Sometimes I find a restaurant that has been hiding in plain sight and I wonder how I could have…read moremissed it. So it is with La Chaumiere. A medium sized dining room on M Street NW in Georgetown, just a stone's throw from where we live.
My spouse and I needed a night out to treat ourselves. We wanted special food at a special place and, to top it all off, we wanted a restaurant that would be new to both of us. La Chaumiere - or the "Chaum" as we now call it - fit the bill.
We did not really know what to expect although, to be honest, we had perused the menu and thought it sounded good.
For starters, the atmosphere at the Chaum is charming. Rustic walls, timber beams, open air fireplace - we felt we had stumbled into a scene from Beauty & the Beast. It has a really quaint lovely ambiance.
The crowd was to be expected. Older than most, they all looked like they had come from nearby - like us - Georgetowners who like to be surrounded by people like them. We don't care so much about that last part, but to be honest it was a room full of white people. I hope that my little review of the Chaum will make a more diverse crowd want to visit. Everyone should have a try at the Chaum once in a while. Everyone should get to enjoy a meal as good as I did last night.
Why?
Because the food is awesome, that's why!!! It is definitely a Frenchie restaurant. In fact, it's so Frenchie that they don't call it French Onion Soup - they call it Gratinee Lyonnaise (baked onion soup). Now that's Frenchie! They also have pate, salade maison (house salad), venison, duck, tripe (WHAT THE WHAT....), Quenelle, veal sweetbreads and cassoulet. Now if any of these things send you to your phone to google, you are not alone. Suffice it to say that the menu is very Frenchie.
I started with the Grantinee Lyonnaise (French onion soup) and it was to die for!!! It had enough alcohol in it to get me tipsy and the broth was velvety and luxurious! The cheese on top (gruyere I am sure) was broiled to perfection and only blackened on the tall swirls just like on the YouTube videos I have watched. Perfect! I spooned every bit of soup down and I knew at that point that we were in for a great meal. My spouse had the country style HOUSE MADE pate, yes house made. He loved it! It came with accompaniments of some mixed micro greens, the most adorable little tomatoes I have ever seen, cornichons (Frenchie pickles) and mustard which he hates. But guess what? This mustard - this Frenchie mustard - was different - mixed with wine maybe and of course some other Frenchie stuff - he loved it. That previously-to-him hateful mustard cut through the rich luscious and sumptuous pate nicely. He ate 100% of that appetizer, wanting more at the end.
Appetizer perfection? Check!
My main course was a milk fed veal chop cooked rare. TO. DIE. FOR! I only wish I could have eaten the rest of that young baby calf (apologies to the animal lovers out there). It was served with paper-thin potatoes touched by thyme and a decadent, creamy, indulgent sauce called Calvados Cream Sauce. Now, I definitely do NOT know what Calvados Cream Sauce but, guess what, I want more. It was so luxurious that I scooped up every drop. I would kiss the feet of the person who made that Calvados Cream Sauce!
My spouse got the pan seared beef tenderloin with truffle sauce on spinach and he loved it but - to be honest - I did not pay much attention to what he was eating because my veal was so F-ing AWESOME!!! There I said it - truffle sauce!
Dessert was likewise Frenchie. Chocolate souffle for him because he's a choco-phile and raspberry souffle for me because I don't find chocolate that interesting but I love berries. It was heaven on earth. The most intense Frenchie raspberry flavor without those annoying American little seeds. Perfection again!
The service was good, performed by a choreographed group of professionals. When they brought our sparkling water, they made sure to turn the bottle so that the label was facing us EVERY TIME! The servers and bus people were courteous, dedicated and top notch.
Now, you know I have to have something negative to say since this is a review and here it is - the dining room is crowded. There were LOTS of people in there, every table was absolutely full. More than that, the tables were very close to each other. We could have chimed in on the conversations to our right and left but that did not seem polite so we controlled ourselves. When people walked by my chair, they most always brushed up against me. I don't really like that. But I can understand the need to pack the diners in.
Honestly, though, that is the only negative part of this restaurant.
I bet you can guess my bottom line on this Frenchie restaurant but here goes. Will I be back? Oui! Do I recommend La Chaumiere - the Chaum - to one and all? Mais oui!!! So get your Frenchie on at La Chaumiere, you'll be very glad you did!!!