Chef Racha Bassoul is a unique personality in the local restaurant scene.

Apart from the obvious (like most cities, the Big Croissant doesn’t have many female chefs) she’s self-taught and kept her eye on the prize to drive her first restaurant – Anise – to become one of the city’s must-go spots for fine dining. To many people’s surprise, she closed Anise in 2006 on its fifth anniversary, announcing “Anise a cinq ans! Cinq ans de saveurs, de plaisirs et de magnifiques souvenirs en cuisine, dans la salle et avec nos convives. Anise vous fait ses adieux! Pour célébrer cet anniversaire, faire ses adieux et faire honneur à tous ceux qui l’ont supportée durant ces années, la chef Racha Bassoul vous propose la Grande Finale: Un dernier voyage sur La route des épices.”

Adieux was the correct term as Anise did die, but it was a sucker play. I was fortunate enough to meet Chef Bassoul at a cooking demo a couple of months after the closing of Anise (she’s quite shy by the way) and while we were waiting for her oeufs en cocotte to set, she revealed that she was transforming her eatery into something different. That something different turned out to be Bazaar Anise, which launched at the start of 2007. Bassoul dropped haute cuisine and recalibrated to “Middle Eastern bistro”, with simplified dishes, simplified presentations but amped-up exoticism as she started to overtly include the spices and cuisine of the Middle East on her carte.

Bazaar Anise was a little weird for me because the space was still the same room as Anise and the locale was somewhat incongruous with the food. However, Bassoul surprised everyone again by moving west into a new space and renaming her exotic bistro to Le Bazaar. More tweaks but the food continued to be strong and the room felt more relaxed as staff settled into the bistro mindset. Unfortunately, news started trickling out that Chef Bassoul was in ill-health and Le Bazaar shuttered in 2008. I remember that I went “argh” when I read the news as it was a nice place to have a comfortable dinner.

There has been no word as to what Bassoul has been doing since closing Le Bazaar, so imagine my surprise when I received an automated email from Racha’s Anise mailing list announcing a special event to celebrate her former sous-chef Seth Gabrielse being named Restaurant Laloux’s new head chef.

Voici une occasion unique de savourer une fois de plus la cuisine de Racha Bassoul! Les 9 et 10 février, la chef Racha Bassoul propose un dîner gastronomique conçu de concert avec Seth Gabrielse.

 
Were reservations made the same day of the email? Can you say “d-uh”?

I should say something here about Laloux, as this was the kickoff event for their new chef and not the relaunch of Le Bazaar. I found it to be a really pleasant surprise.

Disclosure: my previous (and first and only other) meal at Laloux was way back in the 90s and could only be described as excrutiating. Back then, they took typical bistro to stereotypical heights with curtains, paper on the tables, Édith Piaf and wait staff in white aprons who ensured that one was fully immersed in that special Parisian bistro experience generally reserved for American tourists visiting the City of Lights. And only classic (tired) bistro fare to poke at and nothing but pricey bottlings.

What did I discover? Upgrades. Good ones.

The initial impression upon stepping in was very good and really gave the hint that one was going to have a nice evening. Laloux’s always had “the room”: it’s definitely modeled after a classic Parisian bistro and has high ceilings, pale walls with dark wood trim, leather banquettes and plenty of mirrors. The inside’s been modernized as I didn’t see curtains, there’s no background muzak as per continental fashion, and the FOH team was apron-free, competent and friendly. Those uncomfortable wooden bistro chairs that make sure you don’t want to dawdle? Still there (can’t have everything).

I wasn’t concerned about the carte as it was a special tasting menu, but Laloux has made serious revamps and has been contemporizing its offerings over the past couple of years. In a word, no sad sack bistro surprises in store ex-event.

