A Tale of Two Alexandrias
At Elaine’s in Old Town, Cynthia and Jeffrey Higgins blend the flavors of Egypt, a deeply personal family story and a passion for literature into a restaurant designed to nourish both body and mind.
Jeffrey Higgins, left, hosting a literary salon in August. Photo by Brett Kitchen.
A Promise Kept
For Cynthia Higgins, Elaine’s began decades before the Old Town restaurant opened its doors. Growing up in Cairo, Cynthia shared a close bond with her grandmother, Elaine, whom she describes as her best friend and a “kindred spirit.”
Elaine’s generosity extended well beyond family. Cynthia remembers her grandmother once watching a traffic policeman work for hours in the Cairo heat. She refused to let her own family eat until she had taken him a full dinner and fresh mango juice — and watched him take the first bite.
“She did that her whole life, for people whose names she never knew,” Cynthia said.
At 12, while cooking alongside her grandmother, Cynthia announced that someday she would open a restaurant and name it Elaine’s.
“She laughed, patted my cheek and said, ‘That’s so sweet, darling,’” Cynthia recalled. “She never believed I’d do it.”
Thirty years later, Cynthia brought her grandmother’s spirit from Alexandria, Egypt, to Alexandria, Virginia.
Elaine’s occupies the historic Old Town building that housed Bilbo Baggins for nearly four decades. Cynthia served as general contractor and designed the restaurant herself, seeking to preserve the building’s character while creating something distinctly personal.
From Alexandria to Alexandria
The restaurant’s modern Mediterranean menu draws on Middle Eastern cuisine along with French, Greek and Italian influences. Cynthia describes it as a scratch kitchen committed to fresh ingredients and recipes rooted in her family history.
“Every dish on the menu carries a story. Nothing there is random,” she said.
Her blackened cod is served with herbed couscous, sun-dried tomatoes, roasted garlic and cauliflower purée. The braised lamb shank features Egyptian rice with toasted vermicelli, pumpkin-date purée and harissa in the lamb jus. Grilled shrimp evokes the beaches of Alexandria, Egypt.
The atmosphere is equally personal. Music from Frank Sinatra, Edith Piaf and Egyptian-born singer Dalida comes directly from Elaine’s own playlist.
Where Food Meets Literature
Elaine’s second identity is as a literary destination. Both Cynthia and Jeffrey Higgins are published authors, and Jeffrey saw the restaurant as an ideal gathering place for writers and readers.
Elaine’s offers authors free space for literary events. Jeffrey has hosted more than 200 writers for interviews, readings, panels, book launches, workshops and seminars, ranging from New York Times bestselling authors to local writers publishing their first books.
“We pride ourselves on supporting authors, screenwriters, poets and short story writers, wherever they are on their journey,” Jeffrey said.
The literary program has expanded beyond the restaurant. Hope Gibbs joined Elaine’s Literary Salon as public relations director and produces its podcast, which Jeffrey said has reached No. 1 on both Apple and Spotify and reaches 1.5 million people monthly.
Cynthia even designed the upstairs library as a tribute to Jeffrey’s career — with an ulterior motive.
It was also, she joked, “a strategic operation to relocate some of his books out of our home library.”
For the Higginses, the future is less about reinventing Elaine’s than deepening what they have created: good food, books and personal connections.
“When you’re living your dream, you don’t want to get out of it,” Cynthia said. “You want to go deeper into it.”