Bistro Les Amis – New York Bistros

I’m calling out to houses flooded with light

I’m calling out to love sung by the rivers

To the blue breaking of spring mornings

To the fair strength of twenty-year-old girls

To the coolness of old desert wells

To the star, that the lost old man is waiting for,

So that arises from us, stronger than a desire,

The amazing desire to shape ourselves

Wishing to be weak rather than proud

Wishing to be cowards rather than monsters.

I’m calling out to your laughter that you bite into the sun

I’m calling out to you cry that is second to none

To the cheerful silence that is gently speaking

To those words we say just by looking at each other

To the heavy hand of our genuine love

To our twenty years we found, to everything they hope

So that arises from us, stronger than a desire,

The amazing desire to shape ourselves

Favoring, rather than useless glory,

Deep happiness as well as peaceful joy.

I’m calling out to light crushed houses

I’m calling out to your cry that is second to none.

I’m Calling Out

Jacques Brel

Bistro Les Amis

180 Spring St. (SoHo)

New York, NY 10012

212-226-8645

http://www.bistrolesamis.com/location.htm

“Yes, of course, we have a table for you,” said the silver haired maitre’d.

I was without reservation but hopeful after being rebuffed at Raoul’s. He wore a dark suit and moved with casual elegance. My table was next to the fireplace. The mantel had dark carved wood and old vases and flowers and liquors of many shapes and colors were stored on the mantle and within the fireplace.

A bowl of olives and a basket of bread and butter.

A rose and a candle.

A red glow on a white table cloth.

A bistro table should be simple and perfect like a still life painted by Morandi.

Les Amis is quiet with soft yellow light. It is a place for conversation and secret liaisons.

The music was Jacques Brel and later some jazz. Jacques Brel will compliment any bistro.

The tables and chairs are old brown wood exactly as they should be. There are red upholstered seats along the far wall. There are white lace curtains drawn across street windows. The bar is polished so highly that you can see the reflections of the black and white photos of Paris, the candle glow and the silver veined bar mirror reflected in the wood. A brass rod runs along the base so you can rest your foot while have a glass of wine at the bar. Regulars from the neighborhood drink, read and talk. The bartender slowly wipes the bar clean with a white towel and stands still and waiting.

The service was confident without being arrogant and friendly without being cloying. It was professional without being uncaring. The staff cared about my experience at their restaurant.

The bread had large air pockets in the crumb, the crust was dry and flakey and it had a slightly sour and nutty taste. This is some of the best bread I have had in any bistro. The bread is not baked in-house but the waitress did no know where it came from.

There is an unusually large selection of wines by the glass including sparkling wines. At $10 my merlot was competent. Most wines by the bottle are in the $30 to $70 range. Some interesting exceptions are the Grgich Hills, Cabernet Sauvignon 2009 for $119.00 and the Domaine De La Vougeraie, Vougeot “Le Clos Du Prieure” Monopole 2009 for $140.00.

The specials were creative. There was a kale salad (with crispy chic peas, dried cranberries, scallion and maple dijon vinaigrette) and a frisse salad with warm balsamic emulsion bacon and aged roquefort cheese).

The mains were fettuccine (with pumpkin and roasted garlic mascarpone cream sauce fettuccine with grilled sage rubbed chicken) and cassoulet (with duck confit, garlic sausage, lamb stew and white beans).

My carrot ginger soup was a deep orange color. The tang and bite of the ginger illuminated the smooth background of the carrot base.

My main was pan seared scallops with wild basmati rice, asparagus and wasabi cream sauce.

The six scallops were artfully arranged. The rice was a hub in the middle of the dish, the asparagus radiated outward like spokes and the scallops were between the spokes. The scallops were firm, and seared on top. The asparagus was firm, crunchy, and bright green with clear asparagus flavors. The rice was unremarkable. The sauce was light and accented the delicate scallops. The cook was careful not to allow the sauce to overwhelm the scallops.

The deserts were bistro standards such as creme brulee, chocolate cake with vanilla ice cream, blueberry crumble, apple tart and assorted ice creams and sorbets. Les Amis has an unusually broad selection of coffees and teas, and ports and dessert wines.

I did not have a dessert but rather enjoyed a second glass of wine and finished with an excellent espresso.

I sat in cheerful silence and felt “deep happiness as well as peaceful joy” as Jacques Brel said. This is the magic of the authentic bistro.

**********

Second Visit-February 7, 2016

In our second visit to Les Amis we brought three friends from out of town. Once again we were greeted in a classy and gracious manner by our host. We were seated in the red banquets along the wall across from the bar and beneath a black and white photograph from Brassai’s Paris de Nuit.

Brassai is one of the great street photographers in the history of photography. I have a copy of Paris de Nuit from college and it is now decayed, yellowed and torn. But I love it still.

In the early thirties Brassai decided to photograph the nightlife of Paris. He wanted to photograph the lower levels of society and found prostitutes, pimps, madams, transvestites, artists, and petty criminals. There are street cleaners and sewer cleaners and people walking along along the banks of the Seine late at night. The images were taken with a plate camera using a flash so they are grainy, high contrast and dramatic. The book was published in 1933. His friend, Henry Miller, nicknamed him “The Eye of Paris” for his devotion to the city and the importance of his images.

To the right of the bar is a poster of the Eiffel Tower and there are several old clocks on the walls. People were eating at the bar and chatting with the bartender and the host in the Parisian bistro tradition. The light is soft yellow candles.

The waiters brought us bread and olives. I inquired about the source of the bread and was told that it came from the Sullivan Street Bakery. This is some of the best bread that I have had in New York bistros.

Starters

For starters we chose the lentil soup and frisee salad (with warm balsamic emulsion, bacon, aged roquefort cheese and poached egg).

