Joelle's Bistro serves fine French feast
Thursday, May 03, 2007
By Yolanda Wright
Contributing writer
A smiling gentleman opens the restaurant door and
greets us with "Bonjour," and someone appears to whisk away our
coats. The gentleman kisses my hand and leads us to a comfy parlor where
we're seated in front of a fireplace, served with complimentary flutes of
champagne and offered menus to look at while we wait for friends to join
us for dinner.
Forget daydreams. We've just entered Joelle's French Bistro,
a magic culinary kingdom in a white farmhouse that used to be a bed and
breakfast three miles north of the village of Skaneateles.
In early March, new owners, the French-born husband-and-wife
team of Alain Castel and Joelle Bollinger, who were both raised in Africa,
opened their eclectic eight-table bistro with classic French food with an
occasional Moroccan twist.
Chef Joelle and maitre'd Alain also brought a touch of
Manhattan to Upstate New York from their Country Cafe in Soho. Their
remarkably friendly, attentive staff was flawless when four of us enjoyed
multiple international treats on a recent Friday evening.
Pink tablecloths cover patterned ones in burgundy damask in
the dining room, and tables are also topped with olive oil, candles and
stemmed goblets.
Joelle's menu offers 13 hot and cold appetizers ($6.75 to
$15.50) and 14 entrees ($17.50 to $32.50) which include coq au vin, steak
au poivre, braised sweetbread casserole, rack of lamb, vegetable couscous,
fresh mussels in the shell, roasted mahi-mahi, bouillabaisse, grilled
tiger shrimps and sea scallops and more.
The welcome with chilled champagne began in the parlor or at
the table for all diners, and we added a bottle of Dom. de la Batardiere
Muscadet ($24) from the Loire Valley to our dinner choices. Hot, crusty
bread led to four fine appetizers.
Beef carpaccio ($9.50) covered a handsome plate with
paper-thin slices of raw beef decorated with pesto, salad and lacy squares
of fried shredded Parmesan cheese.
Classic escargots a la Bourguignone ($9) filled the pockets
of hot garlic-basil-butter sauce that seasoned the tender snails, and a
warm oysters casserole ($10.25) was a hit with champagne sabayon and diced
vegetables.
Star of the evening was the delicious homemade duck foie gras
terrine ($15.50), which one of our friends insisted was as silky as
butter. The generous piece was accompanied by poached fig in ice wine and
thin slices of bold spice bread that tasted of ginger.
Stealing the entree limelight, Moroccan veal tagine with dry
fruits ($24.75) arrived hiding the spicy simmered stew in a clay cooking
vessel with a tall pointed lid. After its dramatic removal, the lid
revealed a centerpiece of steamed couscous surrounded by veal and
vegetables.
Haddock with a harissa-olive-pesto crust ($25.50) was a
stand-out with the fiery Tunisian sauce adding a big kick to the moist
fish which was served with coriander sauce, a risotto cake and creamy
carrots.
Grilled marinated tuna ($26.50), a splendid medium-rare, was
served with sun-dried tomato pesto, crisp polenta, grilled eggplant and
homemade smoked eggplant puree. The combination was wonderful.
A Maple Leaf duck duo ($27.50) was doubly grand, with crisp
leg of house-made duck confit and sliced roasted breast meat with rich
pomegranate sauce. Even mashed potatoes and fresh green broccoli tasted
good.
Homemade desserts held their own, too. Warm tarte tatin
($6.50), creme brulee with a tableside bourbon flambe ($7), a large, silky
creme caramel ($6) and a chocolate extravaganza ($9.50) showing off four
tiny artistic tastes and presentations made perfect finales. Coffee cost
$2.50. It doesn't get better than this.
The bistro has big plans for outdoor dining this summer, and
its owners were hoping for the arrival of an outdoor sign when we visited.
Yolanda Wright's weekly Dining Out review is based on an
unannounced, anonymous visit. A chronological archive of reviews from the
last six months is available on www.syracuse.com/dining/.
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