Where is that perfect little French bistro hiding? (Arlington, Alexandria: home, live)

[rute boye]

Give the Evo Bisto in McLean a try........it's very good!
Welcome to Evo Bistro | Evo Bistro

[statecollege]

Plako Grill in Vienna is a small and very good Greek restaurant in Vienna. And for desert Nielson's Frozen Custard is around the corner!
Plaka Grill
Nielsen?s Frozen Custard

[South Jersey Styx]

If you ever want to do a day trip to Winchester, there's a nice French place here, La Nicoise Cafe:
La Niçoise Café :: A Taste of the Riviera in Downtown Winchester, VA

The owners are extremely nice and the food was good (although i am not a judge of french cuisine). We had the escargots and they were quite tasty.

Another place is Le Chat Noir in DC:
Home Page @ Le Chat Noir --- Restaurant Français & Wine Lounge in Friendship Heights --- Washington DC

Happy eating!

[Alicia Bradley]

Originally Posted by Stephen 81

You do know that Arlington and Falls Church's farmers' markets are open year-round, right? You could have been buying local apples and root vegetables (not to mention eggs, dairy and meat) all winter.

Yay! Thanks for letting me know about this - especially since I'll be moving to Arlington (near Crystal City) at some point... in the next ten years or so...

It's a shame that produce from regular grocery stores is so abysmally bad, though (with a few exceptions - Super H Mart, the odd score from Harris Teeter, etc.). I miss being able to load up on good stuff into the winter (perfectly-textured bosc pears, etc.) without even giving it a second thought.

[ersatz]

Originally Posted by robbobobbo

Outside of OP's preferred location, but

Bistro: Bistrot Lafayette (I haven't tried it)

Casual country French: Le Refuge (really like it, tiny though)

I haven't been to La Ruche in decades, I'd forgotten about it! Nice place, I'll have to make a point to revisit it.

Thanks! Sounds good, I want to try it.

[NOVAEER]

I think the fundamental problem with NOVA cuisine is the fundamental problem with DC cuisine. And it's the fundamental problem with DC culture. No one is from there, and there is no real shared culture to draw from. So, everything feels like an attempt to do something that another city or region has tried.

There has always been a hole in the center of the Metro area culture whether one is talking about theater, food, art or music.

[Forehead]

The Cafe Tatti is in McLean and I'm told is quite good.

Cafe Tatti


I haven't been there in quite awhile, but I remember liking the food and the prices seem reasonable.

[JD984]

Originally Posted by NOVAEER

I think the fundamental problem with NOVA cuisine is the fundamental problem with DC cuisine. And it's the fundamental problem with DC culture. No one is from there, and there is no real shared culture to draw from. So, everything feels like an attempt to do something that another city or region has tried.

There has always been a hole in the center of the Metro area culture whether one is talking about theater, food, art or music.

I don't buy that at all. The fact that the area has become so cosmopolitan (in the literal sense of the world) means that there are lots of different options, and quality expectations are increasingly high. Brussels is considered one of the best restaurant cities in Europe for similar reasons.

I will concede that there's not a specialized cuisine uniquely associated with this area, but big deal. You can go to Philly (if you really want to) for the cheesesteaks, to Maryland for the crabs, to NY/NJ for the bagels and get almost everything else here.

[brooklynborndad]

I rather imagine that if you had visited Georgetown or Frederick or laurel in 1750 you would have found pretty much the same cuisine as prevailed in other parts of the state of maryland. So its not really true that there is no native cuisine (not sure if cuisine in Alexandria in 1750 would have been closer to that or other parts of virginia, or even how different they would have been). Its just that its been overwritten so to speak by other cultures and cuisines. Which it has in common with a few other cities that received most of their population either from immigrants or from in migrants from far away - Philly may still have pennsyvlania roots, but NY doesnt really have any roots in old hudson valley culture or cuisine. NY, aside from its immigrant cultures (jewish and Italian, while we have vietnamese and korean and so forth) has been around long enough to have developed more unique things of its own - DC prior to 1941 was a relatively small place.

[Caladium]

FWIW, I think this recession is going to result in the creation of a lot more cafes with specialized cuisines. I also think it will lead to a lot more local artists and musicians.

Here's why--so many people are moving here because one person in the family had a job, but the spouse and maybe the kids also need to find work. Some of them are bound to be foodies, artists, and musicians. People from Louisiana will want cajun cuisine, those moving here from California will want more fusion dishes, those from New Mexico will look for southwestern dishes, etc. At first they may be disappointed to see what's available here--but many will be inspired and see what a great opportunity awaits them if they think about starting their own place. Or even just supplying food to local stores/restaurants.

Nova is a good place to start a business, we have a lot of people who like to eat out and who have money to spend, and a need has been identified (i.e. we could use more foodie restaurants). Sounds like a good combo for entrepreneurs.