| CyberEater Restaurant Review
by David Rottenberg (written in 2001)
Editor, Dining San Diego Magazine
Member, California Restaurant Writers Association
The French Gourmet - You've Got To Have Gaul!
The French have a long standing tradition for culinary excellence.
In fact, France recently won a major international cooking
competition, "Bocuse d'Or". From the fanciest of restaurants
in that country to the smallest local bistro, the food is
usually good. I recall many occasions of fondly searching
through the narrow, winding back streets of the Left Bank
in Paris for the "perfect restaurant" and always leaving satisfied.
That tradition has found its way to the back streets of Pacific
Beach, on the cusp of La Jolla. The French Gourmet Restaurant,
located at 960 Turquoise Street, is a small 45 seat local
restaurant that serves outstanding food. The restaurant attracts
a large group of loyal repeat customers. People come back
because of the high quality of the food and the reasonable
prices.
The restaurant is one of three activities at the location.
Upstairs houses the office of the catering division, with
over 150 employees and an annual volume of over $4.5 million.
The company caters wedding, parties and events. Downstairs
is also the location of the bakery, which produces wonderful
pastries daily and gorgeous wedding cakes. While dining at
the restaurant, I could not help but notice out of the corner
of my eye the continuous stream of customers purchasing pastry
goodies at the counter.
Michel Malecot, founder of The French Gourmet, has been in business
in San Diego for 22 years. He graduated from culinary school
in France, then worked in Europe and other American cities.
He opened his own business here in 1979. Over the years, his
excellence as a caterer and his focus on quality control has
been recognized by his industry peers. He won numerous awards
including Caterer of the Year by NACE. He is the immediate
past president of the San Diego chapter of NACE.
In the restaurant's dining room, the background music is
French, to create an ambiance. The friendly servers are also
French. The tablecloths are white and the decor is comfortable.
The food is well presented and portions are well sized.
The Soupe du Jour was Carrot Soup, a steaming bowl
of beautifully colored broth that was tasty and spicy. My
entrée, Vol au Vent was a puff pastry filled
with seafood in a cream sauce, together with couscous and
vegetables. The seafood tasted very fresh. The cream sauce
enhances the flavor. My favorite was the puff pastry. When
saturated with the sauce, the taste was wonderful.
One could make a meal of appetizers alone. The Escargot a
la Bourguignone are broiled and served a buttery garlic
sauce that is a delight to sop up the French bread. The Moules
Marinieres are mussels in a reduction of wine, cream
and shallots. Their aroma alone gets one's salivary glands
excited. The Combination Plate of chicken, duck and liver
pate is a sumptuous delight. The Brie and Fruit plate
is listed as an appetizer but I recommend it after dessert.
Entrees include Bouillabaisse, with fish and scallops,
that is tomato based, rather than white. Lamb Shanks,
a Mediterranean favorite, are slowly braised with shallots
and vegetables to bring out the flavor. Calf Liver with Sautéed
Onions is a local favorite. Good liver is hard to
find.
Desserts are incredible! A platter of pastry is brought to
the table with half a dozen selection out of the over 50 items
listed on the dessert menu. I selected a large Blackberry Tart, huge blackberries
on top of a pastry shell filled with creamy sweet custard.
It was so good I was sorry there wasn't more.
The wine list offers excellent French house wines and other moderately priced
selections.
For dessert lovers, there is a special "all you can eat"
Sweet Fest every Sunday from 3pm to 6 pm. One can sample as much as desired.
For early birds, there is a prix fixe dinner with many selections.
For the health conscious, many dishes are marked with a "heart".
The French Gourmet works with the Healthy Dining and Green Restaurant
associations programs. Open for breakfast as well as lunch
and dinner, The French Gourmet offers outstanding omelets and
crepes.
The French Gourmet is what diners often wish for, a small and
unpretentious local restaurant with outstanding food, good
ambiance and reasonable prices. Dinner reservations are recommended.
Call 1-800-929-1984. |
