Restaurant Eve-new Cooking In An Old Town!

"NEW COOKING IN AN OLD TOWN"

ALEXANDRIA, VA, June 1, 2004 - Restaurant Eve is the exciting new creation of husband and wife team Cathal and Meshelle Armstrong. Dublin native Chef Cathal Armstrong (silent "t"), is formerly of Washington DC's Bistro Bis/Vidalia, and his wife Meshelle is a veteran of many Washington, DC restaurants. Together they have created a passion based on experience with a name lent by their first child.

Restaurant Eve brings modern American fine dining to Old Town, Alexandria, where it seems right at home among the savvy boutiques, and quaint homes. Located in a once-historic
warehouse, Restaurant Eve has been converted into a quaint yet sophisticated 130-seat restaurant offering two unique dining experiences, "The Chef's Tasting Room" and "The Bistro."

The 34-seat Chef's Tasting Room is Chef Armstrong's culinary showcase of "Modern American Cooking with Classical French Influences." Here he features 5- and 9-course prix-fixe Tasting Menus, priced at $65 and $90 respectively. The courses are headed Creation (palate teasers), Ocean (seafood), Earth & Sky (meats and game), Age (cheese) and Eden (desserts). Each menu highlights the freshest of seasonal ingredients and local Virginia produce, grown to Armstrong's specifications at Troy Farms in Westmoreland County, Virginia. The Tasting Room menu changes daily, supervised by Chef de Cuisine Nathan Beauchamp (formerly of Bistro Bis, and Park Avenue Cafi in New York City).

The upscale Bistro and the Lounge have a more casual feel. The Bistro menu includes Bouillabaisse, Braised Veal Short Ribs, Salt Baked Prawns, and Galway Bay Oysters Served with a Pint of Guinness (a little touch of Irish). Entrees are priced between $16-$27.

Desserts are by Pastry Chef Neil Pifferoen (Michel Richard's Citronelle, Wash., DC). They include Chocolate Mojito, Birthday Cake-Just Because (just like you were a kid, but better), and Funnel Cake.

'Edenesque' Cocktails are innovative and a reinvention of the classics, such as The New Age Gibson, featuring saffron-infused pickled onions . Eamonns Cocktail is a play on the classic Irish Ricky, using fresh Yuzu, Irish Whiskey and Irish Red Lemonade. Daizes Seasonal Cocktail is already a favorite, fusing fresh local strawberries, limes and vodka, and named after Service Director Dustin Lara (formerly of The Harrison, New York). All 'Edenesque' Cocktails are $7.

The wine is housed in a temperature-controlled wine room named "Isabel 55," glassed-in for the diners' viewing. "This beautiful, old, maple tree blew down in the hurricane near our building and we decided to use her in the construction of the room," says Meshelle Armstrong, who designed the restaurant. Sommelier and General Manager Todd Thrasher (formerly of Signatures and Cafi Atlantico), talks about Restaurant Eve's wine program,
"Our wine list, currently, 110 bottles, called The Noble Grapes and The Rogues
is a very nice variety to begin, although, our Wine plans are boundless and eventually will extend into larger cellars, using the upper floor of this historic building."

The inviting, warm interior is influenced by the 'Art Nouveau' period but with modern twists: meandering wrought iron throughout, a concrete bar, and a backdrop of orange roses and green apples everywhere. Set in natural and stylish lighting, each room creates its own unique mood. Enriching the ambiance, brick fireplaces adorn all rooms. Swooping iron and glass skylights encased in rich cherry allow diners to feel the outdoors from their cozy booths and sofa-like banquettes. Gracing the restaurant is the reminiscence of the Garden of Edensinuous lines, colors of nature, ivy, herbs and an outdoor verandah.

Chef Cathal Armstrong's soulful creations are served in this