La Piquette, Cathedral Heights, Washington, DC

We recently went to see Piaf, The Show at the French Embassy with Frank McAuliffe (of our Old Guys Lunch Group and local bon vivant) and Lisa McAuliffe (of the wonderful salmon recipe). Going to a show means dinner beforehand and dinner before the French Embassy means a French restaurant. Among the many excellent options we settled on La Piquette at 3714 Macomb Street, across from 2 Amys, and fairly close to the Embassy.

We sat at the front window table, and the noise never interfered with our conversation. Water and menus appeared, followed by our bread service. It arrived in paper bags for each side of the table along with a dish of flavorful olive oil. Some things seem impossible to photograph before they start to disappear. Shooting stars, hushpuppies, and French bread are examples.

There were four thick slices of crusty French bread in that when it arrived. The two that disappeared so quickly were delicious.

Nancy started with a simple Salade Maison ($13), which featured a tempting array of lettuces, including radicchio. The Fork of Damocles loomed above.

Lisa and Frank split an Amish Goat Cheese & Beets salad ($17) adorned with a generous hunk of goat cheese. Here’s Frank’s half.

I had a Frisée Aux Lardons ($18 – a Salade Lyonnaise). It featured frisee mixed with pancetta and poached egg, and was dressed with a nutty Sherry vinegar and good olive oil.

I dote on salades Lyonnaise, and this was a good version with particularly tasty lardons. My only complaint was that the egg, which I broke before thinking to photograph, was cooked too thoroughly. Much of the yolk was solidified, with little left to mix into the salad.

For the main course, both Nancy and Lisa chose the Grilled Daurade ($39), which came with an Amish salad containing some pink radicchio, a ramekin of beurre blanc, and a potato with what looks like a black spot but actually was a kalamata olive, of all things.

The dish also included some gorgeous snow peas.

Daurade has been a favorite since Nancy and I had some in a restaurant in Playa Bonita in the Dominican Republic after one of Nancy’s Operation Smile missions. Playa Bonita is a French enclave and the daurade was prepared by President Mitterand’s former personal chef. It was so good we returned and had the exact same dish for lunch the next day. La Piquette’s daurade was fresh and perfectly cooked — and a large enough portion that Nancy shared some with me. Delicious. As I feared, she did not share the snow peas. They disappeared as quickly as my bread.

Frank ordered the Sautéed Fresh N.C Shrimp $32 (a smaller order is available for $21). It came served atop gigli (also known as campanella) and tossed with basil, tomato, garlic, and olives.

Just look at those shrimp! This was a fine dish, with properly cooked shrimp and pasta, and a sauce so good that Frank bemoaned his earlier profligacy with the bread that left him with none to sop up every bit of it.

I ordered the Ris de Veau au Madère, an appetizer portion of sautéed sweetbreads with mushrooms in a Madeira sauce with a very crisp crouton ($22).

Wow! The dish was just bursting with flavor and richness. The earthy mushrooms, the ever so slightly gamey sweetbreads, and the abundant thin sliced garlic cooked through in butter blended beautifully with the slight nuttiness of the Madeira, The aroma was bewitching. This is the best sweetbread dish I’ve ever had. It’s hard to imagine a better one. And I had saved a slice of bread and soaked up all of the sauce.

Time to go! The beginning of the concert loomed, so we paid, thanked everyone, and headed over to the French Embassy. It was a great evening. I grew up listening to recordings of Piaf and watching her on the Ed Sullivan show. Nathalie Lermitte did a fine job of portraying Piaf and Piaf’s transformation and deterioration over the too few years of her life. Lermite was supported on stage by a pianist, a bass player, a percussionist, and an accordionist — do you know their names? There was no program. The accordionist was particularly impressive both as an actor and a musician. It was a grand show.

This was a fun and delicious night out, with a memorable show and a delicious meal with good friends. There are nine other Patrimonies Musicale Francais productions out there, including shows based on Brel and Aznavour, and a musical Cyrano. You should leap at any chance to see one. You also should get together with friends and make an evening of dinner at La Piquette. You’ve earned it.

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