On September 3, the Bailliage of Greater Washington held its first Chaîne à la Carte evening at Eat A Lao in Rockville, where members ordered from the menu, shared dishes around the table and discovered Lao cuisine together. Just a week later, The Washington Post praised the same small Rockville Pike restaurant, confirming what our members had already discovered: a memorable Chaîne evening doesn’t always require a set menu.
On September 3, the Bailliage of Greater Washington introduced a new kind of gathering with its first Chaîne à la Carte evening at Eat A Lao in Rockville. Designed as a relaxed alternative to the Bailliage’s traditional fixed-menu dinners, the event invited members to explore an unfamiliar cuisine while preserving the fellowship that lies at the heart of La Chaîne.
There was no predetermined menu and no formal progression of courses. Instead, guests ordered directly from Eat A Lao’s extensive menu, shared dishes around their tables, compared discoveries and chose for themselves just how adventurous—or familiar—they wanted their evening to be.
Even registration reflected the informal concept. Rather than registering and paying the Bailliage for a fixed-price dinner, guests made reservations directly with the restaurant and paid individually. They then notified the Greater Washington Bailliage so that seating could be coordinated. The restaurant arranged the group primarily at tables of four, creating intimate dining groups within the larger Bailliage gathering.
The evening drew a strong turnout from the Greater Washington Bailliage, and we were also pleased to welcome several confrères from the Baltimore and Metropolitan DMV Bailliages. Their presence added to the camaraderie, while the event itself remained very much a Greater Washington initiative—an experiment in a new way for our members to discover interesting restaurants and cuisines together.
Guests arrived casual with decorations, and from the beginning the mood was lively and relaxed. The absence of a fixed menu encouraged conversation, sharing and comparison as each table made its own choices and, in effect, created its own Lao tasting menu.
Making an Unfamiliar Cuisine Approachable
For many of our guests, Lao cuisine was unfamiliar territory, so a little advance preparation helped.
Before the evening, participants received a PDF of Eat A Lao’s online menu, giving them an opportunity to explore the restaurant’s extensive selection before arriving. At the restaurant, each table also received a short ordering guide drawn from the experiences of the tasting committee that had visited beforehand. It explained several characteristic Lao dishes and ingredients and suggested both approachable choices and options for those ready to be more adventurous.
The intention was never to tell anyone what to order. The guide was simply a way to make an unfamiliar cuisine feel a little more accessible.
Heat was one concern raised before the event; one guest even contacted us in advance, worried that the food might be too spicy. Eat A Lao offered an excellent solution: dishes could be ordered with little or no added heat, and a spice and condiment caddy was brought to the table so that each diner could season his or her own portion to taste.
That worked especially well with the evening’s emphasis on sharing. People with very different tolerances for chili could comfortably enjoy the same dishes, while those who wanted considerably more heat could add it themselves. Even the guest who had expressed concern in advance was very pleased with the meal.
Plenty to Discover
Sharing was very much part of the fun.
Crispy Chive Cakes made an easy and delicious beginning, while Chicken Larb, bright with fresh herbs, lime and toasted rice powder, introduced diners to flavors more distinctly associated with Lao cuisine. The restaurant’s chargrilled pork ribs were another favorite.
There were familiar points of entry as well. Pad Thai Supreme, generously prepared with shrimp and fried pork belly, was an appealing choice, while the Caramelized Salmon offered another accessible and beautifully flavored dish.
But part of the purpose of the evening was to encourage discovery. Diners could venture farther into the menu with crispy-rice salads, Lao sausages, papaya salads, curries, noodle soups and other dishes that many had never encountered before.
The à la carte format had a particular advantage: no one needed to commit to an entire entrée simply to sample something unfamiliar. Tables could order several dishes, pass them around and compare impressions.
“You have to taste this!” became the refrain of the evening.
Those who saved room for dessert discovered the Pandan Crème Brûlée, a particularly memorable ending. Pandan is an aromatic tropical leaf used throughout Southeast Asian cooking. Its gentle fragrance is sometimes compared with vanilla, toasted rice and nuts, and it is especially at home in desserts and rice dishes, often alongside coconut. At Eat A Lao, that distinctly Southeast Asian flavor infused a classic French crème brûlée—a fitting conclusion to an evening devoted to trying something new.
Our Timing Could Hardly Have Been Better
As it turned out, the Greater Washington Bailliage was just slightly ahead of the critics.
Only a week after our September 3 dinner, The Washington Post published food critic Elazar Sontag’s review of Eat A Lao, bringing wider attention to this small restaurant tucked into an unassuming Rockville Pike strip shopping center.
The timing was a delightful coincidence and seemed to confirm what our members had already discovered for themselves: behind its modest storefront is a restaurant offering an unusually interesting introduction to the flavors of Laos.
The restaurant’s emphasis on food meant to be shared seemed particularly appropriate for our gathering. Communal dining—passing dishes, comparing flavors and urging friends to try one more bite—fit naturally with the conviviality that defines La Chaîne.
To learn more about Eat A Lao and the family behind it, read the full review:
Read The Washington Post review of Eat A Lao
A Successful First Chaîne à la Carte
Our first Chaîne à la Carte evening accomplished exactly what we had hoped.
It introduced many of our members to a cuisine they had not previously explored. It offered flexibility for diners with very different tastes and spice tolerances. And its unusual format—individual reservations, à la carte ordering, shared dishes and individual payment—made the evening easy and informal while still retaining the camaraderie and sense of occasion that define a Chaîne gathering.
Most importantly, it demonstrated that a memorable Chaîne evening does not always require a set menu.
Sometimes all that is needed is an interesting restaurant, a table filled with unfamiliar dishes, a willingness to pass the plates around—and good friends with whom to discover something delicious.
Come curious, come hungry, and choose your own culinary adventure.