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Bistroquet - French and Thai in the Former Listrani's Space in Palisades - Closed


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On 7/30/2014 at 0:56 PM, Andrew Huber said:

I live next door to the MacArthur Listrani's (which I agree went downhill in recent years, I'll explain in a bit) and just this week they put up a sign saying:

"Coming in September, Bistroquet."

According to neighborhood scuttlebutt, it is going to be owned by the same person who owns Bistro D'Oc downtown, and run by his son.  It will feature french bistro fare with a thai section as the owner's wife is from Thailand.  (Hopefully their Thai is better than Bambu across the street.)


So Bistroquet did a soft opening last night. So soft, in fact, that they didn't actually tell anybody that they were opening and simply let people wander in. I only even saw that they were open because I happened to be walking my dog past them.

Because of this, I got there too late and the kitchen was closed, but I did grab a beer (they had a good, but small, beer list. 3 different types of Ayinger and a few French and Belgian beers) and chat with the owner and the chef.

I also got a look at the menu and it looks great.  Lots of very traditional French food, with some Thai dishes thrown in, (the owner's wife is Thai) along with some Thai-French fusion dishes that looked surprisingly good.  What impressed me most was their willingness to put offal front and center - their appetizer list was nearly half organ meat. Dishes like lamb's brain on toast and tripe in mustard sauce shared the page with escargot and pommes frites.

The entrees also looked promising, if a bit expensive, but that's the new normal for the neighborhood. (despite the fact that every time a restaurant space opens up the listserv is abuzz with people hoping it gets filled with a "reasonably priced family restaurant." If that's what people actually wanted then Palisades Pizzeria and Listrani's wouldn't have closed down and places like Blacksalt and Et Voila wouldn't be packed every night!)

Overall I can't wait to come back and give the food a shot. I'll report back once I have.     

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So Bistroquet did a soft opening last night. So soft, in fact, that they didn't actually tell anybody that they were opening and simply let people wander in. I only even saw that they were open because I happened to be walking my dog past them.

Because of this, I got there too late and the kitchen was closed, but I did grab a beer (they had a good, but small, beer list. 3 different types of Ayinger and a few French and Belgian beers) and chat with the owner and the chef.

I also got a look at the menu and it looks great.  Lots of very traditional French food, with some Thai dishes thrown in, (the owner's wife is Thai) along with some Thai-French fusion dishes that looked surprisingly good.  What impressed me most was their willingness to put offal front and center - their appetizer list was nearly half organ meat. Dishes like lamb's brain on toast and tripe in mustard sauce shared the page with escargot and pommes frites.

The entrees also looked promising, if a bit expensive, but that's the new normal for the neighborhood. (despite the fact that every time a restaurant space opens up the listserv is abuzz with people hoping it gets filled with a "reasonably priced family restaurant." If that's what people actually wanted then Palisades Pizzeria and Listrani's wouldn't have closed down and places like Blacksalt and Et Voila wouldn't be packed every night!)

Overall I can't wait to come back and give the food a shot. I'll report back once I have.    

Andrew, thanks to your posting, an August 6th posting on PoPville, this July 30th posting by ABRA, and a little Googling on my part, I've connected the dots and figured out that this restaurant is related to, perhaps owned by, Bernard Grenier and his wife from Bistro d'Oc. (if readers follow those four links, in order, they'll understand how I did it).

Note my first post in the Bistro d'Oc thread, and you'll see that Mr. Grenier's wife is Thai, and remember also that Bistro d'Oc is one of the few places in town that serves lamb's brain (read through the thread, and you'll see that they usually (if not always) offer it prepared with sauce Meunière). This was a fun little piece of detective work.

Now, the question is: is Bistro d'Oc going to survive the 10th Street Crunch and make Bistroquet their second restaurant, or are they (finally) being forced out by high rents and/or absurd property values. I don't know the answer, but I suspect we'll find out soon enough - I do remember that the Thai dishes at Bistro d'Oc are among the highlights there.

