About Et Voila!
Cheek-by-jowl tables and the happy buzz of conversation give this dining room the feel of a Montparnasse hangout. And while the menu includes nods to the City of Light such as duck confit and profiteroles, it skews toward the native cuisine of Belgian chef/owner Claudio Pirollo. That means mussels are reliably plump (we like the version with garlic and saffron) and frites nicely crunchy. Despite the cramped quarters, there’s a sense of wit to the place. Oversize cutlery doubles as art, and that luminous clock is actually a projection.
Don’t miss: Endive salad; mussels gratinée; smoked salmon with Belgian waffle; beef stew; sole meunière; burger; Nutella ice cream with chocolate sauce.
See what other restaurants made our 100 Very Best Restaurants list. This article appears in our February 2016 issue of Washingtonian.
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.
Anna Spiegel covers the dining and drinking scene in her native DC. Prior to joining Washingtonian in 2010, she attended the French Culinary Institute and Columbia University’s MFA program in New York, and held various cooking and writing positions in NYC and in St. John, US Virgin Islands.
