100 Very Best Restaurants: #20 – Convivial

Photograph courtesy of Convivial.

About Convivial

cuisines
French
Location(s)
801 O St NW
Washington, District of Columbia 20001-3525

Cedric Maupillier, who has helmed the kitchens at Central and the late Mintwood Place, is masterful at creating low-key French/American bistros that aim high and are executed well. At this amber-lit Shaw dining room, the menu now leans more Gallic, save for a very American (and very delicious) double cheeseburger. Maupillier’s onion soup, cassoulet, and housemade baguettes are superlative, and we love his resurrections of little-seen delicacies like pâté en croûte, pot au feu, and crayfish quenelles in a creamy Cognac sauce. Moderate.