The corner of Thomas and Summit is about to get a little more… French?

The pocket-sized Thomas St. Bistro began construction on a concrete deck with room for eight tables for two. Farther east along Thomas Street, the bistro is converting existing sidewalk space into a planted garden. Work should be completed in two weeks.

“We’re doing the sidewalk café, because there is so much demand for it,” owner Adam Freeman said. “We really want to make this beautiful for the neighborhood.”

Freeman, a native of France, opened the bistro three years ago with the vision of creating for Capitol Hill a restaurant in the image of those he had managed across his home continent. “In Europe, every neighborhood has a neighborhood bistro,” Freeman said. “When you don’t want to go out but don’t want to eat at home, that’s where you go.” The bistro’s intimate size and its location on a largely residential side street create a peaceful, quiet setting that Freeman said is unique from destination restaurants on Broadway. Freeman has been saving money to build the deck since opening his French Mediterranean bistro.

Freeman takes pride in the local nature of the bistro, which is present in everything from the food, to the clientele, to the entertainment. Because the bistro lacks a commercial-style refrigerator typical of larger restaurants, Freeman himself purchases ingredients daily from small, independent vendors as opposed to national food distributors. Neighbors comprise the majority of the bistro’s patrons, and many return three or four times per week, Freeman said. The bistro collaborates with the nearby Cornish College of the Arts, providing free meals to students in exchange for live music on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights.

Thomas St. Bistro will be celebrating the opening of the deck with free food and drinks from noon to 5 p.m. on May 29 – 31. Thomas St. is located at 421 East Thomas.

Let us know how the Thomas Street Bistro deck, once completed, compares to those at Captain Black’s, La Puerta, Capitol Club, the Samui Thai Cuisine, C.C.Attle’s, and Pony.