New Poulet Bleu bistro opens in Lawrenceville
Richard DeShantz Group opened Poulet Bleu for dinner Tuesday at 3519 Butler St. in Lawrenceville. It’s a candle-lit neighborhood spot that aims to transport diners to France with the details: blue-tiled floors, marble tables and a poured zinc bar, an Edith Piaf soundtrack, a French-inspired wine list from consultant John Wabeck and bistro fare.
Pass through the courtyard — an outdoor seating destination come spring — to the entrance in the space that formerly housed Tamari. For now, the two-level restaurant will debut with just under 50 seats on the ground floor, with an open kitchen that’s seamless with the dining room, anchored by a formidable Dekton counter. The second level will open later this year. Like Downtown’s Meat & Potatoes and Tako, the restaurant has been entirely designed by Mr. DeShantz.
Check out the chef’s table with custom benches reminiscent of an old train station. It’s adjacent to open shelves under the pass that reveal china with patterns that front romance. A duck press centers the room — most likely a special-occasion device. Across from the luxe,
blue kitchen appliances made by Thomas Keller-endorsed Hestan, there’s a modest tabletop Berkel slicer for the restaurant’s Bayonne ham, one of a handful of small plates from warm olives dolled up with herbes de Provence ($5) to escargot ($12), foie gras ($22) and oysters Rockefeller ($18).
Of the menu and the concept, Mr. DeShantz says, “Our work is rooted in French technique. It anchors everything we do.” So while it’s timely in that French restaurants around the country are seeing a comeback, it’s also a familiar style of cooking for Dave Racicot, executive chef for the restaurant group, and Mr. DeShantz.
There will be French onion soup ($12), a classic that prompted much discussion among chefs — “We hate it when there’s not enough onions.” They’ve landed on a version that satiates them, with plenty of Cognac, Emmental, Gruyere — and a pound of oxtail and onions for which it’s named.
While Mr. Racicot has been steering the recipe testing and shaping the menu, Cory Hart is the chef de cuisine of this restaurant, who has been working under Mr. Racicot for several years. In his research travels to France, he was smitten with the chickens of the Bresse region raised according to strict standards and lauded for their flavor. A variation, the blue-footed Poulet Bleu birds, are now raised in North America — for a price. They will be available for preorderin about a month.
Steak frites, from a filet mignon ($48) to a coulotte cut (somewhere around $26 for an 8-ounce portion), can be dressed with bordelaise, bearnaise, Cognac pepper or a house sauce. But save room for dessert, particularly the chocolate souffle — made-toorder for that lofty pouf — with six garnishes like creme Anglaise and cherry compote among them. The restaurant is also serving clafoutis, pavlova, beignets, and profiteroles for desserts that cost between$6 and $16.
At the bar, wine maven Mr. Wabeck, who recently left Spoon in East Liberty, hasassembled a wine list that delivers value, food-friendly varietalsand a sense of place.
“Above all, we want these wines to over-deliver for the price,” he says. Expect about 90 labels,with a handful bythe-glass, ranging from $9 to $25 for a glass of Moet.
Cecil Usher, who is in charge of the bar, has been with the company for over six years. He has assembled a cocktail list of classics from a vodka gimlet with lime cordial, St. Germain, and a dash of lavender bitters, as well as drinks like the French 75, from $9 to $11.
Unlike Mr. DeShantz’s Butcher and the Rye, Poulet Bleu offers a smaller liquor list. The goal, he says, is for the place to fall somewhere between the bar at a fine dining spot and a neighborhood stalwart.
“I wanted to make this where I would want to come regularly to drink,” Mr. Usher says.
Reservations are open via the website, though for now, Poulet Bleu is closed on Sundays and Mondays.