―Et Voila! lets me pretend I’m in Brussels even though I’m just a few miles from downtown in the Palisades. The long and nar-row dining room — lined with burnt-orange banquettes and photographs taken by co-owner and chef Claudio Pirollo – looks like countless cozy bistros abroad; the servers’ French accents and the sight of Flemish beef stew fueled with dark beer make Washington feel further away. I’m a fool for salmon gravlax delivered with blinis to start, but from there it gets more challenging: Do I return to a favorite fish waterzooi or one of the best hamburgers around, or try something else? Cod paved in basil and mustard is my new must-have main course. The fish is just part of the appeal; a bed of angel-hair pasta swollen with lobster sauce sends it into a richer realm. Let’s hope next tomato season brings back Et Voila!’s stellar risotto: tangy with tomato con-casse, decorated with pesto-speckled shrimp and the appetizer of choice this summer of super-chef Alain Ducasse, for whom Pirollo worked at the Plaza Athenee in Paris. I’ve left a dreary gray lentil soup in its bowl, and my last memory of dessert was of an underdone crepe. But a meal at Et Voila! is still a trip.‖
