“Think globally-eat locally” is the slogan of one of Old Town Alexandria’s best restaurants. And since this particular restaurant (a) has a literary based name, and (b) did not kick me out, I am sharing one of my favorite Old Town secrets. Bilbo Baggins.
Walking into the restaurant off Queen Street, you would never expect the yellow row house with red awning and far too many twinkle lights to expand through a narrow entry way into a warm, rustic bar, and two large dining rooms. And by rustic, I mean these decorations make Eddie Bauer look cosmopolitan. The walls are knobby pine, and covered in wicker baskets, old fishing signs, and, most recently, a large digital clock counting down the days until Christmas. Once you reach your table, you’ll find chairs straight from a country kitchen and turquoise placemats you’ve seen once before at your uncle’s lake house (read: cabin). The downstairs waiters top off the down home feel in polo shirts, jeans, and clogs.
And then…they speak.
“Perhaps you’d like to start with duck and shiitake spring rolls, try for the entrée either the cinnamon pork loin with fruit chutney or veal scaloppini piccata with crab meat, and wash it down with a lovely 2000 bottle of our Fife from Old Yokayo Rancho.”
And the angels sang.
So in this completely non pretentious and but gloriously comfortable restaurant, we dined on peppered field greens tossed with fresh buffalo bocconcini and Roma tomatoes, drizzled with a basil olive oil and balsamic paint, tried not to cry over the warmth and fabulousness of the shrimp and mushroom risotto (with a whole lot of special ingredients I don’t remember), and embraced our inner Epicureans by partaking of the waiter’s perfect recommendation of a bottle of Fife.
And no one tried to hurry us along. And there was parking. And people were in jeans or business attire. And the check was more than reasonable. And, drum roll please, the people were nice.
As for those technical details, the Funside of the Potomac claims Bilbo Baggins is a “cozy local gathering place with delicious food, unusual wines and beers, and friendly service. 35 wines by the glass, 10 micro-brews on tap along with 50 imported beers in bottles.” Or in the Washington Post’s words, the “menu of plentiful, imaginative and tempting food leads you to order innovative combinations without even trying.”
As for me, Bilbo Baggins provides a comfortable environment that for one meal allows an escape from the D.C. dining scene to celebrate the marriage of the global creativity of Northern Virginia chefs to the rustic warmth of the Blue Ridge Mountains. And if that’s not precious, I’m not sure what is.
(Tolkien nod. I couldn’t help it.)
