Cafe du Parc

Posted by Edmund in French, Restaurants, Washington, DC | Comments Off

French.
Entrées run $20-$29. 3-course Prix Fixe Dinner for $38.
1401 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest, Washington, DC 20004-1047.

When I’m in the mood for a true dining experience, there’s nothing that I like more than some French food. Rich, savory, fresh dishes, combined with perfect service and a nice air of intimacy—you just can’t go wrong with a combo like that.

And I was looking for just that kind of a perfect dining experience when I went to Café du Parc, during the middle of what was the worst snowstorm in decades (the legendary Snowmaggedon). Now, a snowstorm may not seem like a big deal, but in DC, when it snows, it’s as if the whole world ends—busses stop running, people get lazy and stay in, and you can barely find anyone in the whole Georgetown area. Needless to say, my plans to go out to dinner with some friends had been canceled, and I was in somewhat of a bad mood. But I wasn’t going to let that stop me from getting in a good meal, and I was intent on escaping from the dreary boredom of my deserted college campus. I put on a few layers of clothing, roughed it through the cold DC weather, running to Dupont to catch my metro (since the busses weren’t running!), and I eventually made it to Café du Parc. In retrospect, that sounds a bit extreme, but boy did it turn out to be a good choice.

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So what is it that distinguishes Café du Parc, especially in DC. After all,  it’s the nations capital, with tons of suits, tons of politicians, etc. One would expect French cuisine all over.

Café du Parc, though, is on another level. Most important is the price: It’s a high-end bistro for cheap. $38 for a prix fixe and about $40-$50 for 3 courses off the menu is about as cheap a price at which you’ll find good French food. Just as importantly, though, it’s got some major culinary cred, as its menu is designed by three-star Michelin chef Antoine Westermann. $40 for the guarantee of a 3-Michelin-star-quality chef–now that’s a deal, if you ask me. Not surprisingly, Café du Parc happens to be the 20^th best restaurant on Washingtonian’s 100 best list for DC, which is quite the feat, considering it’s only one of 2 or 3 restaurants in that whole top 20 that costs less than $50. With that much cred, Café du Parc was really asking for The Food Buster to check it out, and I couldn’t let a snowstorm get in the way.

Café du Parc doesn’t shine in all regards, though. Upon entering the restaurant, I immediately noticed just how normal (read typical or even dull) a bistro it is, at least on the surface. It’s located in a hotel, so not only do you get the typical excellent service, but you get that somewhat annoying, obsequious concierge service that you can expect from American hotels. The dining room itself is nicely, but simply decorated, and it has that touristy “hotel” feel to it: vases of violets (which look fake) lining the sides, pictures of DC monuments all around, really bright lighting everywhere, spacious seating, the boring white-lined walls, etc. That dullness would be my one critique of the place in general, as you really do know that you’re in a typical hotel.

I will say, though, that for what it is, the café is quaint, clean, and charming. You can tell just by looking at it that it’s going to be on the cheaper side of the luxurious, but I prefer that type of simplicity and casualness to what you get at the typical bistro, where everything seems to be overdone for the sake of being mysterious, romantic, and ostentatious (i.e. candlelight everywhere, practically no lighting, etc.) Everything is so nicely and simply organized and decorated that you really can’t find much to fault. For example, the open kitchen counter is stacked with French baguettes, while the pictures of DC introduce hotel guests to the capital.

And even the service didn’t seem to bother me at all. If anything, my waiter really contributed to the meal, approaching me with less than the typical formality of a hotel waiter, conversing with me about my travels, giving me excellent recommendations, explaining the dishes in depth, and just giving off a real warmth and charisma that you don’t get from a “real” French waiter, who has probably been taught to mute his/her emotions completely and fawn on the guests. He was a bit overzealous, but the intention was well-placed.

That all said, I’m sure you don’t want to hear endlessly about ambience or service. No, it’s the food that counts. And trust me, when you try the food here, you’re going to immediately be taken to that quiet, comfort zone in the back of your mind where you can just relax, enjoy, and not even notice that you’ve devoured a whole plate of food in a matter of 10 minutes. It’s really superb on almost all accounts, especially given the price range ($20 for my pork belly with mashes potatoes—even a college student can afford that!). Especially nice is that, for the price you pay, not only do you get some interesting combinations of ingredients that you typically might not find at other restaurants (check out my explanation of the Pâté en Croûte for example), but you also get presentation, as everything is cleanly neatly organized, dishes are balanced with different components, and in general you get a lot of color on each dish. Even more importantly, the food tastes just as good as it looks! It’s somewhat of a shame, really, since all that presentation went to waste as I begin to devour my food.

