Ladies’ Lunch

Del Ray Cafe (Facebook photo)

Del Ray Café

Quaint doesn’t quite cut it when it comes to describing this French-American café proffering organic eats inside a converted 1925 farmhouse, complete with wraparound porch.

French-born chef Laurent Janowsky, who co-owns the café with his wife, Margaret, also cooked at Alexandria’s renowned La Bergerie until it closed at the end of 2016. Many of his specialties—including mussels à la Marinière and duck legs confit—can be found on the Del Ray eatery’s expansive lunch menu.

Lighter fare includes a deconstructed Caesar salad or salmon gravlax over greens with vodka-crème fraîche dressing. But we dare you to resist the crôque madame sandwich.

205 E. Howell Ave., Del Ray, delraycafe.com

Cheesetique. Photo by Whitney Pipkin

Cheesetique

Nothing shouts “day date with the girls” quite like a cheese board and wine—and maybe a salad to even things out. Allow time for some dutiful drooling over the sprawling cheese case before being seated at a table, where you may decide the mac ‘n cheese Arancini or pimento-cheese balls would go better with lunch than that salad (although the arugula-and-pear one topped with fried chèvre medallions is still a contender).

If you’re in the mood for a sandwich, go for The Grown-Up grilled cheese. Not only has it won awards, but it comes with an aura of maturity—until you chase the gooey cheese strings draping down your chin, that is.

2411 Mt. Vernon Ave., Del Ray, cheesetique.com