La Côte d’Or Café, East Falls Church in Arlington - Chef Jacques Imperato Takes Over From Raymond Campet - Chef de Cuisine Jeanmarc Drimille Remains

[dcs]

If there is a thread about this place I could not find it.  I have not been here in years, but it appears there is a new chef:

Apr 20, 2016 - "Well-Loved La Côte d’Or Café Gets New Owner-Chef; Frogs Legs and Escargot? - Oui!" on lightningreleases.com

Apr 22, 2016 - "Frog Legs, Escargots Back on the Menu at La Côte d’Or Café" on arlnow.com

May 4, 2016 - "Arlington: New Owner-Chef Leads La Côte d’Or" by Eden Brown on connectionnewspapers.com

We used to enjoy La Mediterranée on Lee Highway before it burned down.  Might be time to head back to La Côte d’Or and see what's doing.

[DonRocks]

On 5/7/2016 at 11:21 AM, dcs said:

If there is a thread about this place I could not find it.  I have not been here in years, but it appears there is a new chef:

I thought we at least had a thread about the casual half of the restaurant, but I don't see one. Anyway, the long-time owner passed away awhile back:

Jun 3, 2015 - "Raymond Campet, Owner of La Côte d'Or Café in Falls Church, Has Died" by Missy Frederick on dc.eater.com

Raymond (pronounced in the French - ray-MONH) was the original owner, and ironically, I went to Charley Geer's (<--- please read this) 50th birthday party there. I haven't been back to La Côte d'Or Café since Charley passed away because my memories are perfect the way they are. 

La Côte d'Or Café was never a "great" restaurant under Raymond, but it could be a very solid neighborhood bistro - the kind where the chef knows your name, and you asked him to cook whatever he had that night. The Lightning Releases article describes it as "well-loved," and that's a pretty good descriptor. I have fond memories of this restuarant, and wish the new owner nothing but the best of everything for its new life.

Read the article in Connection Newspapers that dcs linked to - Jacques Imperato sounds delightfully arrogant, and he went to cooking school in Nice - I look forward to trying his undoubtedly authentic regional <<cuisine Niçoise>> and reporting back on his pissaladière, socca, daube, légumes farcies, tourtes de blettes, etc. 

Oh, damn, there isn't a single one. Oh, well - in the Lightning Releases article, he says, "I hope to educate people on real French cooking." I very much look forward to his tutelage. 

[hopsing]

If he brings back beef bourguignon, I'm there!

[Dr. Delicious]

We had a very good meal here last night. For apps, we started with the cheese board, which had 4 cheeses (ample portions of Manchego, blue, brie-style, other hard and smoky) some fruit, and apple sauce-type thing (went very well with the blue cheese) and peach/tomato compote. There's nothing obscure, or what you couldn't get yourself at Whole Foods (or wherever), still it was a very nice plate, and easily shareable among 2 people. It's also listed on the dessert menu, and would be a nice way to finish your meal, instead (as the couple behind us did). After we finished this, the wait staff brought out our 2nd app, Devils Eggs, which was a nice touch from a service standpoint. As an aside, service was good and attentive throughout the meal (multiple water re-fills, wine pourings, utensil changes, bread offerings, etc.). The Devils eggs were awesome; 2 eggs halved, with a really good flavor to the egg, nicely accompanied by a small piece of lox. It also had this amazing tear drop thingy filled with horseradish, that was a wonderful flavor bomb to go with the bite of egg. For mains I had the Beef Bourguignon, also an ample portion, with a tasty sauce, that might have been a bit too heavy on a 90 degree August day. My wife had the Beef Bavette, also with a tasty sauce (black peppercorn cream), and amazing fries. Those fries were done right, double fried, crispy, and maybe some of the best we've had, tho I know that sounds crazy. The steak was good, but a bit tough for my wife's liking. I don't know if we got a more fatty-than-average piece, or if it's just the cut of steak they use for this dish, but neither of us would order it again. She could only eat maybe half of what was on her plate. It was even tough to cut. Anyway, change the cut of steak, and it's a winner. The good news? Wednesday's deal (half off the 2nd entree when you order 2 entrees) meant we paid less than $12 for the dish. I would have paid that for the fries alone! For dessert I had a perfectly adequate piece of bread pudding (a little bland, actually), while the wife had a sampler of chocolate mouse (excellent), profiterole (very good), and peach creme brulee (very tart and not good).

