On a recent Friday night, Le Bar a Boeuf was packed with customers who lingered between tables, greeting old friends and eating some of the finest food in town. The fireplace was roaring, the wine was flowing, and everyone's spirits were high.
If you haven’t been to Le Bar a Boeuf for a while, I encourage you to do so. Since the shuttering of Jean-Robert’s Table last year, chef Jean-Robert de Cavel has focused all of his efforts on the restaurant, which opened in 2015 inside the Edgecliff condo building in East Walnut Hills. And for those who still miss Table, there are several dishes from that restaurant on the menu.
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Our server that night, Anne Thoman, read off the entire menu with so much authority and attention to detail that made me think she had some kind of superpower. Her history of working for Jean-Robert goes all the way back to his Pigall’s days and through the entire run of Table. She’s a reassuring presence, a reminder of just how much grace and skill this job requires in order to do it well.
Everything on the menu was tempting, but our party of four decided on de Cavel’s five-course Beaujolais nouveau dinner, which the chef offered at Le Bar a Boeuf from Nov. 18-27.
Dishes included a perfectly poached and purple egg infused with Beaujolais and served with lardons and frisee with a cider Beaujolais dressing, and a perfectly cooked scallop with pork belly.
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But the showstopper for me was de Cavel’s seared beef tenderloin served with dauphinoise potatoes (in which de Cavel blended both sweet and regular potatoes into a rich casserole of heavy cream, herbs and blue cheese), toast points slathered with foie gras mousse, sauteed mushrooms, carrots and creamed spinach.
In keeping with the theme of the night, the entire dish was topped with a dark and rich Beaujolais wine sauce spiked with truffle butter, and I watched with appreciation as Thoman poured the sauce from a gravy boat herself.
It was an embarrassment of, well, richness, the beef cooked perfectly red and juicy, the flavors of truffle, cream and blue cheese in every bite. While the Beaujolais nouveau menu was only available through Nov. 27, just seeing de Cavel at his best is worth a visit. And if you’re lucky, you’ll get a table in Anne’s section.
2200 Victory Parkway, East Walnut Hills, 513-751-2333, lebaraboeuf.com
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