Like a group of addicts being introduced to a new designer drug, Washingtonians suddenly can’t get enough of Belgian cuisine. Mainlining mussels, fries and Trappist ales has seemingly become a weekend must. And the market’s been responding, opening ever-more delightful restaurants to feed the disease — Belga, Marvin, Dr. Granville Moore’s, Brasserie Beck and now, Et Voila.
The tiny dining room in the Palisades is the brainchild of chef Claudio Pirollo, formerly the personal chef to the ambassador of Ireland, and pastry chef Mickael Cornu.
The Scene: The long, narrow room is painted in warm colors and bedecked with photos of Brussels, as well as a clever clock that projects a shadow of itself on the wall. On many nights, groups without reservations (and some with reservations) crowd the cramped, four-seat bar area in hopes of landing a table. For a group, you can’t beat the high table in back, which sits amid the wine racks.
The Pour: Here’s a restaurant that delivers the best of both worlds at the bar. Fifteen Belgian beers — everything from a 3.5 percent alcohol lambic to an 11 percent Ingelmuster — compete for your attention with a beautifully succinct, all-French wine list that’s light on the wallet.
The Taste: Pirollo’s menu is a study in European comfort food. Blood sausage comes wrapped in phyllo and served over mache greens. Two steaks — a hangar steak with Bordelaise sauce and rib-eye with maitre d’ butter — are much better than most bistros offer. Flemish beef stew, simmered in dark beer, will have me back for more come January. Even some of the sides are rich. Take the endives wrapped in ham and baked in a bechamel sauce. Of course, you’ll find the aforementioned fries, crispy and golden, as well as mussels in three varieties — garlic wine sauce, garlic cream sauce or, my favorite, a broth of saffron, garlic shallots and anise liqueur.
The Touch: Two things strike me about the waiters (most are male) here: They’re older than you normally see, and they all seem like old friends, teaming up to serve your table European style. Still, when your food comes out, you’re likely to get a blank stare from the runner because he doesn’t know who gets what. Tsk, tsk.
Don’t Miss: The Brussels waffle for dessert, topped with fruit and thick whipped cream.
Why You Won’t Go: This is a Manhattan-style dining room, where they pack ’em in. Tables along the banquette on the right side are lucky to have a foot between them. So you won’t get much privacy — or quiet, for that matter.
Why You Will Go: For a great deal at lunch — two courses and coffee or wine for $17.95.
If you go
Et Voila!
5120 MacArthur Blvd.
202-237-2300
etvoiladc.com
Hours: Lunch — 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Tuesday-Friday; Dinner — 5 to 10 p.m. Tuesday-Friday; Brunch — 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday-Sunday
Prices: Appetizers $7 to $12; entrees $13.25 to $25.95.
Bottom Line: A tiny new gem in the quiet Palisades that gives Washingtonians another way to satisfy their burgeoning Belgian fix.