Le menu Gabrielse / Bassoul

It’s called “Le menu Gabrielse / Bassoul”, but it’s got Bassoul and Bazaar Anise written all over it as there are Middle Eastern influences everywhere. One must give full props to the owners of Laloux for having the confidence and the stones to overlay a former competitor’s menu and cooking style on their establishment even if only as a “one-time event”. I found it a very inspired way to make a big splash with their new head chef.

The “dîner à quatre mains” (dinner made by four hands) menu was only announced online at the start of the event to keep things a surprise, and this is the comparison between the web listing and reality. I can’t be certain, but the web menu may have indeed been what was presented for service on February 9.

Just some tiny little adjustments with really only one significant change (a more adventurous fish course variation). Pretty reasonable as a tasting menu for $80 ($120 with wine pairings), and it was a logical classic European progression to boot.

The meal

Amuse bouche : what do I say about amuse-bouche? It’s one bite. One! I guess that’s just me, because the amuse-bouche turned out to be a trio of meze: kibbeh, falafel and marinated olives and lupini beans. I generally don’t care for falafel (I’ve had some awful ones that were essentially deep-fried vegetable castoff) but it turned out to be my favorite of the three: warm, savory and served as a high-end sandwich deconstruction with microsprouts, turnip and tahini. I’m pretty sure that was a kibbeh though the waitress used another term for it (regardless – tasty), and the olives and lupinis offered a textural and salty contrast to the two others.

Pastilla d’agneau confit, pommes caramélisées, salade de persil et pomme grenade : interesting that this was renamed as a pastilla as it was a baluchon in shape though I’m thinking they switched to warka as it was thinner than phyllo. A visually-appealing dish that hit well in terms of aroma, taste and texture; I don’t know what all of the spices were but there was definitely cumin and cinnamon, possibly sumac. The caramelized apple brunoise and the pomegranate helped balance the lamb confit with sugar and acid, and the apple helped harmonize the Chitry served with it.

« Pot au Foie » : a play on words in reference to the pot au feu, but I think this may be the only dish that Racha didn’t have a significant hand in. Pot au foie turned out to be a piece of foie gras en torchon served as dobin mushi (土瓶蒸し), with an intense duck broth replacing dashi. The teacup was filled with matcha and toasted rice to bring an additional grilled refinement to the broth that helped tie in the toasted brioche taste. I liked this a lot but I noticed that some of the other tables were struggling with it.

Morue, artichaut, lentilles Beluga tièdes, olives et lime : a demonstration of “modern technique” as the cod was cooked sous-vide. The fish had a concentrated taste and gave hints of being a proto-bacalao, matching well with with the textural and earthy savory contrast of the Beluga lentils and the salty tang from the olives and lime. The only oddity to me was the artichoke, as the they were quite firm and somewhat incongruous with the rest of the plate. Perhaps it was meant to afford a strong textural counterpoint, but it stood apart from the rest of the plate and fought with the Bott-Geyl Riesling. I wound up eating them quickly so that I could concentrate on the rest of the plate and the wine.

Joue de veau braisée, pignon, pita frit, yogourt à l’ail : I just had a discussion about veal cheeks and why they probably wouldn’t be a “go” in San Francisco. This was a classic braised dish with the veal cheek meltingly tender in an unctuous sauce made from reducing the braising liquid. The sauce was really something else and chick peas gave interesting relief from the potato and pasta that’s typically served with this braise. I didn’t get a  whole lot from the garlic yogurt (it added a little acid to offset the richness of the sauce) but the pine nuts gave up some minty notes and the fried pita gave texture as well as a salty wheaty taste. Someone took the time to peel the chick peas (wonder who did that PITA task).

Mille-feuille au Naboulsi et confiture de coings : a cheese course masquerading as a pre-dessert. Naboulsi is a traditional Middle Eastern brined ewe’s milk cheese that’s flavored with mahlab (Prunus mahaleb) and mastic (Pistacia lentiscus). Tasted alone, it was a little bland and reminded me of a salty aged cheese curd with little pockets of tastiness from the mahlab. The quince added sweetness and tartness and the other components brought in crispy texture to move everything forward as a very smart delivery. This dish was probably the most harmonious overall with its wine pairing. I could have gone for seconds.

