Le Matin de Paris (Annandale, VA)

You don’t have to jet to Paris (Paree to us French wannabees) to spend an afternoon drinking coffee and reading your favorite book.  Travel instead to Annandale, where you can find a bakery shop that creates a bit of the Left Bank on the Potomac.  Once you step inside, the cozy, open kitchen and selection of delicious baked goods will make you forget the sound of traffic is from Little River Turnpike, not the Champs Ellysee.  Some of our favorites include the melt-in-your-mouth Raspberry Roll Cake, delightfully light Coffee Castera (baked bread) and the Chestnut Pie.  The best part, they offer bite-sized sample of their daily specialties, so it will be hard to talk yourself out of taking home something extra.

Crystal Thai (Arlington, VA)

Crystal Thai’s warm and cozy atmosphere cannot avoid being described as intimate.  Its peach-colored lights, servers dressed in bright-colored silk Thai garments, and the carved wood decorations that hang throughout the restaurant all come together to provide a distinctive and refined dining setting.  There are many delicious seafood dishes served as appetizers or entrees, our favorites being the Spicy Seafood Salad (appetizer) and Seafood Platter (entrée).  For curry lovers, the Yellow Curry Chicken is an excellent choice.  Being noodle lovers, our favorite dish is the delicious Pad Lardna, with wide Rice Noodles and your choice of Chicken, Pork, or Beef, drenched in Thai gravy.