Wine bar and restaurant Pirouette Cafe opening this summer in Ballston

Pirouette Cafe, a new wine bar and restaurant, is set to open this summer on the ground floor of J Sol apartments in Ballston.

Pirouette is from the wife and husband team of Philippe and Jackie Loustaunau, residents of nearby Virginia Square who currently own a technology consulting business together.

The wine bar at 4000 Fairfax Drive will aim to have a “casual feel” that will focus on a variety of wines that takes the “intimidation” out of wine, Philippe and Jackie tell ARLnow.

The menu will be an assortment of small plates, desserts, and a few entrees that will focus on global cuisine. Vegan and vegetarian dishes will be offered. The head chef is Autumn Cline, who previously was at Rappahannock Oyster Bar and Rose’s Luxury in D.C.

A few dishes expected to be on the menu include bluefish rillettes with housemade pickles, duck confit with Japanese fermented fruit, and a vegan meaty red beet entree. While the wines and menu may be global, the focus is local.

“I love the idea of meeting our customers in the street, going to the park and seeing them with their children, seeing folks at school,” says Philippe. “This is a neighborhood environment, which I think creates community and connects people.”

Philippe is originally from France, so the idea of a neighborhood wine bar is familiar to him. Prior to having children, Jackie worked in the local restaurant industry. She has also volunteered at the Arlington Food Assistance Center (AFAC) and worked at Fresh Impact Farms.

They have long dreamed of opening a restaurant and wine bar together.

“Every time a new mixed-use building would go up [in our neighborhood] and the first floor is open, we’d be like ‘Maybe, maybe there’ll be some wine bar… or a good place to get a bite to eat,'” says Jackie. “And that never happened.”

So, they went for it, signing the lease in November. They are starting the interior build-out now and expect Pirouette to open in the summer, barring no further supply chain delays.

With a child in school, it was important to Philippe and Jackie to own a restaurant that was close by, within walking distance of their home together.

“With having a sixth grader, we wanted to do it in a way that [Pirouette] fits our life,” says Jackie. “We don’t need to build in time for a commute. We’re two blocks away and that makes a big, big difference.”