Café Chatter Revolutionary Fare Boston is home Whether it’s steak frites and frisée aux Craigie on Main to a fl ourishing lardon served up in bistros, or high-end 853 Main St., Cambridge French food scene French restaurants that tempt with fra- 617-497-5511; craigieonmain.com grant, handcrafted fromage, Bostonians’ Long a local darling, chef and owner BY CLARE LESCHINHOAR love aff air with haute cuisine means you Tony Maws garnered some national love don’t have to look far to get a delicious with his fi rst James Beard Award nomi- French meal in nearly any part of the city. nation for Best Chef Northeast. Despite The area’s eff ervescent food scene is the new, more spacious digs he recently getting plenty of worldwide attention, moved into, Craigie is still jammed with too. Cambridge is home to two modern- locals. Maws trained in French kitchens in day French knights—Ihsan Gurdal, co- Lyon, France, and took that technique to owner of Formaggio Kitchen, a renowned heart. Here you’ll fi nd a stack of roasted specialty cheese shop, and Raymond Ost, marrow bones served with coarse sea salt chef and owner of Sandrine’s Bistro. Both and country bread, stuff ed pigs’ trotters, were recently awarded the medal of the or scrumptious terrines and rillettes. French Order of the Mérite Agricole. The Adventurous diners should place famous Parisian cooking school Le Cor- themselves in Maws’ capable hands by don Bleu opened doors here to culinary ordering the Chef’s Whim. Available four students in 2007. And three of this year’s nights a week beginning at 9 p.m., four James Beard Foundation nominees for courses run $39.99; six courses are $54.99. Best Chef Northeast are known for their Note that the bartending here is French cuisine: Michael Leviton from superb, as well. Bar manager Tom Lumière in West Newton, Tony Maws Schlesinger-Guidelli is fond of Char- of Craigie on Main, and Marc Orfaly of treuse, classic pastis and absinthe, and Pigalle. There’s even some star shine with is widely recognized for his encyclo- celebrity cheftestant Michael Schlow of pedic knowledge of vintage cocktails, Radius, a modern-French restaurant, who such as the Negroni, Sazerac and the competed on Bravo’s Top Chef Masters, Maiden’s Prayer. which began airing over the summer. Ragout of forest An appetite for French food means Sel de la Terre mushrooms, cock's you’ll have your pick, too, from comfort 774 Boylston St., Boston combs and farm-fresh egg, Serrano ham and food to cutting-edge, French-inspired 617-266-8800; seldelaterre.com almond sauce, herbs dishes that highlight the best of the The newest location for this approach- and fl owers from Craigie on Main. local New England bounty. Here is just able French brasserie is bubbling with a sampling of some of the fi nest French energy, from the main-fl oor café and bar restaurants throughout the city. to the second-fl oor dining room. Hip, 68 rrıve • September/October 2009 • . MICHAEL PIAZZA L’Espalier 774 Boylston St., Boston 617-262-3023; lespalier.com L’Espalier is built on the idea of great European Michelin restaurants and is regularly listed among the best ine dining spots in the city. Last fall, chef and owner Frank McClelland moved the restaurant from its historic Back Bay townhouse location to its new home adjacent to the Mandarin Oriental, Boston hotel. Three dining rooms plus a salon means twice the space but the same number of tables. If you’ve always wanted to try the famous poulet de Bresse but couldn’t get yourself to France, then be on the lookout for McClelland’s highly prized blue-footed chicken with pancetta and black trule jus, which is only on the menu in September and October. The cheese program here is also among the most notable in Boston. Try the Abbaye de Belloc or the Langres if you spot them among the revolving oferings. The corner room at L’Espalier. JOHN HORNER . • September/October 2009 • rrıve 69 urban, young professionals have been imported from Paris are all indicative of making the most of wild fare. Look fl ocking here since it opened last year, that casual brasserie vibe for which this for dishes such as duck with wild black and for good reason. Chef de cuisine hipster South End neighborhood spot cherries, pâté forestier made from wild Louis DiBiccari is known for his expertise is known. Sit at the bar near the clas- mushrooms, veal with rosehip purée, with charcuterie, creating tasty morsels sic absinthe pourer and help yourself or a garnish of pickled autumn olives. from pork rillettes, pork pâté or a variety to the hard-boiled eggs that are often At breakfast, toast comes with a side of of fl avor-packed boudins. on display, or to a crispy baguette with jelly