A life changing Warm
Onion Tart. That’s the first
thing that comes to mind when I think
back to my recent visits to Zoë Bistrot.
It is created with a flaky phyllo crust,
delicately caramelized onions, a sprinkling
of watercress, and garnished with an intriguing
sweet and sour balsamic vinegar reduction
sauce. As a first course, it’s plenty
for two people, but you won’t want
to share. It was the hands-down favorite
item for everyone at the table –
don’t miss it.
Zoë Bistrot is the hip
new restaurant at the hip new W Hotel
in New Orleans (the Poydras location).
The restaurant’s decor is every bit
as sleek and mod as the hotel itself,
but still comfortable and inviting. The
service was very nice – friendly
without being intrusive, and enthusiastically
informative without being pushy. Couldn’t
ask for more, really.
But back to the food. Zoë
Bistrot offers, as the name might suggest,
essentially French bistro food with a
few New World touches. And they do it
with quite a bit of success. For a starter
(did I mention the Onion Tart?), the chef’s
selection of Cocktail Canapés is fun.
We had a scrumptious duck country paté
on toasts and perfect new potatoes with
dollops of salmon mousse. The Onion Soup
Grantinée finished with sherry was as
good as any I’ve tasted here or in
France. And the house salad was a refreshing
combination of butter lettuce and herbs,
served with a tangy mustard vinaigrette.
Entrées include a Sea Bass
unlike any I’ve ever had. Delicate
and light, not at all like the strong
oily sea bass we’ve grown to expect.
This one is perfectly steamed, which may
explain its tenderness, and served with
braised greens and apples in a beet-thyme
broth. Roasted Squab is succulent and
well seasoned, and served with a vibrant
roasted plum-sage compote. Duck Breast
is moist and flavorful and wonderful with
a lavender thyme reduction sauce, even
if the sweet potato gnocchi accompaniment
is slightly chewy. The Trout Amandine
is very good and classically prepared
in a tough-to-impress-with-Amandine-kinda-town.
The table favorite entrée, though, was
definitely the Monkfish Mignon –
perfectly cut, excellent quality monkfish
served with creamed leeks and a white
wine sauce. Outstanding!
Tough choice on the dessert
– to go with the classic Tart Tatin
or the fun and yummy French Poodle
Meringue. The Tatin is solid with
sweet apples, flaky crust, and a side
of caramel ice cream. The Poodle (clearly
a staff favorite) is puffs of light meringue
on a hazelnut torte crust with a dark
chocolate mousse that is heavenly. Or,
stop dithering, and just order both.
The wine list is pure pleasure,
with plenty of French offerings at good
prices. Standout choices include Rene
& Vincent Dauvissat 1998 Chablis Vaillons
($55), Foreau 1996 Vouvray Demi-Sec Domaine
du Clos Naudin ($40), Weinbach 1998 Riesling
Grand Cru Schlossberg ($48), Henri Gouges
1997 Nuits St. George Les Chene Carteaux
Côte de Nuits ($65), Robert Michel 1995
Cornas Cuvee des Coteaux ($55), and Château
de Pez 1995 St. Estephe ($72). These fantastic
wines should be sufficient to tempt you
away from the solid selection of California
wines – Zoë Bistrot’s food really
calls for a French wine match.
Only a couple of misses.
Largely forgettable escargots were tasted
on two different occasions. They were
served rather lukewarm, tasted right out
of a jar, and had a shallot parsley butter
breadcrumb thing happening that didn’t
help. Skip ‘em. The Celeriac Gauloise
salad was an odd combination of smoked
turkey chunks, juliennes of celery root
and green apple, and a black walnut vinaigrette.
Perhaps the bitterness of black walnut
and celery root combined was just too
much. Maybe the smoked turkey seemed a
bit too pressed and cut into cubes. Not
really sure, just know it wasn’t
a hit at the table.
All in all, a big thumbs
up for Zoë Bistrot -- very good bistro
fare, great wines, excellent service,
a comfortable environment, and fair prices.
Well done indeed. (october 2000)
at the W Hotel
333 Poydras Street
New Orleans, LA 70130
504.207.5018
Starters range from $7 to
$14
Entrées range from $6 to $19 at lunch,
and $16 to $48 (for the Cote de Boeuf
for Two) at dinner
