Bistro My Heart

(Photos courtesy of Bistro Collette and One Stop Writing Shop)

I’ve hungered for a French bistro to hit Bend for the 20 years I’ve lived here. That’s what happens when you grow up in Paris. So, I was downright ecstatic to hear that Jeremy Buck, Salute Restaurant and Bar’s co-owner and chef, and his co-owner wife, Lian Schmidt, had launched Bistro Colette. If their French comfort food was as good as their Italian offerings, I’d be one happy camper.

Well, it is, and I am. The fact that they slid into the old Flights Wine Bar and retained the same warm, welcoming décor doesn’t hurt a bit.

Buck and his wife may have kept the wine bar vibe, but they’ve added a full bar, so my friend and I started our evening with two delicious cocktails — a French 75 and a Boulevardier — before moving on to wine. I love Bistro Colette’s warm herbed olives, which I’d had several weeks prior. This time, however, we skipped those in favor of the profiteroles filled with pork rillettes and spiked with Dijon mustard, as well as the fried serrano ham croquettes served with bechamel and slices of cornichon. In short, pig on pig, and both delightful. What’s not to like about perfectly seasoned creamy bites with subtle herby back notes?

The Asparagus Mimosa was just as lovely. The sweet, crunchy asparagus, salty capers and earthy roasted radish, served with an ever-so-slightly sweetened vinaigrette, were balanced by the chopped hard-boiled egg and swirl of soft whipped ricotta.

While I love that you can build your own charcuterie board from half a dozen meat and pâté offerings and that the restaurant offers moules frites (steamed mussels with french fries) and raclette, we decided to explore two other quintessential bistro classics.

The pan-fried sole à la Meunière had a light crisp on the outside thanks to the brown butter it had been cooked in. In a perfect world, the delicate, lemony filets would have been served on a bed of mashed potatoes or parsnip puree since the rice pilaf did nothing for the dish. Even so, I would order it again.

I had no complaints about the coq au vin. The tender red-wine-braised chicken was infused with the flavors of bacon, cipollini onion and mushroom. I’ve been making this dish for decades, and I have to confess, Jeremy’s is better than mine. I’ll have to see if the same applies to his cassoulet and his duck with the pinot noir cherry sauce.

It was time to move on to dessert. Although all the options were tempting, we finally opted for the lemon tartlet, with its divine pâte sucrée crust and silky sweet-tart filling, and the decadent chocolate crémeux cake, which is basically custardy chocolate mousse piped onto a dark chocolate flourless cake. Crémeux means creamy in French, and this absolutely lives up to its name.