Cuisine: Chef Robert Wiedmaier’s labor-intensive Franco-Belgian fare doesn’t stint on butter and cream, and his reductions and sauces—dark, rich, and complex—are reminiscent of an earlier age.
Mood: Silver domes and attentive, black-suited waiters make this expansive dining room with art-nouveau accents one of the most pampering palaces in town.
Best for: High-maintenance Francophiles and the Kennedy Center–bound who come for the great pretheater deal: $48 for three courses and a chauffeured Caddy or Mercedes to the performance.
Best dishes: An earthy roasted-chestnut soup with disks of house-made venison sausage; boudin blanc with celery-root purée and an intense Cabernet reduction; roasted pheasant with a terrine of pheasant confit; roasted figs with thyme mille feuille and honey goat cheese; blood-orange sorbet; chocolate-chip-mint ice cream.
Insider tips: Book the pretheater ride with your dinner reservation. Appetizers and desserts usually show more savoir-faire than entrées do. You can also sup in the swanky bar, where a jazz pianist plays Tuesday through Saturday.
Service: ••••
Ann Limpert joined Washingtonian in late 2003. She was previously an editorial assistant at Entertainment Weekly and a cook in New York restaurant kitchens, and she is a graduate of the Institute of Culinary Education. She lives in Petworth.
