I've been a fan of Bistro B for years, but it really doesn't have much of a French vibe going for it (and I don't know that I would consider the cuisine classic bistro or even French at this point). Not to mention that it's in the suburbs, and, as dicksond has commented in the past, the clientele tends to be moneyed Hinsdale types (a bit stuffy).

Based on the OP's comments, I think that either Mon Ami Gabi or Brasserie Jo would be perfectly appropriate for what she's looking for.

On a separate note, dicksond, did you have a bad experience at Bistrot Margot in N'ville? We just were at the N'ville location again last weekend, and my mussels and steak frites were very good, and we found a very nice bottle of wine for around $30 (which seems to be a bargain these days). The service is a bit weird/spotty (but, IMO, the same can be said about many upscale places in the burbs)...But the food at Bistrot Margot, in my experience, has never been disappointing. I'd imagine that the Old Town location is quite nice, though I believe it's gotten mixed reviews on this site.

dicksond wrote:Put me in the supporters of Le Sardine camp.

Dickson,

Full agreement, count me amongst the supporters of La Sardine and it noisier, ironically more sardine like, sister restaurant Le Bouchon, home of the Best Salad Lyonnaise in Chicago

dicksond wrote:My one meal at Cafe le Coq was okay

Agree again, my one meal at Cafe le Coq was ~fine~. Nothing to urge me to make the trip to Oak Park, though the company more than made up for any deficiencies in service or food.

Enjoy,
Gary

Ron A. wrote:I've been a fan of Bistro B for years, but it really doesn't have much of a French vibe going for it

As far as the atmosphere goes, you are right. It is probably the least French of any places listed in this thread. However, the menu does have most of the bistro requisites (coquilles st. jacques, escargot, steak frites, duck pate etc.). That said, I wouldn't reccommend BB to the OP or anyone else looking for an authentic "french bistro" experience, but they do serve great food. As far as stuffiness goes, I have never experienced any kind of superciliousness from the owner or staff, just from the other patrons (and who cares what they think?). In fact, the owner has always welcomed me warmly, despite the fact that I don't match the profile of 90% of BB's clientele. Of course, I first started going there about 15 years ago, before it was "discovered", before the fancy remodeling, and before the prices went up. I no longer have business out that way, so I don't get there very often, and truthfullly, it has become too pricey for my budget (I no longer have an expense account either). But I still make an annual winter pilgramage for their excellent cassoulet. Now that they have the Prix Fixe special, I will have to find an excuse to make a trip to DuPage county on a tuesday or wednesday night, for old times sake.

dicksond wrote:Surprised no one has commented about the Chi-Town in the title. Sort of like calling SF, "Frisco" isn't it?

Yes, but we're being polite to an out-of-towner.

Coincidentally, Pat Bruno gives a rundown of Brasserie Jo & other Bistros in the Sun-Times today.

http://www.suntimes.com/output/bruno/wk ... rie19.html
http://www.suntimes.com/output/bruno/wk ... no19a.html

I recently went to Le Petit Paris on Chestnut. You know, Michael Foley from Printer's Row just took over the kitchen. I'm not sure his influence has trickled over to the menu much -- Well executed but very classic bistro fare. Service was casual and accomodating. We enjoyed it.

LaKathie wrote:I recently went to Le Petit Paris on Chestnut. You know, Michael Foley from Printer's Row just took over the kitchen.

Has Jean Tippenhauer departed? I thought Foley was just consulting.

trixie-pea wrote:I have never been to Cafe Matou though, so tonight Piggy and I are going to check it out.

Yeah, so how'd that go?

E.M.

It didn't go so well. Piggy had the quail and I had the steak and neither one of us were happy with our choices. Both dishes were kind of cheesy--the quail was stuffed with a huge (as it could be inside a quail) glob of cheese, and my steak and the salad it was perched upon were sprinkled with shredded cheese. I don't think it's fair to call a dish "steak" on a menu, when what you really get is thinly sliced, cool beef fanned out over an overdressed salad featuring out of season tomatoes and shredded cheese. A tablespoon of sea salt came on the plate as well, which I was instructed not to just dump on my steak because it wasn't just about saltiness, but about texture. I sort of understood what she was talking about.

