The New Replaces the Old
LE PIGALLE
[from June 2006 issue]

Putting a new face on things, Le Pigalle has shouldered out 17th Street’s long-time denizen, Peppers, and now sets the tone for Gallic-inspired meals in the neighborhood. It also makes a sleek, clean-lined destination where the color white predominates indoors, but on the front terrace the overtly flamboyant awning flames its brilliant hue, announcing that here’s a place to watch the passing scene.

At a recent lunch, I struck up a conversation with the affable waiter, who chatted about the restaurant. We just opened a few weeks ago, he says, nodding towards the new owner deep in a business conversation at the end of the bar. And the chef is French, he adds, noting that the sumptuous pastries from his dessert tray are made in house.

Pastries are as good a starting point as any to talk about this restaurant’s fare, and if you have a sweet tooth, desserts at Le Pigalle are mandatory. What you won’t find are the obligatory cheesecakes and apple pie slices; what you will find are inspired French goodies that look picture-pretty and taste like they sprang from the ovens of a Parisian patisserie. I selected a chocolate-domed, orange custard-filled treat that perfectly wrapped up a “lite” salad lunch. I even took an extra dessert away, a layered, brownie-like chocolate-intense and very buttery/rich indulgence that weighs heavily on my dieter’s conscience. Well, why not eat plenty?

The rest of this newish restaurant’s menu may need some refining. For one, if you want something lite and maybe even portable—a tartine with ham and cheese, for example, or maybe a toasted baguette filled with sliced goodies—you won’t necessarily find it here. Eyeing the saucisson a L’ail en Brioche, I thought for sure this would be a plump, tasty garlicky sausage over-wrapped in a rich, buttery, egg-dense crust—easy to eat, easy to carry away.

Nope. Instead the garlic sausage—well, the original one from which this piece is cut—must be immense: What the saucisson comes as is a slice off an evidently long sausage baked in a large loaf; your portion is garnished by a side salad of dressed leaf lettuce.

Other lite possibilities, and definitely not portable, are the assorted salads. For one, the Salade Pigalle sounds—and is— tempting, with its toss of a few very thin slices of potatoes, blue cheese, mesclun, and slivers of prosciutto, all topped with a sunny-side up egg. It’s clever, and maybe even classic. But for a nickel short of $10, I want more than just a salad bowl full. I expected a large plate, beautifully arranged and as good as eye candy. Their presentation needs a bit of up-scaling. Yet I had to agree with the waiter, who had eaten that salad for the first time the night before. Awesome, he says. Yep, but I want more, more.

Early days, of course, and the menu holds great promise of good eats to come. Next time here I’d skip lite and head to such hearty eats as the steak frites with Bearnaise or the ground beef, onions and mashed potatoes served with truffle sauce, or, more likely, the half roasted duck anointed with a five-pepper sauce. Now that’s eating.

By the way, Le Pigalle may be just starting out, but it looks like its place as a neighborhood resting/meeting/greeting/eating place is secure: long after lunchtime, patrons lingered at several tables, and although the front seating area was vacant (too hot? Who knows), odds are that cool nighttimes will find it crowded to the max. Good eats, good meets.

Le Pigalle (1527 17th St., NW; tel., 332-6767. Hours: Sun.-Thu., 11am-11pm; Fri. & Sat. to 1am. Entrée price range: $12.95-$20.95.

Copyright (c) 2006 InTowner Publishing Corp. & Alexandra Greeley. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited.

Alexandra Greeley is a food writer, editor, and restaurant reviewer. She has authored books on Asian and Mexican cuisines published by Simon & Schuster, Doubleday, and Macmillan. Other credits include restaurant reviews and food articles for national and regional publications, as well as former editor of the Vegetarian Times and former food editor/writer for the South China Morning Post in Hong Kong.