Overall, then, I’d have to give Café du Parc a big two thumbs up. Not only do you get superb service, presentation, food, and variety (even though the menu is very small), but you don’t have to pay an arm and a leg for it. There really is very little to complain about, and if you really love French cuisine—or even if you don’t—you really should try out Café du Parc if you’re in DC.

What I tried:

1. (Complementary) Bread: A hot, soft, fluffy baguette. Nearly perfect when eaten fresh. It has a nice crispiness on the edges, too, and it’s well salted. It does get bland as soon as it cools down, though.
2. Pâté en croûte d’Antoine Westermann (Veal, pork and duck foie gras terrine, cooked with port wine and Armagnac wrapped in home-made pastry with natural gelée): There is a piece of crispy bread with a caramelized onion jelly, served alongside the pate, with a border of crushed pistachios running across the middle—it’s a beautiful dish, as would be expected of a specialty dish created by a three Michelin star chef. The jelly is a bit too sweet on its own, but it has a nice, humid, fresh taste to it—it’s a natural-feeling sweetness, rather than a cloying one. However, the synergy with the pate is astoundingly good, as the sweet gooiness of the onions provides a great contrast to the savoriness of the pate. The pate itself is astounding. Not only is it one of the most unique creations I’ve seen (imagine pate bordered by the thick crust of a large piece of bread), it combines numerous different types of meat to really bring out a satisfying, complex taste that you can’t pin down. It reminds me of fresh mortadella and tender beef, but with a lot of nuance coming from the crunch of big pistachio pieces inside as well as the flakiness of the bread. The meat itself seems crunchy but just falls apart in your mouth.4.8/5.0. One of the most unique, beautiful, and best tasting dishes I’ve had in a long time.
3. Poitrine de cochon croustillante (Slowly braised pork belly, sautéed crisp, with natural thyme and garlic jus, served with salad): Again, a great presentation, with two nicely laid out parts—the fatty, crisped pork on one side, and the lighter, leafy, green salad on the other. I honestly thought the salad would add nothing. After all, extreme fat with a bunch of leafy greens? But I was certainly wrong. It’s delicious, adding some lightness and color to the dish. It’s infused with roasted garlic (left whole in the shell), giving it a nice, slight herbal taste. The salad also mixes wonderfully with the light gravy of the pork, which is the real centerpiece of the dish. The pork is, as expected, fatty, but it’s just so perfectly cooked that even the fat melts in your mouth. And even though it’s just one body part of the pig, there is so much nuance and complexity to the meat, as it’s actually composed of three layers—a crispy top, a fatty middle, and a slightly crisp but still very tender bottom. Each has its own flavor and taste, really showing just how versatile pork can be. The top is like eating a really hard piece of bacon, the middle just melts in your mouth with no problem, and the bottom has a satisfying chewiness to it with a bit more of a savory flavor. Everything is great with the gravy, which adds a good saltiness to the pork, but the pork can be eaten alone with no problem whatsoever, as it’s just that good. Thankfully, the gravy is very light and doesn’t overpower the dish at all. 4.5+ for the pork belly. 4.0 for the salad.
4. Homemade Mashed Potatoes: Phenomenal! I would like you to try to make better potatoes, because it’s almost impossible. They are so creamy, so buttery, and so rich, that you’d think it’s cloying, but they are not at all, as they go down smoothly and have a slight garlicky/herby flavor to it. They also go perfectly with the pork, adding a delightful starchy sweetness that adds even more flavor to the intense fat of the dish. 4.8-4.9
5. Fondant au Chocolat (Warm Chocolate cake with a red wine ganache and vanilla ice cream): This dish, again, is well-presented, and it has undeniable quality, but it’s just a bit uninspired (I’ve seen it done too many times, and better too). The vanilla ice cream is fantastic—smooth, creamy, perfectly sweetened, and a great counterbalance to the intense dark chocolate taste of the cake. The cake itself is like a muffin, as it’s warm and fluffy on top, with a nice bit of thickness to it that gives it the taste of a real chocolate cake, even though it’s surprisingly airy. The gooey chocolaty inside is really where I take the most fault with the cake. The red wine doesn’t come through too well. Instead, it just adds a slight fruity bitterness that clashes with the chocolate flavor. The caky exterior and the vanilla save the whole dessert. 3.5

Ambience: 2.8/5.0
Service: 4.5/5.0
Taste: 4.5/5.0
Value: 4.2/5.0. While it’s not the cheapest food, you’d be very hard pressed to find a bistro that serves French food of this quality at a cheaper price.
Overall: 4.2/5.0