Tout le monde en parle....
(We are all talking about it ....)

The Palm Beach Post- Friday, November 1, 2002
Boca bistro: Superb de Provence..
Everything emerging from the kitchen was simply marvelous
By Paul Reid- Palm Beach Post Restaurant Critic

The food, of course, was the essential ingredient of the joy we found at Bistro Provence. If the food doesn't stand out, all else is irrelevant - service, decor, overall feel.

Well, the food at Bistro provence stood out. And to add to the merry splendor of the night, so did a nearby table of French diners - four of them singing along in perfect harmony with Edith Piaf La Vie en Rose never sounded so sweet. We'll say about Bistro Provence what we've said about very few place: We love it.

It's small, informal, cozy. If the owners hoped to convey a homey French country feel, they succeeded - framed pictures, scarps of fabric and photos, kitchen knickknacksm Piaf i\over the sound system.

Two dinning rooms, one right up against the small kitchen. It's not as quiet as the other room, but it is like the sights, aromas and sounds from the kitchen. Every once in a while. we'd hear poof as another flambe went up, flames kicking high, the whole room glowing orange.

Everything that emerged from that kitchen was marvelous.

The menu is classic Provencal, all the usual suspects: appertizers of baked stuffed musels, escargots, truffled duck liver pate, French onion soup, a couple of salad offerings. Fourteen entrees, plus nightly specials. You'll find trout with lemon herb butter, lobster tails flambe, rack of lamb, roast duckling, steak au poivre, sauteed veal sweetbread. Butter is used, you'd better believe it. Sauces are rich. Yet there's a light hand in the kitchen, a deftness that makes a rich dish seem ethereal.

Much nuanced use made of the herbs of Provence - Thyme, rosemary, fennel. Each dish carries a subtle bouquet of taste. The wine list is modest, but so are the prices. You'll find some nice vintage Bordeaux reds that are up to the task, including a Chateau Hautes Graves Beautlieu, a '99 Pomerol ($42), toasted oak, rich blush of fruit. And You'll find a couple of big white Burgundy offerings that will complement almost everythig on the menu.

So we began with the escargots ($8.50) - six plump snails awash in minced galic and herb butter, baked bubbling hot in a classic ceramic dish, six little dimplles to hold the treasures. Sop up that sauce with fresh French bread, and that's as good as it gets. The truffled duck liver mousse ($8.50) found two slices of mousse, rich yet meltingly light, served atop fresh baby greens. And the baked mussels (48) were six big, tender mussels on the half shell, quickly baked with butter, a touch of bread crumbs, galic aqnd herbs.

All of these can be had as part of the three-course fixed-price menu ($29.50) - appetizer, entree and dessert. Refreshingly Bistro Provence creates this offering right from the menu, no downsizing of a la carte dishes. When your server here says the plate is hot, the plate is hot. We observed no dinner lingering under any heat lights. Everything comes off the stove, goes onto a plate and departs the kitchen. Take our duck ($24.50). Actually, if you try to take my duck, do so at your own risk. Half-duckling, skin crisp. Inside, fork-tender meat, moist, sweet. Subtle fruit glaze, hint of wild berry. A tie with Jo's of Plam Beach for the best duck in the county.

Bahamian lobster tails ($22.50): a pair of fat, meaty tails, meat turned out on the shell, broiled, ignited for a quick brandy-and-butter sear, moist, perfectly cooked, firm, light golden on top.

Filet mignon with green perpercorm suace ($24.50): a fine, medium rare as ordered, rich brown reduction rife with fresh green perpercorns - the pop in the pepper - is what makes the dish.

Our rack of lamb ($25.50 a la carte) employed all the Provencal herbs galic, butter in the reduction, yet the lamb flavor shone through, as it should. Two double chops, broiled, then butterfiled Pink and perfect.

Veggies snap with freshness and are cooked in the classic French manner - firm, lightly buttered. All the dinners pretty much come with the same vegetables sides, but they'll change with the harvest seasons - brocili florets, baby carrots, small potatoes, and sugar snap peas when we visited. That's OK with me. I'd sooner have my vegetables fresh and cooked right than have the kitchen fiddle-faddle around with some esoteric concoction of alien greens and not pull it off. It's not a sign of lack of creativity that Bistro Provence serves the same veggies with all dishes. it's adherence to that French country tradition.

Desserts (all $6.50) will take you back to Provence - a sweet custard tart, light caramel flavor, similar to flan, delicious. A less-sweet yet alluring almond tart, between a cake and a custard, moist and crumbly, resonates with almond taste. And for a taste of Normandy, try the apple tart - freshly slices apples and raisins atop a thin almond tart. All homemade.

See you there. Soon and often.

Boca Raton/ Delray Beach News - Friday, August 30, 2002
Bistro Provence gets its French exactly right
It also rivals more established restaurants in Boca.
By Sara and Monty Preiser - Dinning Reviewers

IIt isn't uncommon to find dining establishments that hype a signature dish, nor is it uncommon for that dish to be perfectly ordinary. So when you do find a creation deserving of the highest superlatives (whether the restaurant designated it as signature or not), you will usually be in dinner's heaven.

We had such an experience last night, and if you want quite simply the best mussels, we have tasted outside the North Sea area in Scotland, run to the Bistro Provence on Federal Highway, where they serve fabulous Canadian mussels about five times per week.

However, don't fret if you are not a mussels lover, because this charming restaurant has much more, and everything is almost perfect. in fact, in a town where La Vielle Maison and La Petite Maison have for a long time been the online restaurants upholding the honor of authentic French cuisine, it is wonderful to find another superb establishment doing the same.

While Eric holds forth in the kitchen, his wife, Claudine, oversees the front of the house. The enthusiasm and style of this young French couple seems to have rubbed off the servers who are skilled at making customers feel relaxed and who have that good timing diners should hope for. Of course, when the staff is good, any restaurant has a great advantage"going in".

We knew we were in trouble as soon as we studied the menu. The creations are traditional country French, which are all the ponce appetizing and enticing in their simplicity, as well as being a bit sexy.