The Washington Post
Jan 5, 2003. pg. W.19
Tom Sietsema
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Majoring in Classics;
A specialist in the French standards: onion soup, escargots, steak tartare;
Open for lunch Monday through Saturday 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.; for dinner Monday through Saturday 5:30 to 10 p.m. Closed Sunday. AE, D, MC, V. Reservations suggested; no parties larger than six accepted at dinner Friday and Saturday. No smoking. Limited wheelchair access. Metro: King Street. Prices: appetizers $4.95 to $15; lunch entrees $10.95 to $15.95; dinner entrees $16.95 to $25. Full dinner with wine, tax and tip about $70 per person.
The cheery red facade of a slim restaurant stops two couples in their tracks on a frigid weeknight. "Should we check it out?" a woman in the group asks her companions, as she scans the menu posted outside and ticks off the names of a few French dishes, each phrase accompanied by a puff of white breath.
Looking hungry and cold, the four of them peer through the front window for a better look. Inside is a tiny dining room, appealing in shades of peach and snug with dark tables and people who appear pleased to be gathered around them. The faint sound of music seeps from the door as the quartet wordlessly chooses this place over the many other restaurants nearby.
Small and special have always been a part of the repertoire of Keo Koumtakoun, whose work has been on display all over the Washington area in the last 15 years. Born in Laos and self-taught, the chef has cooked at Le Paradis in Gaithersburg, La Provence in Vienna and, until a year ago, Saveur in Glover Park in the District. Late September found him turning out his French-accented food in a new space in Old Town called Bistrot Lafayette, in partnership with his wife, Marie, who watches over the front of the house, and co- owner Isabelle Zorro.
Except for a few daily specials, this tour of duty for Koumtakoun is simple in comparison with his past ventures. He’s offering bistro cooking that is for the most part familiar and comforting, things like French onion soup — a fine-tuned performance of light stock, soft onions and melted cheese on bread with a pleasant smoky char — and rack of lamb lightened with thyme jus and served with mashed potatoes and asparagus.
Much of this food leads us into temptation. Koumtakoun’s steak tartare, an entree, is first-rate: fine chopped raw beef ignited with mustard, capers and hot sauce and served with french fries (good ones, which also make an appearance with the steamed mussels). People who have sworn off escargots based on encounters with rubber bands posing as snails might reconsider after trying the tender, meaty and richly buttery and garlicky plate served as an appetizer at Bistrot Lafayette.
It’s always nice to find a French restaurant that serves a good lobster bisque. This recipe is a distillation of the sea and sherry, its texture made more interesting with some pureed rice in the liquid. Portobello mushrooms make their way into several dishes here, none better than a fricassee, meaty and herbaceous, strewn over a swirl of light fettuccine that soaks up the delectable juices. A dry pork pate flavored with fennel seed and not much else is a bust, however, and the tangy Caesar salad is tossed with croutons that taste like something shaken from a box. A holdover from Koumtakoun’s menu at Saveur, calamari sauteed with bell peppers, wrinkled olives, herbs and garlic, is a welcome sight; the bread basket empties as slices are used to sop up the liquid remains.
Meals are nicely paced and sprinkled with personal attention, though it is sometimes difficult to catch a server’s eye: Where is our water, and why, now and then, do some of us get our entrees before others at the same table? When the food is good, as it usually is, this is not a concern. In the company of overcooked tuna or stiff sweetbreads, the oversight is more frustrating.
Koumtakoun makes occasional forays into the gently lit dining room to greet regulars, many of whom appear to be toward the older end of the baby boom. From a short distance away, I’m mentally tallying the highlights, which embrace silky foie gras framed with soft-cooked pears that whisper of cinnamon, nutmeg and cardamom, and duck breast cooked to a rosy blush, presented with the same sweetly spiced fruit. A server raises her eyebrows and smiles one night as she describes a fish special, and when we try it, we understand. The simply cooked rockfish on a bed of warm spinach with a delicate white sauce turns out to be an understated notion, like a blue blazer, that comes off as a classic.
It’s nice to see fine stemware brought out for a good wine, but why then give the napkins and butter dish short shrift? The first are made from paper, while the butter comes in foil packets like you’d find in a diner. Bistrot Lafayette is not an inexpensive place to dine, though shortcuts such as those might lead you to think otherwise.
You’ll find that old workhorse creme brulee on the dessert menu, but it’s a middling conclusion: a demitasse each of wan vanilla- and coffee-flavored pudding, their sugar-dusted surfaces heavy and sticky rather than light and crackling at the touch of a spoon. Either the puddinglike chocolate cake or the caramel-flavored parfait of whipped cream, roasted walnuts and a hit of Armagnac makes a better ending. Occasionally, the server might announce a dessert special of tarte Tatin; leap at the chance to try it, warm apple slices atop a buttery crust that melts on the tongue like shortbread.
"Lucky us!" It’s the same woman who stood reading the menu outside, now reviewing the evening with her companions as they stand up to leave. All three nod in agreement. I’m guessing that, just like me, they’ll be back someday for more.
Got a dining question? Send your thoughts, wishes and, yes, even gripes to asktom@washpost.com or to Ask Tom, The Washington Post Magazine, 1150 15th St. NW, Washington, D.C. 20071.
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