A new French bistro has opened in the former
Brooklyn Grill space on Atlantic Avenue. Before you give the
jaded "what-else-is-new?" eye roll, consider this:
Jolie has a true Gallic menu with escargot, steak tartare and
crepes suzette. Additionally, most of the bottles on Jolie’s
short, well-chosen wine list fall in the $20 to $40 range with
several excellent choices by the glass.
But what differentiates Jolie from the others on the block is
the setting.
Jolie, which is French for "pretty," embraces all things
feminine. Around the ochre-colored marble bar, young "jolies"
sip cocktails named in their honor – Nancy Li, Magda and Barbie
are a few, and, of course, there’s Gigi – a warm drink of Calvados
apple brandy, honey, lemon and cloves. The walls in the dining
room are the color of candlelight. Diners sit upon garnet-suede
banquettes beneath the glow of modern hanging lamps. With a backdrop
like that, everyone looks as sexy as the babes high-kicking in
the vintage "Folies Bergere" poster on the wall.
Benjamin Tretout, who managed Rocco DiSpirito’s Union Pacific
in Manhattan, owns the bistro with Michel Pombet, the former
executive chef at DeMarchelier. The two have a "Mutt and
Jeff" quality. Tretout, elegant and effortlessly charming,
works the room; Pombet, rounder and older, pops out now and then
to peer at diners’ plates, then clomps back to the kitchen.
Out of that kitchen come the kind of French bistro classics that
seem particularly apt as winter’s chill sets in: mesclun greens
with goat cheese smeared on toast points; hearty vegetarian soups;
and mushrooms stuffed with snails.
An oxtail terrine, with chewy nuggets of the deeply flavored
meat embedded in fragrant jelly, resembled slices of marble.
A compote of sweet onions and sharp cornichons (tiny gherkin
pickles) added contrast.
Pombet’s celery remoulade is coleslaw’s fancy cousin; the slivers
of the vegetable are dressed in tangy mayonnaise sauce made sharp
with mustard.
There are two steaks on the menu (three if you count the tartare):
a hanger steak with sauteed shallots and mashed potatoes and
the rib eye with bearnaise sauce and fries. We tried the rib
eye, a good choice if you like steak deeply flavored with a little
fat. The bearnaise was properly dense but needed a bit more vinegar
to offset the meat. Thin, crisp fries weren’t bad at first, but
lost flavor after a few minutes on the plate.
Pombet turns out a special bouillabaisse that is heady with saffron
and is everything a bouillabaisse should be. The stew is served
in a deep bowl filled with huge, silky sea scallops, a big mound
of monkfish that absorbed the briny broth, and a few perfectly
tender mussels and clams in the shell. A saucer of russet-colored,
garlicky paste (called rouille) and crisp slices of toasted French
bread accompany the dish. A bit of that bread smeared with the
rouille, then dipped into the thick stew, is the best Christmas
gift you’ll get in 2005.
While Jolie’s list of desserts are as traditional as the rest
of the menu, that doesn’t mean they lack in excitement. If a
waiter set a dish on fire a few years ago, diners would run screaming
for the door or greet the sight as a silly affectation from yesteryear.
How we’ve changed.
When two desserts were lit at our table, it was met with an intake
of breath and a smattering of claps from others nearby. The drama
involved crepes suzette and a special of sliced bananas broiled
in rum.
The delicate crepes were overwhelmed by too-sweet sauce and the
bananas needed a partner – maybe ice cream or a cookie – to feel
complete. The tarte Tatin, with overcooked apples and a soggy
crust, was just so-so.
Our waiter, who worked a long shift, said to my dining companion
and I in a thick French accent, "I’m a little jealous of
you two. You are enjoying yourself. Eating slowly. Talking. That’s
the way it should be."
We agreed. When in Jolie, we do as the French do.
Banana Leaf Cafe (6814 Fourth Ave. at
68th Street in Bay Ridge) accepts Discover, MasterCard and Visa.
Entrees: $7.95-$21.95. The restaurant serves lunch and dinner
daily. For information, call (718) 238-5531 or (718) 238-5532.
