Bistrot Le Zinc serves traditional bistrot fare in a space renowned for its exceptional design and attention to details. Opened in July, 2011, Le Zinc has already earned a place in The Washingtonian’s 100 Very Best Restaurants. The French menu, prepared by chef Janis McLean, offers everything from brightly colored pots of steaming mussels and cones of golden frites to a hefty lamb shank, onion soup, sweetbreads with grainy mustard sauce, and rockfish with bouillabaisse velouté. Owner John Warner welcomes all guests to this bustling but intimate Left Bank outpost.

John Warner’s life-long dream to open his own restaurant came true when he opened Le Zinc in July of 2011. With an extensive background in the restaurant business working as a manager and maitre d’ in some of the city’s best-known establishments, including Nathans, M&S Grill, Black’s Bar and Kitchen, Café Milano, and Brasserie Beck, Warner knew what he wanted: a sophisticated French bistrot with a welcoming atmosphere and great food.  The restaurant’s name is, in fact, a French slang term for the little neighborhood bar, and has its origins in the zinc-covered bar tops of many French bistrots and cafes. To get the Left Bank, turn of the century feel he wanted, Warner hired Olvia Demetriou, one of Washington’s top restaurant architects to oversee the design.

Before entering the restaurant business, Warner worked in public relations in New York City and had a 20-year career in the music business in Los Angeles and New York City.  In his role as marketing director and director of artist relations at Capitol Records and Epic Records, he worked with some of the most important musical artists of the time, including the Beastie Boys, the Clash, Living Colour, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Prefab Sprout, Richard Thompson, Duran Duran, Sade, Soul Asylum, and Crowded House.  Warner’s love of music can be seen in many of the iconic photographs of musicians that line the restaurant’s walls as well as the many playlists created from his collection of thousands of CDs.

Warner enjoys all aspects of the restaurant business, from back of the house financial issues to front room dynamics, all the while keeping an eye—and nose—on what is happening in the kitchen. His mantra for a successful restaurant: Turning a first-time customer into a regular, and a regular into a friend.  Warner lives in Cleveland Park and enjoys spending time with his large, extended family, including visits from his four stepsons.

Executive chef Janis McLean quit her corporate job in 1993, ran away to cooking school, and never looked back.  Trained in classical French cuisine and techniques, McLean joins Le Zinc after four years as executive chef at 15ria, as well as stints at other well-known area restaurants including The Morrison Clark Inn, redDog Café, and Red Sage.  McLean has a commitment to soul satisfying food that is well prepared, flavorful, and beautiful to look at.  While her background is in the classic French style, she enjoys tweaking tradition by adding American, Asian, and Indian accents.  Taking over from former executive chef David Ashwell (who moved to Ireland with his growing family), McLean looks forward to continuing Le Zinc’s philosophy of serving delicious French classics in a relaxed and intimate setting.

McLean received her training at Bethesda’s L’Academie de Cuisine. While working at at Washington’s top restaurants, she had a twelve-year association with La Varenne Ecole de Cuisine in Burgundy, France.  McLean served as course director in Burgundy for two summers, worked closely stateside with founder Anne Willan, and eventually became director of U.S. operations. McLean currently lives in Silver Spring with her husband Bruce, and is active in Women Chefs and Restaurateurs, Les Dames d’Escoffier, and the American Institute of Wine and Food.

Reviews

Washingtonian.com 100 Best Restaurants 2012: Bistrot Le Zinc “With restaurants, simplicity is an often-underrated virtue. But that’s what keeps drawing us back to this bistro—us and plenty of neighborhood regulars. The butter-yellow dining room, crammed with a ragtag array of pictures (a black-and-white shot of Bill Clinton and Madeleine Albright, a Steve McQueen poster), tends to be busy even on weeknights…”

thedrinknation.com 5 Must-Try Autumn Cocktails at Bistrot Le Zinc “Walking into Bistrot Le Zinc in Cathedral Heights, one feels instantly transported to Paris. (And appropriately so: the name is a reference to the two-hundred-year-old Paris restaurant Le Petit Zinc). A burgundy banquette stretches along the interior of the Upper Northwest restaurant, and black-and-white photographs hang Tudor-style on ecru walls. Combined with subtle lighting, the space evokes visions of Chartres and the Champs-Élysées. Strains of Serge Gainsbourg and Edith Piaf waft over the stereo system. Waiters in ties and starched white aprons glide around as easily as if they were at the legendary Le Deux Magot…”