Lots of Polish
Bistros are making a big comeback at the moment. Barsac Brasserie, however, has never left.
Don’t be misled by the name. A brasserie is usually sort of a bistro decorated with lots of polished brass (which Barsac Brasserie doesn’t have). The popular hangout has long been one of the Valley’s most reliable places to dine on French and California dishes.
Personally, I’d go back just to nibble on the superb homemade potato chips, served piping hot. You’ll find huge bowls of them lining the crowded, ultra-chic bar, a polished wood and granite masterpiece well placed between the front door and the main dining room.
The restaurant has two art-filled dining rooms (the second is a slightly smaller back room), both of which are softly lighted and boisterous when full. Though the waiters are experienced, service often lags because there just aren’t enough of them on the floor. Everything is cooked in a California-style open kitchen. If you sit in the front room, you get a nifty view of chefs at work.
If you’ve come to eat French, take heed: The waiters bring out delicious chicken liver pa^te and good, buttery toast, but after this complimentary appetizer, strictly French cuisine takes a holiday. The menu runs through California-inspired starters, entree-size salads and resolutely Italian pastas, before getting to the nitty-gritty: traditional bistro fare such as roast chicken and shellfish Provencal. The hard core Francophile I enticed to make the drive to NoHo looked frustrated as he read through the list of dishes. “Where is the French food?” he asked me.
It’s there, though not in force. Under soups, for instance, there is a fairly classic lobster bisque, a coral-colored potage with an intense lobstery flavor and a nice consistency. Too bad mine was tepid by the time it arrived. That free-range roast chicken is served golden brown with a light, tarragon-flavored sauce and a garnish of pearl onions and expertly roasted potatoes. It’s about as perfect an example of roast chicken as you’ll find in Los Angeles.
One distinctly California appetizer worth ordering is lobster and crab cakes, two crisp, buttery cakes that practically melt in the mouth. I’d like them better sans the lemon and lime butter sauce, though. I also like prosciutto and melon here. The components--ripe melon and a salty San Daniele prosciutto--are faultless.
The best salad could be the simplest. Red leaf and frisee lettuce is a nice combination of two mild, slightly bitter greens, mingled with chopped scallions, walnuts, bacon and a nicely tart balsamic vinaigrette. Goujounettes of sole are pieces of breaded sole over watercress, bok choy and red cabbage. It’s a pleasing take on East meets West.
Barsac Brasserie does pastas well. Pappardelle rapini is wonderful, wide, flat and fresh egg noodles sauteed in pancetta and a garlic cream sauce.
A few more bistro-style main courses are offered as specials. One night there was a huge lamb shank with green lentils, very lyonnaise. The chefs here also do a good job with fish. One night a special of crispy sea bass on a bed of cooked spinach was quite fine, and the steamed salmon on saffron rice, from the regular menu, is moist and tender.
I haven’t been thrilled with desserts here, which include a gummy chocolate mint torte, a workmanlike tarte tatin and a fine, vanilla-scented creme bru^lee, to name just a few . The best dessert may be a glass of Barsac, a sweet French dessert wine that is a cousin of the more expensive Sauternes and from which the restaurant takes its name. Now there’s something you’d expect to find in a bistro.
BE THERE
Barsac Brasserie, 4212 Lankershim Blvd., North Hollywood. Lunch, Monday-Friday 11:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m.; dinner Monday-Saturday 5:30-10 p.m. Full bar. Valet parking. All major cards. Dinner for two, $45-$70. Call (818) 760- 7081.
