Constantly chic
CRISPY whitefish doesn’t appear on many traditional French bistro menus, but at Pinot Bistro in Studio City it’s a signature dish, served with creamy brandade potatoes and a soupcon of garlic nage. Nor would Caesar salad necessarily make the cut in France, but since Caesar is to Angelenos what salade Lyonnaise is to the, well, Lyonnaises, it’s here too. And quite a good one, made with hearts of romaine and dotted with crisp, hand-torn croutons.
Pinot Bistro recently hired a new chef, Charlie Schaffer, but the transition has been so seamless, you’d never know it. And that’s exactly the way it should be at a bistro: constant and consistent. This reliable, comfortable 14-year-old restaurant is just French enough in its looks and its spirit that Francophiles on both sides of the hill gravitate to it.
Through the front door on Ventura Boulevard is another world -- and quite a civilized one. In the pretty bar with its black and white checkered floor, extravagant flowers and cozy booths along the wall, the sharp percussion of the cocktail shaker or a Champagne cork popping sets the sociable mood. If you want to drown your troubles in gin, this is not the spot: It’s just too cheerful for that. The wine list offers 11 Champagnes and a decent roster of wines by the glass.
The room’s proportions might be one reason it feels so French. The dining room isn’t overscaled. The light is soothing, and you can sit side by side on the banquettes just like in Paris. Antique postcards are tucked into the mirrors that run along the top of the banquettes, and in the bar, the names of dishes and scraps of poems are written in white in a loopily lovely hand on the mirrors.
Chef after chef, the house style at Pinot Bistro has remained pretty consistent since Joachim Splichal opened it as the first Patina spinoff in 1992. It’s French-California cooking, not as elaborate or polished as Patina’s, but clearly derived from the same sensibility. Flavors are punchy, portions large, with plenty of salads for those who want to eat light, and plenty of heartier dishes for the meat and potatoes crowd. Believe me, nobody ever goes away from Pinot Bistro with even the shadow of a hunger pang.
The French Riviera blends almost imperceptibly into the Ligurian coast, and in Nice the two cuisines meet. Pinot Bistro is kind of like Nice in that way. While you sort out your order, get started on an assortment of marinated olives -- purple-black nicoise, green picholine and meaty Casablanca slicked with fruity olive oil.
Pinot’s kitchen turns out one of the better versions of Belgian endive salad punctuated with real Roquefort and caramelized walnuts in a svelte Champagne vinaigrette.
I wondered what “compressed arugula” meant in a description of the manchego cheese salad. Turns out it’s nothing more than arugula leaves turned out of a mold so they more or less hold a round shape. Embellished with dates, walnuts, crisp juicy apples and a thread of pistachio oil, this is a salad for anyone who enjoys the distinctive taste of Spain’s celebrated sheep’s milk cheese.
Foie gras au torchon, though, is a disappointment, so understated in flavor it’s barely there. And the portion, a small round sitting on top of a round piece of brioche, could only be called dainty in the extreme. But I would definitely order the sauteed scallops again. They’re served with sunchokes, those delightful and virtually unknown tubers that taste a little like artichokes, but somehow nutty too. An orange caper butter nicely sets off the scallops and the sunchoke.
France-Italy connection
SPLICHAL has always liked to challenge his audience with innards and offal and the occasional marrow bone. Here, long skinny crostini are topped with dots of marrow bone that melt into the toast for a delicious bite.
The France-Italy connection appears in Pinot Bistro’s zucchini ravioli, sauced on a recent visit in a tomato fondue and accented with toasted pine nuts, crispy garlic and basil. If that doesn’t spell summer, I don’t know what does. You might want to pass on the dense, gummy gnocchi, though.
Order chicken at Pinot Bistro and it’s half a slow-roasted bird, with flesh succulent and moist, accompanied by melting, tender, caramelized onions and garlic-scented fries, just the thing you hope to find at a French bistro. Now this is supper. Across the room one night, I watch a foursome get up to leave. Flushed with wine and laughter, they’ve lingered over dinner, old friends comfortable with each other.
Grilled lamb sirloin passes muster, served one night the way a friend who has lived in both France and Italy might, with loose polenta and its natural juices, along with arugula puree and a tomato stuffed with breadcrumbs and parsley. I wish, though, that the red wine reduction that comes with the flat iron steak was served on the side, not on the steak. It’s so concentrated, it obscures the taste of the beef.
And cassoulet, setting aside the fact that this is so not the weather for it, is dried out and pasty, though the white beans are properly larded with duck confit and thick-cut sausage.
The wine list is quite a fat tome for a neighborhood restaurant, rife with California Chardonnays and Cabernets, regional French wines and more. Prices aren’t particularly user-friendly, but they’re not exorbitant either. Like every other Patina Group-owned restaurant, except the flagship Patina, you can bring wine from your own cellar and you won’t be charged a corkage fee. Ever. Which is a pretty swell policy, and one that brings in plenty of wine buffs.
The signature dessert is a warm croissant pudding with chocolate and Wild Turkey Bourbon sauce. Need I say more? It’s wildly rich and seductively tender. Profiteroles are tempting too, though the ice cream seems more like ice milk than cream. And for the truly sweet of tooth, there’s the cookie plate, complete with a big gooey peanut butter cookie and a chocolate chip cookie. Liquid desserts include a Muscat from the Languedoc and a Loupiac from Southwest France.
Pinot Bistro has that most elusive of qualities: a sense of identity and place. Stroll in -- weeks, months, years later -- and it’s as if you were there just yesterday.
*
Pinot Bistro
Rating: *
Location: 12969 Ventura Blvd., Studio City; (818) 990-0500; www.patinagroup.com/pinotBistro.
Ambience: Authentic-looking Boulevard bistro with California-French menu and a local crowd.
Service: Brisk and professional.
Price: Dinner appetizers, $3.50 to $14.50; main courses, $16.75 to $25; dessert, $4.75 to $6.50.
Best dishes: Assorted olives, Belgian endive salad, Caesar salad, ravioli, crispy whitefish, half a slow-roasted farm chicken, chocolate croissant pudding with Wild Turkey Bourbon sauce.
Wine list: Respectable, but not very exciting. No corkage fee if you bring your own bottle(s).
Best table: One of the booths in the bar, or a corner table in the main dining room.
Special features: Private dining room.
Details: Open Monday through Thursday from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. and 6 to 10 p.m.; Friday from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. and 6 to 10:30 p.m.; Saturday from 5:30 to 10:30 p.m.; Sunday from 5:30 to 9:30 p.m. Full bar. Valet parking.
Rating is based on food, service and ambience, with price taken into account in relation to quality. ****: Outstanding on every level. ***: Excellent. **: Very good. *: Good. No star: Poor to satisfactory.