REVIEWS
Granted, this "hole-in-the-wall" International lunch counter below Dupont Circle is "dingy" and "cramped" and the service can be "pushy" (if not downright "surly"), but it has its priorities straight "its all about the food here", and it is "shockingly good"; those in the know advise "don't bother with the menu, just stick to the daily specials" and then sit elbow to elbow with "Washington bigwigs" while listening to opera in the background.
ZAGAT 2004
Lunch at C.F. Folks is a truly urbane experience. A friend walking by stopped to say hello. He was having lunch at one of the steak houses on the block. It was going to cost three times what my lunch bill would be, and I bet mine was better.
Phyllis Richman,
THE WASHINGTON POST
On page 5 of your May 31-June 6 issue, we are curious as to why the headline read: "Palm restaurant landlord gets $16.5M for downtown building".
We've been in the same building for some 20-plus years. Why not say "C.F. Folks landlord gets $16.5M for downtown building"?
We're both restaurants. We both sell soup. The difference is that a "fly in the soup" is a real fly. At the palm you get Jeff Goldblum.
The original is entitled to top billing. Shame!
Arthur Carlson - President, C.F. Folks
WASHINGTON BUSINESS JOURNAL
The narrow storefront and dive-y look of the place belie the friendly
servers; innovative fare and interesting crowd always on hand at this
Dupont Circle lunch counter, High powered politicos and journalists
from the nearby Post rub elbows while munching on delicious
sandwiches and salads.
BON APPETITE
Owner Art Carlson says the secret is to take good crabmeat and resist
the temptation to do much to it. Deep fried and creamy, they're generally
served Wednesday through Friday in the form of a crabcake sandwich,
but they are best appreciated by ignoring the bun.
Glorious Crabcakes
WASHINGTONIAN
C.F. Folks is next door to the Palm, but it's a world apart in spirit - and
menu, There's no place else in D.C., or maybe in your town either, where
at noon you can gorge yourself on one of the curiously unexplored
delicacies in American cuisine, a plate of chicken thighs. Or slurp down
a bowl of white bean and lamb soup.
David Shribman
FORTUNE
In ME & MY Money (August), you referred to a "C.F. Folly" in
Washington, D.C., frequented by the penurious Michael Kinsley. There is
no C.F. Folly in D.C., but there is a C.F. Folks, and Michael has been
a valued customer for years. We cannot attest to his stingy nature, other
than the occasional wince when we "elevated" his charges (which we
did with great frequency and great pride). We too believe in income
redistribution. Your description of us as a "joint," however, hurt deeply.
For years, prided ourselves on being A dump.
Arthur Carlson-President, C.F. Folks
THE KINSLEY REPORT
Why wait in line for one of the few barstools or tables that are premium
commodities at this lunch spot? The food is reasonably priced, which for
downtown DC is remarkable. The jocular bantering of the staff puts a light-
hearted spin on things. The food is both wholesome and delicious, and even
slightly quirky, as such specials as catfish with Cajun remoulade or acorn
squash stuffed with shrimp and béchamel. Specials change daily, but you can
always count on good sandwiches such as a Reuben with pastrami rather than
corned beef and almond-chicken salad sandwich. There are brownies and
chocolate chip cookies, for desert, plus a daily special. Sitting outside may be
an almost year long choice because of the overhead heating. But indoors or out,
you'll get a kick out listening to the DC gossip at neighboring tables.
GAYOT
The sandwiches and salads on the menu at this no-frills weekday diner are
nothing special: order instead from the daily specials, which feature a different
cuisine daily. On Monday, it's Cajun; on Tuesday, Mexican; on Wednesday,
Indian and Italian; and on Thursday and Friday, seafood. the cooking is superb
and the crowds know it.
FODOR'S
"Did you paint?" a customer asks the owner. "The entry looks brighter." Art
Carlson scans his tiny domain--11 green stools lined up at a Formica counter--
in mock seriousness before delivering the punch line. "No, we must have mopped
the floor."
While other restaurants bend like contortionists to please their patrons, Carlson
lets his audience know it's his way or the highway, Bub. Newshounds (and there
are plenty in this crowd of lawyers and journalists) have to settle for no TV:
Carlson prefers opera and public radio. C.F. Folks is open only on weekdays
and only for lunch because that is how the owner want to work--period.
The printed menu is mostly salads and sandwiches, and good as the almond
chicken salad is, you'd miss the point of eating here if you didn't take your cue
from the small backboard on the wall. That's where you'll find the five or so
specials each day. Monday showcases Louisiana and red beans and and rice
and chunks of andouille. Wednesday detours to Italy (and maybe a fine pasta
Bolognese) and Friday it's "Something from the Middle East."
WASHINGTON POST DINING GUIDE
"Lunch Spot: A stone's throw from blue- chip steak houses and trendy ethnic eateries, C.F. Folks has become the place for a quick bite."
The goal was simple: find a five-day-a-week job, with nights and weekend off.
After more than 23 years of doing just that, Art Carlson and Peggy Fredricksen can safely look at each other and say; mission accomplished. The pair started in real estate. Carlson worked for companies such as Tauber and Charles E. Smith. Fredricksen also worked for real estate developers. But they wanted a place of their own, a manageable place where they could make their own hours and their own rules. The Jefferson Coffee Shop at 1225 19th St. N.W. seemed to be just
what they were looking for.
