Chefs combine to make Belgian food Et Voila! one of D.C.’s hippest restaurants Hot and hip, Belgian food is finding its spotlight in the D.C. culinary scene, and one of its newest and brightest stars is a tiny — as in seating for maybe 50 people maximum, unless you squeeze into the kitchen — restaurant along MacArthur Boulevard. That would be Et Voila!, a Belgian eatery that, among other fare, serves up bowls of steaming mussels infused with wine and herbs.
The mastermind behind this is cheerful Belgian Claudio Pirollo, who is both executive chef and co-owner with pastry chef Mickael Cornu of this little gem. Pirollo is a native of Brussels but has Italian parents, so he benefits from two imposing culinary legacies. Indeed, his parents ran a catering business and Pirollo started working for them at 14, even though as a beginner he was assigned the dishwashing task.
