Sunday, July 5, 2009

Petit Rouge, North Miami

I had a really enjoyable meal over at Petit Rouge in North Miami. Petit Rouge is a new French Bistro owned by Chef Neal Cooper. I was not familiar with Chef Neal but was looking forward to trying Petit Rouge after seeing the menu and hearing good things about his prior spots, Neal's and Il Migliori.

The restaurant is small (I think there were seven or so tables inside and a few more outside) and charming with a comfortable, neighborhood feel to it. The service was outstanding and refreshing to see.

The menu starts with nine Hors d'Oeuvres ranging in price from $12 to $19. Offerings include seared Hudson Valley foie gras, ris de veau aka, crispy sweetbreads, salmon tartare with creme fraiche and caviar, a tasting of five cheeses, escargot, steamed Mediterranean mussels and head on Key West Pink Shrimp cocktail. How do you pick one???

The menu also has a classic onion soup as well as a chicken consomme laced with black truffels and foie gras and covered with a puff pastry. That sounded really tempting.
They also offer six salads ranging from the classic caesar to a warm goat cheese salad.

There are seven entrees plus three steak frite options ranging in price from $19 to $34. Steak fans can order a finely chopped filet mignon tartare or opt for a skirt steak with caramelized shallots. The third option is a filet with a peppercorn sauce. Other choices are pan seared Scottish salmon, crispy duck leg confit, sauteed calves livers, sauteed dover sole and Idaho trout, a rack of lamb and Poulet Rouge a semi boneless half chicken. Sides ranged from macaroni and cheese to steamed asparagus, haricots verts, french fries and potatoes cooked in duck fat.

We started with very nice fresh French bread. After deliberating over the menu options I went with the crispy sweetbreads and calves liver. The sweetbreads were prepared perfectly and served with a caper sauce. They were very smooth and a real treat. The sauteed calves liver was served with caramelized onions and mashed potatoes. This was another enjoyable combination. I didn't sample the duck confit but I was told it was good.

They also feature a reasonably priced wine list with most choices being French. I noticed several bottles in the $28 to $35 range which is always nice to see. They also had several by the glass options but the bottles appeared to be the better value. I'm not sure about their corkage policy.
I wasn't familiar with most of the reds on the list and opted for a familiar name and selected the 2006 Joseph Drouhin Laforet burgundy @ $35. It was on the light side but fine and drinkable plus CWife enjoyed it.

Again, I really enjoyed the ambiance, service, menu selections and of course the food. I'm looking forward to going back soon in order to continue working through the menu. My first experience was very good and showed real promise.

Petit Rouge on Urbanspoon

12409 Biscayne Blvd
North Miami, FL 33181
305-892-7676

2 comments:

SteveBM said...

Nice post. I just heard about this place while eating at NAOE last night. The couple I spoke to said the steak tartare at Petit Rouge is unbelievably good. Ive gotta try it sometime.

The Chowfather said...
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