Home Plate

by David Hagedorn

Duck breast is a darling on many a DMV menu, but it often falls victim to poor preparation, with rubbery skin that hasn’t been properly rendered. Not so at Maison Cheryl in Clarendon, which is worthy of a visit this Bastille Day, or any day you might be craving duck à l’orange.

To prepare the classic French dish, chef-owner Robert Maher scores the skin with thin hatch marks—a technique that releases the fat as the breast is seared over a low flame until the skin is wafer thin and crisp. He adds butter and thyme to the pan and finishes the bird in the oven until its flesh is rosy and tender. It’s served with orange demi-glace, roasted broccolini and Parmesan mashed potatoes.

Maher, 37, is a New York City native and a graduate of the nowdefunct French Culinary Institute. His 2,000-square-foot bistro, which opened in August 2021, is named after his mother-in-law, who passed away in 2019. The restaurant seats 75, including 14 at the bar.

Other menu highlights include mafaldine pasta with fried burrata, heirloom tomatoes and pesto; Chilean sea bass with coconut rice and green curry sauce; and an 8-ounce Wagyu beef burger on brioche with truffle aioli, arugula and Swiss cheese. For dessert, try the baked-to-order madeleines. The excellent cocktails include a blood-orange boulevardier and A Little Kick, made with tequila, serrano chilies, lime and cilantro.

maisoncheryl.com

A good hot dog is all about the snap. The casing should be thin enough to break without much effort and crisped to the point that each bite seems almost audible. Haute Dogs, which recently opened its third D.C.-area location in Arlington’s Williamsburg Shopping Center, promises just that, with quality ingredients and jazzy toppings.

“We’ve always wanted an Arlington location because we have roots here,” says Chloé Swanson, who grew up in Arlington and co-founded the restaurant with her mother, Pamela Swanson, and her stepfather, Lionel Holmes.

A local provisions company makes the uncured beef franks—which are gluten- and dairy-free—per the restaurant’s house recipe, using dry-aged Angus rib-eye from a Maryland farm.

Of the 15 renditions of hot dogs on the menu, I’m partial to Chicago style (relish, tomato, onions, pickle spear, mustard, peppers, celery salt); the OBX (chili, coleslaw, yellow mustard); and the banh mi (cucumbers, carrots, cilantro, jalapenos and sriracha mayo).

Signature dogs are $6.75; a plain one with up to five toppings is $5. All are served on buttered and griddled New England-style brioche buns.

The menu also includes triple-patty smash burgers, sausages and brats, plus plant-based versions of burgers and dogs. Don’t pass up the great hand-cut fries or an order of loaded tots. The eatery seats 35, with a few tables outside.

hautedogsandfries.com

The control freak in me loves the build-your-own ice cream sandwiches ($7) at Captain Cookie & the Milkman, a D.C.based sweets shop and food truck that opened its first Virginia storefront in Courthouse earlier this year. Choose your preferred ice cream flavor (such as salted caramel, cookies ’n’ cream, mint chip or butter pecan) and the two cookies that sandwich it. Among the eight cookie offerings are ginger molasses, oatmeal raisin, snickerdoodle, peanut butter, chocolate chip and confetti. And yes, you can mix and match the cookies.

captaincookiedc.com