FRENCH CONNECTION
Fait Maison's battle cry: Vive la cuisine francaise!
Food Dude spotlights Fait Maison, a French restaurant that opened about a year ago in Edmond
EDMOND — For chef Olivier Bouzerand, communication is key to building relationships with his guests.
He grew up in Burgundy speaking the native tongue and now speaks fluent English, but Bouzerand articulates best through French cuisine.
But the language that took him from the home of the Cannes Film Festival to the home of the deadCenter is the language of love.
Bouzerand's bridge to Oklahoma was built over hours playing Clash of Clans, a multiplayer strategy game played on smartphones. That's where Bouzerand met Susan Wedel, a 15-year vet of the oil and gas industry and former school teacher from Edmond.
Four years after their virtual friendship turned into a romance, the couple own and operate Fait Maison, 152 E 5 St., an elegant French restaurant that's bolstered the local dining-sphere's dwindling fine dining options with je ne sais quoi.
Yes you Cannes!
Bouzerand's commitment to French cuisine began in his mother's kitchen when he was a boy and took flight when, at 13, he convinced his parents cooking was his calling.
“I made very good grades,” Bouzerand said. “I think they wanted me to do something else, but once they were sure I was serious, they were very supportive.”
Bouzerand traveled all around France as a teen, learning his trade at Michelin-rated restaurants like La Palme d'Or in Cannes and Ledoyen in Paris. He spent nine years in Russia before returning to France in 1997 to open Le Patio in Saint-Jean-de-Luz. Seven
years later, Bouzerand moved back to Cannes to open Les Mesclun, which is where he learned to play Clash of Clans.
Clan-destiny
Wedel was new to the game when she happened into Bouzerand's clan.
“We became really close friends,” Wedel said. “We just really enjoyed talking with each other online.”
She found out how deep Bouzerand's feelings ran after changing clans without a goodbye.
“I asked around to friends to see if anyone knew how to contact her,” Bouzerand said. They did.
Once reunited, Bouzerand made clear his desire to remove the virtual aspect of their relationship.
“He invited me to France, but I told him no,” Wedel laughed. “He ended up coming to visit me here, and we've been dating ever since.”
After that trip in fall of 2014, Wedel reciprocated with a trip to France. That's when the couple first discussed opening a restaurant in the U.S.
“He was thinking L.A., Miami or New York,” Wedel said. “But this is my home.”
Bouzerand is a quiet, confident man who chooses his words with the same care he takes to place parsnips and potatoes in proximity to an immaculate breast of pheasant. When asked by a customs agent why he was moving from France to Oklahoma, he answered honestly and succinctly.
“Because she won't move anywhere else,” he said.
Bouzerand sold Les Mesclun and moved to Edmond in 2016. He and Wedel spent the following 11 months converting the former Parkway Menswear into an opulent dining room with white gilded walls the ghost of Louis XIV would be proud to haunt.
What's in a name?
Fait Maison means a couple of different things in France, most commonly meaning house-made. In 2014, France put into effect the so-called “fait maison law,” an attempt to ensure more restaurants used fresh ingredients.
Even though Wedel and Bouzerand's version of Fait Maison isn't under French law, their restaurant adheres to its spirit.
“Everything is made in the kitchen,” Bouzerand explained. “We make sauces from scratch, we bake all of the breads here.”
After you're seated, an amuse bouche of the soup du jour arrives in a gilded bowl, stand-by for someone to approach with a basket of house-baked breads. If you're offered a roll with red wine cooked into the dough, choose it. Not only is it divine, it will prepare you for the chef's tasting menu— a story told in five parts with memorable characters that might include scallops delivered that morning live in their shell, quail, duck, pheasant, prawns, veal, turbot, or Dover sole, depending on the season.
The tasting menu won't be for all diners, and that's just fine. Bouzerand has plenty of tools to build a relationship in his menu, which offers appetizers like lobster in house-made ravioli and bisque, Carbinero prawn with lemon risotto, bacon- and mushroomstuffed quail with shiitake emulsion and caramelized onions, and classic escargots baked with garlic and parsley in butter.
Entrees include turbot filet paneed in butter with red wine sauce, Dover sole with lobster souffle, and Maine lobster roasted in champagne cream sauce. Heartier eaters will rush to the rack of lamb with thyme and rosemary. For me, choosing between the seared duck breast (served with honey and lime sauce) and the Pheasant breast (served with Salmis) is a culinary Sophie's Choice.
Dessert is non-negotiable. This is a FRENCH restaurant, after all. I have only tried the crepes stuffed with orange souffle with caramelized orange sauce. The texture is soft in all the right places and sweet but not cloying. A flambe of Grande Marnier is the coup de graces that will have you offering your server a high-five.
Considering the procession of quasi-celebrity chefs food programming and social media has delivered to popular culture in the last decade, you might be surprised at the restraint Bouzerand and chef de cuisine Derek Courtney show on plate after plate. But take a closer look when the ratatouille arrives. See how delicately each vegetable is sliced and layered. When the scallops arrive over the celery root risotto, notice how carefully the the truffle cream sauce is whipped.
Regardless of what you order, at Fait Maison don't hesitate. Pro tip: Because everything is made from scratch, the kitchen works best when you order everything at the beginning.