Syncopated Ladies entertaining the throngs crowding the dance floor and balconies from the rooftop to the Mezzanine, stepping out onto the polished marble floors, rocking even the giant rotating Calder mobile into incessant whirling, twirling spins.
Having started in catering in 1982 with her own business, TonaMarie Confections, Tona also works with Design Cuisine, Susan Gage Caterers in Landover, MD, and City Winery DC. She can often be discovered at chance encounters around the District and Alexandria’s most elite and exclusive events circuit.
