Members focus > Owner/Chef Daniel Labonne, Bistro La Bonne
May 24, 2010
There’s a new beat on Washington D.C.’s famous U Street corridor as Bistro La Bonne brings traditional French cooking to this transformed area of the nation’s capital. 
The U Street corridor was the birthplace of jazz greats Duke Ellington and Shirley Horn, and it served as the center of Washington's African American nightlife for much of the 20th century. It experienced years of decline until a rebirth that has attracted cafes, clubs, shops and galleries.
“U Street has changed significantly, and today it is a real destination for people seeking various types of food,” Chef/Owner Daniel Labonne explained. “There is a big difference even from when I began working on U Street five years at the creation of Tabaq Bistro.”
Labonne opened his two-level Bistro La Bonne last January, and has rapidly attracted a clientele seeking his classic cuisine – which begins with such starters as pissaladiere (a savory, Provencal puff pastry tart topped with caramelized onions, olives and marinated anchovy), pâté de campagne (homemade country pâté), and bisque de homard et crabe (lobster bisque with crab meat).
The bistro’s main dishes are favorites that range from cassoulet Toulousain (cannelloni bean stew with duck confit, sausage, smoked bacon and lamb) and navarin d’agneau aux primeurs (braised leg of lamb with tomato, carrots, turnips & green beans), to grilled merguez sausage and blanquette de fruits de mer (mussels, shrimp, scallops and salmon in a champagne cream sauce).
After working as chef at the neighboring tapas-style Tabaq Bistro, Labonne said he decided to “take the leap” of opening his own business when the opportunity presented itself with a former bar located at 1340 U Street. “For a chef, it’s the ultimate challenge to run your own restaurant, so after 10 years in the Washington, D.C. area, I decided it was time,” he explained.
Born in Martinique, Labonne is a graduate of his native country’s l'École hôtelière hospitality management school, and he went to France to earn his BTS vocational qualification (brevet de technicien supérieur) at the l'École hôtelière in Toulouse. His career experience included working in St. Tropez, the Bahamas and the U.K. prior to arriving in Washington, D.C.
Bistro La Bonne currently serves lunch Tuesday through Friday from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.; dinner is available every day from 5:00 p.m. until midnight; and brunch is available on Saturday and Sunday from 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
With Bistro La Bonne’s success to date – combined with the late night nature of the U Street corridor – Labonne is now considering expanding his opening hours and service.
“We have a steady late-evening traffic at our bar, and I’m preparing to keep the restaurant open until the early hours of the morning with a light menu offering,” he said. “In addition to the ‘public’ traffic, I think this will offer a gathering point for the other chefs and restaurant owners who are looking for somewhere to eat and unwind after completing their workday.”
Bistro La Bonne
1340 U Street
Washington, D.C.
Tel: 202 758-3413
Website: www.bistrolabonne.com
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