Au Pied Bistro, Georgetown, D.C.

Last Tuesday after I got in from the airport, we walked into Georgetown for a late-night supper at Au Pied Bistro, on M Street near the M and Pennsylvania merger. One of my friends asked me yesterday why I would go to a restaurant called "with the foot café," and that stopped me for a minute until I remembered the history and provenance of the bistro.

Back when I was living in D.C. years ago doing my undergraduate internship at Georgetown, there was a popular bistro on Wisconsin called Au Pied de Cochon, or "with the foot of the pig." It was an elegant French place that specialized in country French cuisine, and in France, braised pig's feet are a popular "comfort food." I remember eating there once, and had some of the most exquisite monkfish in a lobster nantua sauce (which, of course, made the monkfish taste like a great big piece of lobster). The restaurant gained a certain international notoriety back in 1985 when it was the site of a famous KGB defection at the height of the Reagan-era Cold War. It's now the location of a Five Guys burger place. When Au Pied de Cochon closed early last year after nearly 30 years at the prior location, the concept moved to Au Pied Bistro, with much of the old staff moving to the new location, and with many of the menu items remaining the same.

We arrived after ten, and the restaurant had about half a dozen occupied tables. They seated us in the corner table by the front window overlooking the street (why do we always get seated by the windows?). I noticed the walls were covered by large numbers of over-sized canvasses which must have been painted by high school students attempting (badly) to emulate the French post-impressionists. It was certainly colorful, though.

Leo started with an entree (remember, this is a French restaurant!) of baked mussels. He got a plate full of mussels on the half-shell, stuffed with butter, garlic, herbs, and tomato, then baked. I had a nice crock of potage St. Germain, a classic French soup of pureed peas, lettuce, leeks, and herbs enriched with cream. It would have been great with a shot of sherry.....do you remember that old crêpe restaurant national chain called The Magic Pan? They used to serve their potage St. Germain with a small vase of sherry and a tiny bowl of crème fraîche. Mmmm.

As we moved on to our plats, Leo had scallops on a bed of leeks. It was rather different than what either of us expected. A wide band of sauteed, chopped leeks ran down the center of his plate, flanked by bands of white rice. On top of the leeks were a collection of tiny scallops. Looked interesting, though I didn't detect a lot of enthusiasm from Leo. I had a half roasted chicken scented with rosemary and arranged on a bed of caramelized onion-flavored mashed potatoes. My food was very good, and reminded me of the country food of the original restaurant.

For dessert, he had a crème caramel (served in a rectangular piece) and I had a mousse au chocolat. My mousse was thick, dense, and very dark chocolate, with just a hint of espresso but I didn't taste the hint of orange liqueur which is also part of the classic French recipe. That didn't stop me, however, from eating all of it.

We'll likely be back to Au Pied Bistro. While the food wasn't spectacular, it was functional and tasty, and, more importantly, the place is both within easy walking distance and is open late for dinner.