Vin de Set Does Not Mean Wine Set

It apparently means 2017, which is the address of this cozy bistro in Lafayette Square. Vin de Set is situated on the top floor of an old warehouse, which allows it to offer a great outdoor patio (enclosed in the winter) with cool views of downtown. We had reservations (I would say a must on a Saturday night), but opted to go early to enjoy a drink in the covered patio. We had that bar to ourselves; most folks were at the indoor and fancier bar. We were seated a few minutes early, at possibly the best table in the house. We were in a room with a fire place in the corner, with the ability to people watch without being conspicuous.

Vin de Set has a nice wine list which is easy to navigate. It is separated by types, and the list includes bottles from all over the world (except Missouri). We started with a cheese platter, with accompaniments of stone ground mustard (Tim's favorite), fig, and apricot spread, as well as olives and pickled brussel sprouts that were surprisingly good. Our major mistake we made was ordering a second starter of "tarte flambe" which sounded like a tart that was set on fire. It actually was a flatbread covered with cheese and bacon and way too humungous. We finished about 1/3 of it.

Not to be outdone by other gluttons, we then set out for main courses, which by this time we didn't need at all but thought we should order anyway. Tim had steak au poivre, which he practice pronouncing 5 times and then looked to me for my French languange pronunciation approval, which I thought was good considering it initially came out as "oh- poive." I ordered the duck confit. The duck was not dry as it can be, but unfortunately it was REALLY salty and I had to take a swig of water after each bite. It was accompanied by "rocket with apples, onions and citrus viniagrette" Say what? Rocket is apparently just your average arugula which was very very good in the viniagrette. We were disgusingly full by this point; we couldn't even finish our bottle of wine, nor did we make it to our planned final destination of the Chocolate Bar. Boo on us.

We want to go back in the summertime to check out the unencumbered views of downtown when the patio is open.

www.vindeset.com