More French restaurants please

Newsroom 26/07/2010 | 13:24

Ici et La, Mendelev 43, Pta Romana tel. 0731 352 608

It really is an indictment of so-called Bucharest ‘society’ that there are so few French restaurants here. To list them, there is: L’Escargot, La Bonne Bouche, Casa Vernescu, Heritage, Paparrazi and Ici et La. Over the years I have seen the same number of French restaurants close down due to the indifference of the public.

I am not going to compare the remaining ones, as they all have distinct menus which thankfully differ from each other.

So let’s check out Ici et La. It is easy enough to find at the Piata Romana end of Mendelev opposite the BCR café. The décor is modern and somewhat lacking in warmth. But that is made up for with an open range kitchen, so the curious can see their food being prepared.

The menu is brought to you on a blackboard – a nice Gallic touch which reminds you that it can be changed at the whim of the House. A good thing. Better still, if a dish is sold out they can rub it off the blackboard thereby not frustrating you with a dish that doesn’t exist.

They had a small board with six ‘French tapas’ listed at a mere RON 5 each. This is a clever ‘tasting menu’ incorporating some of the a la carte dishes in bite sizes. I tried their smoked salmon. It was smoked in-house using the chef’s own wood selection. It was nearly as good as the world’s finest (Scottish, and unavailable here) and it came as a welcome relief from the awful Norwegian smoked salmon which dominates in Romania.

Away to the main menu and we passed on classic Onion Soup, Caesar Salad and Foie Gras Terrine as starters. But we dived into their Aioli. Put simply, Aioli is a side dish sauce made by crushing in a mortar, garlic and olive oil. It is a tedious task that requires a strong arm. Some lazy chefs speed up the process by adding egg as an emulsifier. Wrong, although Dijon mustard as an additive is OK.

So the French stole this creation from the Spanish, and in order to ‘French it up’ the region of Provence elevated it to an entire dish called ‘Le Grand Aioli’ comprising potato, carrots, boiled egg, Aioli and… salt cod. It is a superb balance due to the mixture of cod and Aioli. The cod had been heat dried and then preserved in salt which is subsequently washed out. It has a texture and flavor which is unique. Go for it!

We also went for their Sirloin Steak. I examined it before it was cooked and it was perfectly marbled with fat which cooks the steak from within. My steak was French and excellent. But if the House does not have French steak, they will offer you Argentinean. Say no, because Argentinean beef is the most overrated, average beef in the world.

Off we went to a Creole Dorada. The fish was good as we expected, but I was confused by the Creole bit. I anticipated French Louisiana style Creole/Cajun sauce as hot as pouring Mount Vesuvius down my throat. But no, it was a fresh vegetable selection including chili peppers. Upon reflection this was a correct ensemble, as my style of red hot, blistering sauce does not go down too well here.

We passed on Steak Tartar and its newly invented cousin, Salmon Tartar, together with Sauteed shrimps and lamb chops. We ended on a perfect crème brulee. It was a happy meal and well recommended. As a final comment, the chef, M. Dupre really is French.

So why is it that so few French restaurants thrive in Bucharest? To me, the answer is simple. The fault lies with the expatriate community. With the exception of the legal and financial sectors, virtually all of the expat corporate managers and diplomats here derive from the working classes, all of whom are ignorant of fine food.

To these football terrace ignorami, their idea of a slap up meal is to stuff their faces with a vile Big Muckburger, or for a dinner party, a take away pizza and a bottle of cheap wine. There is even a country manager of a foreign multinational here who has a tattoo! What more can I say. Quad erat demonstratum.

So the future of French cuisine lies in the hands of Romanian locals. They must take holidays in France in order to acquaint themselves with French food. If they find that Paris is too expensive, they can always opt to dine in the cheaper, capital of fine, French cuisine – London!

Michael Barclay

mab.media@dnt.ro

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