By the Gastronomes

Bastille Day is the common name given in English-speaking countries to the National Day of France and celebrated on July 14th each year. The French National Day is the anniversary of the storming of the Bastille, a major event of the French Revolution. In honor of Bastille Day, we decided to revisit one of our very favorites and Alexandria’s very own, Bastille Brasserie & Bar, for this month’s Dining Out column.

Bastille is located at 606 N. Fayette Street in north Old Town. Although there are no views of the Potomac River, there is ample free street parking to help relieve that hassle. The restaurant has a comfortable bar/bistro area as well as two more dining rooms. We were there on a beautiful evening and chose to sit on the large patio adjacent to the Asher Apartments courtyard for some al fresco dining. We weren’t the only ones with that idea. We even met a very cute canine visitor named Ernie.

It was also a good night because Bastille had just released their new summer menu. Unfortunately, that meant we couldn’t order their delicious beet salad but there are many new items to enjoy. We will just have to wait for fall to roll around for our beet fix.

We are particularly fond of the Prix Fixe menus offered here. There are two three 3-course Prix Fixe Menus available. The Bistro menu is $49 while the Brasserie is $59. Both are excellent values. The choices are numerous as you can see from the photo of the menu. All of the items on the fixed price menus and several other choices are available ala carte. For those of you who are familiar with “Restaurant Week” where eateries offer fixed price menus, you could say that Bastille has “Restaurant Week” offerings all of the time.

Needless to say, we are regulars at Bastille and tend to gravitate to our favorites but we decided to step outside of the box and order all new items. After having a couple pieces of house-made focaccia from the complimentary bread basket, we started out with the Tomates et Huitres en Fritures – Fried green tomatoes and crispy oysters atop arugula and served with espelette horseradish cream for dipping. While one of us isn’t really a fan of “fried” foods we both found this a good choice. The oysters were excellent and the tomatoes were very good and cut in wedges rather than slices so they were easy to eat as finger food and the sauce for dipping is amazing.

Moving on to the entrées. First up was the Saumon du Pacifique – Pacific King Salmon Filet served with a lump crab crust and placed atop sweet corn and fennel risotto topped with water cress. It was ordered medium rare and that is exactly how it came out. The summertime risotto is amazing. The organic Carnaroli rice is cooked to perfection with the addition of grilled sweet corn, fennel and fresh tomato citrus emulsion. The grilled corn is the star in this dish. Accompanied with the salmon is a great way to have it but it is offered as an entrée served with a very tasty parmesan crisp and it certainly can stand on its own.

Next up, the Thon Rouge “a la Nicoise” – Seared Yellowfin tuna with grilled ratatouille vegetables, haricot verts with olive and caper tapenade. This dish was nothing short of a perfect combination of flavor profiles. Neither of us could figure out what the fish had been seasoned with besides cracked black pepper but whatever it is, it is really tasty. The roasted eggplant, red pepper and zucchini paired with the sauteed green beans along with the tapenade rounded out the fish perfectly.

The Grande Finale was the Peach Melba a la Bastille – Peach ice cream with chunks of fresh peaches, raspberry sauce and crème chantilly with toasted almonds and a cookie crisp. In retrospect, we wished we had each ordered one instead of sharing it. The fact that it is seasonal may mean it won’t be an offering this month but we will suggest to Chef Michelle that she carry it through the summer. In any case, you can’t go wrong with any of the desserts at Bastille. They are Chef Michelle’s specialty.

After dessert, we moved inside to the bar for an “After Dinner” beverage. A Zambuca in a snifter with the prerequisite odd number (3 in this case) of coffee beans and a Rusty Nail were in order.

As you would expect, Bastille has a very extensive wine list from around the world concentrating on some of the best from France. We ordered a very nice Sauvignon Blanc. The restaurant also has a nice spirits selection in the bar as well as both draft and bottled beers. Like most other bars in the country, they serve craft cocktails that change seasonally.

The decor in this restaurant is very light and airy and also very welcoming. One of the more charming things about Bastille is their open kitchen. It is located adjacent to the front dining room. Not only is the action in the kitchen interesting, it is also quite entertaining. Fun to see what goes on behind the scenes!

Bastille is also perfect for special events. They use the back dining room for these types of gatherings. We have had several gatherings in this room including a 75th birthday party for 40+ people and it was a great success with the incredible food and attention to detail from their staff.

The staff here are top notch – attentive but don’t hover. You can definitely say that the Poteaux team headed up by Chef Chrisophe and Chef Michelle is a well-oiled machine. Treat yourself to the experience.

See their ad in this section and access the QR code for details on hours, full menu, etc.

Bastille Brasserie & Bar

606 N. Fayette Street

Alexandria, VA

703-519-3776

Bastillerestaurant.com