Consider the gray day I took a colleague and two umbrellas to the place. "What a bunch of [wimps]!" Carlson bawled as we sheepishly positioned ourselves in front of the beige Formica counter where the 66-year-old restaurateur has held court during weekday lunch hours for the past 28 years. Throwing out his chest and pretending to barrel heroically through a storm, Carlson asked aloud, "Whatever happened to ... ?" His mugging suggested that the rest of the unfinished question was "real men."

Something as routine as a carryout request for a tuna fish sandwich comes with a side of shtick here. When a customer mentions that the sandwich is for a colleague back at his office, Carlson wants to know, "boy or girl?" Girl, the customer says.

"Multi-grain" bread, the owner jots down. Had the recipient of the sandwich been a man, Carlson says, he would have written "white" bread on the slip, "and [the guy would] want a milkshake, too," even though milkshakes aren't on the menu here.

But red beans and rice are, at least on Mondays. Seemingly forever, this tiny kitchen has promoted the New Orleans staple as a Monday feature. By now, regulars also know that Tuesday means a Latin American special, Wednesday alternates between an Italian and an Indian dish, Thursday brings something American, and Friday highlights a Mediterranean-flavored entree. There are more than a dozen sandwiches, too, and they're perfectly respectable, but visiting C.F. Folks for a sandwich is like going to Starbucks for tea or a wine bar for a brew.

Besides, there's a new face in the kitchen, the talented and nomadic George Vetsch. The Swiss native has done time at a lot of Washington restaurants -- among them the Oval Room, Circle Bistro and the late Etrusco -- but to hear him talk, his latest gig might be his best yet. "I don't have to manage people," he says, and for the first time in years, "I have Saturday and Sunday off." Better still for customers, "I'm cooking what my mother used to make" -- cabbage rolls, peppers stuffed with lamb -- "and what I loved as a kid." Plus, it's no secret that his boss, who suffered a stroke three summers ago, is mulling retirement and would like nothing better than to hand the reins to a chef who shares his philosophy of good food at a good price.

There are few subjects Vetsch can't nail, although Carlson jokes otherwise: When the chef was hired over the winter, "he couldn't spell India," an allusion to the dal (lentils) Vetsch now makes as an occasional Wednesday special.

The crab cake is described on the menu as "Washington's Best!" I wouldn't go that far, although I do appreciate the generous round of crab, mayonnaise and mustard patted down with fresh bread crumbs and cooked so that the surface develops a dark golden crust. The filling of a pork barbecue sandwich includes crisp edges of meat and a tangle of fried onion ringlets, but the sauce is too sweet for my taste. Both sandwiches come with a bit of coleslaw that emphasizes cream over cabbage.

The guys and gals who help Carlson take orders and deliver food are a chip off the old block. "Can I hustle you for dessert?" one asks me with a straight face after he clears my plate (plain white china, of course). If peach cobbler appears on the chalkboard, go for it. The fruit is canned ("We're a diner, okay?" sighs Vetsch), but it comes in a cover of warm white cake that makes up for that fact. Add a scoop of vanilla ice cream to the deal, and you'd better have time in your afternoon schedule for a nap.

Lots of questions swirl around this pint-size institution as I type. Will Carlson successfully negotiate terms with his landlord that allow him to serve alcohol, and thus afford the cost of renovating the gently faded interior? Will Vetsch stick with the game and eventually take over the show? "I don't know what's going to happen," the chef tells me on the telephone. "For the moment, I'm very happy." 

Why wait in line for one of the few barstools or tables that are premium commodities at this lunch spot? The food is reasonably priced, which for downtown DC is remarkable. The jocular bantering of the staff puts a light-hearted spin on things. The food is both wholesome and delicious, and even slightly quirky, as such specials as catfish with Cajun remoulade or acorn squash stuffed with shrimp and béchamel. Specials change daily, but you can always count on good sandwiches such as a Reuben with pastrami rather than corned beef and almond-chicken salad sandwich. There are brownies and chocolate chip cookies, for desert, plus a daily special. Sitting outside may be

an almost year long choice because of the overhead heating. But indoors or out, you'll get a kick out listening to the DC gossip at neighboring tables. 

                                                      GAYOT

The sandwiches and salads on the menu at this no-frills weekday diner are nothing special: order instead from the daily specials, which feature a different cuisine daily. On Monday, it's Cajun; on Tuesday, Mexican; on  Wednesday, Indian and Italian; and on Thursday and Friday, seafood. the cooking is superb 

and the crowds know it. 

                                                      FODOR'S

 "Did you paint?" a customer asks the owner. "The entry looks brighter." Art Carlson scans his tiny domain--11 green stools lined up at a Formica counter--in mock seriousness before delivering the punch line. "No, we must have mopped the floor."   While other restaurants bend like contortionists to please their patrons, Carlson

lets his audience know it's his way or the highway, Bub. Newshounds (and there are plenty in this crowd of lawyers and journalists) have to settle for no TV:  Carlson prefers opera and public radio. C.F. Folks is open only on weekdays and only for lunch because that is how the owner want to work--period. The printed menu is mostly salads and sandwiches, and good as the almond chicken salad is, you'd miss the point of eating here if you didn't take your cue from the small backboard on the wall. That's where you'll find the five or so specials each day. Monday showcases Louisiana and red beans and and rice and chunks of andouille. Wednesday detours to Italy (and maybe a fine pasta Bolognese) and Friday it's "Something from the Middle East."

