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<\/p>\nWelcome to Talk to Tom, the dining-advice column that aims to point you toward good meals, steer you from the dross and solve your pressing restaurant queries. Look for a fresh Q&A every Thursday in this space.<\/p>\n
Questions and comments can be submitted to TalkToTom@washingtonsun.com. Submissions may be edited for length and clarity.<\/p>\n
We are dying to know what your opinion is of Thompson Restaurants taking over L\u2019Auberge Chez Fran\u00e7ois, the local institution known for its impressive fine dining and impeccable service in Great Falls.<\/p>\n
It was time for a change, says Jacques Haeringer, who turns 77 next month and has been with the family-run dining destination since 1976. While he says L\u2019Auberge Chez Francois had its \u201cbest year ever last year,\u201d he welcomed the idea of a restaurant company with deep pockets taking over the production, which employs almost 100 staff members and includes the more relaxed Jacques\u2019 Brasserie downstairs. Just as important, the veteran chef says owner Warren Thompson, whose dining portfolio is largely casual and mid-market, is committed to keeping the Alsatian menu and the ambiance that generations of customers have come to expect. The deal, finalized in late August, keeps Haeringer on as a consultant to maintain standards.<\/p>\n
Yours truly trusts but also verifies, so I booked dinner at L\u2019Auberge Chez Francois this past Sunday. It was encouraging to see a full parking lot, then to be led to a timbered dining room, where servers in familiar red vests zoomed over with a flurry of menus, and other staff dropped off the restaurant\u2019s signature garlic toast and herbed cottage cheese along with bread and butter. The script was the same as on my last visit five years ago, with selections including a mushroom-filled chive crepe and rack of lamb, and a set price dinner menu with multiple courses: amuse bouche, starter, salad, palate-cleansing sorbet, entree, and dessert. (You want to come hungry.) The hearty portions remind you you\u2019re eating in the suburbs, while the stocks, sauces, and turned vegetables \u2014 some plucked from the restaurant\u2019s garden outside \u2014 reflect classical French training.<\/p>\n
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Dover sole sweetened with saut\u00e9ed lobster.
\n Kainaz Amaria\/The Washington Sun\n <\/p>\n
The stars of the night were a demitasse of corn chowder, plump sweetbreads and earthy mushrooms with Madeira sauce, a punchy Caesar salad, a textbook perfect Dover sole sweetened with saut\u00e9ed lobster, and a choucroute \u2014 rich with foie gras, sausage slices, and tangy sauerkraut \u2014 that\u2019s worth the drive from D.C. (Let me add that the light, billowy Grand Marnier souffl\u00e9 garnished with strips of candied orange was actually superior to my last one here.) And Haeringer, dressed in his chef whites and cracking his usual dad jokes for an appreciative audience, made an appearance in the honey-lit dining room. \u201cMr. Thompson moved into the neighborhood,\u201d I overheard the chef tell a table of customers, no doubt to ease worries about the change.<\/p>\n
A gallery in the basement hallway pays homage to a restaurant that originally opened as Chez Francois in Washington in 1954. Jacques Haeringer\u2019s father, chef Fran\u00e7ois Haeringer, relocated to Great Falls the year of the country\u2019s bicentennial and remained a presence in the kitchen until his death at 91, in 2010.<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n
Photographs of Jacques Haeringer and his father, chef Fran\u00e7ois Haeringer.
\n Kainaz Amaria\/The Washington Sun\n <\/p>\n
![\"L\u2019Auberge_Chez](\"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1790872955_852_.jpeg\")
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L\u2019Auberge Chez Fran\u00e7ois employs a staff of almost 100 members and includes a more relaxed Jacques\u2019 Brasserie downstairs.
