Where is that perfect little French bistro hiding? (Alexandria, Herndon: townhouse, neighborhoods)

[Stephen 81]

Originally Posted by brooklynborndad

You see nothing pretentious about it fine - I see nothing pretentious about the desire to sip cafe au lait, read the paper and watch the world go by.

So basically, some people on this forum want to pretend to be English gentry, while others want to pretend to be French philosophes? I think my European pretension will be only buying German-engineered products (at some point. Right now I still own some IKEA ).

[Stephen 81]

Originally Posted by brooklynborndad

really? i see lots of indian restaurants in DC. I dont know all the details of the indian regions, but are there really none in DC that serve a Dosa?

Not that I or any of my south Indian friends in DC are aware of. None serve Indo-Chinese food (i.e. Chinese food, Indian-style) either, and I'm not aware of any Pakistani places in the District. I often take my carless DC friends on food trips to suburbia

[michgc]

Come to Vienna sometime. That is ALL you will see outside - kids in their yards, riding their bikes in the streets and their sidewalks, skateboarding, etc. My kids either ride their bikes on our street or play in the backyard when they get home from school. The local playground is incredibly popular as well.

Of course, during the day, most kids are at school, so you won't see it then, but from about 3 PM until 6 PM you will see kids all over the place here. We have very few townhouses here, so these are all single-family homes.

Originally Posted by brooklynborndad

most people who want such homes do not have dogs, most such lots do not have pools or a playhouse that wouldnt fit in a town house backyard, and I dont think Im the only one who can report walking or driving for blocks and blocks through such nabes without seeing a single child playing on the lawn. Indeed, I see as many more kids playing outside in TH nabes.

[brooklynborndad]

Originally Posted by michgc

Come to Vienna sometime. That is ALL you will see outside - kids in their yards, riding their bikes in the streets and their sidewalks, skateboarding, etc. My kids either ride their bikes on our street or play in the backyard when they get home from school. The local playground is incredibly popular as well.

Of course, during the day, most kids are at school, so you won't see it then, but from about 3 PM until 6 PM you will see kids all over the place here. We have very few townhouses here, so these are all single-family homes.

I could well imagine Vienna being different BUT - Its been a while, but Ive biked on vienna from nottaway upt to the W&OD, and ISTR seeing lots of empty lawns (and that was certainly not on a weekday).

Certainly in annandale i see lots of large, empty lawns, and few kids outside.

Look, I am not trying to say kids never play on lawns in NoVa. I am saying that the shock of some at the cost of the lifestyle goes beyond the desire for the kids to have a place to play, in my very strong opinion.

[brooklynborndad]

Originally Posted by Stephen 81

So basically, some people on this forum want to pretend to be English gentry, while others want to pretend to be French philosophes? I think my European pretension will be only buying German-engineered products (at some point. Right now I still own some IKEA ).

thats not what I said.

I think its no more fair to attack the desire for french style bakeries or cafes as pretentious, then to attack the desire for lawns as such. But I think it IS more popular to laugh at urban cafe culture, than at the cult of the lawn. (it is a bit more common to laugh at mcmansions, but thats cause they are kind of extreme, and even then there are voices on here a bit sensitive about that)

[chariega]

i'm still trying to figure out what's so pretentious about a French cafe...

[Alicia Bradley]

Originally Posted by IndiaLimaDelta

You know, in retrospect, there aren't enough Indian bakeries in the area for my taste. I only go to 1) the Bengali sweet shop inside Lotte in Chantilly and 2) the Indian bakery (curry-filled puffs!) at a sleazy strip mall near the 50/28 intersection. Somebody please start one in LoCo!

Indian bakeries are cool.. especially ones that have rice/naan dishes to go This place's restaurant half is mostly a little bakery, and they usually have a couple daily veg dishes (the standard aloo gobi or saag or whatever) that taste really homemade:

http://gingerandspicemarket.com/

If you're not Indian (I've been thought Indian [or Middle-Eastern], but not by those guys - ha!), they'll make it pretty bland unless you tell them otherwise, though. I've heard the little market is excellent, too, but I don't drive, and it's (essentially) impossible to get there any other way. Don't know if it's worth going all the way from LoCo for, but it's a cute little place. There's definitely some really *bad* Indian/Pakistani joints in Fairfax Co., too, though - if they call themselves "Indian" and serve "pita bread," head for the exit.

[SallyField]

Originally Posted by brooklynborndad

I could well imagine Vienna being different BUT - Its been a while, but Ive biked on vienna from nottaway upt to the W&OD, and ISTR seeing lots of empty lawns (and that was certainly not on a weekday).

Certainly in annandale i see lots of large, empty lawns, and few kids outside.

Look, I am not trying to say kids never play on lawns in NoVa. I am saying that the shock of some at the cost of the lifestyle goes beyond the desire for the kids to have a place to play, in my very strong opinion.

Your last point is understood, and there are lots of places that are as you describe. I think many of that sort of housing is owned by the types that have no kids, though. Because to add to michgc's note, Vienna is not unique in being a kid-friendly area. Many neighborhoods in McLean, Fairfax, Burke, Fairfax Station, Reston, Ashburn, and so on are exactly the same. Decent size lots, cul de sacs, play sets, and tons of kids playing outside.

[brooklynborndad]

Originally Posted by SallyField

Your last point is understood, and there are lots of places that are as you describe. I think many of that sort of housing is owned by the types that have no kids, though.

I'm sure much of it is (though I also think a lot of it is owned by folks whose kids are either at organized activities, or are inside, whether doing homework, or utilizing electronic entertainment technologies or whatever) however for the purpose of this thread I it doesnt matter - I wasnt so much discussing how children are raised in NoVa (I DO have opinions on that, but its not really germaine to the thread) but the motives for almost automatic assumption (esp from outsiders/newcomers who are not from large northeastern metros) that the cost of SFHs on quarter acre or larger lots is a signficant issue/drawback of this area.

My argument is for paralellism. If its true that there is much (ethnic restaurants, etc) to compensate for the lack of continental bistros, its ALSO true that a vibrant townhouse lifestyle compensates for the cost of SFH's. If its true that some folks are blinded to the abundance of ethnic restaurants by a somewhat ethnocentric, or even "pretentious" focus on certain western european restauarant types, its ALSO true that folks are blinded to the possibilities of townhouse (and maybe even condo) life by assumptions, which have their deep roots in pretense, about the desirability of a SFH on a standard or larger lot. If its true that SOME folks have good, substantive reasons to want a SFH rather than a TH, its equally true that some folks like a bistro for reasons having nothing to do with pretense.

I am not dissing people for how they raise their kids, or saying everyone should move from their houses, or even saying there is anything wrong with eating a dosa. I am just struck by what to me seems the logical inconsistency of the attack on bistros and related, as pretense, an attack that is not (well here anyway) extended to the cult of the lawn.

I fully understand that my obsession with consistency of this kind could be called Talmudical

[stpickrell]

I'm surprised there isn't someone who works in Chantilly/Manassas/Ashburn that would buy a place in Middleburg simply for ZIP code rights. Also it is a wonderful little area, but it was too far out for a generic commute and I'd see them fixing up 7 and building Metro before fixing up 50.

In many parts of the country, townhouses ARE the lower-end housing stock. So I can see some of the disdain for townhouses.

The OP was given several suggestions for French bistros, of which at least a couple might have been up her alley. (I'd always thought areas like Old Town Winchester/Leesburg/Alexandria were typical of European high streets. Maybe I'm wrong??)