This past saturday Jungdae and I were once again participating in the questionably sane exercise of looking for a house in the current real estate market, this time in Alexandria. After getting our weekly fill of updated kitchens, oversized bathroom vanities and undersized bedrooms we were ready for some refreshments. Since we had a bacon and bourbon party to attend later in the evening, we figured something light was in order. We had asked our agent to drop us off on the corner of King and Washington, and right there on that corner was Le Pain Quotidien, “bakery and communal table”, making a direct and persuasive appeal to the faux intellectual in me. It seemed perfect.

Atmosphere: as you walk in, you are greeted with the sight and smell of crusty french baguettes. The aforementioned communal table is in evidence, on this day occupied by a community of several middle-aged ladies munching on assorted fresh produce. The wooden tables and the bread combine to give the place a nice, french-country feel.

Food: the menu is mostly tartines (open faced sandwiches) and salads. There were also a few platters. One in particular caught my eye, the italian platter, listing an array of beguiling ingredients including some of my favorites, such as prosciutto and aged parmesan cheese. We opted for that, as well as an egg salad tartine with anchovies and wild capers, and a pot of coffee.

The initial mild disappointment came with the arrival of the pot of coffee. Actually the coffee itself was quite good, if on the not very strong side. The disappointment was with the “pot” part, as the container in which it arrived would have more accurately been described as “smallish traveler mug”.

The second disappointment was with the platter. Perhaps I should have realized this to begin with, but the platter consisted of the various ingredients listed in the menu, arranged on the main plate and several side plates. It was up to me to combine them together into a cohesive dish or dishes prior to consumption. And while all of the ingredients were very fresh and tasty, I felt I was missing out on the whole “eat food prepared by others” part of the dining out experience, and as a result, especially given the price of the platter, a bit cheated.

On the positive side, the egg salad tartine  turned out to be very tasty, the salty anchovies being a perfect contrast to the slightly sweet egg salad. And the bread was really, really good - the tartine was on baguette style bread, while the platter came with country wheat. And as I mentioned, aside from the do-it-yourself aspect, the actual components of the platter were all tasty.

Service: if you eat in at the tables, they have waiters. And the place settings and  silverwhere and plates were surprisingly high-end, for what is fundamentally a fairly casual place.

Summary: The place is definitely pricy - the tartines are about $9-13, the salads about the same range, and the platters $12-15. The food is, however, pretty tasty, and it’s obvious they use high-quality ingredients. The best way to think of it is as an upscale Cosi. I would stick to the tartines and skip the platters and salads. Or maybe just buy their bread, which is awesome.

Restaurant information:

• Website: http://www.lepainquotidien.com/
• Address: 701 King St, Alexandria VA 22314
• Phone: 703-683-2273
• Price range: tartines and salads $9-13, platters $12-15. there are also breakfasty items which we didn’t get to try.