Cafe du Parc, in the Willard Hotel - Chef Serge Devesa from Marseilles In Charge of Willard's French-American Cafe

[DannyNoonan]

Dined at Cafe du Parc Sat night with my wife and 2yr old daughter. Beautiful night outside so were happy to grab a table outside, a rare treat dining al fresco without humidity. We were greeted and seated by a friendly hostess, who was happy to procure a highchair for my daughter. Our server was equally friendly, fetching me a nicely prepared sidecar which was the perfect tonic to enjoy on an evening outdoors.

We both started with the salade du Parc, a dish that shows good food need not be complicated. It's a simple combination of mache, gruyere cubes, hard boiled eggs, and avocado on a bed of butter lettuce. All bathed in a light vinaigrette that enhanced but didn't overwhelm the main ingredients. A nice way to start a summer meal.

I ordered the olive crusted rockfish as my entree. Served with confit tomatoes, the fish was well cooked and the olive crust added a nice briny texture to the dish. A couple glasses on a nice Sancerre paired perfectly with my meal. My wife ordered the Wellington Farms chicken breast which was a perfectly cooked, juicy, flavorful portion of chicken. Paired with a side order of their extra crispy fries, this was a great meal. The fries here are exquisite. Served in a mini cast iron vessel, they are worth the calories. My side order of sauteed vegetables was not quite as exciting as the fries but again a simple, well executed side made with good ingredients. It was refreshing as well to see the chicken breast and vegetables that we ordered for my daughter from the kid's menu was of similar quality as my wife's entree and was equally well received.

My wife ordered profiteroles for dessert. Based on the fact that she didn't speak at all while eating them and didn't offer me any, i'd say she thought they were good. I ordered the strawberry tart, which was good though the strawberries weren't as fresh tasting or sweet as I know fresh strawberries can be this time of year. Not a bad effort though. My daughter plowed through a bowl of chocolate ice cream.

This is a good restaurant. It seems to be under the radar somewhat but it's a real find. Good service, nice setting (esp. outside), and good quality food prepared well.

[KMango]

Between angry thunder and the occasional appearance of "God's photographer" (lightning), unable to enjoy the patio, but wound up at Cafe Du Parc late last week for lunch. Ordered from the limited RW menu.

Why do I keep doing that to myself?

Salad course provided brisk refreshment, well dressed with good acidity, although mere iceberg served as the base. For the life of me I cannot remember the components, but recall enjoying them.

From a visual perspective, the main course was a textured camouflage of beige. Poached pollock, scalloped white potatoes, and roasted fennel, a bizarre choice for plating via an eggshell dish. To be fair, the fish served skin side up and tomatoes baked with the potato provided some color contrast, but the overall effect was a palpable thud.

Flavors and textures were all OK, but several leagues away from remarkable. Service seemed impersonal yet efficient, as expected during peak RW lunch hour.

Not a home run in the Parc. I point to the center field of a cost-cutting RW menu and my mistake in ordering it.

[lekkerwijn]

Had another enojoyable du Parc experience this past weekend. Two friends and I had a mini-spa-staycation day planned at the Red Door in the Willard. We met up early for croissants and cafe au lait. The weather was lovely and the outdoor seating was the perfect way to start the day. After some pampering at the spa we had a late lunch outside. My friends both had the Nicoise salad, which looked great and they both finished every drop. I had the moules and frites. For dessert we all had chocolate eclairs. Crisp white wine for all- we could have been in Paris.

The whole experience nearly perfect except for one small-ish detail, which to be fair is outside of the control of the restaurant. IT IS OBNOXIOUS TOURIST CENTRAL!! The red double-decker busses and the trolley both have transfer points in front of the W and the Willard. It must be their drop off spot for the White House.

[The Hersch]

I'm probably dining at Cafe du Parc tomorrow evening, so I went to their website to look up their current menu. They may or may not currently be featuring a "Tastes of Burgundy" special menu, but that's what their menu shows, without dates, although the page header is still "Brittany Dinner Menu". All that aside, I was amused and delighted by the description of one of their featured tipples, Saint Germain: "Traditional French liquor made from elderly flowers".

