Review: Bistro 1130 in Town and Country

You can count the number of St. Louis French restaurants on one hand – and maybe a couple of fingers of the other, if you’re generous (and I mean true French restaurants, not French-inspired or Creole or Cajun or restaurants that happen to have the occasional duck confit or some crêpes on the menu). Name the French restaurants west of Clayton and you barely need fingers.

For a city with such a strong French lineage, we sure do like our Italian food.

So you have to hand it to Eric Miranne and his wife Mikki Jones-Miranne, the French-American couple (he’s from Marseille, she’s from Pittsburgh) who opened Bistro 1130 in September in Town and Country Crossing shopping center. Although he’s worked in many restaurants and she owns a spa, this is the first restaurant venture for the couple. The buzz began over the summer, mostly around chef Marc Felix’s involvement in the restaurant. (Food-savvy St. Louisans know Felix from his days at Red Moon and Faust’s, both now shuttered.)

The relationship was short-lived, lasting until just before the soft opening. Chef Karim Bouzammour has been in the kitchen since. Bouzammour and Miranne know each other from a previous stint at a South Carolina French restaurant. Bouzammour, who is from Morocco and trained in classic French cooking, also worked in Miranne’s hometown and throughout the southwest of France. That kind of rapport is crucial if the front and back of the house are to operate seamlessly as a team.

While its slogan, “The sexiest French restaurant in town,” is hyperbolic silliness, Bistro 1130 is an attractive, upscale, cozy space straddling the feel of casual café and formal dining room, with prices matching the latter. There are blown-glass light fixtures hanging from the ceiling, soft sconce lighting, a dramatic black and gold color scheme, white leather banquettes stretching down the filigreed mirrored wall, well-heeled clubby men and women of a certain age with well-quaffed hair and dressed in soft fabrics. There is a gas fireplace installed at eye-level pretending to be a painting and a wall of wine with a sliding library ladder on which servers climb to pluck bottles.

Not silly is the menu, incorporating southern France’s Mediterranean influences, extending along the coast from Spain to Italy. Expect less cream and butter, more citrus, herbs and spices. Do not take lightly the kitchen’s surprise gift at the start of your meal. Along with the amber candlelight and romantic ambiance, it sets the evening’s mood. One night the amuse bouche was roasted butternut squash soup served in a tall shot glass with a dainty little spoon. Another night, it was a corn-thyme bisque. Were I anywhere else, I would have slammed down these rich, warming liquids in one greedy glug. Rather, we ordered more soup.

Onion soup gratinée could be a meal in itself, with its layer of grated Gruyere and chewy crouton. The bubbling bowl of beefy, brothy goodness came with a shot of sherry, which you pour into the soup (we had to ask since no instruction was provided). Lobster bisque, orangey in color, creamy in texture, chunky with lobster, is warm and soothing, the equivalent of turning up the collar of your cashmere jacket on a chilly evening. As an appetizer, foie gras was the just-right size: a lobe of silky smooth sliced liver with small segments of roasted peaches strategically placed under each, helping cut the liver’s fattiness. Alongside was a flat, round crispy potato galette resting slightly askew atop a simply dressed mound of greens. That and a glass of Pinot Noir should fortify you until the next course.

Those silly for foie gras (raises hand) will be pleased to see that it shows up again accompanying a plate of seared monkfish, this time stuffed with smoked bacon in a braised cabbage roll. The earthy funk of the liver combined with the smoky porkiness wrapped in cabbage can be a jarring note of flavor upon first bite, but by the third bite they seemed made for each other. Not that the beautifully seared fish, doused with shiitake-shallot sauce made with white wine and veal stock, needed any excitement. Nor did the Basque-influenced sautéed red snapper with its spicy onion-tomato-green pepper pipérade. A side of ratatouille – nicely diced, not thick and chunky – came molded in a dome of sliced zucchini, another example of the kitchen’s emphasis on superb presentation.

Roast chicken is a classic bistro dish. Here it’s reimagined as a rolled chicken breast stuffed with asparagus and wild mushrooms. Were it not for the rosemary spear punctuating the dish, the plump breast might look like a puffed pastry, complete with three diagonal slits. Baby carrots and creamy, buttery, cheesy potato dauphinois are more than capable accompaniments. But the veal loin, stuffed with lobster and leeks, comes off as just too much. Prepared medium rare, the meat was juicy enough, but with so much of it, none of the flavors popped; it could have been stuffed with anything and tasted the same.

Service was sharp, with flatware changed out with each course and napkins refolded upon returning from the fancy restrooms (although we had to ask for napkins on one visit). The wine list is extensive, but the $25 corkage fee for bringing your own bottle is out of line with the local standard. Desserts are certainly worth the wait. A serving of profiteroles, made in-house and filled with ice cream, is one way to go. And the accompanying thin, nearly transparent, crisp tuile is a bonus. Just don’t miss whatever tart is featured, especially if it’s the lemon tart with blueberry sauce, an exquisitely presented plate of tarty sweetness. Even the Thomas coffee comes with it’s own little sweet side of a chocolate and almond ganache ball.

In a suburb where it’s typically difficult to find locally owned dining options, let alone fine-dining options, Bistro 1130 helps fill the void. But who’s counting?

NEW AND NOTABLE
Don’t-Miss Dish: Sautéed foie gras with roasted peaches and seared monkfish with braised cabbage, foie gras and smoked bacon.
Vibe: Elegant without being intimidating, dark, cozy and romantic.
Entrée Prices: $21 to $38
Where: 1130 Town & Country Crossing Drive, Town and Country, 636.394.1130
When: Dinner: Tue. to Sat. – 5:45 p.m. to 10:30 p.m., late-night menu: Thu. to Sat. – 10:30 p.m.
to 1:30 a.m.