Bistro Petit has been on my list of "must try" neighborhood restaurants for quite some time and this past saturday night i finally had the opportunity to go. when a restaurant has especially high reviews- i'm always a bit nervous- will the experience live up to the hype? are the positive remarks a result of exuberance from going to the new restaurant? does the reviewer have similar tastes?
all reservations melted away at first bite of a sumptuous, grilled artichoke served with a medley of greens, fava beans and olives lightly dressed in oil. such a simple dish but nonetheless remarkably delicious.
truffled mac and cheese- obviously got too carried away with sampling before i remembered to snap a photo! yummy but really how can you go wrong with mac and cheese and truffles?
steak frites are reinterpreted as sliced, organic strip loin steak in a peppercorn sauce topped with ribbon fries. really a great piece of meat. served (thank you!) as requested, a true medium rare. the high quality of the meat was immediately noticeable, both tender, flavorful and perfectly seared. and yes, those ribbon fries are addictive- something between a chip and a french fry. Bistro Petit's steak is a serious contender (watch out St.Anselm)!
genius is having the foresight to develop an idea that makes so much sense after the fact, that you wonder why you had never thought of it before. kimchi bouillabaisse is pure genius. Chef Park masterfully tempers, without losing the spirit and flavor, of kimchi chige in his refined rendition of this hearty seafood stew. come fall/wintry night, you may find me holed up here with a bottle of soju or sake and devouring an order of bouillabaisse.
worrying that there might not be enough food (which turned out not to be the case), we requested an order of the duck confit. oh my. this may have been the surprise table favorite ("they should just make a vat of that stuff" exclaimed The Nose after a taste of the foie gras toast accompanying the duck), crispy skin encasing perfectly seasoned and succulent meat which was nicely offset by the crisp arugula and pomegranate salad.
i LOVE Bistro Petit. they serve really really good food with the finest ingredients (locally sourced, organic blah blah blah), without being pretentious. it feels honest. humble. given the increasingly sceney environs, this is a remarkable feat. please don't change. and i hope i didn't embarrass the chef too much with my enthusiastic compliments. . . .i tend to get carried away when it comes to food.
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