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Ballston’s newest wine bar and shop has started pouring.

Pirouette Café & Wine Shop, on the ground floor of J Sol apartments at 4000 Fairfax Drive, opened late last week, co-owner Philippe Loustaunau confirmed to ARLnow. Both the restaurant and wine bar’s interior and outdoor spaces are now open.

While the wine bar and retail shop are operating at regular hours, the kitchen currently is still only serving appetizers. The full menu will start being available next week, Loustaunau said.

The initial hope was to begin serving a little bit earlier in the summer — taking full advantage of the outdoor patio — but brief construction delays set it back a number of weeks. ARLnow first reported on Pirouette’s planned opening back in January.

The business comes from the wife and husband team of Jackie and Philippe Loustaunau. The couple only lives a few blocks away from the shop, in Virginia Square.

The two always dreamed of opening a restaurant near where they lived, Jackie Loustaunau told ARLnow earlier this year. They always hoped that at least one of the many mixed-use buildings going up in the neighborhood would include a local restaurant or bar. Instead of waiting for that to happen, they just did it themselves.

The restaurant, bar, and wine shop is aiming for a “causal feel” with a large assortment of wines by the glass. The menu is from executive chef Adam Hoffa, who previously worked at Fiola and St. Anselm in the District. It’s set to feature small plates like mac & cheese croquettes, entrees like pork chop Milanese, and dessert.

As Philippe Loustaunau told ARLnow in July, the hope is for Pirouette to become a neighborhood place that the two always dreamed about.

“I love the idea of meeting our customers in the street, going to the park and seeing them with their children, seeing folks at school,” Philippe said in February. “This is a neighborhood environment, which I think creates community and connects people.”

Photos via Pirouette/Instagram (as labeled)

Arlington’s newest wine bar is aiming for a September opening.

Pirouette Café & Wine Shop is in the midst of construction on the ground floor of J Sol apartments at 4000 Fairfax Drive, in the Ballston area.

The new wine bar, restaurant, and shop is from the wife and husband team of Jackie and Philippe Loustaunau. ARLnow first reported its move into the ground floor of the 326-unit high-rise apartment building in January.

All is going well with construction, Jackie tells ARLnow, and the hope is to open the restaurant part of the business by mid to late September. The wine shop portion of the business could open sooner, she said, perhaps as soon as early September, depending on when the ABC license is approved.

“Our walls are up, some mudded, some covered in [fiber-reinforced plastic] and others tiled,” the co-owner said. “The construction company is doing excellent work carrying out our architect’s design… and troubleshooting challenges throughout the process.”

Construction was set back a few weeks, a common occurrence for Arlington restaurants, particularly recently.

The restaurant/bar/shop’s aim is to have a “casual feel” that takes the “intimidation” out of wine. Executive chef Adam Hoffa, who previously worked at Fiola and St. Anselm in the District, is planning to serve “global” cuisine with a menu featuring an assortment of small plates, desserts, and a few entrees like house-made focaccia, scallops, mac & cheese croquettes, and corn cake with summer fruit compote.

The couple said they’ve always wanted to open a restaurant in their hometown. They often hoped that when a new mixed-use building went up it would include a local restaurant or bar. But that never happened, Jackie said, until they decided to do it themselves.

The couple, along with their child, lives in Virginia Square, only a few blocks away from Pirouette, which was part of the appeal.

“I love the idea of meeting our customers in the street, going to the park and seeing them with their children, seeing folks at school,” Philippe said in February. “This is a neighborhood environment, which I think creates community and connects people.”

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Pirouette Cafe, a new wine bar and restaurant, is set to open this summer on the ground floor of J Sol apartments in Ballston.

Pirouette is from the wife and husband team of Philippe and Jackie Loustaunau, residents of nearby Virginia Square who currently own a technology consulting business together.

The wine bar at 4000 Fairfax Drive will aim to have a “casual feel” that will focus on a variety of wines that takes the “intimidation” out of wine, Philippe and Jackie tell ARLnow.

The menu will be an assortment of small plates, desserts, and a few entrees that will focus on global cuisine. Vegan and vegetarian dishes will be offered. The head chef is Autumn Cline, who previously was at Rappahannock Oyster Bar and Rose’s Luxury in D.C.

A few dishes expected to be on the menu include bluefish rillettes with housemade pickles, duck confit with Japanese fermented fruit, and a vegan meaty red beet entree. While the wines and menu may be global, the focus is local.

“I love the idea of meeting our customers in the street, going to the park and seeing them with their children, seeing folks at school,” says Philippe. “This is a neighborhood environment, which I think creates community and connects people.”

Philippe is originally from France, so the idea of a neighborhood wine bar is familiar to him. Prior to having children, Jackie worked in the local restaurant industry. She has also volunteered at the Arlington Food Assistance Center (AFAC) and worked at Fresh Impact Farms.

They have long dreamed of opening a restaurant and wine bar together.

“Every time a new mixed-use building would go up [in our neighborhood] and the first floor is open, we’d be like ‘Maybe, maybe there’ll be some wine bar… or a good place to get a bite to eat,'” says Jackie. “And that never happened.”

So, they went for it, signing the lease in November. They are starting the interior build-out now and expect Pirouette to open in the summer, barring no further supply chain delays.

With a child in school, it was important to Philippe and Jackie to own a restaurant that was close by, within walking distance of their home together.

“With having a sixth grader, we wanted to do it in a way that [Pirouette] fits our life,” says Jackie. “We don’t need to build in time for a commute. We’re two blocks away and that makes a big, big difference.”