made from beach plums that Bond DiBiccari has an earnest affi nity for a slab of superbly creamy butter. The very likely foraged himself. locally grown ingredients, which means steak frites are served with béarnaise or The bistro is bright and inviting, and the autumn is heaping with native bounty. a com-pound butter of parsley, shallots you’ll spot everyone from true Boston Don’t miss the corn soup with lavender and garlic. Moulets et frites are very Brahmins to urban hipsters enjoying and chili, served with braised Koburta popular here, too. Brunch is off ered all the homemade charcuterie. The chef pork belly. In fact, order two. You won’t day on Saturdays. has an affi nity for heritage pigs, too, want to share. and this is the only restaurant on the Beacon Hill Bistro East Coast raising its own woolly Gaslight, Brasserie du Coin 25 Charles St., Boston Mangalitsa pigs. They won’t be ready 560 Harrison Ave., Boston 617-723-1133; for slaughter until winter, but Bond fre- 617-422-0224; gaslight560.com beaconhillhotel.com/bistro quently posts Facebook updates about Antique subway tiles, marble fl oors, Autumn is a terrifi c time of year for their progress. communal tables, beers on tap, wines foraging in New England, and execu- by the carafe and a 22-foot solid zinc bar tive chef Jason Bond is an expert at Miel Brasserie Provençale InterContinental Boston 510 Atlantic Ave., Boston 617-217-5151; intercontinentalboston.com With the waterfront and the happen- ing Fort Point Channel neighborhood on one side, and the fl ourishing Rose Fitzger- ald Kennedy Greenway on the other, Miel is a Provence oasis. Here, honey and olive oil reign; in fact, miel translates to “honey.” Note the chandelier made from dainty honey pots. The patio is planted with lavender, thyme and rosemary, and is lined with lemon and lime trees. While two-star Michelin chef Jacques Chibois consults on the menu, a talented Josean Rosado mans the kitchen. Look for Provence favorites such as pistou soup, grilled steak frites, savory bouillabaisse, and a picture-perfect apple tart with olive oil ice cream. The dining room is sunlit and full of provin- cial touches, from blue and white fabrics to tables decked with a wide selection of olive oils from the Mediterranean. La Voile 259 Newbury St., Boston 617-587-4200; lavoileboston.net La Voile blew into Boston on a breeze straight from Cannes. The brasserie, whose name means “the sail,” emerged from an uprooted, existing restaurant Left, top to bottom: Gnocchi Parisienne with fresh peas, garlic chive and mint pesto and Gloucester lobster at Beacon Hill Hotel and Bistro; Miel Brasserie Provençale’s burger trilogy. 70 rrıve • September/October 2009 • . (and staff) that anchored itself on T.W. Food Boston’s bustling Newbury Street. 377 Walden St., Cambridge French expats and Francophiles gravi- 617-864-4745; twfoodrestaurant.com tate here regularly. Chef and owner Tim Wiechmann La Voile keeps the menu authentic is one of only a handful of chefs in by featuring dishes such as soupe de America who has trained at several poissons (a traditional fi sh soup) and three-star Michelin restaurants in Paris. blanquette de veau, a classic veal stew Time spent in the kitchens of Tail- with basmati rice. The sweetbreads in levent, L’Arpège and L’Atelier means a morel cream sauce is the hands-down France remains his biggest infl uence, favorite. The wine list represents all but Wiechmann describes his dishes regions, including Languedoc, Bour- as simplifi ed French cuisine, meaning gogne, Alsace, the Loire Valley and more. there will be four or fi ve immaculate ingredients on a plate, instead of 12. The Sensing nightly cheese course here is consis- Fairmont Battery Wharf tently divine. The tasting menu changes Three Battery Wharf, Boston daily and is available as a vegetarian op- 617-994-9001; tion. Save room for the French pastry. sensingrestaurant.com Traditional langues de chat, meringues When word fi rst came that three-star with cream, and sable Breton, a salted Michelin chef Guy Martin was opening a Brittany cookie, appear frequently on Boston outpost of his Paris-based Sens- the menu. ing, a buzz fl ew among the city’s foodies. Unfortunately, a sputtering economy Sandrine’s Bistro and a change of hands from the Regent 8 Holyoke St., Cambridge to the Fairmont hoteliers delayed the 617-497-5300; sandrines.com opening, and locals were disappointed Raymond Ost became a chef the that chef Martin would be present only a old-fashioned way. He apprenticed from few times a year. They needn’t be. Martin a young age in kitchens throughout tapped the very capable Gérard Barbin as France, and his menu refl ects his Alsa- chef de cuisine.