63. Leopold’s Kafe & Konditorei
Having lived in and around Georgetown for a few years now, I can say with plenty of confidence that Dupont Circle is a great place for a good meal. Hay-oooo. But seriously folks, I usually don’t think to eat in Georgetown since it tends to be expensive, mediocre, tourist-filled or all of the above. I’ve walked by Leopold’s tons of times, but up until I ate there this weekend, I had no idea it served food. The restaurant is located on Cady’s Alley, though there is a walkway from M St. that takes you down there. The restaurant itself is bigger than I thought it would be, though I can’t imagine eating there and not sitting out on the patio. The outdoor seating is oh-so-European—a few wrought iron tables and chairs set around a trickling fountain. Ah, how relaxing. The only issue is that there seems to be no other way to get deliveries to and from the restaurant and the tween boutique that shares that patio except to shove dollies through the dining area. I’m assuming that on a weekend or evening this wouldn’t be as big of an issue though.
Leopold’s is the perfect place to sip some great coffee in huge cups (though a word to the wise and my brothers in Sweet-n-Low, they do not serve the pink stuff), and sample some of the tasty looking pastries in the case. Sipping and nibbling is not what this blog is about though, so I took the plunge and actually ordered some food. The menu is a little bipolar; there are the very heavy choices (schnitzel or fillet of branzino) and the dainty (tea sandwiches and watermelon salad) and not much in between. Since we were having a late breakfast, we stuck to the dainty. Mom has the trio of tea sandwiches which were great (especially the egg salad with cayenne), but probably would have served well as a little nosh instead of an actual meal. I had the salmon pizzette, which effectively was a flatbread pizza with smoked salmon, capers and crème fraiche. Sort of like a bagel and lox for the Malibu set, it was served with a drizzle of flavored oil over top and a side salad of greens tossed with vinaigrette. It was very good, but I could have eaten a few more of them. Since we were still a little hungry after finishing our meal, we decided to order the apple strudel. Though the main courses were on the light side, the strudel did not mess around. Roughly the size of a throw pillow, the strudel was served with vanilla ice cream and a warm vanilla sauce. And since it was pretty hot outside, it turned in to a room temp ice cream/sauce pretty quickly. They were so smart to make them the same flavor! I liked the strudel, but the real praise came from my mom who said it was “just like her grandmother used to make”. So there you go.
Leopold’s is a great little oasis in Georgetown that benefits from its poor location, or I guess I benefit from its poor location. God help us all if Lonely Planet gets a hold of this place.
