GO! DINING REVIEW: The baguette also rises
The location may be shady, tucked into a strip mall behind a row of fast-food restaurants on the Garden of the Gods corridor, but owners Patrick and Krystyna Garnier have showered sunshine on their ambitious restaurant, La Baguette French Bistro, to make it grow into a stylish secret garden.
The owners bought the location in 2007 and are separate from other La Baguettes, though they buy bread from the Old Colorado City location. Since May of this year, the Garniers have stretched their hours and their menu into the evening, and now offer a full bar.
Highlights
The luxurious French standards are accounted for, starting with the Escargots de Bourgogne ($7.95). Served artfully and drenched in butter — as they should be! — the mild shellfishlike flavor is allowed to shine, accented with fresh garlic.
“Great ingredients, traditionally prepared” is certainly a menu theme, and played out well in the Boeuf Bourguignon ($14.25), a great choice for meat-and-potatoes eaters. A fork alone easily broke apart the tenderized sirloin, which is slow-cooked with thyme and merlot with mushrooms, carrots and pearl onions, served over orzo.
The Steak Diane ($15.95), on the other hand, is designed for beef aficionados: two medallions cooked to perfectly melt in your mouth, served with mushrooms and shining with demi-glace and shallot sauce.
A vegetarian option was perhaps my favorite: Ratatouille ($11.75), which is poured atop plump grains of Israeli couscous. The classic stew of vegetables is so deceptively simple — a slow-cooked blend of zucchini, eggplant, tomatoes and fresh basil — but this version was bright and fresh while at the same time hearty. You can add chicken for a $3 upcharge, but I don’t recommend it; the chicken seemed disconnected from the flavorful dish.
The desserts topping off the meal were an excellent ending to the evening. Both that I tried had very elegant flavor pairings, the Créme Bruleé with a dose of citrus and the Mousse au Chocolate with a rich undertone of coffee.
Old favorites
As always, the lid of melty cheese on bowls of French Onion Soup ($5.50 cup, $6.95 bowl) will still knock your socks off.
While a little thin on my visit, the Classic Fondue ($11.95) is still a solid choice, and can be also ordered Alsacienne ($13.95), which adds Alcase wine and toasted almonds, as well as broccoli and cauliflower for dipping.
Drawbacks
While the bistro buys its bread from the Old Colorado City La Baguette for breakfast and lunch, they bake in-house for evening service, and I don’t think the results were great, though it was serviceable.
Every French chef should give cream, cheese and butter top billing on their list of go-to ingredients, but the greasiness and richness of some dishes step over the line. For instance, the Poulet Normandie ($13.40) is a casserole of chicken with apple, potatoes and mushrooms swimming in cream sauce and also topped with a layer of Gruyere cheese. I found the dish greasy and overrich, and I enjoyed the dishes with cleaner, fresher pops of flavor.
Ambience
Seriously, it doesn’t look like much from the outside, but past the concrete and generic strip-mall boxiness, patrons walk under stylish black awnings into a lovingly designed, French Country-style haven. Colorful murals adorn the walls, and the chic light fixtures are dimmed in the evenings over two rooms of tables and a couch for lounging.
Service
The artistic rendering of the archetypal French chef, mustachioed and white-coated, could have been based on Patrick Garnier, who usually takes the lead in the back of the house and is cheerful as well as genuine. In fact, both owners were attentive throughout the meal, willing to answers any questions and creating a comfortable, well-timed experience.
As a truly minor complaint, I’d watch it with the garnished parsley, overuse of which caused some messy, haphazard presentation. On the whole, however, the staff is truly dedicated, which is likely why the bistro looks and feels polished yet, at the same time, refreshingly unpretentious and welcoming.
Boeuf Bourguignon Photo by
Escargot Photo by PHOTOS BY KATE JONUSKA
Steak Diane Photo by