Bistrotters - Paris

We had finished our first full day in Paris and my colleague Ian took me to a place that he'd already made reservations at before we got to France.  Actually, our colleague Simon had made a reservation at the small bistro during a vacation in Paris earlier in the summer with his wife.  However, because he didn't have e-mail while he was on vacation, the restaurant had canceled his reservation because he didn't confirm the reservation 48 hours in advance per the restaurant's requirement.  He was understandably upset, but before Ian and I went to France, he told Ian that we "absolutely had to go to this place.  I need a full report!"  The name of the place was Bistrotters.

As I do on a number of occasions, Ian does thorough background research on some of the restaurants that he visits when travels.  He found that Bistrotters was angling for a coveted Michelin Guide - Paris star rating.  Owner Francois Gallice (pictured left) opened the small bistro in 2012 as a restaurant and a wine shop.  His thinking was that if you liked the wine you had with your meal, you can buy a bottle of it at a takeaway price as a memento or reminder of your evening at Bistrotters.  Chef Erwin Le Gahinet oversees the daily menu at Bistrotters which changes regularly to ensure the freshest ingredients and seasonal foods.  

Bistrotters is open from 12 to 2 p.m. for lunch and 7 to 10 p.m. for dinner Tuesday thru Saturday.  Ian was adamant that we needed to get there for our 7 p.m. reservation.  "They won't hold our table if we are even 10 minutes late," he told me as we climbed into a cab at our hotel around 6:30 p.m.  It took us about 20 minutes to get to Bistrotters located on Rue Decrès across the Seine from where we were staying.  (see map) When we got out of the cab we were somewhat surprised to see a number of people milling about in front of the place.  They, too, had 7 p.m. reservations (they try to do two seatings at night at Bistrotters) and were waiting for the doors to open.  Right at 7 p.m. the doors were unlocked at we went inside.

We were greeted by Francois Gallice and he checked us off his reservation list.  Tall and angular, Francois pretty much gave us our choice of tables.  (I was struck by his uncanny resemblance to one of my dealers back in Iowa.)  We settled for a small table on the upper level of the small restaurant.  The bottom dining area had seating for about 14 to 16 people.  The upper level sat around 10 more.  The small bar for the restaurant was on the left just past the front door of the bistro. 

The menu for the evening was on a chalkboard just above our table.  It was in French, but Francois also dropped off menus that were in both French and English.  His English was also very good with a distinctive French accent.  He gave us a recommendation for a light-bodied French red wine and we ended up taking him up on his suggestion of the Diane de Belgrave Haut-Medoc from the Chateau Belgrave winery in Bordeaux region of France.  It was very good.  

The menu that evening featured a couple of seafood dishes (I don't do seafood in France - been sick twice on seafood in France), a lamb entree, a steak entree and a pork entree.  I was sort of torn between getting the steak tenderloin filet and the crispy pork belly entree.  Ian was actually looking at the same thing.  We decided that I would get the steak and Ian would get the pork belly.  

The first thing that came out was a small cheese puff appetizer that was a nice introduction to the restaurant.  For appetizers, I ordered up some foie gras.  It came with a couple pieces of a toasted housemade French bread and some greens.  The foie gras was not the best I've had in France, but it was still very good.  

Ian had a small bowl of grilled fresh chorizo that he got as an appetizer.  I offered him a bite of foie gras, but I was surprised to learn that he doesn't eat foie gras.  He sort of shuddered and said, "Duck liver.  I've never warmed up to it."  When he offered me a taste of the chorizo, I declined.  I had a food poisoning episode with chorizo a few years ago and I've never warmed back up to it, either.   

My steak was a small filet dressed with some fresh grilled veggies and served with a peppercorn sauce.  I got it medium rare and medium rare in France is really rare.  As in REALLY rare.  (Medium in France would be what I call rare in the U.S.)  It had some fresh herbs on top and the taste was fine.  It was certainly not a Midwestern cut of tenderloin beef.

The pork belly was interesting.  The pork was layered with a crispy grilled outer shell.  It rested on a bed of cooked vegetables that were lying in sort of an au jus sauce.  Ian thought it was very good.  We exchanged cuts of our respective entrees and I have to say that the pork belly was, indeed, very good.  It was better than my steak, which was fine for what it was.  

Francois and another server tag-teamed taking care of the tables that evening.  After we finished, the other server came over to ask us if we wanted dessert.  We mulled over the choices and finally decided that we'd had enough.  It was a good meal as is.

While we felt the food was very good, the service was a little choppy at Bistrotters.  Ian remarked that they had a ways to go in the service end of thing if they were going to get a Michelin star designation.  But Francois was very friendly and outgoing.  He asked where we were from and he said he believed we were the only North Americans in the restaurant that evening.  For a little French bistro, I enjoyed the experience immensely.  They're working hard to please their clientele, so you have to give them that.  

Comments

[Mikey]

Oh wow.. That guy looks like my friend Harry!!