Such a Bargain

At the new cafe bizou in Pasadena, I watch as the waiters set identical lobster dishes in front of a couple at the next booth. Their eyes open wide at the sight of the pretty red tail and shell separated by a tangle of fresh noodles and nuggets of lobster. They take a bite in unison, look up at each other and grin. “Awesome,” they volunteer to my table later.

Maine lobster is something of a signature dish at Cafe Bizou, which began in Sherman Oaks as a bare-bones storefront on Ventura Boulevard and, bursting at the seams, moved to a larger, more luxe location up the street. The new Pasadena locale is the first “branch,” so to speak, and since it opened in November, it has been thronged every night. That’s because Cafe Bizou fills a niche for amiable and inexpensive food in a pleasant setting. When a Maine lobster dinner costs less than $20, it’s no wonder Bizou is a haunt of bec fins and bargain hunters.

Another reason is its enlightened corkage policy. Owners Philippe Gris and chef Neil Rogers realized that they didn’t have the room or the means to invest in a large wine stock, so instead of frowning on customers’ bringing in their own wines, they invited it with a $2 corkage fee. In fact, the menu offers more incentive to the hesitant: “We encourage you to bring your own wine.”

Looking around the room on any given night, I see avid wine collectors with their bottles in tow. Glasses make their way across the room as wine buffs send over a taste of the wine they’re drinking to equally wine-obsessed friends at another table. I’ve heard that wine collectors (deep-pocketed ones with a slew of Chateau Petrus vintages in their cellar) will drive from the Westside just to take advantage of that $2 corkage fee. Are other restaurateurs listening?

The Pasadena Bizou moved onto a block already occupied by Xiomara and Yujean Kang’s, not to mention the Australian hot-rock cooking concept Boomerock, making this stretch of Raymond Avenue something of a mini-restaurant row. The former tenant, Papashon, had spared no expense to build out the space, so Bizou’s partners had little more to do than brighten it up with new paint. Though this is not an expensive restaurant, it offers the luxury of tables with elbow room, an attractive setting and, in front, a large bar. Despite the French maitre d’, Cafe Bizou is a French restaurant that doesn’t take itself too seriously.

Getting back to that lobster--it’s easily the best dish from Bizou’s kitchen. What sets it apart are the precision of the cooking and the silken wine and lobster sauce that cloaks each strand of noodle and morsel of lobster. If it tastes familiar, it may be because chef Neil Rogers, who is Welsh, worked with Joe Miller at the late Cafe Katsu in West L.A. Rogers clearly has an affection for French-style sauces, and that’s what distinguishes Bizou’s cooking from places that offer simple grilled chicken or fish at this price.

One feature of the menu is that you can add a “dollar romaine salad” or a “one dollar soup” to any main course, which means a two-course lobster dinner costs $19.95. Curiously, those dollar add-ons are among the best of the first courses. The romaine is dressed in a piquant, nicely balanced honey mustard. Sometimes the dollar soup is a lovely fresh mushroom soup enriched with a touch of cream. And you get a bowl, not a measly cup.

A plate of chewy shrimp and lobster “ravioli” in lobster sauce doesn’t get points for finesse, but it’s perfectly fine. Crab cakes are more filler than crab, tasting like a pleasant crab meatloaf. That said, it’s possible for an entire table to strike out with the appetizers if the choices include the tuna tartare (a tennis-ball-size scoop of diced tuna drowning in dressing) or the weird salad of greens, diced scallops and tropical fruit.

Main courses are better, which is why those dollar embellishments begin to look so attractive. If the lobster is offered, as it usually is, order it. Otherwise, go with the homey roasted pork tenderloin seasoned with garlic and herbs. Served in slices, it comes with a gentle garlic cream sauce and decent mashed potatoes. Another special that’s worth watching for is the rack of lamb. These are tasty little chops with long bone handles, better than many a chop I’ve ordered at far more expensive restaurants, and served with a respectable potato gratin. The surprise one night was the venison, which actually tasted like game, not the anonymous red meat that passes for venison at too many places.

Short ribs, too, cooked rather like a daube in a red wine, are decent. Just don’t expect the refinement of a Melisse or Lucques. Sweetbreads don’t show well. Steak au poivre is a real disappointment, tasting more like over-tenderized roast beef. And with the exception of a flavorful piece of blue-nose bass one night, none of the fish dishes I tried was noteworthy.

For dessert, the profiteroles are a hoot, one oversized choux pastry puff stuffed with a ball of vanilla ice cream (why is everything here the size of a tennis ball?) and a second choux formed into the rough shape of a swan--floating in a dark chocolate sea. Oh, there’s a classic creme brulee, too, with a thin, glassy crust of burnt sugar.

While the new Cafe Bizou suffers from comparison to that first, tiny Ventura Boulevard spot, where Rogers cooked each and every dish, the Pasadena restaurant and the expanded Sherman Oaks locale make every effort to serve cooked-to-order French food at a modest price. What you’ll find after more than one visit, though, is that you get pretty much what you pay for.

*

AMBIENCE: Attractive and large dining room with windows on the street, striped booths and a crowd that enjoys a bargain. SERVICE: Crisp and professional. BEST DISHES: Dollar romaine salad, one-dollar soups, lobster and salmon ravioli, roasted pork tenderloin, Maine lobster with noodles, rack of lamb. Appetizers, $1 to $9; main courses, $11 to $18. Corkage, $2. wine PICKs: 1997 Marimar Torres Pinot Noir, Sonoma; 1997 Iron Horse Fume Blanc, Sonoma. FACTS: Dinner Tuesday through Sunday. Valet parking.

Rating is based on food, service and ambience, with price taken into account in relation to quality. eeee: Outstanding on every level. eee: Excellent. ee: Very good. e: Good. No star: Poor to satisfactory.

*

Cafe Bizou

91 N. Raymond Ave., Pasadena,

(626) 792-9923

cuisine: French-California

rating: e