PIGMON's dish was a quail, wrapped in bacon, and stuffed with a lot of Gruyere, plated with a sausage and a chalky mashed potato cake, all parties sauced with an onion-sherry concoction. Again, wow...I didn't really know what to say. Maybe this was just bad ordering on our part--somehow we both missed the stuffed with cheese descriptor. After I tasted the quail, I was sort of happy that I ordered the steak.

The chicken liver mousse we had to start our meal was good, but the garnishes were better suited for a hot dog. Big, thick raw red onion rings, big puddles of dijon mustard and a few cornichons were thrown around the plate. I don't need an overly stylized plate--rustic is good--but this was more feed bag than white tablecloth.

So, I'm sure that there must be better dishes to be had at Matou--but after an initial bad experience, I might not be motivated to look too hard for them. Too harsh?

trixie-pea wrote:Both dishes were kind of cheesy--the quail was stuffed with a huge (as it could be inside a quail) glob of cheese, and my steak and the salad it was perched upon were sprinkled with shredded cheese.

That sounds crap.

trixie-pea wrote: Too harsh?

I count on you to bring that roughness.

E.M.

trixie-pea wrote:Maybe this was just bad ordering on our part--somehow we both missed the stuffed with cheese descriptor.

Sorry you didn't enjoy your meal, but the cheese is definitely mentioned, and the sherry-onion sauce, too.

Cafe Matou menu wrote:Roast quails wrapped in bacon and stuffed with garlic croutons and Gruyère; served with a sherry-golden onion sauce

I haven't been there in some time and I suppose it could have gone downhill dramatically since (the chef has opened and shut another restaurant meanwhile), but the food I had last time -- lamb shank, I think -- was perfectly decent and straightforward.

LTH,

Had a very nice meal at Brasserie Jo Friday evening, everything from service, to overall ambiance to food was consistently good. I particularly enjoyed a shared-at-the-table Charcuterie, Pate and Cheese platter appetizer, though while my Frisee Salade Lyonnaise with bacon and poached egg was good, it did not hold a candle to Le Bouchon's. Brasserie Jo's version uses straight frisee, which I often find 'hay' like, small bits of bacon, I prefer larger lardons, dressing was barely noticeable and croutons seemed absent, at least on my plate. I should point out that even an ok Salade Lyonnaise, with it's poached egg and bacon, is still a thing of beauty.

Brasserie Jo Salad Lyonnaise


Main courses were consistently good, I very much enjoyed my Sauteed Skate with capers and brown butter, and Ellen's Halibut was terrific. I also tasted the Choucroute Alsacienne, Cabbage Alsace-style, Smoked Meats, a generous potion of delectable smoked meats.

Sauteed Skate


Choucroute Alsacienne


Another highlight were the warm baguettes, crisp outside, light inside, with a subtle tang from proper management of rise and yeast. I wonder where they are getting the bread, if it's still Corner Bakery it must be a Brasserie Jo specific run.

I should also point out that Brasserie Jo was a perfect place to go with a group, we were 11 and the staff handled us with care and professionalism.

It had been a while since I was last at Brasserie Jo, though after Friday it's likely I be found in the comfortable bar then on to a meal sooner rather than later.

Enjoy,
Gary

Brasserie Jo
59 West Hubbard Street
Chicago, Illinois 60610
312-595-0800

G Wiv wrote:LTH,

Had a very nice meal at Brasserie Jo Friday evening, everything from service, to overall ambiance to food was consistently good.

You know I always want to enjoy Brasserie Jo, both its classics menu and movie set perfect decor appeal to me, but the output has nearly always failed. I am especially drawn to chourcroute garnie (which has especially failed me in the past), but the pic of that looks pretty good!

