Paris meets Georgetown at Bonaparte

There’s only one place you can find the elegance of Paris and the chaotic charm of Georgetown in one place, and that’s Café Bonaparte. 

The perfect place to spend a lazy morning brunch, Café Bonaparte looks as if a clever person teleported the chic French café from downtown Paris to uptown D.C.

{mosads}Start your meal with a POM grand cocktail, a mix of pomegranate juice and champagne with a subtly sweet taste. Or you can try one of the old classics, like a mimosa or a delectably spicy Bloody Mary.

If you’re a traditionalist and have a big appetite, start off with a croissant or pain au chocolat — beware though, entrees are generous in size.

Café Bonaparte whimsically names most of its brunch entrees after artists and famous paintings — Rembrandt, Mona Lisa and Van Gogh, just to name a few. 

The café is home to more crêpes than one could ever imagine. Perhaps the tastiest from the brunch menu is the Renoir, which consists of scrambled eggs, Italian sausage, green peppers and onions rolled into a crêpe with both cheddar and Swiss cheese. The crêpe gave a crispier aspect to the creamier inside of melted cheese and scrambled eggs.

Bonaparte offers six different types of omelets. They range from complicated, like the Michelangelo — with salmon, shallots, chives, dill and cream cheese — to the simple savory ham and melted cheddar of the da Vinci.

All brunch entrees are served with peppery potatoes and a skewer of fresh fruit, the perfect compliments to the mouthwatering crêpes and omelets.

If you still have room for dessert, be prepared for rich, decadent French specialties. The “sweet” crêpes are soaking in Nutella, with fruit stuffed inside the sweet dough. Some also include fruit sauce, powdered sugar and other sinfully delicious ingredients.

The Josephine is definitely a crêpe worth considering, full of Nutella, bananas and powdered sugar. Served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top, you’d swear you were actually in Paris.

Bonaparte’s small, café space doesn’t feel claustrophobic, but more like a neighborhood, almost as if the pâtisserie should be down the street and the flower shop around the corner.

Despite being around for only eight years, Café Bonaparte feels as if it’s been around for decades — a feat many restaurants fail to accomplish.

Café Bonaparte, located at 1522 Wisconsin Ave. NW (www.cafebonaparte.com), is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner. If it looks busy when you arrive, consider a seat at the bar to cozy up with some espresso and a good book. Beret not included.