Lutèce. — Restaurant in Washington

Update Jan 2021

Same great food. We shared a sweet potato, tender and sweet, with just the right amount of nuts and blue cheese. My our steaks were cooked to order (one medium, one rare) obviously prime beef, very tender, excellent seasonings. Great cocktails, including a delicious non-alcoholic one, as was the waiter’s recommendation on a glass of red to go with the wine. Being a slim fellow without a care as to calories, he tried to convince us to take the chocolate dessert, but we opted instead for the delicious rice pudding with a crunchy granola style top — we’re going with the theory that it was another vegetable. My dessert Sémillon wine was outstanding as well.

Big change is the individual outdoor “chalets” occupying what used to be parking on Wisconsin Avenue. Plenty of room for four, spacious for just the two of us, with translucent wall panes allowing filtered outside street lights and the headlights of passing cars.Very romantic, made even cozier by the electric heater in the corner. Staff were all appropriately masked, and we were happy to don our own each time food or drink was served. All perfect.

Many thanks to DC Council and the Mayor for permitting streeteries and for helping out financially. Let’s hope streeteries continue year round.

Original from Feb 2020

What a pleasant surprise!

This is for us a neighborhood restaurant, just a block from our house. It was previously Cafe Bonaparte, which was not a cafe, but rather a crêperie with a few extra dishes thrown in. The decor and vibe was quite Parisian, which we liked. It was also quite cheap, and attracted big crowds into its tiny space for dinner, which we did not like. I recall meals cheek by jowl, and once the host tried to seat our party of three at a table for two; we walked out, and haven’t been back for dinner since, preferring instead the excellent Bistro Lepiq up Wisconsin or the equally outstanding Chez Billy Sud ( more nouveau French) and La Chaumière (more classic French) down in the more commercial heart of Georgetown.

Now Lutece: remodeled, and delightfully more open after they’ve converted former crowded tables in the rear to stools from which patrons can peer into the kitchen. A great host/waiter offered perfect service, attentive but not intrusive. I do fear that on a crowded night the service, as in the Bonaparte days, might slow to a crawl, but I was pleased when the bartender pitched in to help — teamwork!

Outstanding cocktails — mine was Green Chartreuse bittered with Fernet Branca, sweetened just so with curaçao, plus a gentle squeeze of lime. Check the online menus — we had carrots and dry-age duck, roasted chicken, a burger, and tile fish, all to perfection, a bit of something for every taste. And the desserts! We inquired about the chef, Matt Conroy, and he popped out to say hello.

Many thanks to the Popal Group for this outstanding renovation and reimagining. It works....

Great little find that we found from a Washingtonian article. I do suggest making a reservation as the dining area is limited. They do charge a deposit per person ($10 for brunch) that they said is refunded back to the card once we're seated (haven't checked with my bank to confirm).

We were lucky to be seated at the table near the open kitchen. Which we found out is typically used for those getting the Chefs Tasting menu in the evenings as it gives a great view into the kitchen, and it's not crowded with other tables.

Our server (which I unfortunately missed her name) was very upbeat and pleasant.

We started with a Latte, it was quite creamy and perfectly made. I don't typically drink coffee, but when I do I like it prepared more like a cup of melted coffee ice cream. So when she only brought one small sugar cube I thought I'd need more sugar, but surprisingly the latte was quite pleasant as is.

Here's what we ordered: Baked Eggs - this was quite tasty. Something different that is not typically on a breakfast/brunch menu. Our server said it wasn't too spicy but I thought it did have quite a kick. I liked it but grateful I didn't order it as my entree as I wouldn't be able to finish it due to the heat (spice). It's topped with flash fried spinach leaves and a baguette slice.

French Omelette - their omelette was very light and airy. I ordered mine with the smoked salmon, otherwise it only has boursin cheese with it. I have to admit I didn't taste too much of the salmon, but it was a well prepared omelette. It is served with salad greens so I ordered a side of toast to compliment my omelette.

Pain Perdu - this is similar to what we know as French toast. They use two slices of their house baked bread and top it with shaved apple. We used this as our dessert and although we were full, we couldn't stop eating it!

Caramelized Grapefruit - I didn't get to try this one but thought it was interesting how it was served. It is a grapefruit cut in quarters and flambeed with sugar and spices. Only the outer parts got that special treatment though and was a little confusing on how to eat it gracefully

Side of bacon - they are very generous with the amount of bacon!

Bathroom:. They only have one unisex bathroom. They spent time on the decor so it wasn't just a plain bathroom with bare walls. It's nice when a location puts effort into the restroom. They also offer lotion as well, which is ALWAYS a thoughtful amenity especially in the cold weather months when hands chap more often. Couple other notes: They have individual wash clothes to dry hands, but note there is no...

Food was very tasty, but service was a bit weird, and after going to other restaurants of a similar price point and caliber to Lutece (Bresca, Tail Up Goat, Rooster + Owl, etc.) I find that there are just too many other good restaurants that have better service.

Had 8pm reservations on a Sunday (holiday weekend,) and felt rushed. We had to wait about 15-ish min for our table so didn't get seated until 8:15-8:20, but that's no big deal.

Table was very tight and against the wall. Anyone over 6 feet tall would be pretty uncomfortable. Not a lot of space at all and butt was sore by the end.

We first ordered a bottle of wine, and when they brought it back, we ordered 6 dishes all together. After only just receiving our first dish (at around 8:40 ish) server comes around to tell us it's last call for savory food. We didn't put any more food in but in an ideal world it would have been nice to have the ability to add on more food later.

They paced us pretty slowly, which is totally fine by us. I hate feeling rushed and we were talking/catching up. There was quite a bit of time between dishes that was totally in their control, we did not request a slower pace.

-Due to this slower pace, the 4 of us finished a bottle of wine before mains came so we ordered another bottle to have wine with dinner/dessert. Our server came back and tried to sell us on 4 glasses (same price as a bottle, less wine) and we said no, thank you, we'll take the bottle. It was a bit odd but oh well.

-We were still clearly finishing dessert and had a couple bites left (it wasn't sitting for even a minute) and a different server came up to us asking if we were done. We said no, we'll eat the last couple of bites. He then walked away kind of laughing to himself and we got the impression the other server put him up to this? At this point we felt rushed and like they wanted us out of there.

-We were one of the last tables, but there were still 2 other tables there. It was also 10:13 so just around 2 hours after we were seated- it wasn't like we were sitting around for an hour after all other tables left just sipping on water. We called our Uber at 10:28 pm (which was basically 2 hours after we were seated, so it wasn't like we were there an inordinate amount of time.)

Overall, for a place that seems like it's trying to gun for a Michelin star, the service was not very welcoming, and we felt like a burden at the end which made us...