Well done, Andrew & Co. - I'm not going to publicize this place as being fully open yet to respect their wanting to get things in order, but you've clearly stumbled onto something.

Un Troquet in French is slang for "a bar" - so the name is a portmanteau of both bistro and troquet, and also bistro and ok (ok is commonly used in French). Too bad it's not on K Street - then we could really have a pun party.

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I had a thoroughly enjoyable meal at Bistroquet tonight. I sat at the bar, which was otherwise unoccupied, but the neighborhood seems already to have embraced this unpretentious newcomer to the Palisades. Most of the white-tablecloth covered tables in the front room were full, and there was quite a bit of action in the back room, as well. How old-school French is Bistroquet, you ask? There was accordion music playing softly on the sound system, and among the array of bottles behind the bar were three different brands of pastis, including Henri Bardouin, my personal favorite.The menu has all of the bistro classics: onion soup gratinee; hanger steak frites; croque monsieur; duck confit; cassoulet. There are a few hints of Thai flavor suggested in several of the sauces. I had the evening special entree--calves liver with shallots, mushrooms and bacon in a red wine reduction. I asked for medium rare and I got it. The thick piece of mild, vein-free liver was seared on the outside and meltingly tender inside, topped with five or six thin slices of crisp bacon--perfectly cooked and served on a very hot plate with a pile of crisp, sizzling hot frites alongside. I chatted briefly with Chef Grenier about the neighborhood competition. He indicated that he thought the best were too expensive, and that he likes to serve generous portions. (The hefty serving of calves liver was only $19.) For dessert, I had a thin cherry clafouti that was topped with silky creme brulee, a classic French two-fer. I was sorry not to have had someone to share it with me, again a very generous portion. Chef Grenier said he lives in the neighborhood and used to take his kids to Listrani's when they were young, some years ago. He said he always hoped to get the space for his own place. In addition to Bistro d'Oc, he also was the chef at La Miche in Bethesda.

The wines by the glass are all decent--I had a $7.50 glass of rosé--and there is a small selection of French wines by the bottle, with only a few bottles over $40 on the list. the service was friendly and attentive--Chef Grenier himself delivered my plate, just a few minutes after I ordered it. I'm not sure that coming from afar is warranted here, but if you are in the neighborhood or nearby in VA, Cabin John or Bethesda, it is well worth a visit.

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I chatted briefly with Chef Grenier about the neighborhood competition. He indicated that he thought the best were too expensive, and that he likes to serve generous portions. 

It's going to be interesting to see how Bistroquet, Sur La Place, and Et Voila! fare being so close to each other. I suspect the neighborhood (and this is definitely a "neighborhoody block") will slowly gravitate towards personal favorites after trying them all once or twice, and we'll know in a year or two where things stand.

I had dinner at Bistroquet last night and initiated it in Italic in the Dining Guide.

These types of restaurants - more than any other - require good bread in order to swab up the sauces. Even though "bread service" sounds like such a small part of the overall picture of a restaurant, in this situation, with three somewhat similar restaurants vying for customers, it's a huge component of major importance. Can you imagine Le Diplomate serving parbaked bread?

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My husband and I thoroughly enjoyed dinner here last night.  The ambiance is French in an understated way.  I felt I could be sitting in a bistro in provincial France, or even in a quiet neighborhood in Paris.  We tried some daily specials - Rillettes with warm crusty bread and cornichons as an appetizer and a main course of corned beef, sausage and potato with delicious German sauerkraut for me, which both hit the spot on a chilly, rainy night.  My husband had the roast chicken which was simple and delicious.

The service was quick and friendly.  Two of the servers were Thai and we especially enjoyed chatting with them and comparing notes on favorite Thai restaurants and where to find the best Thai noodle soup.  We plan to visit again soon and will try one of the dishes that is French but with a Thai twist.

This is a charming restaurant.

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