La Madeleine Is Close to Bringing Its Croque Madames Back Into D.C. Proper

Let there be tomato basil soup

La Madeleine, the French cafe chain that claims 80 locations across the country selling pastries and its signature creamy tomato basil soup, is close to opening its only location inside District lines. A Popville reader spotted signage outside the incoming location downtown (1130 Connecticut Avenue NW) that’s says it will open Tuesday, August 6. Just outside of D.C., la Madeleine has shops in Bethesda, Tysons Corner, Bailey’s Crossroads, Alexandria, and Reston. La Madeleine recently had a shop in Georgetown that was consistently dinged on Yelp for abominable service before it closed. [Popville]

Old Oxen in Loudoun County

Ashburn, Virginia, craft brewery Old Ox just introduced a second Loudoun County location. Northern Virginia Magazine reports that Old Ox is hosting a grand opening party Saturday at its new taproom in Middleburg, which has space to brew experimental beers and small batch releases on-site. According to its website, that includes a Middleburg Blonde ale with an 8.7 percent ABV that’s fermented in white wine barrels. [NVM]

New Malort sponge

Lovable Chicago-and-Detroit-themed bar Ivy and Coney has a new fried chicken sandwich with bacon jam.

Green-thumbed chef

Washingtonian has a nice write-up on Mike Mustard, the chef-turned-farmer who’s supplying hit D.C. restaurants such as Ellē, Mirabelle, Reverie, and the incoming Albi with produce just hours removed from the dirt. [W]

This post was updated to include information about le Madeleine’s former location in Georgetown