Alexandria's Bastille Restaurant Launches Summer Menu

PHOTOS: New shrimp and grits with Basquaise sauce and new tomato and feta salad. Photos courtesy of Bastille

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The newly re-opened Bastille, in Alexandria, has launched an inaugural summer menu in its new location, at 606 N. Fayette St. The unseasonably warm temperatures have offered a fresh bounty of ingredients that Chefs Christophe and Michelle Poteaux are utilizing in dishes inspired by France’s Mediterranean coast. In addition to new menu items, the restaurant is offering a series of prix fixe options that provide easy alternatives to a la carte dining.

Early summer star ingredients include heirloom and cherry tomatoes, sweet corn, peaches, and haricots vert. Peaches add a punch of tart sweetness to a seared foie gras with honey-Banyuls reduction on Pain d’Epices, creating a masterful first course. A Norwegian salmon fillet is intended for idyllic summer days plated with oven-roasted tomato & corn risotto, and a basil coulis. Thick-cut “Cote de porc” from Maryland’s Eastern Shore is accompanied by a barbecue mole sauce, summer beans, and corn succotash – the perfect marriage of French cuisine and American summer tradition.

New dessert menu

Meanwhile, three-time RAMMY Award Finalist for Pastry Chef of the Year, Michelle Poteaux has rolled out a new dessert menu that will conjure summer nostalgia, with an innovative nod to current trends. “Campfire & Chocolate” brings all ages back to camp with Valrhona chocolate brownies, peanut butter marshmallow, candied peanuts, and caramel swirled popcorn ice cream. Or day dream of sailing along the Mediterranean Sea with “Summer Melon.” This refreshing stunner is comprised of compressed cantaloupe, Greek yogurt sorbet, sesame crunch, and mint puree. Feel like sharing with your summer fling? Order Chef Poteaux’s take on a banana split with Valrhona chocolate covered banana mousse, an almond dacquoise, butterscotch sauce, strawberry ice cream, and candied almonds, finished with crème Chantilly.

Revamped brunch

Bastille has revamped its Saturday and Sunday brunch menu to feature bold twists on classic favorites. A variety of French aperitifs and traditional Kir Royale are offered alongside innovative concoctions like a refreshing blackberry-forward “Mûre Petillant” with white rum, crème de mûre, lemon, and ginger beer.

The brunch menu ranges from traditional to epic with selections like eggs benedict and Belgian waffle as well as a hearty bacon cheeseburger with egg. This grass-fed, Virginia beef patty is cloaked in cheddar, smoked bacon, onion compote, and tomato marmalade and then a lightly fried egg is placed just under the brioche bun, elevating the richness of this perfect combination of breakfast and lunch. Most of the brunch entrees are served with duck-fat home fries and watercress salad.

Options

The French invented prix-fixe and Bastille has perfected it to cater to all price points. Every service has at least one option. Lunch on weekdays and brunch on weekends include a choice of three courses for just $29 in addition to a la carte menus. Dinner prix fixe options include $39 for three courses, $49 for four, and $59 for a decadent five-course feast.

Guests are welcome for lunch from 11:30 am to 2:30 pm and dinner from 5 to 10 pm daily. Brunch is served on Saturdays and Sundays from 11:30 am to 2:30 pm. The bar is open from 11:30 am to 11 pm daily and happy hour is from 5 to 7 pm on weekdays.