The dining room was quaint, clean, seemingly freshly painted, and allowed for easy conversation (that is, it wasn't loud). That last point might have something to do with us being younger by 15 years than anyone else in the dining room (and we're in our 40s!), even tho the dining room was mostly full during our meal. The restaurant also seems to have deals for every day of the week. 

Anyway, overall (food, service, price, ambiance) it was a great experience and we will definitely return.

[ktmoomau]

I have always wondered about this place, thanks for the write up!

[Dr. Delicious]

8 minutes ago, ktmoomau said:

I have always wondered about this place, thanks for the write up!

My pleasure! Also, I wouldn't say we were pleasantly surprised, since it mostly gets positive reviews (Yelp, Open Table, TripAdvisor) and is in italics in Don's dining guide. Still, it's next to an Econo Lodge, near a Rte 66 overpass, and borders a much trendier area, leaving some room for suspicion.

[ktmoomau]

Just now, Dr. Delicious said:

My pleasure! Also, I wouldn't say we were pleasantly surprised, since it mostly gets positive reviews (Yelp, Open Table, TripAdvisor) and is in italics in Don's dining guide. Still, it's next to an Econo Lodge, near a Rte 66 overpass, and borders a much trendier area, leaving some room for suspicion.

I will say I had a lot of suspicion, hahahha.

[Bob Wells]

Glad to see La Cote D'Or is alive and well. At my prior job (back when the neighborhood was still pretty shlocky), this place was our go-to for nice lunches. My best memory is getting an authentic Salade Vendéenne, something I had never heard of but had to try because we have Petits Bassets Griffons Vendeéns dogs, which hail from the same obscure, rural region of France, the Vendée. BTW the salad was delicious (and extremely unhealthy LOL).

[DonRocks]

On 8/24/2017 at 11:18 AM, Bob Wells said:

which hail from the same obscure, rural region of France, the Vendée. 

The Vendée is *really* obscure, especially considering it's on the Atlantic Ocean - I thought I knew every department in France (I had memorized them all about twenty years ago, along with their prefectures, regions (well, *that's* been shot to hell), numbers, and bordering departments), but I had to look this one up. It's as if I had no knowledge that it existed - a total memory loss - it doesn't even sound familiar to me now that I'm typing this in.

[DaveO]

On 8/24/2017 at 10:49 AM, Dr. Delicious said:

We had a very good meal here last night. For apps, we started with the cheese board, which had 4 cheeses (ample portions of Manchego, blue, brie-style, other hard and smoky) some fruit, and apple sauce-type thing (went very well with the blue cheese) and peach/tomato compote. There's nothing obscure, or what you couldn't get yourself at Whole Foods (or wherever), still it was a very nice plate, and easily shareable among 2 people. It's also listed on the dessert menu, and would be a nice way to finish your meal, instead (as the couple behind us did). After we finished this, the wait staff brought out our 2nd app, Devils Eggs, which was a nice touch from a service standpoint. As an aside, service was good and attentive throughout the meal (multiple water re-fills, wine pourings, utensil changes, bread offerings, etc.). The Devils eggs were awesome; 2 eggs halved, with a really good flavor to the egg, nicely accompanied by a small piece of lox. It also had this amazing tear drop thingy filled with horseradish, that was a wonderful flavor bomb to go with the bite of egg. For mains I had the Beef Bourguignon, also an ample portion, with a tasty sauce, that might have been a bit too heavy on a 90 degree August day. My wife had the Beef Bavette, also with a tasty sauce (black peppercorn cream), and amazing fries. Those fries were done right, double fried, crispy, and maybe some of the best we've had, tho I know that sounds crazy. The steak was good, but a bit tough for my wife's liking. I don't know if we got a more fatty-than-average piece, or if it's just the cut of steak they use for this dish, but neither of us would order it again. She could only eat maybe half of what was on her plate. It was even tough to cut. Anyway, change the cut of steak, and it's a winner. The good news? Wednesday's deal (half off the 2nd entree when you order 2 entrees) meant we paid less than $12 for the dish. I would have paid that for the fries alone! For dessert I had a perfectly adequate piece of bread pudding (a little bland, actually), while the wife had a sampler of chocolate mouse (excellent), profiterole (very good), and peach creme brulee (very tart and not good).

