The Hotel George/Bistro Bis

The Hotel George is located a few blocks from the Capitol Building in Washington D. C. Greg and I had the opportunity one evening in November of dinning in a restaurant adjacent to the hotel. The restaurant owned by Jeffery Buben is called Bistro Bis. What was refreshing about this experience is that it gave us the opportunity to dine in a way that isn't always available here. There are very few opportunities to eat French Cuisine in Toledo; this sounds so pretentious, but really it's not.
French cuisine is grounded in fundamentals of technique, fresh (local) ingredients, and most of the time is essentially doing incredible things with what is available to everyone. It seems very revolutionary and "of the people" when considering modeling ones diet on French philosophies regarding food preparation and choosing food, i.e. how to shop for food (more on this later).
I think the other reason I really like the idea of French Cuisine is that it assumes the availability of locally produced food stuffs. I like for instance to think about abandoning the idea of purchasing a block of over-processed cheese that is more oil and additives then anything natural from the local Kroger, and then fantasizing that if I look hard enough, just around the corner, there will be a farmer in Michigan or Ohio taking their own milk raised in this region that would have flavor and freshness that is simply beautiful to eat on its own. I am just now thinking/committing to make that idea a reality; I will find that farmer. In the meantime, I will learn everything I can about cheese.
Oh, Bistro Bis . . . this entire rant started with this restaurant in D.C. that we ate at . . . they had a cheese plate; we ordered it for dessert. It was so fantastic, like a parlor game, testing and letting the flavors and textures sink in our mouths. Sticky, smooth, grassy, buttery . . . they were all samples of cheeses that had been produced in the United States on small farms in places like Vermont and New York. Our waitress wasn't very helpful, which was a little disappointing. She really couldn't tell us a lot about the artisans. Therefore, I must learn for myself; I have a pretty good collection of cookbooks; I'll start there and let you know what happens. For know, check out the Hotel George's web site: http://www.hotelgeorge.com/restaurant.cfm