Hot Spot: Wine, Food, and Fun at River Bend Bistro

FORT HUNT—After doing some early tax preparation one recent Saturday, my business partner (wife Angela Logomasini) and I decided to make our way to River Bend Bistro & Wine Bar, because we knew the 2 p.m. wine tasting was about to start.

Having been to the 7966 Fort Hunt Rd. outpost in Alexandria several times before, we found two bar stools and settled in for a great tasting. We told the bartender, Chris Shelton, we wanted to do a feature for DCRegionRealEstateNews.com, so he poured the first of four delicious selections for the day’s tasting, and we began chatting with the nice other patrons at the bar.

We quickly realized we were in for some fun when we started talking to restaurant patron Byron Smalley seated just a few stools down. I guess you could call Byron a “regular.” He said he’s there maybe 50 of 52 weeks a year. Travel, illness, and only the occasional personal schedule conflict will keep him away. He had nice things to say about the place as well!

“Very comfortable; great service,” he began. “Chris is almost always the one bartender on Saturday, so, once you get to know him … and once you break through his dry, subtle sense of humor, he becomes a fabulous bartender.”

All kidding aside—and a lot of that was going on that particular Saturday—you’re always in for a great experience at River Bend.

For the wine tasting, it’s not just a random pouring of a few wines, either. Chris said a lot of thought goes into a week’s selections, including their relationship with the dishes served up by chef and owner Caroline Ross.

“The theory behind it is to have people come in and try different wines that they’ve never tried before, because they want to stay with the safe Chardonnay or the safe Cabernet, and [Caroline] really wants people to learn to pair things,” Chris said. “You know, you see something that’s pink and you go ‘eew,’ and you find out that it’s ‘ahhh,’ because that might be great with chicken or oysters or whatever else it could be.”

Chris typically serves up about four selections based on some sort of theme. Having been to a number of such tastings in the past, that theme can take on many shapes and forms. This week it was all about Spain, which was a nice treat.

For Caroline, wine has played a big influence in her career. In addition to starting her restaurant career at Portner’s in Old Town in the 1980s, she also managed an Alexandria wine store for nine years.

“I thought I knew a lot about wine working in the restaurant business for so long, but I found out when I got to the wine store, I knew nothing about wine,” she said. But after nine years, it served her well when she opened River Bend. “I take this as an opportunity to showcase all the wines that we have.”

But wine is just the beginning. The food is fantastic. Just ask Byron.

“I always like the maybe from the pasta the [roasted chicken breast with] Tagliatelle,” he said, noting that they’ll always give you what you want. “Sandwiches are great—the [House Smoked Eye] Round … the Liverwurst [Sandwich on Rye] is good; they have some good salmon.”

Since it was the middle of the afternoon, we shared their delicious Roasted Red Pepper Dip with homemade chips, and it’s excellent. But over time we—along with friends—have sampled a number of the menu’s selections, including their fantastic Local Farm Raised Cheddar Cheeseburger, Cotswold Mac and Cheese, as well as the Grilled Ham and Brie Sandwich, and much more.

Along with the great food and wine, the neighborhood feel of River Bend is unmistakable. For Caroline, it all starts with the fact that she grew up in Waynewood. This is home.

“There was a restaurant here that when it first opened was very, very good, and then it got sold multiple times, and it just kind of waned off, and I was coming home from work on a Friday night in December, and I saw that the restaurant was dark at 8 o’clock,” she said. “That next morning I got on the phone and found out who the landlord was; it took months to meet him, but we finally did, and just wanted open a casual place that I’d like to go to.”

So, you really can’t go wrong whenever you stop in at River Bend. From the great wine and food to stimulating conversation and a strong neighborhood vibe, it should definitely earn a place on your short list of things to do.

River Bend is open daily for lunch (and brunch on Sunday) from 11:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Dinner is served Monday through Saturday from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m., and Sunday from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m.

Christopher Prawdzik, an Accredited Staging Partner® Real Estate Agent, and his wife Angela Logomasini are licensed Realtors® with Samson Properties in Alexandria. Operating as D.C. Region Real Estate, they serve the Virginia, Washington, D.C., and Maryland real estate market and offer comprehensive real estate services, including 4½% full-service listings.

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