Years ago Wayne lived in a building near the zoo. One morning we walked up to the center of Adams Morgan and had breakfast at Avignon Freres. It was a perfect morning, and I had given free reign to my senses to take it all in. The café/bakery/restaurant was busy but not oppressively crowded. There was live music: someone playing baroque recorder music. In the air were the commingled fragrances of good coffee and baked goods. I asked for eggs Benedict, and when it was served it was so beautiful I could hardly bring myself to eat it. What made it so handsome was the use of black olive slivers sprinkled on the eggs and a couple of fresh parsley leaves.
I was reminded of this a few weeks ago when I started to make the Greek eggs described in the previous entry. Something about the color of the black olives allows them to harmonize beautifully with the yellow of the cooked egg yolks, and the pieces of green leaf provide a cheery accent; the whole is handsomely set off by the brilliant white of the egg whites. There is something so fitting about the combination of those colors. It was one of those effects whose total impact was all out of proportion to the meager means used to achieve it.
I know I’m not the only one who misses Avignon Freres – and its bisque ice cream!
13 comments:
I am a native Washingtonian and for the first 9 years of my life (in the 1950s) we lived on Rhode Island Ave between Scott Circle and 15th St. My mother would order Avignon Freres rum cake for my birthdays. Not only was the cake delicious, but it was so beautifully decorated...almost to pretty to eat! I have yet to taste a rum cake that can equal theirs.
If you went to Avignon Freres did you ever encounter their amazing candies called Algaras??
I don't know anything about them. Can you describe them?
Of course. They came in a cream colored rectangular box in two layers separated by waxed paper. The candies were a black & white striped square candy-- sort of chocolate and vanilla caramel. They were sent to us by our grandfather in Buffalo
NY as a Christmas extravagance. There are many cousins who would go a long way to find Algaras again, or at least the recipe for them!
Left in 1976 and moved to Maine; but my stomach has never forgotten the pastry orgies at A.Freres or the Sunday brunches clutching the NYTIMES and a date.
There was a exotic combination of Cuban and Italian bakers who made seductive pastries.
My wife once ordered a 'special cake' for my birthday, and the baker said, OH, A SPECIAL CAKE..
Later that evening the cake was brought out and was made of 20 lbs. of almond marzipan....it took weeks to consume it!
Let me also state, I opened a bakery in Maine which I ran for five years.
My bakery was a shrine to my customers; but for me, A.Freres was the Basicila of pastry!
My sister worked at Avignon Freres for many years in the 70s ... She would sometimes bring home the pastries ... so good ... but my favorite was the chocolate ice cream. I have never tasted anything like it since and I truly miss it.
I was a student at Catholic University in 1969. Avignon Freres had the most amazing marzipan candies I've ever eaten. I remember their picnic baskets as well. I found your comments about Avignon Freres after seeing an advert for marzipan and it brought Avignon Freres to mind immediately. I'm sorry to hear that it is no longer open.
Another restaurant I loved was Mama Ayesha's Calvert Cafe. When I went there, Mama was still living and you would often see her sitting in the back booth peeling grape leaves. Their juke box was great too. You never knew what song would play when you put in your quarter. Instead of what was listed on the label, you would get a Greek song. It was the first place I ever tasted hummus and it was years before it was popular. They served it warm with a drizzle of olive oil in the center.
My grandmother, and then my mother used to give us Algaras as a Christmas treat, too. My sister and I talk about them every Christmas.
I sure do miss that place. Weekend breakfasts were the best. The pastries, the donuts, people watching, who were you going to run into. A true local establishment.
My mom and I were born in Puerto Rico. We moved to the Twinbrook area in Rockville Maryland in 1964/65. For my seventh birthday which fell close to Easter my mom ordered a beautiful egg shaped cake from Avignon Freres.
I loved it so much that the following year she ordered another one but because of the street riots that impacted all that area in DC following the death of Martin Luther King I never got to eat that cake. I was just a kid and didn't understand the grave events that led to that day. All I could think about was missing that big chocolate easter egg cake.
I was born and grew up in Washington, as was my brother so what a history my family had with Avignon Freres. When I was little we would go for Sunday dinners or sometimes lunch after church at St Stephens. I remember the wonderful Sundaes that were such a treat for desert. Years later when my husband and I were married in Washington, my mother had Avignon Freres make our wedding cake. It was so beautiful and even better the most delicious wedding cake I have ever tasted, even to this day and we were married in 1977. I haven't lived in Washington since 1976 but I still think of that restaurant with a smile and lovely memories.
I lived at the Cortland Apt. building at the corner of Euclid & Champlain from the mid 50's thru 1968. I remember having a view of all the stores across the triangular park & Columbia Rd. from Cafe Don to Gartenhus Furs. Highs had the 5 cent ice cream cones. But the best ice cream and cake came from Avignon Freres. Haven't found anything, anywhere to equal them. Miss those days.
Post a Comment