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L'Avenue Bistro: A Sweet Success In Sugar House | |
| By Anne Wilson -- Special To The Tribune | 2/22/2002 | |
| Salt Lake City is now home to no fewer than a half-dozen restaurants that bill themselves as French, places to indulge in rich food, in modest portions. Now, maybe we can finally begin to eat sensibly. The latest French arrival, L'Avenue Bistro near Sugar House Park, is an impressive package: beautiful decor, a full-service menu, and a chef who knows how to cook and goes to the trouble of making the food look pretty. L'Avenue is already generating such buzz, it's hard to get in without a reservation. L'Avenue is the latest venture of the people who own Tuscany -- former Utah Jazz player Mark Eaton, Tuscany designer Aaron Ferer, architect Gary B. Francis and Paul Castagna. Ferer and Francis are mostly responsible for the look of L'Avenue, which involved an extensive remodel of a former restaurant known as Crusty's. Now it has all the right design elements of a French-style bistro -- comfortable wood chairs at linen-covered tables, elegant fixtures and banquettes covered in burgundy leather. The tables are close, but not uncomfortably so, although when the place is full, it can be noisy and warm. The main dining room is lined with French doors that overlook a spacious patio (which will only be used in warmer months) with a view of Sugar House Park. Overall, the look is charming and smart. But maybe the smartest thing the owners did was hire Franck Peissel, a veteran French chef lured from New York City's Park Bistro. In more than 15 years spent in culinary haunts from Courcheval in the French Alps to Charleston, S.C., Peissel learned the trick of turning the familiar into the fabulous. His cassoulet ($16.95), for example, is built of everyday ingredients: chunks of lamb, marinated duck, sausage and broad white beans. The secret is the subtle seasoning. Ordinary roasted chicken ($13.95) becomes intriguing with the addition of a tangy orange sauce. And wild mushroom ravioli ($14.95) tastes earthy but refined, with its hint of truffle oil. The only dish that didn't rise to its potential was roasted leg of lamb ($19.95), which comes sliced and was slightly overcooked. It is served with a rustic potato cake that must come on its own plate because it is much too large for one person. Why not serve this lovely side dish in a manageable portion? Peissel's best work may be his smaller creations: a fabulous appetizer goat cheese tart ($6.50), potent with garlic and caramelized onions, or a salad ($7.50) molded into circular layers of chopped red and golden beets and topped with a round of crumb-coated, creamy goat cheese. It is almost too pretty to eat. The French onion soup ($4.95) is all it should be: beefy, full of onions and topped by crusty bread and a thick layer of browned cheese. But don't skip the mussels ($13.50 to $15.95), which come steamed in white wine and shallots or steamed with tarragon, white wine and mustard or sauted in Roquefort sauce. They are large, tender and delicious, and are paired with fried potatoes (pommes frites), uniformly brown and crisp and served in a wrapping of white paper tucked inside a metal cone. At $1.75, the house salad seems like a bargain, but the mustard-shallot dressing covering the wedge of butterleaf lettuce had such an overpowering onion flavor it was impossible to finish -- even for people who love strongly flavored food. The lunch menu includes smaller versions of some of the dinner entrees, plus more salads and a burger with pommes frites. This spring, the owners plan on adding Sunday brunch and opening early in the morning on weekdays for breakfast beverages and pastries. Servers seem to have had some instruction on recommending selections from the restaurant's wine list, which has good variety (although mostly inexpensive wines) and a nice selection of French vintages. L'Avenue continues a recent, encouraging trend in Salt Lake City: small but comfortable neighborhood restaurants that serve reasonably priced, bistro-style fare. L'Avenue 1335 E. 2100 South, Salt Lake City; 485-4494 Hours: Monday through Friday for lunch, 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.; nightly for dinner from 5 p.m. Prices: Lunch entrees from $7-$10; dinner, $14-$20 Liquor: Full bar, wine list Reservations: Recommended Child's Menu: No Takeout: Yes Wheelchair Accessible: Yes Outdoor Dining: Yes Parking: On site lot, street Credit Cards: All major Anne Wilson is The Tribune's restaurant reviewer. The newspaper covers the cost of meals at restaurants reviewed and there is no connection between reviews and restaurant advertising. Wilson welcomes food and wine news, comments and suggestions at wilwrite99@aol.com. |
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