PRICE:
Frommer's Highly Recommended

Bistrot Lepic is the real thing -- a charming French restaurant that seems plucked right off a Parisian side street. The atmosphere is bustling and cheery, and you hear a lot of French spoken -- not just by the waiters, but also by customers. The Bistrot is a neighborhood place, and you'll often see diners waving hellos across the room to each other or even table-hopping. In its 14 years, the restaurant has made some changes to accommodate its popularity, including turning the upstairs into an Asian-accented wine bar and lounge; so if you arrive early for your reservation, you now have a place to wait. (In the past, one had to hover, hungry-eyed, at the door.) Or you can come just to hang out, sip a glass of wine, and munch on offerings from the wine bar menu, where the most expensive item is the $14 terrine of homemade foie gras, or specialties of the house from the regular menu. The wine bar hosts complimentary wine tastings every Tuesday 6 to 8pm. No need to make a reservation at the wine bar unless you plan to order dinner from the regular menu. This is traditional French cooking, updated. The seasonal menu offers such entrees as grilled rainbow trout with tomatoes, capers, and olives; beef medallions with polenta and shiitake mushroom sauce; and sautéed sea scallops with ginger broccoli mousse. Depending on the season, specials might turn up rare tuna served on fennel with citrus vinaigrette or grouper with a mildly spicy lobster sauce upon a bed of spinach.

Copyright: Excerpted from Frommer's Washington, D.C. 2009, (c) 2008, Wiley Publishing, Inc.

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