Perhaps its time for a re-visit. Thanks for the report.

LAZ wrote:

trixie-pea wrote:Maybe this was just bad ordering on our part--somehow we both missed the stuffed with cheese descriptor.

Sorry you didn't enjoy your meal, but the cheese is definitely mentioned, and the sherry-onion sauce, too.

Cafe Matou menu wrote:Roast quails wrapped in bacon and stuffed with garlic croutons and Gruyère; served with a sherry-golden onion sauce

LAZ--

I saw this menu description on their website before we went, but the other night it was described and plated a little differently. They replaced one of the quail with a sausage, dropped the croutons from the stuffing, and parked a mashed potato cake on the plate for starch instead. I would imagine that garlic crouton mixed with a bit of gruyere would have made a much more pleasant filling, then just straight cheese. The sherry-golden onion sauce was pleasant enough though.

With all of the praise for Matou that I have heard over the years, I can't imagine that our experience is the status quo.

trixie-pea

On a separate note, dicksond, did you have a bad experience at Bistrot Margot in N'ville? We just were at the N'ville location again last weekend, and my mussels and steak frites were very good, and we found a very nice bottle of wine for around $30 (which seems to be a bargain these days). The service is a bit weird/spotty (but, IMO, the same can be said about many upscale places in the burbs)...But the food at Bistrot Margot, in my experience, has never been disappointing. I'd imagine that the Old Town location is quite nice, though I believe it's gotten mixed reviews on this site.

Ron, 3 visits - 2 in Chicago, one in Naperville. Chicago was decent: chicken a bit dry, a little noisy, but generally a pretty enjoyable meal. Lunch in N'ville - a Croque Monsieur of Gargantuan proportions. Supersized, I supposed. Massive portions of bread and meat made it into a sort of closed Monte Cristo. Not at all well-conceived or what I wanted. Cream soup of some sort was gluey and not terribly flavorful. Dinner visit was "better" - roast pork in lentils. Minimal seasoning, as I recall.

In the spirit of full disclosure - the bride very much enjoyed her meal and the experience and would like to go back. I believe she had that Bistro classic grilled salmon . Anyway my sense of Margot in N'ville is that the kitchen is stumbling and the executive chef is Americanizing. But since I will go back when the Bride so instructs, I will try the mussels - thanks for the rec. It also has been a few months since we went so it is possible that some of this was continuing startup issues. Maybe.

d4v3 & Ron - re:Bistro Banlieue. Yeah, stuffy referred to the crowd and decor more so than the help. They have treated us well and quite pleasantly. The food does include most Bistro classics and they are done well. I had an excellent Cassoulet off the specials last time I went. Easily the best Cassoulet I have ever had in the US, and I like Cassoulet so I am quite prone to order it. Mmm, beans and meat, what could be better?

G Wiv wrote:I should point out that even an ok Salade Lyonnaise, with it's poached egg and bacon, is still a thing of beauty.

Gary,

I'm starting to think that I could serve you a poached egg and lardons atop a plate of shredded cardboard and you'd be plenty happy

Nice pic of the choucroute and my complements to the person who tackled that plate.

Best,
Michael

Got to get back to Brasserie Jo. The last time (a few years ago) we had dreadfully inept service and the food was just OK, so I've been avoiding it since. (It didn't help that we had taken out-of-town friends there that night; I could forgive the restaurant for disappointing me, but not for making me look like a fool in front of my friends for taking them there, and for wasting one of their few dining nights in Chicago. Not that they complained, but I felt bad.) I want that place to be good, so I'm very happy to learn that our experience there that night was an anomaly. Or else, even if it wasn't an anomaly then, they've put their house in order since.

