Yes, the rumors are true. Loretta Keller is taking a two-month hiatus, and when Bizou re-opens (will it even still be Bizou??), it will be a different place altogether. No more French bistro menu full of warm, wonderful, comforting food, cooked with soul and love. {Sigh}.
Let me backtrack a moment. I lived in SoMa for several years, and for whatever reason, Bizou was never a place I frequented. Now, there are people who are passionate, even zealous about their love for this place. Meanwhile, I kept on passing it by, because it seemed it would be there forever. Having eaten there one in 2000, I was impressed, but again, there were so many places to try... and Bizou would be there forever.
Fast forward to 2005, and the awful truth is confirmed. And I've missed out on so many chances to eat there...
Last night, my friend S and I decided to have dinner at Bizou... we don't get together as often as we would like, and so these dinners turn into several hour marathons.
After a martini for her, a glass of Prosecco for me and a dozen Kumamoto oysters to share, we finally decided to order one 5-course tasting menu and several appetizers. This turned out to be a perfect game plan, and gave us a chance to try many of chef Keller's specialties.
The starred dishes are from this week's tasting menu; our waiter served them in a different order to pair better with the other dishes we had.
- Sizzling Shrimp with Garlic and Arbole Chili* - A great dish, though it really did need a squeeze of the lemon it was served with. Not much heat here, but really wonderful depth of flavors.
- Batter-fried Green Beans with Tzatziki Dipping Sauce ($7.5)- I thought these were very good, though underseasoned. The batter was light and flavorful, the beans were still crisp, the dill-heavy tzatziki was a perfect accompaniment... but I couldn't help wishing that the beans themselves had been better-seasoned.
- Roasted Sweet Peppers with Cured Anchovies and Rosemary Focaccia*- Oh, lord, this was a revelation. I do NOT like anchovies. In fact, they are the one food (along with sardines) about which I have forever wondered "what is all the fuss"? I want to like them... just... don't. Well, Loretta's touch has coverted me. If all anchovies were fresh, meaty, not "oily" like this... I would eat them every day. They reminded me of the really good "house-cured" saba I had at Hama-Ko many years ago.
- Seared Foie Gras with Roasted Pears & Mache Salad ($15.5) - The liver was near-perfection... firm, but yielding and juicy. The roasted pears didn't really do it for me (though, I'm not a pear-lover) but the mache salad was amazing with a rich, sweet balsamic reduction dressing. There was also a small square of gelee - it could have been liquor-based, though it tasted strongly of honey. Very nice little flavor accent.
- Warm Fava Bean and Artichoke Salad with Pecorino and Nasturtiums* - This dish was really unique. I'm not a huge fan of fava beans, but I think if I were, I would have loved this. The beans were cooked to a perfect tenderness, and the bright dressing cut the richness of the beans and artichoke hearts.
- Smoked Butterfish with Arugula, Creme Fraiche & Caviar ($12.5)- I didn't care for the fish here... there was something about it that didn't taste right to me... on second thought, I wonder if it didn't have more to do with the fact that I ate a creme-fraiche sauced bite right after a bite of my artichoke salad... It gave me that same sacchariny weird taste sensation at the back of my throat. Hmmmm. Interesting.
- Grilled Lamb Shoulder Chop with Asparagus and Mint*- Oy, another amazing dish. This pretty much rocked. The mint sauce was reminscent of a chimichurri in it's savory-garlickiness... the chop was cooked perfectly, which can be hard to do with such a thin, bony cut. I would have licked the plate clean if I could have done it without destroying my dignity.
- Bittersweet Chocolate and Coffee Vacherin with Candied Almonds* - There is a reason this dessert is famous. Our waiter, thinking we were done, picked up our plate with one last 1/2" bit of meringue left on it, and I nearly jumped OUT of my seat to stop him.
- Fifty-Fifty ($7.5) - Couldn't pass up this Bizou classic; it's a buttermilk panna cotta layered between tangerine gelee. Fabulous. Amazing textures, with a sweet-tart flavor that is incredibly reminiscent of its namesake, the Creamsicle.
I had one glass of Carpenè Malvolti Prosecco di Conegliano Veneto, a very nice sparkling wine that was perfect with the oysters and fine with the shrimp & green beans.
With dinner, I had two glasses of a 1999 Valpolicella Superiore Monti Garbi. It was a nicely-balanced wine, medium-bodied and great with nearly every dish except the fava beans & butterfish course (which, really was my least favorite course all around anyway). If you have it on hand, I'd probably start drinking it as it seems to be at the end of its lifespan.
