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La Chaumiere

Cuisine: French Neighborhood: Georgetown
Rate This Restaurant
4 spork
Based on 1 review.
Address
2813 M St. NW, Washington, DC 20007
Hours 11:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. and 5:30 p.m.-10:30 p.m. Mon-Fri; 5:30 p.m.-10:30 p.m. Sat
Phone (202) 338-1784
Fax (202) 965-4597
Website www.lachaumieredc.com/

City Paper Review

When you‘re tired of the foams, the deconstructed foods, and the fad ingredients, you should haul your overwhelmed palate over to La Chaumière, owner Gerard Pain‘s homey country inn in the heart of Georgetown, where chef Patrick Orange continues to quietly turn out classic, comforting bistro cuisine. The salmon in puff pastry with Champagne-dill sauce lets all the ingredients express their natural flavors rather than merely relying on the flaky, buttery crust to flirt with your baser desires. The veal piccata, milky meat enveloped in a surprisingly subdued lemon-butter sauce with pan juices, practically melts on your mouth. The steak au poivre, however, is a three-alarm fire, but if you scrape off enough of the coarsely cracked peppercorns to reach your desired heat level, you‘ll discover rich meatiness under that hot blacktop. Orange‘s kitchen particularly stands tall with its architectural soufflé dishes, both sweet and savory, which are well worth the 20-minute wait. The Emmenthaler soufflé appetizer leans a little too heavily on the eggs, at the expense of the nutty cheese, but the gravity-defying dish whips the air we breathe into a delicious slice of life. The dessert soufflé is even more satisfying, a canister of spongy dark chocolate whose slight bitterness goes well with the creamy Grand Marnier sauce that you pour into the interior of the dish.
—Tim Carman, August 11, 2006

Rater Comments

These comments express the opinions of individual Restaurant Raters, not those of Washington City Paper.
4 spork

Review by tdpolo on August 7, 2005

What a pleasant experience... though it was Restaurant Week, I chose to order off the regular menu, as I don't eat desserts.

I was seated right away, greeted and handed menu fairly quickly after being seated. One nice thing about this place was that the service was so good. The staff seemed to not care whether or not one order from the resturant week menu or the regular menu, they just appreciated you as a guest, and treated you the same.

I ordered the Baked Onion soup (Gratinée Lyonnaise), as a individual who loves onion soup, whether French or Baked, everyone seems to have a different variation and take on it. La Chaumiére has its own way, and it is good. Since I don't eat salt much, I could certainly notice the salt, but not so much that it ruined the deep rich beef soup, with bread, onions and hot melty stringy cheese... oh so good. The simple salad was too a refreshing course, as it was simple. Baby greens, juicy small pieces of red beets complimented the lightly dressed salad. This soup with the salad could be a meal in itself. Next, my seafood stew (Fricassée de Pêcheur)was full of flavor, full of "Clams, Shrimp, Mussels and Scallops, Seasoned with Aïoli"... oh so good. Again, portion size was great... enough to fill one up, but enough not to stuff you. The seafood was tender, and each still had its wonderful flavors apart from the stewed broth. The girlfriend had the Salmon in Pastry Puff (Saumon Mariné en Croute). She liked her dish. I'm not a big fan of salmon anymore, so I did not try it, but, from an appearance standpoint... the pasty puff was golden brown, which allowed the salmon to become cooked just to the point of how salmon should be cooked, without getting dry. Finally, she had for dessert, Hot Apple Tart (Tarte aux Pommes), which she enjoyed immensely, as it was evident she at it all.

Overall, a great restaurant. Not too noisy, but a bit cramped, as patrons are fairly packed in. I would go again... next time, so many dishes, so little time.