26 minutes from Cheverly gets you to Georgetown (if you're lucky)

It's true. On a weekend, it is possible to drive from Cheverly to Georgetown in just 26 minutes (via 295 S to 395 S to VA then over the Key Bridge). Even more, you can go there to spoil your freshly-cleaned bodies after spreading mulch on your garden all day and looking distinctly unappetizing by the end.

And with your handy coupon $37 gets you a three course meal in the antiquated lushness of 1789 in Georgetown. It also gets you complimentary valet parking in Georgetown which is about the only reason you would ever even conceive of bringing your car here on a weekend. While $37 isn't something to laugh at, sometimes you just get enough done during the day that you feel you most certainly deserve a reward, and tonight was one of those nights. We were lucky to get a last minute reservation at 5:45, the only time available and we wanted to be at the French Embassy by about 7:30, so all was good, and Richard even had his suit jacket out and ready to go.

We sat in the proper yet sunlight second floor and ate a very satisfying dinner. My appetizer of hamachi was gently sea-salted and dressed with a lovely fruited olive oil, my husbands cavatelli were hand-rolled nuggets in porcini broth with these lovely clumsy fava beans, a nice contrast and decidedly contemporary. Dinner for me was "raw and cooked" king salmon-- this was a fun way to showcase the fine fish, with the same meal on both sides of my plate: salmon, king oyster mushrooms, arugula; with one side all raw and the other all cooked. This was one of the tastiest pieces of salmon I have had. My husband's local rockfish on a bed of leeks, calamari, and oyster mushrooms was just as delicious, if a bit salty on the skin. Desserts were good, but nothing to jump up and down over, although the guava-passion fruit sorbet makes my mouth water still.

What impressed me most? The charm, the fact that they didn't ask what kind of bottled water we wanted when I asked for water and lemon (I am SO tired of feeling cheap when I just want water and lemon), the ability for the food to honor it's stoic and traditional roots but be modern, fresh and creative, and the idea of serving fish not floating in butter. Given the quality of food and waitstaff, and the price-break on all of this, it is certainly a good value (my meal would have been $57 a la carte). We got out of there for $120 including 3 courses each, wine, coffee, tax, and tip. Probably won't be back anytime soon, but who knows the next time I will want to strap on some pearls and head to Georgetown for dinner.

After all of that eating we decided there was more drinking to do (much more, it turned out). We drove to the French Embassy for the summer festival. This was a lot of fun, with free flowing champagne ($6/glass) and French cidre ($4/glass) loads of decent and good music all over the grounds and a general festive atmosphere. We were happy we didn't try to eat here, since it seemed that a sizable number of folks at the festival were in fact waiting in line for food. I should remember to put this on the calender for next year, and to remember to wear better shoes for dancing and to get the bubbly earlier before they run out!