Le Diplomate (1601 14th Street NW) is Philadelphia restaurateur Stephen Starr’s 30th restaurant, which may help explain why the recently opened French bistro already runs like a well-oiled machine. The cavernous dining room and expansive sidewalk patio look like they were lifted off the streets of Paris, except instead of Parisians the tables are packed to the gills with hungry Washingtonians. While D.C. diners tend to go wild for any opportunity to eat al fresco, at a recent media dinner it was clear that Le Diplomate is more than just a pretty patio.
In a world filled with small plates, foam, and sometimes questionable Latin-Asian fusions, it feels almost novel to walk into a restaurant that is hews so closely to classical French cuisine. Here you’ll find a menu to make Julia Child proud: beef bourguignon, roast chicken, steak frites, and trout amadine to name just a few. There is also an extensive raw bar, crusty house-baked baguettes, a dazzling cheese selection, and a dedicated team of baristas manning the coffee bar.
During my visit, we noshed on an earthy mushroom tart, crunchy radishes smeared with sweet creamy butter, and an absolutely ethereal chicken foie gras pâte. Whipped to an airy, mousse-like consistency and paired with a sweet-tart fennel jam, this dreamy spread is good enough to change the minds of diners who would otherwise turn their noses up at liver.
Portions are large at Le Diplomate, even among the appetizers ($6-$15), so be prepared to share. The petit plateau—the smaller of the two seafood samplers ($60-$120)—is a riot of crab legs, lobster claws, oysters, mussels, clams, and shrimp sprouting out of an enormous basin of crushed ice. Design to serve one to three (apparently incredibly hungry) people, it could easily be shared among more.
The generosity of portions extends to the entrees ($14-$35) as well. The roast chicken comes as an entire half of a bird, swaddled in a crackling golden skin and a rosemary-tinged gravy rich with the intense flavor of chicken stock. The chicken is served alongside a miniature Le Cruset pot of mashed potatoes. One of the most vivid food memories I have of visiting Paris as a teenager is of eating these mind bendingly rich mashed potatoes, pureed to a pillowy softness and imbued with the flavor of fresh butter and sweet cream. The mashed potatoes at Le Diplomate bring to mind that memory in the best possible way.
The kitchen also knows its way around beef. Beef bourguignon practically melts underneath the pressure of a fork’s tines, the sauce heady with the scent of red wine and carrots. It also doesn’t hurt that the stew is served over a bed of those velvety mashed potatoes. Steak frites are given all the cooking treatment you want in a good steak—high heat to caramelize the outside and just enough salt to bring out the natural flavor of the animal.
If you can save room for dessert ($8-$9), Le Diplomate will not disappoint. The crème brûlée provides the classic contrast of textures and flavors: a snap of caramel burnt sugar on top and silky, floral vanilla cream below. But the real revelation is the grapefruit coupe glacée, a refreshing marriage of icy grapefruit sorbet, spicy cinnamon whipped cream, and buttery financier cookies.
Le Diplomate, 1601 14th Street NW, (202) 332-3333. Open Sunday to Tuesday, 5-10 p.m.; Wednesday and Thursday, 5 to 11 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 5 p.m. to midnight; Sunday brunch, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