The dining room was quaint, clean, seemingly freshly painted, and allowed for easy conversation (that is, it wasn't loud). That last point might have something to do with us being younger by 15 years than anyone else in the dining room (and we're in our 40s!), even tho the dining room was mostly full during our meal. The restaurant also seems to have deals for every day of the week. 

Anyway, overall (food, service, price, ambiance) it was a great experience and we will definitely return.

Wow.  Years ago this was such an enjoyable restaurant and dining experience as a local quality French bistro.   It completely fell off my radar.  

Thanks for the write up and acknowledging it is still a worthwhile place to dine.  Wonderful reminder.  I must visit

And btw, now I'm as old as the rest of the "old farts" that were there the night  you two dined.  So great.  I no longer need to address other patrons as Mr and Mrs so and so as if I was intruding on a hangout that my parents' friends enjoyed. 😎

[Bob Wells]

18 hours ago, DonRocks said:

The Vendée is *really* obscure, especially considering it's on the Atlantic Ocean - I thought I knew every department in France (I had memorized them all about twenty years ago, along with their prefectures, regions (well, *that's* been shot to hell), numbers, and bordering departments), but I had to look this one up. It's as if I had no knowledge that it existed - a total memory loss - it doesn't even sound familiar to me now that I'm typing this in.

Oh yeah -- it's not known for much of anything, other than our dogs (that's Willie on the kitchen table and some related breeds. While the breed is quite unusual in the US it's much more common in Europe and in places like the Vendee they are still used to hunt for supper (rabbit).

But not much wine to speak of, and just a few local dishes of some repute. But that salad is a winner!

[Lorenzo Figliuoli]

This little restaurant at the corner of Lee Highway and I66/Washington Boulevard is truly an hidden gem of the Falls Church neighborhood. Our entire family enjoys it.  My wife often goes there for lunch with her girl friends. The menu is mainly concentrated on typical French fare , but it also includes Lorraine-Alsace specialties and other regional dishes, including the seasonal choucroute Alsacienne and the Cassoulet which I enjoy so much. My wife finds it very difficult to pass on the sole meunière almost every time we go. Though, over time, we have tried several delicious dishes on the menu, including the rib eye steak with Roquefort cheese, the venison loin, the bouillabaisse, the onion soup, the homemade pate and the mussels. A special treat is the Tarte Tatin at dessert time. Absolutely scrumptious perfection!  We find the dishes very well executed and as close to the French originals as one could expect on the side of the pond. This is a quite an achievement for a neighborhood place. Even more remarkable that la Cote d'Or is consistent in its quality. My only "disappointment" is that the previous management used to offer a fresh foie gras with raspberry reduction that was to die for and I have not seen it in the specials for a few years now. I wish we could have it back from time to time! The character of the place is very relaxed with low noise. You can actually have a conversation in soft voice, which is more than what is on offer in most restaurants nowadays. The clientele seems mostly senior and very well behaved... Prices are reasonable for the DC area.

[Lorenzo Figliuoli]

Just to report that Chef Imperato has recently added to the menu two (presumably seasonal, but maybe not) items: a boudin noir appetizer and a breaded skate wing main course. We tried them and both were very good.

[ziv]

I went to Cote d'or recently for lunch to have the boullabaisse but I believe it is a dinner item only, so I got the potage Bourguignon & the seafood crepe instead. Rather good, not great. Quite a bit of seafood in the crepe though, which is nice.

  Service was prompt but not intrusive, crowd was nice and relatively quiet making conversation enjoyable. The $19 two course lunch deal is a winner. The mussels, the trout and the flat iron steak all look like they would be good choices, possibly better than the seafood crepe. Live and learn. The owner said that if I wanted the cassoulet it might be a good idea to call in advance to see if it was available. I don't visit this restaurant often but it looks like working into the menu a bit might be rewarding.