[Gary Tanigawa]

Charleston in Baltimore does a pretty good snails and garlic and puff pastry thing. I know, not DC, but just more thoughts for when you're meandering about.

I wonder if Charleston is able to get their snails fresh from the Maryland farm that Don's link discusses?

We went to Cafe du Parc. Escargot (in shells and with a garlic butter sauce) was enjoyed by the two people who ordered it. I had a confited pork shank for the first course, instead. Prix fixe is three courses for $38, which was a good value. Although the food was fine and the list of wines by the glass had good variety, it is the sort of place that I will only annually. Unless the weather is good enough to eat outside, I probably won't be seeking it out (especially since I no longer work in DC and would have to drive in from VA). One thing of interest is that the restaurant validates if you leave your car with the valet outside, but not if you park in the hotel's garage.

[DonRocks]

I'm probably dining at Cafe du Parc tomorrow evening, so I went to their website to look up their current menu. They may or may not currently be featuring a "Tastes of Burgundy" special menu, but that's what their menu shows, without dates, although the page header is still "Brittany Dinner Menu". All that aside, I was amused and delighted by the description of one of their featured tipples, Saint Germain: "Traditional French liquor made from elderly flowers".

Right now, they're featuring a three-course Saveurs de l'Alsace menu for $37.95.

The menu doesn't mention that the Foie Gras appetizer carries a $5 upcharge (my server was attentive enough to warn me); I instead ordered the Presskopf ($11), a traditional Alsatian pork terrine with cornichons, grain mustard, and herb salad. This was a large portion of terrine, two slices of refined-rustic pork meats coming from various parts, co-mingled with frisée and well-dressed. I could have made a full meal just off of this and a couple slices of baguette.

My main course was even more generous, a huge portion of Choucroute Garnie ($25), "Alsatian sauerkraut with smoked bacon, sausage, and braised pork." There was a normal amount of sauerkraut, but the meats were so bountiful that you can ignore the menu description: A softball-sized piece of braised pork on-bone, pork belly, another cut of pork that wasn't quite from the belly, three large whole sausages which I'd guess were knackwurst, weisswurst, and bratwurst, a few beautifully cut potatoes, and of course the all-important crockpot of granular mustard. These weren't the best sausages I've ever had, but they were very, very good. I urge everyone to go here and order this dish - they'll give you a box to take your leftovers home for lunch the next day. Get it with a glass of Lucien Albrecht Riesling (no bargain at $10, I can't remember the bottle price - while I'm on the subject, I should add that Caterina Abbruzzetti is no longer at the Willard, and she was responsible for the outstanding wine programs, both at The Willard Room and Café du Parc).

Gåteau de Fromage Blanc Alsacien ($8) was something I might not have ordered, but with the prix-fixe menu it only amounted to $1.95. Billed as a cheesecake tarte with rhubarb compote and almond tuile, this could have been a decent dessert, but it was the coldest dessert I can ever remember having that wasn't supposed to be frozen, and because of that I just didn't enjoy it. I should also add that the Presskopf was served much colder than it should have been - the appetizer was refrigerator temperature, the dessert was nearly freezer temperature. (I can forgive both of these because I arrived on an empty Monday night just before the kitchen closed.)

Cheers,

Rocks.

[DonRocks]

A 2005 Didier Desvignes Morgon "Les Charmes" ($40) is a wine that probably retails for closer to $20, but is worth every bit of $40 when sitting outside in this weather, the sun playing its annoying little game of bob-and-weave, first hiding behind the umbrellas, then peeking out and staring you in the eye. The wine list at Café du Parc remains outstanding, with well-chosen, inexpensive French wines in abundance, both by the glass and by the bottle.

Relatively mild, it needs a pinch of salt, but that's not the case with the Pate en croute ($11.95) (sorry, no accents on this laptop) which is completely different than the last time I had it, but remains worth ordering.

