La Ferme, Traditional French in Chevy Chase - Chef Scott Chambers on Brookeville Road

[jigones]

Going there for a family dinner. I have never been there, but would like to know if anyone has any idea of what to order or if they do anything particularly well. I'll report back on our experience Sunday or Monday night. watch out for the wind this weekend.

[Mark Slater]

Going there for a family dinner. I have never been there, but would like to know if anyone has any idea of what to order or if they do anything particularly well. I'll report back on our experience Sunday or Monday night. watch out for the wind this weekend.

Old school. Order accordingly.

[jigones]

Overall experience: Well, what a let down. Let me start out by saying that the decor while it made me feel as if I were in the 1950's, was nice and the service was excellent. HOWEVER, the food is something that I could make on a normal day and does not justify the price. Sometimes you go to a certain restaurant for the experience, but the food is just not good enough. I would much rather eat at Bistro d'Coin then here any day.

Starter: I had pumpkin ravioli with a jumbo seared scallop. The ravioli was dry and the seared scallop was overcooked. I have had Wholefoods ravioli that is much better. There is no excuse for the scallop.

Main Dish: Braised lamb with mashed potatoes. The lamb was dry and did not have the proper seasoning. I am still wondering if the potatoes had salt in them. I also took a bite of the fillet mignon that my wife had. While it was actually tasty, it was very tough. No excuse for that either.

I was so disappointed, I am going to stop writing. Not worth my time.

[mojoman]

La Ferme is a 10 minute walk from our house and we've been a couple of times. Old school French at Chevy Chase prices. Older clientele.

OK for taking your grandma out for her birthday or a Mothers Day but one can do far better for the buck.

[pras]

Has anyone been here lately?  Boss is taking some staff here for dinner tomorrow night.  Driven by 100s of times, never been in.

[DonRocks]

Has anyone been here lately?  Boss is taking some staff here for dinner tomorrow night.  Driven by 100s of times, never been in.

How was it? This isn't a very internet-y restaurant.

I've been a couple times, and rather enjoyed it - it's very old school.

[Scott Johnston]

I last went here in 1992 or 1993 when Le Ferme took over what was the Brookville Magic space. The meal was alright, but when the chocolate soufflé arrived it was very salty. We sent it back and waited 30 minutes as another one was made, it too was very salty. The problem was the kitchen was coating the ramakins with salt instead of sugar. We sent that one back and they refused to take the dessert off the bill. We paid, and never returned. 

[Josh]

How was it? This isn't a very internet-y restaurant.

I went for a work function last night...Wow, this place is old school.  The food was fine, but not worth the price, unless (like me), you're eating on someone else's dime.  I had a fricasse of oysters and bacon, and the seared sweetbreads with a demi glace.  The oyster dish was forgettable, tasting mainly of butter and cream, but the sweetbreads were nicely cooked.  The sauce had a nice, if generic, flavor, but was on the sticky/gummy side.

I had no idea that this place existed before yesterday, and I'll probably live out the rest of my days without heading back that way.  If you're looking to drop some dough on grandma, and she still sees DC as seedy, I guess you could do worse than La Ferme.

[LauraB]

I had no idea that this place existed before yesterday, and I'll probably live out the rest of my days without heading back that way.  If you're looking to drop some dough on grandma, and she still sees DC as seedy, I guess you could do worse than La Ferme.

This place was one of Nancy Reagan's favorite spots to meet up with her 'ladies who lunch' friends back in the '80s.  Enough said.

[deangold]

This place was one of Nancy Reagan's favorite spots to meet up with her 'ladies who lunch' friends back in the '80s.  Enough said.

Now if that included Elaine Stritch singing that song, it would be worth any price!

[pras]

How was it? This isn't a very internet-y restaurant.

I've been a couple times, and rather enjoyed it - it's very old school.

It was good not great. We reserved the back room and they let us be. Service was great.

[DonRocks]

La Ferme has an interesting ranking system in their kitchen:

Scott Chambers is "Executive Chef."

Alain Roussel is "Máitre Cuisinier de France" which I assume means he's the owner and the boss, but doesn't necessarily run the kitchen. I don't know of any other restaurants M. Roussel is involved with - does anyone else?

Regardless, here's an interesting little piece from Jan, 2015:

"Visiting French Chefs Eat Their Way Through Houston" by Greg Morago on houstonchronicle.com

It's quite possible, if they got a group of French chefs from all over, that it was an all-expenses paid trip. For example, my trip to Galicia, Spain in 2005-ish was paid for by the Galician government and the Spanish Chamber of Commerce (I might not have this exactly right, but it's close enough) - it was to promote their wines, and a few of us wine journalists from around the country took the trip. Gerry Dawes had enough clout where he, Alex Elman, and I broke away and did our own traveling in a car which made it *so* much better.

And you know what? They got an article out of it, too - not because they paid for it, but because the wines merited an article (on my honor I swear that this is true).