The Fallacy Of L'Auberge Chez Francois

I'll be flamed for this, but I don't care.  There have been one too many postings on this newsgroup about how great L'Auberge Chez Francois is, and I'll not let them go unchallenged any longer.

L'Auberge is the most overrated restaurant in Washington.  The chef has been around since the 1950s (!), and has almost surely been living off his reputation ever since.  Perhaps by regional standards employed 40 years ago, the food is good; not any more.

Wanna overcooked, dried up platter of meats?  You'll find it at L'Auberge.  This is the type of food you would be served by a French country grandma who never learned how to cook well. Yeah, it's not bad food, but it can't possibly be called great by any stretch of the imagination.  I have yet to find anything on the menu showing any degree of finesse, and the best thing I can say about the cooking is that it's inoffensive.

The food having been lambasted, I would be remiss in not pointing out that L'Auberge has the finest Alsatian wine list in the city by far.  Furthermore, there are strengths in other regions such as Bordeaux, and the wines are very, very reasonably priced.  Lastly, in terms of atmosphere, you won't find a more charming, romantic place this side of Washington. Washington, VA, that is.

I council any reader of this newsgroup *not* to go to L'Auberge for the ultimate in Washington cuisine.  If you want atmosphere, fine.  If you want a romantic evening, fine. But if it's great food you're after, you'll not find it here.

Flame on ...

Someone wrote:

: Interesting.  You seem not to know that Francois has turned the restaurant : over to his son, as of ten or fifteen years ago.

You (and all the other posters) are correct:  I did not know that the restaurant was turned over to his son -- should've looked before I leapt, so to speak.  :-)

: The restaurant refers to
: itself as a country inn, so the fact that pate' de compagne (sp.?) is served : rather than a smooth fois gras shouldn't surprise anybody who knows country : food.

No question, but I have no qualms with the style of food; it is with the execution that I find fault.

: And the
: /only/ thing I've ever had cooked less-than-excellently at L'Auberge was a : broiled lobster -- which has since been removed from the menu simply : because it was so hard not to overcook it.

Well, it looks like I'm certainly outnumbered here, and I've also gotten some Email disagreeing with me (although some people wrote who agreed).

One person who Emailed me pointed out the biggest problem with my original post:  I made sweeping comments without going into any supporting detail. There is a reason for this, and that's because I have not eaten at L'Auberge since August 12, 1994, and can't remember enough detail to write about. (My wife and I both agreed that there was no reason to return to L'Auberge after that meal).

Let me reintroduce myself to this newsgroup. I am the person who wrote two extensive reviews around 6 months ago about La Cote D'Or Cafe and Georgia Browns -- each of which was about four pages long going into painful detail about every item that was eaten there.  I requested that people Email me and verify that they were reading my ridiculously long reviews, and I got no less than two dozen responses, which was pretty encouraging.  I had meant to post some more long reviews, but time got the better of me.

This having been said, I am going to return to L'Auberge in the near future with an open mind.  The meal will be followed up with an in-depth posting giving my opinions on the virtues and/or vices of each course.

: Since you and I agree, it sounds like, that The Inn at Little Washington /is/ : excellent, what do you consider to be a high quality French (of any regional : specialty) restaurant closer-in?

Gerard's Place, Provence, Le Lion D'Or, Jean Louis, and Palladin are my favorite five.

For rustic stuff, I like Le Gaulois more than L'Auberge.

:   rl> The food having been lambasted, I would be remiss in not pointing out :   rl> that L'Auberge has the finest Alsatian wine list in the city by far.

: Here, we flip sides -- I'm not all that fond of Alsation wines, and wish the : rest of the wine list was a little more extensive.

Hell, try a Zind-Humbrecht or a Trimbach Clos St Hune and you may become
*very* fond of Alsatian wines!  :-)

Regards (to you and everyone else who replied),

Don