The Garden of Eatin'
Le Petite Jardin offers French culinary wisdom of the ages
By Richard Foss
Give me a good meal in a pleasant garden, and I’m a happy man. I was going to add a sunny day into those requirements, but I remembered a misty outdoor dinner where city lights were soft, abstract shapes through the leaves. With just the modern comforts of a space heater, we were entranced.
Le Petite Jardin is a café and flower shop on a quiet section of Robertson, the rustic-looking restaurant screened behind climbing plants and ornamental ironwork.
Owner Celine greets her guests warmly, gives them the short list of specials, and leaves them to decide amid elaborate floral displays awaiting pickup. The menu held very brief descriptions of classic French items like duck l’orange, chicken chausseur, and sole meuniere, along with a few pastas and salads. There was little originality, but novelty obviously wasn’t the point – there are days when you just want to savor the culinary wisdom of the ages, and restaurants like this are made for days like that.
Among the starters were duck paté ($6.95), escargot ($8.95), a Caesar salad ($6.95), and a smoked salmon salad ($14.95). The pâté was made fresh in-house, even though some much more pretentious places buy theirs wholesale, and it makes a difference. It was meaty, with a texture like a medium-grind sausage, and with enough chunks of peppercorn to give a tangy bite. The escargot had the authentic taste too, mainly of garlic butter with herb and seafood overtones. For those who have never had snails before but do like shellfish, it seems to help if you consider the snails as mobile oysters that happen to live on land. The Caesar was a standard salad with a robust, eggy dressing and plenty of parmesan and fresh, crisp croutons. The portion was formidable, and it easily could have fed two. The salmon salad was similarly large, the generous helping of fish making this a good choice for an entrée. The lightly smoky fish and balsamic vinaigrette were well-paired, the flavors and textures of seafood and greens enough to sustain interest.
Salmon Grenobloise ($15.95) isn’t a dish you see on many menus in L.A. – the fish is pan-fried on one side only, with the fat from the fish drawn off, mixed with butter and vinegar, and used as a sauce with mushrooms, capers, lemon, and chives. When done properly, the slightly rare fish has a variety of textures and a delicate, tangy herb flavor, and it was close to perfect here. It was served with sautéed vegetables, a broiled tomato, and potatoes gratinee, a simple combination that was pure country French. Duck l’orange ($24.95) is a more aristocratic dish, prepared various ways since it was invented in the early 1800s – modern recipes often use a sweet orange sauce, while old ones specify tart or bitter orange and orange peel. Le Petite Jardin’s version is tart, which works best with rich, fatty meats like duck.
Though entrecote steak with fries ($21.95) is a popular dish in France, I don’t usually order it – when I do, it’s because I have a hankering for the béarnaise sauce that’s often served on the side. Here the steak has a light coating of herb butter instead – it was tasty, the meat cooked rare and tender, but less interesting than the other dishes. The rack of lamb ($24.95) outshone it, the garlicky herb crust on the medium-rare meat a perfect match. This special deserves a place on the regular menu, and I’d order it any time.
There were several choices for dessert, all made in-house by Celine, so we ordered a crème brulée, chocolate mousse cake, and a caramelized apple tart for the table. The brulée and cake were excellent, but the apple tart was off the mark, a bit too sweet and marred by a sauce that was thin and added little. It was the only misstep in what had otherwise been a fine meal.
Le Petite Jardin is a simple, classic bistro – it’s popular with a lunch crowd that comes for burgers and salads, and that may not realize more sophisticated offerings await at night. (It doesn’t have a wine license, but you can bring your own, no charge.) It’s a relaxing oasis in a dull neighborhood, close enough to Century City that business people might stop in for a breath of fresh air, with the scent of garlic and herbs from the kitchen.
Le Petite Jardin 1456 S. Robertson Blvd., L.A., (310) 278-5294. Open daily except Sunday, 7:30 a.m.-8 p.m. Street parking only, wheelchair access good.
Published: 06/11/2008
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