Thanks to Daniel Koffler, GWSB BBA ’05, and Erica (Keller) Koffler, CCAS BA ’06, for sharing their story!
Where did you meet on campus?
We met where all college romances begin—at a bar! Not surprisingly, we have slightly different recollections of the events, but the general gist of it that I was with some friends at the bar, holding court (I was a sophomore and my wife was a freshman at the time) when Erica spotted me and we were introduced by mutual friends.
What were your first impressions of each other?
Love at first sight! By Erica’s telling, I fit her ‘profile’. I was just excited a pretty girl was interested in speaking with me.
What only-at-GW moment did you share as a couple?
Erica has always been very maternal, and she put that on display while we were in school by making sure I was always well fed. She is now a classically-trained chef (she studied communications in college and was one of the original writers for the online edition of the Hatchet, which she parlayed into a series of food journalism jobs after college), but the early foundations of her love of food (which basically consumes our lives now) were essentially limited to over-ordering, and then over-eating, Mei Wah 2-3x/week.
As our relationship become more serious, we took it upon ourselves to explore some of the culinary treasures that DC had to offer, both in Foggy Bottom and beyond—we became quite familiar with the restaurant scene, and I still yearn for Georgia Brown’s at strange times of the day .
Tell us about your last visit to GW together or how GW has remained important in your life.
We were in DC this past September. Erica works for a well-regarded and successful chef and restaurateur in NYC who gets invited to The White House annually for a visiting chef’s program. This was the 6th time he’s been down there (Erica’s 3rd or 4th, and my 2nd, in terms of this program), so the folks involved in organizing the event are legitimate friends of her boss’s team (and being a hanger-on, I’ve gotten to know them as well). My role is merely to sit and eat a delicious meal with some of the impressive people who help run the country, while Erica works the line with her team in the kitchen.
We always make time to go back and visit our old haunts when we are in town—we both lived in/around Washington Circle for most of our time in college (hence frequent Mei Wah orders)—but it’s incredible to see how developed campus has become, as well as the broader city itself. It was a great place to go to school 15 years ago, but it looks like it would be even better now (particularly from a food point of view).
A few visits ago, we brought our then-infant daughter to town and ended up finding our bricks denoting our graduating class and major in Kogan Plaza!
Anything else you want to share?
We have traveled to over 30 countries together!
