LE ROSSIGNOL (686 Queen East, at Broadview, 416-461-9663, lerossignolbistro.com) Complete dinners for $55 per person, including tax, tip and a glass of wine. Average main $20. Open for dinner nightly 5 to 11 pm. Closed some holidays. Licensed. Access: one step at door, tight tables, washrooms on same floor. Rating: NNN
Richard Henry clearly has a thing for our fine feathered friends.
Not only has the newbie restaurateur named his 10-week old Riverside bistro Le Rossignol – French for nightingale – but he’s also just bought Barrio a few blocks east and dubbed the former tapas bar Le Canard Mort. Better a dead duck than a lame one, I suppose.
You might remember Le Rossignol as Pop Bistro, the well-meaning beanery that finally popped its clogs for good last fall. Since then, first-timer Henry and ex-Nectar cook Jeremie Seguinot have cranked up the ambience of the already romantic 22-seat room with a fresh coat of beige paint, a series of black-and-white photographs of gay ol’ Paree and Edith Piaf on the CD player. Is there a cantina more conducive to Valentine’s Day canoodling?
Their francophone card’s as familiar as it is concise, from rarely seen old favourites like escargots ($9) to the inevitable beet-and-goat-cheese salad ($8). In the dim lighting, we hardly recognize an unconventional cheese-free French onion soup ($7), though its sweetly caramelized onions and deeply flavourful oxtail broth strike all the requisite notes. And who notices the absence of a bread basket when there are sautéed elephant mushrooms in buttery brandy sauce ($9) and rillette-style duck pâté ($10), both served on Ace baguette toasts?
David Laurence
Cassoulet could be the consummate winter casserole, and chef Seguinot’s take ($19) is no exception, a skilfully executed confit of duck leg and thigh paired with smoky Toulouse sausage and navy beans laced with lardons. Too bad the individual ingredients taste like they hadn’t shared the same pot.
Besides indulging our high school French, our genuinely charming server steers us to the filet frites ($20), the usual steak upgraded to mignon status. The 6 ounces of naturally raised beef in fruity porcini jus may be a tad stringy, but the matchstick frites are a stone-cold disaster.
Previously a slow-braised shank, wild boar now appears frenched and Flintstonian ($24), its otherwise exemplary saffron risotto and roasted garlic jus accompaniment also arriving at table at temperatures that border on tepid. And the non-serrated knife provided by the house fails to cut it though the pork is fork-tender.
Also suffering from uneven heating, a delish apple-and-raisin-rich bread pudding finished with caramel sauce and a toss of rose petals ($7) is warm on the outside and refrigerator-cold within.
True, the joint’s still finding its feet. Fix the inconsistencies – ditch the too skinny frites for thicker ones, turn up the lights so we can see them and invest in a plate warmer and a set of proper steak knives – and Le Rossignol could fly forever.
stevend@nowtoronto.com
