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Very Best Restaurants: L'auberge Chez Francois

Very Best Listing | Very Best by Cuisine | Very Best by Location

L'auberge Chez Francois ***
Great Falls , $$

Whether taken on the outdoor patio in summer or in one of the dining rooms by a cozy fireplace, a meal at this French auberge is seductive. The welcome is warm, service impeccable, and the food at times quite wonderful. Wintry months suit the lusty Alsatian cuisine, be it roasted rabbit with wild mushrooms or the signature choucroute, a study in sauerkraut, duck, pork, suckling pig, and foie gras.

The prodigious menu hits all the French standbys: bouillabaisse, cassoulet, chateaubriand. But alongside the classics are more modern conceptions: dazzling salmon en croute with crab and lobster, rockfish with wild-mushroom crust, and, in season, soft-shell crabs stuffed with lump crab. And the price of an entree ($30 to $39) commands all kinds of extrasherbed cheese, salad, and a palate-cleansing sorbetas well as a starter and dessert. Desserts, especially the souffles, which almost everyone orders, often look better than they taste, but the deceptively plain-looking plum tart is spectacular.

L'auberge Chez Francois , 332 Springvale Rd., Great Falls ; 703-759-3800. Open Sunday for lunch and early dinner, Tuesday through Saturday for dinner. MapIt!

QUALITY: ****Excellent; *** Superior; **Very Good; * Good
PRICE RANGE: $$$= Very Expensive; $$ Expensive; $=Moderate; ¢=Inexpensive

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