Pudding de semoule, salade d’oranges, sirop de rose, pistache : after eating this, I realized I was served a bowl of cream of wheat. A semolina porridge cooked with milk, with blood and Seville orange pieces (they said there were pieces of Cara-Cara but I didn’t have any) to brighten things up with acidity, rose syrup for fragrant sweetness and pistachios for another texture. It was good, but I don’t think this would have been something I’d order from a regular menu since I prefer savory ends to my meals.

Mignardises : a very chocolaty micro-brownie, a very sweet deconstructed date which they pitted only to replace the pit with an almond (cute), a home-made rosewater marshmallow and caramels.

Wines

Laloux’s wine list remains predominantly French and, with the exception of some cider from Québec, exclusively Old World (mostly Italy). The wine pairings selected for this tasting menu were:

2007 Olivier Morin Chitry : interesting – this was a Pinot noir that I didn’t like. Very light in color, with aromas of cherry and roses, but I found that the wine was thin and very acid with a short and slightly hot finish. It was a good complement to the caramelized apple brunoise served with the lamb pastilla but I found that it fought a bit with the other elements of the dish.

2007 Domaine Bott-Geyl Kronenbourg Riesling : I’m starting to really like the wines of Bott-Geyl. This Riesling had a petrol nose that disappeared after a couple of minutes in glass to reveal notes of honey, green apples and flowers on the nose. It was starting to close but this is a bottling to watch over time. With the cod… horrible with artichoke and inspired with the rest of the dish as its crisp acidity livened the dish. The star wine of the night for me.

2000 Domaine Fontedicto Coteaux du Languedoc, “Promise” : a Carignan-predominant rassemblage with a touch of Mourvèdre and Grenache to round things out. A jammy mouthfeel with plenty of soft tannins that was a little too close to the mouthfeel of the sauce served with the veal cheek, but the stewed berry fruit flavor of the wine paired very well with the veal.

2000 Château Tour Grise Saumur : a grippy méthode champagnoise Chenin blanc from Saumur, which was all flat chalk and citrus when drunk alone, but which showed excellent support for the tian of salty Naboulsi and sweetened quince. The pairing was a good counterbalance and really lifted all components.

Photos

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Impressions

I liked the event. It was a pleasure to experience Chef Bassoul’s culinary artistry again though dinner was more like “Anise visiting the souk” as the spice elements are definitely more restrained than Bazaar Anise. My favorites of the night were the falafel, the pot au foie (probably the nicest overall), the cod (without artichokes) and the Naboulsi. The best wine was the Bott-Geyl (I’m showing my Riesling bigotry) but the best pairing was the Saumur with the Naboulsi. Food and wine-wise, it was a good balance overall.

There was also no comparison to the earlier experience : service was done tag-team style to deal with the restaurant-wide tasting menu. My part of the restaurant was led by very attentive leads who indulged my shutter-happy ways, didn’t rush anything and kept the progression going at a relaxing pace: they knew the menu, they understood dobin mushi and they knew their wines.

So what about new head chef Seth Gabrielse? This is Laloux’s second chef transition in under a calendar year, as they went from the duo of Patrice Demers and Marc-André Jetté, to Éric Gonzalez (an odd fit for Laloux) and now to Seth. I’m not knocking this guy – he’s paid his dues, including time at Susur in Hell Toronto and two stints with James Maguire at Le Passe-Partout. I know James, and he demands commitment and passion from the people who work with him so Seth must have been more than able to hold his own. He must also be something if he managed to get his mentor out of culinary retirement to work two days on the line with him. No chance to slowly ease into the job though, with only oh, the Valentine’s Day rush coming up, but I’ll be curious to watch how Seth settles in. 

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