Cafe Touche', Bistro Bordeaux and Rendevoux Bistro

Some quick impressions of three new bistros/cafes: Bistro Bordeaux in Evanston, Rendevoux Bistro close to Lincoln Square and Cafe Touche in Edison Park. Bistro Bordeaux is the most
"serious" of the three , price points are somewhat higher. The flat iron on the steak frites
was perfectly cooked. Wine list 90% French and, again, prices a bit higher than Touche (Rendezvous is BYOB). Service was attentive on both visits - the owner is charming without
being sycophantic. At Rendezvous I had the best roast chicken that I can remember and the frites were perfect. The owner helped serve our table - I think he sensed the time lapse between salad and entree. I first dined at Cafe Touche soon after they opened, but my last
two visits lead me to believe they have lost their way. Two elements, oil and salt, mar the
food and some of our plates should have not left the kitchen. I also miss the maitre d'/major domo who did such a nice job with the wines. Touche needs more attention to detail and of the three it has been open the longest.

I ate at Cafe Touche a week or so ago. We had planned on going to The Purple Pig, but that huge storm blew through and traffic made us change our plans so we ended up in Edison Park and decided to try it. Best thing I can say is that it was "fine". Nothing outstanding, nothing horrible.

I had a salade lyonnaise which was decent. fresh frisee (which our server described as "freeze"), decent lardons and croutons, and a pretty good poached egg. my pike entree was cooked correctly, served hot, and seasoned well, but beyond that, didn't impress much. my wife had a ribeye with frites--steak was tasty and prepared nicely, frites were unimpressive; they were almost like potato peelings rather than cut potatoes. anyone remember "frips" at TGI Fridays from aeons ago?

we also had a dessert which I'm having trouble remembering. oh...yeah, profiteroles. not bad. two huge ones with vanilla ice cream and warm chocolate sauce poured (somewhat sparingly) tableside. my wife was annoyed they didn't leave the pitcher with us.

I'm trying to be diplomatic because I think part of my ho-hum attitude toward this meal was my disappointment from not trying the more interesting fare of the PP downtown, but once all was said and done, and the not-inexpensive check paid, I couldn't help but feel like I could've had a better, and certainly much more interesting, meal at dozens of other places.