Washingtonian Magazine

Still Special After All These Years

"...Readers cited L'Auberge Chez Francois as their favorite food bargain. For the 22nd year, the family-run Alsatian-style cottage in Great Falls is the reader's choice for best restaurant. It's also the favorite in the special-occasion, best service and most romantic categories. If a place where entrées start at $59.00 doesn't seem like such a deal, consider that the price includes appetizer, salad, entrée, coffee and dessert - and for the patrons who return year after year to celebrate birthdays and anniversaries, plenty of memories…”
December 2007

Bon Appetit

"...There was a time in this country when French cuisine was synonymous with haute cuisine and when a visit to a French restaurant required a jacket and tie as much as an appetite for garlic and snails.

But tastes have changed. Not that we don't still appreciate French food; we often just prefer it in a casual setting. And since many of us have traveled to such places as Burgundy and Provence, we hunger for more authentic regional fare.

Around the country, restaurants are answering the call. Chefs at the latest French attention-getters are more likely to be inspired by the cooks of Alsace or Lyon (including their own mothers) than by the cooking schools of Paris. And they more often serve dinner on bistro ware than on Limoges china. Their culinary concoctions – less fussy, but no less sophisticated – derive from France's comfort foods. It's no wonder that the French regional restaurants featured here seem au courant with our sensibilities. And that we dine at them again and again.

Owner and chef François Haeringer and his son Jacques, the chef de cuisine, oversee this country restaurant on six acres of forested land about 45 minutes outside of Washington, DC... "
September 2001

Newsweek

In Washington D.C. - L'Auberge Chez François

"Hearty" Alsatian dishes are delivered by an "informed" staff at this "truly special" Country French "treat" in Great Falls. It epitomizes "romantic dining."

Zagat ratings: Food: 27 - Decor: 26 - Service:27

(Zagat Food, Dining and Service ratings are based on a scale of 0 to 30)

<
Zagat's Reviews

"Special occasions" are made “memorable” at this "universally beloved" "rustic" Alsatian in a "magical" country setting in Great Falls that takes you to "pastoral" France; the "excellent" French fare is served by a staff that makes you "feel loved and taken care of" whether you’re enjoying the "fireplace warmth" in winter or the garden "on a lovely summer night", so overall many find it a "top value." - 2008

Washington Times

LITTLE ALSATIAN JEWEL RIGHTFULLY REMAINS TRADITIONAL FAVORITE

"Washington in the '60s. There wasn't much choice in the way of restaurants, but one was always a favorite... A little Alsatian jewel, owned and run by the Haeringer family, Chez Francois was justly famous for its plum (quetsch) tart.

Chez Francois moved with the times (and urban renewal) to a more bucolic setting in Great Falls, where it became L'Auberge Chez Francois, an upscale country restaurant... ...L'Auberge does not have an a la carte menu, only prix fixe meals (the price determined by the main course), which include a choice of soup or starter from a long list of interesting options, salad, the entree, dessert and coffee... The Alsatian favorites are there: a traditional choucroute with duck, goose confit, sausages, pheasant and even foie gras, as well as an appetizer choucroute of smoked fish, shrimp and scallops, both of course with sauerkraut...The choice of starters is wonderfully varied, from a traditional mushroom-filled crepe to marinated tuna tartare, from cold poached salmon or a plate of diverse country hams to puff pastry filled with Roquefort cheese, apples and calvados.
Corinna Lothar - SPECIAL TO THE WASHINGTON TIMES- August 2001

Washington Post

At a time when not much in life is certain, it's comforting to know that some things around us never change. Mister Rogers always puts on a sweater at the beginning of his show. Beethoven's Fifth never ceases to move its audiences. And for nearly half a century -- beginning in 1954 in Washington, then moving in 1976 to Great Falls -- L'Auberge Chez Francois has been one of the region's most popular places to celebrate a graduation, toast an anniversary or bring together the family.

Such steadfastness was interrupted two autumns ago when a fire in the attic ravaged the kitchen below it. The restaurant was shuttered for six months as the heart of the place was mended and the dining rooms were cleared of smoke. But when it reopened, guests entered to see the same desserts arranged, just so, on the big antique table and a coterie of hosts in tailored suits, ready as always to take care of diners.

Just last month, I was amazed to see Francois Haeringer, the 83-year-old proprietor, holding open the door for some early dinner arrivals. My young waiter, dapper in a red vest with gold buttons, smiled when I told him about the sighting. "He's here every day, tasting the sauces and talking to the staff," he said, in a tone filled with awe for the older man's dedication.

Haeringer has kept the title of executive chef. ("I'm still just the chef de cuisine," his 52-year-old son Jacques says with a laugh.) As I took a sip of one of the refreshing house aperitifs, beer poured over a dark orange liqueur, I glanced out a window to see Haeringer rearranging chairs on the patio. The man cares.

You don't just decide, spur of the moment, to dine at L'Auberge Chez Francois, which accepts reservations four weeks out; securing a table by phone takes a strong index finger and some patience (despite as many as three people dedicated to handling reservations, the line is often busy). Regulars know a way around that hassle: the first-come, first-served tables on the stone terrace outside. Weather permitting, it's a magical spot, its red tables surrounded by pear and pine trees aglow with white lights. Inside, the four dining areas evoke a postcard-perfect Alsatian village. There are old beams overhead, stained glass in the windows, and pressed white linens embroidered with tiny flowers. Handsome table lamps in red-and-white-checked shades bathe the crowd in flattering hues. And if you see bright flashes every few moments, they're probably not lightning but rather multiple cameras capturing future memories.

The Old World service at L'Auberge is as impressive as anything on the menu. A meal isn't finished, though, until the golden tuiles and dark chocolates arrive on a small tray. Just as they always have.
Tom Sietsema - August 2002