                                                       WASHINGTON POST DINING GUIDE

"Lunch Spot:  A stone's throw from blue- chip steak houses and trendy ethnic eateries, C.F. Folks has become the place for a quick bite."

The goal was simple: find a five-day-a-week job, with nights and weekend off.

After more than 23 years of doing just that, Art Carlson and Peggy Fredricksen can safely look at each other and say; mission accomplished.  The pair started in real estate. Carlson worked for companies such as Tauber and Charles E. Smith. Fredricksen also worked for real estate developers. But they wanted a place of their own, a manageable place where they could make their own hours and their own rules. The Jefferson Coffee Shop at 1225 19th St. N.W. seemed to be just 

what they were looking for.

In the early 1960's, it had started out as "Linda's" but was sold to Pete and Ruby Pelecanos in in 1964. The Pelecanoses -- the parents of popular D.C. crime novelist George Pelecanos -- operated the restaurant in the Jefferson Building for 13 years. "It was a fast food type of place," says Ruby Pelecanos. "We had hamburgers, hot dogs, steak and cheese. We did a lot of carryout." The 19th Street neighborhood below Dupont Circle was much quieter then. The Palm 

Restaurant was (and still is) next door but that was it. The customers were largely from the law firms that surrounded the building, sprinkled with a few blue collar workers. "IBM was there. The house next door was Teddy Roosevelt's home and it was where the original Arnold, Fortis and Porter was," says  Ruby Pelecanos, 80. "Our building was brand new when we moved in. We didn't have a sign on the building itself. On the door it said Jefferson Coffee Shop. If you didn't know we were there, you couldn't even see us."

After the Pelecanoses sold it, the Jefferson Coffee Shop changed hand a couple of times before it was bought by Carlson and Fredricksen.They dubbed the place C.F. Folks (the C.F. stands for Carlson and Fredricksen). They began with a Southern-style menu and a no-frills look. Breakfast service petered out after about five years. The daily lunch specials--about 70percent of their sales on any given day -- focused on stews, fresh chicken and open faced roast beef sandwiches.

Even after a second mortgage on the house and pouring significant capital into C.F. Folks, the first two years didn't go so well. Carlson took a part-time job as a cook at Cousteau's, a seafood restaurant on L Street. On a typical day he rose early to visit a nearby market, worked through lunch at his restaurant and then finished up the evening at Cousteau's. "I was thinking 'What are we doing'" says Carlson, drawing on a Marlboro. "I was looking for sufficient income to hire a cook, and it took me two and a half years. We went through a learning process." As time went on, C.F. Folks attracted a following.  It was lauded by Gourmet magazine and regularly among The Washington Post's Best Restaurants.

The decor hasn't changed a bit, except for the 11 green stools that were e-covered eight years ago. A cooler for drinks in the corner and a tiny kitchen is in the back. Table edges are rubbing through green-and-white speckled tablecloths. The walls are decorated with politically themed pencil drawings by Jose Perez, a formally local artist. There are 10 outdoor tables and a dark green canopy extending to the sidewalk.

After eight years business was good. Carlson and Fredricksen decided to branch out. Across the street they launched a catering operation, which Fredricksen runs. In 1986 they started the Well Dressed Burrito, a Mexican carryout next-door to the catering operation.

Little has changed during Carlson's tenure at C.F. Folks. The media folk who used to drop in disappeared when CBS and NPR's offices moved. The clientele is still predominantly professional men "who want to come in, have a good meal and be gone in 20 to 25 minutes." There have been a few improvements: The fish and meat have gotten better, menus have become more elaborate, prices have only doubled, and the restaurant takes plastic. "I have 150 recipes that will feed into this place over the next year," says Carlson, who keeps a crowded bookshelf of cookbooks in the restaurant and subscribes to dozens of food magazines.  The problem with today's restaurants, he says is they get caught up in theatrics and showiness.

"Buy well," he says "Buy the best you can, and then say 'How little can I do with it?'" His rules are like his food: basic and easy. Buy good olive oil. Use only butter. Make presentation simple; don't needlessly clutter dishes. Large portions are ridiculous. "It's what I want; it's always what I wanted." Carlson says of C.F. Folks. "The way we were gonna do it is how we've done it."

                                                     Eleni Kretikos, Staff Reporter

                                                     WASHINGTON BUSINESS JOURNAL      

Below Dupont Circle is “the best lunch counter you’ll ever encounter where local workers in-the-know” go “gourmet-style” for very little dough in a “hole-in-the-wall” the size of a “railroad dining car”; a “different ethnic cuisine each day” is served “with a side of sass” from the town’s “gruffest” chef-owner, and “insiders” insist the “tasty, adventurous” Eclectic eats are “worth trying to figure out how to order” (“specify”) “and where to sit” (outside, if possible) – just do it “correctly”, or “be harassed.”

                                                      ZAGAT  2005

C.F. Folks, which only opens for lunch, attracts hungry folks who jostle for position at open tables in the small, nondescript eatery. Some of Washington's biggest movers and shakers are known to line up at this popular lunch counter to place an order. Be sure to carefully inspect the blackboard's daily specials, because they seem to be the most appealing. The regular menu offers a collection of tasty soups and salads. Casual dress. Outdoor dining available.

                                                 10 Best Lunch

                                                 "CITYGUIDES" BY 10BEST