La Petite Amelia - New Evanston Country French Bistro

Tried this new bistro in Evanston, in the old Mt. Everest space, last week, and was pleasantly surprised. Waitstaff, although obviously new, was well informed, and helpful.

My combination of duck confit and duck breast was flavorful, with an interesting compliment of white beans and olives - almost like a deconstructed cassoulet.

My friend's salmon had a nice crispy crust, and was served over a bed of ratatouille.

I can also recommend the relatively mild chocolate mousse dessert.

But I know my opinions of restaurants, especially new ones, can be on the overly gentle side; I'd be curious to hear others' opinions.

La Petite Amelia
618 Church St., Evanston
847-328-3333

We had dinner there a few nights after it opened, and I must say we thought it was just so-so; nothing terrible but in no way remarkable either. (I meant to write it up but it kept slipping my mind; that probably speaks to how unmemorable I thought the meal was.) We had an appetizer -- can't recall what it was called -- that was sort of a french pizza, with duck and spinach and gruyere, which was pretty good. Our entrees, though, we found to be pretty pedestrian; my husband thought his lamb shank lacked flavor, and the mussels I had were stringy and tough and I didn't much care for the too-tomato-ey sauce. I didn't finish them, though I wasn't full. (The mussels at Hopleaf are far superior, and even those at the Park Grill put these to shame.) We didn't have dessert, so can't comment on that. The menu was uninspiring, exactly what you'd expect from a cliched french bistro -- onion soup, escargot, etc., which would be fine if those dishes were expertly prepared, but I didn't feel that was achieved. The service was very friendly (if a bit unknowledgable -- as we were considering our options, the waiter kept telling me that the bleu cheese on our chosen appetizer was really good, and I kept telling him that it that the menu indicated it didn't have blue cheese on it -- just as well, as duck and blue cheese seemed unappealing -- but all that could have just been due to it all being pretty brand new.) It was quite busy, so other diners may not have been as picky as we are, but all in all, we wished we'd gone to the Jamaican place next door.