We were out yesterday at Pentagon Row and at the Fashion Center at Pentagon City stocking up on last minute goodies, watching the crowds, and doing a bit of Christmas and grocery shopping. It was a beautiful day and a great afternoon for the ice skaters at the outdoor rink at Pentagon Row, and I was tempted to join them if I wasn't so old and arthritic and if Leo had been more adventuresome.
We did have a lovely lunch, though, at La Crêperie, which you can just barely see in the picture above in the center of the shops, with the yellow border around the burgundy awning. La Crêperie, as one might guess, specializes in foods made with crêpes, those very thin French pancakes, and their menu is filled with items quite distinctive of the region of Brittany, on France's west coast.
I started with the soupe tomate, a thick, rich cream of tomato soup heavily herbed with basil, chervil, and a touch of marjoram. Then I had the salade Niçoise, a classic French salad with lettuce, egg, cucumber, tomato, black olives, potatoes, and long slivvers of carrot topped with tuna and anchovy filets in a thin, flavored mayonnaise dressing.
Leo was more traditional and actually ordered crêpes, starting with a crêpe au saumon. They made a huge round crêpe, covered it with smoked salmon, cream cheese, and lemon-dill sauce, then folded it in half for the presentation on the plate. He said the combination of ingredients was quite pleasant. He also sipped a mimosa whilst I ate my soup.
For dessert, we split a crêpe aux marrons, another big, folded crêpe which was filled with a luscious sweetened chestnut pureé, and had crushed almonds scattered over the top. The chestnut crepe just seemed like such a wonderfully seasonal and "christmasy" dessert, and I haven't seen a single roasted chestnut in the D.C. area this entire month. After dessert, I had un express, a very strong French-roast espresso.
It was quite a delicious and surprisingly inexpensive lunch (most of the entree crêpes are only $6-8 each) in a pleasant setting, and I always enjoy going here. Leo thinks this locally-owned restaurant should franchise. My only complaint yesterday was minor, and that was that my soup had just arrived when the waiter returned with both my salad and Leo's crêpe, and their huge service plates awkwardly completely crowded the table. Otherwise, though, the staff was inobtrusively attentive in the traditional French manner.
Time to get my day started. There's a lot to do before tonight!
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