Restaurant Thoughts - L'Artiste

A new French restaurant, L'Artiste, has recently opened down the street from my apartment in Astoria.  I've been meaning to go for ever so long.  Groupon offered a coupon for a discounted three-course meal and I pounced.  Of course, I left it so long, I waited until a couple of days before the expiration date, but at least I made it.  :)

The restaurant is quite small and intimate, with lots of low lighting.  It probably seats about 30.  When I got there, there were only two other couples there, but by the time I left, the restaurant was nearly full.

When I sat down, the host/server brought me an amuse bouche - a little shot of vegetable bisque.  It was delicious, very rich and flavorful.  Not heavily spiced, the vegetable flavors were dominant.  It also was quite tasty, and complementary, with the glass of cotes du rhone I ordered.  :)      

A note about another table:  there was a man and woman at the table next to me.  The man seemed to be a native French-speaker, and the woman was desperately trying to speak French (she was not all that successful).  She kept calling the host/server over to help her with her French.  She was incredibly drunk and extremely loud.  The French-speaking man seemed to be trying to get the woman to go home with him, while the woman seemed to be hitting on the host.  It was quite a merry-go-round.  The host kept calling her (and every other lady in the place) 'Madame,' which made her mad.  She finally screamed, "I am NOT a madame!  I'm a mademoiselle!!"  It was quite embarrassing (but fascinating to listen to).  I'm guessing the host is quite a hit with the Astoria ladies, because two other gals came in to sit at the bar and try to engage him in conversation.  I didn't get it.  He was good-looking, but didn't seem to be all that to me.  Perhaps if he were Italian.  lol  Anyway... ;)

So, with my coupon, I could get an appetizer, entree and dessert.  I chose the grilled portobello mushroom appetizer, the salmon entree, and profiteroles for dessert.  Everything was delicious.  Though, I must admit, fennel must've been on special at the grocery store, because there was a TON of fennel on both my appetizer and entree.  Good thing I like it, though I'll admit to leaving a lot of it behind.  And good thing it wasn't in the dessert.

The portobello mushrooms were perfectly grilled, and dressed with a tart and delicious balsamic vinaigrette.  There was a very nice balance of textures and flavors, but, as I said, there was just too much sauteed fennel on top.

The entree was a lovely piece of salmon, pan-sauteed, in a citrus soy sauce.  There was also some kind of butter sauce, but I'm not quite sure what other flavors were in there.  There wasn't a mention of a butter sauce on the menu, so I don't know.  It wasn't spicy or warm, so I don't think it was curry or turmeric.  But it was rich and delicious, though, and was a nice counterpoint to the citrus soy reduction.  There were also more sauteed vegetables.  You won't believe this, but the salmon actually sat on an entire piece of fennel!  I'm not sure if it imparted any flavor into the salmon, but fennel is awfully strong to make such a focal point of two dishes.  And before you say that I should've thought of that when I ordered them, well...I guess you're right.  The menu just said 'sauteed vegetables' in the description of both dishes.  I guess I should've figured they'd repeat veggies.  Oh well.  Though the eggplant, beans and cauliflower with the salmon were beautifully prepared and very nice.  Oh, and the very crispy skin on the salmon was a nice textural contrast to the soft veggies and sauce.

For dessert, I had a choice between creme brulee and profiteroles.  I love me some profiteroles, so I ordered them.  They were TAST-EE.  I will be going back (though probably not to flirt with the host) just to have those profiteroles.  The chocolate sauce was rich and decadent, and there was a little caramel sauce on the plate that was tasty.  The profiteroles were light and chewy, and filled with a nice light whipped cream.  I highly recommend them.

I'll definitely be going back to L'Artiste, though it's more of a special occasion restaurant than an everyday kind of place.  The prices aren't inexpensive, so I was happy to have my Groupon deal.  But the feeling of the place (when there aren't drunken women hitting on the host) was quite nice and intimate, but still welcoming to a solo diner.  I didn't feel rushed, and I didn't have to wait around either.  I'm sure the people who came in later than me had to wait, though.  The host was also the only server, so once the place starts to fill up, I would guess the food would come out more slowly.  But I had a nice leisurely dinner--perhaps the secret is to always go around 7pm.  Though I may have to go for dessert later than that sometime, just to see... :)