A plate of perfectly fine Pommes Frites added some more warmth and salt to the meal, which was rounded out by a 2006 Montirius Cotes du Rhone ($40), imported by Roy Cloud's company Vintage 59. The wine was on the menu as 2005, and came across initially as a bit harsh, but with about twenty minutes of aeration it opened up nicely.

The Pate en Croute ($13.95) was its usual self, complete with a little foie gras surprise waiting to be discovered in the middle

Get it with a glass of Lucien Albrecht Riesling (no bargain at $10, I can't remember the bottle price - while I'm on the subject, I should add that Caterina Abbruzzetti is no longer at the Willard, and she was responsible for the outstanding wine programs, both at The Willard Room and Café du Parc).

The wine list at Cafe du Parc is a shadow of what it used to be. There are now exactly four wines priced under $40 - last night, one of them was a Loire Valley sparkling Blanc de Blancs that they were out of when I tried to order it. I asked if there was a substitute, and my server said no. That made the least expensive sparkler on the menu an eye-popping $60 for a run-of-the-mill Crémant de Bourgogne. Want the "pleasure" (*) of Moët et Chandon "White Star?" That will set you back $95 (**).

I settled for one of the other three sub-$40 selections: a 2008 (listed on the menu as 2006 (***)) Domaine de la Quilla Muscadet-Sèvre et Maine ($36) that was pleasant enough, but had HUGE, crystalline, string-like structures in the bottom of the bottle - one of them about an inch long. They were probably just tartrates (****) that were thrown when the wine became frozen somewhere along the way, but most customers would have sent this bottle back in fear.

Oh, and that Pâté en Croûte that was $11.95 when I wrote about it in December, 2007, and $13.95 when I wrote about it in October, 2008? I had it again last night: It's now sixteen bucks.

Cheers,

Rocks.

(*) Assuming you take pleasure in drinking a champagne that smells of vomit.

(**) What is the deal with Moët prices? Believe it or not, I saw it on the wine list of three different restaurants last night, and all three had it for between $90 and $95. That is like paying $15 for a can of Budweiser. Ridiculous.

(***) And given that it's a Robert Kacher import, thank goodness it wasn't.

(****) I've had bottles with renegade lees floating around (a genuinely nasty experience that I wouldn't wish on a dog) but these were more quartz-like despite their length.

[mr food]

recent visits anyone?

[wlohmann]

recent visits anyone?

I'm pretty sure I've been there since Rocks posted. I used to like it as a medium-(ok, medium-high)-priced but comfortable spot for a salad, a sausage plate or a bowl of mussels (seem to recall a pretty good steak sandwich too)- -just looked online and prices now seem sky high and oppressive and the menu a bit more pretentious than I recall...mussels still on offer though (at $21 bucks, need to think this is the most expensive bowl of mussels in town)..nice bustling ambiance and fun to eat outside in the courtyard or out front when the whether is nice (which who knows maybe it is today??)

[Keithstg]

recent visits anyone?

Probably not the most expensive in town, but within range - full portions of Mussels at Brasserie Beck range from $22-26....

[astrid]

recent visits anyone?

Went for RW lunch and added a couple extras. Most of the food was competently executed (with the exception of a sawdust texture sous vide chicken breast entree) and the bread service is quite nice. Pretty high price point but still compares favorably to our Bistro Bis experience during the same week.

[Dr. Delicious]

Went to lunch here and had a very nice meal. I started with the French Onion Soup, which was good, with some minor quibbles: I prefer the cheese to be put under the broiler for a bit longer, and they plate it on a paper napkin so when the cheese invariably melts over and down the sides it hits the napkin and gets stuck to it meaning you can’t scrape it back into your soup bowl (I have no shame). Also, the soup bowls themselves are shaped so that you have to grab your bowl and tilt it or else you’ll leave half your soup in it. For the lobster bisque this is less of a problem than the onion soup, where the bowl is covered in cheese so you’re now touching all that, getting dirty or greasy, etc. I’d rather it be different.

For mains I had the Beef Bourguignon, which was very good: two large chunks of short rib, falling apart, in a tasty brown sauce, surrounded by roasted veggies. 

The place ain’t cheap, but it’s a French restaurant in the Willard, so you knew that.