Each year the French celebrate liberté, égalité, fraternité on Bastille Day, July 14. Where can you raise a glass of Champagne tonight? Here’s how some local restaurants are bringing the holiday to DC.

“Who needs to go to France when we have Lepic right here?” reads Bistrot Lepic’s Web site. The quaint Georgetown dining room commemorates Bastille Day with a special menu that includes foie gras with pepper confit and wine sauce; crispy salmon; rack of lamb with ratatouille; roasted duck breast; stuffed trout; and for dessert, baba au rhum. Entrées range from $19 to $30.
 

Dupont Circle hangout Bistrot Du Coin is putting on its rollicking yearly bash, which kicks off at 10 PM with a DJ and dancing. It will serve dishes from the regular menu, including onion soup, chicken velouté, and foie gras. Entrées range from $6.95 to $23.95. Reservations are recommended.

Looking for classic Bastille Day entertainment? You’ll find it at the Sofitel’s Ici Urban Bistro in downtown DC. At 6:30, servers will take part in the traditional French serving race as they sprint to a finish line holding a tray stacked with as many wine glasses as they can carry. In addition to the restaurant’s typical menu (entrées range from $18 to $29), there will also be a free wine tasting from 6:30 to 7:30. Reservations are required.

Café La Ruche in Georgetown honors the holiday by changing some of the entrées on its regular menu to reflect the Revolution, such as “Headless” Rainbow Trout Marie Antoinette, Duck 1782, and Les Marseillaise (a.k.a New York strip steak with pepper sauce). Dishes cost up to $19.99. Live music begins at 7.

Brasserie Les Halles celebrates both the United States’ and France’s birthdays with a ten-day Liberty Festival that concludes today with a daylong celebration featuring music, dancers and its famous servers’ races. The children’s race starts at noon and is followed by a customers’ race at 1 and the waiters’ races at 2:30. The race’s $10 entry fee benefits Best Buddies, a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping people with disabilities. The special Bastille Day menu includes beef soup with fresh cream; whitefish terrine with red-and-blue-potato salad; rolled salmon with sorrel sauce; chicken with crayfish; and apple tart. Dishes range in price from $7.50 to $24.

Related: 

French Bistros Dining Guide

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