Chef Geoff’s, Wesley Heights, Washington, DC

The Washington Wise Men group gathered at Chef Geoff’s for our monthly lunch. Chef Geoff’s sits at 3201 New Mexico Avenue in a low rise office building more or less next door to that containing Wagshal’s deli and Shemalis. It was a hot day, but there was a breeze and Chef Geoff’s boasts a large well-shaded patio, on which umbrellas supplement the spotty shade from some trees. Umbrellas can only go so far, and usually people on one side of the table end up in the sun. Usually, but not at Chef Geoff’s. Their umbrellas are large and numerous enough that they overlap and give shade to everyone at the table throughout the meal. Genius.

There was some confusion because Frank had received an e-mail from Chef Geoff’s announcing a $5 sliders and $5 beer deal for that day. The email, however, seems not to have reached the restaurant staff here on New Mexico Avenue. There’s another Chef Geoff’s in the West End. After some discussion, the deal turned out to be $5 for a large slider and $5 for a National Bohemian tall boy.

Attractive though it was, I passed on the deal. As you will see, I was seduced by another burger, and I restrict my National Bohemian intake to The Land of Pleasant Living (the beach) and to 12 ouncers. Frank and Ken did go with the deal — here are Frank’s two sliders —

which Frank said were “pretty good” on an upbeat note. That a nice bit of crust there. Ken only had one slider, but added an order of sweet potato fries. The order (I was by then too busy eating to take a photo) was a full platter of fries, a huge order that was too much for the group to finish. (I much prefer regular fries, so didn’t partake.)

Bob and Marc both ordered the blackened fish tacos with a side salad $21).

The fish was cobia, and each taco included avocado, cotija cheese, cabbage slaw, crema, and cilantro. There was a green Chile-tomatilla salsa which Marc volunteered had “a little heat.” Both spoke highly of the slaw.

Bob and I both chose the Hamburger Francais au poivre, with wild mushrooms, and gruyere ($18).    

The small containers were the sauce au poivre (brown), an aioli (white), and dijon mustard (yellow). The mustard came at my request instead of ketchup for the fries. Kudos for the server for getting that right. I suppose the aioli was for the fries as well. I tried it but it was bland. I’d ordered the burger rare, but it wasn’t even close.

The overcooking stole a lot of flavor and moisture from the sandwich, but the sauces helped it a lot. And that bun was well above the norm. Oh — the fries. They weren’t much by themselves, but that was a good Dijon mustard.

On this visit to Chef Geoff’s, the sauces helped my meal a great deal. The inside seating can be noisy, but that patio is a pure delight when the weather isn’t too hot and you can get a decent breeze — usually in the evening this time of year. The lunch menu also includes attractive entrees which run in the $20s, and more offerings at dinner when prices are a bit higher, but not over $34. You should give it a try.

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