Winter might be lingering, but inside the newly opened Mediterranee Restaurant in Great Falls, it feels warm and sunny. The bright yellow stucco walls are decorated with paintings of the French seaside, reminiscent of the country's famed impressionists. The tables are covered with colored cloths.
On a recent snowy afternoon, chef and owner Jacques Imperato was standing behind the bar, wearing a Mediterranee T-shirt and telling two customers about how he ended up in Great Falls. They told him they were glad to have him in the neighborhood.
On Thanksgiving morning 2003, a fire destroyed Imperato's original Mediterranee restaurant, which stood on the corner of Lee Highway and Monroe Street in Arlington. The restaurant was booked solid that weekend, not just for Thanksgiving dinner but for Friday, Saturday and Sunday, too.
"It was very bad timing," he said.
Imperato, 45, lost more than just his restaurant that morning. Plates, glasses and other equipment he had bought for a catering service he was starting were destroyed, as was his extensive wine collection.
It's not just the value of the wine, he said, but the memories. "Some of the wine can't be replaced, because the vintage is gone."
Some of the gems he will miss the most include a 1961 Sauternes, a 1986 Meursault and a 1990 Rothschild Pauillac.
But that is all in the past. After 15 months of searching for a new location, Imperato and his staff from the original Mediterranee have reopened the restaurant at 10123 Colvin Run Rd. in Great Falls. The story of how Mediterranee rose from the ashes says a lot about what a popular restaurant with a faithful following means to a community.
Imperato's staff is loyal, too; many had no trouble switching from Arlington to Fairfax County. "They dropped whatever they were doing to return," Imperato said.
His maitre d', Francoise Arnaud, 44, had been working at Cassatt's in Arlington, where Imperato is a consultant. Danillo Gudiel, 23, his sous-chef, had been working at Lavandou in Cleveland Park, and head waitress Virginie Michel, 24, had been at Au Pied Bistro in Georgetown. They all say there was never any question about whether they'd return once Imperato reopened.
His staff is like a family, Imperato said. "Everyone has a function." In fact, Imperato's family also works at the restaurant. His wife, Gunilla, is the bookkeeper, his 18-year-old son is a waiter on weekends and his 15-year-old daughter is a busboy. He also has a 7-year-old daughter. "The little one wants to work, too, but she's too little," he said.
Imperato had hoped to rebuild Mediterranee in its original location but couldn't come to an agreement with the property owner. He searched Arlington for a new location but found land was too expensive. "Businesses, big corporations, are coming in willing to pay any price," he said.
While he was looking, Imperato helped out at Cassatt's, an informal family-friendly cafe just a few blocks from the original Mediterranee. Owner Art Hauptman said he asked Imperato to help him develop a dinner menu and manage the kitchen because Mediterranee was his favorite local restaurant.
"He's a great cook with a very eclectic background," said Hauptman. "We benefited from his expertise and the fact that we drew a fair number of customers who had been his regular customers."