\n Kainaz Amaria\/The Washington Sun\n <\/p>\n
You can see, then, why regulars might be concerned. Not to worry, says Ruben Paredes, managing director of Thompson Restaurants, who\u2019s in charge of the transition. \u201cOur big mission is not to change anything that makes L\u2019Auberge Chez Francois an institution,\u201d he says. \u201cWe have no intention of changing the food, service or ambience.\u201d The acquisition is focused mainly on behind-the-scenes improvements, including purchasing power and technology, Paredes says. By way of example, the new owner is adding Starlink to improve -internet connections in the semirural area.<\/p>\n
Haeringer jokes that there\u2019s just one infrastructure detail to which the new steward of the institution isn\u2019t committed: \u201cThey won\u2019t be paying for my facelift.\u201d<\/p>\n
It is good to have you back! I am writing to ask for restaurant recommendations in Charleston, South Carolina. We have no price-point restrictions \u2014 anything from neighborhood spots to fine dining would do \u2014 and are open to any cuisine.<\/p>\n
Count me a big fan of Charleston, which I ranked as one of America\u2019s Top 10 food cities (in 2015, a designation that still holds). Some of my favorite restaurants back then \u2014 Fig, Leon\u2019s Fine Poultry & Oysters and The Obstinate Daughter \u2014 are still around and still choice.<\/p>\n
My go-to food guide in Charleston is Parker Milner, the food editor of The Post and Courier, to whom I put your question for a current take. He served up three recommendations:<\/p>\n
\u201cChez Nous, which opened 12 years ago and comes from the owners of Michelin-starred Malag\u00f3n, serves a daily changing offering, with two appetizers, two entrees and two desserts handwritten on paper menus in chef-owner Jill Mathias\u2019 stylish script. The intriguing, invigorating food is reminiscent of what I\u2019ve had in Paris with a Lowcountry twist.<\/p>\n
Merci, a 24-seat spot in the Harleston Village neighborhood, is serving some of the most inspired plates in Charleston right now. Chef Michael Zentner (you may recognize the name from his days in D.C., when he cooked at Alta Strada) offers excellent house-made breads, produce-driven small plates, and entrees that range from the celebratory beef Wellington to poulet press\u00e9 with moutarde violette.<\/p>\n
Lastly, The Restaurant at Zero George is my top fine-dining pick right now. Chef Vinson Petrillo works tirelessly to excite diners through a mix of innovative bites (edible \u2018cigars\u2019 with beef tartare and brown butter \u2018ash,\u2019 for instance) and premium ingredients. His tasting menu is served in a historic boutique hotel in the heart of the Charleston peninsula.\u201d<\/p>\n
How long should restaurants hold tables for late arrivals?<\/p>\n
The general rule is about 15 minutes, sometimes with more flexibility for diners who inform the establishment they are behind schedule.<\/p>\n
Ignorance is not bliss. Restaurants like to be informed when someone\u2019s arrival is delayed, because it removes guesswork and helps with planning. Some restaurants have time limits for tables; latecomers may be informed of the fact when they show up. Also, high-end restaurants with tasting menus and multiple seatings might allow for less time, since a latecomer can throw off the pacing of the dinner.<\/p>\n
When the tables are turned \u2014 when a diner\u2019s reserved table isn\u2019t ready \u2014 I think a similar grace period should apply. A thoughtful restaurant might sweeten the wait and throw in a gratis glass of wine or some small touch to thank a customer for their patience.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ll be going to Studio Theater soon. What\u2019s quick and easy nearby?<\/p>\n
How about quick, easy, delicious \u2014 and right across the street? Katsumi is all those things and more. The Japanese restaurant on 14th St. NW recently impressed me not just with the cooking, but with its hospitality. No sooner did I sit down on a plush seat than an attendant let me know I arrived in time to order from the happy hour menu, which is offered from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. daily and includes a couple of juicy grilled chicken skewers for $6, or half the regular cost. When a companion needed a moment to review the drinks list, the server said, \u201cNo rush. You\u2019re the boss tonight,\u201d as if we were the only customers on a busy Saturday.<\/p>\n
Then the dishes from Masaaki \u201cUchi\u201d Uchino started landing: a tuna roll, drizzled with spicy pink mayonnaise and ignited with wasabi seaweed. Fatty tuna nigiri that laid buttery, melt-on-the-tongue raw fish on a pad of well-seasoned rice. A crunchy heap of hot fried chicken kissed with honey miso. Katsumi is an ideal preshow spot, offering food that leaves you sated but won\u2019t put you to sleep by the second act.<\/p>\n
The signature drinks show skill, too. Some like it hot. For them, there\u2019s Daimo Verde \u2014 tequila swirled with Alpine liqueur and a shishito cordial, among other enhancers, presented with a rectangle of ice and a ribbon of cucumber in a long glass.<\/p>\n
Sign up for The Washington Sun Metro newsletter for essential coverage of the D.C. region.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Welcome to Talk to Tom, the dining-advice column that aims to point you toward good meals, steer you from the dross and solve your pressing restaurant queries. Look for a fresh Q&A every Thursday in this space. Questions and comments can be submitted to TalkToTom@washingtonsun.com. Submissions may be edited for length and clarity. We are<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":39401,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[52],"tags":[6807,6804,6805,6802,6806,6803],"class_list":["post-39698","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-district-of-columbia","tag-d-c","tag-d-c-dining","tag-d-c-fine-dining","tag-d-c-food","tag-d-c-grocery-stores","tag-d-c-restaurants"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/vive.im\/@dc\/117367744955578999","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39698","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39698"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39698\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/39401"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39698"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39698"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39698"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}