L’Avant-Garde

So many rules! En route to the restaurant, a text message from L’Avant-Garde warns me tables are held just 10 minutes; at the table, a host greets my party with “You have the table for two hours.” Meanwhile, a senior suit on the team engages us with all the warmth of Lurch. Charm is not the newcomer’s strength.

Turn your attention to the menu. Printed in both French and English, which is either on point or pretentious, the list gathers all sorts of dishes to make you glad France native chef Gilles Epié came to Washington. Born in Brittany, Epié trained under some of his country’s most revered chefs — Roger Jaloux, the longtime chef de cuisine for the legendary Paul Bocuse; Alain Senderens, another founding father of nouvelle cuisine — and received a Michelin star for his work at Le Pavillon des Princes in Paris when he was just 22.