The Royal Treatment Majestic Cafe Puts Contemporary Twist on Retro Southern Cooking by Rachel Hunt and Stephen Qualiana As the wave of revitalization of Old Town Alexandria, Va., swept westward beyond Washington Street, it left behind the Majestic Cafeóan icon of upper King Streetóstanding silent and empty. For decades Alexandrians have peered through the brittle brown paper covering the windows trying to get a glimpse of the interior of the Majestic, which had served diners at the location from 1949 until it closed in 1978. The restaurant seemed doomed to remain closed despite the hopes of the original owners, the Gadonas family, to reopen at the spot. It wasnít until chef Susan McCright Lindeborg decided to leave behind the accolades for her work at the Morrison-Clark Inn to pursue a vision of a restaurant that offers dishes of "modern America by way of the South" that the family saw a way for the Majestic to rise from its slumber and recover its place as an eminent dining establishment on Alexandriaís most popular commercial strip. In creating her vision, Lindeborg worked with the original dÈcor, preserving some elements, reworking others and replacing where ne cessary to come up with a workable space that blends sleek contemporary with 1940s diner. Working up from the original black, gray and white terrazzo tiles, Lindeborg has added beautiful cherry paneling, updated the booths with a subtle fabric vaguely deco in design, and added interesting acoustic panels on the ceiling (very necessary because it is still quite noisy when full despite this feature). In a nod to its landmark value, the Majestic is the only establishment on King Street allowed a neon sign, the original that survived the decline and rebirth of upper King Street. An interesting touch that links the new Majestic with the old is the series of black and white photos that line the walls around the long narrow dining room. The Gadonas family gave the photos of the early days at the Majestic to Lindeborg. Lindeborg has decided to go with a fairly short, though varied menu, and typically does not offer evening specials, concentrating instead on perfecting the regular dishes. There are a number of appetizers well worth sampling. The artichoke and shrimp gratin ($7.50) was a wonderful homage to a traditional favoriteóscalloped potatoes. Working off a base of thinly sliced potatoes, Lindeborg has combined the shrimp, artichoke and cheese and black pepper into about as comforting a dish as you can imagine and demonstrated her ingenuity in using the core elements to create something that was unique and exciting but which retains the essential appeal of the traditional dish. The Majestic House salad ($5.50) was a radical departure from the standard (trendy) barely dressed mixed spring greens vinaigrette so prevalent today. It was a robust concoction of iceberg lettuce, cherry tomatoes, chopped green pepper and croutons, heavily dressed with a large scoop of Roussel blue cheese that harkens back to the heyday of the Majestic. The smoked salmon appetizer ($7.75) was an interesting and unusual combination of apple wood-smoked fish shaved and formed into a mound. It was served with several tiny corn pancakes and a lemon-chayote sauce. This approach of combining unlikely elements was a distinct characteristic of the menu. Some results were more successful than others. The soft-shell crabs ($17.50) illustrated one of the problems with the Majesticís approach. The crabs were cooked nicely, breaded lightly and sautÈed with a light cumin-mint sauce. But the dish was thrown off balance by a huge pile of East Indian cabbage slaw whose excessively crunchy texture and overpowering spices literally overwhelmed the crabs. The pork loin ($16.75) did not suffer a similar fate. Two small but well-prepared thick slices of pork loin are served with a strong tomato-basil sauce and sautÈed spinach with pine nuts. One of the most unusual offerings from the main courses was a Swiss chard enchilada ($14). A substantial vegetarian entrÈe, this is a departure from any Tex-Mex version one might encounter. It is very light, with just scant shavings of feta cheese on the top. Lindeborg uses a smaller size corn meal tortilla rather than the more typical large flour tortilla. The tortilla is stuffed full with lightly cooked chopped chard and dressed with a tomato-chipotle sauce. Posole offers a nice contrast to the slightly bitter chard. This is an altogether satisfying dish, but salt lovers may find they need a shaker handy for this one, as is the cases in many of the other choices. Throughout the menu you will find clear traces of the traditional Southern cooking that influences Lindeborg. Side choicesósuch as spoon bread, hushpuppies and Southern-style green beansósuggest that venerable style of cooking, but Lindeborgís versions kick it up a bit. The hushpuppies were served with a remoulade sauce and were more flavorful than most with a liberal dose of herbs in the batter. The effect was almost like fried cornbread stuffing. The spoon bread was traditional, but richer than usual and the green beans, though Southern style, are not at all overcooked. There were glitches that have yet to be worked out. While the wait staff was very agreeable, knowledgeable and helpful, service can be very slow. One evening we waited nearly an hour to be served after ordering. The interior, though elegant, is so clean and spare as to be almost antiseptic. When Lindeborg left the Morrison-Clark she brought with her a number of associates. Happily for Majestic diners dessert chef Valerie Hill shared Lindeborgís vision and has created a desert menu that reflects Lindeborgís synthetic approach, marrying traditional favorites and novel ingredient with delightful results. The lemon-pistachio napoleon ($5.25) was a brilliant turn on the standard. Made as individual servings, three layers of crispy pastry sandwich a very rich and flavorful lemon pistachio cream. The showpiece of the desert menu, an American layer cake ($4.50) was perhaps one of the more traditional offerings. The flavors of this large multi-layered treat displayed at the front counter in traditional diner fashion change frequently. Flavors range from lemon poppy seed to German chocolate to orange with butter cream filling, and all were excellent. Another traditional choice, the buttermilk pie ($4.75) with blackberry compote was offered so rarely outside of Pennsylvania Dutch country now that it seems exotic. This combination of butter, sugar, eggs, flour, and buttermilk is mild in flavor, though quite rich, and is a nice ending after some of the heavily flavored entrees. Judging from the crowd, the Majestic Cafe is doing very well. One Thursday evening there were people still waiting for tables at 9:30 p.m. The reopening of the Majestic was a long-awaited event. Whether its current popularity stems from the curiosity of those who have been waiting so long or because of the restaurant talents remains to be seen. The Majestic Cafe is at 911 King St., Alexandria, Va. The telephone number is (703) 837-9117. Dress is casual but stylish. Lunch is served Tuesday through Saturday, 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Dinner is served Tuesday through Thursday and Sunday from 5:30 to 10:00 p.m. and Friday and Saturday from 5:30 to 11:00 p.m. Reservations are recommended. All major credit cards are accepted. Rachel Hunt and Stephen Qualiana are the restaurant reviewers for The Washington Diplomat.