Restaurant Week 2009 - Bistro Bis

After the disappointing and rather expensive evening at Agraria on Friday night, I actually considered trying to convince Aaron not to go out to dinner on Sunday night. In addition, I had completely forgotten that the Oscars were on that night, and while I no longer place bets or plan parties around the Oscars, I do still enjoy sitting on my couch in pajamas, eating pizza and making fun of beautiful people's fashion choices. The desire to stay home in pajamas was considerably intensified by the fact that both Aaron and I had ridiculous hang overs from the previous night.

At any rate, I reminded myself that Bistro Bis was President Obama's favorite restaurant in DC and that there was a infinitesimal chance that we might run into him at the bar and five minutes later I was in the shower and contemplating my own fashion options. Although we did not get to share a bottle of wine with Bistro Bis' most famous patron, it was easy to see why President Obama is such a fan.

The atmosphere in the restaurant was a little too bright and clean for me. It reminded me of a hotel lobby (which was appropriate since it is connected to the lobby of the Hotel George). Bistro Bis won early points, however, by offering "Restaurant Week" wine choices in addition to food. Aaron would not let me order a bottle of wine because he had something like "homework" to do later, but it was still very exciting. The thing that really sold me on Bistro Bis was that unlike other high end restaurants who treat Restaurant Week patrons like they are court ordered community service, Bistro Bis actually seemed excited that we were there. They only offered a special Restaurant Week menu with a variety of choices for each course and cheap wine (did I already say that).

Aaron started with Paté de Campagne a country style pork paté with pistachios, mesclun
salad, toasted baguette and mustard sauce. I thought it sounded pretty gross and looked like Spam but it was not too bad when I tried it (it actually tasted just like well cooked Spam). I stuck with a classic and had Onion Soup Les Halles with a rich beef broth, caramelized onions,
sourdough croûtons and gruyère cheese. It was everything that French Onion soup should be with cheese so good that you can't stop eating until it is too late and you know that you are not going to feel very good in about three hours.

For the main course it was Coq Au Vin with a red wine braised chicken, root vegetables,
pearl onions, crimini mushrooms and bacon lardons for Aaron and Duck Confit Façon Tarbais
(in other words a duck leg cooked in garlic and thyme with tomato). The combination of gruyère cheese and duck was not a well thought out plan on my part. Aaron was absolutely horrified when it became clear that I was taking the skin off the duck meat, but I just didn't think my stomach could take it.

The classic French dinner was completed by a dessert of caramelized apples wrapped in a crisp butter pastry, with vanilla bean crème anglaise for me and a Tarte au Citron with lemon curd, sweet merinque, pistachio and raspberries for Aaron. The Tarte au Citron was one of those desserts that just looks too beautiful to eat. But, then we tasted it and destroyed the whole thing in about 30 seconds flat. My fancy apple pie was surprisingly light compared to everything else I ate that night. I was a very torn at the time, but I was exceedingly glad the next morning that I had opted out of ordering the Chocolate Moltan Cake with a chocolate/raspberry mousse filling.

I never saw the actual menu, so I can't comment on the prices of the food during a regular visit, but for Restaurant Week, I felt very good about dropping $35.08 for the three course meal (I of course spent more than that because I ordered enough glasses of wine to fill a bottle of wine). And, while Aaron was in the bathroom between the first and second course, I discovered that if I craned my neck just right I could watch the Oscars Red Carpet on the bar TV, so it was a win-win situation.

The only thing that would have made the evening better was if the Obamas sat at the table next to us, struck up a conversation about how my boyfriend's appetizer looked like Spam, became best friends and was eventually appointed Chief Advisor for International Health (I made that position up but it sounds cool). And, then we could have weekly dinners at our favorite place.

Bistro Bis
15 E Street, NW
(202) 661-2700
www.bistrobis.com