If you believe that dining is a collective experience that extends past the simple consumption, the INDEBLEU would be likened to a childhood moment that somehow sticks with you until the end. From the time you enter the door and gaze down the long bar, looking all the way to the enchanting dining cubbies, brilliantly saffron-colored, to the time you step off the staircase and snatch a couple of match books as you leave, the services is spectacular. Your coats are taken, your silverware is replaced and your table is swept, to name a few of the key points of the keen service that INDEBLEU provides. The drink menu is presented on a handy foldout map that mimics the all too familiar Metro map, with each family of drinks associated with a different colored commuter line. The food menu is displayed as a boarding pass and allows the purveyor to select each of the three courses using a series of independently bound flash cards depicting the food items. Fresh bread, topped with an aromatic blend, is delivered in much the same fashion that a continuous basket of chips are provide to you at a Mexican restaurant. We shared the first course, which consisted of lobster and crab stacked like a roll of fifty-cent pieces. The combination of never-ending foccacia and wonderful sauces prompts even the most conservative to clean his plate. With this the chef rewarded our clean plates with tiny teacups of potato soup for two. The second course consisted of a wonderful lobster bisque and a delicate crepe filled with a variety of full-stemmed mushrooms and blue cheese. The main coarse consisted of perfectly cooked beef tenderloin medallions served with potatoes au gratin and oven-roasted sea bass on leek pilaf with coconut turmeric mussels. Just when we thought the decadent chocolate dessert would provide just the right closure to the experience, a plate of scrumptious petit-a-fours was provided, compliments of the chef. The inevitable trip to the facilities proved to be an experience in and of its self with brightly covered walls and beautifully placed oval tiles. The faucet was a true conversation piece, consisting of a glass disk over which water flowed to create a waterfall into a cast concrete basin. I would like to thank designers Theo Adamstein and Olvia Demetriou for this and all of the other elements that make this place special and hats off to Vikram Gargs’ fusion of Indian and French cuisines. Make plans to dine here one night, even if you have to make up for it by eating hotdogs for the rest of the month.
IndeBleu
707 G Street. NW
Washington DC 20001



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