There’s no other D.C. restaurant quite like La Bohème to get you into the spooky spirit this season. Vet restaurateur and sommelier Elli Benchimol’s nearly three-year-old Georgetown tasting room above her Champagne-and-caviar standout Apéro switches up
its theatrical theme every quarter; past menu takeovers with decor to match have included everyone from iconic filmmakers (Tim Burton, George Lucas, Quentin Tarantino) to literary greats like J.R.R. Tolkien — a theme so popular they brought it back twice — to musical legends like Queen. The current Brothers Grimm menu running now through January is all about the darker side of the fairy tales originally written by the German siblings in 1812, including Cinderella, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, and Rapunzel.
No matter the theme, the vibe up top is edgy, unique, and intimate — with just 22 seats and a small bar in the back covered in colorful crystals — where you can enjoy its 4- to 6-course menus ($99 or $135) from Marcel’s alum chef Jenn Castaneda-Jones, who shows off her fine dining background and sourcing skills across each menu. A cheesy pop-up this is not.
What to order
- To start, the velvety bowl of potato and leek veloute soup screams fall.
- The Through the Briars entree — a German-leaning skillet of crispy maitake mushrooms, spaetzle, roasted kuri squash, and mustard cream sauce — pays homage to the prince fighting through the briars (aka the mushrooms, get it?) to find his Sleeping Beauty, my personal favorite Grimm story.
- A blue crab salad with a charred onion aioli is hiding in a nest of crispy katafi. The thread-like dough creatively represents the spinning-hair-into-gold tale of Rumpelstiltskin.
- Cocktails with sherry, vermouth, apple syrup, and interesting stemware (a glass bird!) can be ordered a la carte ($16) or as pairings ($65, $95) that complement the story and flavors of a particular dish. For Rapunzel, a bright-yellow plate of daikon radish strands sings with sherry vinaigrette, wildflowers, yuzu gel, and hazelnut. The counterpart cocktail, Let Down Your Hair, features flower-infused gin, deep-red pomegranate molasses, and Dolin blanc vermouth.
Dessert
- The Witch’s Cottage (a la Hansel and Gretel) is a deconstructed gingerbread house of gingerbread cake, blackberry compote, mascarpone cremeux, and gingersnap “shingles.”
- You definitely should eat the “poison apple” with a chocolate stem — a gorgeous orb of white chocolate streusel that cracks open to reveal cream cheese mousse and apple butter.
The vibe
Each course comes with a show; the animated servers, who are versed in the Grimm stories themselves, present each plate or cocktail with its related backstory that lasts just long enough before the dish gets cold. Ours hilariously acknowledged the ridiculousness of some tales with unicorns and boars involved as “Looney Tunes!”
Best for
With twinkling lights above, a “Once Upon a Time” mural of a castle, and comfy nooks with pillow armrests, this dimly lit room makes for a great date night.
Insider tip
For a year-round spooky vibe, consider Benchimol’s new Ellizabetta La Strega in Foggy Bottom — a mystical and moody Italian restaurant covered in matte-black walls, witchy art, and tarot tables. Be sure to order executive chef Stephen Jones’ vegan Bolognese.
