Weekend Cooking- Two Washington DC Restaurants

This post is part of Beth Fish Reads' Weekend Cooking.  If you have anything related to food, cookbook reviews, novel or non-fiction book reviews, recipes, movie reviews, etc., head over to Beth Fish Reads and add your post. Or, if you want to read food related posts, head over to read what some interesting people have to say about food.

We made our annual trip to Washington DC last week, and while the rainy weather meant that the cherry blossoms were not blooming this year, we did stop into two great restaurants we found last year.

Le Diplomate is a wonderful French restaurant. The place is huge, with a big bar area, two dining areas and a large outdoor patio. Reservations are a must here, and we were lucky to get our 5:15pm Sunday dinner reservations. By 6pm, the entire restaurant was full of diners.

We started with the bread basket, an absolute must here. The raisin date brown bread is heavenly, as were the other breads in the bountiful basket. My husband had the escargot to start, and I tried the warm shrimp salad with avocado, and a lemon beurre blanc.

Escargot

Warm Shrimp Salad

The salad was so delicious, and the lemon beurre blanc was so light and tasty. I would have been happy with the salad as my entree. I had the Sunday special, Coq Au Riesling, which wasn't all that exciting. My husband enjoyed his veal dish much more.

The sommelier recommended a lovely French white wine that was delightful.

Desserts are fantastic at Le Diplomate, and we shared a light and chocolaty pot de creme and profiteroles. Next time, I would stick to the bread basket, shrimp salad and dessert, and all would be good with the world.

Chocolate Pot de Creme

Profiteroles

The service is wonderful, although we did feel somewhat rushed. A long, leisurely dinner seemed not to be in the cards here as they are very popular and most likely wanted the table.

The next night we visited The Founding Farmers, a farm-to-table restaurant which is also a hugely popular place. We had 6:45 reservations, and when we arrived we found a seat at the bar and had just been served our Fraise Flings when the hostess informed us that our table was ready.

Making our Fraise Flings

We shared the bread, chips and crisps basket with the best homemade potato chips I have ever had. It comes with four dips- green goddess, onion, romesco and pimento cheese- that can easily be shared by four people.

I had the chicken and waffles, which comes with mac and cheese and as my other side dish I chose the sweet potato, topped with hazelnuts and maple glaze. The fried chicken was great, but the sweet potato was the highlight. It was so sweet and yummy.

We ate so much that we skipped dessert and headed out into the middle of a terrible thunderstorm. Thanks goodness for Uber!

Le Diplomate's website is here.

The Founding Farmers' website is here.

Weekend Cooking- Two DC Restaurants

This post is part of Beth Fish Reads' Weekend Cooking.  If you have anything related to food, cookbook reviews, novel or non-fiction book reviews, recipes, movie reviews, etc., head over to Beth Fish Reads and add your post. Or, if you want to read food related posts, head over to read what some interesting people have to say about food. 

My husband had a conference in Washington DC that coincided with my birthday, so we celebrated by visiting two fantastic restaurants, Founding Farmers and Le Diplomate.

On the first night we went to Founding Farmers, a restaurant my husband found by accident on a previous visit. It was a good thing I made reservations a few weeks, because this is one hopping place. The bar area was packed with customers waiting to get a table.

We got a tasty drink at the bar, the El Presidente, which had rum, pineapple, lime and a housemade grenadine. I even got a second one with dinner.

The crowd was a nice mix of locals, tourists, couples and families. Everyone would feel comfortable here. It's a really cool looking place, with lots of old-fashioned wood mixed with more modern metal elements.

We started with Farmers' Chips and Crisps served with three dips- pimento cheese, french onion and green goddess. It was so good, we took the leftovers home to snack on the next day.

I had the Southern Pan Fried Chicken and Waffles, and it may be the best entree I have ever eaten. The chicken was so juicy and the waffles with the syrup, oh my goodness, it was the perfect combination. (It came with macaroni and cheese and I ordered potato salad as a side; both were wonderful.) My husband regretted not ordering it too, although he enjoyed his surf and turf, so I reluctantly gave him a taste. Then I reverted to eating like a prisoner guarding her food.

We shared a heavenly vanilla milkshake for dessert and five days later, I am still dreaming about this food. If you get a chance to visit DC, you must go to Founding Farmers. It's three blocks west of the White House.

The following night, we visited Le Diplomate, a restaurant I found on Serious Eats. I loved the vibe in this place, very French bistro. This seemed more like a date place, with mostly couples there.

There is a huge table filled with fresh baked bread, and the cranberry walnut bread in our bread basket was so delicious, i could have just eaten an entire basket of that for dinner and been satisfied.

We started with Onion Soup Gratinee for me and my husband ordered Escargot, which he loved.

For our entrees, I chose the Steak Frites, which came with a butter on top. I thoroughly enjoyed it. My husband raved about his Veal Escalope, which came with a green onion and chanterelle cream sauce. he said it was the best veal dish he ever had, and the accompanying Au Gratin Potatoes rivaled his veal dish.

Before our dessert arrived, two black Escalades pulled up in front of the restaurant, and Senators Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont) came in all smiles, and took a table in back. I'm sure they enjoyed their meal as much as we did.

We shared the Chocolate Pot de Creme, and this was the best dessert I have ever had. My husband loved it as well, and there was a little dueling spoons in there for a minute. But have no fear, we both won.

If you find yourself in DC, make sure to visit both restaurants; I know we will be returning on our next trip.

Founding Farmers' website is here.

Le Diplomate's website is here.