We'll Always Have Paris

Orsay’s roasted loupe de mer with artichokes, fennel, roasted fingerling potatoes and tomato confit.

Mais oui. The food of bistro, brasserie, creperie and Escoffier again stars in restaurants high and low, from Miami’s Charlotte Bistro to St. Augustine’s Bistro de Leon. Chefs from France and their American admirers have put mussels, roast chicken, snails and poached fish back in fashion.

Restaurant Orsay in Jacksonville’s historic Avondale simmers happily every night as chef Brian Siebenschuh and servers hustle steaks piled with frites, big oyster platters and decadent pates to sweatshirted young blackbeards and silvery matrons in Talbots sweaters. No one shrills “bon appetit” or “oo la la,” but it is French — an old and, for Americans, a very modern way. The menu invokes a few words like rillettes, tartine and fromage, yet it is most authentic in feel, whether the meal is cassoulet of duck with white beans and andouille or pork and braised cabbage. Perfect duck breast with saged cornbread pudding and root vegetables in a cordial of duck jus is classic, yet less than $25. Wine can be $5 a glass and $20 a bottle.

This is not the French cuisine that was for generations the epitome of gourmet dining — expensive, heavy, fussy and dull. In a world of primavera, ceviche, sushi and tabouleh, French classics seemed unimaginative. No matter that clever Asian or New American chefs relied on French technique to polish the flavors of Hawaii, Vietnam or Peru. Italian and Asian were fresh and in the ascendant.

Look again and have another bite. Today’s French restaurant, whether run by old hands or newcomers, is not a choice of $100 dinners. “Our food is well-thought-out and well-executed, but it is at core comforting,” says Orsay’s Crystal Vessels. When she and the chef opened it with Chew’s Jonathan Insetta, they wanted their French styles to be approachable on ordinary Tuesdays and Wednesdays and not just special occasions.

Our appreciation of French cooking has changed and broadened, thanks to Anthony Bourdain as much as Julia Child. While older patrons may be nostalgic for Louis XIV indulgence, most new menus offer a simpler French, heartier and fresh-flavored. We now know the French don’t eat like the rich and famous. They mind their euros, eat meat and potatoes, especially doubled-fried frites. And they may be even more carnivorous than Americans — beef, pork, lamb shanks, duck, lard, marrow, bacon, liver pates and a big array of charcuterie.

Grand or humble, the cooking relies on good ingredients and technique that appeals to food-savvy diners. Our love for scratch cooking, local produce, crusty breads, good coffee and artisan cheeses and meats is new. But those loves are old hat in France, from sunny Provence to chilly Alsace.

Restaurant Orsay in Jacksonville — not expensive, heavy French cuisine of the past.

Tags: Dining & Travel