In the early 1960's, it had started out as "Linda's" but was sold to Pete and Ruby Pelecanos in in 1964. The Pelecanoses -- the parents of popular D.C. crime novelist George Pelecanos -- operated the restaurant in the Jefferson Building for 13 years. "It was a fast food type of place," says Ruby Pelecanos. "We had hamburgers, hot dogs, steak and cheese. We did a lot of carryout." The 19th Street neighborhood below Dupont Circle was much quieter then. The Palm
Restaurant was (and still is) next door but that was it. The customers were largely from the law firms that surrounded the building, sprinkled with a few blue collar workers. "IBM was there. The house next door was Teddy Roosevelt's home and it was where the original Arnold, Fortis and Porter was," says Ruby Pelecanos, 80. "Our building was brand new when we moved in. We didn't have a sign on the building itself. On the door it said Jefferson Coffee Shop. If you didn't know we were there, you couldn't even see us."
After the Pelecanoses sold it, the Jefferson Coffee Shop changed hand a couple of times before it was bought by Carlson and Fredricksen.They dubbed the place C.F. Folks (the C.F. stands for Carlson and Fredricksen). They began with a Southern-style menu and a no-frills look. Breakfast service petered out after about five years. The daily lunch specials--about 70percent of their sales on any given day -- focused on stews, fresh chicken and open faced roast beef sandwiches.
Even after a second mortgage on the house and pouring significant capital into C.F. Folks, the first two years didn't go so well. Carlson took a part-time job as a cook at Cousteau's, a seafood restaurant on L Street. On a typical day he rose early to visit a nearby market, worked through lunch at his restaurant and then finished up the evening at Cousteau's. "I was thinking 'What are we doing'" says Carlson, drawing on a Marlboro. "I was looking for sufficient income to hire a cook, and it took me two and a half years. We went through a learning process." As time went on, C.F. Folks attracted a following. It was lauded by Gourmet magazine and regularly among The Washington Post's Best Restaurants.
The decor hasn't changed a bit, except for the 11 green stools that were e-covered eight years ago. A cooler for drinks in the corner and a tiny kitchen is in the back. Table edges are rubbing through green-and-white speckled tablecloths. The walls are decorated with politically themed pencil drawings by Jose Perez, a formally local artist. There are 10 outdoor tables and a dark green canopy extending to the sidewalk.
After eight years business was good. Carlson and Fredricksen decided to branch out. Across the street they launched a catering operation, which Fredricksen runs. In 1986 they started the Well Dressed Burrito, a Mexican carryout next-door to the catering operation.
Little has changed during Carlson's tenure at C.F. Folks. The media folk who used to drop in disappeared when CBS and NPR's offices moved. The clientele is still predominantly professional men "who want to come in, have a good meal and be gone in 20 to 25 minutes." There have been a few improvements: The fish and meat have gotten better, menus have become more elaborate, prices have only doubled, and the restaurant takes plastic. "I have 150 recipes that will feed into this place over the next year," says Carlson, who keeps a crowded bookshelf of cookbooks in the restaurant and subscribes to dozens of food magazines. The problem with today's restaurants, he says is they get caught up in theatrics and showiness.
"Buy well," he says "Buy the best you can, and then say 'How little can I do with it?'" His rules are like his food: basic and easy. Buy good olive oil. Use only butter. Make presentation simple; don't needlessly clutter dishes. Large portions are ridiculous. "It's what I want; it's always what I wanted." Carlson says of C.F. Folks. "The way we were gonna do it is how we've done it."
Eleni Kretikos, Staff Reporter
WASHINGTON BUSINESS JOURNAL
Below Dupont Circle is “the best lunch counter you’ll ever encounter where local workers in-the-know” go “gourmet-style” for very little dough in a “hole-in-the-wall” the size of a “railroad dining car”; a “different ethnic cuisine each day” is served “with a side of sass” from the town’s “gruffest” chef-owner, and “insiders” insist the “tasty, adventurous” Eclectic eats are “worth trying to figure out how to order” (“specify”) “and where to sit” (outside, if possible) – just do it “correctly”, or “be harassed.”
ZAGAT 2005
C.F. Folks, which only opens for lunch, attracts hungry folks who jostle for position at open tables in the small, nondescript eatery. Some of Washington's biggest movers and shakers are known to line up at this popular lunch counter to place an order. Be sure to carefully inspect the blackboard's daily specials, because they seem to be the most appealing. The regular menu offers a collection of tasty soups and salads. Casual dress. Outdoor dining available.
10 Best Lunch
"CITYGUIDES" BY 10BEST
The Well Dressed Burrito
"Nice
to see you," a customer salutes the trim, silver-haired man behind
the counter at the cramped C.F. Folks. "Nice to be seen!" shoots
back Art Carlson, a faux crank who could probably have his own TV sitcom
but prefers the easy hours of a weekday-lunch-only cafe. In an age when
corporate sandwich-makers dominate the landscape, it's a relief to know
about an independently owned joint that takes the high road with its food
but doesn't take itself too seriously. (Yes, that's a Julia Child cookbook
on the shelf, and, yes, that's a can of Alpo sitting next to a rack of
potato chips.) The tiny kitchen is famous for its daily specials, but what
it slips between slices of bread is special, too. These days, I'm keen on
No. 8 ($6.95), which brings together shaved turkey, pink roast beef, Swiss
cheese and a thin layer of crunchy fresh coleslaw on your choice of bread
(make mine rye). There's more: a veneer of Russian dressing, a crisp
pickle on the side, maybe one more rib from the jokester in chief.
"Did you bring money?" I overhear him "welcome" a
couple of arrivals. "We need money!"
Tom Sietsema
The
Washington Post 2007