The frisee salad was fresh, attractive and slightly bitter. It had bacon and egg. The roquefort cheese was creamy, smooth and slightly salty. If you are wondering what frisee is here is a description:

Frisee is a member of the endive family. Its leaves are curly and are pale-green or yellowish. It has a slightly bitter flavor. It is popular in France, and is one of the most elegant of the salad vegetables. As the plant reaches full size, the outer leaves are gathered up and bound with an elastic band. This prevents sunlight from hitting the newly forming inner leaves. This makes the frisee more tender and gives it the singular two-tone appearance.

The lentil curry soup was a deep brown color. It was rich and complex and tasted lightly of curry. It was warm and satisfying for a cold winter night.

Wine

Our first bottle of wine was a 2012 Domaine de Beaurenard (Chateauneuf-du-Pape) at $78. The wine is a Rhone blend. The color of the wine was a deep ruby. The wine is earthy and spicy. It had notes of cherry, pepper and mocha. One of our group tasted licorice. The red and dark berry flavors were energetic.

We turned to our host for a recommendation for our second wine. He suggested the Cotes Du Rhone, E. Guigal 2011. This is an inexpensive wine at $37 but he recommended it over some more expensive bottles we were considering. We appreciated his integrity. I have a strong dislike of up-selling in restaurants.

We enjoyed the wine greatly. Here are Robert Parker’s tasting notes:

The value-priced 2011 Cotes du Rhone (49% Syrah, 46% Grenache and 5% Mourvedre) over-delivers and exhibits textbook black cherry, smoked earth, olive, underbrush and licorice, as well as a clean, balanced, medium to full-bodied profile on the palate. Rock solid in the vintage and surpassing any number of more expensive releases.

Entrees

The classic chicken paillard (with arugula, pommes frites and balsamic reduction) was well-prepared. The chicken was thin and tender, the sauce was a dark reddish brown and the arugula gave it color and contrast. The pommes frites were hot, crispy and well-salted. They were hand-made.

The roasted atlantic wild salmon (with spinach, crispy shallots and tomato jam) was lightly grilled and was a pale pink in color. It had an unusually subtle texture and flavor. The spinach gave the salmon grounding and the tomato jam gave it lift, sparkle and a slight acidic bite.

The Les Amis nicoise salad with blackened tuna followed the traditional recipe but it did contain sliced egg. The salad was fresh and was uplifted by the lemon juice. The tuna was sushi grade and was cooked very rare. The greens were brightened by the tomatoes and the eggs.If you do not know the definition of a nicoise salad, here you are:

A Nicoise salad is a traditional salad from France in which fresh produce from the market is complemented with Provencal seasonings. It originated from Nice in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur region, and is essentially a fresh mixed salad. It usually includes tomatoes, anchovies, black olives, capers, French beans and lemon juice. In the traditional Provencal recipes, the seasoning is made with olive oil, basil and garlic, but may also be made with a French vinaigrette dressing. The salad can be served on its own as a main Provencal dish, but it is also common in bistros to order it as a garnish for meat or fish dishes.

We also had the sautéed skate fish (with capers, lemon olive oil and sun dried tomato and vegetable couscous and spinach).

Skates are a bottom dwelling fish related to the shark family and have cartilage instead of bones. They are shaped like a kite and most are a brownish gray color. Their “wings” are composed of multiple strips of flesh separated by strips of cartilage. Why would we eat a bottom-eating fish related to the shark? As it turns out, skate was a culinary gift of the French.

”The French have always eaten it, because it’s a good quality fish,” Jacques Pepin, a chef and the dean of studies at the French Culinary Institute in Manhattan, said. ”It’s very meaty, has a very mild taste, a nutty taste. It’s very soft and gentle to eat, and it’s difficult to overcook it.’’

The New York Times reports that “skate is actually related to the ray, and is found year-round and worldwide — in the Gulf of Maine (the source of much of New York’s skate), as well as the Pacific, the Atlantic, the Mediterranean and the Arctic Ocean, among other bodies of water. The fish’s flat, diamond shape yields two edible wings. Fan-shaped, with a ribbed texture, skate fillets look like pearlescent angel wings, pristinely white with occasional tinges of pink.”

The humble skate arrived as a “serious fish” on January 28, 1986. This was the day that Le Bernardin opened and it appeared on the menu poached with browned butter. It then appeared at Gramercy Tavern and many other restaurants in New York.

The desserts are traditional offerings: creme brulee, chocolate cake, profiteroles, apple tarte tatin and tiramisu.

We were satisfied by our dinner so we did not indulge ourselves in the desserts. We closed a delightful evening at Les Amis with its excellent espresso.

Ratings:

Service: 8. Casual, friendly and professional. The host is one of the best I have seen. The staff cares about the dining experience and have integrity.

Archetype: 9. The host, the bar, tables, banquets and chairs, the cuisine, art, music and energy all conform to the Archetype to a high degree.

Food: 8. Well prepared and enjoyable food. It was consistent over our two visits. There are classic bistro dishes as well as some creative variants. The wine list is broad, interesting and reasonably priced. Very good bread.

Energy: 9. Quiet, romantic and relaxed. Candlelight and white tablecloths. Bonus points for Jacque Brel.

Resources

Les Amis

http://www.bistrolesamis.com/index.html

Jacques Brel

http://lyricstranslate.com/en/j039en-appelle-im-calling-out.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacques_Brel

http://www.jacquesbrel.be/en

Sullivan Street Bakery

http://www.sullivanstreetbakery.com/

Nicoise Salad

http://kitchengardenfarm.com/vegetable-pages/frisee#.VrqDyZMrKjQ