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Little Red Fox, Prepared-Food Cafe In The Old Marvelous Market Space in Chevy Chase, DC


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Checked out Little Red Fox twice during their opening week.  What a great addition to the neighbourhood!  The place is more market than cafe, with only 1 table and about 4 chairs near the storefront window.  We went around 7pm on their opening day and they were already sold out of most goods.  We took this as a good sign of support for the new place.  Of their prepared foods, there was still some baked goods and a macaroni and cheese.  We snagged that last mac and cheese and picked up a variety of cookies (brown sugar snickerdoodle, gingerbread, and peanut butter) to go.  By the time we got home, the mac and cheese was still warm and plenty for 2 people.  And it was really good - creamy and cheesy, with what tasted to be a combination of cheeses used, with a bit of a crunch from the breadcrumbs on top.  The cookies were also tasty.  The standout was the brown sugar snickerdoodle - not too sweet and nice and chewy.

On our second visit, we ordered a latte and a couple of breakfast burittos (vegetable/black bean & vegetable/sofrito).  Both were great!  The black bean version had eggs, spinach, and black beans.  The sofrito version contained homestyle potatoes, eggs, spinach(?), and the sofrito sauce.  I can only speak for the black bean version with its fluffy eggs, sauteed greens, and nicely spiced beans.  Mr. Oz gobbled up the sofrito version before I got a chance to try it, but there were no complaints from him.

Service wise - things moved a little slow as the staff are working out some kinks (to be expected), but everyone there is friendly and working hard to get the place off the ground.

The current set up of the store lends itself more to a take-away than an "order your food and sit and enjoy it"/cafe atmosphere.  I'm more than happy with this current set-up, though on a strictly personal note, would love it if it evolved into more cafe and less market.

With the addition of Little Red Fox and the upcoming Bread Furst, Van Ness is looking up.

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Surprised that no one has posted on this shop since it opened. It seems to be doing great business the few times I've been in the past couple of months. Last week, I stopped by for a snack and saw that they had canele pastries ($2.50) (all of which they make inhouse) and had to try one since I recently discovered and enjoyed this french mini cake at Breadfurst ($4).  The LRF canele paled in comparison - it was very stiff with a thick/hardish crust and no rum flavoring at all - whereas the Breadfurst ones are ethereal.  I guess they are still worth the extra cost.   Today for breakfast though I had a really good fried egg sandwich at LRF.  Toasted ciabatta bread with a runny fried egg, apple butter, gorgonzola spread, and some lettuce - seems like an odd combo but it was very filling and delicious.  They'll also add bacon if swine is your thing.

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Cool Hand Cuke is one of the best veggie sandwiches around! Brisket and pulled pork sandwiches are also tasty, but only offered as sandwich of the day -- not part of the standard menu. Tomato soup is good, but I still miss Cowgirl Creamery's version. Limited menu but it varies from day to day, with the full week's schedule posted on Tuesday (they're closed Monday) -- so choose your day accordingly. Takeaway dinner stuff is available starting at 3 pm. My husband really likes the chicken pot pie. And their watermelon, blackberry, feta and mint salad has become a summertime stapl for us.

Best when you're not in a hurry -- though if you are, calling the order in before you go can be a big time-saver.

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Cool Hand Cuke is one of the best veggie sandwiches around! Brisket and pulled pork sandwiches are also tasty, but only offered as sandwich of the day -- not part of the standard menu. Tomato soup is good, but I still miss Cowgirl Creamery's version. Limited menu but it varies from day to day, with the full week's schedule posted on Tuesday (they're closed Monday) -- so choose your day accordingly. Takeaway dinner stuff is available starting at 3 pm. My husband really likes the chicken pot pie. And their watermelon, blackberry, feta and mint salad has become a summertime stapl for us.

Best when you're not in a hurry -- though if you are, calling the order in before you go can be a big time-saver.

Congratulations, ventworm! :)

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Moving to Van Ness, I was under the impression that Bread Furst would be one of few sites of interest.  And it is a great, important bakery.  But in some ways, Little Red Fox succeeds in some areas where Bread Furst falls a bit short.  

I haven't had any sandwiches or soups here yet, but the Breakfast Burrito here is outstanding, served with their housemade hot sauce.  The pies and pastries look inviting, and the coffee program here is very strong (although my espresso fell a bit short).  A couple beers are also on tap.

The market section is particularly strong, especially for such a small footprint.  If you were to only visit DC for several hours, I can think of no better place than LRF to stop in and walk away with a sense of some of the best local products.  My favorite eggs are here, Trickling Springs milk and butter, Three Stars beers, Dolcezza ice creams and sorbettos, Ceremony and Rare Bird coffee, local pastas, etc. etc. etc.  There are also bags of Rancho Gordo beans and other staples I am no doubt forgetting.  Frozen dinners and stocks are also available.    

Seating is a bit tight, it will probably be nice to sit on the patio in nice weather, and the vibe here can be a bit Portlandia, but I've hit a number of these local markets in DC and LRF is the best in show for that model.

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This could go here, in the P&P Coffeehouse thread and Independent Coffee Shops... but Little Red Fox will be collaborating with Politics & Prose on the running of the book store's new coffeehouse:

P&P Newsletter

Many of the old coffeehouse staff will be returning, so customers can count on seeing familiar faces behind the counter. But overseeing the operation will be someone new to P&P (although not to the neighborhood): Matt Carr, an owner of Little Red Fox up the street from the bookstore.

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Today LRF announced that their daily lunch menu will include the Fancy Grilled Cheese, a Cauliflower and Romesco sandwich, and (drum roll) their Cuban sandwich. Their Cuban is my favorite version I have sampled in this city: juicy meats, crusty bread, Gordy pickles, and just a bit of heat to make it interesting.  

Before, they would serve it on a random weekday and would run out, I was like 3 for 7 in actually ordering it. Maybe that's a factor in why I like it better, since I have invested so much in ordering it (kinda like waiting for hours in line trying to get a seat at a cool restaurant, does that make the food taste better when you actually sit down?)

 

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On 9/13/2016 at 10:21 AM, DaRiv18 said:

Their Cuban is my favorite version I have sampled in this city: juicy meats, crusty bread, Gordy pickles, and just a bit of heat to make it interesting.  

So now it is rosemary ham, citrus pulled pork, a healthy portion (or unhealthy portion?) of  melted gruyere, Dijon mustard, and house pickles on crusty bread.  No spice, although I will add a splash of their house hot sauce next time.  Damn tasty.

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