A BYO in Manhattan? And a French Bistro BYO, no less ~ practically a miracle! But how's the food? Over the weekend, Alan and I met Brian & Molly there for dinner at this tiny little SoHo restaurant. We were seated at the window with an attentive server and a good view of not only the lively patrons inside, but the walking traffic on Broome Street at Varrick.
The menu is a delight unto itself ~ with staff commentary peppered throughout the selections giving the whole thing a bit of an intimate, family feel. I knew ahead of time that I'd need to try one of their four mussel dishes. I was equally tempted by the escargot, foie gras and cassoulet. I mean, it just doesn't get more French than that.
To start I had the steamed mussels with Dijon mustard sauce; Alan had the French Onion soup; Brian & Molly shared an order of the snails and the foie gras tourchon. My mussels were very good with lots of flavor and plenty of juice for mopping up with pieces of bread. But they didn't come close to Thomas Keller's version offered at Bouchon. Alan's onion soup was traditionally prepared with lots and lots of cheese on top and a great onion flavor. He gave it a good review since it wasn't totally dominated by onion pieces - something he doesn't like. Brian & Molly finished off their dishes but I didn't get any comments on the taste or texture.
For our entrees: I ordered the Gratin de Fruits de la Mer (baked seafood) with Calamari, Mussels, Langoustines, Bay Scallops, Sole and shrimp over Mushroom Duxelles in a light Mornay Sauce and bread crumbs au gratin. Alan ordered the special of the evening; black sea bass with assorted wild mushrooms in a mushroom sauce. Molly & Brian shared the Cassoulet Toulouse’s Style; cannellini beans, tomato, garlic duck confit, slab bacon & pork sausage all braised with Noble Duck fat and the Roasted Lamb Leg sliced with white wine Crème de Garlic Confit sauce.
My dish was smaller than I expected but light and wonderfully prepared. I suppose if it had been much bigger I would have quickly become full on the creamy, rich gratin and mornay sauce. Alan's fish was nicely seasoned and the mushrooms were splendid. But for me, the surprise winner of the night was the Cassoulet. Not a dish I usually gravitate towards, not being a fan of cannellini beans but I tried a bite anyway. WOW. The bacon and duck added a succulence; the beans gave it body and a nice texture with the whole thing coming together as you'd image in country homes throughout the Rhone region. Just wonderful!
For dessert we agreed to all split an order of bittersweet (woohoo) chocolate profiterolles (puff pastry, vanilla ice cream all bathing in chocolate sauce) and a selection of three cheeses. The profiterolles were perfection - it was hard to stop eating them long enough to give someone else a fair shot at them. The cheeses however were a bit disappointing. The cheese themselves were pretty good but they were served more or less by themselves with three lone little apple slices as accompaniments. I happen to love to spread my cheeses on toast points, with honey or compote, a few nuts...something to match them up with.
All that being said...we have three fabulous bottles of wine (the best part of a BYO, you know you're going to get to drink get wines); a champagne and two French reds. The total bill per couple was $150. So good food, fabulous company, excellent wines and cheap!! You just can't beat this experience. I look forward to going back in the near future!
Jenn's rating: 85
Zagat: 25-14-23
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