Maman Opens Old Town Alexandria Café In Former Foxtrot Location

ALEXANDRIA, VA — Maman, the New York City-founded café that is expanding to other areas in the U.S., has opened the doors of its Old Town Alexandria shop.

Maman held its grand opening Thursday at 701 King Street, the former location of Foxtrot — and Le Pain Quotidien before that. That opening at the busy King and Washington Streets intersection comes after Patch observed signage installation and other preparation work still happening last weekend.

Maman, which means "mother" in French, was founded by Benjamin Sormonte and Elisa Marshall to evoke memories of their childhoods in the kitchen and honor their mothers from the south of France and North America. The café specializes in pastries and café items like soups, sandwiches, wraps, omelettes, quiches and drinks.

Maman started as an independent café in New York's Soho and is now growing around North America. It already has several locations in D.C., one Northern Virginia location at the Mosaic District in Merrifield and one in Bethesda, Maryland.

The café replaces, Foxtrot, a corner store and café that closed all of its locations in April 2024. The brand had dozens of locations in the DC, Chicago, Austin and Dallas areas.