2010 Spring Dining Guide

By Tom Sietsema
Sunday, May 23, 2010

A waiter in a red vest makes the choice for me when I ask for help deciding between two dishes on the epic menu of this grande dame of French restaurants. "You can get trout with almonds a lot of places," he says. "Beef Wellington is harder to find." How true. Tenderloin paired with foie gras, covered with duxelles and swaddled in puff pastry is, like the telephone booth, uncommon today. So are pepper mills set on flowery table covers, veal kidneys in mustard sauce and the Old World air this restaurant has reveled in since it opened in Washington in 1954. (Owner Francois Haeringer relocated the establishment to Great Falls in 1976. Amazingly, the 91-year-old chef still makes daily appearances in the kitchen.) "The housekeeping is excellent," notes a dining companion as he looks around the cozy Alsatian restaurant, a series of rooms with timbered ceilings, checker-clothed table lamps and an attic's worth of decorations, from copper pots to garden gnomes to original framed menus (56 years ago, those veal kidneys cost $3). The setting, including a stone terrace outside, is quietly festive; party balloons and flashing cameras signal birthdays, anniversaries, family reunions. But you don't need a special occasion to appreciate L'Auberge Chez Francois. Dinner begins, as it always has, with garlic toast and house-made cottage cheese to spread on it, followed by a warm slice of quiche that reminds you why the custard is a classic. From there, a patron might move on to garlicky snails, mushroom-plumped crepes, a robust choucroute, genuine Dover sole and the signature plum tart for dessert (hold the ice cream, overwhelming with cinnamon). Come with an appetite; the six-course meal includes a salad course, a sorbet and sweets to finish. Oui, the presentation is a little dated. But that, and a few ordinary dishes, can't dim my pleasure over this treasure in the suburbs.