My perception is that Cafe Matou has gone downhill a little, and roughly around the same time Socher et souer opened up the new place on Leavitt (which, itself, was very good at the start and then plummeted, before dying. Of our two visits there, the first was excellent, the second, awful. Which made no sense. Until I learned they'd closed shortly after. Then it all made sense.)

eatchicago wrote:Gary,

I'm starting to think that I could serve you a poached egg and lardons atop a plate of shredded cardboard and you'd be plenty happy

Me too, me too!! A Salade Lyonnaise is a wondrous thing.

trixie-pea wrote:With all of the praise for Matou that I have heard over the years, I can't imagine that our experience is the status quo.

Well, I certainly hope it was just an off night. But I sympathize. It's always so disappointing to go to a restaurant you've heard good things about and then not enjoy your food. So then you have to wonder whether it's the restaurant that's off, or the people who told you about it, or if you ordered the wrong thing, or ... ?

I'm not sure if that's better or worse than going somewhere you've enjoyed in the past and having a meal that's off, either because they screwed it up or because you tried some dish it turned out you didn't care for.

Now that I think of it, I wonder if that's the appeal of the small plates menus that have become so ubiquitous. Less risk there, and more opportunity to find something you'll like if you order enough things.

Gary,

I'm intrigued by the choucroute pix: altho' the Kassler looks great, it's the saucisse de Strasbourg that fascinates. It looks *almost* exactly right! Where do you suppose they got it?? I've never been able to find the right one anywhere near KC¶, and it would be nice to find a source.

And do you have a nice ref for the ur-Salade Lyonaise recipe??

Geo

¶ Ironically enough, the Costco here in Montreal carries a *Canadian* Strasbourger that is fabuluous--but do I dare carry it unbeknownst to the Authorities home with me to the South??!

Mr. X and I had dinner at Mon Ami Gabi last night before heading to the Theatre on the Lake. I had LEYE gift cards to use and the restaurant is convenient to the theatre. Seemed like a no-brainer to me.

I arrived first and enjoyed a glass of rose at the bar. Mr. X arrived a short time later after circling the area for parking. We were shown to a table in an uncrowded area near the kitchen. It was a small table, far from the windows and way too close to the noise of the kithen and bus stand. I requested a different table closer to the windows and they accomodated. (The restaurant was only about 1/3 full.)

Once seated, we quickly received a warm baguette, butter and tahini-less hummus. In my limited French bistro experience, the hummus was new to me. It was just okay -- too lemony. Mr. X started with the creamless tomato soup; I opted for the escargots de Bourgogne (in a parsley garlic butter.) I normally love the garlicky butter goodness of escargots. I wasn't too keen on the parsley garlic butter. The tomato soup was wonderful -- very flavorful, nicely accented with halves of cherry tomatoes and avocado.

For the entree, I had the skate in a caper lemon butter with crispy garlic chips and vegetable salad, coupled with a riesling. X had the daily special of veal skirt steak with a leek rice pilaf, paired with a pinot noir. Hands down, his entree was great. The veal was extremely tender, with a tasty mushroom sauce. The pilaf, when combined with a bite of meat and sauce, was full of flavor. Not that I was bemoaning my choice. The skate was good. The lemon caper butter gave it a nice boost. The vegetable salad had lots of red onions, fennel and red peppers. My only minor complaint is that the skate was a little mushy. I'm not entirely sure what made it mushy. It was nicely browned, not overdone. It didn't detract from the dish, it just made me wonder. Our wines were good matches for the food.

We finished with Strawberries Briand (strawberries in Grand Marnier) with a scoop of sour cream sorbet. I wanted a lemon tarte, but Mr. X was quicker to the order. It was an okay finish. The strawberries looked good, but my farmer's market strawberries have lots more flavor.

Overall, we enjoyed Mon Ami Gabi. I found the service to be good and the room pleasant. It is a good pre-theatre option for Theatre on the Lake, just not a budget option. It was around $100 for the two of us.

[The production of "The Glass Menagerie" was very good as well.]

-The GP (Mary)