Parc de Ville — Restaurant in Merrifield

Alright, let’s get to it and parse the bill. starting off with an outstanding Sazerac. Forget the ‘a la Normande’ in Parc de Ville’s drink menu title. It is a New Orleans drink period. The server was also the bartender and manager on my visit. She was the sole front-of-the house person. She did everything but the back-of-the-house work and she was great at all she did which I cannot say the same for the cook in back. Note I say cook and not chef because the food was not cuisine qualified in my taste view with respect to preparation. Quality of ingredients is another matter. I suspect someone else is responsible for choice of purveyors and ingredients were definitely not farm fresh.

The Sazerac was complex and perfectly balanced. WoW! All went downhill from there until espresso and dessert drink. Soupe a l‘Oignon in my flavor perception opinion was mediocre. Serving presentation looked terrific and crusted Swiss cheese on top was flavorful. But the broth was thin and not full flavored. Same for the onions. The soup was okay.

Trout Amandine I ordered and was served was not at all good. Plating was not attractive. Green beans and Almonds stacked on top of the trout filet looked like the inside of a sandwich that was missing 2 slices of bread or a bun. The fish was tough, not at all flakey and so bad I couldn’t tell by taste if it was lake trout, brook trout or farm trout. My guess though is farm. I enjoy classic beurre blanc and I cannot even guess what the sauce was here. I ate less than half of the dish pushing it aside to order dessert. I asked for a glass of chablis to pair with the trout order but the server said PdV does not have one. I asked her for a recommendation. Not paying any attention relying on her she brought me a red wine that had excellent color and body but tasted like soda pop. She replaced that with an acceptable chardonnay listed as GL Chardonnay on the check.

Mousse au Chocolat presentation was pretty good. It was dense not at all fluffy/airy. My guess is someone over whipped the heavy cream in the recipe. It was still chocolate and I ate all of it. Encouraged that PdV has Lavazza espresso I ordered a shot to go with the chocolate mousse and on recommendation a shot of Pierre Ferrand 1840 Cognac for finish. There was a long wait for the espresso because of difficulty with the machine but was very good when it arrived. The PF 1840 was outstanding.

The interior restaurant design is excellent to my eye having interesting sight lines, bar design and exposed open view of the kitchen from the bar. Low lighting in the bar and dining room areas yields an intimate, upscale atmosphere. The restaurant was clinically clean and distancing is easy because of the enormous square footage and low allowable occupancy. The ceiling appears to be at least 40’ high in my eyes estimation.

I left my scarf behind and came back 2 days later to fetch it at about 6:00 PM on Thursday, March 4. I was seated in the dining room on my visit a couple days earlier and chose to sit on the bar side of the railing dividing the dining room. Of course sitting at the bar is prohibited. I sat at a small table on the bar side and had a Sazzerac and l’Oignon Soupe which was the same experience as my earlier visit. Outstanding Sazzerac and okay soup. The music was much better though. There was a cut from Vivre Sa Vie Soundtrack; Who Knows Where The Time Goes - Nina Simone; Rouge, Rouge - Christie Laume; Ecoutez -Elsa; and Heureux Tous Les Deux - Frank Alamo. In the end I think this is a good...

Our server kicked us out.

Summary: we will be back, BUT the jazz happy hour is too loud for conversation, don't bring your elderly parent, and try to find a server that will let you get a word in edgewise to advise of any issues.

I'm still giving this place 5 stars because we come here quite often and love the cocktails. We also were at the table for two hours and only two of us were drinking, so I understand the impatience of the server, F. We could have asked to move to another table/section, but with a less than half full restaurant at 8pm on a Wednesday night, it did not occur to me this was necessary. I am leaving this review because if I had not been here previously, I would never come again based on the server's behavior. He would come park at the table to discuss the opening of the rooftop bar next week. Our server was impossible to flag down when we did need something, and we did. As soon as our food arrived one of our guests got a phone call that his mother had finished her chemotherapy (around the corner) a full hour early, a surprise. He left to get her and was gone for 15 minutes. We tried to flag F down to explain we needed another table setting and should we close out and move? to no avail. Our guest's mother was very hungry after 10 hours of infusions and wanted to join us and eat. (She uncharacteristically does not get nauseous after treatment.) We asked for another place setting when she ordered and never received it. His mother was served her food without napkin/utensils/etc. We finally took it from another table. His mother was very happy to be out and about and wanted to chat, so we were there longer than normal. Considering this I ordered my dessert 'to go' and he told me they do not offer cheesecake 'to go' but he would check. ??? We paid our bill and were generous with the tip to compensate taking the table for so long. At this point, he asked us to leave because he had a reservation for the table in five minutes, at 8pm, on a weeknight. Apparently, he was not friendly enough with other waitstaff to use a four top in another section? We didn't have a premium location. If he wanted to go home, he could have given the table to another server, we would have been happy to tip again. So, both sides at fault here, but I come here to pay more for drinks than dinner. The service should be less obtuse. Accommodating the timing issue would have made us...

Parc de Ville, where Chef/Owner Brendan L'Etoile brings flavors from Metropolitan France to northern Virginia.

Betteraves $15: This dish was the star of the dinner. The beets were melt-in-your mouth with a gentle smokey flavor. However they were not obviously pickled. The beet purée on the plate was unctuous, creamy, and playful, being bright in flavor and color. The candied walnuts added a lovely crunch to the dish, but could have eaten too sweet and lentils were a perfect foil to cut the sweetness. The legumes elevated the dish by adding a salty, robust, earthy taste (stealing this idea for my own recipes). The chevre was a nice touch visually, however it overpowered and muddled what was already a great dish. The capers were beads of salinity, and frisée added a additional texture.

Salmon En Croûte $32: The salmon was middling. This was not en croûte but instead a riff on fish n' chips, or if we're being generous, a riff on Boulud’s en papillote. The potatoe hash vastly overpowered the salmon with salt, oil, and potatoness. The salmon itself was on the dry side of medium, with albumin seeping out, yet in spite of the cookery, well-seasoned and still in the realm of edible. The al dente asparagus was under salted and the dish as a whole needed a hit of acid, particularly to cut through the hash. In toto, it was very one dimensional.

Gazpacho $11: The Gazpacho was a fun play on the traditional starter, made with strawberries instead tomato. Creamy and cold, a minty flavor was at the forefront. With a nutty aftertaste and bright flavors, it was perfect for a hot summer's day. Despite my expectations the strawberry was not too sweet. How the EVO cut channels into the deep red of the berry and pepper was visually stunning. The berry, capsicum, cucumber and mint were refreshing, however the dish stood as more of a pallet cleanser than starter. All in all good, but not great.

Review from @therouxreview...